Stephan: In my opinion, we are now in the most important Constitutional crisis to face America since the Civil War. We have a president who is trying to make the presidency above the law in a host of ways, whose administration is filled by men and women who were never confirmed, because they are technically only "acting;" who is removing one-by-one senior career officials who will not give him personal loyalty; and who is reshaping the courts to be subservient and compliant. Aiding Trump in all of this is the Republican Party and its citizen voters who are in growing support of what Trump is doing.
We are literally gutting the Constitution to produce what the Founders feared above everything, an authoritarian fascist king. If Trump is re-elected, and the Senate remains in the hands of the Republican Party by the end of that second term America, I think, will never recover, will be fundamentally altered, and no longer a democracy in substance although the forms of democracy remain.
Most Americans continue to say that it would be “too risky” to give the nation’s presidents more power, but the share expressing this opinion has declined since last year, with most of the change coming among Republicans.
Currently, 66% of the public says “it would be too risky to give U.S. presidents more power to deal directly with many of the country’s problems.” About three-in-ten adults (29%) offer the contrasting opinion that “problems could be dealt with more effectively if U.S. presidents didn’t have to worry so much about Congress or the courts.” In March 2018, 76% of the public said it would be too risky to give presidents more power.
The survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 10-15 among 1,502 adults, finds that Republicans’ views on this question have changed markedly since last year. About half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (51%) now say it would be too risky to give presidents more power, down from 70% last year.
The share of Republicans who say presidents could operate more effectively if they did not have to worry so much about […]
1 Comment
Kevin Rawlinson, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Here is some important medical news. Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that is a growing problem in the American population. You probably know several people afflicted by it.
PET scan results that formed part of earlier research into Alzheimer’s disease.
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
A blood test that can detect signs of Alzheimer’s as much as 20 years before the disease begins to have a debilitating effect has been developed by researchers in the US.
Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis in Missouri believe the test can identify changes in the brain suggestive of Alzheimer’s with 94% accuracy, while being much cheaper and simpler than a PET brain scan.
The results of the study, which was published in the journal Neurology on Thursday, represent a potential breakthrough in the fight against the disease.
“Right now we screen people for clinical trials with brain scans, which is time-consuming and expensive, and enrolling participants takes years,” said the senior author, Randall Bateman, a leading professor of neurology.
“But with a blood test, we could potentially screen thousands of people a month. That means we can more efficiently enrol participants in clinical trials, which will help us find treatments faster, and could have an […]
1 Comment
JESSICA CAMPISI, - The Hill
Stephan: Imagine this scene. A mother is talking to her child in the parking lot of their favorite mall, before they get out of the car to go shopping: "School starts soon so let's make a list of what you need: Notebooks, pencils, pencil sharpener, erasers, bulletproof backpack..."
Did you ever think that in America getting your child a bulletproof backpack would be a sensible choice for a parent?
What kind of country are we?
Bulletproof backpacks are reportedly rising in popularity as shootings increase across the nation and in the wake of two weekend massacres that left more than 30 people dead.
More companies are offering bulletproof backpacks for students as they gear up to go back to school as a means of protection if a potential threat were to enter their classroom, The New York Times reports.
The shields, which can cost up to $200, started becoming more in-demand after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in 2018. After the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shootings over the weekend, the products are back in the spotlight — especially as many students are days and weeks away from the new school year.
J.T. Lewis, a 19-year-old student at the University of Connecticut and the brother of one of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, carried an armored backpack on campus to make him feel safer, the Times reports.
“I don’t know if it’s going to have any effect,” Lewis, who’s running for a seat in the Connecticut […]
2 Comments
, - Raw Story/Common Dreams
Stephan: Welcome to America.
“Can we all agree that it is inhumane and cruel and a waste of resources to crush the wheelchairs of people who are living on the street after a car accident in a full body cast?”
Police in Boston Tuesday night reportedly destroyed three wheelchairs belonging to homeless city residents in a garbage truck compactor as part of a crackdown targeting the city’s transient population.
“Operation Clean Sweep” began August 2 after a county corrections officer was allegedly struck during a fight involving a number of people on “Methadone Mile,” a stretch of the city near Massachusetts Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard where there are a number of clinics and treatment centers. The area has a high homeless population, many of whom have been the target of the operation in the five days and counting it has continued.
The destruction of the wheelchairs is only the latest incident involving the trashing of the possessions of homeless people in the operation.
