- A mass shooting and arson has occurred at a concert hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk; at least 40 people have been killed. Ukraine has denied involvement in the attack.
- The US is urging Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. This is partly motivated by fear that it will lead to massive retaliation, and partly by fear that it will drive up world oil prices and thus American gasoline prices during an election year.
- The Russians are now actually using the W word, which they had previously shunned, for what they previously called their "special military operation" in Ukraine. They claim the reason for the distinction is the (so far indirect) support given to Ukraine by western powers.
- The Biden administration is introducing strict emissions rules for the auto industry, including a target of 56% of new vehicles being electric by 2032. Whether they'll be able to sell this to the masses remains to be seen.
- An article in Time magazine, of all places, acknowledges what many of us have suspected for a long time, namely that leaving things to the private sector and the free market is not going to be enough to adequately address climate change. In fact, some go further and argue that endless economic growth is the real problem - that it won't be possible to "decouple" carbon emissions from economic growth the way many people hope. Rather, they say, a transition to a steady-state economy, as advocated by Herman Daly and others, is necessary. This is a problem, because continued economic growth is integral to capitalism as we know it, and even social democrats are reluctant to question the commitment to growth. On the positive side, though, the prospect of global population decline due to the precipitous drop in birth rates in most countries may help with this - if the population is declining, you can theoretically keep the total GDP constant, or even reduce it, while keeping per capita GDP high. So all the hand-wringing by establishment types about population decline seems badly misplaced, even if the transition will be rough for some.
- Some experts believe that fossil fuel companies could be tried for homicide for deaths resulting from climate change. While this may be theoretically true, it's worth remembering that even in such a blatant case as the Ford Motor Company deliberately selling a car that was more dangerous than it needed to be to save money, the prosecution wasn't able to get a conviction.
- After the Ford government in Ontario scrapped the previous government's basic income pilot study before its scheduled end, participants were unexpectedly left in the lurch. They are now bringing a class action against the government.
- China plans to launch crewed spacecraft using a "railgun" (i.e. a mass driver). The device would electromagnetically accelerate a spaceplane about the size of a narrow-body airliner to supersonic or hypersonic speeds before the craft's rocket engines even fire. Definitely an ambitious idea.
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