GEORGE PACKER, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: I think this analysis and the concept of framing it in a model called the Roosevelt Republic is very insightful.
In or around 1978, America’s character changed. For almost half a century, the United States had been a relatively egalitarian, secure, middle-class democracy, with structures in place that supported the aspirations of ordinary people. You might call it the period of the Roosevelt Republic. Wars, strikes, racial tensions and youth rebellion all roiled national life, but a basic deal among Americans still held, in belief if not always in fact: work hard, follow the rules, educate your children, and you will be rewarded, not just with a decent life and the prospect of a better one for your kids, but with recognition from society, a place at the table.
This unwritten contract came with a series of riders and clauses that left large numbers of Americans – black people and other minorities, women, gay people – out, or only halfway in. But the country had the tools to correct its own flaws, and it used them: healthy democratic institutions such as Congress, courts, churches, schools, news organisations, business-labour partnerships. The civil rights movement of the 1960s was a nonviolent mass uprising led by black southerners, but it drew essential support from all of these institutions, which recognised the moral and legal […]
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Stephan: Think about what this piece is saying: Big Pharma and the Illness Profit System have turned over two-thirds of the American population into drug users, producing incomes for them of $250 billion. Twenty five per cent of American women are taking anti-depressants.
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA — Researchers find that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescriptions.
Mayo Clinic researchers report that antibiotics, antidepressants and painkiller opioids are the most common prescriptions given to Americans. Twenty percent of U.S. patients were also found to be on five or more prescription medications.
The study is uncovering valuable information to the researchers about U.S. prescription practices.
‘Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,
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PAUL B. FARRELL, - MarketWatch
Stephan: I think any small investor in the market has taken their life in their hands. In an age of algorithm computer trading, rampant dishonesty and corruption, small investors strike me as being as vulnerable as baby bunnies. Because of that view I don't spend a lot of time following markets in detail. But I do maintain a general overview, and the number of articles in the financial press sounding a klaxon, as this one does, are growing in frequency. I have chosen this one because it is a compendium of the others.
I think we need to take this seriously.
n ‘Stocks for the Long Run,
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ANNE SEWELL, - Digital Journal
Stephan: The evidence against glyphosates -- a poison found in Roundup and other weed killers is insinuating itself literally into our tissues. The implications of this are only now beginning to be considered, and none of the news is good. Note that this is a European study where glyphosates are far less prevalent than they are in the U.S. No one has done the American study. Why is that do you think? And, of course, Monsanto says there's no problem.
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE) commissioned a series of urine tests on people in 18 countries across Europe. The results were released on Thursday and FoE is asking, ‘Why is there weed killer in our bodies?’
The findings from these tests raise serious concerns about the increasing levels of exposure to glyphosate-based weed killers, which are commonly used by farmers, public authorities and gardeners across Europe.
What is worrying is that should more genetically modified (GM) crops be grown in Europe, the use of glyphosate is predicted to rise even further.
According to FoE, despite the widespread use of the weed killer, there is little monitoring of glyphosate at present in food, water or the wider environment.
The FoE test is the first of its kind in Europe to test for the presence of the weed killer in human bodies.
Spokesperson for Friends of the Earth Europe, Adrian Bebb said on their website:
‘Most people will be worried to discover they may have weed killer in their bodies. We tested people living in cities in 18 countries and found traces in every country. These results suggest we are being exposed to glyphosate in our everyday lives, yet we don’t […]
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LES LEOPOLD, - AlterNet (U.S.)
Stephan: We are never going to reverse the country's decline until we are willing to tell ourselves the truth about ourselves. Here's what I mean.
Click through the to see the charts that accompany this report.
America is the richest country on Earth. We have the most millionaires, the most billionaires and our wealthiest citizens have garnered more of the planet’s riches than any other group in the world. We even have hedge fund managers who make in one hour as much as the average family makes in 21 years!
This opulence is supposed to trickle down to the rest of us, improving the lives of everyday Americans. At least that’s what free-market cheerleaders repeatedly promise us.
Unfortunately, it’s a lie, one of the biggest ever perpetrated on the American people.
Our middle class is falling further and further behind in comparison to the rest of the world. We keep hearing that America is number one. Well, when it comes to middle-class wealth, we’re number 27.
The most telling comparative measurement is median wealth (per adult). It describes the amount of wealth accumulated by the person precisely in the middle of the wealth distribution-50 percent of the adult population has more wealth, while 50 percent has less. You can’t get more middle than that.
Wealth is measured by the total sum of all our assets (homes, bank accounts, stocks, bonds etc.) minus our liabilities (outstanding loans and […]
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