IF YOU ENJOY SR AND FIND IT USEFUL WOULD YOU PLEASE DONATE
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.
Casey Tolan, Isabelle Chapman and Nelli Black, Senior Writer | Producer CNN Investigates | Senior Producer for CNN's Investigations Unit - CNN
Stephan:
I don’t think, and can find no example in doing research, that anyone has ever seen running for president basically use the campaign process as a way to personally enrich themselves. But that, as this article describes in detail, is exactly what criminal Trump is doing. Whether he wins of loses he is going to personally enrich himself by tens of millions of dollars. It is a despicable distortion of the U.S. democratic election system. It is all a huge scam to Trump; he is milking both the rich and the poor.
Late last year, former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of car dealership owner Bernie Moreno for Ohio’s Senate seat – elevating an untested candidate who’d never held public office over several other more prominent Republicans.
Two days later, Moreno’s campaign spent about $17,000 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and then followed up by spending an additional $79,000 the next month – making him one of the Florida club’s top political spenders.
He wasn’t alone. With glitzy Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, stays at Trump’s hotels, and flights on the former president’s private jet, Republican candidates and political groups are on track to spend more on Trump’s businesses this year than any year since 2016, according to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data.
Trump himself has been the biggest spender, both this year and over the last decade. Between his three presidential campaigns, Trump and associated political groups have funneled more than $28 million in campaign donations to his businesses – helping convert the enthusiasm of his political supporters into personal profit.
Other Republicans have followed suit, spending millions at Trump’s […]
I just had two personal experiences being charged for two subscriptions I cancelled over a year ago. It took me a total of two hours to get this sorted out, so this story definitely caught my attention. You have probably had similar experiences. We seem to have entered the age of scamming. We get about five scam calls or requests to sign up for something on our landline every day. So tthis story is personal and I thank Biden for what he has done.
President Biden at the White House. Credit: Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty
The Biden administration on Monday outlined new proposals to make it easier for Americans to cancel unwanted subscriptions.
Why it matters: The initiatives are a part of a broader effort by the administration to eliminate the “unnecessary headaches and hassles” that consumers face, including by getting rid of junk fees.
“Americans know these practices well: it’s being forced to wait on hold just to get the refund we’re owed; the hoops and hurdles to cancel a gym membership or subscription; the unnecessary complications of dealing with health insurance companies; the requirements to do in-person or by mail what could easily be done with a couple of clicks online,” according to a White House fact sheet out Monday.
State of play: Several federal agencies are proposing rules that would combat “corporate tricks and scams like excessive paperwork, long wait times, and more” that companies use to stall consumers […]
Here is some more good news. Finally, someone has invented a way to get rid of non-compostable plastic bags. I hope this spreads and is embraced in the United States. Chemical plastic bags, as I am sure you know, have become a huge problem.
Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin with eco-friendly plastic bags. Credit: BioReform
An Indian entrepreneur is using sugar, cellulose, and corn fibers to make a plastic-like carrier bag for small Indian businesses.
His company Bio Reform has already replaced 6 million plastic bags in the checkout counters of stores all over India.
Based in Hyderabad, Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin first got the idea during the general mayhem that arose during the pandemic. Mohiuddin was looking at global environmental issues with the hope of finding one his entrepreneurial spirit had the capacity to tackle.
He would eventually settle on plastic use, the overreliance on it in society, and the dangers of plastic contamination in the form of microplastic particles. Specifically, he wanted to find an alternative to one of the most common plastic products used today: the plastic shopping bag.
Mohiuddin saw the largest brands substituting plastic ones for those made of paper or even jute, but for medium and small businesses that power the majority of the Indian economy, the small increase in costs from using biodegradable bags was too prohibitive.
DELPHINE FARMER AND MJ RICHES, Professor of Chemistry at Colorado State University. - Atlas Obscura
Stephan:
Gradually, slowly, science is beginning to understand that all living beings have a measure of consciousness. Here is the latest research making this point. What all this research is telling us is that We live in a matrix of consciousness and all consciousnesses are interconnected and interdependent.
Trees and other plants can’t escape wildfire smoke. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / AFP / Getty / Conversation
When wildfire smoke is in the air, doctors urge people to stay indoors to avoid breathing in harmful particles and gases. But what happens to trees and other plants that can’t escape from the smoke? They respond a bit like us, it turns out: Some trees essentially shut their windows and doors and hold their breath.
As atmospheric and chemical scientists, we study the air quality and ecological effects of wildfire smoke and other pollutants. In a study that started quite by accident when smoke overwhelmed our research site in Colorado, we were able to watch in real time how the leaves of living pine trees responded.
Plants have pores on the surface of their leaves called stomata. These pores are much like our mouths, except that while we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.
I thought this story had to be misinformation, but I have checked five sources and it is authentic. I chose to use a British source because it makes the point that this is how the world is reporting about criminal Trump. This is what the MAGAt Republican candidate for president has chosen to do 73 days before the election. He has organized, and is hosting a gala at his New Jersey golf club celebrating his insurrection to overthrow the Constitution and our democracy. How can anyone vote for such a villain?
Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosting a “J6 Awards Gala” on September 5, 2024, at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, purportedly to recognie the convicts who “have shown incredible courage and sacrifice.” Credit: Getty
Trump announced he would host a “J6 Awards Gala” at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey on September 5, with himself and Rudy Giuliani among the “invited” — but not confirmed — speakers.
The announcement poster advertises that “attendees will get a chance to win a ‘Justice for All’ Donald J Trump and J6 Prison Choir plaque.” The plaque apparently celebrates the briefly Billboard-charting jailhouse tune — featuring Trump reading the pledge of allegiance and rioters singing the national anthem — that was released earlier this year.
The event’s description says the gala will give attendees the chance to “gather to pay tribute not […]
JEFF MASTERS, Staff Writer - Yale Climate Connections
Stephan:
Jeff Masters is a meteorologist who has been studying the climate for 45 years. His assessment of what is coming as a result of climate change validates what I have been warning you about since the early 2000s when I began researching the scientific studies. We, as a country, are not taking this seriously enough because the oligarchs who control the industries that are creating climate change don’t want their profits diminished. They seem to think their wealth will protect them. As Masters describes it will not.
The words of explorer John Wesley Powell on the eve of his departure into the unexplored depths of the Grand Canyon in 1869 best describe how I see our path ahead as we brave the unknown rapids of climate change:
We are now ready to start our way down the Great Unknown. We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly.
Powell’s expedition made it through the canyon, but the explorers endured great hardship, suffering near-drownings, the destruction of two of their four boats, and the loss of much of their supplies. In the end, only six of the nine men survived.
Likewise, we find ourselves in an ever-deepening chasm of climate change impacts, forced to run a perilous course […]
Our culture is changing in very unhappy ways as this report describes. I see the shoplifting trend and what it is doing to the shopping experience for millions of us as the result of our obscene wealth inequality. People shoplift not just because they are dishonest. They do it also because they are poor.
More stores are putting merchandise under lock and key to deter theft, which also makes it harder for consumers. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty
Locking up merchandise at drugstores and discount retailers hasn’t curbed retail theft but is driving frustrated consumers to shop online more, retail experts tell Axios.
Why it matters: Retail crime is eating into retailers’ profits and high theft rates are also leading to a rise in store closures.
Secured cases can cause sales to drop 15% to 25%, Joe Budano, CEO of anti-theft technology company Indyme, previously told Axios.
Barricading everything from razors to laundry detergent has largely backfired and broken shopping in America, Bloomberg reports.
The big picture: Aisles full of locked plexiglass cases are common at many CVS and Walgreens stores where consumers have to wait for an employee to unlock them.
Target, Walmart, Dollar General and other retailers have also pulled back on self-checkout to deter shoplifting.
“Locking up products worsens the shopping experience, and it makes things […]
