Stephan: If you read me regularly you know I have been talking about what I call the Great Schism Trend for over a decade, (see SR archives). This idea is beginning to gain greater currency amongst political commentators because it has become so obvious. Here is an example of what I mean. My prediction is that we will remain one country, but that power will devolve down to the states. That's what the Republican governed Red states want, but I don't think they realize where that leads because the Red states always have inferior governance and a lower level of social wellbeing, and could not function without the funding they get from the Blue states. As this schism goes on Blue states are going to get tired of underwriting the failure of the Red states which, I think, is going to lead to a restructuring of the senate, and the elimination of the electoral college, leaving the Red states to increasingly fend for themselves. That, in turn, is going to lead to people, particularly well-educated people and women, moving out of Red states. So I take this article as a tell that the Great Schism Trend is gathering momentum.
Credit: screengrab
Among the Editorial Board’s myriad mandates, as I see them, is bursting dogma, flaying stigma, and otherwise defenestrating ideas that make cohering American politics harder than necessary.
For instance: The United States is one country.
Nope.
That we are not one country is evident to anyone who has traveled widely around the country, who has lived and worked in various parts of the country or who has bothered to learn the country’s history.
Indeed, we are held together loosely by a constitution, but our founding document has been used to sow division as much as, or more than, to cement unity. Meanwhile, there isn’t really an America so much Americas that pretend to be more in line than they are. They pretend because those Americas might be different if they stopped.
Real sovereign units, made-up bigger one
That we are not one country is evidenced also by the early party primary states. Iowa (first) is different from New Hampshire (second), which are different from South Carolina (third) and Nevada (fourth).
Sure, voters there call themselves Democrats, but they are so distinct by geography, culture […]
David Gelles, - Reader Supported News / The New York Times
Stephan: Anyone with an IQ larger than their waist size should understand by now that climate change is an existential threat to the wellbeing of all humans, and all the other beings on the earth. However, knowing that there are still individuals and the corporations they control who continue to place their greed above any concern about anyone's wellbeing. Here is the story of one such Republican group, in a Red state, of course, who are doing their best, funded by the carbon industries, to block any development that moves our society beyond carbon energy. They are without ethics and despicable, but very well-funded.
Jason Isaac, director of the Life:Powered initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Credit: Montinique Monroe / The New York Times
When a lawsuit was filed to block the nation’s first major offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, it appeared to be a straightforward clash between those who earn their living from the sea and others who would install turbines and underwater cables that could interfere with the harvesting of squid, fluke and other fish.
The fishing companies challenging federal permits for the Vineyard Wind project were from the Bay State as well as Rhode Island and New York, and a video made by the opponents featured a bearded fisherman with a distinct New England accent.
But the financial muscle behind the fight originated thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in dusty oil country. The group bankrolling the lawsuit filed last year was the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit organization backed by oil and gas companies and Republican donors.
With influence campaigns, legal action and model legislation, the group is promoting […]
Stephan: In my view, something very important is going on in the Islamic world, and I do not see that it is being understood properly and in context. One of the hallmarks of all Islamic countries is the passionate, obsessive dedication, using religion as the justification, to keeping women second class and submissive. I think that is why Islamic societies are world leaders in... nothing positive. But women in these societies are beginning to push back, as Iran so strongly illustrates. The effect that is having in nations like Afghanistan is the men become even more domineering as this article describes. But long term the world is changing and women are no longer going to remain submissive. It is going to be interesting to see how Muslim men deal with that.
Haibatullah Akhundzada is quoted as telling judges to ‘examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists’ and implement sharia law. Credit: AFP / Getty
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that include public executions, stonings, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson said.
Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday that the “obligatory” command by Haibatullah Akhundzada came after the secretive leader met with a group of judges.
Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s birthplace and spiritual heartland.
The Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power, from 1996-2001, but have gradually clamped down on rights and freedoms.
“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,” Mujahid quoted Akhundzada as saying. Those files in which all the sharia [Islamic law] conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement. This is the ruling of sharia, […]
Stephan:
Here is some good news from one of the corporations whose leadership understands that we must change our technologies so that they foster wellbeing. Europe is ahead of the U.S. and I think the difference is going to become more pronounced because the Republicans continue to block a sensible response to climate change.
Google is aiming to operate using 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. Credit: Achinthamb / Shutterstock
Google has signed an offshore wind energy deal with energy company ENGIE that will allow the tech giant’s UK operations to operate at or near 90% carbon-free energy on an hourly basis in 2025, up from a projected 67%.
Google has purchased renewable energy since 2010, and in 2017 became one of the first major companies to match 100% of its annual electricity use with renewable energy purchases. It has continued to do so for five consecutive years. However, while matching annual energy consumption with renewable energy purchases helps reduce emissions, there are still regions and times of day […]
Stephan: As you may know shortly after Elon Musk revealed what he was going to allow on Twitter, we took down the Twitter version of SR, ending the connection with several thousand readers. I just did not feel it was ethically appropriate to continue to be associated with Twitter. Now I am seeing reports, this being one, that Twitter has become a cesspool of climate change misinformation. I think this very sad and unconscious on the part of Elon Musk, and dangerous to the wellbeing of humanity.
Credit:Grace Molteni/Mother Jones / Getty
Twitter has proved a cherished forum for climate scientists to share research, as well as for activists seeking to rally action to halt oil pipelines or decry politicians’ failure to cut pollution. But many are now fleeing Twitter due to a surge in climate misinformation, spam, and even threats that have upended their relationship with the platform.
Scientists and advocates have told the Guardian they have become unnerved by a recent resurgence of debunked climate change denialist talking points and memes on Twitter, with the term #ClimateScam now regularly the first result that appears when “climate” is searched on the site.
Under the often chaotic leadership of Elon Musk, Twitter has fired content management teams, dismantled the platform’s sustainability arm, and lifted bans on several prominent users with millions of followers, such as Donald Trump and the right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson, who has espoused falsities about the climate crisis. The changes have been too much to bear for some climate experts.Elon Musk’s recent actions suggest “that he is interested in creating a […]
