Earth just experienced its hottest summer in recorded history, beating the previous record set last summer. Unprecedented warmth with clear links to climate change.

If you're interested in some of the week's most crucial political themes, like Marxism and cats, and how they intersect to produce our political present and history, let me suggest this book from Duke University Press dukeupress.edu/marx-for-cats

The noose is tightening every day over the necks of 2 million people in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people may already have died--there is no way to know. And with fewer aid groups on the ground, the killing will accelerate and occur without witnesses.

Do Kamala Harris’s Neocon Supporters Just Hate Trump, or Is There Something More to Her Appeal? "The Harris campaign isn’t just courting... conservatives....Rather, Democrats are actively supporting and spouting neoconservative ideas." aída chávez theintercept.com/2024/09/14/dic…

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The only consolation we might take is that, so far, this strain of H5N1 seems survivable in humans. But there is no way of knowing if that will remain true tomorrow--or the day after. CDC says close contact of Missouri bird flu patient showed symptoms nbcnews.com/health/health-…

Trump ‘likelier winner’ unless Harris tackles two failings, says ex-ambassador | US elections 2024 | The Guardian theguardian.com/us-news/2024/s…

I cannot comprehend what kind of “monsters” some might imagine Israel is exterminating in Gaza. But these are some of the 17,000 that Israel has killed in the last 11 months. And if you even remotely think their deaths are justified, you are the monster.

The The New York Times continues its Orwellian coverage of Gaza: "Much international attention has focused on Israeli hurdles to delivering aid to Palestinians...." "ISRAELI HURDLES TO DELIVERING AID"--as opposed to Israel's declared policy of mass starvation. nytimes.com/2024/09/13/us/…

I cannot recall another historical epoch in which politicians caught out in the most blatant lies have responded by doubling down--with no harm to their careers, or public support. Election Live Updates: Vance Defends Bogus Claims on Haitian Immigrants nytimes.com/live/2024/09/1…

Hank Rothgerber John Sanbonmatsu The piece touches on Michael Pollan, Yellowstone, Anonymous for the Voiceless, @PETA, and my move upstate to a former dairy farm. Bonus: if you share & DM me a screenshot I'll send you an killer seitan recipe developed by my kid! 🙏 newrepublic.com/article/185445…

‘Catastrophe of epic proportions’: eight drown in Europe amid heavy floods theguardian.com/world/2024/sep…

Columnists quit Jewish Chronicle over Gaza stories based on ‘fabrications’ allegededly "placed in the European media to support Benjamin’s Netanyahu’s negotiating position over Gaza." theguardian.com/media/2024/sep…

"Confessions of a Former Carnivore"--brilliant new piece by journalist Aaron Gell in The New Republic. (And I'm not just saying that because I'm quoted in it, though I am...!) 1/3 newrepublic.com/article/185445…

"Why are so many otherwise thoughtful, conscientious, and deeply caring individuals so willing to cause so much suffering for the most trifling and transient of gratifications?" This is exactly the question we should be haunted by. 2/3 newrepublic.com/article/185445…

"Contrary to Pollan’s lofty claim, I think it was precisely our new experiences with the natural world—sharing a landscape with deer, raccoons, groundhogs, snakes, foxes, eagles, frogs, fish, and so on...that led us to begin appreciating living animals more than dead ones." 3/3

I want to note that, so far, the would-be killers of Trump--disaffected white men with a yen for automatic weapons--have tumbled from the same "basket of deplorables" that constitute his own base. Suspected Gunman Said He Was Willing to Fight in Ukraine nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/…

100% of them are white. 100% of them are male. 100% of them had assault rifles. 100% of them are not Haitians. 100% of them are not immigrants. 100% of them are Republicans.

If you look at these and other videos of the disaster, it's evident that flooding like this has never been seen before in these affected areas--not in the last 500 or 1000 years, if ever. What We Know About the Deadly Floods in Central Europe nytimes.com/2024/09/16/wor…

Absolutely outrageous that climate protestors are being thrown into prison for years at a time. History will not judge the UK well for this. cnn.com/2024/09/14/cli…