There’s some hope amid the latest grim report: Delivering the latest stark news about climate change on Sunday, a United Nations panel warned that governments are not doing enough to avert profound risks in coming decades. But the experts found a silver lining: Not only is there still time to head off the worst, but […]
Eli Sanders
Eli Sanders is The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won this, but he also once crashed his bike into a parked car while on his way to a staff meeting, never mind this, so… His website, which probably hasn't been updated in a while, is www.elisanders.net.
Posted inThe Apocalypse
The Percentage of Americans Who Worry “A Great Deal” About Climate Change
Basically the same as 25 years ago: Just over one-third of Americans worry “a great deal” about climate change, down one percent from 1989. That despite nearly every other climate change metric—temperatures, sea levels, carbon dioxide concentration, and major storms—continuing to steadily increase. I’m not sure what would account for this, but concern about climate […]
Posted inNews
The Latest Revision to the Search for the Missing Malaysian Jet
New York Times: Australia announced on Friday that it had moved the search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 nearly 700 miles to the northeast, the latest in a long series of changes by the authorities on where they think the plane might have disappeared… The new zone is 1,150 miles west-southwest of Perth, Australia, […]
Posted inNews
How State-Sanctioned Logging Might Have Contributed to the Snohomish County Mudslide
Seattle Times: The plateau above the soggy hillside that gave way Saturday has been logged for almost a century, with hundreds of acres of softwoods cut and hauled away, according to state records. But in recent decades, as the slope has become more unstable, scientists have increasingly challenged the timber harvests, with some even warning […]
Posted inGun Club
Meanwhile, In Georgia, Guns are Coming to Bars
The governor of Georgia is about to sign a “pro-gun” law that’s so extreme even a majority of Georgians oppose it: The bill allows people with a weapons permit to carry loaded guns into bars, as long as they do not consume alcohol — although the bill does not say how that caveat would be […]
Posted inNews
Did the Malaysian Airlines Plane Fly Four Hours After Disappearing?
The Wall Street Journal says this is the latest theory: U.S. investigators suspect that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stayed in the air for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, according to two people familiar with the details, raising the possibility that the plane could have flown on for hundreds […]
Posted inMedia
Newsweek Is Going Back Into Print
Apparently, there are some people who now consider ink-on-paper to be a “luxury product.” Also, print is a good prop: Steven Cohn, editor in chief of Media Industry Newsletter, said Newsweek’s decision to print the magazine made good business sense. “The print magazine is kind of a prop to give the web better exposure,” Mr. […]
Posted inTech
Fifteen Years Left Before Machines Outsmart You
Says this guy: By 2029, computers will be able to understand our language, learn from experience and outsmart even the most intelligent humans, according to Google’s director of engineering Ray Kurzweil. He also calls this idea “not radical anymore.”
Posted inSex
Not Sexually Satisfied? Could It Be Your Country’s Fault?
AlterNet surveyed a bunch of “studies,” mashed their findings together, and concludes: People in other countries have up to 70 times more sex than we do. Indeed, Americans are only about 48 percent sexually satisfied. Among the countries allegedly more sexually satisfied than ours: Russia, China, Switzerland, Nigeria, Spain, Italy, Brazil, India, Mexico… the list […]
Posted inSports
A More Important Sochi Problem
There’s the yellow water. And then there’s the wider environmental damage: In the rush to complete what ended up being $51 billion in construction in just five years, Russian’s Olympic Committee has played fast and loose with the environmental standards it once promised to uphold. To take just one example of many, Olympic organizers make […]
Posted inPolitics
No Cheers for Health Care Reform, Voting Rights, Equal Pay…
E.S. John Boehner is not pleased. The list of Obama proposals that Republicans wouldn’t clap for last night was long, and Andrew Rosenthal says it all ended up being a visual lesson in “the callous nature of Republican domestic policy.” Zeke Miller says it could also become an election year ad for Democrats.
Posted inPolitics
Edward Snowden on Claims That He’s a Russian Spy
“Absurd,” Snowden told Jane Mayer of The New Yorker yesterday. Also: It won’t stick…. Because it’s clearly false, and the American people are smarter than politicians think they are. It’s not just certain politicians who are pushing for a different narrative around Snowden. In The New Republic, Sean Wilentz looks at Snowden’s political beliefs (and […]