Thursday, January 2nd, 2020
Travis Gettys, - Raw Story
Stephan: Criminal Trump may be doing everything he can to obscure what climate change is doing, but there are those who are thinking ahead and building what are described in this report. As for the peasants, they are on their own.
The ultra-rich are preparing for a post-apocalyptic future with luxury nuclear bunkers in various locations around the world.
Some of the bunkers are located in missile silos originally built in the 1960s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for nuclear weapons, but wealthy buyers have snapped up bunkers in other countries, reported the Daily Mail.
“It is not stereotypical ‘survival nuts’ as portrayed in movies, but individuals with the desire to provide care and protection for their family,” said Larry Hall, who develops “Survival Condos.” “These are luxury, nuclear-hardened bunkers that are engineered … to accommodate not just your physical protection but your mental well being, as well.”
“It’s a lot of fun building these,” he added.
Hall developed a luxury complex 15 stories below ground near Concordia, Kansas, and all the apartments there sold out, and he’s now offering units in another disused missile silo.
Full-floor apartments of 1,800 square feet cost $3 million, while 900-square-foot half-floor units cost $1.5 million — and penthouses start at $4.5 million.
The silo offers an indoor shooting range, indoor pool, movie theater, arcade, exercise facility, rock-climbing wall and a dog park.
The super-rich can hide out there in case of weather […]
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2020
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
Stephan: As 2020 begins we are in a difficult and critical time in the history of the United States. Our democracy is being destroyed, most of the major trends are negative, and climate change, for which we are woefully unprepared, threatens our future, and the future of our children and future generations.
So what do we do? I suggest as the year begins we each commit to do everything we can in our day-to-day lives to foster wellbeing. It makes a difference and, as we begin the new year, I wish all of you the very best in all your efforts on our collective behalf.
And I thank all of you who have contributed to SR; it makes a much bigger difference than you might realize. I do so appreciate it.
-- Stephan
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2020
Stephan: A major half-century long trend in the U.S. is fundamentally changing. Here are the facts.
Fewer than 10% of Americans moved to new places in the 2018-2019 year, the lowest rate since the Census Bureau began tracking domestic relocations in 1947. (emphasis added)
Why it matters: Despite a strong economy, more people are feeling locked in place. Young adults, who have historically been the most mobile, are staying put these days thanks to housing and job limitations. So are aging adults who are reluctant to (or can’t afford to) make a move.
By the numbers: The share of Americans who moved in the past year is about half of the number in the 1950s, when about one-fifth of the population moved each year. That number is now 9.8%, the first time it’s dipped below 10%.
- Only 20% of people aged 20-24 moved this past year, down from 29% in the 2005-06 year.
- Of those in their late 60s, only 4% moved in the past year.
- 19.7% of renter households (who tend to be more mobile than homeowners) moved, down from 30.2% in 2005-06.
What they’re saying: “There’s been this long term decline […]
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2020
Jasper Jolly, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Here is some wonderful good news for the planet, not so much for American auto plant workers who studies now show are losing their jobs and turning to opioids in their depression.
Volkswagen is pinning its hopes of mass-market sales on the ID.3.
Credit: Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen has accelerated its push into electric cars, as company forecasts suggest the world’s largest carmaker will produce its millionth battery electric vehicle two years earlier than previously planned.
The core Volkswagen brand will have turned out 1m battery-only cars by the end of 2023 and will reach 1.5m by the end of 2025, the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer said on Friday.
This year it produced more than 70,000 electric cars, and last year 50,000. Volkswagen, which produced 10.8m cars in 2018, said it had produced 250,000 electrified vehicles (including fossil fuel-driven hybrids) since 2013.
Volkswagen and other carmakers are scrambling to increase the number of electric cars they make and sell in the EU. Limits coming into force from 1 January will heavily penalise carmakers with fines for excessive greenhouse gas output. The regulations aim to reduce average carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions from new cars sold in the EU to below 95g per […]
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2020
Brad Plumer and Coral Davenport, Reporters - The New York Times
Stephan: America for almost a century -- all of your lifetime -- led the world in science and technology. Sadly, those days are gone. Criminal Trump has gutted the U.S. science establishment, particularly anything having to do with pollution or climate change. As a result for the past three years we have been running on momentum, and it is running out. We no longer make policy on the basis of facts; policy is made to promote corporate profits. Here's the proof of what I am saying.
WASHINGTON — In just three years, the Trump administration has diminished the role of science in federal policymaking while halting or disrupting research projects nationwide, marking a transformation of the federal government whose effects, experts say, could reverberate for years.
Political appointees have shut down government studies, reduced the influence of scientists over regulatory decisions and in some cases pressured researchers not to speak publicly. The administration has particularly challenged scientific findings related to the environment and public health opposed by industries such as oil drilling and coal mining. It has also impeded research around human-caused climate change, which President Trump has dismissed despite a global scientific consensus.
But the erosion of science reaches well beyond the environment and climate: In San Francisco, a study of the effects of chemicals on pregnant women has stalled after federal funding abruptly ended. In Washington, D.C., a scientific committee that provided expertise in defending against invasive insects has been disbanded. In Kansas City, Mo., the hasty relocation of two agricultural agencies […]
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