It is beginning to dawn on people that before you buy a property you would be wise to you find out what climate change is going to do to that property. Here is some possibly useful information that may help.
The remnants of Hurricane Florence caused local creeks and rivers to rise, resulting in flooding in Fayetteville, N.C., in 2018. Credit: Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post
Hours into a marathon meeting earlier this month, and with little fanfare, the North Carolina Real Estate Commission gave its blessing to a proposal that could have profound impacts in a state where thousands of homes face threats from rising seas, unprecedented rainfall and overflowing rivers.
Soon, anyone who sells a home in the state will be required to disclose to prospective buyers far more about a property’s flood risks — and flood history. Rather than merely noting whether a home is in a federally designated flood zone, they will have to share whether a property has flood insurance, whether any past flood-related claims have been filed, or if the owner has ever received any federal assistance in the wake of a hurricane, […]
This is what the MAGAt christofascists want to do with America’s public schools. They have been at this for years, and think they are getting close to accomplishing their goal. They want you and I to fund the indoctrination of our children to turn them into christofascists. Our public education is already one of the worst systems in the developed world, as measured by survey after survey. American children are less literate, poorer at math, and less able to think through a problem. Only citizen outrage about this is going to end it. It is yet another sign of a failing society.
Illustration by Emily Scherer / Photos by AP / Getty / iStock
Groups aligned with the conservative legal movement and its financial architect, Leonard Leo, are working to promote a publicly funded Christian school in Oklahoma, hoping to create a test case to change the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.
At issue is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s push to create the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the nation’s first religious school entirely funded by taxpayers. The school received preliminary approval from the state’s charter school board in June. If it survives legal challenges, it would open the door for state legislatures across the country to direct taxpayer funding to the creation of Christian or other sectarian schools.
Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, acknowledges that public funding of St. Isidore is at odds with over 150 years of Supreme Court decisions. He said the justices have misunderstood Thomas Jefferson’s intent when he said there should be a wall […]
Here is some good news about what the Endangered Species Act has accomplished. It is an example of why fostering wellbeing at every level produces overall wellbeing for the entire planet.
Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act — one of the U.S.’ most pivotal attempts at saving threatened wildlife.
Why it matters: The act has helped save hundreds of species from extinction, per the Department of the Interior, though a lack of funding and efforts to weaken the act among lawmakers have posed challenges to the law.
The big picture: In an effort to protect threatened wildlife, then-President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act on Dec. 28, 1973.
Nixon said the act would give the federal government the authority to identify endangered species early on and the “means to act quickly and thoroughly” to prevent species from becoming extinct, per the American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara.
“Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed,” Nixon added.
The Endangered Species Act was also designed to “promote the conservation of ecosystems and habitats necessary for the survival of those species,” according to the Interior Department.
Between the lines: In recent years, several lawmakers have sought to weaken the law, which the nonprofit conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife mainly attributes to “economic interests.”
As this article describes 2023 has been a very difficult and ugly year. I was looking for some good news about the year and came across this good news. I hope it is just the beginning of what will become a whole new spectrum of good news trends. You and I can help make it happen if we will just vote only for Democrats. I know they aren’t perfect, and have many flaws. But compared to the Republicans and their leader criminal Trump they are angels.
But when the world is mired in horrible things, it’s important to imagine a better future; without hope, new solutions wouldn’t be possible. In 2023, despite everything, there were moments when that hope actualized into meaningful wins.
From the Supreme Courtupholding America’s toughest animal cruelty law to new developments in curing sickle cell disease, 2023 saw progress across policy and scientific research that will help shape well-being for humans and animals alike for years to come. Here are 10 breakthroughs in 2023 that help remind us that a better future is worth fighting for. —Izzie Ramirez
The economy started undoing 40 years of rising inequality
Among the many surprises of the post-pandemic economy was a deep reversal in long-running trends of wage inequality. Over the last three years, an unusually tight […]
Once again Thom Hartmann and I see eye to eye. White supremacy has been the curse of America since its founding. The strength of it comes and goes, and right now it’s a strong and growing fever. And, as Hartmann describes since Reagan, who was an awful president, and who allowed MAGAt world to come into existence, the Republican party has been trying to destroy puiblic education because it educates children of color. America was once famous for its public schools, families immigrated to the U.S. so their children could get a free public school education. That age is over, now American children cannot read or do math at anywhere near the same level as children from other developed nations. In Europe you can go to college for no tuition; in the United States, as many of you know, student debt is a national crisis. This is happening because the Republican Party is no longer a party it is an authoritarian christofascist cult trying to destroy our democracy. It sounds beyond belief but I am afraid it is true.
In 1776, British economist Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, a book that laid out the principles that modern economies have operated under for centuries (with the exception of the Reagan Revolution years of 1981-2021). In addition to arguing for a strong domestic manufacturing base and high taxes on the wealthy, Smith pointed out that one of the things that most directly constitutes the wealth of a nation is its educated workforce and well-informed populace (as a result of that education).
From Thomas Jefferson creating the first tuition-free American college (the University of Virginia), to Horace Mann’s advocacy of public schools in the late 19th century, right up until 1954, this was an uncontroversial position. It’s why every developed country on Earth has a vibrant public school system and — with the exception of the US since Reagan ended free college in California — most developed countries offer free or near-free college to their citizens.
But in 1954, the US Supreme Court upset the education apple cart by declaring in their Brown v Board case that “separate but equal” […]
