Among the wealthy there will always be the search for the rare and exotic. I’m not surprised that this has become some kind of distorted 'destination"

I had hope that this would be a blip of an assault and a ceasefire would be brokered. Now, it feels almost certain that one of the most cursed regions in the world is going to be plunged into a civil war without a clear justification, and where everyone loses.

Climate change has been particularly unsettling this summer because it has felt like a constant reminder that it can’t be escaped. Even if you aren’t in Florida or Arizona or Greenland, even if you feel like you’re insulated up in Vermont or Canada – bam, 11 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Great article. If Morocco’s claim is rejected, what’s stopping Algeria from trying to step into that power vacuum? Does Western Sahara have any sort of organized military that could resist against armed conflict over its resources?

I wouldn’t be surprised if we just saw the region become a capitalism pseudo-country, with US/China coming in to buy off the resources.

Hilariously, this fine is probably not even large enough for them to spin off a shell company and declare bankruptcy on the debts. They’ll just shrug and move on. Toothless.

Yep. And it worked all the way up to the Stanford presidency. Even now he is “only” a tenured professor.

That’s the best question. Clarence Thomas shouldn’t have been able to openly flaunt his corruption for decades, but he has. Is this just going to be more firm hand-wringing by the Dems with no enforcement mechanism whatsoever? At that point, it would be better to just recognize the court as illegitimate in the public eye as opposed to giving the false sense that it is in anyway ethical.

It feels like the war has ground to a halt, where the only progress is in bodycount. Russia has failed to make meaningful advances lately, but Ukraine’s successes on the counteroffensive have also been extremely quiet.

Any third party player is a negative to Biden right now, even if it is “just” Manchin.

The election is won and lost on the 10% of independents within purple states, and this ‘coalition’ would batter left-leaning independents with ads

Likely a direct response to the Crimean bridge, yes?

Great article. Insightful and over a longer time horizon than I expected

We are fortunate enough to have a large bank barn that has been a barn swallow nesting ground for years. Although we use the top floor and seal it off, we leave a gate open for the swallows in the ground level every year. It’s a joy to see 50+ of them on the telephone line in late summer.

This year our flock is significantly smaller, and two of them didn’t make it. Hopefully just a one-year anomaly, but deep down I doubt it.

Smart on KIA, then.

Does this help qualify them for some of the Inflation Reduction Act credits, or is that tied specifically to where the battery materials are sourced from?

Neither one has a catalytic converter

I am pessimistic that he is “stuck”. Billions and billions and billions of dollars are rarely stuck. The demographics are changing, but not nearly enough so that a D win is inevitable. That, paired with some of the structural victories he already has achieved (redistricting, conservative supreme court) make me believe that we are going to see his legacy continue for decades on. Dark.

Remember: bones are luxury teeth.

Fun fact: for my family’s insurance, it is $106/mo to pay for dental. I get access to two cleanings a year, plus 50% of billed expenses up to $1000. What is even the point?

I support this. While the GOP base continues to shrink and die off, the Dems are doing no favors but continuing to make a vast swath of voters feel unrepresented. I was 18 when Obama came around in his first run and I felt represented then. I don’t think I’ve felt represented personally since then.

This is not an endorsement of the GOP. Just an echoing of the general feeling of invisibility.

No governor exemplifies “The cruelty is the point” more than DeSantis. Most GOP governors will provide all of the public talking points but still do what benefits some of their constituents when the window is open. Desantis is a different (worse) breed.

Progress is still progress, even if it’s just slow incremental work to move back to pre-Trump norms.