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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.
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 shoes […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Here is some good news about how, in spite of the Congressional bribery and all the rest of it, we are still slowly making our way out of the carbon era. Here is the evidence.
Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage project. Credit, Mortenson
The nation’s largest solar energy and storage project came online in California last week, offering 875 megawatt-hours of solar capacity, and 3 gigawatt-hours of storage.
Partially located on Edwards Air Force Base grounds in Kern County, California, the Edwards & Sanborn Solar + Energy Storage project is expected to provide the California grid with enough renewable energy to power 233,000 homes.
A half-dozen companies teamed up with the Department of Defense for the project, including LG, Samsung, Terra-Gen, Mortenson, and others, and it consists of 1.9 million US-made solar panels.
“Now fully operational, this facility is a transformational project in the industry and is providing resiliency to the grid,” said Brian Gorda, vice president of engineering at Terra-Gen. “The Mortenson team was tasked with an extremely difficult goal to build this project, and they proved to be the right partner for the job.”
The farm spans 4,600 acres of sunny desert flatland. Edwards & Sanborn will send its electricity to the city of San Jose, Southern California Edison, the utility companies […]
This article describes the most perverse greed in modern history. It illustrates exactly what is wrong with American capitalism which places profit above all other considerations. Let me be clear. I am not against capitalism and profit-making. I simply think that the facts are clear. Fostering wellbeing must always be the first priority, it is always the better choice. A company or a person can make a profit as long as they make fostering wellbeing their first priority. The historical proof of this is clear and unequivocal.
Charles David Keeling worked with scientists from the U.S. Weather Bureau and NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory to measure CO2 levels in the atmosphere beginning in 1958, leading to the widely known Keeling Curve. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Newly discovered documents confirm that the petroleum and automobile industries funded the early climate science of Charles David Keeling at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1954 to 1956. Keeling became known for the “Keeling Curve,” which demonstrated the upward trajectory of the planet’s carbon dioxide levels.
The documents show that industry leaders were aware of the potential impacts of fossil fuels on the environment from early on.
Keeling traveled throughout the coastal areas, desert, forests and grasslands of the western United States measuring background levels of carbon, DeSmog said in a detailed report.
A series of experiments atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii led to his famous curve — the foundation of today’s conception of human-caused climate change.
What the recently uncovered documents reveal is that this early research by Keeling was partially funded by “oil and auto companies” through the Southern […]
