Stephan: You would think that the Democrats would understand that coming together and passing the Biden bills was the necessary and essential step to retaining control of the House and Senate.But they, as a party, appear to be so feckless that this obvious truth evades them. We are going to have an election in a year, and if the Republicans gain control of the House and Senate as many predict then American democracy will be dead. The American public are very clear in their support for what Biden is attempting to do, but in the little bubble world of the House and Senate a couple of Democratic members, Manchin and Sinema hold the fate of their entire party, and the country's wellbeing in their hands. Why hasn't the filibuster been amended? Why has no one from the Trump era been held accountable? How many lawsuits will it take before Trump is held responsible for anything? What is going on with Garland's DOJ?
Just 41% of the public approve of President Joe Biden’s job performance, compared with 52% who disapprove, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey.
Fifty percent now approve of his Covid-19 handling, compared with 53% in July, and 45% disapprove, compared with just 38%.
Inflation now ties with the coronavirus as the biggest concern for Americans, up 16 points from the prior survey.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating slipped deeply underwater in the CNBC All-America Economic Survey as Americans soured on his economic leadership, lost some confidence in his handling of the coronavirus, and grew increasingly concerned about inflation and supply shortages.
Just 41% of the public approve of Biden’s handling of the presidency, compared with 52% who disapprove. The poll of 800 Americans, conducted Oct. 14-17, has a margin of error of 3.5%.
Biden’s negative 11-point net rating compared with a positive 3 points in the July survey, when 48% approved and 45% disapproved.
Behind the decline is a surge in negative views of his handling of the economy, with just 40% approving and 54% disapproving, a 7-point […]
Stephan: I do not understand why the Biden administration is allowing the thuggish behavior of the federal agents from several agencies who handle the border to continue. This report is just one of several I have read, all making the point that things at the border have not changed all that much from the Trump administration under its replacement. Biden didn't change the people, held few if any accountable, so why did he think their behavior would change.
An opened gate at the US-Mexico border wall in Cameron county, Texas on 19 October 2021. Credit: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
Shocking instances of sexual and physical abuse of asylum seekers at the southern US border by federal officers have been uncovered by Human Rights Watch, after a years-long battle to wrestle the information from the Department of Homeland Security under freedom of information laws.
A stash of redacted documents released to the human rights group after six years of legal tussles uncover more than 160 cases of misconduct and abuse by leading government agencies, notably Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Border Patrol. The papers record events between 2016 and 2021 that range from child sexual assault to enforced hunger, threats of rape and brutal detention conditions.
Some of the incidents involve alleged criminal activity by federal agents.
Human Rights Watch said that the documents “paint a picture of DHS as an agency that appears to have normalized shocking abuses at the US border. The US should take urgent and sustained action to stop such abuses”.
Stephan: There will be no transition out of the carbon power era, until charging one's vehicle is as easy as stopping to buy a tank of gas. I personally think it should be a combination of roads themselves that charge EVs and conveniently and regularly spaced charging stations. If India can do it, the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands can do it, why isn't America, if not leading the way at least playing catchup. Th answer, of course, is the corruption in our political system as the result of Citizens United.
Air pollution is evident in Mumbai, India. Credit: Zach Shahan/CleanTechnica
In India, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set an ambitious goal for developing its EV charging infrastructure. India Infrahub reports that NHAI will install an EV charging station along the national highways every 50 kilometers by 2023. This is over 40,000 kilometers of highways, with a plan of almost 700 charging stations.
NHAI chairman Giridhar Aramane told ThePrint that wayside amenities were planned along the national highway network and would include EV charging stations, restrooms, rest areas for drivers, gas and diesel pumps, and restaurants.
“We have bid out 100 wayside amenities and got a tremendous response. Each wayside amenity has received at least six-seven bids. Once the bids are awarded, (the work) will take six months to complete.
“Whoever is traveling on national highways in an electric vehicle will not suffer if the vehicle breaks down.”
Along with the government agencies, there are public and private sectors with their own plans for developing EV charging infrastructure in India. One example is the state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation […]
Stephan: Very few people seem to realize this, except SR readers, but life expectancy in the United States is going down not up. There are many reasons, the toxins that prevade our environment the appallingly poor health habits of so many Americans that has resulted in a level of obesity that makes Americans travelling to other countries stand out from the locals. And now we have this report about breast cancer.
I urge my readers regularly to make wellbeing their lifestyle. Eat properly, exercise adequately, meditate every day, limit your exposure to toxins. It isn't hard or even particularly expensive; it is a matter of will.
RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA — October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and with it comes a concerning new trend researchers say they’re studying closely.
Doctors say more younger women are being diagnosed with late stage breast cancer.
At just 34 years old, Arianna Gavzy was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2018.
Despite no family history, she still had a genetic predisposition for the disease.
“I knew going into my diagnosis that I was a carrier for the BRCA gene, which means you’re more likely to have a more aggressive form of cancer and to get it earlier,” said Gavzy.
She endured chemotherapy, radiation and then a double mastectomy.
“It was a very intense year,” said Gavzy. “My primary goal in this process is to never have cancer again.”
Doctors say breast cancer is the most common cancer among women 15 to 39. A new study in the journal “Radiology” found stage four cancer in women under 40 jumped 20% over a five year period.
Researchers are calling that “significant.”
“There’s a shift in the general population towards certain cancer […]
Stephan: Today the Demcrats in the Senate who, against their better judgment, allowed Senator Joe Manchin to redraft The Freedom to Vote Act, because he told them he would get 10 Republicans to vote for it if his fellow Democrats would let him do that came up for a vote -- and not a single Republican voted for it. How much clearer does it have to get for Americans before they understand the Republican Party wants the form of voting to continue, but not he substance. Basically what Putin has in Russia. As Independent Senator Angus King says, Republicans represent only 24% of the American population, and they are engineering democracy so they have control of government for a generation. Meanwhile at the state level, as this article about Texas shows, Republicans at the state level are also working to assure Republican Whites can always dominate that state, even though they are a minority.
The 2021 Texas legislative session Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
Texas Republicans are on the verge of enacting new voting maps that would entrench the state’s Republican and white majority even as its non-white population grows rapidly.
Texas Republicans approved the congressional plan on Monday evening, sending it to Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, who is expected to sign the measure.
The Texas maps offer perhaps the most brazen effort in the US so far this year to draw new district lines to benefit one political party, a practice called gerrymandering. The proposed congressional map would blunt growing Democratic strength in the Texas suburbs. Texas Republicans already have a 23-13 seat advantage in the state’s congressional delegation and the new maps would double the number of safe GOP congressional seats in the state from 11 to 22, according to the Washington Post.
Democrats would have 12 safe seats, up from eight. There would be just one competitive congressional district in the state, down from 12.
The map also clearly blunts the growing political strength of minorities […]
