Wednesday, June 27th, 2018
JUDD LEGUM, - Think Progress
Stephan: Here is another example of an individual who puts country above party and ideology. I find it very interesting that the leading intellectuals and supporters of democracy on the court are all women.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor
Credit: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images
On Tuesday, five Supreme Court justices — Roberts, Kennedy, Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch — upheld Trump’s blanket ban on travel into the United States from several majority-Muslim nations. The policy was Trump’s best effort to make good on his campaign pledge promising “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
The majority decision waves away those comments — and scores of others cited by the dissenters — in which Trump makes clear that the purpose of the travel ban was to target Muslims. “[W]e must consider not only the statements of a particular President, but also the authority of the Presidency itself,” Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, argues.
Plaintiffs argue that this President’s words strike at fundamental standards of respect and tolerance, in violation of our constitutional tradition. But the issue before us is not whether to denounce the statements. It is instead the significance of those statements in reviewing a Presidential directive, neutral on its face, addressing […]
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Stephan: This is a very interesting development driven by the states and happening almost unnoticed until now. It's a long shot, but could produce some significant consequences.
Some state lawmakers are targeting Trump for not releasing his tax returns.
Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/
Lawmakers in at least 25 states have introduced bills that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the 2020 ballot in that state — a clear swipe at President Trump, the only modern president who’s refused to release his personal tax returns.
Why it matters: In theory, Trump could be blocked from the ballot in any state where the new requirement became law. But not a single state has enacted it so far, and the governors of California and New Jersey have vetoed it after it passed both state chambers. It’s more interesting as a way for state Democrats to troll Trump than as an actual re-election threat.
Where it stands: Rhode Island is the latest state to pass this measure through its state Senate, according to the Providence Journal, and Maryland’s state Senate passed a bill in May. Both will now […]
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Steve Hanley , - cleantechnica
Stephan: The commitment Trump, and Pruitt have made, and to which the Republican congress has acquiesced, putting the full force of the government behind continuing carbon energy has dangerous and long term negative implications for America, and the world. Methane emissions arising from that industry are the equivalent of a million additional cars.
Citation for the paper reporting this research:
Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain, Ramón A. Alvarez1,*, Daniel Zavala-Araiza1, David R. Lyon1, David T. Allen2, Zachary R. Barkley3, Adam R. Brandt4, Kenneth J. Davis3, Scott C. Herndon5, Daniel J. Jacob6, Anna Karion7, Eric A. Kort8, Brian K. Lamb9, Thomas Lauvaux3, Joannes D. Maasakkers6, Anthony J. Marchese10, Mark Omara1, Stephen W. Pacala11, Jeff Peischl12,13, Allen L. Robinson14, Paul B. Shepson15, Colm Sweeney13, Amy Townsend-Small16, Steven C. Wofsy6, Steven P. Hamburg1
See all authors and affiliations Science 21 Jun 2018:
eaar7204 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7204
CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences, is a collaboration between NOAA and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Its latest study, published in the journal Science, finds the US oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of methane from its operations each year. That is 60% more than previously estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
“This study provides the best estimate to date on the climate impact of oil and gas activity in the United States,” co-author Jeff Peischl, a CIRES scientist working in NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colorado, according to Science Daily. “It’s the culmination of 10 years of studies by scientists across the country, many of which were spearheaded by CIRES and NOAA.”
Methane is the primary component of natural gas, much of which is produced from fracking. 13 million metric tons of methane have the same climate warming impact as all the carbon dioxide emitted by all US coal fired generating plants in 2015. In fact, methane has more than 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over […]
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Stephan: The Christianity that shaped much of American culture when I was a boy, has been largely replaced by a christofascist cult that speaks in the language of Christianity, but has nothing to do with Jesus' teachings. It is centered mostly in the old testament, is racist and like all fundamentalist movements is defined by four characteristics: 1) A sense of racist superiority; 2) a sense of persecution; 3) sexual dysfunction resulting in 4) an obsession with controlling and subjugating women.
It is a psychological disorder expressed in the context and language of religion. Am I being unfair? I don't think so, because everything I am saying is based on what the preachers and teachers of this community say. Here is an example of what I mean. I do these stories because I don't think the rest of the country really gets what the christofascist worldview is about and what its implications for American society are.
Congregation of the Stedfast Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida
Brother Adam Fannin of Stedfast Jacksonville Church in Florida wants all men to rise up and save America because it’s being taken over by the wrong people.
Not the people who would rip children away from their parents when they’re not busy lying about their other disastrous policies. He means the other people.
We need more godly men in 2018. You know, the world is full of a bunch of sissies and homos and queers and, you know, women running the show in politics. And America is cursed! This is a serious problem! And if we’re going to follow in God’s footsteps and do things godly, then we have to stand up against the corruption that’s in the world.
And listen, you know, all these bossy women and queers that are in charge, it’s up to men to stand up and do what they’re commanded to do to take America back, if you will, to reverse the curse that’s on our country right now…
It’s amazing how […]
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Paul Rosenberg, - The Raw Story
Stephan: This is Trumpworld. This community of Americans gives Trump a 90% approval rating. And they are all going to vote. The more Trump is attacked the more they support him. That's what he is banking on. That and that the Democrats will fragment, and many will not vote. As a result the House and Senate will not flip. That's the calculation. It's as obvious as Lucy pulling the football away just as Charlie Brown tries to kick it.
Pastors praying over Trump
John Fea is an evangelical Christian and a historian. When Donald Trump was elected with 81 percent of the self-described white evangelical vote, Fea was both stunned and surprised. “As a historian studying religion and politics, I should have seen this coming,” he notes. Yet he did not. Which was why Fea ended up writing his new book, “Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.”
On its own terms, the book clearly succeeds in making sense for Fea and others like him, with potential for reaching wavering Trump supporters as well. He identifies and lucidly explores three fundamental flaws in evangelical thinking that have led them to embrace a leader who is wholly unfit by their own once-cherished moral standards, in pursuit of ends they cannot possibly achieve — restoring 1950s America via government action. In a key passage, Fea explains:
For too long, white evangelical Christians have engaged in public life through a strategy defined by the politics of fear, the pursuit […]
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