I hate to look, but we must. We in the United States must know what our government is doing in our names. And we must remember that our silence is our consent.
8/8

Mona Chalabi’s datablog: Iraq war leukemia rates worse than after Hiroshima bombing Bombing of Falluja preceded 2,200% increase in leukemia rates, as well as 1,260% increase in childhood cancer

Bill is right about the “decades to come” part. We know that the bombing of Fallujah, Iraq, during the so-called “War on Terror” caused a higher cancer rate than the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing during World War II did. www.theguardian.com/news/datablo...
7/8

<- the (easily anticipated) result of ‘normal’ bombs. And it affected an almost entirely civilian population, that will be paying the price for decades to come. If we’re going to do this we should at least have to look at it.”
6/8

A dark and killing cloud over Tehran And over a shamed America

In early March, U.S. and Israeli forces mounted another series of strikes on oil storage sites across the city of Tehran. Bill McKibben writes of this attack: “The effect was astonishing—a cloud of truly toxic smoke—[… that] was in essence chemical warfare, even if the chemicals were ->
5/8

According to the NYTimes report, on the first day of the war, when we were blowing up that girls school in Minab, we apparently detonated one of these things just above a sports hall where there was a girls volleyball tournament underway, and 21 people died.
4/8

New U.S. Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows

Apparently there’s a new missile being deployed. From Lockheed, PrSM (pronounced prism and short for Precision Strike Missile) is a ballistic missile, designed to “detonate just above its target and blast small tungsten pellets outward.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/w...
3/8

And yet, there are things we need to know.
2/8

New U.S. Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows

I have been reluctant to read about the USA’s and Israel’s conduct of their war with Iran and Hezbollah (in southern Lebanon). War is destruction and killing (and lies). I know that already.

This particular war is illegal, immoral, and utterly unnecessary. I know that already.
1/8

Made Know to Us A sermon preached at Niles Discovery Church, Fremont, California,on Sunday, April 19, 2026, by the Rev. Jeffrey Spencer.Scriptures:  Luke 24:13-35 (and Luke 22:7-22)Copyright © 2026 by Jeffrey S. S…

The manuscript for today’s #sermon, “Made Known to Us,” is on my blog. jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/m...

In this sermon, we dance with one of my favorite passages of scripture, the Emmaus Road resurrection story in Luke 24. Come dance with me.

<- Oregon State University hydrologist John Selker is researching a solar array in Corvallis, not far from Langdon’s property; he found that soil under agrivoltaics held water more efficiently, describing the panels as ‘miniature greenhouses.’”
4/4

<- Not all crops are suited for it; some see a yield reduction, and those that demand a lot of sun—like corn, soybeans, and cotton—are a better match for wind turbines. But other plants can actually benefit from the unique microclimate under the solar panels. ->
3/4

“Unlike solar installations on sunnier, less-vegetated deserts or those on developed areas, agrivoltaics in temperate areas like Oregon get an efficiency boost because the vegetation cools the systems. ->
2/4

The battle over solar on farms Agrivoltaics is either a green revolution or a poison pill for good land. Depends which farmers you ask.

Here’s some more good news about combining solar panels and farming, thus getting electricity and food from the same patch of land. www.motherjones.com/environment/...
1/4

Multi-year field study finds that agrivoltaics can support healthy potato yields Multi-year field trials conducted in Italy show that agrivoltaic systems can support healthy potato yields without major losses. Strategic shading and dynamic light management during critical growth s...

There’s something delightful about this news. A multi-year study finds that you can grow almost as many potatoes in a solar farm as you could if the solar panels weren’t there. All you have to do is tip the panels in slightly different directions at a few crucial points in the growing year.

The incredible simplicity of clean energy I hope Bill McKibben doesn’t mind that I’ve copied just about all of his essay from March 6, 2026 (about a week after the USA and Israel started their war with Iran). The bold print is …

Bill McKibben’s @billmckibben.bsky.social March 6 essay on the simplicity of clean energy is so go I had to reprint it on my blog. jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/t...

When Power Tries to Silence Prophetic Faith As Trump and JD Vance attack Pope Leo, a larger battle is unfolding over whether religion will bless power or challenge it.

She says, “This is a battle over who gets to define morality, who gets to speak with authority, and whether faith will be used to comfort the powerful or challenge them.”
revjenbutler.substack.com/p/when-power...
2/2

A graphic of a quote from Jennifer Butler’s Substack post, “When Power Tries to Silence Prophetic Faith” (15 April 2026), that says, “What this administration clearly wants is not religion itself, but religion emptied of its moral force. It wants a faith that blesses power without questioning it. This, in a nutshell, is Christian nationalism.”

In a cogent and hopeful post, the Rev. Jennifer Butler writes about the “The ongoing clashes between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Pope Leo are not simply a disagreement between politicians and clergy.”
1/2

April 15, 2026 On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln went to Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., to see a production of the comedy Our American Cousin. The Linc...

Dr. @hcrichardson.bsky.social helps us see how that thread is woven into our history. heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-15-2...
2/2

A graphic of a quote from Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s April 15, 2026, “Letter from an American,” which says, “On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln went to Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., to see a production of the comedy Our American Cousin.”

There is a direct historical thread that runs from the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, through the January 6, 2021 insurrection, to the decision of Trump’s Justice Department to wipe out the seditious conspiracy convictions of fourteen of the leading Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
1/2

<- “And that record was toppled a day later when power generation from the sun’s energy climbed to another new high of 14.4GW on Tuesday afternoon.”

Britain breaks solar energy record twice as UK’s biggest solar farm gets approval Record high set on Monday and raised on Tuesday, with 14.4GW of electricity generated in sunny spring weather

Great Britain does not have a reputation as a sunny place. And still “Solar farms in England, Wales and Scotland generated 14.1GW of low-carbon electricity at lunchtime on Monday [6 April], surpassing the previous high of 14GW in July last year. ->
(quote continued in thread)

Will the death tolls from the smoke alone be as bad? worse? We don’t know yet. What we do know now is that the lack of snow and the early March melt are events exacerbated by #ClimateChange.
2/2

Study: 2023 Canadian wildfire smoke linked to over 80,000 deaths worldwide Co-author Michael Brauer of the University of British Columbia called the findings a “wake-up call” for regions unaccustomed to prolonged wildfire smoke exposure.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires in 2023 killed 80,000 people, a new study finds. ctif.org/news/study-2...

This year, the acute lack of springtime snowpack in the western USA has led many to anticipate horrible wildfires across the west this year.
1/2

I’ve know that for quite a while. I’d add, “Any accusation made by this administration should be construed as an admission.”
2/2

A graphic of the Paul Krugman quote noted in the text of the post.

Heather Cox Richardson quoted Paul Krugman in her March 23, 2026, “Letter from an American” saying, “the default assumption should be that anything that this administration says is a lie.”
1/2

March 12, 2026 In Ohio today, Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy launched a $10 million TV and digital ad campaign to run until Election Day.

I hope you feel patriotic as you prepare your federal income tax return.

Source: heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-12-2...

6/6

<- each of us should pay. This way, as U.S. Representative Justin Smith Morrill (Vermont) said at the time the income tax was created, “The weight [of taxation] must be distributed equally not upon each man an equal amount, but a tax proportionate to his ability to pay.”
5/6

Because we live in a complex society, we need governments to provide services and fulfill that purpose, and governments need to money to pay for those services.

An income tax is, I think, the fairest way to collect those taxes, and a graduated income tax is the better way to impose how much ->
4/6

<- objection raised in any loyal quarter to as much taxation as may be necessary.’”

Well, I don’t think the government’s purpose is merely survival of the government. The purpose of the government is to promote the common wellbeing of the citizens and residents.
3/6

<- [by cutting programs], but by inventing the income tax.…

“Recognizing that those who supported the government financially would care deeply about its survival, the American people welcomed the taxes. Even conservative Republican newspapers declared, ‘There is not the slightest ->
2/6