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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.
Stephan: Can you imagine living someplace where the temperature is above 100°F for days, even weeks, on end? Somedays reaching as high as 128°F? I spent a number of months in the Egyptian/Libyan desert doing an archaeological dig. When it got to 114° the Bedouin men who were doing the heavy labor, just put down their tools and went back to their tents. I can't really imagine what 128° would be like, except that I know it would be dangerous just to go outdoors.
This rise in temperature is, I predict, one of the reasons there will be massive movement out of cities like Phoenix. These temperatures will also result in failures of the electric grid, as demand from air conditioning skyrockets, and a growing lack of water problem. The American infrastructure grid is aged and failing, yet 139 Republicans in Congress don't even believe human-mediated climate change exists.
Forecast high temperatures on June 17, 2021, with boxes indicating record highs. (Weatherbell)
A dangerous and widespread mid-June heat wave is bringing blowtorch-like heat, skyrocketing power demand, and “critical” wildfire danger to much of the West Tuesday through this weekend.
Why it matters: The heat is building in a region that is experiencing a record drought, leading to dangerous fire weather conditions, straining electrical grids, and causing water supplies to dwindle further. The heat itself may prove deadly.
Threat level: While the Southwest in particular is used to hot weather, this event could break all-time records in normally hot places like Las Vegas, where the all-time high temperature of 117°F could be toppled and overnight low temperatures won’t fall below 90°F for several days.
The heat wave has engulfed regions from New Mexico to California, northeastward to Utah, and all the way north to the Canadian border, with temperatures approaching the century mark Tuesday in Wyoming and Montana.
Washington Post Editorial Board, - The Washington Post
Stephan: The rampant stupidity of people who live in MAGA world about not getting vaccinated is what is going to keep America under threat from Coivd-19 and its variants. As this report describes islands of vulnerability, particularly in the Red value states, are emerging
Maryland National Guard Sgt. Jason Grant administers a Moderna coronavirus vaccine at CASA de Maryland’s Wheaton Welcome Centeron May 21 in Wheaton. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Just as the United States fell into a patchwork of pandemic responses last year, the lifesaving vaccine drive has encountered troublesome zones of indifference and resistance. President Biden’s goal of at least partial vaccination for 70 percent of Americans by July Fourth now looks to be slipping away. Even more worrisome are persistent islands of vaccine hesitancy in some states and communities that could face renewed illness in the autumn.
On Monday, Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced Vermont had become the first state to vaccinate 80 percent of those eligible with at least one dose. Vermont has given out 131,473 doses per 100,000 population. By contrast, in Mississippi only 35 percent of the overall population has received at least one dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the Mississippi vaccination rate at less than half that of Vermont, or 61,278 administered per 100,000.
Where vaccine coverage is strong, the pandemic is receding. In the latest […]
Stephan: I absolutely agree with Jason Johnson. I heard him say this on MSNBC, and decided to put it in SR. What is really beginning to worry me about the Biden administration is that no one is being held accountable. They aren't cleaning house, and that is exactly what needs to be done.
A personal advocacy: Every citizen should be able to vote, and it should be made as easy as possible but still secure. Also, Voting Day should become a national holiday to facilitate voting, and no postage fee should be required as long as the voting is sent to the correct address.
Stephan: This is another data point on the transition out of the carbon energy era, I am sad to say notice the shameful, in my opinion, position the Biden Administration took in deference to Senator Manchin.
5 years ago, the New South Wales treasury released an intergenerational report that projected the demand for coal would increase at about 1.6% a year pretty much forever. This year, the Treasury’s intergenerational report is completely different.
In a technical paper prepared for this year’s report, the NSW treasury says “global demand for coal is expected to weaken considerably. Declining global demand for coal will reduce New South Wales’ economic growth over the projection period and will have impacts both on employment and the fiscal outlook.”
“This does not necessarily mean that no coal will be used in the future — new coal generators continue to be built and net zero policies allow for offsets. Nonetheless, future coal production is now expected to be considerably weaker than was forecast for the 2016 intergenerational report”, the NSW treasury says.
How much of a decrease are we talking about here? The new report posits a number of different scenarios, the worst one projecting that coal volumes will fall to zero by 2042. Even under the middle scenario, coal volumes will fall to less than half current volumes by the mid 2046. Jobs in coal production will fall from 22,000 today […]
Stephan: The Republican Party will do anything to take over control of the American judiciary, and if that happens you can kiss democracy goodbye. WE are in the midst of a complicated multi-faceted attempt to turn America into a racist christofascist authoritarian nation. You may find that hard to believe but to any historian who has studied how democracies die it is textbook obvious.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would refuse to let President Joe Biden fill a Supreme Court seat in 2024 if Republicans win the Senate next year. McConnell also suggested that he would not let Biden fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2023, even if the president nominated “a normal mainstream liberal.” These comments are not remotely surprising. The Republican Party has outsourced much of its agenda to the federal judiciary, a strategy that requires its lawmakers to ruthlessly extinguish Democrats’ influence over the courts. To that end, a GOP-controlled Senate will never again confirm a Democratic president’s Supreme Court nominee. Not in an election year or any other year. Not in your lifetime or mine. Never.
McConnell played slightly coy when discussing the possibility of a Supreme Court confirmation in 2023, telling Hewitt: “Well, we’d have to wait and see what happens.” But anyone who seriously believes a Republican-controlled Senate would confirm a Biden nominee that year—or even hold hearings on one—is deluding themselves. McConnell’s approach to judicial confirmations reflects […]
Stephan: Yet another trend showing the deterioration of American society, the slow death of local journalism. Local journalists are the ones who discover and report on local corruption. The sort of things CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS never get around to reporting. If we are going to save our country we have to each become activists. Do you read and support your local press? Which organizations are you volunteering at? What are you supporting financially? If you are ever going to serve your country in support of democracy now is the time.
Stephan: Part of the existential problem America faces is that about a third of American citizens think an end to democracy in favor of a White supremacist christofacist system is a good idea, while a larger percentage, perhaps a majority of the country, doesn't really understand or believe what is happening. Or, if they do, are too lazy to do anything about it.
Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Donald Trump will not be “reinstated” as president by August, as some of his supporters and allegedly the former president himself seem to believe. But Republicans are rushing to change the rules to make it easier for their party to overturn the will of the voters in future elections.
While GOP-controlled legislatures rush to make it harder for Democratic constituencies to vote, they are also intensifying their control over how elections are run and how votes are counted, after Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Twenty-four new laws have been passed in 14 states this year that will allow state legislatures to “politicize, criminalize, and interfere in election administration,” […]
Stephan: It is fascinating in a negative way to watch Republican members of Congress become more and more explicit is their opposition to democracy. Take Rand Paul, for instance. Then ask yourself what does his being elected to office as a senator say about the people of Kentucky? The problem facing America is Americans
Rand Paul Credit: Vanity Fair
About a month before Election Day 2020, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) raised a few eyebrows by declaring via social media that the United States is “not a democracy.” The Utah Republican added soon after, “Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity [sic] are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.”
Eight months later, the New York Times published a report on the severity of Republican efforts to thwart our electoral system, and it quoted Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) making related comments.
Some other Republicans embrace the notion that they are trying to use their prerogatives as a minority party to safeguard their own power. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said the endeavor was the essence of America’s system of representative democracy, distinguishing it from direct democracy, where the majority rules and is free to trample the rights of the minority unimpeded.
“The idea of democracy and majority rule really is what goes against our history and what the country stands for,” the GOP senator said. “The Jim Crow […]
