Stephan: I think it is very important to compare the presidencies of the current and previous two presidencies. It gives us a way of seeing clearly that those programs that foster wellbeing always demonstrate Schwartz' Law of Wellbeing: The option that fosters wellbeing is always more efficient, more productive, easier to implement, nicer to live under, and much much cheaper than the alternatives.
As a candidate, Joe Biden pitched himself as the anti-Donald Trump.
And as president, he has so far kept his focus on trying to be the opposite of his predecessor.
On some fronts, he’s been successful. NBC News kept track of several key metrics that show how Biden, Trump and Barack Obama compared during the first 100 days of each of their presidencies.
The numbers help to show how much Biden has attempted to undo his predecessor’s legacy. Some key findings.
Trump vowed to remake the government using executive orders he said would quickly undo many of the Obama administration’s policies. According to NBC News’ count, he signed 29 in his first 100 days. But Biden, who vowed to undo many Trump policies using executive orders, signed more than 40 in his first 100 days, according to the Federal Register. (Obama signed 19.)
Trump, through his first 100 days, signed 29 pieces of legislation into law. Biden, on the other hand, has signed only 11, according to the White House. But his Covid-19 relief package was […]
Stephan: This is a unique period in American history. We no longer have a functioning two-party political system. On one side we have a party undertaking social transformation to foster wellbeing. On the other side, we have a kind of cult with no real philosophy other than attaining and retaining power. They are so desperate about this that they are taking credit for the Covid relief package even though they voted against it. Here is an article that lays out this reality. I think it is important for each of us to understand what is going on here.
Capitol seen from Russell Senate Office Building. Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty
As Congress prepared to pass the Democrats’ COVID relief package last month, plenty of lawmakers made predictions about its efficacy and the impact it would have on the economy. But as regular readers may recall, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, offered a different kind of prediction on the chamber floor.
“What we are all concerned about on our side,” Yarmuth said, referring to Democrats, “is that the Republicans are all going to vote against this, and then they’re going to show up at every ribbon cutting, and at every project funded out of this bill, and they’re going to pump up their chests and take credit for all of these great benefits that are coming to their citizens.”
The Kentucky Democrat knew of what he spoke. A wide variety of GOP lawmakers have done exactly that.
This started in earnest with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who celebrated the American Rescue Plan’s beneficial “targeted relief” for restaurants, while failing to mention that he voted […]
Stephan: What too many of us do not seem to understand is that the earth operates on its own schedule. Climate change is happening whether the Republicans believe in it or not.
In the future, history is going to show how lucky the country was to have chosen Biden and Harris for President and Vice President.
Klinaklini Glacier, the largest glacier in Western Canada Credit: Brian Menounos
Earth’s glaciers are shrinking, and in the past 20 years, the rate of shrinkage has steadily sped up, according to a new study of nearly every glacier on the planet.
Glaciers mostly lose mass through ice melt, but they also shrink due to other processes, such as sublimation, where water evaporates directly from the ice, and calving, where large chunks of ice break off the edge of a glacier, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). By tracking how quickly glaciers are shrinking, scientists can better predict how quickly sea levels may rise, particularly as climate change drives up average global temperatures.
But estimating the rate of glacier shrinkage can be notoriously difficult; past estimates relied on field studies of only a few hundred glaciers out of the more than 200,000 on Earth, as well as sparse satellite data with limited resolution, the authors noted in their new study, published Wednesday (April 28) in the journal Nature.
Some of this satellite data captured changes in surface elevation, but […]
Stephan: We not only have one of the worst healthcare systems amongst the democratic nations of the world, we are known and seen to have one of the worst systems. This article tells the truth and it is embarrassing.
Woman reacting to high US healthcare costs Credit: Screen Grab
“I couldn’t have survived if I was in America.”
That’s what one woman concluded in a video published Wednesday by the New York Times‘ opinion section, after recounting the weeks she spent in the hospital as a child being treated for a brain virus.
She was just one of several people from around the world who participated in the Times project. Throughout the video, residents of Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom respond to the high costs of healthcare in the for-profit U.S. system.On the Raw Story Podcast: Marcus Flowers Marjorie Taylor Green’s worst nightmare
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world without universal health coverage. While the stars of the Times video were shocked and outraged upon learning how much care costs in the so-called “land of the free,” progressives in the U.S. responded with calls for Medicare for All.
No one in America should vote for politicians who choose to subject us to this,” Briahna Joy Gray
