Stephan: Here is the case against Trump at the Federal level, distinct from what is happening in the cases in New York and Georgia. On the basis of the publicly available evidence, Garland has to indict and prosecute Trump to show that, indeed, no one is above the law in a democracy.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks to the press at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. on February 22, 2022. Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty
A model prosecution memorandum published Thursday by a team of U.S. legal experts lays out potential charges against Donald Trump related to the former Republican president and 2024 presidential candidate’s handling of classified government documents since he left office last year.
“Trump’s conduct is indeed much worse than most of those prior cases and involves a host of aggravating factors.”
The memo which is based on publicly available information, was authored by a group of former federal prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other legal experts and published at Just Security.
Before issuing an indictment, prosecutors compile a pros memo listing admissible evidence, possible charges, and legal issues pertaining to the case. According to the experts, that document subsequently “provides a basis for prosecutors and their supervisors to assess whether the case meets the standard set forth in the Federal Principles of Prosecution, which permit prosecution only when there is sufficient evidence to obtain and sustain a prosecution.”
Stephan: Clarence Thomas never should have been put on the Supreme Court, and he has revealed through his opinions, and his wife's activities, how biased and corrupt he is. He should be impeached, should have been impeached several years ago, and removed from the Court. Thomas' bias and corruption is one of the main reasons the Court is now held in such low esteem by millions of Americans.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas sits during a group photo of the justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. Credit: Erin Schaff / Getty
A long-standing call for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to face impeachment proceedings was renewed Monday after the right-wing judge indicated in an unsigned dissent that he would have blocked enforcement of the House January 6 panel’s subpoena for the communications records of Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.
The House committee investigating the deadly January 6 insurrection “is seeking Ward’s records related to her role in former President Donald Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election as a fake elector casting ballots in the Electoral College for Trump,” HuffPostreported.
In a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for the panel to obtain Ward’s phone records, rejecting the Arizona GOP chair’s appeal. Right-wing Justice Samuel Alito joined Thomas in dissenting.
This marked the second time Thomas has tried to hinder the committee’s probe of the Trump-led effort to remain […]
Stephan: As climate change continues science tells us very clearly that viruses are going to mutate to accommodate for their changed circumstances. This virtually guarantees that we will have other pandemics in the future, which is one of the reasons, I think, implementing universal birthright single-payer healthcare structured to foster wellbeing rather than just profit is such an important issue. As this report describes Covid made it very clear that our current illness profit system has had serious long-term consequences few thought about, like shortening lifespans.
COVID-19 has caused an inordinate number of deaths around the world so far, causing life-expectancies to plunge. Historically, countries have recovered from other so-called “mortality shocks,” such as the 1918 flu and two world wars, within one to two years. But the shock of the pandemic is enduring in many places.
A study published Oct. 17 in Nature Human Behavior reviewed life-expectancy trends in 29 countries during 2021, building on previous data the scientists had analyzed from 2020, and found that COVID-19 continued to account for most life-expectancy losses in 2021. But those life-expectancy losses from the pandemic are dissipating in some countries with relatively high rates of vaccination and infection-derived immunity, which both contribute to lower COVID-19 deaths. Four countries in western Europe—Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Sweden—have fully restored their population’s life expectancy back to pre-pandemic levels, and four others have nearly done so, while other countries did not experience additional losses in 2020 compared to 2021. But the U.S. and 11 countries, including many in eastern Europe, continue to record excess mortality.
Stephan: There are fundamental changes occurring that are changing human populations throughout the world. This is going to have all kinds of implications. as this report describes.
The global population is surpassing 8 billion this week — despite slowing fertility rates and aging populations, according to the U.N.
What we’re watching: The average human is older than they used to be. Earthlings’ median age in 2022 is 30.2 years old compared to 20.6 in 1974 when the global population was half what it is today, according to Our World in Data.
An aging population can be positive sign — people living longer and having fewer kids. Smaller families can mean women have better access to reproductive health care and are more confident their kids will live to be adults themselves.
But aging populations can also lead to stunted economic growth if elderly, non-working generations end up outnumbering the active workforce in a particular country.
Age structuresvary drastically by country. Japanese nationals have a median age of 49, while for Nigerians, the median age is just 17.
Women typically give birth to 2.4 children in their lifetime today, compared to 4.3 in 1974.
A fertility rate of 2.1 is generally considered […]
Stephan: Here is confirmation of what I have said several times since the election. A new voter majority is emerging in the U.S. and it puts the Republicans in a very awkward position because, as this report describes, women, young people, and people of color, can trump christofascist dark money. The MAGAt base is a shrinking minority, but still a major force in the Republican Party. It is going to be interesting to see how they handle this reality.
Students clap as Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks at a campaign event at Atlanta University Center Consortium Campus on Election Day on November 8, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Dark money groups aligned with the GOP spent big trying to generate a “red wave” in the 2022 election, but they lost big, with a few notable exceptions.
Outside groups spent at least $2.1 billion in the federal elections. That does not include any money spent by U.S. House and Senate candidates, whose donors are disclosed and the amounts capped, which, in other words, is not “dark money.” The required disclosures by political parties accounted for just $269 million of outside spending, according to OpenSecrets.
The remaining nearly $1.9 billion, with a “b,” was not subject to any limits on how much could be raised or spent. More than $1.2 billion of that was spent by so-called super PACs, to which billionaires and dark money groups can give unlimited millions. Super PACs now number more than 2,000, a staggering figure.
In sum, 2022 saw the most ever spent on “independent expenditures” by […]
