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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
November 24, 2022
(Guardian UK) At the steps of city hall, surrounded by supporters and a gaggle of press, Oakland’s new mayor-elect Sheng Thao exhaled.
“It’s been a long journey,” she began. “We’ve been through a lot to get to this moment right here.”
Just 15 years ago, Thao was living in her car with her infant son. She had just escaped an abusive relationship and had nowhere to go. This week Thao, 37, became the first Hmong American woman to lead a major US city, the youngest Oakland mayor in 75 years and the first renter to hold the position.
“There have been so many people in this beautiful city that have held our hands and lifted us up,” she said on Wednesday, in her first press conference since her history-making victory.
The daughter of of refugees who fled Laos during a genocide, Thao was born and raised in Stockton, California, the seventh of 10 children. She left home at 17, and in her early 20s fled an abusive partner while pregnant with her son Ben. She spent months sleeping in her car or on stranger’s couches before she was able to secure a shelter.
....(snip)....
While many other Democratic midterm candidates across the state and country have responded to voters’ worries about homelessness and community violence with harsh, tough-on-crime rhetoric, Thao has promised policies that will treat unhoused people with dignity and investment in public health and violence prevention programs. .................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/24/sheng-thao-hmong-american-mayor-oakland
From homeless to city hall: the Hmong American mayor making history in Oakland
(Guardian UK) At the steps of city hall, surrounded by supporters and a gaggle of press, Oakland’s new mayor-elect Sheng Thao exhaled.
“It’s been a long journey,” she began. “We’ve been through a lot to get to this moment right here.”
Just 15 years ago, Thao was living in her car with her infant son. She had just escaped an abusive relationship and had nowhere to go. This week Thao, 37, became the first Hmong American woman to lead a major US city, the youngest Oakland mayor in 75 years and the first renter to hold the position.
“There have been so many people in this beautiful city that have held our hands and lifted us up,” she said on Wednesday, in her first press conference since her history-making victory.
The daughter of of refugees who fled Laos during a genocide, Thao was born and raised in Stockton, California, the seventh of 10 children. She left home at 17, and in her early 20s fled an abusive partner while pregnant with her son Ben. She spent months sleeping in her car or on stranger’s couches before she was able to secure a shelter.
....(snip)....
While many other Democratic midterm candidates across the state and country have responded to voters’ worries about homelessness and community violence with harsh, tough-on-crime rhetoric, Thao has promised policies that will treat unhoused people with dignity and investment in public health and violence prevention programs. .................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/24/sheng-thao-hmong-american-mayor-oakland
November 23, 2022
(Slate) Supreme Court justices? They’re just like you and me.
That’s about the sum of the public defense mounted against the blockbuster New York Times report that came out on Saturday. The story dropped a bit of a bombshell: It alleges that in 2014, Justice Samuel Alito told donors to a religiously motivated Supreme Court lobby organization that he would be authoring the opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, and that the religious objectors would be on the winning side of the case. This revelation can really only be compared to another leak—that of the full draft of the Dobbs opinion this May—but it passed through the media and legal worlds with much less fanfare. Who among us doesn’t like a good dinner and some hot gossip? Court critics, yet again, were told to get over themselves.
As Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker describe it, a then-anti-abortion crusader, the Rev. Rob Schenck, knew the outcome of the 2014 case challenging the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act weeks before it was announced. Whether Schenck heard this from the Wrights, the wealthy Ohio donors who dined with the Alitos in early June of that year, as he alleges, or merely from someone else, the fact is that there is ample contemporaneous reporting by Kantor and Becker to show that Schenck knew what was coming and acted accordingly.
Schenck is, to be sure, an unreliable whistleblower, and particularly so based on his own prior activities. And to the extent the problem here is framed as the leak from Alito, it bears keeping in mind that the leak is actually the least problematic aspect of the undisputed relationships between sitting Supreme Court justices and wealthy donors who pay to gain access to them, which the story also recounts in great detail. As the Times notes, the Wrights publicized the fact that they got involved with Schenck’s organization, Faith and Action, “to have a major impact on the attitudes and actions of those in a position to shape and interpret our laws,” as they wrote in a 2001 newsletter. Undisputed is the fact that between 2000 to 2018, when he left Faith and Action, Schenck raised more than $30 million to do just that. ..........(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/alito-leak-hobby-lobby-real-problem.html
The Real Problem With the Second Alleged Leak at the Court
(Slate) Supreme Court justices? They’re just like you and me.
That’s about the sum of the public defense mounted against the blockbuster New York Times report that came out on Saturday. The story dropped a bit of a bombshell: It alleges that in 2014, Justice Samuel Alito told donors to a religiously motivated Supreme Court lobby organization that he would be authoring the opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, and that the religious objectors would be on the winning side of the case. This revelation can really only be compared to another leak—that of the full draft of the Dobbs opinion this May—but it passed through the media and legal worlds with much less fanfare. Who among us doesn’t like a good dinner and some hot gossip? Court critics, yet again, were told to get over themselves.
As Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker describe it, a then-anti-abortion crusader, the Rev. Rob Schenck, knew the outcome of the 2014 case challenging the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act weeks before it was announced. Whether Schenck heard this from the Wrights, the wealthy Ohio donors who dined with the Alitos in early June of that year, as he alleges, or merely from someone else, the fact is that there is ample contemporaneous reporting by Kantor and Becker to show that Schenck knew what was coming and acted accordingly.
Schenck is, to be sure, an unreliable whistleblower, and particularly so based on his own prior activities. And to the extent the problem here is framed as the leak from Alito, it bears keeping in mind that the leak is actually the least problematic aspect of the undisputed relationships between sitting Supreme Court justices and wealthy donors who pay to gain access to them, which the story also recounts in great detail. As the Times notes, the Wrights publicized the fact that they got involved with Schenck’s organization, Faith and Action, “to have a major impact on the attitudes and actions of those in a position to shape and interpret our laws,” as they wrote in a 2001 newsletter. Undisputed is the fact that between 2000 to 2018, when he left Faith and Action, Schenck raised more than $30 million to do just that. ..........(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/alito-leak-hobby-lobby-real-problem.html
November 23, 2022
The postliberal crackup: The GOP’s post-midterm civil war starts with the New Right
"Integralists" battle "national conservatives" over religion, capitalism and the far-right conquest of America
By KATHRYN JOYCE
Investigative Reporter
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 21, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) On a Friday night in early October, in a downtrodden city in eastern Ohio, a speaker laid out a grim vision. At the height of 2020's first, most terrifying wave of COVID-19, an employee at a Chinese slaughterhouse led his coworkers on a walkout. For years, the state-owned company had abused its staff with continual video surveillance, punishing production quotas and demerits for bathroom breaks. Now it was casually disregarding their safety during a once-in-a-century pandemic. Following the walkout, the employee was fired, and then vilified through a PR campaign that denounced his protest as immoral and possibly illegal.
After a pause came the reveal: That hadn't happened in China, but in New York City's Staten Island; the hero wasn't a Chinese meatpacker, but a young warehouse worker named Chris Smalls; the villain wasn't the Chinese government but Amazon.com. The speaker went on, quoting from Karl Marx about "masters and workmen" and the "spirit of revolutionary change" before clearing his throat to deliver another correction: Apologies, that was actually Pope Leo XIII.
Both jokes were preface to a larger punchline, one that's particularly relevant after the 2022 midterm elections: This wasn't happening at a Bernie Sanders rally or a Democratic Socialists of America meetup, but a decidedly conservative conference at Ohio's Franciscan University of Steubenville, a center of U.S. right-wing Catholic thought. The speaker (and conference organizer) was Sohrab Ahmari, a Catholic writer best known for his 2019 polemic against conservatives insufficiently committed to the culture wars. The conference, "Restoring a Nation: The Common Good in the American Tradition," was a showcase for the modestly-sized but well-connected Catholic integralist movement, part of the broader current of conservative thought known as postliberalism.
Over the two-day conference, 20 speakers, including then-Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, hammered home the argument that the same faith used to justify abortion bans and curtail LGBTQ rights also demanded a different approach to the economy, one that might plausibly be called socialist. Laissez-faire capitalism, speakers said, wasn't the organic force conservatives have long claimed but the product of state intervention; ever-expanding markets hadn't brought universal freedom but wage-slavery and despair; Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal — demonized on the right for generations — was in fact a "triumph for Catholic social thought"; social welfare programs were good.
....(snip)....
The midterms gave conservatives of all stripes something to claim, or to denounce. Activists who spent the last two years sniffing for "critical race theory" and "gender ideology" in public schools cheered DeSantis' re-election as proof that maximalist culture war is the key to Republican success. Anti-Trump conservatives pointed to culture warriors' widespread losses elsewhere as proof the GOP needs to come "home to liberal democracy." In a New York Times op-ed, Ahmari chastised conservatives who'd spent the run-up to the election mocking an overworked Starbucks barista as one likely reason that "the red wave didn't materialize." Vance's victory in Ohio was simultaneously touted as proof that right-wing populism remains viable and that "the culture war still wins." ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/21/the-postliberal-crackup-the-gops-post-midterms-civil-starts-with-the-new-right/
The postliberal crackup: The GOP's post-midterm civil war starts with the New Right
The postliberal crackup: The GOP’s post-midterm civil war starts with the New Right
"Integralists" battle "national conservatives" over religion, capitalism and the far-right conquest of America
By KATHRYN JOYCE
Investigative Reporter
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 21, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) On a Friday night in early October, in a downtrodden city in eastern Ohio, a speaker laid out a grim vision. At the height of 2020's first, most terrifying wave of COVID-19, an employee at a Chinese slaughterhouse led his coworkers on a walkout. For years, the state-owned company had abused its staff with continual video surveillance, punishing production quotas and demerits for bathroom breaks. Now it was casually disregarding their safety during a once-in-a-century pandemic. Following the walkout, the employee was fired, and then vilified through a PR campaign that denounced his protest as immoral and possibly illegal.
After a pause came the reveal: That hadn't happened in China, but in New York City's Staten Island; the hero wasn't a Chinese meatpacker, but a young warehouse worker named Chris Smalls; the villain wasn't the Chinese government but Amazon.com. The speaker went on, quoting from Karl Marx about "masters and workmen" and the "spirit of revolutionary change" before clearing his throat to deliver another correction: Apologies, that was actually Pope Leo XIII.
Both jokes were preface to a larger punchline, one that's particularly relevant after the 2022 midterm elections: This wasn't happening at a Bernie Sanders rally or a Democratic Socialists of America meetup, but a decidedly conservative conference at Ohio's Franciscan University of Steubenville, a center of U.S. right-wing Catholic thought. The speaker (and conference organizer) was Sohrab Ahmari, a Catholic writer best known for his 2019 polemic against conservatives insufficiently committed to the culture wars. The conference, "Restoring a Nation: The Common Good in the American Tradition," was a showcase for the modestly-sized but well-connected Catholic integralist movement, part of the broader current of conservative thought known as postliberalism.
Over the two-day conference, 20 speakers, including then-Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, hammered home the argument that the same faith used to justify abortion bans and curtail LGBTQ rights also demanded a different approach to the economy, one that might plausibly be called socialist. Laissez-faire capitalism, speakers said, wasn't the organic force conservatives have long claimed but the product of state intervention; ever-expanding markets hadn't brought universal freedom but wage-slavery and despair; Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal — demonized on the right for generations — was in fact a "triumph for Catholic social thought"; social welfare programs were good.
....(snip)....
The midterms gave conservatives of all stripes something to claim, or to denounce. Activists who spent the last two years sniffing for "critical race theory" and "gender ideology" in public schools cheered DeSantis' re-election as proof that maximalist culture war is the key to Republican success. Anti-Trump conservatives pointed to culture warriors' widespread losses elsewhere as proof the GOP needs to come "home to liberal democracy." In a New York Times op-ed, Ahmari chastised conservatives who'd spent the run-up to the election mocking an overworked Starbucks barista as one likely reason that "the red wave didn't materialize." Vance's victory in Ohio was simultaneously touted as proof that right-wing populism remains viable and that "the culture war still wins." ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/21/the-postliberal-crackup-the-gops-post-midterms-civil-starts-with-the-new-right/
November 23, 2022
It's not just Trump: Midterms show the religious right is an albatross around the GOP's neck
Republicans went hard with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and abortion bans in 2022. Even their own voters don't like it
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 22, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Acouple of weeks out from a midterm election in which Republicans dramatically underperformed, one major theme has emerged in the post-mortems: Donald Trump is to blame. Turns out that voters do not like efforts to overthrow democracy, like Trump's attempted coup or the January 6 insurrection. As data analyst Nate Cohn at the New York Times demonstrated, Trump's "preferred primary candidates" — who usually won a Trump endorsement by backing his Big Lie — fell behind "other G.O.P. candidates by about five percentage points." The result is a number of state, local and congressional offices were lost that Republicans might otherwise have won.
Republican leaders are struggling with this information because dumping Trump is easier said than done so long as he has a substantial percentage of their voting base in his thrall. But, in truth, Republican problems run even deeper than that. It's not just Trump. The religious right has been the backbone of the party for decades, but this midterm election shows they might now be doing the GOP more harm than good at the ballot box.
As with Trump, Republicans are in a "can't win with them/can't win without them" relationship with the religious right. Fundamentalists remain a main source of organizing and fundraising for the GOP, as well a big chunk of their most reliable voters. They can't afford to alienate this group any more than they can afford to push away Trump. Doing so risks the loss of millions of loyal voters. But by continuing to pander to the religious right, Republicans are steadily turning off all other voters, a group that's rapidly growing in size as Americans turn their backs on conservative Christianity. That's doubly true when one looks at the youngest voters, the ones Republicans will need to stay viable as their currently aging voter base starts to die off.
New data from the progressive polling firm Navigator Research shows how dire the situation is for Republicans. On "culture war" issues like reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality, the voters broke hard on the progressive side of things. Among Democratic voters this midterm, 48% said abortion was an important issue for them, showing strong pro-choice sentiment. But among Republicans, only 13% ranked abortion (and the banning of it) as a driving factor in their vote. When Democratic voters were asked their main reason for their voting choice this year, abortion rights was the most popular, cited by 49% of voters. But among Republican voters, only 24% cited support for abortion bans as a major factor. .................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/22/its-not-just-trump-midterms-show-the-religious-right-is-an-albatross-around-the-gops-neck/
It's not just Trump: Midterms show the religious right is an albatross around the GOP's neck
It's not just Trump: Midterms show the religious right is an albatross around the GOP's neck
Republicans went hard with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and abortion bans in 2022. Even their own voters don't like it
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 22, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Acouple of weeks out from a midterm election in which Republicans dramatically underperformed, one major theme has emerged in the post-mortems: Donald Trump is to blame. Turns out that voters do not like efforts to overthrow democracy, like Trump's attempted coup or the January 6 insurrection. As data analyst Nate Cohn at the New York Times demonstrated, Trump's "preferred primary candidates" — who usually won a Trump endorsement by backing his Big Lie — fell behind "other G.O.P. candidates by about five percentage points." The result is a number of state, local and congressional offices were lost that Republicans might otherwise have won.
Republican leaders are struggling with this information because dumping Trump is easier said than done so long as he has a substantial percentage of their voting base in his thrall. But, in truth, Republican problems run even deeper than that. It's not just Trump. The religious right has been the backbone of the party for decades, but this midterm election shows they might now be doing the GOP more harm than good at the ballot box.
As with Trump, Republicans are in a "can't win with them/can't win without them" relationship with the religious right. Fundamentalists remain a main source of organizing and fundraising for the GOP, as well a big chunk of their most reliable voters. They can't afford to alienate this group any more than they can afford to push away Trump. Doing so risks the loss of millions of loyal voters. But by continuing to pander to the religious right, Republicans are steadily turning off all other voters, a group that's rapidly growing in size as Americans turn their backs on conservative Christianity. That's doubly true when one looks at the youngest voters, the ones Republicans will need to stay viable as their currently aging voter base starts to die off.
New data from the progressive polling firm Navigator Research shows how dire the situation is for Republicans. On "culture war" issues like reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality, the voters broke hard on the progressive side of things. Among Democratic voters this midterm, 48% said abortion was an important issue for them, showing strong pro-choice sentiment. But among Republicans, only 13% ranked abortion (and the banning of it) as a driving factor in their vote. When Democratic voters were asked their main reason for their voting choice this year, abortion rights was the most popular, cited by 49% of voters. But among Republican voters, only 24% cited support for abortion bans as a major factor. .................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/22/its-not-just-trump-midterms-show-the-religious-right-is-an-albatross-around-the-gops-neck/
November 20, 2022
Astronomer Royal Martin Rees: We're in a race between science education and catastrophe
The renowned scientist weighs in on what the public misunderstands about science
By MARTIN REES
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2022 2:00PM (EST)
(Salon) The word "scientist" still conjures up an image of an Albert Einstein lookalike — an unkempt figure (usually male and elderly) — or else a youthful geek. There's now of course far more racial and gender diversity among scientists, though still not enough.
But even in earlier centuries, scientists weren't all in the same mould. Consider, for instance two of the greatest: Newton and Darwin. Newton's mental powers were really "off the scale": when asked how he cracked such deep problems, he said "by thinking on them continually." He was solitary and reclusive when young; vain and vindictive in his later years. Darwin, by contrast, was an agreeable and sympathetic personality, and modest in his self-assessment. "I have a fair share of invention," he wrote in his autobiography," and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree."
Scientists have collectively, transformed our world. Without their insights, we'd be denied the everyday benefits whereby our lives differ from those of our forebears – electricity, health care, transport, computers and the internet. But continuing advances raise profound concerns. Who should access the "readout" of our personal genetic code? How might lengthening lifespans affect society? Should we build nuclear power stations, or wind farms, if we want to keep the lights on? Should we use more insecticides, or plant genetically modified crops? Should the law allow "designer babies?" Will we accept a machine's decisions on issues that matter to us?
Through its response to COVID-19, the scientific community has been our salvation— through urgent worldwide efforts to develop and deploy vaccines, combined with honest attempts to keep the public informed and acknowledge uncertainties.
This globe-spanning plague offered scientists unprecedented public prominence. But there's a scientific component to most policies on health, energy, climate and the environment. Yet if democratic debate is to rise above mere sloganeering, everyone needs a greater "feel" for science to avoid becoming bamboozled by propaganda and bad statistics. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/20/astronomer-royal-martin-rees-were-in-a-race-between-science-education-and/
Astronomer Royal Martin Rees: We're in a race between science education and catastrophe
Astronomer Royal Martin Rees: We're in a race between science education and catastrophe
The renowned scientist weighs in on what the public misunderstands about science
By MARTIN REES
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2022 2:00PM (EST)
(Salon) The word "scientist" still conjures up an image of an Albert Einstein lookalike — an unkempt figure (usually male and elderly) — or else a youthful geek. There's now of course far more racial and gender diversity among scientists, though still not enough.
But even in earlier centuries, scientists weren't all in the same mould. Consider, for instance two of the greatest: Newton and Darwin. Newton's mental powers were really "off the scale": when asked how he cracked such deep problems, he said "by thinking on them continually." He was solitary and reclusive when young; vain and vindictive in his later years. Darwin, by contrast, was an agreeable and sympathetic personality, and modest in his self-assessment. "I have a fair share of invention," he wrote in his autobiography," and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree."
Scientists have collectively, transformed our world. Without their insights, we'd be denied the everyday benefits whereby our lives differ from those of our forebears – electricity, health care, transport, computers and the internet. But continuing advances raise profound concerns. Who should access the "readout" of our personal genetic code? How might lengthening lifespans affect society? Should we build nuclear power stations, or wind farms, if we want to keep the lights on? Should we use more insecticides, or plant genetically modified crops? Should the law allow "designer babies?" Will we accept a machine's decisions on issues that matter to us?
Through its response to COVID-19, the scientific community has been our salvation— through urgent worldwide efforts to develop and deploy vaccines, combined with honest attempts to keep the public informed and acknowledge uncertainties.
This globe-spanning plague offered scientists unprecedented public prominence. But there's a scientific component to most policies on health, energy, climate and the environment. Yet if democratic debate is to rise above mere sloganeering, everyone needs a greater "feel" for science to avoid becoming bamboozled by propaganda and bad statistics. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/20/astronomer-royal-martin-rees-were-in-a-race-between-science-education-and/
November 16, 2022
(Slate) Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, former local news anchor, and “stolen election” conspiracy obsessive Kari Lake was preeeettttty confident heading into Election Day.
In late October she posted a facetious letter “thanking” Republican representative and non–election denier Liz Cheney for making an “in-kind contribution” to her campaign by appearing in an ad urging Arizona voters not to support Lake. Last Tuesday she told members of the press she planned to be their “worst frickin’ nightmare” for “8 years,” i.e., two terms in office. And in the home stretch before Election Day, she held campaign events with every white nationalist she could get her hands on. (See MSNBC’s Vaughn Hillyard’s list of them here.)
Last December, Lake said that “McCain Republicans”—i.e., supporters of the late senator, who won his final election in the state by 13 points—should “get the hell out” of one of her events. Not someone who believes the political science theories about the marginal importance of appearing “moderate” in contested races! Or even in the, uh, theory that you should try to get your own party’s voters to vote for you! ............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/kari-lake-katie-hobbs-arizona-governors-race.html
Trump's True Heir (as the GOP's Most Giant Baby)
(Slate) Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, former local news anchor, and “stolen election” conspiracy obsessive Kari Lake was preeeettttty confident heading into Election Day.
In late October she posted a facetious letter “thanking” Republican representative and non–election denier Liz Cheney for making an “in-kind contribution” to her campaign by appearing in an ad urging Arizona voters not to support Lake. Last Tuesday she told members of the press she planned to be their “worst frickin’ nightmare” for “8 years,” i.e., two terms in office. And in the home stretch before Election Day, she held campaign events with every white nationalist she could get her hands on. (See MSNBC’s Vaughn Hillyard’s list of them here.)
Last December, Lake said that “McCain Republicans”—i.e., supporters of the late senator, who won his final election in the state by 13 points—should “get the hell out” of one of her events. Not someone who believes the political science theories about the marginal importance of appearing “moderate” in contested races! Or even in the, uh, theory that you should try to get your own party’s voters to vote for you! ............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/kari-lake-katie-hobbs-arizona-governors-race.html
November 16, 2022
Population growth, climate change create an ‘Anthropocene engine' that's changing the planet
The 'Anthropocene engine' forges forward as population and emissions hit record levels — how can it be slowed?
By MANFRED LAUBICHLER
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 16, 2022 7:15AM (EST)
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
At first glance, the connections between the world's growing population and climate change seem obvious. The more people we have on this planet, the larger their collective impact on the climate.
However, a closer look with a longer time horizon reveals relationships between population size and climate change that can help us better understand both humanity's predicament as the global population nears 8 billion people — a milestone the United Nations expects the world to hit on about Nov. 15, 2022.
Looking back to the Stone Age
For much of human evolution, our ancestors were exposed to large climatic fluctuations between ice ages and intermittent warmer periods. The last of these ice ages ended about 10,000 years ago.
Before the ice sheets melted, sea levels were about 400 feet (120 meters) lower than today. That allowed humans to migrate around the world. Everywhere they went, our ancestors reshaped landscapes, first by clearing forests and then through early agricultural practices that emerged in a number of regions starting just as the last ice age ended.
....(snip)....
How does the Anthropocene engine work?
First, populations had to reach a critical number of people to successfully create enough knowledge about their environments that they could begin to actively and purposefully transform the niches they lived in.
Successful agriculture was the product of such knowledge. In turn, agriculture increased the amount of energy available to these early societies.
More energy supports more people. More people led to early settlements and, later, to cities. This allowed for task specialization and division of labor, which, in turn, accelerated the creation of more knowledge, which increased available energy and allowed population size to grow as well. And so on, and so on. ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/16/population-growth-climate-change-create-an-anthropocene-engine-thats-changing-the-planet_partner/
Population growth, climate change create an 'Anthropocene engine' that's changing the planet
Population growth, climate change create an ‘Anthropocene engine' that's changing the planet
The 'Anthropocene engine' forges forward as population and emissions hit record levels — how can it be slowed?
By MANFRED LAUBICHLER
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 16, 2022 7:15AM (EST)
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
At first glance, the connections between the world's growing population and climate change seem obvious. The more people we have on this planet, the larger their collective impact on the climate.
However, a closer look with a longer time horizon reveals relationships between population size and climate change that can help us better understand both humanity's predicament as the global population nears 8 billion people — a milestone the United Nations expects the world to hit on about Nov. 15, 2022.
Looking back to the Stone Age
For much of human evolution, our ancestors were exposed to large climatic fluctuations between ice ages and intermittent warmer periods. The last of these ice ages ended about 10,000 years ago.
Before the ice sheets melted, sea levels were about 400 feet (120 meters) lower than today. That allowed humans to migrate around the world. Everywhere they went, our ancestors reshaped landscapes, first by clearing forests and then through early agricultural practices that emerged in a number of regions starting just as the last ice age ended.
....(snip)....
How does the Anthropocene engine work?
First, populations had to reach a critical number of people to successfully create enough knowledge about their environments that they could begin to actively and purposefully transform the niches they lived in.
Successful agriculture was the product of such knowledge. In turn, agriculture increased the amount of energy available to these early societies.
More energy supports more people. More people led to early settlements and, later, to cities. This allowed for task specialization and division of labor, which, in turn, accelerated the creation of more knowledge, which increased available energy and allowed population size to grow as well. And so on, and so on. ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/16/population-growth-climate-change-create-an-anthropocene-engine-thats-changing-the-planet_partner/
November 15, 2022
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/katie-hobbs-wins-arizona-governor-election-2022-midterms-n1300377
By Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
Democrat Katie Hobbs has been elected governor of Arizona, NBC News projects. Hobbs’ win over Republican Kari Lake is a major victory for democratic norms — and helps keep a formidable MAGA politician from ascending to an influential office.
For most of the race, Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, held a narrow lead in the polls, but in the final stretches Lake moved slightly ahead. Lake’s candidacy centered on 2020 election denialism, creating a sharp foil with Hobbs’ entire job. While Lake used her skills as a telegenic communicator — something she honed as an experienced local news anchor — Hobbs often struggled to make clear and forceful points on the campaign trail.
Hobbs’ most controversial move in the race was her refusal to debate Lake, even after trailing her in the polls. She framed it as a boycott of Lake’s fervent 2020 election denialism, but many speculated she was worried about being outshone on the debate stage. While it raised eyebrows on the left, the decision might’ve been a strategically effective move.
Hobbs’ win is a relief for democracy watchers. As secretary of state, she oversaw the state’s administration of elections, and she represents credible vote counting in an era in which the GOP has rallied behind the idea that inconvenient losses are proof of fraud. Setting aside partisan politics, it’s good news for the country that Arizona voters chose a small-d democrat over an authoritarian activist — especially in a critical battleground state.
Hobbs' win over Republican Kari Lake is a major victory for democratic norms
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/katie-hobbs-wins-arizona-governor-election-2022-midterms-n1300377
By Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
Democrat Katie Hobbs has been elected governor of Arizona, NBC News projects. Hobbs’ win over Republican Kari Lake is a major victory for democratic norms — and helps keep a formidable MAGA politician from ascending to an influential office.
For most of the race, Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, held a narrow lead in the polls, but in the final stretches Lake moved slightly ahead. Lake’s candidacy centered on 2020 election denialism, creating a sharp foil with Hobbs’ entire job. While Lake used her skills as a telegenic communicator — something she honed as an experienced local news anchor — Hobbs often struggled to make clear and forceful points on the campaign trail.
Hobbs’ most controversial move in the race was her refusal to debate Lake, even after trailing her in the polls. She framed it as a boycott of Lake’s fervent 2020 election denialism, but many speculated she was worried about being outshone on the debate stage. While it raised eyebrows on the left, the decision might’ve been a strategically effective move.
Hobbs’ win is a relief for democracy watchers. As secretary of state, she oversaw the state’s administration of elections, and she represents credible vote counting in an era in which the GOP has rallied behind the idea that inconvenient losses are proof of fraud. Setting aside partisan politics, it’s good news for the country that Arizona voters chose a small-d democrat over an authoritarian activist — especially in a critical battleground state.
November 15, 2022
Why did single women vote for Democrats? Republicans have an asinine theory
Republicans believe Democrats have brainwashed unmarried ladies — who are clearly unable to think for themselves
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 15, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) After the heavily predicted "red wave" in the 2022 midterm elections turned out to be an illusion, it was really no mystery why Republicans failed to capitalize on the political tailwinds that — according to conventional wisdom and political history — should have given them much bigger wins. Blame Donald Trump and Justice Samuel Alito, for the one-two punch of inciting an insurrection (which was wildly unpopular) and overturning the right to abortion (which was highly popular). Americans, it turns out, are protective of democracy and their basic human rights and turned out in huge numbers to vote for Democrats or, more precisely, to vote against Republicans, who are a threat to both. The smart thing for Republicans to do is clear enough: Stop stoking Trump's election lies and scale back the tsunami of racism, sexism and homophobia currently fueling their party.
But there's no chance that will happen, of course. Let's remember that Republicans also flirted with moderating their message after losing the 2012 election, only to go in precisely the opposite direction by nominating Donald Trump in 2016. Looking inward and engaging in self-reflection is the antithesis of everything the modern GOP stands for. So instead, the right is looking outward for someone besides themselves to blame, and they've landed on a favorite scapegoat: Single women. Worse, in blaming single women for their own political failure, conservatives are wallowing in a ludicrous conspiracy theory based on the premise that having an "F" on your driver's license renders you incapable of autonomous thought.
Yes, it's true: Republicans are big mad that single women voted for Democrats, and their explanation for this is that Democrats of brainwashing those hapless, unfortunate women who don't have husbands to make their decisions for them.
"Unmarried women in America are lost, miserable, addicted to SSRIs and alcohol, wracked with guilt from abortion, and wandering from partner to partner," wrote Joel Berry, managing editor of the popular right wing site Babylon Bee. "They are the Democrats' core base now, and the Democrats will do everything possible to manufacture more of them."
....(snip)....
While Republican politicians have generally been a bit more circumspect in their language, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri tipped his hand on a not-that-subtle endorsement of this conspiracy theory, retweeting conservative sociologist Brad Wilcox — who prominently drew attention to single women's Democratic leanings — complaining that "fewer adults are opening their hearts, lives, and minds to marriage and children." ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/15/why-did-women-voted-for-democrats-have-an-asinine-theory/
Why did single women vote for Democrats? Republicans have an asinine theory
Why did single women vote for Democrats? Republicans have an asinine theory
Republicans believe Democrats have brainwashed unmarried ladies — who are clearly unable to think for themselves
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 15, 2022 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) After the heavily predicted "red wave" in the 2022 midterm elections turned out to be an illusion, it was really no mystery why Republicans failed to capitalize on the political tailwinds that — according to conventional wisdom and political history — should have given them much bigger wins. Blame Donald Trump and Justice Samuel Alito, for the one-two punch of inciting an insurrection (which was wildly unpopular) and overturning the right to abortion (which was highly popular). Americans, it turns out, are protective of democracy and their basic human rights and turned out in huge numbers to vote for Democrats or, more precisely, to vote against Republicans, who are a threat to both. The smart thing for Republicans to do is clear enough: Stop stoking Trump's election lies and scale back the tsunami of racism, sexism and homophobia currently fueling their party.
But there's no chance that will happen, of course. Let's remember that Republicans also flirted with moderating their message after losing the 2012 election, only to go in precisely the opposite direction by nominating Donald Trump in 2016. Looking inward and engaging in self-reflection is the antithesis of everything the modern GOP stands for. So instead, the right is looking outward for someone besides themselves to blame, and they've landed on a favorite scapegoat: Single women. Worse, in blaming single women for their own political failure, conservatives are wallowing in a ludicrous conspiracy theory based on the premise that having an "F" on your driver's license renders you incapable of autonomous thought.
Yes, it's true: Republicans are big mad that single women voted for Democrats, and their explanation for this is that Democrats of brainwashing those hapless, unfortunate women who don't have husbands to make their decisions for them.
"Unmarried women in America are lost, miserable, addicted to SSRIs and alcohol, wracked with guilt from abortion, and wandering from partner to partner," wrote Joel Berry, managing editor of the popular right wing site Babylon Bee. "They are the Democrats' core base now, and the Democrats will do everything possible to manufacture more of them."
....(snip)....
While Republican politicians have generally been a bit more circumspect in their language, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri tipped his hand on a not-that-subtle endorsement of this conspiracy theory, retweeting conservative sociologist Brad Wilcox — who prominently drew attention to single women's Democratic leanings — complaining that "fewer adults are opening their hearts, lives, and minds to marriage and children." ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/15/why-did-women-voted-for-democrats-have-an-asinine-theory/
November 12, 2022
..... and this Slate article was kind of an eye-opener for me:
If a Red Wave Hits New York, Blame Andrew Cuomo
The former governor stacked New York’s highest court with conservatives who hijacked the state’s redistricting process.
BY ALEXANDER SAMMON
NOV 01, 20225:45 AM
Today, all of that seems like a far-off fantasy.
A startling nine of New York’s 26 congressional seats are currently in play for the GOP; party leaders are flocking to the state to help campaign for Democrats holding on by a thread. Jill Biden announced Thursday that she would campaign for one such Democrat, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who opted to run in an easier, bluer district and was put in charge of House Democrats’ entire national reelection apparatus, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He’s now on the ropes.
What the hell happened here? And who’s to blame?
Luckily, there’s an easy answer for the last question: Look no further than erstwhile Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo.
If Cuomo is known for anything beyond his miscreant behavior in office, it should be for his willingness to abet the state’s conservative forces for his personal gain, often to his own party’s disadvantage. Nowhere was this more obvious than his judicial appointments, where Cuomo routinely elevated conservative appointees—gleefully scoring points against his progressive opponents in Albany and New York City by moving the judicial branch rapidly to the right.
In particular, he appointed four conservative-leaning judges to 14-year terms on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest judicial body. They are the former Republican Janet DiFiore, Republican Michael Garcia, and conservative Democrats Anthony Cannatarro and Madeline Singas. Forming a majority of the court’s seven members, these four emerged as a bloc in the most recent session, voting together in 96 of 98 cases during the term that ended in mid 2022. ..............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/2022-midterms-new-york-republicans-cuomo-maloney.html
It was a good election day for Dems, but not for the NY congressional delegation.....
..... and this Slate article was kind of an eye-opener for me:
If a Red Wave Hits New York, Blame Andrew Cuomo
The former governor stacked New York’s highest court with conservatives who hijacked the state’s redistricting process.
BY ALEXANDER SAMMON
NOV 01, 20225:45 AM
Today, all of that seems like a far-off fantasy.
A startling nine of New York’s 26 congressional seats are currently in play for the GOP; party leaders are flocking to the state to help campaign for Democrats holding on by a thread. Jill Biden announced Thursday that she would campaign for one such Democrat, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who opted to run in an easier, bluer district and was put in charge of House Democrats’ entire national reelection apparatus, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He’s now on the ropes.
What the hell happened here? And who’s to blame?
Luckily, there’s an easy answer for the last question: Look no further than erstwhile Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo.
If Cuomo is known for anything beyond his miscreant behavior in office, it should be for his willingness to abet the state’s conservative forces for his personal gain, often to his own party’s disadvantage. Nowhere was this more obvious than his judicial appointments, where Cuomo routinely elevated conservative appointees—gleefully scoring points against his progressive opponents in Albany and New York City by moving the judicial branch rapidly to the right.
In particular, he appointed four conservative-leaning judges to 14-year terms on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest judicial body. They are the former Republican Janet DiFiore, Republican Michael Garcia, and conservative Democrats Anthony Cannatarro and Madeline Singas. Forming a majority of the court’s seven members, these four emerged as a bloc in the most recent session, voting together in 96 of 98 cases during the term that ended in mid 2022. ..............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/2022-midterms-new-york-republicans-cuomo-maloney.html
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