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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: It is a measure of humanity's addiction to greed above all, including human wellbeing, that this relatively small portion of the world's economy, nation by nation, has not been committed to saving civilization.
A doll’s head among dead fish at a dam in drought-hit Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, which faces a severe threat of ecosystem collapse. Photograph: Mike Hutchings/Reuters
The world needs to quadruple its annual investment in nature if the climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises are to be tackled by the middle of the century, according to a new UN report.
Investing just 0.1% of global GDP every yearin restorative agriculture, forests, pollution management and protected areas to close a $4.1tn (£2.9tn) financial gap by 2050 could avoid the breakdown of natural ecosystem “services” such as clean water, food and flood protection, the report said.
The State of Finance for Nature report, produced by the UN Environment Programme (Unep), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative (ELD), said a total investment of $8.1tn was required to maintain the biodiversity and natural habitats vital to human civilisation, reaching $536bn a year by 2050, projected to be about 0.13% of global GDP.
More than half of global GDP relies on high-functioning biodiversity but about a fifth of countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing […]
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist, Distinguished Professor, and Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, both Nobel Laurreates, are the two economists, in my opinion, with the best track records for analysing the American economy, and predicting what is most likely to happen. They are the economists I most respect and this essay by Krugman, written in this dark era of the country's history gives me a modest sense of optimism and hope.
Paul Krugman
Credit: Businessweek
You’re driving to an appointment, but you’re running late, and you’re stuck at a red light. Being a law-abiding citizen, you won’t run the light, but you floor the gas pedal the second it changes.
And for a sickening instant — maybe because the pavement is a bit wet — your tires spin uselessly before they gain traction and your car lurches forward.
You say that this has never happened to you? Yeah, right. Anyway, wheelspin is a common phenomenon, and usually harmless. A few minutes after your awkward jack rabbit start you’re driving normally, having mostly forgotten the whole incident.
Which brings me to the current state of the U.S. economy. The business news these days is full of anxiety. Raw material prices are soaring! Businesses can’t find workers! It’s the 1970s all over again!
Chill out, everyone. Mostly we’re just experiencing the economic equivalent of a moment of wheelspin.
OK, there are some real issues involving current events that need discussing — and some of the continuing discussions, shockingly, involve serious debates among serious people. How much are closed schools and lack of child care keeping mothers […]
Stephan: Article III, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." Millions of people have witnessed Matt Gaetz advocate what, it seems to me, is the very definition of treason. Why is this man getting away with this without consequence?
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz
Rep. Matt Gaetz told an audience in Georgia on Thursday that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to “maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary.”
“We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it,” Gaetz (R-Fla.) said at a rally with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in Dalton, located in Greene’s home district.
“The Second Amendment – this is a little history lesson for all the fake news media. The Second Amendment is not about, it’s not about hunting, it’s not about recreation, it’s not about sports,” the 39-year-old went on. “The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary. I hope it never does, but it sure is important to recognize the founding principles of this nation, and to make sure that they are fully understood.”
Gaetz and Greene have been holding a series of rallies around the Sun Belt this spring in an effort to broaden their name […]
Stephan: To understand how endangered the American democracy has become one needs real data. Here is some real data showing just how deranged the converging trends of christofascism, Republicanism, libertarianism, and White supremacy that constitute the MAGA world have become. I don't think most Americans, the majority of the population, those not part of this madness realize just how dangerous these people are. Many of them would welcome an out and out civil war. In fact, I now think we are in what I would call a cold civil war.
Three Components of the QAnon Conspiracy Movement
The far-right conspiracy theory movement known as QAnon emerged on the internet in late 2017 and gained traction throughout former president Donald Trump’s time in office. QAnon’s core theory revolves around Satan-worshipping pedophiles plotting against Trump and a coming “storm” that would clear out those evil forces, but the movement has also been described as a “big tent conspiracy theory” that involves a constantly evolving web of schemes about politicians, celebrities, bankers, and the media, as well as echoes of older movements within Christianity, such as Gnosticism.
To understand how this loosely connected belief system is influencing American politics, religion, and media, we fielded three questions, each containing a tenet of the QAnon conspiracy movement.
QAnon Beliefs and Partisanship
A nontrivial 15% of Americans agree with the sweeping QAnon allegation that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation,” while the vast majority of Americans (82%) disagree with this statement. Republicans (23%) are significantly more likely than independents (14%) and Democrats (8%) to agree that the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are […]
Stephan: I picked this story because it is representative of the converging christofascist and gun trends. This is how insane the American gun psychosis has become, and how self-righteous people who submerged in this trend now feel.
ATTENDANTS OF THE CHURCH HOLD THEIR ASSAULT RIFLES WHILE CHURCH MEMBERS LISTEN TO A SERMON DURING A BLESSING CEREMONY AT THE THE SANCTUARY CHURCH AND THE ROD OF IRON MINISTRIES ON MAIN ST., IN NEWFOUNDLAND, PENN., ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2018. CREDIT: BRYAN ANSELM/REDUX FOR THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY
A religious sect known for worshipping with AR-15s and its MAGA politics has purchased a sprawling, 40-acre compound in central Texas, which it hopes will offer a safe-haven for “patriots” from what they believe is an imminent war brought by the “deep state,” VICE News has learned.
The property, located in the small community of Thornton, 40 miles from Waco, was listed at just under $1 million. It’s been dubbed “Liberty Rock” by its new owners, the Sanctuary Church aka Rod of Iron Ministries, led by Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon. Members of the congregation often refer to him as “King.”
While Moon’s congregation, estimated to number in the hundreds, is relatively fringe, it’s a direct descendant of the much larger Unification Church, founded by his father, Rev. Sun […]
Stephan: The United States may spend more on its military than the next 10 nations combined. But there doesn't mean it has given us the best military in the world. The subject is much more complicated than it looks in most superficial profiles. This report, based on real data, shows that for all that money the U.S. military is no longer the modern military one would expect it to be, and that has major geopolitical implications.
U.S. DoD procurement outlays vs. PLA procurement value. Note: Dashed lines indicate projections using 2000-2019 CAGRs. | Credit: LTSG, DoD FY 2021 Green Book
Welcome, China Watchers. This week’s guest host is Jacqueline Deal, senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, co-founder of the American Academy for Strategic Education and president of LTSG, a defense consultancy. She’s been trackingChina’smilitary buildup for two decades and has testifiedfrequentlybefore the congressional U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission.Over to you, Jackie. — John Yearwood, global news editor
The People’s Liberation Army is the oft-cited but poorly understood “pacing threat” during U.S. debates about the defense budget, which the White House will release Friday. Though Pentagon officials since the Obama administration have called the Chinese military the U.S.’s most capable rival, data about what China has actually been spending, or what it’s bought, remains scarce. Research into Chinese defense investments since 2000 reveals that, compared with the United States, […]
ARI BERMAN | VIDEO BY SAM VAN PYKEREN, - Mother Jones
Stephan: The Republican Party funded by oligarchs is very deliberately trying to destroy the substance of American democracy while maintaining the illusion of its form. If you value the America you grew up in, you better become an activist and start doing everything you can to destroy this movement by voting and getting every single person you know and all the people they know to vote Democratic in 2022 and 2024. If the Republican Party captures the House and Senate in 2022 America as you know it will not survive.
Last week, Mother Jones and the watchdog group Documented broke the story of a top conservative dark money group boasting to donors about writing laws restricting access to the ballot in key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, and Texas.“In some cases, we actually draft them for them,” Jessica Anderson, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, a sister organization of the Heritage Foundation, told the foundation’s donors at an April 22 gathering in Tucson, “or we have a sentinel on our behalf give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots, from-the-bottom-up type of vibe.”
Mother Jones released a three-minute excerpt of the most explosive moments from the leaked video, detailing a massive right-wing effort to draft and pass model bills restricting voting access, which Anderson said was intended to “right the wrongs of November.
Now we’re bringing you an in-depth video featuring five extended highlights from our investigation, exposing Heritage Action’s $24 million campaign over the next two years to roll back access to the ballot and block congressional Democrats’ sweeping democracy reform bill, the For the People Act. This video takes you inside the strategy Heritage is using to weaponize Trump’s Big […]
Stephan: In the last 24 hours, the carbon era has begun its formal dissolution. This is wonderful news, and just one part of the good news.
Milieudefensie director Donald Pols, right, celebrates the outcome of the verdict in the court case of Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of the Friends of the Earth environmental organization, against Shell in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 26, 2021 In a landmark legal battle of climate change activists in the Netherlands energy giant Shell was ordered to rein in its carbon emissions. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels in a landmark case brought by climate activism groups, which hailed the decision as a victory for the planet.
The Hague District Court ruled that the Anglo-Dutch energy giant has a duty of care to reduce emissions and that its current reduction plans were not concrete enough.
The decision could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals around the world. Activists gathered outside the courtroom erupted into cheers as the decision was read out loud.
“The climate won today,” said Roger Cox, a lawyer for […]
