Trump-free Friday politics: August 11
Everyone’s worried about North Korea, a climate change report comes to light, and something weird is happening in Cuba in this week’s politics roundup.
Tensions with North Korea ramp up
This feel like the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis or a more dramatic episode in the history of the Cold War. Only, now we are led by less thoughtful people. They are themselves seemingly led around by their egos and rhetoric more than a healthy fear of nuclear annihilation.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has long boasted of his country’s missile program. It was easy enough to dismiss this at first. After all, North Korea (also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or the DPRK) has experienced crippling disasters like widespread famine. Its leaders have also purposefully isolated many of its citizens. How could North Korean scientists possibly create a successful long-range missile?
Then, they did. While no North Korean missile has landed on foreign soil, two successful missile tests this July demonstrated that it could do so relatively easily. Now, multiple sources agree that North Korea can fit a small nuclear warhead onto its newly developed missiles. Kim Jong-un has said that the next missile will land on the U.S. territory of Guam.
The president’s reaction
The president threatened “fire and fury” in response—thoughts which were, naturally enough, summoned on the fly and without input from advisers. Other members of federal government, including congresspeople, White House staff, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have expressed more restraint.
The president has also claimed that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is “far stronger and more powerful than ever before.” As it turns out, that statement is not entirely true. China has told North Korea that it will not lend its support if the DPRK attacks first. Meanwhile, people on Guam itself are currently preparing with a kind of collective resigned shrug.
Lest you conclude that we’re all going to die in an irradiated inferno, that’s currently pretty unlikely. So, before you freak out entirely, read this article from the Washington Post and take a deep breath or two.
Federal scientists bring out real talk on climate change
Many high-ranking federal officials have not exactly welcomed the concept of climate change. Certainly, the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was a poor sign. It signaled the prioritization of short term economic growth over long term management of runaway climate change.
But just because the president isn’t even sure that the planet is heating up (look, that one senator brought a snowball into Congress! It’s fine!) doesn’t mean actual scientists agree. After all, it is mightily hard to fool yourself when confronted with consistent data. In fact, scientists from 13 different federal agencies were so concerned that they created an unequivocal report. This documents outlines human influence in climate change with little room to deny its effects.
But what is a concerned group of scientists to do when they’re not sure their own government would listen? They create a draft report that is uploaded to the Internet Archive in January, where The New York Times eventually notices it and publishes the contents in August.
Just as well, considering that the draft report still needs final approval from the presidential administration before moving forward. Given the president’s record of skepticism regarding climate change, the chance of the report becoming official remains unknown.
Some false drama?
Some claim that The New York Times was trying to drum up a false sense of intrigue, given that the report was uploaded in January. The original story as published made it seem as if the report was not publicly available, when it had been available to anyone for more than half a year.
Still, it’s difficult to ignore some of the blunt observations in the document. According to the report, we will likely see a global temperature rise of nearly 2°C. That means humans will see more intense weather, longer and more difficult heat waves, and increased environmental devastation. It was especially direct when linking various extreme climate events to human activity.
It is currently unclear how the White House will respond to this report, only recently brought to public attention.
DOJ picking at civil rights laws
As is if it wasn’t enough trying to figure out if our next imminent threat is going to be nuclear weapons or greenhouse gases. Well, there’s always the Department of Justice. Don’t forget that officials within the DOJ are targeting a variety of civil rights issues, including affirmative action, protections for LGBTQ citizens, and voting rights.
Mueller still doing his thing
Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointment to the Russia investigation, has been apparently hard at work. He has already drawn on grand juries to gather evidence in the growing case. Now, Mueller and his team have used another dramatic maneuver to gather more evidence.
This includes a search warrant that allowed FBI agents to search the home of former campaign manager Paul Manafort. The team seized business and tax records from Manafort’s home last month. Typically, a judge only issues a search warrant if there is probable cause that a crime has been committed.
U.S. diplomats forced to leave Cuba after unusual health concerns
Multiple American officials and at least one Canadian diplomat have left Havana after complaining of strange health issues, most notably significant hearing loss. Now, U.S. officials have concluded that the diplomats were targeted using a high frequency sonic device
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has not confirmed the hearing loss, saying only that the diplomats were suffering from “a variety of physical symptoms.” She confirmed that the U.S. has since expelled two Cuban diplomats from the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C.
Cuba, meanwhile, claims that it had nothing to do with the hearing loss and health issues suffered by the diplomats. While the Cuban government complained that the expulsion of the Cuban diplomats was “unjustified and baseless,” it has also increased security around the U.S. embassy and residences of U.S. diplomats. Officials are now investigating the possibility that the attacks were initiated by another foreign power, perhaps—and really, try not to be surprised right now—Russia.
And, finally, your palate cleanser
An all-girl metal band, Voice of Baceprot, is making headway in Indonesia. Lead singer and guitarist Firdda Kurnia, along with drummer Eusi Siti Aisyah and bassist Widi Rahmawati, hail from West Java. This conservative region of Indonesia is not exactly a hotspot for metal bands. Moreover, some residents haven’t been excited for one featuring three teenagers in hijabs. Still, the trio has made its way onto national television and the young women are now getting attention on the worldwide stage.
While you’re here, check out some more info on women in the metal genre. It’s an unfortunately short and uncomfortable history, given the macho, misogynistic, and sometimes deeply threatening atmospheres at metal concerts and in the recording studio.
Next: Trump-free Friday politics: August 4
Yet, there are some truly impressive women in the metal world who demand attention and respect for their work. Hopefully, now Voice of Baceprot will be able to continue their music while having fun and breaking stereotypes.