True, but plants (and even most small animal) do not move fast enough to follow such a change of geographic conditions.

Part of the junk DNA being (still hypothetic but very likely) virus DNA that merged with its host's, there is very little chance that it plays any role at all...

Actually, it's quite weird that not one has yet cited John Varley's "The M&M as a low-yield thermonuclear device"...

Germany's economy was actually weakened by the decision to impose parity between east deutschmark and west deutschmark, decision which aimed at destroying east germany's industry in a move both of revenge and of assessing hegemony by the western leaders, disguising it as a populist policy to "welcome our brothers in the Fatherland"...

Ironically, if they really went nuts they just would need to send a conventional missile to Fukushima's reactor 4 cooling pool. Just making some cracks in the pool would mean that the fuel rods will heat to spontaneous combustion temperature and as there would then be no way either to cool them anymore or to move them, the only solution would be to evacuate Tokyo. Of course they don't have the technology to target so precisely with long-range missiles, but just a small team of divers with infantry missiles shoud be able to do the trick...

Manning stuck by his conscience when it clearly went against his personal interests and could even come at a tremendous cost for him. It may not make him an idol but it definitely makes him sort of a hero, the usually anonymous ones (alas for him, this time he wasn't). You know what happened when Abraham wasn't able to find 10 just men in Sodom and Gomorrha? Maybe you shouldn't jail the people that prevent your country to go below that threshold...

Climate-change denial are certainly not ready to welcome a billion refugees; they are though ready to kill a billion "aliens" trying to "invade" their country.
If you can't find the logic in right-wing selfishness, it's usually because you didn't apply enough of it.

Your hypothesises are quite far-fetched...
Remember how UK froze Icelandic assets by using an anti-terrorist law?

What would be a VERY interesting seventh SW movie is one exploring the power wacuum created after the death of Emperor Palpatine, with high-level ex-Empire generals trying to seize power for themselves (remember, there's no more Senate) and the Rebel Alliance exploding from political rivalries now that the spoils of wars are to be shared.
With the Jedi Knights eradicated and reduced to a very young man with a short training, there is no more centralized force bearing any legitimity to use coercition to keep things together...
While Luke would certainly take rebuilding the Jedi Order as his main duty, there would be much disagreement over who should "help" him to do that and to how to do it.

Sort of Egyptian time?

Actually, the real question would be "does some committee of the executive branch have the authority to authorize the POTUS to do so?"...

The original short story is excellent (as are many other of Card's). The novel has some good ideas that weren't in the short story but is way to long.

I'm not a specialist, but as far as I know the real reason is that dismantling a nuclear plant has a HUGE cost (no dismantlement was ever finished, so there is no way to even know the actual cost of the full operation), and nobody has the money to fund it for all the plants that are to be dismantled.

Oops... With you, not for you.

It would be funny if you didn't think what you said was true (and many readers for you).

Try eating real food for once, not pre-processed one.
Then you can talk about what is cardboard...