, sifted through meters of soil and peat before hitting upon the charred remains of an ancient hearth. Researchers painstakingly peeled away charcoal flakes, which were then carbon dated. In November, tests revealed that the hearth was some 14,000 years old, indicating that the area in which it was found is one of the oldest human settlements ever discovered in North America. Or as Randy Shore […]
Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Stephan: This report just infuriates me because as the report concludes, "Depriving vulnerable people of health care is disturbingly reminiscent of the Nazi-era "Lebensunwertes Leben"—Life Unworthy Of Life,
based on certain groups being a drain on resources and thus
disposable to the people in power. It's a harsh interpretation of a troubled time in America. But it's an apt description of reality. Health care is a human right, not just a privilege for those with money. The merciless attacks on low-income health care programs effectively condemn thousands of people to an early death."
The American healthcare system for the poor
In his report, “This is how American health care kills people,” Ryan Cooper tells the story of 29-year-old Matthew Stewart, who required emergency surgery for hepatitis-induced liver damage, but learned that only about $10,000 of his $74,000 bill was covered by his “gold plan” insurance policy, partly because of out-of-network rules even in emergencies.
When his insurance provider decided to quit the insurance exchange, Stewart was left without a liver specialist, and he couldn’t obtain Medicaid because his state of Texas had refused the option to carry it. His alternative—declaring bankruptcy and leaving the state—would be delayed by a lengthy legal process exacerbated by the physical and mental stress of his illness. But the hospitals kept sending their bills.
Evidence for the Financial Collapse of the Great Majority of Americans
The poorest 90% of Americans lost nearly $2 trillion in wealth in 2015-’16, an average of $8,500 per adult. Every sector of society lost money except for the richest 1%, whose members gained an average of $1.5 […]
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Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Daniel Cusick, - Scientific American/Climatewire
Stephan: Here is some good news about our transition out of the carbon era, Donald Trump and his merry band of carbon zombies notwithstanding.
A solar windfarm with solar
Credit: Shutterstock
Renewable energy generation grew globally by 161 gigawatts in 2016, setting another annual record for capacity additions and pushing clean power capacity past 2,000 GW, according to newly released data from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
That’s roughly double the amount of renewable energy that was flowing across the world’s power grids a decade ago, according to the Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based organization, and it reflects the unprecedented adoption of solar, wind, hydro and other emissions-free power by the world’s largest economies.
China, Europe and the United States now account for 62 percent of the world’s total installed renewable capacity, with China and the United States supporting the largest clean power portfolios, according to the data. Other leaders are Brazil, Germany, Canada and India.
Asia was the fastest-growing region year over year, with a 13.1 percent increase in renewable energy capacity. Africa installed 4.1 GW of new capacity in 2016, a 12 percent jump from 2015.
In addition to boosting the world’s carbon-free electricity, which experts say is essential […]
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Thursday, April 6th, 2017
Justin Gardner, - Activist Post
Stephan: According to the Office of the Inspector General - U.S. Department of Justice, "Over the past 10 years, forfeitures through the Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program have grown to over $28 billion."We have reached a level of authoritarian corruption that would shame a banana republic.
I encourage you to do what I did, download the actual report: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2017/e1702.pdf
A bombshell report from the Inspector General (IG) at the Department of Justice has exposed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the colossal thieves they are. According to the report, DEA seized more than $4 billion in cash from people since 2007, but $3.2 billion of the seizures were never connected to any criminal charges. That figure does not even include the seizure of cars and electronics.
This thievery is possible through the insidious practice of civil asset forfeiture (CAF), where law enforcement can seize cash and property on the mere suspicion of being involved in criminal activity. Originally developed in the 1980s to go after organized crime, CAF has mushroomed into a source of revenue for cops across the country – from local to state to federal – in what’s become known as Policing for Profit.
When an innocent person’s cash is stolen by DEA, that person must petition to get it back, meaning the burden of proof (and the burden of time and expense) is on the unlucky victim who never did anything wrong in the […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Obese adults between the ages of 25 and 64 are at least four times more likely to have been diagnosed with diabetes than those who are normal weight, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. By their mid-to-late 30s, 9.3% of adults who are obese have been diagnosed with diabetes, compared with 1.8% among those who are normal weight.
