MARK HAND, - Think Progress
Stephan: Trump carried West Virginia and other coal states by a landslide; this is his way of saying thank you.
Coal Miners in West Virginia
Credit: Common Dreams
After reaching a low point in the late 1990s, new studies are showing that black lung disease has made a startling resurgence, especially among coal workers in the central Appalachian region.
More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or more years of experience have black lung disease, also known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. In central Appalachia — areas of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee — it’s even higher. More than 20 percent of coal workers in the area with the same amount of tenure have been diagnosed with the disease, according to a new study by experts at the federal government’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The dramatic increase in cases of black lung disease is occurring at the same time that the Trump administration is seeking ways weaken coal dust rules that protect coal miners from the disease — a move that would reduce costs for coal companies, which have been strong financial backers of Trump.
Black lung is a common term for several […]
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JOHN H. RICHARDSON, - Esquire
Stephan: History will record we were warned, and that the scientists who warned us became frustrated and depressed because we would not listen. Here's the story.
Melting arctic ice sheet
Credit: Nick Cobbing
The incident was small, but Jason Box doesn’t want to talk about it. He’s been skittish about the media since it happened. This was last summer, as he was reading the cheery blog posts transmitted by the chief scientist on the Swedish icebreaker Oden, which was exploring the Arctic for an international expedition led by Stockholm University. “Our first observations of elevated methane levels, about ten times higher than in background seawater, were documented . . . we discovered over 100 new methane seep sites…. The weather Gods are still on our side as we steam through a now ice-free Laptev Sea….”
As a leading climatologist who spent many years studying the Arctic at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center at Ohio State, Box knew that this breezy scientific detachment described one of the nightmare long-shot climate scenarios: a feedback loop where warming seas release methane that causes warming that releases more methane that causes more warming, on and on until the […]
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Stephan: Exactly as I have predicted, (see the SR archive) and this is just the beginning.
Rambutan in Indonesian or Malay literally means hairy or hairy fruit caused by the ‘hair’ that covers this fruit. In Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, it is known as mamón chino. Thailand is the largest producer. Budded trees may fruit after 2-3 years with optimum production occurring after 8-10 years. Trees grown from seed bear after 5-6 years.
Originated from Malaysia, rambutan looks like a sea creature with the soft fleshy hair from 2 to 3 cm long over the entire surface. After breaking off the reddish outer shell, the white and tender meat will appear together with the wonderful sweet flavor. In Vietnam, rambutan is grown most in Vinh Long Province (located in the Mekong Delta), during rainy season.
At the Southern end of Vietnam lies the Mekong Delta. It’s Vietnamese name, Cuu Long means “Nine Dragons,” referring to the nine rivers that come from six countries, and meet there, ending a journey of several thousand kilometres to the sea. The Mekong Delta is the most fertile area […]
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Jon Queally , - Common Dreams/Alternet
Stephan: Four hundred thousand people in America working in slavery, and to that one should add the 2.3 million who people the American gulag. Wealth inequity in the U.S. and the rest of the world is bubbling away like a pot on a stove, and it is only a matter of time before social instability already a problem as a result of this trend becomes even more violent
While the nation’s richest and most powerful continue to enjoy the unparalleled fruits of a “New Guilded Age”—including those who have “yachts that have tiny yachts inside” them—a new report reveals that an estimated 400,000 people living in the United States live under forced servitude characterized as nothing less than “modern slavery.”
According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, published annually by the Walk Free Foundation, there are over 40 million people worldwide living under such conditions, including “one in every 800” Americans.
“The United States is one of the most advanced countries in the world yet has more than 400,000 modern slaves working under forced labor conditions,” said Andrew Forrest, founder of the Walk Free Foundation. “This is a truly staggering statistic and demonstrates just how substantial this issue is globally.”
According to the report, the U.S. not only has an enormous population of people working under slave-like conditions, it’s insatiable culture of consumerism is also one of the premiere drivers of a global economy that fuels the exploitation and enslavement of workers worldwide:
Globally, imports were a key driver of modern slavery, with the United States as the biggest purchaser of goods at-risk of being produced through forced labor, importing more than $144 […]
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Stephan: I don't think there is any level of vileness to which Trump will not sink if doing so will produce greater profit for the corporations that support him. Here is an example of what I mean. Don't just read this, do something.
A sea otter in Homer, Alaska. Sea otters are listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List.
Credit: Raffi Maghdessian/Getty
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency and NOAA proposed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Thursday.
Why it matters: The changes could reduce protections for at-risk plants and animals, and make it easier to delist species.
Key takeaways: The proposal limits consultation between agencies in cases where federal activity could harm a species.
- It makes it easier to remove plants and animals from the list of protected species.
- The proposal adds regulatory hurdles to the process of designating a critical habitat.
- The changes would no longer apply blanket critical-habitat policies, allowing for certain areas where it is not “prudent” to avoid that designation.
- It alters the process that federal agencies must abide by to make changes that can harm endangered species.
The big picture: The ESA, put in place during the Nixon administration, is responsible for saving species including […]
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