The Imperial Presidency, Part 2

[robkelk]

Europe has only six weeks’ supply of jet fuel left owing to Iran war

KLM, part of the Air France-KLM group, said on Thursday it would cut 160 flights in the coming month because of high kerosene jet fuel prices. Although less than 1% of its schedule, the cancellations underline the financial pressures on the airline industry.

The Dutch airline said: “This concerns a limited number of flights within Europe that, due to rising kerosene costs, are currently no longer financially viable to operate. There is no kerosene shortage.

So this isn't because they can't find fuel This is because fuel costs too much to buy.

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Opinion: Teleportation, aliens and cancer-busting soda - it’s not just Trump going cuckoo, his officials are too

I can't possibly summarize or quote from this one, because I'm a writer of fiction and fiction needs to make sense.

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Opinion: I thought hell would freeze over before I agreed with the pope. But in a world riven by cruelty, that day has finally come

In recent months I have seen many lapsed Catholics speak jokingly(?) about how Leo is starting to reactivate their dormant Catholic sensibilities, as well as many non-Catholics sharing his words. To me this trend speaks more to morality than spirituality. It is a relief that someone in a powerful position is correctly identifying right and wrong. It is a relief to see Pope Leo decrying cruelty, because apparently most current world leaders lack the necessary spine. I am not going to become Catholic or religious at all, but with each passing day in this world filled with the despair of genocides, inhumane wars fought for oil, Jeffrey Epstein and his cabal of rich and powerful predators, generative AI dismantling our curiosity and tenacity, and the daily horror of what humans are capable of doing to each other – I feel myself turning towards something.

Of course there has always been human evil, but right now our species’ penchant for atrocity is palpable. It is gleeful, it is proud, it is brazen, it is spreading, it is bringing more stupid people along for the ride every minute.

It’s especially stark and shocking to see how much of this palpable evil comes from people who claim to be God-fearing. Watching those who pretend to be religious carry out the most wretched actions against others for power or money is enough to make me start thinking seriously about souls, something I haven’t done until now.