These Teens Adopted an Orphaned Oil Well. Their Goal: Shut It Down. by Delger Erdenesanaa

The journalistic angle of this New York Times article is on a group of high schoolers who’ve taken it on themselves to raise the money necessary to cap some abandoned oil wells. Much as I appreciate yet another story that show how kids are determined to solve all the problems that older generations created and ignored, the main value of Delger Erdenesanaa’s reporting is in the general cataloging of the environmental blight caused by oil companies that simply abandoned sites with no repercussions. Because of perpetual underfunding of governmental agencies that could facilitate clean up, capping, and other efforts to mitigate damage, communities are at risk. The executives of those various defunct energy oil companies are surely enjoying lavish retirements somewhere far from the regions they are still poisoning with their errant stewardship of the sites.

What Do I Owe the Dead of My Generation’s Mismanaged Wars? by Phil Klay

On the occasion of Memorial Day, Phil Klay wrote this pointed, moving consideration of how due respect for U.S. military veterans might have a different shade when those in question served in wars that were boondoggles or worse. I well remember the way the George H.W. Bush administration aggressively conflated the worthiness of military service with the political judgement that got us into question wars in the first place, a strategy his cold-hearted kid and his fellow hawks doubled down on a decade later. Those cynical actions, assisted immeasurably by a compliant media, basically cemented into the culture an inability to criticize any U.S. foreign policy enacted with guns and fighter jets. For those who served in the name of lies, we owe them our regret and our outrage. This piece was published by The New York Times.

Trump Hush-Money Verdict: No Acquittal. No Hung Jury. Just “Guilty” Thirty-four Times. By Charles P. Pierce

I’m so glad Mr. Pierce got to write about this historic moment.