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These 8 mind-bending moments in science made us question reality in 2023

The world of scientific research was a bonanza for brain-bending discoveries in 2023, with experts from the fields of astronomy, cosmology, neuroscience and chemical engineering left us questioning the very nature of our reality with eye-popping new data. 

The outer worlds of our so-called reality were especially shaken as the James Webb Space Telescope brought us closer to proof of an unseen universe, a mysterious hum was discovered pervading the galaxy and a groundbreaking journalistic investigation revealed the possibility of aircrafts designed by non-human intelligence. 

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Meanwhile, psychonautically-minded research into the inner worlds of human consciousness produced some spectacular and stunning clinical results. Seemingly rational and sober-minded people everywhere where left asking themselves whether the late comedian Bill Hicks might have been right all along.

“Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream — and we are the imagination of ourselves,” goes the famous Hicks bit. “Here’s Tom with the weather.” 

2024 may yet bring us another wave of galaxy-brained, paradigm-shifting discoveries. But among the mind-blowers of 2023, these were the ones that just hit… different. 

01

Houston, we have an anomaly

Aerial view of the Department of Defense, the cornerstone of United States defenseThe Pentagon (Getty Images/Kiyoshi Tanno)Image_placeholder

You know that part in war movies where a grenade explodes near a soldier — and suddenly the movie’s sound director mutes everything except for a faint concussive ringing, while the whole battlefield scene becomes five seconds of fuzzy chaos? 

 

Yeah. That’s what it felt like covering science this year when a Pentagon whistleblower testified before Congress that the US military was not only in possession of unidentified aerial phenomena evidence — but that it has a UFO crash-retrieval program which caused a former Defense Department inspector general to ring the alarm, and that it has collected biological evidence of non-human intelligence. 

 

"We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities," whistleblower David Grusch told the Debrief in its eye-bulging summer report. "The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles." 

 

Even though NASA and other agencies had already ramped up documentation efforts on flying anomalies with an eye toward international politics and domestic airspace safety, 2023 truly became the year of alien-chasing when military members with seemingly sterling credentials stepped forward to talk about their encounters with tech that no one can so far explain — and a punitive culture of coverup they say kept them silent until now. 

 

Read the coverage

"We are not alone": Intelligence whistleblower says "non-human" UFO craft retrieved
02

Time is a flat circle… or maybe it's a Bill Murray movie.

Multiverse, conceptMultiverse, concept (Getty Images/VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)
We're often told that, by all accounts, the universe has been in a state of constant expansion since the Big Bang. Astronomers and cosmologists argue that we're also headed for a Big Crunch, or major contraction. But some scientists outside of the mainstream think the universe has actually been oscillating since the Big Bang — expanding and contracting repeatedly. 
 
"Not unlike the 1993 romantic comedy 'Groundhog Day,' starring Bill Murray as a weatherman stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over, our universe could be repeatedly cycling through different iterations. Crunch, bang, crunch, bang," writes Salon science and health editor Troy Farah.
 
Farah explores one cyclical theory about the universe that's been given a new life by a handful of astronomers as research into the possibility of dark matter challenges traditional models of our known reality. 
 

Read the coverage

Déjà Vuniverse: Why some physicists believe we could be living in a Groundhog Day universe
03

We can hear ripples in the fabric of space

Gravitation waves, 3D illustrationGravitation waves, 3D illustration (Getty Images/andreusK)Image_placeholder
What if I told you that your entire concept of observable reality is actually hinged on the massive sea of space-time ripples, emanating from a bunch of black holes that smashed into each other hundreds of millions of years ago? And what if I told you that this year, for the first time ever, scientists got to probe the nature of these black holes and offer the world proof that these ripples — gravitational waves — not only exist all around us, but can even be heard with the human ear? 
 
"Basically, these waves could be the sounds of the universe forever growing and reproducing. According to the cosmic inflation theory, the universe is eternal, leading to the speculative theory of pocket universes, which would mean that the universe is forever growing and reproducing. Our universe is just one pocket in this," Salon's Nicole Karlis wrote. 
 
Karlis' work on the gravitational beat led her to track down the story of this massive hum of energy, pervading the universe and puzzling scientists. In this brain-melter of an article, Karlis transforms phrases like "primordial quantum spacetime fluctuations" from science-fiction jabber into plain-spoken explanations that make us question everything we thought we knew about the origin of all matter. 
 

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Astronomers search for sources of mind-bending gravitational hum permeating the universe
04

The dark stars of the unseen world peek from behind the curtain

An illustration of a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxyAn illustration of a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)Image_placeholder

You’d be forgiven for thinking their name sounds like a psychedelic metal album, but the cosmological truth behind so-called “dark stars” is way more brain-warping than anything the Ozzman ever pumped through an amp. In fact, the James Webb Space Telescope should be crowned the new Prince of Darkness this year after scientists used its incredibly fine-tuned instruments to fetch potentially groundbreaking evidence of three dark stars. 

 

Scientists have been theorizing about dark stars since 2007, explains Salon's Matthew Rozsa, but this year’s research “is some of the strongest evidence for dark stars to date.”

 

Rozsa sifts through decades of theory with the research authors and physics professors who have been grappling for proof of the unseen universe since dark stars were first proposed, and delivers a series of “whoa” moments in this down-to-earth explainer. 

 

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Dark matter power: James Webb telescope may have proven the existence of giant dark stars
05

Maybe the real neuro-chemical energy was the vibes we made along the way

Abstract world inside your mind, illustrationAbstract world inside your mind, illustration (Getty Images/Benjavisa)Image_placeholder

It’s easy to get lost in the muddied waters of pseudoscience when we start talking about a person’s “energy field” — and pop-culture science figures have spent a good deal of airtime these past few decades, debunking wishy-washy New Age claims about vibes and the power of positive thinking. That’s why it was an absolute slap in the cerebellum to find out that those who are simply vibing were right all along. 

 

"This is not metaphysical," neuropsychologist Dr. Julia DiGangi told Salon. "This is not metaphorical. It's actual neural chemical energy."

 

The mind is the lens through which we perceive all reality and if there's a real impact on that perception based on quantifiable emotional energy then — oof — color us shook. Indeed, there is a science to the evolution of emotions, as Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams explains in this fascinating conversation with DiGangi — and understanding that science can actually help relieve emotional dysfunction. 

 

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Your brain is powered by literal emotional energy. An expert explains how to find the right balance
06

Or am I just tripping?

Mushrooms And Mental HealthMushrooms And Mental Health (Getty Images/wildpixel)Image_placeholder

Awash in the still-unclear science of popular antidepressant medication — and confronting recent evidence that the link between serotonin and depression may be completely misunderstood — a growing number of researchers are examining what could be a new tool in mental health treatment. Neuroscientists continue to shake up the field when they found that psychedelics could help alleviate depression in some tests and even promote faster regrowth of neuronal connections in the prefrontal cortex. 

 

Salon's Troy Farah stakes out new ground in this emergent pharma-science and talks to researchers who are unraveling our brains’ mysterious natural talent for creating psychedelic compounds, including the psychedelics DMT and bufotenine, as well as mebufotenin (5-MeO-DMT), a powerful psychedelic also found in toad venom.

 

Come for an unflinching challenge to the assumptions of modern depression treatment. Stay for the perfect synopsis of psychedelics’ synaptic benefits — along with a spate of bangers like “our brains are essentially fat, watery bags of neurons that are tangled together like a dense thicket of thorny weeds.”

 

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New research illuminates how the human brain creates its own psychedelic drugs
07

Evolution favors passing on our stories — not just our genes

Image_pMacro image of a houseleekMacro image of a houseleek (Getty Images / © Jackie Bale)laceholder

Is it poetry, or is it a breathtaking research paper that forces us to see the inherent connectedness of all matter and thoughtforms? This year, researchers took a second look at Darwinian selection and proposed a bold new idea about how *gestures around* all this evolves, calling it the “law of increasing functional information.” In short, a complex and evolving system — whether that’s a flock of gold finches or a nebula or the English language — will produce ever more diverse and intricately detailed states and configurations of itself, with the aim of passing on information about itself (not just genes). 

 

“It really represents a connection between science and the philosophy of science that perhaps offers a new lens into why we see everything that we see in the universe,” lead scientist Michael Wong said at the time.  

 

The most mind-blowing aspect of the scientific proposal is how closely it hews to a great body of literature and poetry through history. It’s almost as if the humanities were onto something all along.

Read the coverage

The "missing law" of nature was here all along How the sweeping new sci
08

Swirling brain waves could unlock the deeper mystery of consciousness

Geometry of the MindGeometry of the Mind (Getty Images/agsandrew)Image_placeholder

When fluid physicists study wave patterns in turbulent flows, it can help them create more efficient piping systems. When neuroscientists copy those methods, they discover a massive trove of spiraling brain waves — called “spindles” — emerging as signals from billions of microscopic neurons and coordinating the flow of activity between different parts of your brain. 

 

“In our research we observed that these interacting brain spirals allow for flexible reconfiguration of brain activity during various tasks involving natural language processing and working memory, which they achieve by changing their rotational directions," researchers said. 

 

By scanning the brains of 100 young adults and contributing to the massive, open-science Human Connectome Project, the scientists were able to open new fronts in neuroplasticity research — while pushing the needle on large-scale neuroscientific approaches.

Read the coverage

Unlocking the brain's spiral symphony: a new path to understanding brain activity

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of Salon's best 2023 writing on the shifting nature of reality

Maine becomes second state to disqualify Trump from 2024 primary ballot

In what CNN calls "a shock decision based on the 14th Amendment’s 'insurrectionist ban,'" Maine’s top election official has officially removed Donald Trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot, following Colorado's lead after their Supreme Court made the same ruling last week.

In Maine's 34-page decision on the matter, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows writes, "The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government," concluding, per Reuters, that "Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying the vote."

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows says. “Democracy is sacred … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

In a responding statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused Bellows of being a “virulent leftist” who has now “decided to interfere in the presidential election.”

“Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot,” Cheung furthered. 

Ex-GOP lawmaker describes Trump as smelling like a mix of armpits, ketchup and a butt

Over the years, there have been wide-spread rumors that Donald Trump has a certain signature aroma that has rarely been described as being good, which the former president has taken great offense at. On December 16, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. threw his take on this subject into the mix via a now viral social media post, writing, "I’m genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven’t talked about the odor. It’s truly something to behold. Wear a mask if you can." And he doubled down on that in a recent interview on The MeidasTouch Network.

On the subject of a Trump spokesperson firing back at Kinzinger's claim with, “Adam Kinzinger farted on live TV and is an unemployed fraud," Kinzinger went in even harder.

Trying his hand at Smell-O-Vision, the former GOP lawmaker went into greater detail about the way Trump smells, saying, "It’s not good. The best way to describe it . . . take armpits, ketchup, a butt and makeup and put that all in a blender and bottle that as a cologne. That’s kind of that. I’ve been amazed that everybody is just kind of learning about this now."

Watch here:

Gypsy Rose Blanchard picked up from prison in husband’s car with a ‘Hitman’ Hart license plate

At 3:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, Gypsy Rose Blanchard left Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center after serving 85% of her 10-year sentence for her role in the fatal stabbing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard in 2015. 

Sentenced in 2016 after admitting to convincing her boyfriend at the time, Nick Godejohn, to travel from Wisconsin to the home she shared with her mother in Missouri to commit the murder with a knife she provided him while she hid in the bathroom, Blanchard's early release was confirmed back in September and, in a recent interview with People, she says she's ready for freedom.

Speaking to People about the crime she committed, which was an ill-conceived attempt to free herself from a lifetime of Munchausen by proxy syndrome abuse — a rare form of abuse in which a guardian exaggerates or induces illness in a child for attention and sympathy, she says, "No one will ever hear me say I'm proud of what I did or I'm glad that she's dead . . . I'm not proud of what I did. I regret it every single day." She now refers to her mom as "a sick woman" who didn't deserve to die, but should have also done prison time for her own criminal behavior.

In what the internet is pointing out as being a grim twist, Blanchard was picked up from prison by her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, in a car featuring a 'Hitman' Hart license plate. The wrestling-themed plate would be innocent enough under any other circumstances, but in this situation it's led to some hot takes.

"I know the home that I'm going home to is with my husband, and I'm going to have a really supportive family dynamic," Blanchard told People. "And I think that that's what I've been missing this whole time."

Anderson developed a relationship with Blanchard in 2020 after writing her a letter in prison and currently works as a special education teacher in Louisiana. 

Missouri Department of Corrections declined to issue a statement on Blanchard's release when Salon reached out. 

This sparkling sangria is the perfect libation for your New Years celebrations (and beyond)

Aromatic and incredibly festive, this sangria is just the thing to serve for the holidays.

A highball is perfect to show off the colorful assortment of cranberries, sliced honeycrisp apples and wheels of orange citrus artfully set off by one final garnish: a single woodsy star anise. Whether used as a starter or as the signature cocktail for the evening (or afternoon!), this beautiful, understated, ginger-infused, effervescent spritzer will put you in the mood to celebrate.

Related

Why do we drink champagne on New Year's Eve?

As you might have guessed, this is made from sparkling wine, and despite its name, it does not include any of the typical players most often found in sangria, like brandy, cognac or cinnamon sticks. I have recently become taken with cava, Spain’s champagne, so cava is my choice for this lovely cocktail, but if you prefer Prosecco or some other sparkling wine, you can dress it up with this recipe just as nicely.

Never a big fan of the majority of sparkling wines I have tried, I was instantly smitten with cava as soon as I found out it is more similar to French Champagne than any of its sparkling cousins. That, along with the additional endorsements of my favorite local wine shop gal (and with it ringing up for a quarter of the price of Champagne), I was primed and ready to love it before I even tried it! 

Cava is made using the same French traditional method of its second fermentation happening inside the bottle and it also has the same delicate, fine bubbles, which I absolutely adore. Its alcohol content (11%-12%) comes in at only slightly below that of French Champagne and it is light and crisp. Most have undertones of apples and citrus, which make it a great choice for this particular drink. I prefer the driest, least sweet, styles of cava with my favorite being “Brut Nature” with 0-3 grams/liter of residual sugar. The next driest style is “Extra Brut” with 0-6 grams/liter and both are perfect for this sangria. 

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I encourage you to use the recipe as a guide in terms of how much honey, orange peel, ginger and star anise to include in the ‘syrup.’ I do not actually make a syrup, per se, mine is more of an infusion. I wait to sweeten it once it has cooled down to preserve all the good stuff in the honey.

As for the ginger, if you typically find ginger overpowering, I do not think you will find that to be the case with this cocktail. More than anything, the ginger brings warmth much more than flavor, something I was not expecting and really enjoy. The citrus and cranberries add an understated little zip that is mellowed by the honey and the star anise provides an incredible aroma. Every sip is a pleasure, especially if you slip a bite of the somewhat marinated honeycrisp apple slices from your glass every once in a while.   

I use a substantial knob of sliced fresh ginger along with some extra citrus peel in order to strengthen my infusion to the max. I want a little of it to go a long way in terms of flavor because I do not want to water down the bubbles. 

Making each cocktail individually also helps preserve the lovely effervescence of your cava or sparkling wine, but for a larger party, it is much more time efficient to make one large batch to serve out of pretty pitchers or from a punch bowl. Experiment with the amount of honey then further experiment with how much infusion-syrup you prefer. I tend to like less, but in no time, you will have your proportions just like you like — or you may stop caring if you work too hard at reaching perfection!

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This is the best cocktail I know to add pizzaz to lesser expensive bottles of bubbly. It is so pretty and so dressed up, just like I prefer the holidays to be.

If not this season to get dolled up, then when? I like to go all out! A little bling collar for the cat, some red lipstick for me, Tom (the husband) will put on his “good khakis,” and by God, I am going to class up the bubbly too. 

Tis’ the season!    

Sparkling Sangria
Yields
6 to 8 servings
Prep Time
15 minutes
Chill Time
1 hour

Ingredients

4 to 5 small honeycrisp apples, cored and thinly sliced in wedges or rounds

2 oranges, peeled and sliced in thin rounds (save peels — see below)

2 satsumas or small tangerines, peeled and sliced (save peels)

1/2 to 1 bag frozen cranberries

1/2 to 1 cup honey or pure maple syrup

4 to 6 whole star anise, plus more for garnish

Large thumb sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

2 to 3 bottles of cava, sparking wine or Prosecco

Optional: 1-2 cups vodka, (up to 1 cup per bottle of cava used)

Optional: Juice of 1/2 a large orange or 1 small satsuma or tangerine

Directions

  1. Over low heat, simmer star anise, fresh ginger and citrus peels in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. 

  2. Remove from heat and allow to cool before straining. While still slightly warm, stir in honey and orange juice, if using. Start with 2 tablespoons of honey and add more according to your sweetness preference. 

  3. Place sliced apples, satsumas/oranges and half or all of the frozen cranberries in a bowl and pour ginger mixture over the fruit. Cover and chill in refrigerator. If using vodka, you can add a shot in with the fruit to marinate.

  4. Once chilled, either put all together in pitchers or punch bowl, adding infusion/syrup to taste. Pour or ladle into highball and top with a single star anise.  

    OR

    If serving individually, our off most of the liquid into a measuring cup or a pretty creamer pitcher. Leave some for the fruit to continue to marinate.

  5. Place a mixture of soaked fruit pieces and about a tablespoon or two of ginger infusion in a highball. Top with cava or sparkling wine and drop a star anise on top.

     

Cook's Notes

-Use a vegetable peeler to avoid getting much pith (white part) in the orange peel. This goes only for the oranges. The satsuma or tangerine peels don’t have to be done this way.

-If adding vodka to this recipe, make sure it is well chilled. Add about 1/2 shot if making individual cocktails or up to 1 cup per bottle of cava for an entire batch. (I prefer it without vodka)

-You can serve over ice, if preferred.

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Experts: Smith’s “smart motion” undermines Trump’s plans to inject “outrageous remarks” at trial

Special counsel Jack Smith urged a judge on Wednesday to bar former President Donald Trump from launching “political attacks” and making "irrelevant" claims in his federal election subversion case in Washington, D.C., including blaming others for the Jan. 6 attack.

“Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the Court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston wrote in the filing.

Smith's team argues that Trump has hinted at a plan to undermine the credibility of the investigation by promoting entirely unfounded claims, including pushing the false notion about the government's non-existent “coordination with the Biden administration” as well as propagating other unsubstantiated allegations “recycled from the selective and vindictive prosecution motion that he based on anonymous sources in newspaper articles."

The special counsel’s team also requested that the ex-president be barred from using "terminology such as the 'Injustice Department,' 'Biden Indictment' or similar phrases" in front of the jury as it could taint their verdict.

“Given Trump’s outlandish and inflammatory rhetoric in denigrating the trial and defaming the prosecution, Smith wants to bar Trump and his lawyers and his witnesses from making these kinds of outrageous remarks during the trial,” Bennett Gershman, a former New York prosecutor and law professor at Pace University, told Salon. 

Related

“Illegal”: Trump explodes on Truth Social after Jack Smith corners him on Jan. 6 conspiracy theory

In jury trials, the presiding judge is responsible for overseeing the proceedings to ensure they are done in accordance with the rules of evidence and procedure, Gershman explained. It is “imperative” for the judge to confirm that the presented evidence is relevant in substantiating the legal issues at hand.

Evidence that lacks relevance, is argumentative, distracting and misleading must be excluded so that jurors “keep their eye on the ball,” and don’t get influenced by “speculation, prejudicial remarks, or theories that have no basis in fact,” he explained.

Smith warned in the filing that the former president "appears poised to blame undercover agents, government informants, or confidential human sources" for the Jan. 6 attack. He pointed to a report Trump shared on Truth Social, where a Metropolitan Police Department officer seems to suggest to colleagues that he should "go undercover as Antifa" within the rioting crowd.

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Law professor: Trump delay in other cases “opens a window” for Fani Willis to hold trial within weeks

Smith accused Trump of engaging in a baseless public disinformation campaign to discredit the indictment, saying that the former president intends to “introduce evidence of foreign influence” in the 2020 presidential election to show that “he was personally tricked by foreign disinformation” or make claims about the January 6 riot resulting from “efforts by foreign actors to influence public opinion.” His efforts should be excluded to prevent any influence on the fairness of the impending criminal trial, he argued. 

“It has been clear for some time that Trump wants to make this into a political trial by injecting what would otherwise be irrelevant information,” Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, told Salon.

Much of Trump's recent rhetoric has focused on blaming others, making claims like “this is a political witch trial,” Levenson continued. Those are not issues for the jury, it is up to the judge to decide whether there has been “selective or vindictive” prosecution.  

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The court has “broad discretion” to exclude evidence that is “unduly prejudicial and not particularly probative” to the issues that the jury needs to decide, Levenson explained, adding that this was a “smart motion” for the special counsel to file.   

“The Trump team is playing by the old adage: ‘the best defense is a good offense,’ but allowing Trump to inject all of the political issues into this case is likely to steer it off course,” Levenson said. “Certainly, evidence that goes to Trump's state of mind would be relevant, but that will probably be fairly limited and would probably have to come primarily from him.”

While U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, may prevent “direct attacks” on the special counsel or Department of Justice and their motivation for bringing charges, Chutkan will likely allow Trump to blame others for the Capitol riots, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Salon.

“That goes to a defense in the case, and it’s generally reversible error for the court to deny a defendant a factual defense,” Rahmani said. 

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The special counsel will have to face the fact that the standard for "relevant" evidence is generally “fairly low” so Smith needs to focus on how blaming others for Jan. 6  does not mean that Trump is not responsible for his conduct, Levenson explained. 

“It will be a balancing test for the court to discern what probative value Trump's evidence has and whether it is outweighed by the fact that it is likely to mislead and confuse the jury,” she said. 

As of now, the trial is scheduled for March 4, marking the first in a series of four criminal cases against Trump as he campaigns to return to the White House. But, the trial date could be delayed as the ex-president pushes efforts to prolong his trial until after the election, relying on his presidential immunity and double jeopardy defenses. 

The lengthier the delay, and the closer the trial to the election the greater the possibility that a court might find the “convergence too great a burden” on our democratic electoral process, Gershman said.

Levenson added that although the D.C. Circuit is expediting the appeal, its decision is not likely to be the end of the line. If the issue heads to the Supreme Court, realistically this case “probably won't go to trial until this summer, at the earliest.”

Rahmani also noted that “none of this may matter if Chutkan doesn’t lift the stay or pause in the case while the appeals on presidential immunity and double jeopardy are pending. If those appeals last through November and Trump wins the presidential election, he can’t be prosecuted.”

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about Trump's D.C. election subversion case

“Unacceptable”: 10 million American seniors worry about getting enough to eat

This has been an especially challenging year for those experiencing hunger, to put it mildly.

Between inflation, corporate price gouging, reformed supplemental nutrition assistance work requirements, backlogs for aid and expiring pandemic assistance programs, the country has seen a marked increase of food insecurity

Back in March, Salon's Ashlie D. Stevens wrote that the US was "racing towards a looming 'hunger cliff'' and as the year has gone on, this has become more and more evident. Last month, the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey noted that about 28 million people were experiencing food insecurity or food scarcity this fall — a significant portion of which are estimated to be over the age of 65. 

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Time, food and money: With hunger on the rise, here are ways to actually help

In April 2023, Feeding America released “The State of Senior Hunger in America in 2021,” which is part of a recurring series of reports documenting the prevalence of food insecurity among the senior population aged 60 and older. According to their numbers, 5.5 million seniors (or 1 in 14) were food insecure in 2021. 

Given the changing hunger landscape in the United States, as well as the economic fallout of the pandemic, it’s reasonable to assume those numbers have continued to climb in the ensuing two years. However, according to some food security advocates, serving this population comes with its own challenges, especially this time of year, and they need additional funding to make a more marked difference. 

“Many older adults live on fixed incomes like Social Security, pensions, or savings,” Ashley Tyrner, the founder of FarmboxRx and Feed by FarmboxRx, told Salon Food. “As living costs increase, they may struggle to afford nutritious food. Rising healthcare expenses can further strain their budgets, leaving less for food purchases.”

According to Tyner, she was inspired to found the FarmboxRX program — which delivers produce to anywhere in the country, allowing even those living in food deserts to use government benefits to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables — because, 13 years ago, she was a “a single mother on food stamps living in a rural food desert.” 

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Earlier this year, FarmboxRX surveyed 2,000 individuals who participated in their program in order to paint a fuller picture of the “face” of food insecurity this year. Their data showed “there were clear and consistent trends impacting Americans’ access to food,” including four top reasons Americans struggled to put healthy food on the table: single parenthood, disability and disease, being on a fixed income (including Social Security) and age, in that “someone in the home is over the age of 65 and is either not working, unable to work, and therefore their income does not cover their expenses and food.”

Tyrner explains that this directly impacts the quality of older Americans’ lives. “Food insecurity can exacerbate health problems, leading to a cycle where poor nutrition worsens existing conditions,” she said. 

This is also a compounding issue, according to Jenny Young, the Vice President of Communications and Chief of Staff of Meals on Wheels America, which serves an average of 251 million meals each year to 2.2 million seniors nationwide. The population of Americans over the age of 60 “is set to reach 93 million in the next decade, with 118 million expected by 2060, increasing the number of seniors today by more than half." Young said. 

And while Americans are “living longer, they’re doing so with less money,” per Young, which means they are also more at risk of hunger, malnutrition, mobility issues and medication problems. 

Organizations, like FarmboxRX and Meals on Wheels, are jumping in to help, but according to Young, there’s a broad need for more funding. Sixty-four percent of local Meals on Wheels programs are “confident they could serve more seniors with more funding” even as some chapters have had to add seniors to waiting lists or discontinue and cut back on their services. 

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Things unfortunately don’t look much better for seniors in 2024, both due to persistent cost of living increases, as well as a potential national drain on nutrition resources due to planned Republican-led cuts to programs that focus on the food security of other age groups. For instance, Eric Mitchell, who is the president of The Alliance to End Hunger, said his organization is taking a central role in advocating for sufficient appropriations for WIC. 

“Under current funding levels, 2 million mothers and children may be turned away from benefits due to insufficient funding levels,” Mitchell told Salon Food. “Further, while inflation is cooling, living expenses continue to be stubbornly high, leading to continuing pressures on SNAP and other nutrition programs. Our worry is that any cuts to one nutrition program would put increased pressure and burden on other programs, as well as food banks.” 

He continued: “"While there are a number of policies and programs that are doing fantastic work, the most critical piece of legislation at this point is the Farm Bill, which contains vital authorizations of programs targeting hunger on both the domestic and international fronts. Beyond this immediate priority, an ideal world would see the issue of hunger and malnutrition as a central pillar of US policy, with policies and programs implemented and funded with an eye on equity.”  

Jenny Young of Meals on Wheels offers a sobering statistic going into the new year. 

“Here’s the troubling reality,” Young said. “At current funding levels, we serve less than a third of the seniors who need us. A full 10 million older Americans worry about having enough food, which is unacceptable. So, we are working hard to find the support needed to be able to serve more seniors and to serve them better.”

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“Extraordinarily sorry”: Senators that opposed gun reform after Sandy Hook now “regret” their votes

Four current senators and three former senators who opposed gun reform legislation following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School told The Washington Post they now believe they made a mistake. "My activity was passive, not active, in searching for a solution, and that I regret," former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told the outlet. Heitkamp had joined three other Democrats and 41 Republicans in blocking a 2013 background check bill Sandy Hook families had asked her to support.

Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Mark R. Warner, D-Va. also expressed regret for their role in a 2013 assault weapon ban's failure. Former Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Mark Udall, D-Colo., echoed those sentiments, lamenting how they did not support gun control measures at the time. Many of the senators told the Post that they had felt pressured by NRA supporters and the NRA itself. "I don’t remember when I reached the point in which I, like, threw out the NRA card and didn’t renew my membership," Heinrich told the outlet. "But my point being, I didn’t feel at the time like this was my issue [in 2013].

"And I think, after you experienced a decade of mass shootings, it’s everyone’s issue. And so that’s the kind of journey that I’ve been on," Heinrich continued. Francine Wheeler, the mother of one of the victims, told the Post Heitkamp would not look at her when they met in 2013, describing the then-senator as "defensive, unkind, and not interested in helping or listening to the stories of our loved ones." Though she said she did not recall meeting with Wheeler, Heitkamp told the outlet she was "extraordinarily sorry" for leaving families with the impression she didn't care about their children or their grief. 

Donald Trump furiously denies he “bullied” his way into “Home Alone 2” cameo

Donald Trump has newfound beef with Chris Columbus, the director whose 1992 Christmas classic “Home Alone 2” includes a brief cameo of the former president.

Trump specifically took offense to a 2020 Business Insider interview, in which Columbus said he was allowed to shoot in the lobby of The Plaza Hotel (which Trump owned at the time) only if Trump was featured in the film. “The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie,” Trump had told Columbus.

In true Trump fashion, the ex-president launched a Truth Social rant in an attempt to refute Columbus’ claims, saying instead that he was begged to make an appearance in the film. Trump’s scene shows him briefly directing Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister to the hotel lobby.

“30 years ago (how time flies!), Director Chris Columbus, and others, were begging me to make a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2,” Trump wrote. “They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent. I agreed, and the rest is history!”

He continued, “That little cameo took off like a rocket, and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time. People call me whenever it is aired.”

Trump claimed Columbus’ narrative was all just a bunch of baloney:

“If they felt bullied, or didn’t want me, why did they put me in, and keep me there, for over 30 years? Because I was, and still am, great for the movie, that’s why! Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!”

“That’s just complete nonsense”: George Conway clashes with CNN analyst on Trump ballot challenge

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig and conservative, anti-Trump lawyer George Conway clashed Wednesday in a heated debate about whether the 14th Amendment disqualifies Donald Trump from becoming president again. During the Wednesday night CNN appearance, Conway explained why he changed his mind and now believes Trump is ineligible for office. "All the arguments that I have seen against disqualification are bogus, like the one which my friend, Elie, just mentioned," Conway began before railing against the opposing arguments.

He criticized Honig's suggestion that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment can only be enforced through an act of Congress, arguing that the claim is "just not true" because it's not upheld by any language in Section 3 or any other provisions of the 14th Amendment. Honig, however, pushed back, pointing to Section 5 of the amendment, which authorizes Congress to pass legislation to enforce the amendment's provisions. "So has Congress done that? No. It doesn’t say Congress shall have the power, or states can if they feel like it," Honig said before Conway interrupted. "That’s nonsense. Elie, that’s just complete nonsense,” he fired back.

"You don’t need Congress to tell you to follow the Constitution no more than you need Congress to tell you to follow Section 1’s prohibition in the 14th Amendment that says that you can’t put Black kids in a different school,” Conway continued. Honig replied that he's not "following that analogy whatsoever" before Conway snapped that he didn't know what Honig was talking about. The conversation devolved as the legal experts spoke over each other about what Section 5 means. As the exchange continued, Conway mistakenly referred to Honig as "Elliot" and Honig accused Conway of "filibustering" and engaging in "pretzel logic." Conway replied, “Elie, you’re just not making any sense.”

Danny Masterson transferred to California state prison to serve sentence for rape convictions

Danny Masterson has been sent to a California state prison months after being convicted of raping two women. 

Authorities told the Associated Press Wednesday that the 47-year-old “That ’70s Show” actor was admitted to the North Kern State Prison. Masterson is currently “going through the classification and reception process,” a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation representative told People.

Masterson’s mugshot was also released Wednesday. The photo shows him dressed in an orange jumpsuit, with long hair and a beard.

Masterson was previously detained at the Los Angeles County jail after being sentenced to 30 years to life in prison in September. The actor was “deemed a potential flight risk and was remanded into custody following the verdict,” ABC News reported.

In May, Masterson was convicted of raping a 28-year-old woman and a 23-year-old woman at his Hollywood Hills residence in 2003. Following his sentencing, Masterson’s wife, actor Bijou Phillips, filed for divorce after nearly 12 years of marriage.

Masterson’s lawyers said they plan to appeal the conviction.

From “Parasite” to “Dr. Brain,” here’s where to watch Lee Sun-kyun’s best movies and TV shows

Lee Sun-kyun is one of South Korea's most prolific actors. His long-standing career in the country's film and television dates as far back as 2000 in his film debut "Lovers."

But the actor is most well-known internationally for his role in Bong Joon-ho's scathing satire on the widening class divide in South Korea. "Parasite" swept the 2020 Oscars with four wins including best picture. In the wake of the actor's unexpected death new attention has been drawn to his decades-long career as a homegrown talent who transitioned into an international star. Lee was in the midst of filming a second season of his Apple TV+ show "Dr. Brain" before the fallout from an investigation into his personal life halted his career.

While most Asian fans are already familiar with his talent, viewers in the West may want to see what else the actor has done in addition "Parasite." In memory of Lee's dedication to the craft, here is where you can stream some of Lee Sun-kyun's most acclaimed movies and TV shows:

Related

Eat the rich: 7 movies like "Saltburn" that skewer the wealthy
01
"Coffee Prince" (Apple TV+, Rakuten Viki)

This girl meets boy formula comes with a twist. In the 2007 classic K-drama, Gong Yoo ("Train to Busan," "Squid Game") plays Choi Han-gyeol, the wealthy, irresponsible grandson of a family that owns a successful coffee business. To escape blind dates arranged by his rich family, Han-gyeol hires the struggling Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye) to pose as his gay lover to ruin his matchmaking chances. However, he's unaware that Eun-chan is actually . . . a young woman who's often mistaken for a guy.

 

When Han-gyeol is forced to take over a rundown old coffee shop, which he later renames Coffee Prince, to prove himself to his grandmother, he once again hires his buddy Eun-chan as an employee. Of course, Eun-chan is strapped for cash, and therefore continues to hide her gender to work at Coffee Prince. But feelings slowly develop between the two, causing Han-gyeol to question his sexuality. 

 

Lee plays Han-gyeol's cousin, record producer Han-sung, who's in a complicated romantic relationship of his own. He's never fooled by Eun-chan's tomboy appearance though, and they become friends who share in keeping her secret. Han-sung also composes a song for his own love interest, with Lee providing rich vocals on "Bada Yeohaeng (Ocean Voyage)," a song he's still known for today.

 

"Coffee Prince" became an instant classic, catapulted the careers of its charismatic ensemble cast and inspired at least three remakes throughout Asia.

 

02
"Diary of a Prosecutor" (Netflix, Rakuten Viki)

In this 2019 procedural about the daily lives of overworked prosecutors in Seoul, Lee plays Lee Sun-wong, a wealthy prosecutor who seemingly has no ambition in life but is internally different from how he presents himself to everyone. Meanwhile, Cha Myung-joo (Jung Ryeo-won) is a fellow elite prosecutor, who was a rising star in the legal world before she was sent to a branch office. The pair often disagree and bicker but slowly but surely become friends and colleagues. Along with a ragtag team, they receive cases from the police and are the people's hope for justice.

 

The comedy-drama allows Lee to show off his leading man presence while also letting him lean into his funny side. Despite the humorous tone, the series also provides sharp commentary about the ills in South Korean society.

 

03
"Dr. Brain" (Apple TV+)

This 2021 Apple TV+ series is the streaming platform's first original South Korean drama and one of Lee's most recent works. "Dr. Brain," based on the webtoon of the same name, focuses on a neuroscientist Sewon Koh (Lee), who is obsessed with figuring out technologies to access the consciousness and memories in the brain. But his life derails when his family is involved in a mysterious accident. He uses his skills to access memories from his dead wife's brain to piece together the events of what happened.

 

The show was successful with critics, some calling it an "intriguing blend of imaginative science fiction and mystery." But production on the second season was suspended as Lee was dealing with the police investigation dealing with alleged illegal drug use.

 

04
"Kingmaker" (Rakuten Viki)

 

"Kingmaker" is a 2022 political drama that peeks into the working relationship between Kim Woon-beom (Sol Kyung-gu) and ambitious political strategist Seo Chang-dae (Lee Sun-kyun), who joins Kim's campaign for president and presents an aggressive, somewhat shady strategy to win. The two disagree on where the line should be crossed when it comes to political tactics, and when the opposition secretly reaches out to Seo, he must decide where his loyalties lie. This film is seen as a thinly veiled reference to the campaign of the real-life Kim Dae-jung, who went on to become the eighth president of South Korea.

 

The film won numerous South Korean film awards for its direction. Lee's performance as Seo Chang-dae was nominated for the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards, with film critic Panos Kotzathanasis praising the two lead performances, calling them "impressive antithetical performances, which manage to highlight both their acting prowess and the charisma of the people they depict."

 

 

05
"My Mister" (Netflix, Rakuten Viki)
 

"My Mister" is the story of an impoverished young woman Lee Ji-an (IU) who is tasked with paying off her mother's debts and caring for her deaf grandma. But she develops an unlikely relationship with her work colleague Park Dong-hoon (Lee), an unhappy, married middle-aged engineer, who's consistently manipulated by his coworkers and brothers, both of whom are unemployed. Dong-hoon and Ji-an face the weight of their struggling life but come together and heal one another's past scars, despite a secret that Ji-an harbors at their workplace.

 

Dong-hoon is one of Lee's most universally acclaimed performances, and the series as a whole has won multiple awards for writing, directing and acting. It's received praise for its more realistic depiction of job insecurity, divorce, questionable ethics and workplace inequities. A Chinese remake was announced as in development.

 

In the wake of Lee's passing, some fans have found comfort in reposting edits and scenes of his character Dong-hoon.

 

 

 

 
06
"Parasite" (Max)

Lee's most recognizable work to Western audiences is 2020 Oscar winner "Parasite." Director and writer Bong Joon-ho infuses dark comedy into the story of two families: one rich and one poor. The Kim family schemes to be employed by the wealthy Park family, becoming tutors, drivers and housekeepers for them, slowly snaking their way into their household as qualified, trustworthy people. 

 

When the Parks go on vacation, the Kims revel in their lavish mansion. They uncover something hidden deep in the house that changes the dynamics between the two families. The audience learns who the real parasite is — as the Kim family leeches off the Parks, and the Parks leech off the labor of the Kims. Lee plays rich patriarch Park Dong-ik at the center of the gripping, suspenseful and satirical tale of South Korea's class divide. 

 

In the wake of "Parasite's" success, Bong had planned for a spinoff limited series that would explore stories "that happen between sequences in the film."

 

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Legal scholar: SCOTUS rejecting Jack Smith’s immunity request “might actually be bad news for Trump”

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to deny special counsel Jack Smith's request to expedite a ruling on whether Donald Trump can claim presidential immunity over his alleged crimes following the 2020 election could come back to bite the former president, one legal expert says. In a column for MSNBC, Loyola Marymount University Law Professor Jessica Levinson argued that the high court choosing to wait for the D.C. Circuit to rule on the matter "might actually be bad news for Trump," especially if, "as many expect, the D.C. Circuit concludes that Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution."

The Supreme Court's rejection dealt a blow to Smith, while marking a victory for Trump in his apparent efforts to delay the federal case's proceedings. But should the D.C. Circuit rule in Smith's favor and Trump appeals, the Supreme Court "doesn’t have to take the case," Levinson explains. "By declining to hear the case, the D.C. Circuit court’s decision would stand. The Supreme Court also could simply affirm the D.C. Circuit’s ruling without a full briefing and oral arguments. The court’s decision not to intervene now could actually indicate there’s really no reason for their involvement because this is not a close call. 

"The legal brief Trump’s team filed before the D.C. Circuit this past weekend proves as much," Levinson added, referring to the 71-page Saturday filing that sees Trump requesting his Washington, D.C. election subversion case be thrown out and, again, cites presidential immunity. "The big problem Trump faces is arguing that his allegedly illegal acts to hold on to power should be viewed as a president’s official acts. In reality, these actions are the last gasps of a candidate desperately trying not to accept the clear outcome of an election."

Adrenaline junkie Michelle Monaghan: Rapping to Vanilla Ice is scarier than skydiving

Michelle Monaghan is, by her own admission, "pretty brave."  In her personal life as well as throughout her career she's tested the limits of that bravery, from skydiving to truck driving. So what was the most challenging aspect of her new AppleTV+ movie "The Family Plan" — a movie in which she pole vaults, does a keg stand  and fights a legendary action star? "Honestly," she told me during a recent "Salon Talks" interview, "the 'Ice Ice Baby.'" Playing an overextended  mother of three whose husband (Mark Wahlberg) hasn't entirely left his life as an assassin behind him, Monaghan gets to do an adept duet of the Vanilla Ice classic with the artist formerly known as Marky Mark. "You have to understand something, I don't sing," she said. "I'm way, way out of my comfort zone."

But the Golden Globe-nominated actor, who has spent a career toggling from rom-coms ("Made of Honor") to prestige dramas ("Gone Baby Gone," "True Detective") to horror ("Nanny," the upcoming "MaXXXine"), is happiest when she's testing her limits. "I do love an adrenaline rush," she said. During our conversation, Monaghan talked about facing off against Maggie Q,  the kinds of movies she gets "very, very invested in," and how she's gearing up next for a reuninon with her "True Detective" writer Nic Pizzolatto.

You can watch my full interview with Monaghan here, or read the transcript of our conversation below.

The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

There is a whole genre of the person who is secretly a spy or secretly has this action-packed life. You've even been in another one of those movies, "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." Tell me what drew you to this one.

It was definitely something that I hadn't read in a really long time. I think action-comedy family films are very few and far between. Certainly I hadn't done comedy for a long time. I'd veered off that path for a while. So when I read it, I just saw such a great opportunity to be able to tap back into that facet of what I love to do, and I got to do it with Mark Wahlberg. I really respect him as an actor. He's a terrific guy. We worked together several years ago on "Patriots Day" — obviously very different tonally, but we had such a great time working together. We have a real mutual respect for one another, and he of course has great comedic timing. He's terrific, and I jumped at the chance. 

Personally, the film I related to so much. I'm a mom, I've got a 15-year-old at home, I've got a 10-year-old. This film is really about the challenges and the struggles that families endure as a family evolves and ages together, people living in their own little bubbles and things that are going on. The film is really about reconnecting and rediscovering one another and reigniting that flame, as well in a marriage.

If there's a way we can do it without killing people, that would be good. But sometimes maybe we can’t.

Well, we only kill bad people, so there we go. 

You do a lot of really fun things in this movie. You get to do a keg handstand. You get to kick some butt. You do some pole-vaulting and you get to do "Ice Ice Baby" with Marky Mark.

Yes, and the Funky Bunch.

What was the hardest thing to learn how to do or to do?

Honestly, the "Ice Ice Baby." You have to understand something, I don't sing. I'm not comfortable. I'm way, way out of my comfort zone. Our director said the night before, "Hey guys, I really think that you guys should sing a song tomorrow and improv a song. Here's a couple of ideas." It was sort of picking the lesser of two evils. There were several songs, and really “Ice Ice Baby” was one that I was like, "OK, I know this a little bit, I guess." 

"The film is really about reconnecting and rediscovering one another and reigniting that flame as well in a marriage."

The next morning we put it on and I knew a lot more of it than I thought I did, but I am a kid of the '90s. We had a lot of fun doing it, and I think it's one of those moments that families can relate to because parents are just like, "Hey, I was cool. I know this music." I certainly know if I turn around in the car, I'm definitely getting an eye roll from my kids, so that was a really fun moment. 

This is one of the reasons why I love the film so much. It actually represents a lot of the qualities that I like to explore, that I do creatively. There's a lot of action, which I love. What made this action very different is that it was a lot, and I did pretty much all of my own stunts. I got to work alongside Maggie Q, who is not only a terrific actress, but well, she's a bada**, let's just put it that way. What made this really different and was a fresh spin for me, it just wasn't a traditional action scene. It was interlaced with a lot of comedy. That for me made it really, really fun, and I think that's cool to watch.

As far as the keg stand goes, I've done a few of those in my days, so there was no practice needed on that front. That was really fun too. Listen, I play a wife to Mark Wahlberg's character. We're the Morgans, Jessica and Dan Morgan. They've been married for 18 years and they're caught up in their life and the routine of marriage and a little bit in a rut. They love each other deeply, but she's looking for something a little bit more spontaneous. She wants their lives to be a little bit bigger. So when he takes them on an impromptu road trip to Vegas, obviously unbeknownst to her, he's escaping these assassins that have caught up with him. She's very, very excited. She gets what she wants, eventually.

You have described yourself as an adrenaline junkie. You're out there creatively, but also personally the kinds of risks that you're taking in your life. Are there things where you're on a set and you say, "Actually no, that one I'm not going to do. It's too scary"?

I'm not comfortable in the water. I do things in the water; I'm definitely game. I have no fear of heights. I do like to jump out of planes. I do love an adrenaline rush, I'm not going to lie. I do love getting to do my own stunts. But being in water and swimming underwater and having to hold my breath for camera, that one makes me a little uncomfortable. I grew up in a landlocked state, in Iowa. I'm used to playing in rivers and things like that, but being in the ocean and doing that, that's something that I usually don't lean into too much.

So how do you then summon the courage? When you have to do it, how do you do it? 

"As far as the keg stand goes, I've done a few of those in my days."

I do do it, and I am pretty bold. I'm pretty brave. I work really extensively with stunt teams and choreographers. I'm so lucky when we're working at this level, you have people that are really, really adept at what they do, and it's a really safe space. There are divers in the waters, you're rigged up, it's tested and then tested again and tested again. So I really feel safe and I really trust the people that I work with. I really do. It allows me that opportunity to really push my boundaries as an actor. 

I like to be on screen as much as I can, I really love it. I value it. I learned how to drive an 18-wheeler for a film called "Trucker." I still actually reflect on that, and I'm like, "I can't believe I actually did that." I got the license and I'm so glad I did because I learned so much about the livelihood and so much about lady truckers, which really informed me so much as a person.  I was so proud watching the film because I felt like you really could value this performance because I really was behind the wheel. I think you got that feeling from it.

You've been in big franchises, blockbusters. You've also been in smaller things that didn't go big. What is something that you've done that you think, "You should see this. This is something I'm really proud of"?

That's very easy for me. I love "Trucker" of course, as I mentioned, but there's another film that I'm really, really proud of called “Fort Bliss.” It's a story about an army medic who leaves her family to go to war, and she makes that choice. It's an important subject matter because I value anyone who is a soldier that's a veteran. But we share a perspective that when a man goes to war, he's a hero. However, if a woman goes to war and leaves her family, she's typically perceived as a bad mother. This film really, really explores what it means and the sacrifices it means to be a parent and go to war and leave your family for months on end, but also you're serving your country, you're serving your fellow man.

I got to spend so much time with our fellow veterans and soldiers, specifically women, to really hear their stories. It's an important film and it's really, really well done. It's authentic. I got to work with a first time lady writer, director. For me, that was really, really special. I love the intimacy of independent film. I love the collaboration. I get very, very invested in those particular films. They're really hard for me to walk away from, my husband can attest to, but they're the ones that I actually hold very, very dear to my heart in my career.

You do, however, do a lot of these great big blockbusters. You're in the new "MaXXXine," following on "X" and "Pearl." You've been in a lot of horror. What is it about horror that draws you?

It's interesting because I don't watch a lot of horror. It's not something that I'm drawn to, but I love the challenge of playing a darker character. Unless it's drama that's very, very dark, I guess a horror just really, really pushes the envelope in that way. I've done a movie called "Blood," which was a horror film, but it was a really great character study of a woman and a family, and I loved that. I enjoyed working with Brad Anderson, but that definitely was a darker one. 

As far as "MaXXXine" goes, I am a huge fan of Ti West, of course, Mia Goth. When that opportunity came up, I got to sit down with Ti and speak to him about the role in the third installment. I really just shared with him how much I respected him as a filmmaker, and it would be a dream to be able to work with him. And boy was it ever. I'm really excited about it. We've got an incredible cast. Mia Goth, of course, is reprising her role as Maxine, Kevin Bacon, Bobby Cannavale, myself, Elizabeth Debicki, Lily Collins, Moses Sumney. It's a really wonderful, wonderful cast. It's a great ensemble. This third installment is not going to disappoint you. It's so fabulous and so great. I'm so excited.

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Disney-esque and demented: Ti West on how his slasher flick "Pearl" compares to "Rocky Horror"

You also have two things with Vince Vaughn.

That's right. I did an Apple TV series, a Bill Lawrence production called “Bad Monkey” based on a Carl Hiaasen book series. He's a former Miami Herald writer. It was Bill's dream to adapt his books for television. It's starring Vince Vaughn, myself, Jodie Turner Smith, Rob Delaney, Meredith Hagner. We've got another wonderful ensemble, and I think it's going to come out this summer. The humor is fantastic. 

"I really believe that we can spread good sun care habits."

Vince and I we get to re-team on a movie called "Easy's Waltz" by writer Nic Pizzolatto, who we both know. I did season one of "True Detective," and he of course wrote "True Detective," and Vince was in Season 2 of "True Detective." We've remained really tight with Nic, and he's written a really, really amazing film. Al Pacino is also going to be co-starring in that, which is exciting, and coincidentally, that also takes place in Las Vegas. So I'll be back there, hopefully shooting that perhaps in March or April.

You and I have something in common, Michelle, and it's melanoma. I love that you are raising awareness of it, especially this time of year. People don't necessarily think about sun protection. They don't think that they need to pay attention to sunscreen, and people are going into tanning beds right now, which are not regulated. Talk to me about what we need to know, especially this time of year when we get a little sloppy.

This makes me really, really happy. Thank you for acknowledging that. It is very, very important to me. I had melanoma – it was discovered by my husband. He was very well-educated — he's Australian — in what skin cancer looked like. He really sincerely saved my life. What's really important to remember and to understand is that it is the most common form of cancer. It happens to one in five people in their lifetime. Melanoma is deadly if it's not caught early. 

The first thing that I always say is, of course, wear sunscreen. But even better yet, make sure you do those annual checkups. I'm glad that you brought up the tanning beds. Actually tanning in a tanning bed, also tanning outside, it's cumulative. All of those things add up over time and obviously manifest in cancer and things like that.

I'm going to be actively working on legislation, going from state to state to try to ban teen tanning because most of our sun damage happens before the age of 18. I was unfortunate, I was one of those gals that made the choice that I thought I needed a tan for homecoming and prom and all those things. I'm sure that was additive to me getting skin cancer. I want to spread awareness. I want to protect our kids. I really believe that we can spread good sun care habits. I saw all of our kids putting on hand sanitizer to protect themselves during COVID, and I just want to encourage people to wear sunscreen and just really share, and have that awareness.

"The Family Plan" is streaming on Apple TV+.

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Nikki Haley blames “Democratic plant” after getting hammered for ignoring slavery as Civil War cause

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday declined to mention slavery as the cause of the Civil War when asked by a voter during a town hall in New Hampshire.

The contentious exchange began after the voter questioned the former South Carolina governor about the cause of the four-year war.

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was gonna run — the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do," Haley answered before turning the question back to the voter. "What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?"

The voter responded that they were not the person running for president and were interested in hearing her take on the question. 

"I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government," Haley replied. "We need to have capitalism, we need to have economic freedom. We need to make sure that we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way."

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The voter appeared shocked, telling the presidential hopeful, "In the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you can answer that question without mentioning the word 'slavery.'"

Haley then attempted to move on, asking "What do you want me to say about slavery?" before requesting the "next question."

The back-and-forth occurred around an hour and a half into the town hall event and comes just weeks ahead of the state's primary. Haley has steadily climbed in the polls in recent months in large part due to her debate performances, which have won her favor among billionaire donors and voters seeking to keep Donald Trump out of the White House, though the former president maintains a sizeable lead in the polls over his GOP primary opponents. 

Haley responded to the backlash on Thursday by blaming a "Democratic plant."

“It was definitely a Democrat plant,” she said in a radio interview, according to Mediaite. “When asked him, he didn’t want to answer. He didn’t give reporters his name.”

Haley insisted that "of course, the Civil War was about slavery."

"We know that. That’s the easy part of it," she said in a recording aired by CNN. "What I was saying was what does it mean to us today? What it means to us today is about freedom. That’s what that was all about.”

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Haley's Civil War comments sparked harsh rebukes, including from President Joe Biden, who retweeted the video with the caption, "It was about slavery."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison also admonished Haley in a statement, saying, "I am disgusted but I'm not surprised."

"This is what Black South Carolinians have come to expect from Nikki Haley, and now the rest of the country is getting to see her for who she is," he wrote. "This isn't hard: condemning slavery is the baseline for anyone who wants to be president of the United States, but Nikki Haley and the rest of the MAGA GOP are choking on their words trying to rewrite history."

Harrison went on to say that Haley's comments "were a slap in the face to Black voters, who she has turned her back on time and again – from championing the Confederate flag to trivializing Black History Month," adding they will "turn their backs on her at the polls."

"Some may have forgotten but I haven’t," Harrison added in a post to X, formerly Twitter. "Time to take off the rose colored Nikki Haley glasses folks."

Experts and other politicians further criticized Haley, with some noting that her Wednesday night remarks would deal a massive blow to her presidential bid. 

"[I]s candidate @NikkiHaley who would fail any elementary US history course on the Civil War qualified to hold the office of the Presidency?" Civil War historian Manisha Sinha asked. 

Haley's answer "is reflective of where the Republican base is right now, that you can't tell a simple truth for fear of losing voters in what has become such a radicalized Republican Party," said MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire.

"This could blunt some of her momentum," he later added. "Iowa's been hard for her, but going into New Hampshire, she did have the wind at her back — maybe this costs her."

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"It's breathtaking," MSNBC contributor Jennifer Palmieri responded. "I had read the transcript, but I had not actually seen it, and it's just breathtaking when she says, 'What do you want me to say about slavery?' That is her campaign in one question, right? It is, like, 'Who do you want me to be right now? Who do I need to morph into in order to never take Trump on, but be acceptable enough to sort of the MAGA majority?'"

In a post to X, New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, who created the 1619 Project on the impact of slavery on U.S. history said that what Haley was asked was "not even a hard question."

"It’s absurd that she felt she had to evade the question to avoid political liability," Hannah-Jones added.

Ron Filipkowski, an attorney and editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, echoed Palmieri's and Hannah-Jones' sentiments, tweeting that, "When the candidate for the so-called normal Republicans refuses to say that slavery was the reason for the Civil War, & instead repeats the talking points of Jefferson Davis, there is no more Republican Party.

"It’s MAGA, and people registered as Republicans who don’t know it yet," he concluded.

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about Nikki Haley

2023, the year of sex, drugs and violence

The end of 2023 is beginning to look like the end of the first act of a Greek tragedy, but with the world being laid low, and not just a romantic hero.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has been devastating, as the war with Hamas and Israel remains heated. The war also continues in Ukraine, with Russia frustrated it hasn’t yet successfully absorbed Ukraine and with Vlad “The Impaler” Putin shuffling his political enemies off to Siberia. As both wars rage, attacks on US troops and commercial shipping in the Middle East underline a growing concern that war will widen, engulfing the US and its allies in an apocalyptic nightmare of destruction.

Meanwhile, more than 11,000 migrants are waiting in shelters in Mexico hoping to get into the US as the nation’s lawmakers continue to play political football with the issue. Xenophobic Republicans don’t want any more Democrats on the voting rolls (few migrants register with the party trying to kick them out), but no one wants to pay $10 for a tomato, so Americans need and demand cheap labor.

Wait. There’s more. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping called the “reunification” of Taiwan with China an inevitability and defense analysts say a war there could be brewing anywhere from two to three years from now – after China completes upgrades to its military and plays a few more war games to iron out the operational kinks before invading Taiwan.

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The world is a bundle of jagged nerves, an amalgamation of competing tribes of cavemen who possess “technological terrors” that could end us all (apologies to Darth Vader). Or, with apologies to my father, it’s a nervous virgin in a whore house or a nervous whore in church. 

It’s a toddler with no self-control. It’s an aging, infirmed dementia patient in a nursing home, a standup comedian bombing on a stage in a roadhouse, a family reunion riddled with drama, a mass shooting on a playground and a divorced couple still in therapy.

That, my friends, is the end of 2023. A kidney stone of a year run by the almighty dollar. Money has taken over medicine, politics, entertainment, the media and everything else.

In my international and national travels during the last two years, there has beenno place more symbolic of this ennui than in the middle of America. Take a ride down I-70 through the heart of Missouri. It’s a state where Missouri Republican lawmakers have filed a pair of bills (The Abolition of Abortion in Missouri Act) that would allow for women to be charged with murder for getting an abortion in the state. The proposed legislation would give fetuses the same rights as human beings, which would allow for criminal charges to be filed against anyone who gets an abortion, helps someone get an abortion or provides abortion care in the state, which implemented a near-total ban on the procedure after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Missouri’s also a state whose highway billboard signs tell a much stranger story than the puritanical hubris of its legislators suggest. Porn and sex-toy shops, gun shops, liquor shops, legal marijuana dispensaries and car malls advertise alongside church ads and military recruitment billboards along the state’s highways. The churches may advertise that you should take responsibility for your actions (Just say NO to abortions), but the money is in sex, drugs and violence. It seems that the captains of industry want to Hansel and Gretel you into either needing an abortion or using a gun – maybe both, but you’ll be driving a car impossible to pay for while drunk, stoned and playing with ben wa balls. Sadly, there appears to be no room for the likes of Hunter S. Thompson in today’s modern world – his Gonzo antics today are too passe when you see penis pumps and “strawberry kush” marketed on giant billboards in a state that wants to allow the death penalty for those who have abortions.  

Related

A season of speculation: Impeachment, campaigns and Biden. Oh my!

That, my friends, is the end of 2023. A kidney stone of a year run by the almighty dollar. Money has taken over medicine, politics, entertainment, the media and everything else. It is why we are so non-plussed by the staggering number of hypocrisies and absurdities that make life seem so incongruous. It all makes sense if it makes money.

Of course, any conversation that includes discussions of hypocrisy, money and politics has to include former President Donald Trump, whose Christmas message is “Rot in Hell” for his opponents and those seeking to hold him responsible for 91 charged felonies in four different jurisdictions across the country. Peace on Earth? Goodwill to man? Bah. Humbug. Trump just wants to see you get Scrooged.

Trump is obviously in a festive holiday mood of festering fear, shattering innocent bottles of ketchup, and wants to spread the fear among the cheer of the season. And, as if on cue, don’t forget the money. His proclamations during Christmas were also filled with the ubiquitous begging that is the hallmark of his revenge tour back to the White House. He’ll take any amount you wish to send him, but don’t forget it’s really all about you – not him. He just wants to be a misanthropic, misogynistic Nazi-like dictator for one day to set the country straight. “I bet you’d especially like to meet me now,” one of his emails to potential contributors exclaims as he asks for money and a chance to visit him at Mar-a-Lago.

Can you imagine what the Republicans would do if Trump weren’t on the ballot next year? Well, apparently neither can most members of that party who continue to support the flaccid fool even as it becomes increasingly apparent that he may be conducting his campaign either broke, from behind bars or both next summer. Trump is the establishment in today’s Republican Party.

So, 2023 doesn’t end with a bang, but a whimper – even for President Joe Biden. An increasing number of Democrats have expressed concern about his re-election bid – not only because of his age (which is absurd when you compare him to Trump), but also because of the political baggage of his son Hunter, a GOP-led impeachment inquiry and (most importantly)the Biden administration’s frustrating inability to communicate its successes to the American people.

Most polls give Biden the nod on the key issue of abortion – and it is an issue which by itself should decimate Republicans. What kind of medieval mind wants to prosecute women for murder simply because they have an abortion? Here the Republicans are doing all the communicating that needs to be done. They’re repressed, angry and out of step – and a majority of Americans know it. But it’s not the only issue, and for some sitting on the fence, it’s not the decisive issue. One could argue that anyone sitting on the fence in a potential race between Biden and Trump is probably nailed to the fence due to their own timidity, stupidity or culpability, but that’s a different issue. They remain clueless and dangerous.  

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Still, there is an issue that will drive them to the polls to vote: the economy. Many Americans, according to a December CNN Poll, do not believe Biden has a clue on the economy. That’s even after Biden and his team have for months argued the president’s economic plan has produced results. The unemployment rate dropped below 4 percent and the economy is growing faster than anticipated – making the doomsayers who predicted a recession sound like raving lunatics. But gas prices are up, though recently they’re heading down. Still,  it’s harder to buy a home now than at any time in the last 40 years, and even with people back to work, the distance between the rich and poor continues to grow.

If you are a purveyor of pungent prognostication on the various social media venues available since Elon Musk shattered Twitter into scintillating shards of silliness, you’re apt to be of the opinion that the glass is half empty and the world is headed to hell.

It can’t help that the former president is predicting gloom, doom and destruction and has replaced hope with hate, peace on Earth with scorched Earth and intelligence with willful ignorance.

Still, I don’t think the real world is anywhere near as hopeless as the world of the Internet.

Just prior to leaving Washington D.C., for a Christmas trip to the West Coast and the Midwest, I began my annual personal ritual of greeting everyone with “Merry Christmas.” Despite the so-called war on Christmas, I’ve never met anyone who has ever accosted me for saying this. I celebrate Christmas and I wish everyone peace on Earth and goodwill, no matter what they worship. Since I don’t know what or who you worship, when I greet you, you’re going to get a “Merry Christmas” from me. The worst anyone has ever replied to my greeting has been, “And Happy Holidays to you too.” I’ve had several people wish me a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Eid al-Fitr. Once a Zoroastrian wished me a happy Yalda and a Hindu wished me a Baba Din. When I get around to the other 4,000 religions on the planet, I’ll report what they’ve said. The atheists and agnostics to whom I’ve wished a Merry Christmas have all responded cheerfully, some saying “Thank You,” and others saying “I wish you peace and goodwill all year long.”

This year I greeted people in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Mid-Missouri with “Merry Christmas!” No one got angry. Everyone smiled and wished me the same. My Jewish cousin even gave me a dreidel – though it wasn’t made of clay. Just kidding. Since I know him, I wished him a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.

The personal responses I’ve received over the years are quite different from the self-important and angry posts you can receive on social media. It seems people, when we see each other face-to-face, are a little more respectful and understanding. The reasons for this are many, but humans are social animals and while we come from a variety of backgrounds, we have universal desires and needs. 

That being said, one greeting remains universal; Happy New Year.

That’s the greeting I offer now to everyone on the planet. Because all of this good will and talk of peace will evaporate – indeed Trump never embraced it.

The New Year brings challenges internationally, nationally and politically to a world mired in strife and struggle. Let us all wish each other a moment’s respite from this self-imposed storm – and see if we can’t get it to last longer than it takes to offer a greeting of peace.

Because, folks, 2024 is shaping up to be a challenge.

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about the year in politics

Salon’s 10 most popular life stories of 2023: Satanic panics, getting naked with strangers and more

The personal essay has long been a staple — and a reader-favorite section — here at Salon. Some offer individual insights into newsworthy moments and our current zeitgeist, while others explore evergreen human concerns about family, relationships, community, identity and even eternity. Here, from 10 talented writers — including two from Salon's own staff — are the personal essays published this year that were most popular with our readers. 

10

"I grew up in the Satanic Panic — and it's happening again" by Gigi Griffis

No Drag Queens For Children; Anti-LGBTQ protestAnti-fascists and members of Stand Up To Racism demonstrate against the Patriotic Alternative protest at the Tate Britain, Drag Queen Story Hour UK events at the gallery. (Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

I was a young teen when I destroyed my music collection in the name of Jesus.
 

I stood in the cul-de-sac with my best friend, Joanna, and we smashed our CDs to smithereens on the hot, hard asphalt. Scratched and snapped and broken into pieces, these secular musicians would never again whisper their ungodly thoughts into our young, impressionable ears—a thing we had been convinced, in church and youth group and summer revivals, would tempt us slowly away from our god. Read the essay by Gigi Griffis.

9

"The holy maple bar: Notes on an afterlife, without religion" by Keegan Lawler

Maple Bar DonutMaple Bar Donut (Getty Images/Garrett Aitken)

After the dead lizards have been plucked out by the long-necked net, my aunt and I take seats in the reclining plastic chairs next to the pool outside her house. It is the last week in June and my time in Starkville, Mississippi, has taught me the true definition of heat, the heavy weight of humidity.
 

My cousins slice through the dampness hanging in the air and rush toward the pool. The oldest, his eyes towards the sky, asks my aunt if there will be rain. She tells him maybe, and that if so, she'll have to bring them inside. Read the essay by Keegan Lawler.

8

"A love affair in life's last act" by Alice Bingham Gorman

Author Alice Bingham Gorman and her partner together for ChristmasAuthor Alice Bingham Gorman and her partner together for Christmas (Photo courtesy of author)

What are the chances of a woman in her 80s finding a man to share her life — not just a companion, as pleasant as that would be, but real physical, mental and emotional love? Throughout the 16 years after my last husband died, I asked myself that question a thousand times. I knew the grim statistics. Harvard Health Publishing says that by age 85, 67% of the American population is female. Adding to the skewed odds, so few of the male population left standing are interested in women over a certain age. The likely ones, the men who have had good love relationships and desire another, do not seem to remain alone for more than a few months, if that long. A friend suggested to me that the best chance for a woman in her 70s or 80s to appeal to a good man would be through a meaningful friendship with a couple before his wife passes away. It never occurred to me that such a situation would ever happen to me. Read the essay by Alice Bingham Gorman. 

7

"Navigating the new sober boom, where 'a person's sobriety is as unique as their fingerprint'" by D. Watkins

Mai Tai MocktailD's Mai Tai Mocktail (Illustration by Ilana Lidagoster/Salon)

“You’ll be OK. I take breaks, on and off, all of the time,” my cousin Maja said with a smooth smile during my first week off alcohol. “And if you want that feeling, pull up on me. I'll whip up something special for you. A mocktail.”
 

Maja is my first cousin’s first cousin. In Baltimore, that means we’re close family. My dad's sister married her dad's brother, ultimately connecting us. A popular bartender, Maja created the most beautiful drinks anyone has ever seen or tasted in some of Baltimore’s fanciest restaurants.
 

“A MajTail,” I laughed, sipping the ginger-heavy citrus concoction she slid in my direction. “I’m in it for the long haul, cuz.” Read the essay by D. Watkins. 

6

"Damn right, I come from Alabama: The symbolic and historic importance of the Alabama Sweet Tea Party" by Randall Horton

Montgomery Alabama riverboat dock Harriott iiThe Harriott II, a riverboat, remains docked on August 8, 2023, on the Alabama riverfront in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. (Julie Bennett/Getty Images)

As a Native Son of Alabama, I would like to pull back the veil that surrounds the Black experience and provide insight into why the event that has been dubbed the Alabama Sweet Tea Party is my own personal flashpoint in Alabama history.
 

For context, it was not until I entered Howard University in Washington, D.C., coming from Birmingham, Alabama, that I first became aware of the misconceptions, and ultimately the stereotypes, about me from being born in a city known for dog bites and dynamite blasts, for killing four little girls and critically wounding another on Sunday morning in a house of worship, a day of dedicated peace and spirituality. Even at Howard, that great mecca of higher learning, there was always a formulaic assumption about Black Southerners: that we were countrified hicks, docile, unaware of the social constructs that bind us to a way of living, incapable of resistance — our drawl, the way we said mane and gull instead of man and girl, made us different, a sorta sideshow, an oddity within the fabric of Blackness. Read the essay by Randall Horton. 

5

"My great-uncle helped liberate a concentration camp. His last words to me were a warning" by Matthew Rozsa

Merrill SternWW2 army portrait of Merrill Stern (Photo illustration by Salon/Photos courtesy of the Rozsa Family/Getty Images)

The last time I saw my great-uncle, he uttered six words that I will never forget. Struggling to speak, as he was already 102 years old, his mouth slowly formed each syllable with excruciating effort: "Nazis… are… bastards… Shoot… to… kill!"
 

My mother and I laughed. We were visiting Dr. Merrill Stern — retired New Jersey dentist and former officer in the United States Army Air Corps (a precursor to the Air Force) — after receiving a dire update about his health. When we had first arrived, Uncle Merrill saw my beard and in sincere confusion exclaimed, "Rabbi!" Read the essay by Matthew Rozsa. 

4

"Geraldo outed me on national television" by Jim Berg

Jim Berg in front of the Supreme Court on the weekend of the March, 1987Jim Berg (author) in front of the Supreme Court on the weekend of the March, 1987 (Photo courtesy of the author)

Just before Christmas in 1987, Geraldo Rivera outed me on national television. I'm sure it wasn't malicious, even though he has a history of shock journalism. He didn't even know my name. During a primetime special, he showed a video clip of me and my boyfriend kissing on the National Mall, taken during the National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights.
 

I think about this often during Pride Month, even though it happened more than 30 years and several boyfriends ago. The broadcast caused a scandal in my family because I wasn't out to them. In fact, they knew very little about my life. Read the essay by Jim Berg.

3

"What '80s kids also remember: On stranger danger, Satanic panic and generations of trickle-down fear" by Paul Crenshaw

Missing Child Concept Swing ShadowMissing child concept with an empty playground swing and the shadow of a little girl on the park ground (Getty Images/wildpixel)

In 2004 my daughters, ages 4 and 7 at the time, disappeared during the Christmas parade downtown.
 

They were riding on a float. A late afternoon in early December. Greensboro, North Carolina, a city of 300,000. The streets packed with parents and children and police cars, the parade route blocked off. The big buildings creating a canyon in which sound magnified, all the calls and car backfires amplified.
 

At the staging area my wife Lisa and I watched our daughters loaded onto the float with the other children, their legs swinging back and forth where they dangled over the edge. Lisa snapping pictures and waving and turning to tell me how cute they looked sitting among the snow and fake packages on the Christmas float. Read the essay by Paul Crenshaw. 

2
"My parents are dead—can I afford avocado toast now?" by Becky Robison
An urn, some receipts and invoice lettersAn urn, some receipts and invoice letters (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Lately the Grim Reaper and I have grown so close we might as well exchange friendship bracelets. My mom — therapist, beachgoer, "Jeopardy!" fan — died of liver disease in 2020. In 2023, my dad — architect, golfer, ABBA fan — died of pancreatic cancer. I'm 35 years old, smack dab in the middle of the Millennial generation, and grief is the least of my problems. What I'm really struggling with is the legal and financial aftermath.
 

In the days before my dad died, the hospital was already asking me to make major financial decisions. What funeral home or crematorium do you want to use? Do you really want the basic package? Was your beloved father basic? Read the essay by Becky Robison.

1
"Getting naked with strangers helped me combat body shaming culture" by Avni Shah
Woman bathing in a hot springWoman bathing in a hot spring (Getty Images/Jesus Sierra)

It was easy getting dressed that morning, knowing that at my destination, I'd spend most of my time naked. From the parking lot, Olympic Spa — the prominent, women-only Korean spa in Los Angeles — looked surprisingly utilitarian. In sweats and a T-shirt, I walked into the building alone and early, ahead of the two friends I would be meeting. We had discussed ahead of time what to expect in a space where nudity was the norm — namely, who was going to shave and how much, and who was going to let the hair down there flow. "I'm going full beast," my one friend said, and I agreed to do the same. Read the essay by Avni Shah.

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engaging Life Stories from 2023:

“Illegal”: Trump explodes on Truth Social after Jack Smith corners him on Jan. 6 conspiracy theory

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team on Wednesday asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar former President Donald Trump from introducing “irrelevant disinformation” into his D.C. election subversion trial.

Smith’s team filed a motion in limine urging Chutkan to prohibit Trump from using certain arguments he has made publicly in his defense. Prosecutors say the arguments are wrong and irrelevant and could mislead jurors.

Smith’s team specifically asked the judge to ban Trump from blaming law enforcement failures for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, claiming that he is the target of political prosecution, or spreading claims that undercover federal agents or informants were responsible for the violence in the attack.

“Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” the filing said. “The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”

Related

Jack Smith filing targets Trump conspiracy theory — and hints at potentially damning testimony

Prosecutors have filed similar motions in hundreds of trials for Capitol rioters, The Washington Post noted.

The filing came after Chutkan paused the case as Trump asks an appeals court to grant him presidential immunity from prosecution. It is unclear if Chutkan will consider Smith’s filing while the case is paused but it would be taken up quickly if Trump’s immunity claim is ultimately rejected. Legal experts told the Post that Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors would not be able to appeal Chutkan’s ruling on the matter until after the trial is concluded.

Trump on Truth Social claimed that the filing is “illegal” because the case is paused.

“Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court that this ‘case’ should be stayed, and there cannot be any more filings,” Trump wrote. “Today’s pathetic motion is not just Illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights, and to prevent me from saying the TRUTH — that all of these Hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution of me, the MAGA Movement, and the Republican Party by Crooked Joe and his Despicable Thugs.”

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Legal experts say Chutkan could make things difficult for Trump by ruling in favor of Smith. Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman pointed out that Smith is also asking the court to exclude “testimony regarding the defendant’s alleged state of mind.”

Trump’s state of mind is “hugely relevant to the charges.  And he's trotted out several different versions of why he didn't have the requisite intent,” Litman tweeted.

While such evidence can typically be introduced through the defendant’s own testimony explaining his state of mind, “Trump can’t testify,” Litman wrote. “It would be a bloodbath, walking him through the greatest hits of his 1000s of lies, and exposing him to a perjury-fest.”

While Trump’s lawyers may seek to ask witnesses for their impression of Trump’s state of mind, Smith’s motion “methodically seals up different avenues that Trump could try,” Litman explained.

“If Chutkan rules for Smith, it's hard to see how Trump can sneak in evidence of his state of mind,” he added. “But, like the lead argument in the motion to keep Trump from making irrelevant political charges, this will be an area where, if Chutkan grants the motion, Trump will try all kinds of sneaky maneuvers at trial to get around it.”

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But former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti predicted that it would be difficult to enforce the evidence rules given who the defendant is.

"All of that information, all of those allegations, all of those opinions would be totally irrelevant and prejudicial and should not be allowed,” Mariotti told CNN.

"That said, prosecutors keep defense attorneys from saying things that are inappropriate in trial and defense attorneys find ways to say them anyway," he explained. "It will be interesting to see how that plays out at trial. My suspicion is that Judge Chutkan will try very hard to shut down these irrelevant arguments and assertions, that have nothing to do with the facts of the case specifically and whether or not he's guilty as charged."

Mariotti added that “it'll be harder for her to actually rein in the defense counsel, and I suspect that they are going to push against her and get her and get out what they want to get out in front of the jury, even if it means drawing the ire of the judge."

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about Trump's election subversion case

As salmon disappear, a battle over Alaska Native fishing rights heats up

When salmon all but vanished from western Alaska in 2021, thousands of people in the region faced disaster. Rural families lost a critical food source. Commercial fisherfolk found themselves without a major stream of income. And Alaska Native children stopped learning how to catch, cut, dry, and smoke fish — a tradition passed down since the time of their ancestors.

Behind the scenes, the salmon shortage has also inflamed a long-simmering legal fight among Native stakeholders, the Biden administration, and the state over who gets to fish on Alaska’s vast federal lands.

At the heart of the dispute is a provision in a 1980 federal law called the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which gives rural Alaskans priority over urban residents to fish and hunt on federal lands. Most rural families are Indigenous, so the law is considered by some lawyers and advocates as key to protecting the rights of Alaska Natives. State officials, however, believe the law has been misconstrued to infringe on the state’s rights by giving federal regulators authority over fisheries that belong to Alaskans.

Related

Why more than 60 Indigenous nations oppose the Line 5 oil pipeline

Now, a lawsuit alleges the state has overstepped its reach. Federal officials argue that state regulators tried to usurp control of fishing along the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska, where salmon make up about half of all food produced in the region. The suit, originally filed in 2022 by the Biden administration against the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, escalated this fall when the state’s lawyers effectively called for the end of federal oversight of fishing across much of Alaska. Indigenous leaders say the state’s actions threaten Alaska Native people statewide.

“What’s at stake is our future,” said Vivian Korthuis, chief executive officer of the Association of Village Council Presidents, a consortium of more than 50 Indigenous nations in western Alaska that’s one of four Alaska Native groups backing the Biden administration in the case. “What’s at stake is our children. What’s at stake is our families, our communities, our tribes.” 

“What’s at stake is our future. What’s at stake is our children. What’s at stake is our families, our communities, our tribes.”

The lawsuit is a microcosm of how climate change is raising the stakes of fishing disputes around the world. While tensions over salmon management in Alaska aren’t new, they’ve been exacerbated by recent marine heat waves in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and rising temperatures in rivers like the Yukon and Kuskokwim, where king, chum, and coho salmon populations have plummeted. In warmer waters, salmon burn more calories. They’re more likely to become malnourished and less likely to make it to their freshwater spawning grounds. With fewer fish in places like western Alaska, the question of who should manage them — and who gets access to them — has become even more urgent.

The Alaska dispute erupted in 2021, when state regulators on the Kuskokwim issued fishing restrictions that conflicted with regulations set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. People along the river, who are predominantly Yup’ik, were forced to navigate contradictory rules about whether and when they could fish legally — adding to the pain and frustration of an already disastrous season shaped by the coronavirus pandemic and historic salmon shortages. 

“We can face large penalties and fines if we make mistakes,” Ivan M. Ivan, an elder in the Yup’ik village of Akiak, said in an affidavit. 

The conflict spilled into 2022, another year of abysmal salmon returns, when state and federal regulators again issued contradictory restrictions. Alaska officials blamed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for opening up fishing prematurely, before salmon had begun their migration upstream, and with an “apparent lack of concern” for the species’ conservation. The Biden administration sued, arguing that the state illegally imposed its own rules in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, a federal reserve of wetlands and spruce and birch forest that encircles more than 30 Indigenous communities. 

The fight played out quietly for more than a year — until September, when the state’s attorneys filed a brief that explicitly asked the court to undo legal precedent widely viewed as a safeguard for rural, mostly Indigenous families who depend on salmon. That move caused Alaska’s biggest Indigenous organization, the Alaska Federation of Natives, to join three smaller Native groups that had intervened on behalf of the federal government. 

Those organizations are concerned that the state wants to reverse a string of court decisions, known as the “Katie John” cases, which held that rural Alaskans have priority to fish for food in rivers that flow through federal conservation areas, including long sections of the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Copper rivers. Alaska Native leaders fear that doing away with that priority would endanger salmon populations and limit access for locals by opening fishing up to more people. 

“It really will put a lot of pressure on stocks,” said Erin Lynch, an Anchorage-based attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, which is representing the Association of Village Council Presidents. 

That concern isn’t limited to western Alaska. Ahtna Inc., a corporation owned by Indigenous shareholders in the Copper River region — some 500 miles east of the Kuskokwim — has also sided with the Biden administration. Without federal protections on the Copper River, Ahtna anglers would risk getting “pushed out,” according to John Sky Starkey, a lawyer representing Ahtna.

“There are only so many fish. There are only so many places [to fish],” Starkey said.  “It’s a significant danger.” 

State officials see the issue differently. They say there would be no threat of overfishing or competition between urban and rural residents, partly because rivers like the Yukon and Kuskokwim are so hard to reach from cities like Anchorage. They note that state law explicitly protects the subsistence rights of all Alaskans, including Alaska Natives. And they blame the feds for picking the fight by taking the issue to court.

“We did not initiate this lawsuit,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “We provide for subsistence priority, and we take that seriously.”

The state’s lawyers also claim that federal policy is unfair for Alaska Natives who have moved to cities because it bars them from fishing with relatives in rural areas. Some Indigenous leaders see it as flawed, too, but they disagree with the state about the solution. Rather than do away with federal management, they have called on Congress to strengthen protections for Alaska Natives. 

The case, now before the U.S. District Court for Alaska, is likely to heat up even more in the coming months. A ruling is expected in the spring.

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about the environment

 

GOP’s Biggest Losers of 2023: Lauren “Short of My Values” Boebert

This is the third in a five-day series. Read part one and part two. 

Being a lady MAGA celebrity is harder than it looks. A woman who sets out to find fame and fortune by pandering to the worst men in America will soon discover that misogynists hold contradictory expectations that are impossible to square. You're expected to extol chastity and "purity," but you're also expected to gratify the male gaze. Worse, you're performing for men who have no taste for subtlety in their sexual displays so you're stuck in the Fox News vision of femininity, which has spread into social media and now even into Congress: blown-out hair, short skirts, massive push-up bras (or breast implants), all surrounding the pouty lips of a woman tsking about how only bad girls need abortions. If people can't tell whether she's headed to church or a porn shoot, the MAGA gal knows she's nailed the look.  

A woman who sets out to find fame and fortune by pandering to the worst men in America will soon discover that misogynists hold contradictory expectations that are impossible to square.

For a brief moment in time, it did seem Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., knew how to walk that tightrope between serving a cheesecake aesthetic and preaching about how easy it is to give up birth control. Right up until she went for the junk grab on her date in full view of her fellow audience members at a showing of "Beetlejuice: The Musical" in September. The fellow in question, a Colorado bar owner, returned the favor by jiggling her boobs in a way that made clear what was going on, even in the grainy security video footage. 

I would say "who among us," but, of course, most of us take that behavior inside after high school, whereas, at 37 years old, Boebert is a grandmother. She has even used her family's history of teenage parenthood as "proof" that real Americans don't need all that sex-ed and birth control the heathens use. Alas, her fervor for procreation was called into question by the acts captured during a live performance of "Beetlejuice." She and her buddy crossed a public decency line but fell short of baby-making behavior. Though who knows where it was headed if the couple hadn't been thrown out as an irate Boebert yelled "Do you know who I am"-style threats at theater security. 

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Despite being a national laughingstock, Boebert seems hopeful she can just ride this one out. She issued a self-serving "apology" blaming her "public and difficult divorce" and concluding, "I simply fell short of my values."

Boebert wants forgiveness for her very public sexual behavior while calling for others to be punished for what they do in the privacy of their own homes. 

Liberals, of course, do not accept this "apology," as Boebert refuses to offer grace to others, even as she demands it for herself. This is a woman who gave a speech declaring that "women with women, men with men" are "all lust no love," and called on the U.S. to put "God back at the center of our country," an unsubtle call to criminalize private same-sex relations. She's voted against the right to birth control, denounces sex education, and wants to ban abortion. She wants forgiveness for her very public sexual behavior while calling for others to be punished for what they do in the privacy of their own homes. 

Boebert is betting her political survival on that famous Republican shamelessness. She's not wrong, of course, to notice that the same people who want to police your sex life also back Donald Trump, a thrice-married chronic adulterer who famously bragged about sexually assaulting women. But it's a misread to view this as a sign of hypocrisy, so much as the old-fashioned sexual double standard. For MAGA nation, straight men can do what they want. It's queer people and women whose sexuality is for policing. And Boebert is, infamously, a woman. 

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Lauren Boebert's divorce exposes the dark little secret of red state life

The whole MAGA babe thing depends on selling a lie that right-wing men can have the sexy without the sex. That it's possible for straight men to get titillated, without having to consider the possibility that women have desires of their own. With the very public groping, however, Boebert blew a hole straight through this conservative fiction. And she may not be able to brazen it out the way so many male Republicans have been able to when they get caught in sex scandals. 

Boebert is betting her political survival on that famous Republican shamelessness.

There are reasonable people who disagree with this assessment. I was intrigued by Claire Potter at Political Junkie, who argued that Boebert's sexual acting-out won't be a political problem for her with Republican voters. Potter wrote that Boebert "spent a lot of time and energy polishing her reputation as a Gun Chick, a popular erotic figure on the right who we might tentatively define as 'the slutty girl next door—with a gun.'” Boebert's schtick, she added, "is supposed to cause Republican dicks to lead the male voters they are attached to into the voting booth." Since men never took Boebert seriously, Potter claimed, they wouldn't care about her behavior now. 

I'm more skeptical, for the reasons outlined above: Boebert never presented herself as a slut, per se. She instead offered the fantasy sold to men from every corner of the right-wing media ecosystem, from the leggy Fox News pundits to the "tradwives" that proliferate on social media: The hot naif, the woman who is all sex appeal with no sexual yearning. A woman whose body is rocking but whose lack of sexual experiences leaves her too ignorant to know what she wants — and, importantly, unable to judge a man for falling short. 

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Boebert centered her history of meeting her husband when she was a teenager and he a full-grown man in her public image for a reason: It's the misogynist's wet dream of a sexy girl who doesn't know any better. She may have run around in tight shirts and booty shorts, but the implication was always that she was tied down young and molded into her husband's witless helpmeet.

It was always a silly fantasy, of course, but it seems a lot of people believed it. Then Boebert showed she is, in fact, not just an extension of her husband, by getting divorced. The very public groping of her date blew up the whole myth of the sexy-but-not-sexual MAGA woman. Interviews with Republican voters in her district show some are still quite salty about the incident — and Boebert seems to now be running scared. 

Late Wednesday, Boebert announced that she planned to ditch her district in a surprise switch ahead of the 2024 election. She almost lost re-election in 2022, squeaking by a margin of only 546 votes despite being in what is supposed to be a bright-red seat — and that was before she got booted out of "Beetlejuice." Her Democratic opponent in the district, Adam Frisch, has been raking in the campaign donations all year, tripling what Boebert raised in 2023. Now she is stuck running in a crowded GOP primary for a congressional seat on the opposite side of the state from where she lives because she's too afraid of a rematch even during a year where Donald Trump is likely to be on the top of the ticket. It will be a miracle if she survives this election. MAGA is no place for women.  

about MAGA women and their horrible 2023

Study reveals the unique mathematics of snowflakes

Aside from being cold, snowflakes are well-known for their unique shapes. New research illuminates how these lovely crystals fall to the ground. When the air is still snowflakes gently drift to the surface, but on other occasions they get violently tossed about by wind and other forms of precipitation. While this can be beautiful to observe, it also adds an element of the unpredictable to snowstorms — although a group of researchers at the University of Utah may have helped change that forever.

According to a recent study published in the journal Physics of Fluids, scientists can actually anticipate how snowflakes will fall during different types of air turbulence, something that atmospheric modelers previously struggled to do. After much research, the scientists found that they simply had to use the Stokes number for the snowflakes. A Stokes number is a dimensionless figure that determines the behavior of particles suspended in a fluid flow. Such a straightforward solution may seem counterintuitive because, as the authors noted, snowflakes come in so many individual shapes and sizes.

"Despite the complexity of snowflake structures and the non-uniform nature of the turbulence, we find that mean snowflake acceleration distributions can be uniquely determined from the value of [Stokes numbers]," the authors explain. While this information does not immediately help scientists better predict the timing, length and severity of snowstorms, it paves the path toward that outcome.

"If that is the case and we can show in the future that this really is supported, that could lead to quite significant improvements in storm modeling," study co-author Tim Garrett, a University of Utah professor of atmospheric scientists, told KSL.com. "Right now, one of the biggest challenges weather models have is predicting the types of snowflakes that form in clouds. Our results hint that some of the difficulties … may actually end up being (less complicated)."

Law professor: Trump delay in other cases “opens a window” for Fani Willis to hold trial within weeks

Delays in Donald Trump's upcoming federal criminal trials could give Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis an opening to try the former president and his key alleged co-conspirators within weeks, legal experts say.

The Supreme Court's recent decision not to expedite the consideration of Trump’s immunity claim regarding charges related to overturning the 2020 election was widely considered a win for the former president, whose legal tactic has been to delay the proceedings until Election Day. Trump is trying to “stall” his trials with the hope they will be delayed until after the election,  David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University, told Salon. However, his delay tactics might push one or more trials into the general election season which could be detrimental to his candidacy.

“Criminal trials during the general election could be the October surprises that hurt his campaign, especially with a late October conviction if it were to occur,” Schultz said.

While the D.C. trial is set for March 4, preparations are on hold as Trump argues that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals should dismiss the federal election interference case because presidential immunity shields him from prosecution. Trump's documents trial in Florida, which is scheduled for May, is also widely expected to be delayed.

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Yet another case is brewing before the Supreme Court, which has significant implications for the criminal prosecutions of the former president and could provide additional grounds for Trump to seek a delay. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal brought by a man charged with "obstruction of an official proceeding" relating to Jan. 6, 2021, who is seeking to have a criminal charge dismissed which claims that he obstructed an official proceeding. A favorable decision for the defense could undermine the two counts in Trump's indictment based on “the same theory,” legal experts told Salon.

Considering the apparent delays in the federal cases that may not proceed this spring, it “opens up a window” for Fulton County District Fani Willis to potentially pursue the Georgia 2020 election subversion case against Trump and his allies in February, suggested ​​Clark Cunningham, a professor of law at Georgia State University.

There are “a number of reasons” why it makes sense for the Georgia trial to go first, Cunningham pointed out, explaining that Willis has four cooperating witnesses. A “simplified trial” including Trump and co-defendants like campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman could take place before February to resolve the case before the election.

If Willis waits until August to begin, she risks facing pushback from Trump's legal team, which has already argued that the trial would fall during a general election campaign.

“That would be the most effective election interference in the history of the United States, and I don’t think anyone would want to be in that position,” Trump’s lawyer Steven Sadow said. 

Even more important, if the trial isn't concluded by November and Trump is elected again, he's immediately going to file a motion in federal court to pause the ongoing case during his term in office. “I think there's a pretty good chance that he would succeed in that effort,” Cunningham said.

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Last week, Trump’s legal team asked a judge to toss Trump’s Georgia 2020 election criminal racketeering case on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the indictment must be dismissed ahead of trial since the First Amendment “not only embraces but encourages exactly the kind of behavior under attack in this Indictment.” 

Cunningham said he would find it “surprising” if Trump’s lawyers in Georgia haven’t made a similar presidential immunity argument that's been made in the D.C. court, which the judge has not decided on yet. 

Even though the Supreme Court rejecting the request by Smith to fast-track arguments on whether Trump has any immunity from federal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office is a victory for Trump, it’s possible it’s also “just the opposite,” Cunningham suggested.  

“It's possible that the Supreme Court is not planning to review this issue and if they don't want to review the issue, this is the fastest way to get the case on track,” he added. “But that's speculation.” 

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Alternatively, if the judges review it and the Supreme Court subsequently accepts it, “it's very hard to see how that case is going to go to trial in March or even much anytime in the spring,” Cunningham said.

The Supreme Court’s “public credibility is at an all-time low,” as it's increasingly viewed as a “politicized institution,” he explained, adding that now the court is also tasked with taking on another important case.

The Colorado Supreme Court decided last week to disqualify Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The case is likely to head to the U.S. Supreme Court in the weeks ahead.

The Colorado case will likely take priority over Smith’s request since it’s “more pressing” and has “broader implications across all 50 states,” Schultz said.  

Affirming Colorado’s decision would result in additional lawsuits in different states and likely lead to "more disqualifications." This has broader implications for Trump’s candidacy as it removes him from the ballot, Schultz explained. 

Taking on the Colorado case would also put the Supreme Court in the “hot seat,” convincing the chief justice to “stay out of the presidential immunity issue,” partly because they may feel that the former president presents a “very, very weak case for immunity and therefore doesn't require Supreme Court view,” Cunningham said.

Read more

about the Fulton County case

Human weather control is possible, but limited. Should it be deployed to stop climate change?

When billionaires like Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates talk about weather control, casual followers of the news might think they are advocating a pie-in-the-sky fantasy. In Gates' case, the ostensible goal is to save humanity from the climate change primarily caused by burning fossil fuels. Yet Gates is not alone in bringing weather control to the global conversations.

There are people who attribute weather-controlling powers to large organizations like HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program), a University of Alaska — Fairbanks program that researches the ionosphere. There is no evidence that HAARP has done any sort of weather control or can create hurricanes. (HAARP did not respond to Salon's request for comment.)

But experts say it isn't a question of whether controlling weather is possible, it's a question of how significantly and how precisely we can wield this influence. In our current reality, weather control already occurs on some level — the real dilemma is over whether that power can be harnessed to solve escalating existential crises like climate change, or instead will create new problems.

Humans can alter the climate, thereby affecting weather, but for the most part we're currently doing it in a clumsy, negative way — one that makes it harder for us to live on this planet, while also driving many species to extinction. Yet Arizona State University law professor Karen Bradshaw knows firsthand that there are forms of weather control that do work.

"To be honest, I think we have passed the time for a moral discussion on 'should human alter the weather.'"

"I became interested in cloud seeding after learning that the tiny, rural community of Mt. Shasta, Calif., near where I grew up, attempted to pass a local ordinance to prevent an electrical utility from cloud seeding," Bradshaw recalled by email. She explained that a group of concerned citizens became concerned about the health effects of local cloud seeding efforts. Cloud seeding is the practice of introducing tiny ice nuclei into specific subfreezing clouds to create rain and even snow. While this can be a boon to the agriculture industry, residents of Mt. Shasta were worried after they read a scientific study about silver iodide showing up in fish populations.

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2023 proved that climate change isn't coming — it's here, and things are spiraling out of control

"When I began to dig into that story, I was so surprised to learn about the history and prevalence of cloud seeding," Bradshaw told Salon. "How was it possible that even environmental law professors did not understand how widespread it was? When I began mentioning the topic, people brushed it off as a conspiracy akin to chem trails; very few people were aware that weather and climate modification are real and happening. There is a UN Convention, federal statutes, legal cases and state research reports on the topic."

Weather control opens up all kinds of implications, and not just the sinister, storm-generating kind. It raises questions about what is scientifically possible — and what is ethical. Examples include Project Stormfury, an attempt by the US government to weaken tropical cyclones by soaring planes into them and sprinkling them with silver iodide. Despite multiple attempts, it wasn't effective because hurricanes are just too massive.

Attempts to modify hail storms and increase rainfall have been more effective. Operation Popeye, a weather modification project in North Vietnam and Laos during the 1960s American invasion, entailed more than 50 cloud seeding experiments. The goal was to lengthen the monsoon season, causing excessive rains and landslides that would disrupt truck traffic. The U.S. Department of Defense deemed the results "outstandingly successful," with 82% of the seeded clouds producing rain within a brief period.

The U.S. still does cloud seeding. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is required by law to keep a log of all "weather modification project reports," with the most recent being "Rainfall enhancement/Hail mitigation" in Mountrail County, North Dakota in 2022. But it's not really much more dramatic than that. We can't adjust global air pressure at will or produce destructive storms out of thin air, though that could change along humanity's quest to be an interstellar species.

New ways of controlling the weather are being researched. In January 2023, researchers reported in Nature Photonics that they'd successfully guided lightning discharges using lasers.

"This work paves the way for new atmospheric applications of ultrashort lasers and represents an important step forward in the development of a laser based lightning protection for airports, launchpads or large infrastructures," the authors concluded. (It should go without saying, this has nothing to do with the debunked conspiracy theory about lasers from space intentionally starting wildfires.) Having established what weather control can do, the next question is what it should do.

"To be honest, I think we have passed the time for a moral discussion on 'should human alter the weather,'" Dr. Jeroen Oomen, an assistant professor of Utrecht University's Urban Futures Studio, told Salon by email. "The fact of the matter is that we are already influencing the planet’s climate in destructive ways." At the same time, Oomen did not argue that this should be interpreted as a justification for the technologies.

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"Discussion of climate engineering are a shiny, flashy distraction from the problem — putting a bandaid over a gaping wound."

"Rather, it means that the questions we should be asking are: which humans are currently doing the damage?" Oomen said. "Which humans would be deliberately altering the weather and climate? Who would be in control? What would the business model or political rationale be? And is that political reality fair, just and stable enough to be banking on these technologies?" In Oomen's estimation, it is "highly unlikely" that these technologies would ultimately be controlled by sufficiently benevolent entities.

Bradshaw compared the predicament involved in controlling the weather with that entailed in advancing other powerful technologies.

"As with many other scientific innovations — including cloning, genetic modifications and AI [artificial intelligence] — small, homogenous groups sometimes try to circumvent the regulatory process to speed technological progress, even when doing so is wildly irresponsible and inappropriate," Bradshaw pointed out. "Climate change has galvanized some people to adopt a Messiah complex, in which they feel empowered to 'get ahead of the regulation' and make unilateral decisions at the edge of the law that affect billions of people and planet Earth. This is wrong and dangerous. Unilateral decision-making by small, elite and non-diverse groups has a horrible track record." Instead Bradshaw advocated "transparent public-private partnerships that engage stakeholders."

Some that study this issue are more cautiously optimistic. Dr. Jesse Reynolds, author of "The Governance of Solar Geoengineering: Managing Climate Change in the Anthropocene," compared the planetary concerns about weather control with a hypothetical cancer patient's concerns about chemotherapy.

"The Hippocratic oath supposedly says 'first, do no harm,'" Reynolds explained. "But doctors poison people with chemo every day. This is obviously because the risks of cancer are worse than those of chemotherapy. Likewise, calls from the cancer-free to prohibit chemo because doctors simply should not poison patients would — and should — be dismissed."

Reynolds emphasized that this did not mean he was saying the risks of deliberately altering the climate are definitely less than those of allowing climate change to continue without it, or that people in climate-vulnerable regions are more likely to support such measures.

"We do not yet know enough to make definitive statements," Reynolds argued. He later observed that, when it came to investigating solar radiation modification, which are attempts to reflect more sunlight back into space, "all supporters of its research (including me) whom I know arrived at their position reluctantly and by following a roughly similar journey." They were all concerned about climate change and initially reluctant to advocate altering the climate because of its known risks.

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"But on further investigation, it turns out that stratospheric aerosol injection [a way to reflect sunlight] appears able to cool the planet and — as far as we can tell — with environmental risks that many decision-makers may find acceptable," Reynolds said. "What's more, it is the only known way to rapidly reduce global warming. And as noted above, dangerous levels of global warming seem otherwise unavoidable."

It's not clear if using aerosols to block the Sun in an attempt to cool the planet will work, because it hasn't really been done before, except by volcanoes or the space rock that killed most of the dinosaurs. To use Reynolds' chemotherapy metaphor, it could have unexpected side effects. Absent international treaties, some even fret that geoengineering could trigger war or other conflicts. So while many experts may begrudgingly admit that it could work, Bradshaw said it was important to resist framing this climate modification as a "solution" to climate change.

"The fundamental problem is that the human relationship with nature, and one another, is broken," Bradshaw said. "There is no technological fix to the fact that our consumption patterns, globalized food systems and legal personhood of corporations are fundamentally at odds with natural systems. Discussion of climate engineering are a shiny, flashy distraction from the problem — putting a bandaid over a gaping wound. We are trying to maintain the illusion that an anthropocentric system is sustainable. It's not."

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about climate change

Lauren Boebert switches districts to better her chances in 2024

In a video announcement posted to Facebook on Wednesday night, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. reveals that she is switching from Colorado's 3rd Congressional District to run in Colorado's 4th Congressional District in the upcoming 2024 elections, which will place her in what CPR News calls "a safer Republican seat."

In her announcement, Boebert speaks of this bold change saying, “It’s the right move for me personally and it’s the right decision for those who support our conservative movement,” adding, "A lot of prayer, a lot of tough conversations, and a lot of perspective have convinced me this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado.”

As MTN points out, "Boebert has been facing an uphill battle for reelection in Colorado's 3rd, as the MAGA congresswoman has become better known for her scandals than her ability to actually govern." In terms of these scandals, they're referring to her being booted from a production of "Beetlejuice" the musical in Denver back in September after vaping in the auditorium and engaging in public groping with her date on that evening. This has not helped in her fundraising efforts, which have been lacking compared to those of her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch.

Per The Colorado Sun, "The 3rd District leans 9 percentage points in Republicans’ favor while the 4th District leans 27 points toward the GOP, according to a nonpartisan analysis of election results from 2016 to 2020 by staffers for the Colorado legislature. Boebert doesn’t have to live in the 4th District to represent it."

Watch her announcement here.