TRAVIS GETTYS, - Raw Story
Stephan: More and more I am seeing historians and constitutional scholars expressing alarm at what is happening to American democracy, a reaction and assessment with which, if you read me regularly, you know I concur.
Thomas Ricks
Credit: MSNBC
Journalist Thomas Ricks warned the United States had already lost its democracy — but he said all hope was not lost.
The author of the new book, “Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom,” appeared Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where he said money had corrupted American democracy.
“I worry that we no longer live in a democracy, that we live in what the ancient Greeks called an oligarchy — government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich,” Ricks said. “Money now is much more important in America than people’s votes.”
He said his own congressman, Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME), was “basically elected by outside money” and rarely visited the district he represents.
“I think the Washington Post, and I love Jeff Bezos for what he’s done for the Washington Post, but their headline on top of the paper, the motto, ‘democracy dies in darkness’ — no, democracy dies in broad daylight,” Ricks said. “Again and again, it’s the lesson in history. You retain the appearance of democracy without having it. I […]
1 Comment
IAN MILLHISER, - Think Progress
Stephan: It is my view the senate should never have given its consent to the appointment of Clarence Thomas as a Supreme Court Justice and that Neil Gorsuch should not be a justice at all. The only reason he is one is because of Mitch McConnell's partisan contempt for democracy.
Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch
Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty
If you’re planning on borrowing your buddy’s rental car and loading it up with several dozen bricks of heroin, the Supreme Court gave you good news on Monday. In Byrd v. United States, a unanimous Court held that someone who isn’t listed as an “authorized driver” of a rental car may still have Fourth Amendment rights if they are pulled over by the cops while driving it.
Yet, while the decision in Byrd was unanimous, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a brief concurring opinion that, if embraced by a majority of the Court, could throw federal law enforcement into chaos. Thomas’ opinion, which was joined by Neil Gorsuch, suggests a wholesale rewrite of the Supreme Court’s decisions governing when police are allowed to intrude on a suspect’s privacy.
It could potentially leave every member of the criminal justice system, from federal judges to te greenest rookie cop, wondering what on earth the law is.
Reasonable expectations
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority […]
No Comments
GILLIAN CRAWLEY, - Express (U.K.)
Stephan: This is both good news and a very big deal. Converting diesel trains to run on hydrogen which produces only water as an emission would change the whole nature of rail freight and passenger travel. This is happening in the U.K. which, like most of Europe, is moving quickly out of the carbon energy era. In the U.S. I am surprised we aren't trying to go back to coal powered trains.
Up to 100 100 diesel trains are to be converted to run on hydrogen
Credit:Alstom
Rail travel is set to enter a new steam age with up to 100 diesel trains to be converted to run on eco-friendly hydrogen. The fleet, which could be on the network in three years, will have the same speed and range as diesel trains but will be almost silent with their only emissions being water released as puffs of steam.
The fleet, which could be on the network in three years, will have the same speed and range as diesel trains but will be almost silent with their only emissions being water released as puffs of steam.
The conversion programme, planned by French manufacturers Alstom, would make Britain a world leader in hydrogen train technology.
The move is in response to the call by Rail Minister Jo Johnson in February for all the UK’s 3,900 diesel trains to be scrapped by 2040.
There are growing concerns about pollution from diesel emissions at railway stations. The Rail Safety and Standards Board is studying […]
3 Comments
MATTHEW STEWART , - The Atlantic
Stephan: Here is the best description of Neo-feudalism I have yet read. It ought to outrage every American, but it doesn't, and that is a large part of this trend. Little by little American democracy is draining away. The 2018 elections will tell us whether democracy will survive in the U.S. and it is far from a done deal that it will. Current polls according to fivethirtyeight place Trump at 44.1% approval amongst registered and likely voters.
Credit: The Atlantic
1.
The Aristocracy Is Dead …
For about a week every year in my childhood, I was a member of one of America’s fading aristocracies. Sometimes around Christmas, more often on the Fourth of July, my family would take up residence at one of my grandparents’ country clubs in Chicago, Palm Beach, or Asheville, North Carolina. The breakfast buffets were magnificent, and Grandfather was a jovial host, always ready with a familiar story, rarely missing an opportunity for gentle instruction on proper club etiquette. At the age of 11 or 12, I gathered from him, between his puffs of cigar smoke, that we owed our weeks of plenty to Great-Grandfather, Colonel Robert W. Stewart, a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt who made his fortune as the chairman of Standard Oil of Indiana in the 1920s. I was also given to understand that, for reasons traceable to some ancient and incomprehensible dispute, the Rockefellers were the mortal enemies of our clan. Only much later in life did I learn […]
4 Comments
McKinley Corbley, - Good News Network
Stephan: Here is some more good news. For those countries whose governments have the wisdom and integrity to make societal wellbeing a priority the post carbon world is coming very quickly.
With homes in South Australia suffering from frequent and expensive power outages, that state’s government began searching for a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly backup system for their electrical grid.
Then, last July, Elon Musk, the chief executive of alternative energy company Tesla, offered to build the world’s biggest lithium ion battery as the ultimate backup solution for the territory.
Not only but, but Musk wagered that if the battery wasn’t ready to be switched on within 100 days of signing the contract, he would gift it to the state free of charge.
According to new data that was presented this month at the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne, as reported by Renew Economy, the 129 megawatt battery has already resulted in stunning success.
For starters, the battery has resulted in a 90% drop in maintenance costs. In addition to being a cheaper replacement to the fossil-fuel dependent system that was previously used by the energy market operator, the battery creates zero carbon emissions. It is also capable of responding to outages in a matter of seconds, which could not be achieved by previous backups.
Within the first four months of operation, the battery has already saved consumers an estimated $26 million (AU$35 […]
1 Comment
