By Andrew Crane-Droesch – Washington Post – 10/21/19 … Out of the blue, in August 2018, agriculture secretary George “Sonny” Perdue announced that my agency and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture would relocate from Washington, D.C., to some yet-to-be-determined location. He claimed that this would lower costs and bring us closer to “stakeholders.” … [Read more…]
Cultural Comment by Lizzie Widdicombe, New Yorker 10/21/19 For argument’s sake, let’s imagine that Trump’s tweet was wrong, and the “Civil War like fracture in this Nation” doesn’t come to pass. Instead, he and his allies lose the 2020 election. A new Administration comes in, dedicated to helping the nation “work off” its historical crimes, … [Read more…]
From IEEE Spectrum: New Alternative to Bitcoin Uses Negligible Energy 15 Oct 2019 | 15:00 GMT New Alternative to Bitcoin Uses Negligible Energy Novel algorithms are secure like blockchains, but simpler, faster, and more energy-efficient By Charles Q. Choi A nearly zero-energy alternative to Bitcoin and other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies that promises as much security but … [Read more…]
From SwissInfo: The United Nations is facing a serious cashflow crisis, as 63 states – including its largest contributor, the United States – have not paid their annual dues. In Geneva, officials at the UN’s European headquarters (UNOG) are considering ways to cut costs, while the host nation looks on anxiously. The statement by UN … [Read more…]
From Mather Jones, September 26, 2019, Arctic Ice Is Melting Faster Than Expected. These Scientists Have a Radical Idea to Save It. Costly and controversial, yes. But we may be running out of choices. “We’re getting much more attention because of how dire thing are,” says inventor and engineer Leslie Field, founder of Ice911, a … [Read more…]
Guardian, 17 September, 2019: Six whistleblowers and ex-government scientists describe how the Trump administration made them bury climate science – and why they won’t stay quiet by Oliver Milman From weakening vehicle emissions to blocking warnings about how coastal parks could flood or the impact on the Arctic, the Trump administration is accused of muzzling … [Read more…]
From the Guardian, Sept 9th, 2019: “The only option will be to drain it into the sea and dilute it,” Yoshiaki Harada told a news briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday. “The whole of the government will discuss this, but I would like to offer my simple opinion.” … Six years ago during the city’s bid … [Read more…]
In a NY Times interview , Ram Dass discuses age, the separation of the ego and the soul and answers still silly questions from the interviewer David Marchese.
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power” ― Benito Mussolini
In the New York Review of Books, this essay Real Americans by Joseph O’Neill is noteworthy. O’Neill reviews two books, This America: The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore and This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta. O’Neill delivers a fine essay covering many points of the current state in … [Read more…]