US news | The Guardian

The constitution bars anyone from holding public office if they engaged in insurrection' - but political vitriol makes it a tough callAfter defending the integrity of US elections from an onslaught of threats over the last several years, secretaries of state across the US are now turning to a new high-stakes question: Is Donald Trump eligible to run for president?Several secretaries are already working with attorneys general in their states and studying whether Trump is disqualified under a provision of the 14th amendment that bars anyone from holding public office if they've previously taken an oath to the United States and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same". That language clearly disqualifies Trump from running in 2024, William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, two prominent conservative scholars, concluded in a lengthy forthcoming law review article. If the public record is accurate, the case is not even close. He is no longer eligible to the office of Presidency, or any other state or federal office covered by the Constitution. All who are committed to the Constitution should take note and say so," they write in the article. Continue reading...

To counter social-media conspiracy theories, we need more honest information about contraception and its side-effectsBirth control is this generation's cigarettes," says a woman on TikTok. When women start taking the pill they get massively depressed," says another. It's a class-one carcinogen," continues the feed. It was 99.9% effective in ruining my life." Then there's the meme of a woman unfolding a contraceptive pill side-effects warning leaflet, as large as a bath towel. Meanwhile those who have come off hormonal contraception and turned to fertility awareness apps give the impression of a world of joy and rainbows - and no accidents.There's a seismic shift going on in contraception, and health professionals are scrambling to catch up. The TikTok health claims above are wildly exaggerated and often incorrect, but that's not stopping a generation of women, trans and non-binary people binning their pills. The latest abortion rate in England and Wales is 19 per 1,000 women and growing, the highest it has been since legalisation in 1967 - and in Scotland it is 16 per 1,000, but terminations are up 19% year on year there, with a rise among teenagers too. Some doctors have suggested that social media is to blame for the rise in abortions, as women turn away from the pill.Kate Muir's book Everything You Need to Know About the Pill is published next yearDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

At least 2,122 people have been killed in the country's deadliest quake since 1960. Plus, Phoenix breaks its record for number of days above 110FGood morning.Foreign aid and rescue teams have joined the rescue efforts in the destroyed villages in the Atlas mountains of Morocco on Monday, three days after the country's strongest ever earthquake.Where was the epicenter? Below a cluster of villages 45 miles south of Marrakech. The quake was felt as far away as the northern coast.What was the quake's magnitude? 6.8 Richter, classified as strong".What is the death toll? At least 2,122 people have been killed and more than 2,421 injured, many of them critically, according to government figures.What happened after the freezing episodes? The congressional physician Brian P Monahan conducted several tests on McConnell and released the results, which showed no evidence of certain disorders or stroke.Did Cassidy discuss other top officials? He urged Joe Biden to release similar records, calling on the president to do what Mitch just did". Continue reading...

Carlson, once seen as a Republican powerbroker and even a presidential candidate, has grown more extreme and less relevantFor years, Tucker Carlson seemed untouchable at Fox News. His position as the channel's most popular host allowed him to wield power over viewers and the Republican party alike, his political influence reinforcing his position as the king of rightwing cable TV.That changed in April, however, when Fox News, after settling a defamation lawsuit for $787m, gave Carlson the boot. Continue reading...

The Congressional Integrity Project reports on several inconsistencies and untruths in James Comer's House investigationThe man leading the Republican charge for an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden has endured eight months of abject failure" in trying to prove the US president guilty of wrongdoing, a watchdog report says.James Comer, the ambitious chairman of the House of Representatives' oversight committee, has repeatedly overhyped allegations of bribery and corruption against Biden without once producing hard evidence, according to the Congressional Integrity Project. Continue reading...

If a third-party candidate takes even a small part of the anti-Trump vote away from Biden, Trump is likely to be returned to the White HouseWhether they intend to be or not, third-party groups such as No Labels and the Green party are in effect front groups for Trump in 2024.No Labels has pledged to spend $70m to support a third-party candidate in 2024 who could easily draw enough votes from President Biden to tip the presidential election to Trump. Continue reading...

We just returned from a delegation to Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Each country is still seeking answers about the history of US interventionOn the morning of 11 September 1973, the Central Intelligence Agency briefed President Richard Nixon about the Chilean military's imminent plan to trigger military action against the Allende government". By noon, bombs and bullets rained down on Chile's presidential palace from planes, armored cars and helicopters circling the center of Santiago. By 6.30pm, President Allende was dead, and the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet had begun.Fifty years have now passed since the bloody coup d'etat in Chile. Since then, democracy has returned, after 16 years of courageous resistance and a resounding No" to military rule in a 1988 national plebiscite. Pinochet has died, following a fatal heart attack in 2006 at the age of 91. And a new generation of leaders has risen to power to secure Chileans' rights to healthcare, housing and a habitable planet. Continue reading...

While Germany won their first World Cup, Canada stunned the USA in the bronze-medal playoff to change a one-sided rivalryThe 2023 Fiba World Cup was a tournament of firsts. The first time Germany won a global basketball competition. The first time five African teams won a game in the group stage. And the first time Team Canada won a medal: they defeated Team USA after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks combined to score 70 points in the bronze medal game on Sunday, winning an overtime thriller, 127-118.This isn't how things are supposed to play out in international men's hoops, especially between Canada and the USA. After all, the US are the No 2 ranked nation in the world and the reigning Olympic champions, while Canada are No 15 and haven't been to the Olympics since 2000. The Americans were 21-1 against Canada all-time in international competition heading into Sunday's game, with a roster containing 12 NBA players including Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Mikal Bridges. It certainly wasn't America's A team, but the talent is nothing to scoff at either. Continue reading...

Novak Djokovic secured a record-extending 24th grand slam title and his fourth US Open crown after a stunning victory over Daniil Medvedev in the final on Sunday. The 36 year-old overcame his Russian opponent in straight sets, winning 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3.The scoreline doesn't reflect the tenacity of his opponent's performance, forcing the champion into tense and lengthy rallies at Flushing Meadows in New York. Victory earned Djokovic revenge for his loss to Medvedev in the 2021 final, and puts him two ahead of Rafael Nadal on the all-time men's grand slam winners list.

Green Bay have moved on from a Hall of Fame quarterback before with some success. The plan for Jordan Love looks like it is working in its early stagesSunday saw the start of a new era for the Packers-Bears rivalry and, frankly, it did not look much different from recent incarnations, in which Green Bay have dominated Chicago. If the Bears thought that facing Jordan Love rather than Aaron Rodgers would change their fortunes, the Packers' comprehensive 38-20 victory proved them wrong. It was the Packers' ninth win in a row over their NFC North rivals.Bears fans had reason to be optimistic before the game, at least after last year. First of all, the team is actually attempting to win games this time around! On top of that, in the midst of a lot of losing in 2022, Justin Fields improved as time went on, becoming only the third NFL quarterback to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Meanwhile, Love has been a gigantic question mark since he entered the league. Continue reading...

Bethany Alhaidari escaped kingdom in 2019 and faces risk of corporal punishment' if US court sends her daughter backAn American activist who escaped Saudi Arabia in 2019 is at risk of being forced to send her daughter back to the kingdom by a US court because of an ongoing custody dispute.Bethany Alhaidari is facing a 24 October court date that will determine her future life with her eight-year-old daughter, Zaina. Continue reading...

Inspired by films I watched as a teenager, I got myself admitted to university in Los Angeles. But then the fairytale souredMy parents weren't pleased when I told them that I wanted to move to California for university. They didn't leave everything behind in Taiwan and Malaysia for a new life in England for their firstborn to move even farther west to the US. What could I say? This was my American dream, and I wanted to make it".I applied to US colleges I had heard of in films. I studied SAT books and got a good enough score to attempt the admissions process. Things started to happen. I bunked off sixth form to attend interviews. In films these are huge moments of plot development, but it was difficult to feel that the rest of my life would be determined by a Yale interview in a Starbucks. Harvard and Princeton also took place in coffee shops, Stanford in a hotel lobby, and Columbia in a members' club. The interviews felt anticlimactic, and I never checked the online application portal to see if I had been admitted, because I didn't want the dream to end.Elaine Chong is a broadcast news journalist and documentary film-maker at the BBCDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

A survey asking couples why they stayed together proves the uselessness of people's opinions. It's like asking centenarians the secret of a long lifeThe secret to a long relationship? Have sex seven times a month and never go to bed angry, according to a survey of 2,000 British couples commissioned for the launch of Love & Death on ITVX, a show about an affair and an axe murder. Twenty per cent of people surveyed thought liking the same programmes was important; I wonder if this one will tick their boxes?My friends are sceptical too. People are still having sex? In this economy?" says one. Oh, please," says another. Maybe aim for not going to bed angry seven times a month. That's in my marriage how-to." Given how often my insomnia leaves me wandering like an unquiet spirit, mine would be: Try to sleep seven times a month in the same room." Or even: Try to sleep."Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

In their rush to claim the future and concrete over the past, these vast rebrands are demolishing people's homes and their heritageSpread over an area almost 7km (4 miles) long, Cairo's Necropolis is a sprawling district of tombs, mausoleums, mosques and courtyards. Also known as the City of the Dead, it is very much alive with memories of those buried there, with the different eras of history that it traces, and with the real families who live in it and have done so, in some instances, for generations. It dates back to the seventh century, and, like so much of historic Cairo, has always existed in an almost dizzying proximity with modernity. Billboards, construction and heavy traffic rub shoulders with the silent tombs of intricate mosaics, ancient wooden doors and hallowed spaces of mourning and remembrance. Buried there are not just ancient kings and dignitaries but more contemporary politicians, celebrities and Cairenes who passed in recent decades.Their slumber is now an uneasy one. In 2020, authorities began demolishing parts of the city to make way for an expressway. In the years since, the threat of further demolition has hung over the rest of the city. Hussein Omar's mother, as well as some eight generations of his family, are buried there, and he hoped one day to lie next to them. He tells me that for years his family has been in deadlock with the state over what rights they have to visit, but that has now escalated, as the graves themselves have come under threat of removal. The Egyptian state has always wanted to control histories," he says, but in more recent times, there has been what appears to be a deliberate targeting" in which the attempts to erase history are part and parcel of attempts to overwrite people's claims to property rights over what are clearly historic plots of valuable real estate". Continue reading...

The pup's owners were arrested in a Walmart parking lot on suspicion of animal cruelty and possession of narcoticsCalifornia police administered an overdose-reversing drug to a pit bull puppy in attempts to save it from a potential fentanyl overdose.On Friday, the Irvine police department announced that it administered a dose of Narcan to the puppy after it was exposed to fentanyl in a car and began to show signs of an overdose". Continue reading...

Michelle Lujan Grisham announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday after the deaths of three childrenA pro-gun group is suing the New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, in an effort to block a 30-day emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque's Bernalillo county issued last week after a spate of shootings.The governor announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday in a public health order relating to gun violence after the fatal shootings of an 11-year-old boy on his way home from a minor league baseball game last week, as well as the fatal shooting of a four-year-old girl in her bed in a motor home and a 13-year-old girl in Taos county in August. Continue reading...

Teenager was struggling in spring but different coaches and her dad taking a step back proved to be inspired decisionsEven as the WTA tour had shifted on to the European red clay season this year, Coco Gauff's favourite surface and the period that brought her first grand slam final at the French Open in 2022, the 19-year-old was struggling. During the early days of spring, Gauff had taken a few early defeats, culminating in a bitter 6-3, 6-0 loss against Paula Badosa in Madrid.A few days later Gauff, normally known for her toughness and fight, admitted she had allowed her frustration to consume her. I mentally wasn't engaged in that second set," she said. Continue reading...

The US president's remarks came after after meeting in Vietnam with Communist party official to secure global supply chainJoe Biden's national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country.I don't want to contain China," Biden said. I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it's all about." Continue reading...

The teenager has grown up in a world where online abuse is part of an athlete's life. She used it to fuel her first grand slam titleFor someone so young Coco Gauff has a remarkable knack for striking the right tone at the right time. But looking back on the victory ceremony after her come-from-behind US Open final win over Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, we should have known Gauff had one more score to settle when she demanded the microphone from emcee Mary Jo Fernandez.After giving thanks to God (I'm so blessed in this life") and her hard-working parents (You believed in me from the beginning"), Gauff smoothed down her hair and moved on to thank her detractors. I tried my best to carry this with grace," she said, her sharpened breathing hinting at what was to come. Honestly, to those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it - and now I'm really burning so bright right now." Continue reading...

Vice-president dismisses opponents' attacks that president is too old to seek out a second term and says he's going to be fine'Kamala Harris on Sunday declared herself ready to assume the presidency if it ever behooved her to do so - but she also made it a point to dismiss opponents' political attacks that Joe Biden is too old to seek out a second term in the Oval Office.Asked on CBS's Face the Nation whether she was prepared to serve as commander-in-chief in case Biden became unable to carry out his duties, Harris said: Yes, I am, if necessary." Continue reading...

Danelo Cavalcante who escaped prison over a week ago has slipped out of the search area and changed his appearance, police sayAuthorities say an escaped murderer who has eluded capture since breaking out of a south-eastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago has apparently slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance and is now being sought in a stolen vehicle.Pennsylvania state police said in a statement on Sunday that Danelo Souza Cavalcante was seen overnight near Phoenixville in northern Chester county, more than 20 miles (32km) north-east of the area that until now has been the focus of the search. Continue reading...

The US vice-president told AP she would be ready to serve as president if necessary. When asked by reporter Chris Megerian about whether she would be able to step up and assume the responsibilities of the office in the light of Joe Biden's age, Harris confidently said: 'Yes.' Elaborating further, she added: 'Every vice-president understands that when they take the oath, that they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have: to take over the job of being president. I'm no different'

Actors say letters were not meant to undermine victims of Masterson, who was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rapeAshton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized on Saturday for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson before he was sentenced for rape this week.A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Many people are already eligible for work permits through parole' program - but a bureaucratic fog obscures the processMayor Eric Adams of New York City is fed up with providing a welcome for an influx of migrants seeking asylum. At a town hall meeting last week, he declared that spending on shelters and care, more than $5bn this year alone, will destroy New York City".After more than 107,000 migrants arrived over the last year, almost 60,000 are still living in some 200 city shelters. The system was already strained; now it's overwhelmed. Adams, a Democrat, has been haranguing Joe Biden on one issue in particular: he wants faster authorization for asylum seekers to work legally, so they can become self-supporting and move off city services. Continue reading...

Far-right wing insists it will not back speaker to avert government shutdown without concessions like Biden impeachmentKevin McCarthy will return from his August recess on Tuesday facing the latest in a long series of conundrums for the Republican House leader: should he force a government shutdown, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers without a paycheck, or burn more bridges with the hard-right flank of his conference, risking his speakership in the process?With just 12 legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year, the Republican-controlled House must quickly pass some kind of spending package to keep the federal government open after 30 September. If the chamber does not approve a spending bill, the government will shut down for the first time in nearly five years, furloughing federal employees and stalling many crucial programs. Continue reading...

California's Democratic governor adds Donald Trump's quest for vengeance poses greater threat to democracy in NBC interviewRon DeSantis is fundamentally authoritarian", but Donald Trump's quest for vengeance" poses an even greater threat to democracy, California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom said on Sunday.Newsom took aim at the leading two candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination during a hard-hitting and wide-ranging interview on NBC's Meet the Press, the final episode with its long-time host Chuck Todd. Continue reading...

The government's policy is to pretend we're getting back to normal'. The result is millions of us live in fear of losing our livesIt is 1.35pm and I'm having to explain coronavirus transmission to a nurse. I am due an appointment at 2.30, and I've been phoned because I say I'm clinically vulnerable. I ask whether the nurse has an N95 mask (as they're proved to be most effective). She does not. I ask whether she and the team are taking weekly lateral flow tests, like her colleague said. She is not, and is unsure why that was promised.We don't need to do that any more," she says breezily. What she means is: she has no official duty to do so any more. Clinically vulnerable (CV) patients still need" the Covid-19 protections. They just don't get them.Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Months after Alex Murdaugh was found guilty in the killings of his wife and son, defense lawyers are accusing the county clerk of influencing the juryTales of intrigue and gossip encircling the Murdaugh dynasty continue to unfold in South Carolina's low country where only six months ago, after a lengthy trial culminating in barely three hours of deliberations, jurors handed down guilty verdicts to Alex Murdaugh in the killings of his wife and son.The speed of those jury deliberations, and what may have moved jurors to swiftly decide the six-week case, now lies at the heart of the most shocking twist in the saga yet - a claim of jury tampering brought by Murdaugh's defense team against the court clerk. Continue reading...

Those who moan that we're losing our religion are quick to demonise the most vulnerableA shape less recognisable each week,A purpose more obscure. I wonder who Continue reading...

The state voted twice for Trump but although many in the party admit they got things wrong not everyone agrees on whatDavid Cox is trying to persuade his members that Joe Biden has done more for working-class Americans than any US president in his decades as a construction worker and union organiser in eastern Ohio.But Cox is not sure they really want to hear it in a state where the Democratic brand was in decline long before Donald Trump snatched victory in Ohio in 2016 and then increased his support four years later. Continue reading...

Coruscating was originally a sparkling synonym, but now we understand that it's something more scathingGrayson Perry's coruscating repartee", a silky head of hair used to coruscating effect", and a coruscating verdict" expected from the privileges committee. Which one of these references from the Observer over the summer prompted a reader to cry foul? Surely, excoriating" was meant, he said. Perhaps you could correct it and add it to the Guardian and Observer style guide."In early June, the imminent verdict on whether the former prime minister Boris Johnson had misled parliament about gatherings at 10 Downing Street during the pandemic was unlikely to be glittering, so I had halfway reached for the digital red pen to make an amendment. Coruscating" was, as far as I knew, already in the style guide. The entry I had last read went as follows: [It] means sparkling, or emitting flashes of light; people seem to think, wrongly, that it means the same as excoriating, censuring severely, eg a coruscating attack on Clegg's advisers'." Continue reading...

Its Russian taxes pay for 39 bullets every second but still it boasts how ethical its products areSo long as you are not Ukrainian, it is difficult to imagine a more caring and sensitive ally than the food, cosmetic and hygiene giant, Unilever. We strive to do more good for our planet and our society," its website tells everyone.If you are poor, marginalised, old, young, unhappy, persecuted, fearful for the planet or just feeling ugly, the manufacturer of Marmite and Domestos, Cornetto and Hellmann's mayonnaise, feels your pain. Though not the bloody, battlefield kind. Stereotypes," it warns, are making Gen Z consumers feel unsafe on social media." Continue reading...

Saturday's temperature had triggered an excessive heat warning across Arizona as lows were expected to range between 80F and 86FThe temperature in Phoenix, Arizona continues to rise as the city broke its previous record of the most consecutive days at or above 110F (43C).On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service announced that the temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport reached 110F, making it the 54th day this year with temperatures of at least 110F. Continue reading...

At first, it happened subconsciously, but in time it became a more conscious act ... but no need to lock up your grandparentsIn the American sitcom New Girl, on a park bench in Los Angeles, twentysomething shambles Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) befriends an old man named Tran (Ralph Ahn), who helps him work through a conundrum without uttering a word.Tran pops up throughout the show's seven seasons, his soothing, silent counsel helping Nick navigate adult life. It's worth watching the entire, criminally underrated series just for this beautiful, untypical friendship. Continue reading...

Picking a career can be daunting for students, so try to make good choices but also remember you can change your mindThere's a story our year 11 and 12 students are hearing, one I heard at that age too, that isn't true. The details change, but the take-home point is the anxiety-inducing idea that what they'll do with the rest of their lives" is a decision they must make now or very soon and that failing to make the right choice" will have disastrous consequences.The myth is so pervasive that they might not question it; might fail to stop and realise there is no singular right choice" or that the wrong" choice or even score needn't rule out future flourishing. That choice is an important one, but whatever choice they make will lead to other choices and no single one will guarantee success or happiness. Continue reading...

Wildlife enthusiasts watching live feed from remote national park spot hiker in distress and alert authorities to rescue himThey logged on hoping to see brown bears gorging on salmon, fattening themselves up for their winter hibernation. Instead, what the wildlife enthusiasts viewing one of Alaska's most remote national park webcams saw was a disheveled and weather-beaten hiker shuffling into view, mouthing the words help me" into the lens.The episode captured by a camera at the Katmai national park sparked a chain of events that ended with the safe recovery of the unknown hiker by search and rescue teams, according to rangers. Continue reading...

Leo Brent Bozell IV convicted on charges that he invaded Senate floor to try to disrupt certification of Biden's victoryThe son of a prominent conservative activist has been convicted of charges that he stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, bashed in a window, chased a police officer, invaded the Senate floor and helped a mob disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.Leo Brent Bozell IV, 44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty on Friday of 10 charges, including five felony offenses, after a trial decided by a federal judge, according to the federal justice department. Continue reading...

Gregory Aymond's letter contradicts promises made to schools and churches when archdiocese declared bankruptcy in May 2020Contradicting promises he made when his archdiocese declared bankruptcy in May 2020, New Orleans's archbishop, Gregory Aymond, told the area's Catholic churches, schools and other ministries that they will now have to share some of the costs of resolving hundreds of clergy abuse claims.Aymond's notice came in a letter on Friday, at the end of a particularly bad news week for his organization. One day earlier, a grand jury in New Orleans indicted the retired archdiocesan priest Lawrence Hecker on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft. Continue reading...

The Russian has been one of the few players able to compete with the 23-time grand slam champion in recent yearsThe fourth round of the 2019 Australian Open would prove a far more significant event in recent tennis history than anyone present could have foreseen. As Novak Djokovic continued his attempts to regain the title that had evaded him for two years, he came across a 22-year-old Russian named Daniil Medvedev.While most players step on to the court with Djokovic wary of his defensive and physical capabilities, Medvedev, then ranked 19th in the world, was merely curious. He wanted to see just how far he could push those strengths, how much he could make Djokovic hurt. From the beginning he deliberately forced his opponent into endless, excruciating exchanges, breathlessly defending the baseline and refusing to miss. Countless 30-40 stroke rallies followed, with both players frequently reduced to gulping in air from behind the baseline with hands on knees. Continue reading...

Britons should learn to love onshore renewables as part of a long tradition of robust, practical, rural structuresGrowing up in the countryside, it was a feature of drives with my parents that electricity pylons would be deplored. So I am familiar with the instinct to oppose wind turbines, which like pylons are large, energy-providing infrastructure, among some country dwellers, leading David Cameron to tighten up rules in 2015 in a way that led to a 97% reduction in the numbers granted planning permission.Although the current government has just announced an easing of these rules, they still give plenty of power to objectors. But I would ask country dwellers still inclined to block them to see that they are in fact beautiful. They are prettier than power stations, less destructive than fracking, certainly lovelier than floods, fires, droughts and other effects of climate change. They enrich the nation with the help of its abundant wind, and make us less dependent on fossil-fuel despots. Wind turbines are in a long rural tradition of robust practical structures that also includes barns, mills, viaducts, canals and others that have become beloved and protected. On those same drives I was always happy to see an old windmill. It shouldn't be too hard to love their modern equivalents. Continue reading...