Talking About Climate

What makes global climate change so difficult is it feels too big and overwhelming for us as individuals to have any impact.

But that isn’t true.

In our daily lives, we can eat a more climate-friendly diet, including seasonal, local foods; install solar panels, recycle, invest in sustainable technologies, conserve resources and limit our consumption of fossil fuels, among other steps.

As citizens we can support leaders who get it and expel those who don’t from office. Organizing efforts by environmental activists have been responsible for much of the progress we’ve made on the issue; so donating to non-profits who are working on the issue is another option.

But perhaps the most important step we can take is changing the way we talk about it -- not as an apocalyptic inevitability but as a mitigable inevitability. Although it is too late to stop climate change, we may be able to limit its catastrophic effects on future generations.

In this context, converting government fleets to electric vehicles, promoting the collection of rainwater by agencies, and reducing public waste all will help. If governments mobilize for collective action, there may be ways to better prepare our populations for what is to come.

Explaining the impending crisis to young children is appropriate as long as it isn’t done in ways that overwhelm them. After all, they will be dealing with this throughout their lives, so getting used to the tradeoffs early on may spur them to help us find solutions.

Most children instinctively want to make things better; they are our greatest natural resource. 

And though the steps I’ve described may seem small in the face of the scope of climate change, they at least represent hope.

Future generations deserve at least *that* much from us...right now.

(This is an update from an essay in 2021. Getting government to take the indicated steps has obviously become much more difficult under Trump.)

HEADLINES:

• U.S. intercepted Iranian missiles targeting American forces in Kuwait, Central Command says (CNBC)

• Israel seizes Crusader-era castle as Netanyahu orders forces deeper into Lebanon (CNN)

• US strike on alleged drug boat kills three in eastern Pacific (Guardian)

• Trump floats MAGA rally instead of concert after musicians drop out of Freedom 250 (NPR)

• I Asked a Mining Billionaire About His Environmental Philanthropy. It Didn’t Go Well. (Mother Jones)

• Race for rare earths sparks concern about environmental damage (FT)

• Asia reckons with China as Trump pulls back (Politico)

• Blue states pitch 100 percent tax on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ payouts (WP)

• Robotaxis Are Spreading Across the U.S.—and So Is the Backlash (WSJ)

• Astronomers finally solve Saturn’s decades-long spin mystery (ScienceDaily)

• Chinese scientists leave posts after whistle-blower raises alarm over their research (SCMP)

• Ukraine turns real-life kills into video game thrills for drone pilots (WP)

• AI Bubble Debate Gets Real as Chip Stocks Rally Turns Historic (Bloomberg)

• AI hit its COVID shutdown moment (BI)

• As the Pentagon pushes for battlefield AI, some military leaders urge caution (AP)

• Pit Bull Makes Throat-Slitting Gesture While Owner Not Looking (Onion)

 

Where the Money Goes

Millennials (AKA Gen Y) are those born roughly between 1980-1996. They have been defining marketing trends since they came of age. Now, they are in the process of inheriting more wealth ($68 trillion) from their baby boomer parents than any generation in history.

And they are digital natives.

They’ve grown up in a world dominated by the technology companies. Virtually every one of them carries a mobile device in their pocket or purse that is capable of housing all of the world’s known information over the entire sweep of time, i.e., the millennia.

So it makes sense that one of the otherwise obscure stories that caught my eye this week is how millennials have embraced digital banking over the traditional brick and mortar banks we grew up with.

When it comes to transferring money, cashing or depositing checks, paying bills or making investments, they are rapidly transitioning to green, paperless systems that has rendered the old savings and loan of “It’s a Wonderful Life” lore to the history books.

That chapter will henceforth have to be titled “It *Was* a Wonderful Life.”

I’m still getting used to the fact that the days when I took my teenagers to our local bank branch to open their first checking account are a relic of history they won’t be repeating with their kids. When we made those trips, the “bankers” would shake my kid’s hand and say something like, “You’re a real adult now.”

They wore a certain self-satisfied smile when they said that, like they knew something the kid didn’t. I’m pretty sure it’s called “debt.”

As a kid I learned about banking in an odd way. As something of a purported math whiz, I was studied by the local bank when it was first introducing computers into its arsenal, in the early 60s. It was only a matter of time before ATMs would be replacing tellers and, well, the rest of that is history.

After studying my pattern-recognition skills for a spell, the local banker guy told my father that unfortunately, I was not “banker material, psychologically.”

Alas, perhaps that is why my personal millennials will not be inheriting very much of that $68 trillion generational wealth -- what has been dubbed as the “Greatest Transfer of Wealth of All Time.”

I spent all of my reporting career “following the money” rather than accumulating it.

Sorry, kids.

(I wrote this five years ago.)

HEADLINES:

• Trump-linked Freedom 250th concert series runs into trouble (Axios)

• In California race, Becerra gains support in latest poll with Steyer and Hilton not far behind (LAT)

• Trump’s ‘weaponization’ fund puts Republican senators in a bind (Reuters)

• Trump’s $1.8 Billion Settlement Fund Sparks Alarm Inside White House (WSJ)

• Israeli forces push past Lebanon’s Litani River: How significant is it? (Al Jazeera)

• Iran official says Trump is stalling talks with ‘excessive demands’ as wait for breakthrough continues (NBC)

• The War Trump Can’t End (Atlantic)

• Why Iran fears a deal today means more war tomorrow (FT)

• Fears of travel chaos flare as Mullin weighs pulling customs officers from Newark airport (Politico)

• Why Conservatives Are Trying to Kill the Voting Rights Act (Mother Jones)

• Why America’s rich keep getting richer (CNN)

• There are no Supreme Court vacancies, but some judges are acting like there might be (WP)

• U.S. general meets Cuban military officials at edge of Guantanamo Bay (CNBC)

• Russia’s and Ukraine’s neighbors face drone threat (Reuters)

• Trump’s name must come off of the Kennedy Center, judge rules (NPR)

• Massive Blue Origin rocket explosion gives edge to Elon Musk in space race (WP)

• LLMs believe false statements even after explicit warnings that they’re false (ArsTechnica)

• The antisocial workplace (BI)

• Pope Releases Encyclical On Perils Of Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Strategy (Onion)

Only the Truth Can Provide Relief

“I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults.” -- Molly Ivins

---

When I was a little kid, no myth had greater power over my imagination than that of Davy Crockett. Like millions of others, I had a coonskin cap and a toy rifle. And like millions of others, I was mesmerized by Walt Disney’s 1955 TV series version of Crocket’s’s heroic last stand at the Alamo.

The only problem is that it wasn’t true.

According to the book, Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, the historical record departs from the Disney version in significant ways. It documents that the territory’s war for independence from Mexico, including battle between the ragged group of volunteers held up at the old mission in San Antonio and Santa Ana’s Mexican army, was in part over the issue of slavery.

At the Alamo, the pro-slavery group, (Crockett’s side), lost.

And there was nothing heroic about the occasion. Many of the volunteers broke ranks and ran, and were easily cut down in the open as they tried to flee. Crockett himself appears to have surrendered and was executed.

This information is only now gaining currency because the memoirs of Mexican soldiers at the scene and other contemporaneous accounts are finally being taken seriously by historians.

Today, in 2026, Texas is a majority-Latino state. 

So it really is time to abolish the old Anglo myths like the Alamo fairy tale, acknowledge the role of slavery in America’s creation, and stop suppressing minority voters, which is happening right now, in real time in Texas with its gerrymandering.

The late, great Texas muckraker Molly Ivins got it right when she said: “There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.”

This is one of those times.

HEADLINES:

• Judge Reopens Trump I.R.S. Suit, Questioning ‘Weaponization’ Fund (NYT)

• Trump lays out Iran deal demands, says he’s about to make ‘final determination’ (CNBC)

• Middle East on Edge as Trump Mulls Decision About Iran Deal (NYT)

• Iran says it has a new air defence system. How significant is it? (Al Jazeera)

• Bombs, Bargains and Bluster: Trump’s Iran Approach Sows Confusion (NYT)

• New poll shows California governor race down to 3 frontrunners (KTLA)

• Pam Bondi tells lawmakers ‘redaction errors’ were made in Epstein files release (NBC)

• ICE Agent Wanted in Minneapolis Shooting Is Captured in Texas (NYT)

• Big Banks Are Raking In Profits as Market Turbulence Shows No Signs of Easing (WSJ)

• Court Orders Trump’s Name Stripped From Kennedy Center (NYT)

• Tomatoes become latest symbol of America’s affordability squeeze (AP)

• Smart tech is making war a dumber choice (Economist)

• Louisiana Approves Map Eliminating a Majority-Black District (NYT)

• Rep. Thomas Kean Still Trading Stocks Amid Months-Long Absence (Forbes)

• ABC stations call FCC’s early call for license renewal ‘unconstitutional’ (AP)

• Trump’s Violent Threats Can’t Hide the Truth: He’s a Humiliated Bully (Nation)

• After a brutal winter, Ukraine’s drones are breaking Russian defenses (WP)

• With a stalemate in Ukraine and discontent at home, Putin seems ready to escalate his war (AP)

• China is building launch pads near its nuclear missile silos (Reuters)

• Blowing Up Boats Hasn’t Slowed Cocaine Traffic to U.S., Experts Say (NYT)

• How seeing Bruce Springsteen in DC gave me hope (Salon)

• Olivia Rodrigo Tried Writing Love Songs. Then Life Got Messy. (NYT)

• The Biggest Tell That Something Was Written by AI (Atlantic)

• Your AI bill is out of control. Google has been waiting for this moment. (BI)

• A.I. Boom Upends San Francisco Housing Market (NYT)

• Meta Glasses Users Report Bug Where They Can See Mark Zuckerberg’s Memories (Onion)

 

Past and Future Now

 All over the country, young people are graduating. They’re just starting out. 

Reports say young men are in crisis. 

Reports say old men in power are part of the problem.

I’m not sure about all of that but I am sure that around here it is a season of hope.

(Photo: Grandpa, grandson Luca, Uncle Peter, Uncle Ty, grandson Leif)

HEADLINES:

• Key inflation gauge worsens as Americans' income and spending power erodes (AP)

• Trump’s approval plunges among his White working-class base (WP)

• Federal judge halts work on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’ (CNN)

• Uncertainty Hangs Over Talks as Sticking Points Remain (NYT)

• Oil prices turn lower as U.S.-Iran ceasefire extension awaits Trump approval (CNBC)

• Iran says it targeted American base after fresh US strikes (BBC)

• Donald Trump shares draft Iran peace agreement with Israel and other allies (Guardian)

• A federal judge in D.C. declines to block Trump’s executive order on voting by mail (NBC)

• Paxton win sparks GOP money panic (Politico)

• California Tries to Block Trump Involvement in Election Procedures (NYT)

• Who’s ahead in the California governor race? (CalMatters)

• Hilton’s Chances of Beating Becerra In California Governor Race: New Poll (Newsweek)

• Members of Congress visit federal immigration detention center in New Jersey amid reported hunger strike (AP)

• Trump administration ‘drawing up plans’ to stop processing international flights in sanctuary cities (Guardian)

• West Coast chemical emergencies raise questions about the safety of massive industrial tanks (AP)

• Trump appointees push $250 banknote with his portrait (WP)

• A conflict between the US and China over Taiwan would risk a nuclear escalation with both militaries likely to stage sweeping operations targeting rival command and communications hubs, a leading defence research center said. (Reuters)

• Europe’s superyacht builders hit choppy waters (Economist)

• US forces deployed to war zones have been targeted using commercially available location data, according to reports fielded by military officials, an illustration of how the global surveillance ‌economy is shaping the battlefield. (Reuters)

• Russia signs military partnership with the Taliban (Politico)

• Why Pakistan and Afghanistan Are Still Fighting (NYT)

• Israel has emptied southern Lebanon far beyond the front lines (Reuters)

• Ozempic is changing the brain in ways that surprise scientists (WP)

• Gamification and memes lure young people to sports wagering apps, prediction markets (AP)

• AI sticker shock hits corporate America (Axios)

• AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World (Wired)

• These 5 skills are AI-proof and likely to become more valuable ‘over the next 5 years,’ says Oxford-trained career expert (CNBC)

• Tesla’s AI trainers don’t trust its self-driving tech (Reuters)

• Listerine Leaves 0.1% Of Germs Alive To Spread Message Of Terror Throughout Microbial Community (Onion)

Luca's Graduation

 

Origin Story: Global Dumping Ground

Many years ago, I gave a speech about the “Circle of Poison” in North Carolina. It was one of many such speeches I gave all over the world.

After the speech, a member of the audience approached me and asked to speak confidentially. “It’s not just hazardous pesticides that are being exported to poor countries,” said this informant.

“You should check out the export of hazardous waste.”

During our brief conversation, I ascertained that this person was a state official with direct evidence of the problem.

I didn’t take any notes, and the source left without giving me any contact information. They just wanted to plant the idea.

When I returned home from that trip, I put together a small team to look into the allegations that U.S. companies were shipping hazardous waste abroad.

And that was the origin of the Center for Investigative Reporting’s many-faceted “Global Dumping Ground” investigations.

First we broke the story in The Nation. Then we established a major investigative project that eventually led to a PBS documentary with Bill Moyers, a book, and more articles.

There were awards and impacts and continuing exposes but nowhere was that original tipster acknowledged — until now.

HEADLINES:

• Trump says no one will control Strait of Hormuz (Al Jazeera)

• U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes, Further Threatening Negotiations (NYT)

• US justice department launches criminal investigation into Trump accuser E Jean Carroll (BBC)

• Cornyn’s Defeat Fuels Tensions With President Trump in Senate G.O.P. (NYT)

• They’re All Ken Paxton Now (Mother Jones)

• Trump is getting the Republican Party that he wants. But can he win in the midterms? (AP)

• Biden sues Justice Department to stop release of audio from interviews (NBC)

• New Fed report warns of ‘remarkable’ increase in households skipping meals due to food costs (CNN)

• Stephen Colbert gets the last laugh on CBS (Salon)

• ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an ‘alarming’ rate, an AP investigation finds (AP)

• Trump’s green card memo kicked off a holiday weekend of panic (BI)

• Trump’s effort to redraw electoral maps ahead of November’s midterm elections ran into resistance this week from Senate Republicans in South Carolina and a panel of three federal judges in Alabama. Twelve South Carolina Republicans joined Democrats in voting against eliminating the state’s lone Black-majority House district, citing political and logistical concerns. The judges in Alabama ruled that the Republican-backed plan “intentionally discriminated based on race.” [HuffPost]

• Kennedy’s Push to Curb Antidepressants Has Shaken Psychiatry (NYT)

• These popular household fruits are coated with the most pesticides and forever chemicals (Independent)

• Trump Administration to Send Americans Exposed to Ebola to Kenya (NYT)

• A senior Ukrainian commander sees an imminent 'turning point' in war with Russia (Reuters)

• Russia just passed a law allowing its central bank to down drones (CNBC)

• Russia pressures U.S., Ukraine’s allies to flee Kyiv, threatening ‘systematic strikes’ (NBC)

• Israel and Hezbollah clash along a strategic Lebanese river (AP)

• Japan’s Point of No Return (Foreign Affairs)

• This big university system is embracing AI. Students and faculty aren’t all on board (NPR)

• Pete Hegseth Shaking With Rage After Imagining Plus-Sized Astronaut (Onion)

Kickers

A year ago, I had some advice for Trump, the reality TV star, as he pondered whether to start a war with Iran, by way of a writing lesson:

When writing a screenplay, you use a three-act format. One description of this type of narrative structure is as follows.

Act One: You introduce the characters and set the scene. Let’s say there’s a monkey and a tiger in a meadow near a forest. The tiger chases the monkey through the meadow, almost catching him at the end of act one.

Act Two: Lots of action. The monkey barely escapes the tiger through various maneuvers until he is cornered near a very tall tree. By the end of the act, the monkey has climbed up the tree with no visible means of escape as the tiger circles below.

Act Three: Using his wiles, the monkey tricks the tiger into looking away while he scampers down the tree and into the forest. A wild chase ensues with the monkey barely eluding capture again and again. Finally, at the far edge of the forest, the tiger forces the monkey up an impossibly tall tree, one we can’t imagine the monkey ever getting down from. 

Now you’ve reached to the conclusion. You have to resolve this story somehow.

I sometimes use this example with students to make a simple point — you better know how the story will wrap up before you begin to write it.

Cut to Trump. If he was going to bomb Iran, he damn well better know how he would end that war before he started it.

Otherwise he will end up with one more story with a bad ending.

HEADLINES:

• Trump’s War Is Staggering to an Incoherent Defeat (Atlantic)

• US launches new strikes on Iran, targeting missile sites and boats (BBC)

• Tehran labels US attacks ‘gross violation’, says it is prepared to respond (Al Jazeera)

• Iran Warns of Retaliation After U.S. Strikes (WSJ)

• The energy shock is not over yet (FT)

• South Carolina Senate Does Not Act on New Midterm Map, Defying Trump (NYT)

• Federal court blocks Alabama’s midterm gerrymandering plan, a blow for Republicans (Politico)

• Thomas, Alito Dissent as Supreme Court Blocks Florida From Suing California (Newsweek)

• Paxton Routs Cornyn in Senate G.O.P. Runoff With Trump’s Backing (NYT)

• America’s ugliest primary? Texas Republican infighting could hand Senate seat to Democrat (Guardian)

• Democrats feud over stock trading as they sharpen anti-corruption case against Trump (AP)

• Trump’s advanced age and threats to his life serve as reminders of his own mortality (CNN)

• American journalist charged with serving as unregistered agent for China (Politico)

• Trump administration proposes NDAs for all federal workers (WP)

• Russia tells Marco Rubio U.S. citizens should leave Kyiv ahead of ‘systematic’ strikes on Ukrainian capital (CNBC)

• Ukraine’s latest defense against Russian missiles: Making them miss (Politico)

• Evacuation zone shrinks after ‘worst-case scenario’ of Southern California chemical tank explosion averted, officials say (ABC)

• The Great Depopulation (Atlantic)

• Ebola patients flee health facilities amid attacks. (Reuters)

• New Ebola Vaccine Reportedly Nearing Clinical Trials (Forbes)

• 6 things a neurologist does to keep his brain healthy (WP)

• Why science is becoming less innovative (Economist)

• Elon Musk is losing the culture war — he just doesn’t know it yet (MS Now)

• Iran’s national soccer team will sleep in Mexico and travel to the US on the days of its three World Cup matchesafter Washington declined to host the squad for the tournament, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. (Reuters)

• AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos. Here’s Exactly How That Happened (Wired)

• ‘You can’t control everything’: the rise in plastic surgeons asked to create ‘AI face’ (Guardian)

• These Robots Are Making Meals for a Nonprofit in San Francisco’s Tenderloin (Wired)

• Anthropic aligns with Vatican over White House as Pope Leo stokes AI fears (WP)

• Artificial Intelligence Floods Court Dockets with Home-Brewed Lawsuits (NYT)

• &R Block Location Mistaken For ‘Backrooms’ Fan Event (Onion)