Gaius Publius

A chart of global surface temperature anomalies, meaning changes from a baseline, for the 2016 calendar year. Here the baseline is 1951–1980 (source: NASA).

The Coca-Cola organization without the smiling celebrity mask (source)by Gaius PubliusOn this side of the Atlantic, George Monbiot is an underappreciated writer. The piece I'm about to quote makes just two main points, but they are stunning.

Protesters camp out in Senator Chuck Schumer’s Capitol Hill Office, November 14, 2016 (source)by Gaius Publiusco•nun•drum (kə-nŭnˈdrəm) n. A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma: "the conundrum, thus far unanswered, of achieving full employment without inflation” (Arthur M.

The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, disappearing from an orchard near you (Photo © Johanna James-Heinz; source)by Gaius PubliusThe plant world has been losing its pollinators (pollinating insects) for a while due to species decline and, in the case of bees, colony collapse.

You can see the trend. Hospital "consolidation" — a polite term for monopoly formation — in the hospital industry (source: Federal Reserve of Minneapolis)by Gaius PubliusI'm on Alan Grayson's email list, and this recently came through.

Persistent Surveillance Systems, used for "pre-event forensics, tracking targets in real time, and post-event forensics." Pre-event forensics? This isn't just about parades and demonstrations. It means constantly taping large areas of a city just in case an unplanned event (explosion, a murder) should occur. by Gaius PubliusWe could make some grand statement about the nature of surveillance in 21st Century America — there's certainly a grand and frightening statement to be made — but that would obscure the detail.

Deep State to Trump: "You know what you have to hide. So do we.

(Source, and a good read on its own)by Gaius Publius "Nothing is sadder than a man who disclaims his power to preserve his reputation."I've been writing a lot lately about outgoing President Barack Obama's legacy, especially on climate issues (example here).

Not sure why I'm featuring Obama's climate failure here? Maybe you can figure it out. (If the video above doesn't play, click here.)by Gaius PubliusI'm presenting this for a different reason than the obvious one. It's not actually a shock-people-into-climate-awareness piece. That's just the set-up. What's my actual point?

The Stasi was the "secret police" of communist East Germany. In 1989, about 1% of the population was used as "informers" (source).by Gaius PubliusDid you know that Best Buy's central computer repair facility — their so-called "Geek Squad" — contains at least three employees who are also regular informers for the FBI?