Michael J. Coren, Reporter - Quartz
Stephan: Once again let me say how strange it is to watch a nation, my nation, through willful ignorance, incompetence, and greed, surrender its place in the world. Be clear: I do not just mean militarily. That will be one of the last things to go, although the waste in the Defense budget is staggering. I mean its moral authority; it's acknowledged integrity; it's fairness; its scientific, medical, and business leadership. None of this has to happen; it is all the result of choices that place short term profit above wellbeing and long term success, and a population willing to settle for that. No where is this trend clearer than in solar and now electric vehicles. Let's look at some data.
Chinese car show
Credit: EPA/Diego Azubell
The electric car has finally arrived—and most of them are racing off to China. China registered as many as 352,000 new electric vehicles (EV) in 2016, compared to only 159,000 cars registered in the US during the same time period (more than half of which were in California). (emphasis added)
While automotive analysts caution China’s numbers could be inflated due to subsidy cheating, even the lower estimates remain higher than the US. (Navigant Consulting puts China’s 2016 figure as low as 250,000, but expects new registrations will nearly double this year).
“It was inevitable that China’s EV adoption was going to pass the US mostly because we’re so resistant to EVs,” says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book. Lindland predicts many Chinese drivers’ first cars will be electric and younger generations may never own a gas-powered vehicle.
China is now aggressively championing the EV. The world’s second-largest economy wants 11% of all […]
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Chauncey DeVega , Politics Staff Writer - Alternet/Salon
Stephan: This essay raises an issue that I think should be front and center and passionately examined and discussed: The Republican Party has become a toxic force in our America and we should be talking about this. Here's a good place to start.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
Credit: Shutterstock
On Thursday, Republicans in the House of Representatives forced through a health care “reform” bill that is likely to leave millions of Americans without health insurance, especially those who suffer from chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. It has been estimated that if the Republican Party is successful in eliminating the Affordable Care Act that at least 43,000 Americans a year will die from lack of adequate health care.
The Republican Party is pursued this policy in order to give millions of dollars in tax cuts to the very rich. President Trump, who is a billionaire, would financially benefit if Republicans succeed in repealing the ACA.
It is abundantly clear that Trump and his party possess a deep disdain for sick people, the poor and other vulnerable members of American society and wish to do them harm.
For example, several days ago Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said this during an interview on CNN:
My understanding is that [the […]
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Robbie Gramer, - The Bulletin 225/The Washington Post
Stephan: In ranking military expenditures the United States spends more than the next seven nations combined. Combined. But as I look at it I see increasing incompetence and waste. It takes two forms. First, equipment expenditures. The F-35, the Zumwalt gun, the new helo. Second, a failure to plan correctly for the geopolitical future. Here's an example of the latter.
The nuclear powered Russian Icebreaker Yamal
The commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard issued a stark warning on Wednesday that Russia was leagues ahead of Washington in the Arctic. And while the warming Arctic opens up, the United States could be caught flat-footed while other geopolitical rivals swiftly step in.
Paul Zukunft, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, warned Russia was building up a huge military and industrial presence in the region while the United States dawdled. Russia is showing “I’m here first, and everyone else, you’re going to be playing catch-up for a generation to catch up to me first,” said Zukunft in remarks before the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They’ve made a strategic statement,” he said.
Take icebreakers, specialized ships that can punch through thick Arctic ice and ensure access to sea lanes for both commercial and military ships. Russia has 40, while the United States has only two in service today, and only one really available for the Arctic.
As Arctic ice recedes, it’s opening access to […]
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Travis Gettys, - The Raw Story
Stephan: Here is the profile of an average politically active Republican. We don't talk enough about these people, although the town hall meetings with federal representatives and senators, suggest that a positive trend is forming, which I think is good news.
The way to deal with people like State Rep. David Eastman is to expose them to public scrutiny. So let's take a look at Representative Eastman, and think about the people who voted for him.
State Rep. David Eastman
Credit: Facebook
An Alaska state lawmaker worries Medicaid funding for health care will encourage women to seek abortions for a free trip to the big city.
State Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) claims anecdotal evidence that women were glad to become pregnant so the federal government would pay for them to visit Anchorage or Seattle to get an abortion, reported Alaska Public Media.
“We’ve created an incentive structure where people are now incentivized to carry their pregnancy longer than they would otherwise and then take part in that when they wouldn’t otherwise be doing it,” Eastman said.
The first-term lawmaker was asked to provide evidence, and he claimed he “certainly knows of specific instances” but declined to provide additional details.
“You have individuals who are in villages and are glad to be pregnant, so that they can have an abortion because there’s a free trip to Anchorage involved,” Eastman told the Associated Press.
Eastman said his constituents from the Wasilla area, where […]
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LEE SUCKLING , - The Southland Times
Stephan: There must be at least a dozen people in my immediate social set who have limited gluten in their diet. The number is completely disproportionate to the small number of people who actually have gluten issues. It is part of what I see as The Cuisine Trend. It is fascinating. At one antipode the meat heavy, fast food, processed diet. At the other, those whose diet is organic, and within that a subset that are biodynamic. And winding through all of that diet patterns based on "tests," many of dubious quality. A dinner party, given gluten aversion and other diet restrictions, can be a daunting task. Ask yourself this: Do I think about diet nuances like gluten when I plan a menu for dinner of friends?
The problem is many of these diet issues are not based on real research and can do harm. Having done the research personally, for instance, I would not make a diet decision based on muscle testing. When subject to rigorous study it did not hold up. Now look at some actual data on one of the things it is used for, gluten. The test is not reliable and, as it turns out cutting gluten out of your diet may have serious adverse consequences. Here's some data.
Harvard University research has found that gluten consumption is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease, potentially putting a spanner in the works for the lucrative gluten-free industry.
By 2020, the global gluten-free trade is projected to be worth over $11 billion. If healthy-heart organisations catch on to this new study, that mightn’t be the case.
It’s estimated that only one per cent of people in the Western world have celiac disease, the clinically-defined intolerance of gluten that causes inflammation and intestinal damage.
An estimated more than 12 per cent of people follow gluten-free diets, however, either because they are “gluten sensitive” or they have a misguided opinion that gluten is somehow bad for your health. One US survey in 2013 even found that up to 30 per cent of adults actively try to avoid gluten.
READ MORE:
* Going gluten-free: Why are there more food allergies now?
* Understanding diets for irritable bowels
* Ten unexpected foods sugar sneaks in to
“The promotion of gluten-free diets among people without celiac disease should not be encouraged,” say the Harvard scientists in their […]
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