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When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
How interesting. The Republicans having stirred up civil violence to a level never before seen are now becoming frightened by what they have done. They also want to keep their travels secret from the public. And who reveals this? None other than MAGAt Republican Senator Ted Cruz. It is a case of reaping what you sow, and so typical.
There are “serious security threats facing public officials,” Sen. Ted Cruz said. “It’s important that we take reasonable measures to keep everyone safe.” Credit: Jose Luis Magana / AP
Viral photos of politicians jetting off to a tropical hideaway during a deadly cold wave might become a lot rarer under legislation being pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz.
The Texas Republican — infamously photographed by a gawker while en route to Cancún in 2021 — is proposing a bill amendment that would offer lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view. That could make it much less likely that the politicians’ comings and goings would become fodder for embarrassing news reports and late-night comedy mockery.
The measure would also provide the same special treatment to federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as a limited number of their family and staff. Cruz is trying to attach the amendment to a major aviation policy bill, S. 1939, that is expected to be marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.
The outcome of the primary in South Carolina I was thought was heartening, and this essay by Michael Waldman also gives me hope that a democracy movement is arising that is pushing back against the White supremacist, sexism, hate, entitlement, and resentment that so clouds our present day. Maybe there are enough of us to push back against the MAGAt scum and preserve our democracy and curtail the oligarchs. Let us hope so. It is up to each of us.
Illustration by Adrià Fruitos
Violence has often scarred American politics. There was systematic terrorism from the KKK aimed at Black voters. Pinkertons versus labor unions. Unrest in cities in the 1960s. The violence aimed at the marchers in Selma. And, of course, the assassinations of presidents and other leaders.
Now we are in the middle of what seems to be another historic wave of violence. The shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, the attack on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the threats against Republican members of Congress for refusing to support Rep. Jim Jordan’s run for speaker of the House, and more all reflect this intense and angry moment.
Last week, the Brennan Center released an important and timely report documenting the growing problem of abuse, threats, and violence directed at state and local elected officials. The top-level numbers are extremely troubling. At the state level, 43 percent of legislators have experienced threats, and 38 percent reported that the amount of abuse they experience has increased since first taking public office, while […]
Here is some good news, but the main reason I picked this report is that it shows something I think is very important. A green approach to solving a need previously met by plastics, the worst pollutant in the world. This is the kind of approach we should think about with all manner of issues like this.
Alona Kozma piles cork at a farm in Coruche, Portugal. Credit: Jose Sarmento Matos / The Washington Post)
CORUCHE, PORTUGAL— The rhythmic noise of axes whacking trees echoes in the depths of the cork oak forest.
But in Coruche, a rural area south of the Tagus River known as Portugal’s “cork capital,” the bang of trees falling to the ground doesn’t follow the sound of the ax strokes. Instead, experienced workers carefully peel away the bark from the tree trunks.
This annual rite of extracting cork in the summer months has been around for thousands of years in the western Mediterranean. Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans used the material to make fishing gear, sandals and to seal jugs, jars and barrels. As glass bottles gained popularity in the 18th century, cork became the preferred sealant because it is durable, waterproof, light and pliable.
Now cork is experiencing a revival as more industries look for sustainable alternatives to plastic and other materials derived from fossil fuels. The bark is now used for flooring and furniture, to make […]
Robert Booth, Social Affairs Correspondent - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan:
Something is going wrong in American culture and the British culture with a significant number of younger men threatened and resentful about the equality of women. They seem to have lost a sense of their place in the culture, and what it means to be a man. I think it is also important to recognize that much of this is the product of misinformation spewed out by this minority on social media. If the politicians in Congress don’t quit behaving like petulant brats and start behaving like adults whose task is to foster wellbeing the culture crisis that is already tearing both countries apart is going to produce a society unlike anything ever seen before. The solution in the United States is clear to me. Both houses of Congress and the Presidency must be Democratic, and once elected the Democrats must clean up the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court. That means the people of the country, the voters, must vote only for Democrats in November. Not because they are perfect but, at least, they are trying to foster democracy and social wellbeing. Look at the economy.
Boys and men from generation Z are more likely than older baby boomers to believe that feminism has done more harm than good, according to research that shows a “real risk of fractious division among this coming generation”.
One in four UK males aged 16 to 29 believe it is harder to be a man than a woman and a fifth of those who have heard of him now look favourably on the social media influencer Andrew Tate, the polling of over 3,600 people found.
Tate, the British-American former kickboxer who has 8.7 million followers on the social media platform X, is facing charges in Romania, which he denies, of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He has talked about hitting and choking women and has said he is “absolutely a misogynist”.
The bestselling author and Canadian academic, Jordan Peterson, is also seen favourably by 32% of 16 to 29-year-old men, compared with 12% among women of the same generation. Peterson speaks up for “demoralised young men” and says Tate offers “forthright aggression” as an alternative to […]
This is a very interesting development. As the article describes a Republican is suing MAGAt Associate Justice Clarence Thomas for tax fraud. It is going to be very interesting to see how this develops.
MAGAt Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the christofascist Heritage Foundation. Thomas is being sued by Republican John Anthony Castro for allegedly submitting false or fraudulent tax filings. Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty
Republican John Anthony Castro is filing a lawsuit against Clarence Thomas, accusing the U.S. Supreme Court associate justice of failing to file his income taxes, Newsweek has learned.
Castro, a long-shot Republican presidential candidate and tax attorney who filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to remove former President Donald Trump from the GOP primary ballot, told Newsweek that he is filing suit against Thomas in a Virginia court under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (VFATA). Although he mailed the complaint to the court on Friday, he expects it to take two business days for the court to process and file the case.
The complaint, which was shared with Newsweek, alleges that in violation of VFATA, “Clarence Thomas knowingly presented or caused to be presented a false and fraudulent claim (i.e., his 2005 Virginia State Income Tax Return) to the Virginia Department of Taxation on or about April […]
I was really struck by the power of misinformation on social media. I watched a series of interviews with young Black men who were asked whether they favored criminal Trump or President Biden. A surprising number favored Trump. How could any Black person favor Trump, I thought? He is a blatant racist who did nothing for anyone but privileged Whites. When they were asked why they had made this decision they responded with the most ignorant nonsense, about how Biden had done nothing to help Black people, or them personally, and how Trump would be better for the economy. Listening to them I realized they were poorly educated, confirming for me what the Republicans are doing to public education. But worse that what they did know was misinformation garnered from social media. It was, for me, another confirmation that social media has become a curse in America. The weaponization of lies is destroying our culture, and politicians are doing nothing about this because they use this weaponization to serve their interests and keep themselves in power.
KEY POINTS
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000. The unemployment rate held at 3.7%, against the estimate for 3.8%.
Average hourly earnings increased 0.6%, double the monthly estimate. On a year-over-year basis, wages jumped 4.5%, well above the 4.1% forecast.
Job growth was widespread in January, led by professional and business services with 74,000. Other significant contributors included health care (70,000) and retail trade (45,000).
Job growth posted a surprisingly strong increase in January, demonstrating again that the U.S. labor market is solid and poised to support broader economic growth.
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, much better than the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate held at 3.7%, against the estimate for 3.8%.
Wage growth also showed strength, as average hourly earnings increased 0.6%, double the monthly estimate. On a year-over-year basis, wages jumped 4.5%, well above the 4.1% forecast. The wage gains came amid a decline in average hours worked, down to 34.1, […]
It is amazing to me that President Biden has done as well as he has. We have a Congress, particularly a House, that is essentially dysfunctional, filled with nasty little trolls who serve only their own interests. Our Supreme Court has been deliberately rigged to support the rich and the corporations they control, as well as keeping women in a second-class status. We have one political party that really isn’t a party it is a White supremacist christofascist cult working to destroy our democracy. I can see only one way out of this. While voting still matters we must vote Democrats into control of both houses and relect Biden. In his second term he will either get to nominate several new justices, or the Senate will impeach Thomas and Alito or both. The future of the United States depends on you and me, and will be determined in November.
Credit: Left: Nurphoto / Getty Right: Tom Williams / Getty
Trader Joe’s has become the second company in a month to argue in court that the National Labor Relations Board is “unconstitutional,” following the lead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as both companies face board charges for firing employees. These two major corporations aren’t alone in attempting to protect their interests by undermining public institutions; Meta is also arguing in an ongoing lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission is unconstitutional.
A legal expert told Motherboard that these companies are attempting to take advantage of what they believe is a friendly Supreme Court—judges currently lean right by a six-to-three margin—while they can.
SpaceX, accused of illegally firing eight workers who were critical of Musk, filed its lawsuit one day after the Board brought charges against it, arguing that the agency lacked presidential oversight and violated the “separation of powers” provision outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Trader Joe’s, accused of union-busting, stated in a hearing […]
Here is further detail about how the oligarchs are using the rigged Supreme Court to take control of the country. As I keep telling you, there is only one way we are going to get out of becoming a christofascist oligarch controlled nation, and that is to vote while voting still matters. And to vote only for Democrats. The corporate media won’t touch these trends, but the evidence for what I am saying, does occasionally appear in fact-based independent publications like this one, and it all confirms my conclusions.
In this June 29, 2019 photo, Charles Koch, chief executive officer of Koch Industries, is seen at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo. Credit: David Zalubowski / AP
Donald Trump’s rants about the deep state are designed to deflect attention away from his own transgressions. An even more sinister attack on the legitimacy of the federal executive branch is taking place in the U.S. Supreme Court, and the result could strike a serious blow against corporate accountability.
The Court just heard oral arguments in two cases that were purportedly brought by commercial fishermen protesting their obligation to help pay for the cost of monitoring compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
Instead of addressing that narrow issue, the cases are being used to challenge one of the bedrocks of federal regulation—the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine under which courts have given deference to agencies in interpreting laws relating to the environment, consumer protection, and the like.
It is standard procedure for Corporate America to use small businesses as a wedge for achieving changes that provide a lot […]
