leicsmac

Well rounded article. Darkly interesting that the NOAA didn't publish the findings because they weren't what Felon#47 wanted to hear, though. I wish I could say that I was surprised. You would have thought there was enough disaster movies where those with power ignore the scientific warnings and then everything goes Pete Tong because, oddly enough, the laws of the Universe don't really care about politics.

I think that if the facts of the case are as they are, the judge did in all likelihood commit a crime, At the same time, we cannot strip away the political element involved here as this is far from the only judicial representative targeted by this administration and this case, along with all others, should be examined in that context. The idea that every case is judged on its own merit is idealistically true, but I think it's naive to the point of being fanciful that it is really happening in the US right now - the political interference and pressure is patently obvious, and cannot and should not be dismissed out of hand.

I don't think so either - but I think that, in terms of results and harm inflicted, the difference between him believing the ideas and him simply facilitating them is pretty much null.

And were this an isolated incident of the executive stepping in on judicial "overreach", or indeed not a sign of possible things to come, then this argument would likely be more palatable. But it is not. Does anyone think that this administration, having crossed this particular line, will stop at judges that are failing to apply the law? Or just the law as this administration itself wants it to be? I see no reason whatsoever for this incident, or its part in an increasing trend of executive overreach, should in any way be downplayed. History is rather clear on that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly5xx017vko "I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law and they are not... ...And if you are destroying evidence, if you are obstructing justice, when you have victims sitting in a courtroom of domestic violence, and you're escorting a criminal defendant out a back door, it will not be tolerated." - Pam Bondi, on the direct instruction of Donald Trump, 2025 "“I expect the German legal profession to understand that the nation is not here for them but they are here for the nation.. From now on, I shall intervene in these cases and remove from office those judges who evidently do not understand the demand of the hour.” - Adolf Hitler, 1942

It would be ridiculous if the consequences of it all weren't so severe and wide ranging.

I wish that this wasn't so accurate.

Mangione pleads not guilty to state and federal murder charges. Will the Trump-influenced Justice Dept be so daft to push the death penalty so much that he definitely gets it if found guilty, and make him a martyr to his cause?

This is a superb listen.

I emphatically agree. But that transition will either act in a way that is reasonable to people, or in a way that busts up their lives. The abrupt way, unless someone comes up with a miracle option that can be utilised right away, tends to be more the latter than the former.

I'd have to look up numbers to really talk further on this one. But prefacing that, drawing down somewhat on consumption, recycling and transitioning to more sustainable options are, I think, all facets of the possible solution.

If that's true, then we're not in for good time because the only thing that will stop people using such things that make they lives easier is either a sustainable item that makes it easier still (and is of equal or lesser cost) or disaster. Which one of those is much more likely? Let us hope that you're wrong.

A related question: in a democracy where the people choose to elect a religious ethnonationalist to have nuclear release authority, exactly who's fault is it if that nutter then chooses to make a few million (or more) people instantly make an urgent appointment with his deity?

On the above topic:

And the timing for such added aggression really couldn't be worse.

I know I really wish that I had better news to report, but these are apparently the times we live in...

That's a damn shame, been there before myself so know what you mean. Speaking personally I think it's rather obvious where behaving like animals (which, when it comes down to it, is what realpolitik is) leads us.

Depends whether or not one thinks Putin would just have accepted stopping at those regions and, again and more widely, whether such behaviour should be considered acceptable or dismissed just as "the way things are" anyway. Edit: AFAIC realpolitik should absolutely be dreaded and challenged wherever possible because, quite frankly, long term it's nothing more than death-worshipping self interest.

Certainly not, but they do begin - and perpetuate - on the lack thereof, which means it might not be the best idea to accept such simply as a "fact of life" or somesuch. Not really a comment on your take on this matter in particular, just a general observation.

I guess we'll find out. It seems to be an unfortunate historical fact, however, that war often comes about in spite of people's appetite for it.

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-world-trigger-multiple-climate-action.html https://phys.org/news/2025-04-atmospheric-shifts-patagonian-glacier-loss.html https://phys.org/news/2025-04-hot-cold-sudden-flips-temperature.html Signor, play "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" by The Ink Spots, please.

And so we arrive at yet another situation where cynical "Might Makes Right" realpolitik threatens to destroy the lives of a great many people. Would be nice for our species to grow beyond the idea, tbh.

You could be right to be honest, the real thing will be to see where we are in a few years time. That being said, the response from the usual print media suspects was predictable to pretty much anyone.

Perhaps because they can see rather clearly that picking a side on this highly charged matter doesn't actually give them anything politically. And all the time social inequality is getting larger, biodiversity is dropping, and vital resources are becoming more scarce.

*Looks at today's front pages* Yep. It was a mistake.