Children carrying other wounded children. I’m already incensed, horrified, disgusted at the latest failures of humanity that have produced so many dead children, among so many other dead. But my pacifist tendencies (the word “tendency” is doing a lot of the work, but it does have a breaking point) are tested at the murder and torture of children (as well as state violence pointed right at me—see, I’m ultimately not a pacifist).
Ugh.
The reporting on the indictment of Senator Menendez seems pretty damning. Regardless of what he is guilty of, or deemed guilty of by a jury, it is certainly darkly comedic and inept tactless when contrasted against the systemic corruption that is legitimized.
A single cow can belch up to 264 pounds of methane in a year, the equivalent of burning almost 4,000 pounds of coal or driving a gas-powered car about 9,000 miles. That’s why climate advocates say people should eat less beef if they want to help ease climate change. … Who, exactly, comprises that group? “There’s some of everybody,” Rose said, but men and people between the ages of 50 and 65 are most likely to be big beef eaters, the study found.
"Why.are.there.periods.in.my.iPhone.searches" Me three!
Daniel Ellsberg. ¡Presente! It is a story I’ve alluded to too many times in too many places, a boring one at that (I had no role except to be there) but I had lunch with him in early March 2003. He was discussing with my then-boss his premeditated protest outside the White House of the imminently expected invasion of Iraq.
Just Stop Oil protesters interrupt opera at Glyndebourne festival (The Guardian): “Our highest priority was the safety and security of everyone on site and we would like to thank our staff and performers, whose calm and professional response kept everyone safe, and disruption to a minimum.” I’m with the demonstrators on this. I think everyone’s highest priority should be the climate crisis. This doesn’t mean one can’t wind down and go to an opera, but only if and until society actually realigns to this priority, expect the rest to be interrupted lest we keep thinking everything is fine.
Will it be possible to buy a dumb electric car? No Internet Protocol dependence and certainly no fucking ChatGPT? I don’t mind contemporary local computer-driven safety features—not talking Model T dumb. I like the idea of bringing extra brains and network connectivity to the vehicle with me (e.g. via smartphone) but entirely optionally. I’d still like to go for a drive without anyone but… the CCTV and imagery satellites and drones knowing where I am.
Drastic climate action is the best course for economic growth, new study finds.: “Based on everything we think we know about technology, climate damages, etc. it would indeed be ‘optimal’ to cut emissions massively now,” ... “early inaction leads to warming that cannot be undone later by spending more on abatement.” (Yale Climate Connections)
Cory Doctorow has an essay in Locus flagging points of common ground between broadly genuine progressives and leftists and the misdirected but genuine right, or uncritical skeptics who are often lumped-in with conservatives. I’ve been getting tongue-tied in knots internally on the same general topic, so thank you, Cory. How powerful our civics could be if we could unite in numbers on some of these things and reject the truly corrupt.