Brian Schmidt
@schmidtbrian
Following politics, protecting democracy in Ukraine, US, and elsewhere, and environmental issues, particularly climate change and natural resource protection. Other Brian Schmidts (we are legion): happy to trade links so people find the right one.
Agree on US historical responsibility. I assume the damage caused is also reciprocal but not of equal weight - e.g. China has damaged the US but not to the same extent. Looks like China will soon take over the leaderboard, although on historical per-capita emissions, they're way below us.
Not everything he did was bad, starting with taking care of his kid sister when their parents died. He remained a friend of Ukraine. But he did way more wrong than right. This is deserved: www.publicnotice.co/p/lindsey-gr...
My new ride in front of our old ride. First use of it today, going to the gym. Hoping that our work schedules might let us get rid of the Fiesta when it dies and go down to one car (currently a Subaru Crosstrek PHEV)
Pretty incredible. I remember being told in 2020 that she had quit her cult decades prior. Cult members are esp vulnerable to blackmail by foreign intelligence agencies. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Much better than the wrong-and-nearly-impossible demand to end the presidential pardon power. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/o...
Gates didn't need Epstein to set up a donor-advised fund. Any lawyer with the relevant expertise could help with that. This part needs better explanation. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/b...
The national security threat is the Republican Party, choking off fossil fuel supplies from the Middle East and then fighting against substitutes for fossil fuels. www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
Trump is a human Autopen, except when he goes off on rage-policies of his own. www.msn.com/en-us/news/p...
Not me saying this, but maybe MAGA followers might resolve to be more cautious about just believing whatever they want. (Same for people saying Trump stole the 2024 election.) www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
I'd agree it's weird. This part doesn't quite fit the evil framework though:
I regret to inform you that we have competition. In addition to the image below, Hungary kept at it for 16 years, and Bulgaria might dive into stupidity next week. We humans learn, but it's slow.
This is a good article. The endorsers should be asked about what they knew, and if they claim not to have known the open secret, what does that mean. David's conduct was fine. The news media took way too long on this, however, and I think the article should hit that aspect harder.
Deleted post with wrong cut-and-paste. Here it is, showing the discussion isn't about high quality habitat:
A politicized military is bad at fighting, good at coups. That's what Trump and Hegseth are trying to create (I don't think they have enough time though to do it): www.cnbc.com/2026/03/31/k...
I wondered if the headline below (from dw.com) is accurate. The paragraph from an article there, if true, seems to show that it is. www.dw.com/en/israel-pa...
Relevant to the question whether Republicans with integrity should serve under Trump. I still the answer is yes, but then they should do the right thing until they're fired (note that I don't know if Driscoll is always like this). From the article:
Trump and MAGA use taxpayer money to pay guilty man for committing crimes against the United States. Not making this up. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
I think it's important to distinguish who's responsible rather than say every member of the military in the last 20 years is embarrassing you. For example, there's this: www.msn.com/en-ca/news/o... It was done by Trump, not "the military".
The book had a good summary of climate science at the time and is an excellent prebuttal of the claim that climatologists were predicting ice ages before they predicted warming: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History... He also did some great work on butterflies, it helped the conservation work that I did.
This graph from the link is inexplicable. Trust seems almost inversely correlated with the level of government corruption. Don't know what to make of something that gives this outcome.
Image from the link: He didn't have to ask. Every word on Wikipedia is publicly traceable to the editor who added it. Many of these editors are eponyms, but it still leaves a trail.
Still #1 but dropping. Elon is killing his own company due to crazy. wolfstreet.com/2026/01/22/n...
From the Epstein Files: Epstein, like Trump, didn't use alcohol or drugs. That's probably known somewhere, I suppose, but should be highlighted as it indicates their "brotherhood" and similarity in striving for sexual control. www.justice.gov/epstein/file... (p. 2)
The Republican Party is soft on crime, and it goes beyond their friends and their worst corporate allies. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...