Climate crisis
I have said for several years now that the elite were incapable of responding adequately to the climate crisis because they benefit too much from the status quo. It is why I have repeatedly argued that human survival depends on a change in our system of social organization. And why I have interpreted the failure of such change to materialize as dooming our species.
Knowing this, it didn’t make very much sense to pay close attention to the Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow and so I didn’t. But Greta Thunberg’s profanity[1] and George Monbiot’s fury[2] are noted. And I cannot say I’m much disappointed in this outcome—“the U.N. Environment Program reported that COP26 would likely end with Earth on track to warm 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit)”[3]—because my expectations were so low to begin with.
Brady Dennis and Sarah Kaplan, “At COP26, nations speed climate action but leave world still headed for dangerous warming,” Washington Post, November 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/11/13/cop26-agreement-climate-change-glasgow/
Language
There is a new blog post entitled, “On the death of the apostrophe and the evolution of discourse.”
Camilla Turner, “Apostrophe is marked for extinction as language becomes less formal,” Telegraph, November 13, 2021, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/13/apostrophe-marked-extinction-language-becomes-less-formal/
Pandemic
(Inter)national
Charlie Savage, “Appeals Court Extends Block on Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Employers,” New York Times, November 12, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/us/politics/court-vaccine-mandate.html
- [1]Melanie Reid, “Cuss away, Greta — it’s not the end of the world,” Times, November 8, 2021, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cuss-away-greta-its-not-the-end-of-the-world-pkfb2dl6l↩
- [2]George Monbiot, “Wealth Curse,” November 12, 2021, https://www.monbiot.com/2021/11/12/wealth-curse/↩
- [3]Brady Dennis and Sarah Kaplan, “At COP26, nations speed climate action but leave world still headed for dangerous warming,” Washington Post, November 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/11/13/cop26-agreement-climate-change-glasgow/↩