Trump-free Friday politics roundup: September 15

Books, Chelsea Manning, missiles, immigration, and the abstract concept of nothingness are all featured in this week’s politics roundup.

Hillary Clinton wrote a book

Oh, you may have heard about it. The book is titled What Happened, naturally enough. Depending on who you are, who you voted for, where you get your news, what phase the moon is in, and what you had for lunch, this book could be practically anything. It might be an extended whine from a sore loser.

Perhaps it’s a vital post-mortem. Wait, or could it just be an unnecessary look back into a hellish presidential election? Or, according to one reviewer, it’s a “howl from the gut of Hermione Granger — the embattled cry of the hyper-competent woman who desperately wishes the world were a meritocracy”.

Has Hillary Clinton finally dispensed with polite smiles and indulged in some righteous anger? Or, is this only more political maneuvering? Even checking good old PolitiFact doesn’t necessarily lead you to the ultimate moral judgment everyone is yearning for.

I certainly can’t tell you what Clinton’s book will mean to you. After a certain point in 2016, I began to lose faith in the very nature of reality (you too?). Still, it’s here, it will remain in public conversation for a while, and chances are that it’s going to command a massive hold list at your local library.

North Korea launches another missile over Japan

Less than a month after North Korea launched a missile directly over Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of Japan, it did the same exact thing again. South Korea responded by holding military drills that included a missile launch of their own. South Korea’s missile is reportedly capable of reaching the airport North Korea used to launch its latest weapon.

With a flight of about 2,300 miles and a top altitude of 480 miles, this missile showed more than enough range capable of striking major cities in South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. Territory of Guam.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be acting out of desperation, a desire for power, independence for his country, madness, or some toxic combination thereof. No matter what exactly is going on in Pyongyang, everyone outside of North Korea is worried. South Korean President Moon Jae-in almost immediately entered into meetings and talks about the incident.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was, unsurprisingly, perturbed. He called the launch “totally unacceptable…. We must let North Korea understand there is no bright future for North Korea if it continues in this way”. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson weighed in as well, saying that “These continued provocations only deepen North Korea’s diplomatic and economic isolation”.

In the same statement, Tillerson also urged for stronger action from North Korea’s closest allies: “China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.”

President talks immigration with Democrats

Don’t get too excited, though. Of course, if you’ve been following the course of politics at any point since the beginning of human society, this should already be a hard-won lesson. And anyone even remotely familiar with the current state of the White House shouldn’t feel too comfortable about, well, anything.

The president’s current talks with Democratic leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi shouldn’t make anyone comfortable, either. Still, it’s worth noting that current talks centered on a possible “protection” of sorts for “dreamers”. These childhood arrivals were previously under the protection of DACA. Such a move may also provide a convenient excuse for delaying the infamous and still non-existent U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Whether or not such protection will emerge in any effective form remains to be seen. You may at least take heart in the uncomfortable hand-wringing from more conservative politicians, courtesy of recent ideological shifts from the White House.  That includes both this move and recent signaling that the Iran nuclear deal might stay right where it is.

Harvard gets in trouble for Chelsea Manning fellowship

Even after seven years of prison time and a presidential pardon (via then-President Obama), Chelsea Manning remains a divisive figure. The former military intelligence analyst is best known for leaking classified government documents, including footage of airstrikes, military reports, and diplomatic cables. She claimed a “responsibility to the public” had pushed her to provide the documents to WikiLeaks.

Some hail Manning as a kind of folk hero, fighting back against a secretive and violent government. Others, however, feel that she is a traitor who should have served out her original 35-year sentence.

Harvard, it seemed, had come out on the pro-Manning side of things. Its fellowship offer to Manning, however, has attracted serious attention and criticism. CIA Director Mike Pompeo has withdrawn from a future appearance at the Harvard Kennedy School. “I believe it is shameful for Harvard to place its stamp of approval upon her treasonous actions,” he said in a letter to school organizers. Michael Morell, another former CIA official, has also resigned from a fellowship at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Harvard had since rescinded its offer to Manning, though Sean Spicer’s fellowship is apparently still all set.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Has it ever occurred to you that the number zero is kind of a revolutionary concept? From our modern perspective, it’s been around for millennia. But just try to put yourself in the shoes of a very, very early mathematician. Just how do you go about explaining the concept of nothing? Moreover, how do you persuade someone that nothing is a valuable and necessary concept? Now we know it’s vital for trade, communication, math, science, and beyond.

How exactly such early conversations may have gone, we may never know. Nevertheless, we at least have an idea of when “zero” began to take hold, thanks to carbon dating. A document known as the Bakhshali manuscript has recently been dated to about the 3rd or 4th century BCE, now making it the earliest known document to contain a symbol for the number zero.

Next: Trump-free Friday politics: September 8

And before you are completely consumed by scoffs, zero is seriously a groundbreaking achievement. Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, and Yale University all have articles giving you a good introduction to the history of this not-so-humble number. If that’s not enough there are many different books that dive even deeper into this surprisingly complex subject.