News Roundup (4.5.21)

Trump, Etc.

• Trump aide seeking NH House seat voted in 2 states in 2016

  He voted in two primaries in 2016 for different people (originally a Christie guy). It astonishes me that someone wrote that this might leave ‘him at odds with the Republican Party’s intense focus on “election integrity.”’

  I don’t know what to do with journalists who take “election integrity” at face value from Republicans. I suppose there are scare quotes here, but it really seems like next to nothing.

Eco-Climate-World

• We have the tools to save the planet from climate change. Politics is getting in the way, new IPCC report says

  “funding is currently three to six times lower than it needs to be to ensure that the global average temperature does not rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius.”

  Honestly, I’m shocked that the funding gap is so small. I would have guessed the situation was much worse, so maybe there’s still some small measure of chance?

  I do appreciate the IPCC countering doomsday scenarios and framing the problem as one of politics and resource allocation. Warnings about warning can create an air of inevitability. One can hope this inspires some small measure of action, political action.

  On the other hand….

• Exxon signals record quarterly profit from oil and gas prices

  Rising oil prices don’t bode well for the politics of climate investment.

War Machines

• Up-Close Ukraine Atrocity Photographs Touch a Global Nerve

  The execution style murder of civilians is more tangible and understandable perhaps than the countless deaths due to relentless shelling. It’s easier to believe that someone who pulls a trigger in this way is evil than someone who fires a middle or drops a bomb from an unmanned drone in Nevada.

  Personally, I think all war is criminal.

  War crimes do take a while to prosecute though even if we can agree what they are:

• 200,000 Dead, One Lone Defendant as Darfur Trial Begins

  His lawyers seem to be arguing that this is all a case of mistaken identity…

  “the Kushayb case has underlined the limitations of the International Criminal Court’s reach. For all its ambitions, the founders gave limited powers to the permanent court, whose mandate is to try the worst crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and aggression.”

  What does it say about our society that we limit the powers of those who seek to bring justice to those guilty of genocide?

Economical

• The U.S. Economy Is Booming. So Why Are Economists Worrying About a Recession?

“Economists, however, are notoriously terrible at predicting recessions.”

…and yet we keep listening to them, it’s baffling.