Friday, January 10, 2020

Weekend Reading: The End of a Tough Week Edition

I had a tough week this week - I got sick on Wednesday with what I eventually figured out was a vestibular migraine and it took last night's sleep to really get me back to feeling normal. But I had my first rollerblade of 2020 today and it was really nice. It was a sunny day today, a bit on the cool side (I think our high was about 64 degrees) - but there wasn't too much wind and it was a really nice outing.

One thing I'm trying to figure out how to do this year is get more beach walks in. An obvious option would be to replace some of my rollerblade outings with beach walks... but that's not going to happen. I value the rollerblade outings too much! Also, another thing I'm doing this year is that I've started calorie counting again. I like how it resets my eating habits and I am hoping I can lose a few pounds, too. One of the nice things about the rollerblade outings is they burn a lot of calories... which "buys" my Friday night beers. I am having a hard time settling on my personal goals for this year, but I'm getting close and I'll post about them soon.

Anyway, on to the links.

I am not going to post a bunch of links about the mess we've made with Iran, but I will share three things:

First, I agree with Josh Marshall: I want to hear more about the possibility that Trump chose to strike Soleimani because some GOP Senators were pressuring him to do this and perhaps threatening to withhold their support during impeachment if he didn't do it. That is... yuck. It is horrible.

Second, Talia Levin's essay about the holy war aspects of what is going on right now is very chilling.

Finally, read this thread about the impact of the Ukraine Airlines crash in Canada. That this is now looking like it was a missle strike made in error just compounds the tragedy. It is far too easy for people to forget that when hostilities heat up, the chances of accidental civilian deaths goes way up. This is a heartbreaking reminder.

OK, one more thing: Jamelle Bouie on why we need to stop trying to make a rational reason for Trump's actions and just face the truth about who he is and what his presidency is.

There is a lot more to read on this subject, but I'm sure you can find that for yourself. I'd like to move on to some links about climate change.

First, in the category of climate adaptation: We may all need to learn the lessons conveyed in Australia's "it is too late to leave" message.

I found this story about "cultural burns" really interesting.

This essay from someone who was in Mallacoota is worth your time.

In electric car news, here is an article that explains why Teslas have longer range than their competitors. Time will tell if we come to regret prioritizing range in this purchase - but one thing I know for certain, the difference between 240 mile range and 300 mile range wouldn't seem so big if we had a better charging infrastructure.

In other transportation news, JetBlue is promising to make all US flights carbon neutral. They will rely heavily on offsets, though. If a government - like, say, the US government - wanted to have a big climate impact, one thing they could do is invest in research into cleaner airplane technology. Until then, offsets are good, I guess.

I haven't read this speculative piece on how we end the climate crisis yet... but I plan to do so this weekend. I think we need to tell stories about how we could do this.

This Australian piece about how the world is run by a bunch of right wing bullies right now was really good.

As a middle age GenX woman, a lot of the points in this article resonated with me.

Yikes, glowing reindeer:

Beautiful bird:
Bunny!


Happy weekend, everyone!
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