Weekend Reads 8/3/19

For Sale: Your Very Own (Extinct) Volcano

This volcano is extremely affordable by most geological standards, for a couple of reasons. One, it’s been extinct for more than 250 million years, meaning it’s less a volcano than a fossil of one. Two, it’s got a rather stodgy British name. The land is called Posbury Clump, a self-effacing moniker for a plot of land that once streamed red-hot lava on a daily basis.

Trump Makes Clear What Black Voters Had to Lose

Trump has sabotaged a law that guaranteed health insurance for many African Americans. He has undermined protections for voting rights. His Justice Department has stopped going after police departments that discriminated against African Americans. He has rolled back environmental protections. Beyond policy, he has used rhetoric that suggests the citizenship of African Americans and other minorities is conditional and less than that of white Americans.

Will Private Companies Beat NASA to the Moon?

As with NASA, private industry has sufficient access to the technology to get to the moon, Whitman Cobb said. "They also have to demonstrate that their systems are fundamentally safe and reliable in order to attract paying customers — they are a business, after all," she said.

It’s a center-left party after all

One notable aspect of the evening, spurred in part by decision of CNN moderators, was that candidates who have previously been marginalized in the race, were often the main people waging the case on behalf of moderate policies and incremental goals. These included Delaney, Klobuchar, Hickenlooper, and Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan. Candidates who once had touted as centrist beau ideals, including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, did not command disproportionate shares of time or deliver many of the most evocative moments.