WE TRIED

Introduction: The media will soon begin to anticipate the arrival of a 30th anniversary — the November 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall which in turn signaled the end of the Cold War. Back then the US media was obsessed with the horse race, not who “won?” that was obviously “us” but how did it happen? Journalists and opinion writers in this country are often state-of-the-horse race obsessed, now just as much as thirty years ago. That so rarely actually contributes to a better world and the conviction that the US had won has much to answer for: Putin’s ongoing revenge acts for the implied Russian humiliation at very least. . . . .

Above, the link takes you to the text of the pamphlet.

Below sources and citations, selected links and connections mentioned but not developed in the text of the pamphlet.

A trailer for the Herzog film about Gorbachev is currently available on YouTube. Comments on the trailer suggest that the phrase “we tried” could be translated as “we really tried.”

The terror of living day after day with the Cold War and its nuclear threat became more explicit in 1983 in the movie The Day After. The phrase “nuclear winter” was commonplace among activists. So was the increasing certainty that there had been quite a few “near miss” events caused by computer errors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyy9n8r16hs   appears to be the whole movie. Not sure why it is available free. A disc version can still be bought for those who actually have DVD players, as we do.

Climate change data. Mauna Loa. Tornadoes 2019. Missouri Flooding 2019. California wildfires 2018. Rob Knapp’s one page image of the climate change calculation. Confirmation for the Rob Knapp calculation: “Was it caused by climate change?” is the most common question when we hear about an extreme event. But when it comes to hurricanes, that’s the wrong question. The right one is, “how much worse did climate change make it?” — Katharine Hayhoe (@KHayhoe) August 31, 2019

Climate change action. Weatherization. This is the group local to Olympia Washington. If you cannot find one near you, give money to these people. They do good work. Leadership among young people, Greta Thunberg for example.

Brexit as of Sept. 2 2019. EU election results in the UK. Petition to Parliament to debate the proroguing called for by Boris Johnson.

Gerrymander and Census as of Sept. 2 2019. Linda Greenhouse is my favorite opinion writer on legal issues. Here she is on Gerrymander before the Supreme Court ruled and then after. As of now, it is still not too late to apply for a job with the Census itself. I may well do so in California.

Coverage from various media sources about Marshae Jones, shot in the abdomen and then arrested for the “murder” of her unborn child. Alabama Montgomery paper. Alabama digital news service. New York Times: about the charges. New York Times: charges dismissed. Trevor Noah and Christine LaGarde on the Glass Precipice.