Stephan: Did you know that in the United States we still have slavery? We have the largest incarcerated population in the world and by law they are, these men and women enslaved at the choice of their owners the government. The American Gulag (See the SR archive) is a humanitarian disgrace. It is a system of punishment rather than rehabilitation, incredibly costly, and damaging to the country's wellbeing. The data on this is irrefutable.
Credit: Trey DeaBueno
When the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, it abolished slavery or, involuntary servitude, in the United States, with one exception: when used as punishment for a crime.
On Nov. 8, voters in four states — Tennessee, Alabama, Oregon and Vermont — cast their ballots to eliminate language that allowed involuntary servitude in prisons.
These states join only three others in taking that step to completely abolishing involuntary servitude. Colorado was the first to approve removal of the language from the state constitution in 2018, followed by Nebraska and Utah in 2020.
The midterm votes followed legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called the Abolition Amendment. This legislation would amend the 13th Amendment to eliminate “the slavery clause.”
“This horrific loophole in our Constitution is a moral abomination that launched the mass incarceration we see continuing to this day,” Merkley said in a statement to The Hill.
He added that voters in November “came together across party lines to say this stain must be removed from state constitutions.”
Stephan: The Colorado Springs massacre was, as this article describes, an example of what America's obsessive gun psychosis is doing to American society. Since the beginning of the year we have had 601 massacres, and suddenly no place is safe assuredly. The discussion now is all about mental health support but, I suggest, there is also an issue of making an instrument of mass death as easily available as a bag of popcorn.
Credit: Helen H. Richardson / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post / Getty
The slaughter that took place on Saturday night at Club Q, a gay bar in Colorado Springs, has brought up a lot of emotions for me since I’m from Colorado and have spent a lot of formative time in these types of venues. I shared some more on that elsewhere, if of interest.
But for the purposes of this newsletter, I want to separate that out and address a fundamental reality of the facts surrounding this latest mass shooting.
That reality is: This mass murder could have been prevented, but political leaders in Colorado Springs let it happen. They made a conscious choice that the lives of unarmed victims are less important than a lunatics’ right to acquire firearms.
This is not hyperbole. I do not mean it in the esoteric “we all share responsibility” sense or as a broad critique of gun culture. I’m not even talking about the uptick in hateful rhetoric targeting the LGBT community which we’ve seen over the last few years and […]
Stephan: Yet another integrity issue with the christofascist majority of justices on the Supreme Court.
Amy Coney Barrett. Credit: Damian Dovarganes / AP
Former members of Amy Coney Barrett’s secretive faith group, the People of Praise, are calling on the US supreme court justice to recuse herself from an upcoming case involving gay rights, saying Barrett’s continued affiliation with the Christian group means she has participated in discriminatory policies against LGBTQ+ people.
The former members are part of a network of “survivors” of the controversial charismatic group who say Barrett’s “lifelong and continued” membership in the People of Praise make her too biased to fairly adjudicate an upcoming case that will decide whether private business owners have a right to decline services to potential clients based on their sexual orientation.
They point to Barrett’s former role on the board of Trinity Schools Inc, a private group of Christian schools that is affiliated with the People of Praise and, in effect, barred children of same-sex parents from attending the school.
A faculty guide published in 2015, the year Barrett joined the board, said “blatant sexual immorality” – which the guide said included “homosexual acts” – […]
Stephan: As we all listen, read, and watch the latest mass murder in the U.S. are you noticing that almost no politicians are talking about serious gun control? We have had 601 mass murders since 1 January 2022 that have killed almost 40,000 people so far, all involving guns, yet nothing serious is happening about military-style weapons like AR-15s. It has gotten to a point that one faces a measure of risk going anywhere to anything where a group of people are gathering, and the risk goes up significantly if it is a non-Christian religious gathering, an LGBTQ gathering, or something attracting non-Whites.
Stephan: This is how a country moves out of the age of carbon energy, and this is good news. It is a shame that in the United States where our infrastructure is, in all too many cases, third world, we can't seem to reach the clarity, particularly in states under Republican governance. where obvious things like this move in France are being implemented.
In France, solar just got a huge boost from new legislation approved through the Senate this week that will require all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – to be covered by solar panels.
The new provisions are part of French president Emmanuel Macron’s large-scale plan to heavily invest in renewables, which aims to multiply by 10 the amount of solar energy produced in the country, and to double the power from land-based wind farms.
Starting July 1, 2023, smaller carparks that have between 80 and 400 spaces will have five years to be in compliance with the new measures. Carparks with more than 400 spaces have a shorter timeline: They will need to comply with the new measures within three years of this date, and at least half of the surface area of the parking lot will need to be covered in solar panels.
According to the government, this plan, which particularly targets large parking areas around commercial centers and train stations, could generate up to 11 […]
