Elections

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AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storyAl Gore: Where I Find HopeThe Biden administration will have the opportunity to restore confidence in America and take on the worsening climate crisis.Mr. Gore was the 45th vice president of the United States.Dec. 12, 2020Al Gore at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015.Credit…Francois Mori/Associated Press­­­­­This weekend marks two anniversaries that, for me, point a way forward through the accumulated wreckage of the past year.The first is personal. Twenty years ago, I ended my presidential campaign after the Supreme Court abruptly decided the 2000 election. As the incumbent vice president, my duty then turned to presiding over the tallying of Electoral College votes in Congress to elect my opponent. This process will unfold again on Monday as the college’s electors ratify America’s choice of Joe Biden as the next president, ending a long and fraught campaign and reaffirming the continuity of our democracy.The second anniversary is universal and hopeful. This weekend also marks the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement. One of President Trump’s first orders of business nearly four years ago was to pull the United States out of the accord, signed by 194 other nations to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases threatening the planet. With Mr. Trump heading for the exit, President-elect Biden plans to rejoin the agreement on his Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.Now, with Mr. Biden about to take up residence in the White House, the United States has the chance to reclaim America’s leadership position in the world after four years in the back seat.Mr. Biden’s challenges will be monumental. Most immediately, he assumes office in the midst of the chaos from the colossal failure to respond effectively to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic devastation that has resulted.And though the pandemic fills our field of vision at the moment, it is only the most urgent of the multiple crises facing the country and planet, including 40 years of economic stagnation for middle-income families; hyper-inequality of incomes and wealth, with high levels of poverty; horrific structural racism; toxic partisanship; the impending collapse of nuclear arms control agreements; an epistemological crisis undermining the authority of knowledge; recklessly unprincipled behavior by social media companies; and, most dangerous of all, the climate crisis.What lies before us is the opportunity to build a more just and equitable way of life for all humankind. This potential new beginning comes at a rare moment when it may be possible to break the stranglehold of the past over the future, when the trajectory of history might be altered by what we choose to do with a new vision.With the coronavirus death toll rising rapidly, the battle against the pandemic is desperate, but it will be won. Yet we will still be in the midst of an even more life-threatening battle — to protect the Earth’s climate balance — with consequences measured not only in months and years, but also in centuries and millenniums. Winning will require us to re-establish our compact with nature and our place within the planet’s ecological systems, for the sake not only of civilization’s survival but also of the preservation of the rich web of biodiversity on which human life depends.The daunting prospect of successfully confronting such large challenges at a time after bitter divisions were exposed and weaponized in the presidential campaign has caused many people to despair. Yet these problems, however profound, are all solvable.Look at the pandemic. Despite the policy failures and human tragedies, at least one success now burns bright: Scientists have harnessed incredible breakthroughs in biotechnology to produce several vaccines in record time. With medical trials demonstrating their safety and efficacy, these new vaccines prefigure an end to the pandemic in the new year. This triumph alone should put an end to the concerted challenges to facts and science that have threatened to undermine reason as the basis for decision-making.Similarly, even as the climate crisis rapidly worsens, scientists, engineers and business leaders are making use of stunning advances in technology to end the world’s dependence on fossil fuels far sooner than was hoped possible.Mr. Biden will take office at a time when humankind faces the choice of life over death. Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of severe consequences — coastal inundations and worsening droughts, among other catastrophes — if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.Slowing the rapid warming of the planet will require a unified global effort. Mr. Biden can lead by strengthening the country’s commitment to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement — something the country is poised to do thanks to the work of cities, states, businesses and investors, which have continued to make progress despite resistance from the Trump administration.Solar energy is one example. The cost of solar panels has fallen 89 percent in the past decade, and the cost of wind turbines has dropped 59 percent. The International Energy Agency projects that 90 percent of all new electricity capacity worldwide in 2020 will be from clean energy — up from 80 percent in 2019, when total global investment in wind and solar was already more than three times as large as investments in gas and coal.Over the next five years, the I.E.A. projects that clean energy will constitute 95 percent of all new power generation globally. The agency recently called solar power “the new king” in global energy markets and “the cheapest source of electricity in history.”As renewable energy costs continue to drop, many utilities are speeding up the retirement of existing fossil fuel plants well before their projected lifetimes expire and replacing them with solar and wind, plus batteries. In a study this summer, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the Sierra Club reported that clean energy is now cheaper than 79 percent of U.S. coal plants and 39 percent of coal plants in the rest of the world — a number projected to increase rapidly. Other analyses show that clean energy combined with batteries is already cheaper than most new natural gas plants.As a former oil minister in Saudi Arabia put it 20 years ago, “the Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil.” Many global investors have reached the same conclusion and are beginning to shift capital away from climate-destroying businesses to sustainable solutions. The pressure is no longer coming from only a small group of pioneers, endowments, family foundations and church-based pension funds; some of the world’s largest investment firms are now joining this movement, too, having belatedly recognized that fossil fuels have been extremely poor investments for a long while. Thirty asset managers overseeing $9 trillion announced on Friday an agreement to align their portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050.Exxon Mobil, long a major source of funding for grossly unethical climate denial propaganda, just wrote down the value of its fossil fuel reserves by as much as $20 billion, adding to the unbelievable $170 billion in oil and gas assets written down by the industry in just the first half of this year. Last year, a BP executive said that some of the company’s reserves “won’t see the light of day,” and this summer it committed to a 10-fold increase in low-carbon investments this decade as part of its commitment to net-zero emissions.The world has finally begun to cross a political tipping point, too. Grass-roots climate activists, often led by young people of Greta Thunberg’s generation, are marching every week now (even virtually during the pandemic). In the United States, this movement crosses party lines. More than 50 college conservative and Republican organizations have petitioned the Republican National Committee to change its position on climate, lest the party lose younger voters.Significantly, in just the past three months, several of the world’s most important political leaders have introduced important initiatives. Thanks to the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the E.U. just announced that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent in the next nine years. President Xi Jinping has pledged that China will achieve net-zero carbon emissions in 2060. Leaders in Japan and South Korea said a few weeks ago said that their countries will reach net-zero emissions in 2050.Denmark, the E.U.’s largest producer of gas and oil, has announced a ban on further exploration for fossil fuels. Britain has pledged a 68 percent reduction by 2030, along with a ban on sales of vehicles equipped with only gasoline-powered internal-combustion engines.The cost of batteries for electric vehicles has dropped by 89 percent over the past decade, and according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, these vehicles will reach price parity with internal-combustion vehicles within two years in key segments of vehicle markets in the United States, Europe and Australia, followed quickly by China and much of the rest of the world. Sales of internal-combustion passenger vehicles worldwide peaked in 2017. It is in this new global context that President-elect Biden has made the decarbonization of the U.S. electricity grid by 2035 a centerpiece of his economic plan. Coupled with an accelerated conversion to electric vehicles and an end to government subsidies for fossil fuels, among other initiatives, these efforts can help put the nation on a path toward net-zero emissions by 2050.As the United States moves forward, it must put frontline communities — often poor, Black, brown or Indigenous — at the center of the climate agenda. They have suffered disproportionate harm from climate pollution. This is reinforced by recent evidence that air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels — to which these communities bear outsize exposure — makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19.With millions of new jobs needed to recover from the economic ravages of the pandemic, sustainable businesses are among the best bets. A recent study in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy noted that investments in those enterprises result in three times as many new jobs as investments in fossil fuels. Between 2014 and 2019, solar jobs grew five times as fast in the United States as average job growth.Still, all of these positive developments fall far short of the emissions reductions required. The climate crisis is getting worse faster than we are deploying solutions.In November of next year, all of the signatories to the Paris Agreement will meet in Glasgow with a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions much faster than they pledged to do in 2015. What will be new in Glasgow is transparency: By the time the delegates arrive, a new monitoring effort made possible by an array of advanced technologies will have precisely measured the emissions from every major source of greenhouse gases in the world, with most of that data updated every six hours.With this radical transparency, a result of efforts of a broad coalition of corporations and nonprofits I helped to start called Climate Trace (for tracking real-time atmospheric carbon emissions), countries will have no place to hide when failing to meet their emissions commitments. This precision tracking will replace the erratic, self-reported and often inaccurate data on which past climate agreements were based.Even then, a speedy phaseout of carbon pollution will require functional democracies. With the casting of a majority of the Electoral College votes on Monday for Mr. Biden, and then his inauguration, we will make a start in restoring America as the country best positioned to lead the world’s struggle to solve the climate crisis.To do that, we need to deal forthrightly with our shortcomings instead of touting our strengths. That, and that alone, can position the United States to recover the respect of other nations and restore their confidence in America as a reliable partner in the great challenges humankind faces. As in the pandemic, knowledge will be our salvation, but to succeed, we must learn to work together, lest we perish together.Al Gore shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his work to slow global warming.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected] The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential TransitionLatest UpdatesFormal Transition BeginsBiden’s CabinetDefense SecretaryElection ResultsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyPolitical MemoBiden’s Iowa Bus Tour Is Headed for a D.C. ReunionA year ago, Joe Biden was on a grim bus tour through Iowa, joined by many old friends, including Tom Vilsack and John Kerry. Now Mr. Biden wants to bring some of the crew back to Washington with him.Joseph R. Biden Jr. and John Kerry traveled through Iowa on a bus tour in December 2019. Last month, Mr. Biden, as president-elect, named Mr. Kerry to a top climate post.Credit…Calla Kessler/The New York TimesSydney Ember and Dec. 12, 2020, 10:01 a.m. ETJoseph R. Biden Jr. wasn’t the main event, and he knew it.As he trudged from one small Iowa town to the next on a cold, grim bus tour last winter, trying and failing to generate even a spark of enthusiasm for his presidential candidacy in the leadoff caucus state, he had a habit of quietly delivering his stump speech and then welcoming a more formidable closer.“Thank you for listening,” Mr. Biden said at a campaign stop in Storm Lake last December before ceding the spotlight to Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa.“I’m going to turn this over to a guy who’s forgotten more about farm and rural policy than I know about foreign policy,” he quipped.It was a lonely road for Joe Biden in Iowa a year ago. As his rivals enjoyed big crowds and splashy surrogates, friends of Mr. Biden’s who had retired from elected office — including Mr. Vilsack and John Kerry, the former secretary of state — suited up once more to lend their support in what looked at times like a last hurrah as Mr. Biden plummeted toward a fourth-place finish.Yet those frosty days in Iowa have now led somewhere more glamorous: Mr. Biden’s administration, or so he hopes.In recent weeks, Mr. Biden — now the president-elect and unquestionably the next main event in Washington — rewarded Mr. Vilsack and Mr. Kerry with nods for prominent roles, alongside others who championed Mr. Biden during the roughest stretches of the primary campaign. The early Iowa surrogates embraced his comparatively modest pledge of a return to normalcy — and his relentless focus on the fuzzy concept of electability — when party activists in the leadoff caucus state seemed more captivated by new faces like Pete Buttigieg or the ambitious ideas of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.One year later, Mr. Biden is again facing skepticism from activists and officials alike. This time, it is around whether the administration he is assembling reflects the racial and generational diversity of the party and the nation — something he has promised to achieve. And Mr. Biden’s elevation of Mr. Vilsack has sparked considerable backlash from progressives and from some civil rights leaders.The expected nominations, however, are a vivid illustration of how central personal relationships are to Mr. Biden’s view of governing. Selections including his chief of staff and his nominee for secretary of state are people who have known the former vice president for decades and often bear extensive Washington credentials.Not to mention, in some cases, extensive Iowa credentials.For Mr. Vilsack, Mr. Kerry and other former politicians who braved the frigid expanse of Iowa before Mr. Biden’s bid caught fire with the support of Black voters in South Carolina, the possibility of a significant role in the incoming Biden administration is a vindication of their efforts during the bleakest days of the caucuses, when their alliance with Mr. Biden was viewed by other teams more as a vestige of long-ago politics than as a winning strategy.Mr. Biden’s winter bus tour failed to generate even a spark of enthusiasm for his presidential candidacy in the leadoff caucus state.Credit…Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesEven Mr. Biden’s friends realized his campaign was not doing well at the time.“When I got there, we were going door to door in a blizzard,” said State Senator Dick Harpootlian of South Carolina, joking that he had developed post-traumatic stress disorder “as a result of my experience in Iowa,” where he volunteered and where he recalled running into Biden allies like Mr. Vilsack. “Those folks that were there in Iowa and stuck with it, those are the folks who basically bought into Joe Biden,” he said. “The politics of it at that point were not particularly bright.”None of that dampened their zeal for the task at hand. For some of his surrogates, campaigning for Mr. Biden back then meant advocacy for a man who, they believed, could defeat President Trump. It also meant a return to the campaign trail — and perhaps renewed political relevance.Several top surrogates had run for president themselves, including Mr. Vilsack and Mr. Kerry, and their enduring support for Mr. Biden afforded them another turn in the spotlight, complete with rallies in school gyms and coaxing of voters at coffee shops. Other allies (and former candidates) like former Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Bob Kerrey were also on-hand sometimes.They had staff members shepherding them again. They received news media requests. They hobnobbed with friends and ran into rival candidates at Des Moines hot spots.Mr. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, joined a diverse, rotating slate of other Biden endorsers on a seven-day bus tour across Iowa 16 years after he had won the state’s caucuses.As the tour’s headliner, Mr. Kerry’s moves and snack cravings were captured by the Biden campaign on Instagram as he attested to Mr. Biden’s foreign policy experience.The Presidential TransitionLatest UpdatesUpdated Dec. 11, 2020, 9:07 p.m. ETCongress might ban surprise medical billing, and that’s a surprise.Biden is considering Cuomo for attorney general.‘Our institutions held’: Democrats (and some Republicans) cheer Supreme Court ruling on election suit.There was some occasional rust, and some anxiety, too.At an event in Des Moines last November as he promoted his endorsement of Mr. Biden, Mr. Vilsack admitted that he “woke up at 4:30 this morning pretty nervous about this speech.”And Mr. Kerry, on the day before the caucuses, tweeted and then deleted a profane message rebutting a news report about his own presidential ambitions — and reaffirming his support for his friend.Mr. Biden visited a farm with Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa, in November 2019. Mr. Biden nominated Mr. Vilsack to be his agriculture secretary this week.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesMr. Vilsack in particular was viewed as an important endorsement in the state at the time. But some of Mr. Biden’s rivals, including Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren and Mr. Buttigieg, were enjoying boosts from celebrities like Mandy Moore and young progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — which contributed to the sense that Mr. Biden, with his stable of silver-haired white men, was out of date.“Circulating in Iowa at the time was ‘Biden’s too old,’” said Mr. Kerrey, the former senator from Nebraska who was among the friends who campaigned for Mr. Biden during the primary race. “That was the conversation that was going on — he’s yesterday’s business. He’s too moderate.”Mr. Kerrey allowed that the Biden lineup might not have been the most dynamic.“If you think Vilsack was boring, you should have been with me!” said Mr. Kerrey, who is in his 70s. (He did, however, bristle at the suggestion from a reporter that Mr. Biden’s supporters were not seen to be quite as youthful or hip as those of his now-vanquished opponents. “You are suffering from ageism,” he said. “I called you out. I’ve become woke!”)As it turned out, traditionally conservative-leaning senior citizens would help propel Mr. Biden to the presidency, and he had stronger appeal in the primary campaign among Black voters than any of his rivals did.Now on the verge of entering the White House, Mr. Biden has signaled his intent to gather his faithful squad together again with the alacrity of a coach rallying his team for one last game. This past week, he named Mr. Vilsack as his choice for agriculture secretary. He has picked Mr. Kerry for a top climate post. And Antony J. Blinken, a longtime top aide to Mr. Biden who was spotted in Iowa with him, is now his choice for secretary of state.If Mr. Biden’s selections so far underscore his experience and his deep bench of long-lasting relationships, it is also a stark reminder of his roots in an older, whiter generation that has at times seemed at odds with the energy in the current Democratic Party.He may not have won over youthful crowds a year ago, but he is, his team insists, committed to empowering the next generation of Democratic leaders.At a briefing with the news media on Friday, the incoming White House press secretary, Jennifer Psaki, made a point of highlighting younger members of Mr. Biden’s team. Mr. Biden has also named a number of people of color to major cabinet positions, including helming the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, even as he faces intense pressure from some in his own party who believe he needs more people of color in senior positions.Not everyone who assisted him, even in Iowa, is so far an administration choice, including Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, who joined Mr. Kerry on the bus tour.Mr. Kerrey also said he was not on Mr. Biden’s list.“There are a lot of people that have endorsed Joe Biden that aren’t going to be in his cabinet,” he said. “You’re talking to one.”Thomas Kaplan contributed reporting.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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The ‘pro-life’ party strikes again
Donald Trump is on a killing spree: as his time in power comes to an end, the president seems intent on executing as many people as possible. On Thursday night, Brandon Bernard was put to death by lethal injection at a prison in Indiana. Bernard’s was the ninth federal execution this year; four more are planned before Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.
It’s hard to overstate just how unprecedented and sadistic the Trump administration’s flurry of federal executions is. The overwhelming majority of prisoners who are put to death in America are executed under state law, rather than by the federal government. Since 1927, when record keeping began, 37 federal executions have occurred. There hadn’t been a federal execution for 17 years until this summer, when Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death. What’s more, there hasn’t been a federal execution during a presidential lame-duck period for 130 years. The last one was in the 1890s during the presidency of Grover Cleveland. “It’s hard to understand why anybody at this stage of a presidency feels compelled to kill this many people,” the director of the Death Penalty Information Center said. “This is a complete historical aberration.”
Racking up executions during the last weeks of your presidency would be disgusting at the best of times. Doing it during a pandemic that has killed almost 300,000 Americans takes callousness and cruelty to a whole new level. Particularly when you are a party that has branded yourself “pro-life”. I know words don’t have any meaning any more but does being pro-life really mean ramping up the death penalty, reinstating archaic practices like death by firing squad and poison gas, separating migrant children from their parents, escalating drone strikes, attempting to strip healthcare from people, and trying to cut food stamps during a pandemic? If so, then Trump is going to go down as the most pro-life president in American history. He certainly looks set to become the president who has executed the most people in over 130 years. If the next four executions proceed as scheduled, Trump will have put to death about a quarter of all federal death-row prisoners.
The Trump administration, to be clear, isn’t under any pressure from the American people to do this. A majority of Americans (60%) support life in prison over the death penalty, according to a 2019 Gallup poll. A majority of Americans, it should be noted, also want to keep abortion legal. Republicans don’t really care what the majority of Americans want. They don’t care about democracy. They don’t care about the “sanctity of life”. All they care about is power. In many ways, this end-of-term execution spree is nothing more than a perverse power trip: Trump is killing people to “own the libs”.
First federal execution of a woman in 70 years
Lisa Montgomery is scheduled to die on 12 January; the first woman to be federally executed since 1953. Montgomery was sentenced to death in 2007 after murdering Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting an unborn baby out of her womb. Her crime was undeniably awful, but her lawyers and activists have argued that she committed it while in the middle of a psychotic episode. Montgomery was reportedly sexually trafficked by her mother as a small child; she has suffered horrific sexual and physical abuse since childhood. Montgomery is also set to be transferred to an all-male prison for execution, which her lawyers say would trigger a “catastrophic psychiatric breakdown”. None of this absolves Montgomery – but there is nothing to be gained from killing her except a compounding of cruelty.
Argentina’s lower house approves bill legalizing abortion
The landmark bill allows for voluntary abortions to be carried out up to the 14th week of pregnancy. This is a massive deal: in Latin America, abortion is only legal in Cuba, Uruguay, some parts of Mexico, Guyana and French Guiana. (Chile and Brazil make exceptions in the case of rape.) In 2016 alone, nearly 40,000 women were admitted to public hospitals in Argentina for complications arising from illegal abortion.
Global female prison population rises by 100,000 in past decade
“The number of women in prison globally is climbing at an alarming rate – even though they are typically convicted of low-level, nonviolent crime,” said Olivia Rope, executive director of Penal Reform International.
A women’s football match in China called off over hair dye
One of the player’s hair was deemed “not black enough”, apparently.
Saint Dolly Parton saved a child’s life
Not only did the singer fund a Covid vaccine, it seems she whisked a small child away from the path of an oncoming vehicle while shooting a new holiday movie. Dolly 2024, anyone?
Men bored of helping out with the kids
There was a 58% increase in the time British men spent on childcare, according to a study done in May. Now it seems that men are bored of helping out, and the burden of childcare is once again being disproportionately shouldered by women.
The forgotten trend of 19th-century women’s endurance walking
The long-distance walkers were known as “pedestriennes” and were “labeled as everything from ‘symbols for women’s rights’ to ‘morally disreputable figures’”. Can you imagine walking hundreds of miles in a petticoat and corset? It’s hard enough in Lululemons. On a somewhat related note, you can instantly make your week better by reading about Annie Edson Taylor, the first woman to go over Niagra Falls in a barrel. She was a 63-year-old school teacher who thought the stunt would help fund her retirement. (It didn’t.)
A woman will probably walk on the moon in 2024
Nasa has announced 18 astronauts who will be travelling to the moon under the Artemis program; nine of them are women.
The week in poultryarchy
The holiday movie nobody ever asked for has finally arrived! Mario Lopez is starring as Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders in a short Lifetime movie called A Recipe for Seduction. While this is obviously a marketing stunt, it’s worth noting that a lot of content these days is just wanton product placement disguised with a few plot-lines. Watching a KFC movie has never been on my bucket list; nevertheless I have to admit that a 15-minute commercial about a sexy chicken chef does feel like a fitting way to round off an incredibly unpalatable year. More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Latest Vaccine InformationVaccine TrackerFAQAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTimes InsiderThousands of Photographs, and a Year Like No OtherThe Year in Pictures project is an annual celebration of photojournalism. In 2020, photographers were living what they captured.Eliana Marcela Rendon and her husband, Edilson Valencia, witnessed Ms. Rendon’s grandmother, Carmen Evelia Toro, die from COVID-19 at North Shore University Hospital in New York.Credit…Victor J. Blue for The New York TimesDec. 12, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETTimes Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.The first photo that appears in The Year in Pictures, The New York Times’s annual celebration and review of photography, was taken on Jan 1. Just seconds into 2020, in the heart of Times Square, the photographer Calla Kessler captured what was likely the first New Year’s photo of a same-sex couple kissing to be printed on the front page of The Times.Nearly every editor and writer who worked on The Year in Pictures had the same reaction to the celebratory scene in the frame: “These people had no idea what was coming.”Julian Sanders and Jay Morales, center, started off 2020 with a New Year’s kiss in Times Square.Credit…Calla Kessler/The New York TimesWe had no idea what was coming.The year began with a mysterious respiratory ailment in Wuhan, China, and President Trump’s impeachment trial. Late in the spring, the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests and civil unrest gripped the nation. Wildfires and hurricanes devastated parts of the United States. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court. Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the first candidate to defeat an incumbent president in an election since 1992, and Kamala Harris is the first woman elected to serve as vice president. Along the way, Kobe Bryant and John Lewis died. The coronavirus continues unabated in the United States.“I don’t think there’s been a bigger news year since 1968,” Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor, said in a planning meeting.The Year in Pictures was published online this week and appears in Sunday’s newspaper. Even in an ordinary year, the project is a huge undertaking that calls on talent from across the newsroom. Dozens of printed proofs would have lined the floors and walls in the office while a group of designers and editors hovered, moving photos and pages around.With the majority of the newsroom working remotely this year, however, designers and editors debated these details over videocalls, squinting at layouts on screens and 8.5-by-11-inch pages from household printers.“Sometimes our sessions were three hours long,” said Mary Jane Callister, an art director, who designed the print section with her design colleague Carrie Mifsud. “It was a real challenge to tell the story in 36 pages,” she said.The Year in Pictures was published this week and appears in newspapers on Sunday.Credit…The New York TimesPerhaps no two people were as close to this Year in Pictures than Jeffrey Henson Scales and David Furst, the lead photo editors of the Opinion and the International desks, respectively. In recent months, Mr. Furst and Mr. Henson Scales, who helped lead the project, reviewed around half a million published and unpublished photographs. (By Nov. 1, Mr. Henson Scales had reviewed at least 16,410 photographs by Doug Mills, a staff photographer in the Washington bureau, alone.)“The areas that The Times covered, it covered them really strongly,” Mr. Henson Scales said. On an average day, Times photographers file 1,000 to 1,500 photographs.“I don’t know that I have ever come across a body of work that’s as complicated as this one,” Mr. Furst said.Protesters marched against racism in cities and towns around the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.Credit…Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesIn addition to an introduction written by Mr. Baquet, the project includes pictures woven with firsthand accounts from photographers, who provide behind-the-camera context. That feature was first used in 2019. This year, it was especially important to read what went into the work, Mr. Furst said. There are always photographers around the world living the story they cover — under oppressive governments, or in residential neighborhoods that turn into battlefields of war — but in 2020, everyone lived it.Readers hear from Mr. Mills, who worried about taking the virus from White House events home to his family, and Sara Krulwich, a culture photographer for The Times, who had to navigate months with no live performances to shoot. Tyler Hicks spent weeks in the Brazilian Amazon documenting the toll of the virus there.Outside their St. Louis home, Patricia and Mark McCloskey met Black Lives Matters protesters with guns.Credit…Lawrence Bryant/ReutersLawrence Bryant, a photographer for Reuters, shared his experience photographing Patricia and Mark McCloskey, who wielded guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in front of their house in St. Louis.“He talks about his fear of this woman pointing a gun at him and trying to figure out where he could be safe from that,” Mr. Henson Scales said.When asked what he wants readers to feel, Mr. Henson Scales responded: “It was a long year, filled with heroics. And thus far, we’ve made it through. Be glad of that.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Blue Flame of ‘Hotlanta’Young entrepreneurs, artists and activists are building on a Southern capital’s long, rich history.Up and comers in Atlanta. Clockwise from top left: Ryan Wilson, an entrepreneur; Genesis Be, an activist; Maddison Brown, an actress; and Sanithna Phansavanhj, an artist.Credit…Clockwise from top left: Braylen Dion for The New York Times; Peyton Fulford for The New York Times; Braylen Dion for The New York Times; Peyton Fulford for The New York TimesDec. 12, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETWhen Georgia went blue for Biden last month, some traced it to Stacey Abrams and her nonprofit Fair Fight, whose get-out-the-vote playbook electrified the state. Others cited more college-educated and older suburban voters.And though the election (and the upcoming Senate runoffs on Jan. 5) have focused new eyes on the state, it has long been a force of tradition and change. Atlanta, the capital, has a storied civil rights legacy, an influential hip-hop scene and booming film studios. It is the birthplace, after all, of Martin Luther King Jr., the home of Tyler Perry Studios and where such as artists as Childish Gambino, Migos and Gucci Mane made their mark.Nicknamed ”Hotlanta” or the ATL (after its bustling airport) by some, the city is also welcoming arrivals from New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, drawn to not only to Atlanta’s history and culture, but also its affordable spaces, agreeable weather and fantastic food.Here are six Georgians, newcomers and natives, who exemplify modern Atlanta. They are entrepreneurs, actors, artist and activists.Interviews have been edited.Ryan WilsonRyan Wilson at the Gathering Spot, a members-only club for professionals he founded with TK Peterson.Credit…Braylen Dion for The New York TimesAge: 30Occupation: co-founder and chief executive of the Gathering Spot, a members-only club for young professionalsHometown: AtlantaNow Lives: in a single-family home in the artsy West Midtown section of the city, with his wife and daughter.Why did you move back to Atlanta?I’m from Atlanta, but attended undergrad and law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. I moved back to Atlanta in 2015 to open the Gathering Spot. I specifically chose to start the business here because I think Atlanta is the best city in the country right now for Black entrepreneurs to thrive.What was the impetus for the Gathering Spot?I started the Gathering Spot in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s murder with the belief that Black people should have a place to be more than tolerated, but celebrated. I also missed the access to community and thought leadership that I experienced during my university years and wondered why I couldn’t find a place where that continued to happen. The club has hosted everyone from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to Drake. My partner TK Petersen and I are in the middle of opening a Gathering Spot in D.C.What makes Atlanta unique?In Atlanta, our biggest export is our culture. In this city, we know each other across traditional lines of difference and have successfully brought thriving start-up, big business, college and university, and creative communities together. Atlanta is also a city that is distinctly Black. This is one of the few cities where topics like diversity, representation and political power for Black people aren’t aspirational talking points, but our historic and present reality.What did the 2020 elections reveal about Georgia?Georgia is a true battleground state, and more diverse and more progressive than what we get credit for. This election cycle is also showing that Georgia, like our country, is deeply divided. I’m optimistic though that what is happening in Georgia will inspire other communities to see that they, too, can mobilize new voters, shift their politics and successfully navigate tough conversations about their collective future.Maricela VegaMaricela Vega is a chef at 8ARM, a community-focused cafe and wine bar.Credit…Braylen Dion for The New York TimesAge: 31Occupation: activist, founder of Chicomecoatl, a seed-to-plate catering company; chef at 8ARM, a community-driven restaurantHometown: Fullerton, Calif.Now lives: In a two-bedroom apartment in the Grove Park neighborhood of Atlanta with her partnerWhy did you move to Atlanta?My family moved us to northwest Georgia from Fullerton, Calif., in the mid-90s (they are originally from Mexico) and I moved to Atlanta in 2008. I was in and out of state colleges as a pre-law student until I finally dropped out in 2010 and landed my first cooking experience as an intern at the former Tierra by the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Ansley Park. I’ve been cooking in this city ever since.Your cooking crosses over into activism. How did that start?In 2014 I was a chef for a University of Georgia summer program that traveled across the country. We were crossing through California’s central valley, where many of the farm workers are from Mexico. This is where we harvest so much of the country’s food and yet, for the locals, it is a food desert. This was a big moment for me. I realized as a chef you don’t see all the hands that are behind your food orders. You don’t know their cost of living or what wage they receive. After educating myself more, I started to take on roles having to do with food justice.What did the 2020 elections reveal about Georgia?The elections are demonstrating that there have been many groups of people that have been ready to be a part of the conversations that shape institutional change. They are also indicating that the youth is finally able to vote and that they will be heard.Tell us something surprising about Atlanta.There are many urban farms here that are also platforms for racial justice and activism, like Grow Where You Are, an organization that’s been actively working in our communities for over a decade, and emphasizes the importance of land stewardship and food sovereignty as a human right.Maddison BrownMaddison Brown, an actress, at the Ponce City Market.Credit…Braylen Dion for The New York TimesAge: 23Occupation: actress (currently stars on CW’s “Dynasty”)Hometown: Sydney, AustraliaNow Lives: The upscale district of Buckhead in northern Atlanta.Why did you move to Atlanta?I moved here in 2018 when I was booked for the second season of “Dynasty.” I thought initially I would be in the city for three and a half months but now, two and a half years later, I am still here, shooting the fourth season.How does it compare to other cities?I’ve lived In New York City and Sydney. In 2015 I moved to L.A. and enjoyed the outdoor lifestyle. It reminded me of Sydney, but because L.A. is the center of Hollywood and celebrity, there is an oversaturation of social media that gives it an underlying sense of superficiality. It feels like everyone is an influencer. Atlanta is a bit of an outlier. I really appreciate that Atlanta has a hustle, but on the flip side there is a slower pace and a day-to-day reality that feels more wholesome and authentic.What surprised you about Georgia?I thought the South was a place where everyone had a thick drawl and where I could find a lot of barbecue and Spanish moss dripping from the trees. I thought that it would be somewhat conservative and feel 50 years behind other international cities. But Atlanta feels very much in the center of everything and extremely progressive. After all, it’s the birthplace of Martin Luther King. I’m reminded of that every day I drive by his childhood home on the way to work.What do you think the 2020 elections will mean for the future of Georgia?People outside the state are now seeing its potential. I think we’ll be seeing more film production here, more people following in Tyler Perry’s footsteps, more people moving here. Those of us who have been living here have known this, but the election is showing the results of this shift. It’s really exciting to be here at this moment.Genesis BeGenesis Be, an art activist who is trying to change the Mississippi state flag.Credit…Peyton Fulford for The New York TimesAge: 33Occupation: art activistHometown: Biloxi, Miss.Now lives: In a one-bedroom apartment in Tucker, Ga., about 15 miles northeast of Atlanta.Describe your work.I am best known for my work spearheading the movement to change the Mississippi State flag.I recently returned from a five-month national tour with Vote Common Good, of which I am the poet laureate. In Atlanta, my next project, Bars & Blue Cups, will explore the intersection between hip-hop and health. As a blueprint, I’ll be using my own journey as an independent rap activist — my failures, my triumphs and my journey of self-discovery through health literacy, empowerment, mindfulness and self-actualization.Why did you move to Atlanta?In 2017 while living in Brooklyn, my friend and fellow artist, Chris Wilson, introduced me to an organization called Breakout. After meeting co-founder, Michael Farber, they flew me out to host an event in Atlanta and I fell in love with the city. Within a couple months, I relocated from Brooklyn to Atlanta to see how my talents can be of service here.How does Atlanta differ from other cities?I’m still new to the city, but so far I have seen flourishing Black businesses, collaboration within our community, sharing of resources and queer visibility on a level that I’ve not seen in other cities. Being from Mississippi, I’m used to the slower pace of the south, the complex history of institutional suppression and the erasure of anything that isn’t straight, white, male or wealthy. Atlanta has some of those same components, like every American city, but it’s not denied or hidden.What did the 2020 elections teach us?The elections proved what many of us have known and have been screaming about for years: that the survival of our nation is dependent on the intellect, power, magic and leadership of people of color and especially Black women. We’ve seen Georgia leaders like Wanda Mosley, LaTosha Brown, Stacey Abrams, Tamieka Atkins, come to the forefront of media attention fairly recently. Black women have always led movements from the back, but now the overdue acknowledgment, credit and visibility has caught up.How are recent transplants like yourself changing Atlanta?Their presence and investments could be destroying the very spirit that attracted them to the city in the first place. I’ve been meeting a lot of people moving here from N.Y.C. or the West Coast excited about buying property and starting businesses here in Atlanta. I understand the excitement. However, during my time in Brooklyn I’ve seen the devastation caused by outsider investment and corporate expansion, how it displaces family and sucks the soul out of entire communities. I’d just say be mindful of your presence, learn about the city’s people and history, and respect those who are already doing great work here.Jason BurkeyJason Burkey, an actor, at the Trilith, a mixed-used development where he lives.Credit…Peyton Fulford for The New York TimesAge: 35Occupation: actor (in the Lifetime Christmas movie “My Sweet Holiday”)Hometown: ChicagoNow lives: A single-family house in Trilith, a mixed-used development with homes, shops, parks and a film studioWhy did you move to Atlanta?I was living in Nashville and consistently driving to Atlanta for auditions. Having done one too many country music videos, I decided it was time for a change, and I knew I needed to start establishing myself in Atlanta. That was 2012, before there was a huge influx of actors moving from L.A. and New York.How does Atlanta compare to other cities?I grew up outside of Chicago and have lived in Los Angeles and Nashville. But I have to say, Atlanta is definitely my home. I think it’s the perfect size when it comes to cities: it’s big without being overwhelming, yet there are pockets that make it feel small, each with incredibly diverse backdrops and experiences.What is it like to work as an actor here?What really makes Atlanta unique is that there is a strong and encouraging support system; in other cities there was always an underlying feeling of competition and desperation that I just couldn’t thrive in.How does Atlanta defy stereotypes of the South?Atlanta is a melting pot. The people here are unapologetically unique in their appearances, in their beliefs and the way they live their lives. They are bold and kind. They are creative risk takers. I’ve found Atlanta to be open and welcoming to anyone and everyone. It’s OK to be both different and friendly here. That’s not true of most cities.Sanithna PhansavanhSanithna Phansavanh, in front of his mural in the Cabbagetown section of Atlanta.Credit…Peyton Fulford for The New York TimesAge: 40Occupation: artistHometown: Kansas City, Mo.Now lives: In a two-bedroom house in Decatur, Ga.How long have you been in Atlanta?My parents moved to Atlanta when I was 3, so I’m as native as you can get without being born here.Why have you stayed?As an artist you always think about moving to New York or Los Angeles because they are the country’s important centers of art and culture. But I personally like that Atlanta has had to prove itself over the last 15 years or so. I love being the underdog. Without being cutthroat, artists in Atlanta have been able to build a community the way we want it to be. I’d rather be part of something that is in the middle of shaping itself rather than force myself into an existing ecosystem.Tell me about the city’s art scene.There is a big D.I.Y. art movement in the city that includes small galleries and nonprofit art projects like The Bakery, Dashboard, Notch 8 and ABV, an agency and art gallery founded by artist Greg Mike. When I am out painting walls for OuterSpace, the streets are lined with people. I just finished a mural for Living Walls, a nonprofit started by Monica Campana to celebrate art in Atlanta that has over time turned into a juggernaut.How has race evolved for you here?Historically for me, the only colors that have mattered in the South, and especially in Atlanta, are Black and white. As a person that is neither shade, I had to blend into both those communities. But now there’s a lot more acceptance of diversity. Southern hospitality is a legit thing: if you are a decent person you are typically welcomed with open arms, at least in Atlanta.Were you politically engaged in the 2020 elections?I tried to encourage people to register to vote by giving free portraits of John Lewis to those who did. Through that process, I met so many passionate people engaged in civic activity. It was so heartening for me to witness that firsthand. I think there is a common idea out there that one vote doesn’t matter, but we saw just how some counties were won by just a few hundred votes.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOn Politics With Lisa LererWhat Will D.J.T. Do?That’s the question that could define the Republican Party for years to come, even as the president’s time in Washington winds down.Dec. 12, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETHi. Welcome to On Politics, your wrap-up of the week in national politics. I’m Lisa Lerer, your host.Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday.Credit…Antonio de Luca/The New York TimesA lot will change for Republicans when Joe Biden becomes president next month. But their party may still be defined by the same old question: What will Donald Trump do next?Since launching his bid for the White House in 2015, Mr. Trump has remade the Republican Party in his populist image, embracing far-right rhetoric, elevating once-fringe elements of the base and shifting conservative ideology on issues like foreign policy, immigration and trade.Republicans hailed his ability to achieve key pieces of their political agenda — like installing conservative judges and passing tax cuts — and stayed silent on the rest, fearing the backlash that could come from crossing the president. Those who criticized Mr. Trump quickly found themselves retiring, defeated or declaring themselves political independents.Now, Mr. Trump will depart Washington. And Republicans are wondering how much political influence Mr. Trump will take with him.“The reality is, none of us know,” said Chip Lake, a Georgia-based political consultant. “I’m not even so sure the president knows what a post-presidential Donald Trump looks like politically.”Already, there are signs that even in defeat, Mr. Trump continues to hold sway over his party. More than one hundred Republican members of Congress and 17 attorneys general backed a Texas lawsuit aimed at overturning the election results in four swing states and invalidating the votes of millions of Americans — despite no significant evidence of malfeasance. (The Supreme Court tossed out the suit on Friday night.)Across the country, Mr. Trump’s conspiracy-mongering about the election results has led to a civil war within the G.O.P. Trump loyalists in state parties, installed by the campaign in leadership posts last year, are battling with Republican elected officials, whom they see as insufficiently pursuing Mr. Trump’s efforts to undo his loss.Those tensions worry many Republican strategists, candidates and officials. Mr. Trump drove a record-breaking number of Republican voters to the polls this year, expanding the party’s support in rural areas and among voters of color. But it’s not clear whether the new voters who turned out for Mr. Trump will become loyal Republicans if he is not on the ticket — or if he is actively campaigning against the party’s candidates.Credit…Antonio de Luca/The New York TimesIn recent weeks, Mr. Trump has encouraged primary challenges against Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, prompting some loyal allies to muse about running against them. He has attacked Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, who is prevented from running for re-election by state term limits but has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024.And then there’s the issue of Mr. Trump’s own ambitions. He’s been making plans to run again in 2024, with a kickoff as early as this month or perhaps on Inauguration Day. He’s raised more than $200 million since Election Day, funneling some of those funds into a new political action committee he formed after the election.As they often have during the Trump era, Republicans find themselves navigating uncharted political waters. Traditionally, ex-presidents shy away from partisan combat, wading back into the fray only for the final weeks of a general election.“Is Trump going to go out and basically announce an exploratory committee and start doing rallies? If that’s the case then I think he is able to maintain a pretty high boil,” said David Kochel, a former top adviser to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. “If he doesn’t do that, it could be that the party is able to start to take steps away from the Trump presidency and entertain other leaders.”Some Republicans believe that as the fervor around the election fades, so could Mr. Trump’s influence. Others doubt whether he’ll remain focused on politics, given the financial and legal difficulties faced by his businesses and the diminished media coverage of his every move.“I personally believe that once he is out of office and gets back to running his business, that he may very well realize he likes doing that a lot more than he likes being president,” said Juliana Bergeron, a Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire.Credit…Antonio de Luca/The New York TimesShould Mr. Trump mount even a quasi-serious bid for a second term, he would freeze the large field of Republicans quietly plotting the beginnings of a presidential run. Some would-be candidates may be daunted by Mr. Trump’s grip on the party base, with his expansive email list, loyal supporters and growing war chest. Others may struggle to cast themselves as the bearers of the president’s legacy should Mr. Trump himself remain in the field.Another Trump campaign — or just the prospect of one — could also create difficult political crosscurrents for down-ballot Republican candidates, particularly those in battleground states.In 2022, the party will again have to defend Senate seats in a number of swing states — though having a Democrat in the White House should help their chances, given that the president’s party typically loses seats in the midterm elections. Some Republicans are eager to move past the divisiveness of the Trump era and embrace a message that can win back suburbanites in states like North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.Throughout his presidency, Mr. Trump has delighted in backing Republican primary challengers, picking loyalists who generally win the primaries but often lose competitive general election races. If he continues to meddle in primaries as an ex-president, the fear is that the party could end up with nominees who have little appeal beyond their own base.Of course, American politics aren’t as consistent as Mr. Trump’s hard-right political strategy. The country’s whims can shift quickly, and a political style that was revolutionary in 2016 could be retro by 2024.As Mr. Kochel put it, pointing to the swing Republicans made over four years from Mr. Romney to Mr. Trump: “We are always one nominee away from changing the party’s image and brand.”Drop us a line!We want to hear from our readers. Have a question? We’ll try to answer it. Have a comment? We’re all ears. Email us at [email protected]’s cabinet picks take heat from all sidesFighting over cabinet picks seems almost quaint after four years of the epic clashes of the Trump administration. Still, grass-roots activists, policy advocates and party leaders are finding plenty of fodder in Mr. Biden’s nominees.Environmental activists and anti-hunger advocates aren’t happy with Tom Vilsack’s potential return as head of the Agriculture Department. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising concerns about naming retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, a recently uniformed military commander, as defense secretary — the top civilian leadership post at the Pentagon. And Republicans are already threatening to hold up the confirmation of Xavier Becerra as secretary of health and human services, questioning his lack of public health expertise.At least a few — if not nearly all — of Mr. Biden’s nominees are likely to face opposition from Senate Republicans.Here’s our running list of Mr. Biden’s picks so you can follow along with the incoming administration.By the numbers: 17… That’s the number of Republican attorneys general who backed Mr. Trump in a brief filed with the Supreme Court that sought to delay the certification of the presidential electors in four battleground states the president lost. It was the latest attempt in Mr. Trump’s increasingly desperate effort to change the outcome of the election.Legal experts largely dismissed the lawsuit as a publicity stunt. And experts said that a statistical claim in the suit — that Mr. Biden’s chances of winning the four battleground states were “less than one in a quadrillion” — was “comical.”The Supreme Court rejected the suit on Friday night, saying Texas lacked standing to pursue the case.… SeriouslyLondon man, 91, receives Covid-19 vaccination. Complains about “rather nasty lunch” and not being able to “damn well find anywhere to park.” The best interview of the week.Thanks for reading. On Politics is your guide to the political news cycle, delivering clarity from the chaos.On Politics is also available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.Is there anything you think we’re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] reading the main story More