Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate, Professor, and Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: As usual Paul Krugman focuses on the critical leverage point. To survive as a democracy we as a culture must make fostering wellbeing our first priority. You can make a profit but you must prove that what you are doing, or want to do, fosters wellbeing. Profit above all else societies are not going to survive as democracies during climate change.
Redit: Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Has the Republican Party, which has championed the interests of big business and sought to keep wages low since the late 19th century, suddenly become populist? Some of its rising stars would have you believe so. For example, after the 2020 election Senator Josh Hawley declared that “we must be a working-class party, not a Wall Street party.”
But while Republicans have lately attacked selected businesses, their beef with big companies seems to be over noneconomic issues. It bothers them a lot that some of corporate America has taken a mild stand in favor of social equality and against voter suppression.
What doesn’t bother them is the fact that many corporations pay little or nothing in taxes and pay their workers poorly. On such matters the G.O.P. is the same as it ever was: It’s for tax cuts that favor corporations and the wealthy, against anything that might improve the lives of ordinary workers.
The latest example: the Republican push to end enhanced unemployment benefits that have […]
Stephan: Mike DeWine, the Republican Governor of Ohio, is not getting anywhere near the attention, and respect he should. DeWine is an ethical Republican, and he has come up with one of the most interesting policies in the country to stimulate those reluctant to get vaccinated to get their shots. Such a very different politician from Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and so many others at both the federal and state levels.
Republican Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine
Ohio will give away $1 million each to five vaccinated adults within the coming weeks as an incentive for residents to get the shot, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Wednesday.
The first drawing will occur on May 26, with subsequent drawings occurring each Wednesday for a total of five weeks. To win, participants must be 18 or older, an Ohio resident and vaccinated with at least one Covid vaccine dose before the lottery takes place. The five winners will receive $1 million from existing federal coronavirus relief funds, DeWine said.
“I know that some may say, ‘DeWine, you’re crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money,’” the governor wrote on Twitter. “But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic — when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it — is a life lost to COVID-19.”
The drawing will be conducted by the Ohio Lottery and will gather residents’ names from the Ohio secretary of state’s voter registration database. DeWine added that the state would create […]
Jillian Ambrose and Oliver Milman, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: More good news from the Biden administration, 84 offshore wind turbines that will be able to power 400,000 homes. I am beginning to feel a small flicker of optimism that Biden and his administration are putting us back on track to deal with climate change.
Turbines off Block Island, south of Rhode Island. The Biden administration hopes the Massachusetts project will be a model for a sharp rise in offshore wind energy development in the US. Photograph: Michael Dwyer/AP
Joe Biden’s administration has approved the construction of the US’s first large-scale offshore windfarm, with 84 turbines to be erected off the coast of Massachusetts.
The approval of the project, which will generate about 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power around 400,000 homes and businesses, is a boost to Biden’s agenda of ramping up renewable energy production across the US in order to confront the climate crisis.
The US has lagged behind other countries in offshore wind, despite its lengthy coastlines, but the Biden administration said the new Vineyard Wind project will be the first of many as it aims to generate 30 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind by 2030. Two other offshore proposals, located in New York, are also now under review.
“A clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States,” said Deb Haaland, secretary of the interior. “The approval of this project […]
Stephan: If you have ever traveled internationally you have probably noticed that the thing that makes Americans stand out from people coming from other countries is how many are overweight or just outright obese. According to the CDC, "In the United States, 36.5 percent of adults are obese. Another 32.5 percent of American adults are overweight. In all, more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese." Much of the reason for this is what this report calls packaged foods. Do yourself a favor, stop eating these foods. Make things from scratch using organic ingredients so they have no chemicals. Organic is more expensive you say? How much would a heart attack cost? How about a case of colo-rectal cancer?
Variety of packaged food Credit: Getty Images/Archive
Processed foods are a symbol of the United States, known around the world, due to the reach of the American culture machine. Oreos, chicken nuggets, Doritos, Chips Ahoy and Pop-Tarts are a staple of American grocery lists. And for good reason: they taste good, of course; are readily accessible at grocery stores and convenience stories; and are advertised heavily to American consumers.
But while many processed foods add vitamins to give them the appearance of being “healthy,” a new study reveals that processed foods have some unexpected negative health effects on one’s body. The study examined human gut microbiota — meaning the bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms which live in your digestive tract and actually help your body’s immune system in fighting pathogens (or dangerous microorganisms).
The reason that processed foods were extra unhealthy has to do in part with fiber, which helps strengthen your gut microbiota.
“The central finding in the current study is that a healthy gut microbiota, nourished by fiber, helps clear pathogenic bacteria from the intestinal tract,” Dr. Andrew Gewirtz, a professor in the Institute […]
Stephan: If you live in a state controlled by Trumpian Cultist politicians chances are you are about to be seriously screwed and, if you are having financial problems as a result of the pandemic, your life, and the life of your family is about to be made even more miserable.
And yet, if I were pressed today, I would say that the voters of those states in 2022 will once again vote for those same politicians dedicated to damaging their lives in the service of "Dear Leader" and the Trumpian ideology.
Residents in South Carolina and Montana next month will lose access to federal unemployment benefits over what those states’ Republican governors call a “severe workforce shortage.” Experts say the move by Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte and South Carolina’s Gov. Henry McMaster is a “huge mistake.”
As ABC News reports, South Carolina and Montana are the first states “to end participation in the unemployment enhancement programs.” That program offered U.S. workers access to extra unemployment funds as part of the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden in March.
“What was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement,” he said.
In an effort to incentivize Montanans, Gianforte is offering a one-time “‘return-to-work bonus’ of $1,200 will be paid to people who rejoin the labor […]
