California is embarking on an audacious new climate plan that aims to eliminate the state’s greenhouse gas footprint by 2045, and in the process, slash emissions far beyond its borders. The blueprint calls for massive transformations in industry, energy and transportation, as well as changes in institutions and human behaviors.
The Conversation
Covid-19 Deaths Continue to Be Undercounted
Some politicians and a few public health practitioners have argued that Covid-19 deaths are overcounted. Research shows otherwise. From March 2020 to February 2022 there were between 130,682 and 412,353 more excess deaths than reported Covid deaths.
Combating Antisemitism in the Era of Twitter and TikTok
Antisemitism and Holocaust denial are no longer hidden in the margins, spewed by fringe hate groups. From Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – and NBA player Kyrie Irving to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, well-recognized personalities have echoed antisemitic ideas, often online.
Are Special Counsels Handling Trump and Biden Documents Inquiries Independent? Not Really.
While special counsels are intended to be independent, in practice they are aren’t entirely. Ensuring impartiality in the Department of Justice can be difficult, as the attorney general is appointed by – and answerable to – a partisan president.
Philip Roth: the Best Post-War American Writer, Period
Although the style and content of Roth’s fiction is extraordinarily diverse, there is always audible a distinctive voice: irreverent yet earnest, questioning yet authoritative, subtle and nuanced yet powerful and passionate.
How Edgar Allan Poe Became The Darling of the Maligned and Misunderstood
The degenerate characters whose perspectives Poe invites readers to inhabit don’t exactly align with a cultural moment characterized by the #MeToo movement, safe spaces and trigger warnings.
South Carolina’s Barbaric One-Up: Execution by Firing Squad
South Carolina decided in 2021 to allow its inmates on death row the option of execution by firing squad. With that move, South Carolina has elected to deploy a form of capital punishment not used in the state since the Civil War.
The Dispirited End of Jacinda Arden
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s liberal prime minister who just announced her resignation, faced a constant barrage of online and in-person abuse – from anti-vaxxers, misogynists and sundry others who simply don’t like her.
Ron DeSantis, ‘Injustice Denier’
DeSantis has explicitly denied that systemic racism exists – characterizing the notion as “a bunch of horse manure.” That makes him an “injustice denier.” Akin to climate change, there is no legitimate academic debate about the reality of systemic racism.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir Is Celebrating a Convicted Terrorist and Justifying Violence Against Palestinians
Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, hailed the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a convicted terrorist, and is trying to make his anti-Palestinian movement seem less extremist and more appealing to Jews and the international community. A rewrite of American history could help him do it.