Global temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels this month, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.
Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C (1.8F) above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979. While the month is not yet complete and may not set a new June record, climate scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016.
The long-term warming conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels will likely receive a further pulse of heat via El Niño, a naturally recurring phenomenon where sections of the Pacific Ocean heat up, typically causing temperatures to spike across the world.
[…]
There is also a good chance the average temperature will exceed 1.5C (2.7F) beyond pre-industrial times, a key threshold agreed by governments at which point heatwaves, droughts, flooding and other climate impacts become significantly worse.
While people are feeling the heat on land, an even more remarkable burst of warmth is occurring in the seas, with Noaa confirming a second consecutive month of record high ocean surface temperatures in May. Excess heat in the oceans, which cover 70% of the globe’s surface, influence overall global temperatures, as well as warp fish populations, bleach coral reefs and drive coastal sea level rise.
[continues]
prophetic
so why worry about the heat ’cause we all think we’re living through hell and everyone else is going there anyway?
We’ve heard the arguments: Civil discourse is dead. Social media has made us all self-obsessed. People are meaner and ruder than ever.And with constant news of the war in Ukraine, gun violence, hate crimes and inequality, every day seems to bring new evidence that humanity is plunging toward moral bankruptcy.
But is it?
Research by psychologists Adam Mastroianni and Daniel Gilbert says this is a powerful and persistent illusion. For decades, when people around the world have been asked to compare the morals of the present day with those of the past, they have, overwhelmingly, reported that morals are deteriorating. But when surveys asked about current morality, participant responses remained relatively stable across time — suggesting this perception of decline is false.
“This intense feeling we get that all this nastiness that we see today is new — that is an illusion,” said Mastroianni, the lead author on the paper, which was published last week in Nature. “The fact that it feels like you know [that morals have declined], is not good evidence that you do know.”
That isn’t meant to undermine the very real crises society faces,he said.“To say that things haven’t gotten worse is not to say that things are good,” Mastroianni noted. It’s more like, “We have an epidemic of one drug. We forget the epidemic of the last drug,” he added. “It always feels like the problems of today are uniquely bad.”
John Doris, a professor of philosophy at Cornell University, said he is “favorably disposed” to the study, though the findings aren’t surprising. “A poet once said: ‘The world is always ending,’” he wrote in an email.
This illusion of moral decline, as the researchers call it, has lasting resonance. Two-thousand years ago, the Roman historian Livy bemoaned the “sinking of the foundations of morality” that brought the “dark dawning of our modern day,” the researchers write. It’s the kind of longing for the past politicians try to tap into on the campaign trail — and the kind of intergenerational grievance certain family members air at dinner tables and gatherings.
[…]
While there are several possible reasons for this illusion, Mastroianni suggests, it may be the result of deeply held biases. Studies have shown that people have a bias toward negative information in the moment, but negative events also fade more easily in memory, giving the past a rosiness that the present lacks, according to the paper. The result is a kind of distortion in the rear-view mirror: The road behind us looks smoother, the one we are on seems rough, and it’s natural to conclude that somewhere we made a wrong turn.
The consequences can be significant. Liane Young, a moral psychologist at Boston College, notes that perception of others’ morals can influence our own. “If I think that the morality of folks around me is declining, then my pessimism might lead me to lower my own moral standards,” she said. Mastroianni and Gilbert write that such thinking could keep people from speaking with strangers or relying on their kindness, “an act that might well ameliorate the illusion itself.”
Interestingly, though, the researchers found a way to potentially reduce the illusion: asking people to think about the morality of individuals in their own lives.
“Everyone is standing on an island, saying ‘the people on my island are improving, while the people on every other island are getting worse,’” Mastroianni said. “But the people on the other islands are saying the same thing.”
There seems to be a looming New Jersey surprise. Part of Jack Smith’s 5th Dimensional chess game.
Up, Up, and Awaaay dadah-dadah
Remember in the Jungle Jim movies how the bad guy walks into the quicksand? That’s the Orange-Utan — walking fast, forging ahead; lost, but making good time
sturge, with all his distractions and deceptions, he’s more like wile e coyote with jack smith as the road-runner:
One of Donald Trump’s new attorneys proposed an idea in the fall of 2022: The former president’s team could try to arrange a settlement with the Justice Department.
The attorney, Christopher Kise, wanted to quietly approach Justice to see if he could negotiate a settlement that would preclude charges, hoping Attorney General Merrick Garland and the department would want an exit ramp to avoid prosecuting a former president. Kise would hopefully “take the temperature down,” he told others, by promising a professional approach and the return of all documents.
But Trump was not interested after listening to other lawyers who urged a more pugilistic approach, so Kise never approached prosecutors, three people briefed on the matter said. A special counsel was appointed months later.
[…]
That quiet entreaty last fall was one of many occasions when lawyers and advisers sought to get Trump to take a more cooperative stance in a bid to avoid what happened Friday.
[…]
Trump’s unwillingness to give the documents back did not surprise those who knew him well. Former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly said that he was particularly unlikely to heed requests from people or agencies he disliked.
“He’s incapable of admitting wrongdoing. He wanted to keep it, and he says, ‘You’re not going to tell me what to do. I’m the smartest guy in the room,’” Kelly said Tuesday.
[…]
Trump’s chances to avoid charges began in early 2021, according to current and former advisers. After Gary Stern, counsel at the National Archives, asked Trump’s team for the return of documents, some of his lawyers and advisers began advising him to return them. National Archives officials were privately baffled at what they viewed as inexplicably recalcitrant behavior and kept asking for answers to no avail.
In the fall of 2021, Alex Cannon, then a Trump attorney, urged the former president to return documents to the National Archives, repeatedly telling him that he was required to give them back, according to people familiar with the matter.
After months of talking to Trump and his staff, Cannon — referred to in the indictment as a “Trump Representative” — told Trump that the National Archives was threatening to go to Congress or to the Department of Justice if he did not return the documents, the people said.
[continues]
Pat, the WP article implies “regret” about not settling the documents case. But at this point, the donald doesn’t seek to avoid charges. he’s thrilled by them. he’s a gambler, he’s upping the ante, and that’s his winning game.
Ja, the Kingston Trio, the old folks thought they were “swell”. ‘Course, we soon tired of that Kingston/Jimmy Roger’s “Honeycomb” crap once we gotta holt of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee, and Ray Charles…..
Yeah, Elvis was great and was responsible for our acquiring guitars, and Everlys and Buddy Holly were hip and all, but these other guys were rockin’ the house.
ivy, yep as old p.t. barnum said “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name correct.” plus right now all the publicity is firing up the cult, garnering sympathy and helping him grift bigly.
IMO things will begin to change when the trials start in those venues that allow cameras in the courtroom. he won’t be able to control the setting, the evidence being admitted or himself for that matter.
You kiddin’ me?
Attribution: The Grifter by Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe, MA
Pat, I hope that’s the case. I admit I’m floored seeing growing belief in basic bad information in my private conversations with personal acquaintances. My sense is their lack of trust was fueled by the Covid debacle which is counterintuitive given it was them that messed it up with their antivaxxing, etc., but they don’t see it that way, and now the indictments. I’m at a loss for historical precedent in our country and society. Jacksonian era maybe? IDK, but it’s unsettling.
3 chords and the Truth, as Willie once told it. Little Richard was the reason we wound up with both Beatles and Dylan. And this guy.
Yeah……when the joint starts jumpin’ I have a ball.
For thousands of us musically illiterate kids Richard Penniman and Elvis showed that you didn’t have to play an instrument really well at all—all you had to do was ROCK.
And if you could rock—you could roll.
Yesterday I found myself in the rest room at Target with an apparently nonbinary human being and it was fine. No freaking out, no drama, no one running out in terror. All perfectly normal. As it should be.
??????
How about this, Jonathan Last, at the Bulwark in his news letter took a break from all the problems in the world and looked at what is good and right with the world. Unfortunately, it is behind the paywall. But here is his summation.
Is there bad stuff going on in the world? Sure. Plenty of it. The Biden administration is not perfect,¹ the Republican party is still miles away from health, and the economy could always sour. We have a major European war in progress.
But you know what? There’s always bad stuff going on and the world is like fashion: It’s never finished. There’s always a new fight, a new crisis, a new problem to be fixed or challenge to be met. We have plenty of those.²
Yet right now the economy is good. People who want jobs mostly have them. Inflation is in remission. Real wages are strong. The rule of law is holding. The justice system is functioning. The West is united against Putin. The president has been the steward of norms and wisdom that 81 million voters hoped he’d be. The Republican party may be improving directionally. And the Tampa Bay Rays are playing .700 ball.
My friends: This is what good times look like, so we ought to appreciate it.
Among his list of good stuff was inflation going down and unemployment at all time lows.
He didn’t point it out. However, it occurred to me that this is the first time in my lifetime that we see a reduction in inflation without major job loss. We need to point this out as the traditional kneejerk conservative economists make their doomsday predictions.
Have them explain why they are again wrong.
Jack
I used to see trucks with mostly magnetic signs, now it’s mostly new and logo-painted trucks. You know, when you see a bunch of service trucks with their logos painted on that shit is happ’ning.
Trump has lots of experience in civil lawsuits, never in criminal court. Sure he thinks he’ll never spend a day in jail. He’s right, it could be many MANY days
Ed was loving that shit. So’d I.
Just saw that Bloomberg is reporting that the RWers in the house that were trying to get Schiff censured and fined $16M couldn’t muster the votes to bring the censure resolution to the floor. 20 Repugs joined the Dems to reject the measure.
Sturge
Magnetic signs don’t work on aluminum. I found that out when I bought my 2016 F150.
The city contract I had at the time required a contractor sign, I had one of those magnetic signs that I could take on or off, they worked perfect for what I wanted, until I got rich and bought a new pickup. Took the sign out slapped it on the door and it fell to the ground, ended up taping it in the rear window.
Jack
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed his state’s budget, a $117 billion spending plan filled with priorities that have already become fodder for the Republican’s 2024 presidential campaign.”
“In the state of Florida, we are able to do things that make a difference in people’s lives by not wasting money, but by spending it on things that really have a great impact on the general public…”
“There’s $12 million in there to continue the flights carrying migrants from border states to blue jurisdictions for a second year.”
“Another $25 million was set aside to remake New College, a small liberal arts college on Florida’s west coast, into a new model for a conservative public university.”
“…a multi-billion dollar expansion of school choice that will allow virtually any Florida K-12 student to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars – both early features of his pitch to Republican families.”
“The budget he signed is the largest in state history…”
“With Thursday’s signing, he has more than $100 million to grow the state guard – a World War II-era force that he resurrected last year – into a well-equipped 1,500-person force. There is now $30 million for the University of Florida, the state’s flagship university, to create the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education.”
“There’s millions set aside to pay for anticipated legal costs for defending the governor’s contentious agenda. And there’s now a sales tax break on gas stoves – responding to conservative backlash over concerns about the environmental and health effects of the household appliance.”
“…DeSantis has relied on the federal government to pay for many of his priorities – first from the $2.2 trillion Covid-19 stimulus signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 and later from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan championed by Biden.”
“The Florida Republican has often blamed Biden’s stimulus for causing the country’s prolonged struggles with inflation. Yet, he has liberally spent the billions injected into Florida by the Biden administration.”
“One out of every three dollars Ron DeSantis spends is from the federal government,” state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, told CNN. “So he should be praising Joe Biden.”
“That’s no moon: A bill on the governor’s desk could eviscerate local control by cities and counties, impacting everything from worker protections to disaster declarations.”
“A bill dubbed the Death Star Bill — after the moon-sized technological terrors of Star Wars fame — passed both houses and is likely to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.”
“The bill is part of a long trend of GOP lawmakers trying to undo policies enacted by largely Democratic leaders.”
“It would require cities and counties to follow state law or potentially be taken to court.”
EXAMPLE:
“In the last 10 years, heat-related deaths on construction sites in Texas have doubled. Cities like Dallas and Austin have policies to require rest breaks for construction workers.
HB 2127 would effectively eliminate those protections, because they’re not in Texas’ Labor Code.”
Darth Abbott and his Republican stormtroopers strike, again.
“According to the Justice Department and a taped recording of the former president, Trump took classified records from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster, where he showed off the contents of such records to others. The indictment alleges that Trump showed a map to a political ally and also showed a writer and a publisher a secret military plan to attack Iran.”
“Fulton Sheriff sends leadership to Miami to prepare for possible Trump charges in GA”
“In just weeks, it is expected that Fulton Count District Attorney Fani Willis will announce whether or not charges will be filed against Trump here in Georgia tied to her investigation into possible election interference during Georgia’s 2020 election.”
“Labat said security in the Fulton County Courthouse is his responsibility and that he sent key members of the Sheriff’s Office leadership team to Miami to observe security there with a former president in court in case such a thing happens here.”
Georgia!
I like that her first order includes the word expedite!
Judge Cannon has entered an order in the Trump docs case directing all current/”forthcoming” lawyers to get in touch with DOJ asap (if they haven’t already) to expedite getting necessary security clearances squared away — compliance notice that they’ve done that due June 20
Clearances are not cheap. Range from around five thousand then heading up to around one hundred thousand for some very interesting ones. Plus add more for expediting the investigations. Add in a safe or two to store whatever classified notes, pictures and whatnots. My last investigation to renew one clearance took over a year. My first “interesting” clearance was expedited and took around six months. But, I had a Top Secret that had just expired so that one went a little easier.
BB, not a direct response to your comment but I never applied to work for the FBI because of the cognitive dissonance that arose from telling me truth and admitting to illegal activities to THE FUCKING FBI. Felt like I had to choose between lying and admitting to a crime. Bad choice. Glad I chose not to apply – ended up with Mrs. P and LP. Couldn’t have chosen better.
NEW THREAD
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as if wannabe dictators and their wars aren’t enough
Fears of hottest year on record as global temperatures spike | Climate crisis | The Guardian
prophetic
so why worry about the heat ’cause we all think we’re living through hell and everyone else is going there anyway?
Think morality is declining? That’s an illusion, researchers say. – The Washington Post
There seems to be a looming New Jersey surprise. Part of Jack Smith’s 5th Dimensional chess game.
Up, Up, and Awaaay dadah-dadah
Remember in the Jungle Jim movies how the bad guy walks into the quicksand? That’s the Orange-Utan — walking fast, forging ahead; lost, but making good time
sturge, with all his distractions and deceptions, he’s more like wile e coyote with jack smith as the road-runner:
he’s his worse enemy exhibit #1
Trump rejected lawyers’ efforts to avoid classified documents indictment – The Washington Post
Pat, the WP article implies “regret” about not settling the documents case. But at this point, the donald doesn’t seek to avoid charges. he’s thrilled by them. he’s a gambler, he’s upping the ante, and that’s his winning game.
Ja, the Kingston Trio, the old folks thought they were “swell”. ‘Course, we soon tired of that Kingston/Jimmy Roger’s “Honeycomb” crap once we gotta holt of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee, and Ray Charles…..
Yeah, Elvis was great and was responsible for our acquiring guitars, and Everlys and Buddy Holly were hip and all, but these other guys were rockin’ the house.
ivy, yep as old p.t. barnum said “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name correct.” plus right now all the publicity is firing up the cult, garnering sympathy and helping him grift bigly.
IMO things will begin to change when the trials start in those venues that allow cameras in the courtroom. he won’t be able to control the setting, the evidence being admitted or himself for that matter.
You kiddin’ me?
Attribution: The Grifter by Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe, MA
Pat, I hope that’s the case. I admit I’m floored seeing growing belief in basic bad information in my private conversations with personal acquaintances. My sense is their lack of trust was fueled by the Covid debacle which is counterintuitive given it was them that messed it up with their antivaxxing, etc., but they don’t see it that way, and now the indictments. I’m at a loss for historical precedent in our country and society. Jacksonian era maybe? IDK, but it’s unsettling.
3 chords and the Truth, as Willie once told it. Little Richard was the reason we wound up with both Beatles and Dylan. And this guy.
Yeah……when the joint starts jumpin’ I have a ball.
For thousands of us musically illiterate kids Richard Penniman and Elvis showed that you didn’t have to play an instrument really well at all—all you had to do was ROCK.
And if you could rock—you could roll.
Yesterday I found myself in the rest room at Target with an apparently nonbinary human being and it was fine. No freaking out, no drama, no one running out in terror. All perfectly normal. As it should be.
??????
How about this,
Jonathan Last, at the Bulwark in his news letter took a break from all the problems in the world and looked at what is good and right with the world. Unfortunately, it is behind the paywall. But here is his summation.
Among his list of good stuff was inflation going down and unemployment at all time lows.
He didn’t point it out. However, it occurred to me that this is the first time in my lifetime that we see a reduction in inflation without major job loss. We need to point this out as the traditional kneejerk conservative economists make their doomsday predictions.
Have them explain why they are again wrong.
Jack
I used to see trucks with mostly magnetic signs, now it’s mostly new and logo-painted trucks. You know, when you see a bunch of service trucks with their logos painted on that shit is happ’ning.
Trump has lots of experience in civil lawsuits, never in criminal court. Sure he thinks he’ll never spend a day in jail. He’s right, it could be many MANY days
Ed was loving that shit. So’d I.
Just saw that Bloomberg is reporting that the RWers in the house that were trying to get Schiff censured and fined $16M couldn’t muster the votes to bring the censure resolution to the floor. 20 Repugs joined the Dems to reject the measure.
Sturge
Magnetic signs don’t work on aluminum. I found that out when I bought my 2016 F150.
The city contract I had at the time required a contractor sign, I had one of those magnetic signs that I could take on or off, they worked perfect for what I wanted, until I got rich and bought a new pickup. Took the sign out slapped it on the door and it fell to the ground, ended up taping it in the rear window.
Jack
Ah, yes……the old new aluminum truck trick.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/politics/desantis-florida-budget/index.html
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed his state’s budget, a $117 billion spending plan filled with priorities that have already become fodder for the Republican’s 2024 presidential campaign.”
“In the state of Florida, we are able to do things that make a difference in people’s lives by not wasting money, but by spending it on things that really have a great impact on the general public…”
“There’s $12 million in there to continue the flights carrying migrants from border states to blue jurisdictions for a second year.”
“Another $25 million was set aside to remake New College, a small liberal arts college on Florida’s west coast, into a new model for a conservative public university.”
“…a multi-billion dollar expansion of school choice that will allow virtually any Florida K-12 student to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars – both early features of his pitch to Republican families.”
“The budget he signed is the largest in state history…”
“With Thursday’s signing, he has more than $100 million to grow the state guard – a World War II-era force that he resurrected last year – into a well-equipped 1,500-person force. There is now $30 million for the University of Florida, the state’s flagship university, to create the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education.”
“There’s millions set aside to pay for anticipated legal costs for defending the governor’s contentious agenda. And there’s now a sales tax break on gas stoves – responding to conservative backlash over concerns about the environmental and health effects of the household appliance.”
“…DeSantis has relied on the federal government to pay for many of his priorities – first from the $2.2 trillion Covid-19 stimulus signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 and later from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan championed by Biden.”
“The Florida Republican has often blamed Biden’s stimulus for causing the country’s prolonged struggles with inflation. Yet, he has liberally spent the billions injected into Florida by the Biden administration.”
“One out of every three dollars Ron DeSantis spends is from the federal government,” state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, told CNN. “So he should be praising Joe Biden.”
“That’s no moon: A bill on the governor’s desk could eviscerate local control by cities and counties, impacting everything from worker protections to disaster declarations.”
“A bill dubbed the Death Star Bill — after the moon-sized technological terrors of Star Wars fame — passed both houses and is likely to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.”
“The bill is part of a long trend of GOP lawmakers trying to undo policies enacted by largely Democratic leaders.”
“It would require cities and counties to follow state law or potentially be taken to court.”
EXAMPLE:
“In the last 10 years, heat-related deaths on construction sites in Texas have doubled. Cities like Dallas and Austin have policies to require rest breaks for construction workers.
HB 2127 would effectively eliminate those protections, because they’re not in Texas’ Labor Code.”
Darth Abbott and his Republican stormtroopers strike, again.
how does he indict thee
let me count the ways
florida, jersey and DC
maybe more but surely three
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/trump-indictment-florida-new-jersey-classified/674393/
“According to the Justice Department and a taped recording of the former president, Trump took classified records from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster, where he showed off the contents of such records to others. The indictment alleges that Trump showed a map to a political ally and also showed a writer and a publisher a secret military plan to attack Iran.”
New Jersey!
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/exclusive-fulton-sheriff-sends-leadership-miami-prepare-possible-trump-charges-ga/K7OX7QHDDVGHPEFADORZ2AV324/
“Fulton Sheriff sends leadership to Miami to prepare for possible Trump charges in GA”
“In just weeks, it is expected that Fulton Count District Attorney Fani Willis will announce whether or not charges will be filed against Trump here in Georgia tied to her investigation into possible election interference during Georgia’s 2020 election.”
“Labat said security in the Fulton County Courthouse is his responsibility and that he sent key members of the Sheriff’s Office leadership team to Miami to observe security there with a former president in court in case such a thing happens here.”
Georgia!
I like that her first order includes the word expedite!
Judge Cannon has entered an order in the Trump docs case directing all current/”forthcoming” lawyers to get in touch with DOJ asap (if they haven’t already) to expedite getting necessary security clearances squared away — compliance notice that they’ve done that due June 20
Clearances are not cheap. Range from around five thousand then heading up to around one hundred thousand for some very interesting ones. Plus add more for expediting the investigations. Add in a safe or two to store whatever classified notes, pictures and whatnots. My last investigation to renew one clearance took over a year. My first “interesting” clearance was expedited and took around six months. But, I had a Top Secret that had just expired so that one went a little easier.
BB, not a direct response to your comment but I never applied to work for the FBI because of the cognitive dissonance that arose from telling me truth and admitting to illegal activities to THE FUCKING FBI. Felt like I had to choose between lying and admitting to a crime. Bad choice. Glad I chose not to apply – ended up with Mrs. P and LP. Couldn’t have chosen better.
NEW THREAD