Is an Assange plea deal in the works?
I’ll believe it when I see it. But Julian Assange’s brother told The Intercept that there’s a slight possibility that Julian could reach a plea deal with the United States. What would that look like? Who knows. And no one on the U.S. government side is saying boo about it. (Listen to our updated episode on Assange.)
From the article:
“‘There is a way to resolve it,’ Kennedy [U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy] said on Assange’s detention, adding that a plea deal would be ‘up to the Justice Department.’ The Department of Justice declined to comment. The State Department did not respond to The Intercept’s request for comment.
“The administration appears to be searching for an off-ramp ahead of [the prime minister’s] first state visit to DC in October,’ Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, told The Intercept. ‘If one isn’t found, we could see a repeat of a very public rebuff delivered by Tony Blinken to the Australian Foreign Minister two weeks ago in Brisbane.’”
The Intercept: U.S. Official Hints at Possible Plea Deal for Julian Assange
The end (might be) in sight for fossil fuels.
The free market provides! Hallelujah! All it took was billions of dollars in subsidies from China and the United States and 50 years since the technology became widely available for the world to begin shifting to a renewable energy future! And just in the nick of time to save the planet, amirite?
The upside of this article is that it’s from the International Energy Agency, not exactly a climate activist organization. Just a straightforward industrial agency that tracks the energy sector. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the U.S. and China doubling down on renewable energy and even beating certain targets. For example, these articles appeared just days apart in The New York Times this month:
“The United States is pivoting away from fossil fuels and toward wind, solar and other renewable energy, even in areas dominated by the oil and gas industries.”
“The country is embracing clean energy faster than expected.”
Why the sudden optimism? Turns out there is some reason for hope. But given the extreme conditions of the summer, it’s difficult to imagine this will all happen fast enough. Here are the real numbers as forecast by the IEA:
From the article:
“Based on existing policy settings, growth in world oil demand is set to slow markedly during the 2022-28 forecast period as the energy transition advances. While a peak in oil demand is on the horizon, continued increases in petrochemical feedstock and air travel means that overall consumption continues to grow throughout the forecast. We estimate that global oil demand reaches 105.7 mb/d in 2028, up 5.9 mb/d compared with 2022 levels.”
“Crucially, however, demand for oil from combustible fossil fuels – which excludes biofuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other non-energy uses - is on course to peak at 81.6 mb/d in 2028, the final year of our forecast. Growth is set to reverse after 2023 for gasoline and after 2026 for transport fuels overall. These trends are the result of a pivot towards lower-emission sources triggered by the global energy crisis, as well as policy emphasis on energy efficiency improvements and the rapid growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales.”
International Energy Agency: Executive Summary: World Markets Reset
Victim blaming a 7th grader who was raped and forced to give birth thanks to the SCOTUS.
Writer Arianna Coghill has an important take on the tragic story in Time Magazine about a 13-year-old girl from Mississippi named Ashley who was raped by a stranger and forced to give birth. Ashley will soon start 7th grade.
From the article:
“This story, recounting Ashley’s trauma and highlighting the many systems that failed her, is an incredibly difficult read. But one line has especially stayed with me:
‘One nurse came in and asked Ashley, ‘What have you been doing?’ Regina recalls. That’s when they found out Ashley was pregnant.’
This is the question a nurse chose to ask when confronted with a Black child in clear distress, who had shown up to the emergency room unable to stop vomiting. Not ‘What happened to you?’ or ‘Are you okay?’ The nurse reportedly asked a 13-year-old child, ‘What have you been doing?’ It’s hard not to see the suspicion and implicit blame in the question.”
Mother Jones: “What Have You Been Doing?” and the Brutal Adultification of Black Girls
Unf*cker Comment of the Week
From Will (hold for it) Watkins:
“To me, leftist principles boil down to consensus, cooperation, mutual aid and benefit, shared resources, transparency and accountability, solidarity and compassion from the top to the bottom. These are admirable and aspirational values in my opinion. It's what makes our movement different from theirs. Let's focus more on bringing more people in, defeating fascistic forces, then perfecting the society and world we all want to live in.”