The Great Republican Abdication

Stephan:  While we are all watching some sports event or Game of Thrones, Trump, and his administration, aided by the Republican majority in the Senate, is methodically undermining the structure of American democracy, and the primacy of law. I think Paul Krugman is absolutely correct in this essay.

Mitch McConnell and Trump

So all the “fake news” was true. A hostile foreign power intervened in the presidential election, hoping to install Donald Trump in the White House. The Trump campaign was aware of this intervention and welcomed it. And once in power, Trump tried to block any inquiry into what happened.

Never mind attempts to spin this story as somehow not meeting some definitions of collusion or obstruction of justice. The fact is that the occupant of the White House betrayed his country. And the question everyone is asking is, what will Democrats do about it?

But notice that the question is only about Democrats. Everyone (correctly) takes it as a given that Republicans will do nothing. Why?

Because the modern G.O.P. is perfectly willing to sell out America if that’s what it takes to get tax cuts for the wealthy. Republicans may not think of it in those terms, but that’s what their behavior amounts to.

The truth is that the G.O.P. faced its decisive test in 2016, when almost everyone in the Republican establishment lined up […]

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U.S. Threatens To Veto UN Resolution Aimed At Supporting Survivors Of Rape During War

Stephan:  There is no vileness to which the Trump administration will not sink if it serves the interests of the christofascists and the uber rich. Do you doubt what I am saying? Read this.

Listening to the account of a woman who was raped.

The U.S. is reportedly threatening to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at preventing the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war and terrorism. The issue at hand? The proposal includes promises to provide reproductive and sexual health support to survivors of rape in conflict — and the U.S. is allegedly having none of it.

Germany, the current president of the Security Council, proposed the draft resolution, which is slated to be discussed in New York on Tuesday. As German foreign minister Heiko Maas and actress-activist Angelina Jolie explained in a Washington Post op-ed, the resolution seeks to punish perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, improve the monitoring of such violence and boost support for the survivors of these atrocities.

Why Bible belt states are the biggest consumers of online adult content

Stephan:  I have said this a number of times on SR, but it has been a while and is worth restating. All fundamentalist religions share fours characteristics: 1) A sense of superiority, of being chosen; 2) A sense of persecution; 3) sexual dysfunctionality; 4) a conviction as to the subordinate status of all humans with vaginas. Also, as I recently posted, there is a strong correlation between fundamentalism, of whatever form, and brain damage, often accompanied by low IQ, and a deep commitment to willful ignorance. Hypocrisy is also a strong characteristic of this cohort, and nowhere is this clearer than in their usage of porn. Here are some actual facts. The citation for the research paper upon which this report is based: Macinnis C and Hodson G. Do American States with More Religious or Conservative Populations Search More for Sexual Content on Google? Archives of Sexual Behavior.   Volume 44, Issue 1pp 137–147.

Dana Carvy as the church lady

Red State conservatives may insist that the rest of us should keep aspirin between our knees and be forced to bear Divine Justice Babies when we don’t. They may refuse to provide cake or flowers for gay weddings, or even to attend. They may pretend that teens won’t do it if we just don’t tell them how. They may adopt the Church Lady posture if anyone mentions sex that doesn’t involve one man, one woman, the missionary position and a pulsing desire for more offspring . . . . But online search traffic from behind closed doors in Jesusland suggests that the bad, nasty sexual impulses that righteous believers are trying so hard to shut down may be their own. And if Google search patterns mean anything, they’re not succeeding too well.

A new search analysis adds to the evidence that members of conservative religious communities are America’s biggest porn hounds.

Do as I say, not as I do

For almost two centuries, what happened in the Bible Belt, sexually at […]

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N.J. approves $300 million annual subsidy for nuclear industry

Stephan:  The people of New Jersey, through the corruption of their state legislature, are about to spend nearly a billion dollars keeping the dying nuclear power industry alive in their state through a corporate welfare grift. Really, they are actually going to do this. How do you feel about this people of New Jersey?

Limerick Nuclear Power Plant.
Credit: Exelon

New Jersey ratepayers will fork over $300 million annually over the next three years so that PSE&G can continue operating its nuclear reactors. The utility had threatened to shut them without the additional funding.

State regulators said it was critical to keep the nuclear energy industry afloat so residents did not have to rely as heavily on alternative energy sources with harmful emissions, such as natural gas.

“We’re here to save our jobs and continue our carbon-free energy,” said Theresa Widger, a PSE&G employee who works at the Salem nuclear plant.

Yet critics pointed to analyses done by state staffers and a hired consulting firm that both predicted  PSE&G could remain financially solvent without the ratepayer-funded infusion.

“Everybody who has taken a look at this is saying that they are, in fact, financially viable and they are, in fact, making money. By threatening to close, they put the commissioners in a terrible position,” said Stefanie Brand, the state’s ratepayer advocate.

In a statement, PSE&G praised the award and said it would save […]

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Utah’s coal-ash pollution: A toxic example of a national problem

Stephan:  Here is yet further news on the Trump administration's gutting of safety regulations, and its encouragement of the coal industry and its toxic pollution. Much of this is occurring in Trumpland, and you would expect outrage but mostly we hear crickets in the night.

Credit: ejatlas.org

The three smokestacks of PacifiCorp’s coal-fired Hunter Power Plant loom in the skies on a 1,000-acre site just south of Castle Dale, Utah.

Commissioned in 1978, the Hunter plant burns millions of tons of coal a year and generates more than 1,500 megawatts of electricity for use in nearby communities.

But it also generates something else: greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants, including coal ash.

Coal ash, or coal-combustion residuals, is primarily produced from burning coal in power plants. It contains mercury, arsenic and other byproducts that can pollute waterways, drinking water and the air, according to the EPA. These chemicals can cause cancer, developmental disorders and reproductive problems, says Earthjustice, a nonprofit organization that specializes in litigation of environmental issues.

While some power plants dispose of coal ash in landfills, others discharge it into nearby waterways under the plants’ discharge permits.

Those discharges add up. According to the first comprehensive national study of coal-ash pollution, 91 percent of all […]

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