26 November 19
We are down but not out. We need to make a comeback. Who can step up for RSN!
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
Founder, Reader Supported News
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25 November 19
Quit Saying That Bernie Sanders Can't Win - He May Be the Most Electable Democrat Running in 2020
Matthew Rozsa, Salon
Rozsa writes: "Too many of Sanders' opponents are running on an unproven narrative that he's not 'electable.' Do better, Democrats."
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Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper demanded the resignation of the Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, on Sunday. (photo: Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense/Reuters)
Matthew Rozsa, Salon
Rozsa writes: "Too many of Sanders' opponents are running on an unproven narrative that he's not 'electable.' Do better, Democrats."
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Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper demanded the resignation of the Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, on Sunday. (photo: Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense/Reuters)
Pentagon Chief Says He Was 'Flabbergasted' by Navy Secretary's Attempt to Make a Private Deal With Trump
Dan Lamothe, The Washington Post
Lamothe writes: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said on Monday he was 'flabbergasted' that his Navy secretary tried to make a secret deal with the White House in which a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes could retire as a member of the elite force if President Trump stayed out of the case."
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Leonard Cohen photographed in Oslo in 1993. (photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer)
Dan Lamothe, The Washington Post
Lamothe writes: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said on Monday he was 'flabbergasted' that his Navy secretary tried to make a secret deal with the White House in which a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes could retire as a member of the elite force if President Trump stayed out of the case."
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Leonard Cohen photographed in Oslo in 1993. (photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer)
Adam Cohen on Leonard: 'It Was Daunting Finishing My Dad's Last Music'
Sean O'Hagan, Guardian UK
O'Hagan writes: "Leonard Cohen's final songs can now be heard on the album Thanks for the Dance. Here his son Adam talks about their emotionally complex relationship."
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Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh attend the State of the Union address at the Capitol on February 5, 2019, in Washington, DC. (photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
Sean O'Hagan, Guardian UK
O'Hagan writes: "Leonard Cohen's final songs can now be heard on the album Thanks for the Dance. Here his son Adam talks about their emotionally complex relationship."
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Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh attend the State of the Union address at the Capitol on February 5, 2019, in Washington, DC. (photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
Ian Millhiser, Vox
Millhiser writes: "New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York, the biggest guns case to reach the Supreme Court in more than a decade, began with a tiny dispute."
They sued for a small expansion of the rights afforded to people with premises licenses. And indeed, last July, the state acquiesced: It passed a law permitting people with premises licenses to do the very thing that these plaintiffs wish to do. That renders the case moot — or so one would think.
Yet the Supreme Court has so far refused to dismiss the case as moot. And if the plaintiffs have their way, the Court will wind up deciding a much bigger question than the one it originally agreed to hear.
Paul Clement, the prominent conservative lawyer representing the plaintiffs, submitted a brief that presents the case as a grand fight over “draconian restrictions on the possession and transport of handguns.” Even though his clients already won with New York City and State changing its laws to accommodate them, Clement wants to proceed. And he’s urging the Court to see this case as a much bigger challenge than the one his clients raised in the lower courts.
That’s a highly unusual move. The Supreme Court’s rules instruct lawyers that merits briefs “may not raise additional questions or change the substance of the questions” originally presented to the Court.
Sarah Palin and AOC. (image: VICE)
How This Decade Broke American Politics, in 10 Easy Steps
Harry Cheadle and Matt Taylor, VICE
Excerpt: "Ideological differences, once a defining line between parties, have widened into a gaping abyss."
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People at the Great Siege Square call for the resignation of Joseph Muscat following the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, in Valletta, Malta November 20, 2019. (photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
Harry Cheadle and Matt Taylor, VICE
Excerpt: "Ideological differences, once a defining line between parties, have widened into a gaping abyss."
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People at the Great Siege Square call for the resignation of Joseph Muscat following the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, in Valletta, Malta November 20, 2019. (photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
Police Sources: Malta Grants Pardon to Suspected Middleman in Journalist Murder
Chris Scicluna, Reuters
Scicluna writes: "A man suspected of being the middleman in the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been granted a presidential pardon, police sources said on Monday."
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Chris Scicluna, Reuters
Scicluna writes: "A man suspected of being the middleman in the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been granted a presidential pardon, police sources said on Monday."
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A commuter walks through thick smog in New Delhi on Nov. 14, 2019. (photo: Manish Swarup/AP)
Carbon Dioxide in Earth's Atmosphere Reaches Record High, Researchers Say
Denise Chow, NBC News
Chow writes: "The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has reached a record high, according to a report released Monday by the World Meteorological Organization."
Denise Chow, NBC News
Chow writes: "The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has reached a record high, according to a report released Monday by the World Meteorological Organization."
Carbon dioxide traps heat from the sun and can linger in the atmosphere for centuries.
he concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has reached a record high, according to a report released Monday by the World Meteorological Organization.
In 2018, global average concentrations of the greenhouse gas, which is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, reached 407.8 parts per million, which means for every 1 million molecules of gas in the atmosphere, nearly 408 were carbon dioxide. This level is up from the global average of 405.5 parts per million in 2017. The findings follow a trend that shows the planet is continuing to warm at an alarming pace.
“There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere despite all the commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
Carbon dioxide traps heat from the sun and can linger in the atmosphere for centuries. High levels of the greenhouse gas are associated with higher global temperatures and other effects of climate change, such as melting polar ice and rising seas.
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen sharply as a result of human activities, with the 2018 global average representing a 147 percent increase over the pre-industrial level in 1750, according to the WMO.
The organization’s report found that the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 2017 to 2018 was above the average growth rate over the past decade, which was just over 2 parts per million per year.
On May 14, the daily concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit the highest level ever recorded in human history, at 415 parts per million.
Though global levels haven’t reached that benchmark yet, Taalas said the record is still troubling.
“It is worth recalling that the last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3-5 million years ago,” he said of the 407.8 parts per million milestone. “Back then, the temperature was 2-3 [degrees Celsius] warmer, sea level was 10-20 meters higher than now.”
The WMO report also found that concentrations of two other greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, have also seen an uptick over the past decade.
Methane is an especially potent greenhouse gas and global average concentrations of methane in 2018 reached 1,869 parts per billion, a 259 percent increase over pre-industrial levels.
It’s estimated that about 60 percent of methane emissions come from human activities, such as from landfills, cattle breeding and certain types of agriculture, while the other 40 percent comes from natural sources.
Nitrous oxide, which is emitted from agricultural and industrial activities, is the third-most potent greenhouse gas and depletes the ozone layer that shields the planet from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
Atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide — a chemical compound commonly known as laughing gas — in 2018 reached an average of 331.1 parts per billion, which was a 123 percent increase over pre-industrial levels.
The WMO report was released ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference, which is being held Dec. 2 to 13 in Madrid, where government representatives will gather to assess commitments made to fight climate change under the Paris Agreement.
