U.S. Says ‘Wants Peace Not War’ as It Arms Ukraine to the Teeth

 By Finian Cunningham

 January 21, 2022

 American Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shuttling across Europe this week vowing that Washington “desperately wants peace not war” with Russia. This touchy-feely sentiment comes amid reports of additional American and British weapons supplies heading to the NATO-backed Kiev regime.

‘The Lowest Point in My Lifetime’: How 14 Independent Voters Feel About America

 Jan. 20, 2022

 By Patrick Healy and Adrian J. Rivera

How do independent voters feel about President Biden and America after his first year in office? Let’s put it this way: His weak approval ratings might go up if he pulled a Trump and just declared that America was moving on from the pandemic and he was going all in against inflation and high gas prices. Never mind about voting rights or avoiding another Jan. 6. It’s the economy, Joe.

So it seemed listening to a new Times Opinion focus group with 14 independent voters, who are far more worried about their finances than about Covid’s impact, as the transcript of the conversation below shows. Asked what they held Mr. Biden responsible for and what they would tell him if they had the chance, the independents emphasized energy prices, the economy and the importance of being a moderate, as well as a desire to avoid Covid mandates and lockdowns. The virus might not be done with America, but several of these independents are done with the virus.

America Is Falling Apart at the Seams

David Brooks- 1/13/2022

In June a statistic floated across my desk that startled me. In 2020, the number of miles Americans drove fell 13 percent because of the pandemic, but the number of traffic deaths rose 7 percent.

I couldn’t figure it out. Why would Americans be driving so much more recklessly during the pandemic? But then in the first half of 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle deaths were up 18.4 percent even over 2020. Contributing factors, according to the agency, included driving under the influence, speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Why are so many Americans driving irresponsibly?

The Class War—Waged and Being Won by the Rich—Is Destroying US Democracy

 12/15/2021- Jeffrey Sachs

The US has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich and we remain in the throes of a struggle to overcome decades of political corruption and social neglect.

Almost a year after Joe Biden's narrow election victory over Donald Trump, the United States remains on a knife-edge. Many political outcomes are possible. These range from the gradual economic and political reform that Biden is seeking to the subversion of elections and constitutional rule that Trump attempted last January—and that he and the Republican Party are still intent on pursuing.

It's not easy to diagnose exactly what ails America at its core so deeply that it incited the Trump movement. Is it the ceaseless culture wars that divide America by race, religion, and ideology? Is it the increase in inequality of wealth and power to unprecedented levels? Is it America's diminishing global power, with the rise of China and the repeated disasters of US-led wars of choice leading to national agony, frustration, and confusion?

The American polity is cracked, and might collapse. Canada must prepare

 By Thomas Homer-Dixon

January 2, 2022

By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship.

We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine. In 2014, the suggestion that Donald Trump would become president would also have struck nearly everyone as absurd. But today we live in a world where the absurd regularly becomes real and the horrible commonplace.

Leading American academics are now actively addressing the prospect of a fatal weakening of U.S. democracy.

 

How Will Life on Earth End?

 Discover Magazine: January/ February 2022

Asteroid strikes, supernova blasts and other calamities that could take out humanity

Life is resilient

The first living things on Earth appeared as far back as 4 billion years ago, according to some scientists. Throughout Earth’s history, it’s seen all manner of cataclysms. These disparate doomsdays have killed countless like-forms. And at times, those mass extinctions have even eliminated most species on Earth.

Yet life has always rebounded. New species emerge. The cycle repeats.

So, what would it take to kill off life in full? Here are just a few possible doomsday events that could permanently extinguish all life on Earth- and the last one is likely unavoidable.