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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: Imagine that nuclear waste went from an ongoing crisis problem, and suddenly became a desirable raw material commodity. Is that even conceivable? It seems that may be the case, and this may be a first account of a major technology breakthrough.
NDB Battery Credit: NDB
We know—that sounds wild. The potential game-changer comes from the U.S. startup NDB, which stands for Nano Diamond Battery, a “high-power diamond-based alpha, beta, and neutron voltaic battery” its research scientist founders say can give devices “life-long and green energy.”
To build its nano diamond battery, NDB combines radioactive isotopes from nuclear waste with layers of paneled nano diamonds. Diamonds are a rare thing to begin with, but their extremely good heat conductance makes them even more unusual in the realm of construction of devices. Micro-sized single crystal diamonds move heat away from the radioactive isotope materials so quickly that the transaction generates electricity.
Scientists presented the first known diamond nuclear voltaic (DNV) battery concept using waste graphite from a graphite-cooled nuclear reactor. The radioactively contaminated graphite could last thousands of years, with the heat-conducting diamonds pulling that energy away into electricity alongside it the whole time. NDB’s concept is the same, but with layers and layers of the diamond and radioactive […]
Stephan: The Trumpian grifters and incompetents are being screened out and fired from the EPA by the Biden administration. Bravo. Excellent good news.
A demonstrator stands in front of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Science March in Washington, DC on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. Credit: Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Wednesday it will remove more than 40 members of scientific advisory panels appointed under the previous administration in an effort to reduce the heavy influence of regulated industries over the regulatory process.
The Trump administration barred — illegally, according to critics — experts who received EPA grants from sitting on the agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), in effect elevating industry-backed voices and freezing out independent scientific experts.
Trump’s EPA refused to strengthen standards on ozone, which disproportionately harms low-income communities and communities of color, on the advice of Trump-picked members of the CASAC. The CASAC also split on strengthening limits on industrial soot (also known as PM2.5) pollution despite mounting evidence it increased the risk of dying from COVID-19. An EPA spokesperson said the dismissed Trump-appointed board members […]
David Badash, - AlterNet/The New Civil Rights Movement
Stephan: It is so refreshing to see decency and compassion in our president after four years of a presidency that was more a criminal operation than a government. There will, of course, be a lot of christofascist pushback because of their sex obsession. But in the long run, I see Biden's actions and statements as good news and a sign of our changing culture.
Presdident Biden
President Joe Biden on Wednesday honored America’s transgender community by declaring “Transgender rights are human rights,” and became the first U.S. President to mark Transgender Day of Visibility with a proclamation.
“Transgender rights are human rights — and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans,” Biden said on Twitter. “Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all.”
President Joe Biden on Wednesday honored America’s transgender community by declaring “Transgender rights are human rights,” and became the first U.S. President to mark Transgender Day of Visibility with a proclamation.
“Transgender rights are human rights — and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans,” Biden said on Twitter. “Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all.”
The Washington Blade was first to report on Biden’s proclamation, which has yet to be officially […]
Stephan: This is such good news. If you have traveled abroad you know that American roads in many places look like a developing country, as do many of our airports. 100-year-old lead pipes still deliver water in our cities. Near me, a bridge was condemned and there are thousands like it all over the country.
Biden is going to do a mix of Dwight Eisenhower's creation of the interstate road system, and Franklin Roosevelt's vast infrastructure program of the 1930s, to rebuild American infrastructure, prepare for climate change, and take us out of the carbon energy era. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and take millions out of poverty. In my opinion, this is just what the country needs. The issue is going to be how much damage the Republicans can do to this good news plan.
Workers removing lead pipes in Newark. $45 billion goes toward the elimination of such pipes. Credit: Bryan Anselm/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan on Wednesday to overhaul and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure, calling it a transformational effort that could create the “most resilient, innovative economy in the world.”
“It is not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Mr. Biden said in a speech outside Pittsburgh. “It is a once-in-a-generation investment in America.”
White House officials said the proposal’s combination of spending and tax credits would translate into 20,000 miles of rebuilt roads, repairs to the 10 most economically important bridges in the country, the elimination of lead pipes from the nation’s water supplies and a long list of other projects intended to create millions of jobs in the short run and strengthen American competitiveness in the long run.
They said the plan would also accelerate the fight against climate change by hastening the shift to new, cleaner energy sources, and would help promote racial equality in the economy.
The provisions would improve wages, internet service, drinking […]
Stephan: Between now and the election of 2022 we are going to see the Republican Party do everything in its power to stop the building of new bridges and roads, to extend healthcare, and increase the support for public education and low cost housing, and to create tens of thousands of new jobs. As a party the Republicans are going to work diligently to sustain White Supremacy, see that a woman does not get to control her own body, and that the Party's corporate masters, who constitute the real deep state, get every advantage their hireling politicians can engineer.
Republican senator Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he sees Republican opposition to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, and vowed to fight the broader Democratic agenda.
The comment all but assures Democrats would have to pass a more than $2 trillion infrastructure proposal on their own, unless they make major changes to win Republican support.
The proposal outlined Wednesday invests in roads, bridges, airports, electric vehicles, broadband and water systems, and raises the corporate tax rate to 28% to offset the spending.
Any hopes that Washington could scrape together a bipartisan infrastructure package took a hit Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters the more than $2 trillion plan the White House unveiled Wednesday “is not going to get support from our side.” The proposal would invest in roads, bridges, airports, broadband, water systems, electric vehicles and job training programs, and raise the corporate tax rate to 28% to offset the spending.
The Republican also vowed to oppose the broader Democratic agenda under President Joe Biden, who passed his first major initiative last month in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief […]
Stephan: And here is today's Republican Scum Award. I am sure you have heard, read, or seen something about the despicable Republican Representative Matt Gaetz. What were the voters of Florida thinking, I thought to myself as I heard his latest story. But then I read this, and thought is there any limit to the scumminess of Republican politicians? He took nude photos of young women and showed them to his colleagues and bragged. And women in Florida actually voted for this man. Do you think they would do it again?
New details are coming out about Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly showing nude pictures to colleagues of women he said he had slept with.
“Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican being investigated by the Justice Department over sex trafficking allegations, made a name for himself when he arrived on Capitol Hill as a conservative firebrand on TV and staunch defender of then-President Donald Trump. Behind the scenes, Gaetz gained a reputation in Congress over his relationships with women and bragging about his sexual escapades to his colleagues, multiple sources told CNN. Gaetz allegedly showed off to other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with, the sources told CNN, including while on the House floor,” CNN reported Thursday.
“The sources, including two people directly shown the material, said Gaetz displayed the images of women on his phone and talked about having sex with them. One of the videos showed a naked woman with a hula hoop, according to one source. ‘It was a point of pride,’ one of the sources said of Gaetz,” CNN reported.
Stephan: I have told you repeatedly over the decades I have been doing SR that when you look at the social outcome evidence the option that promotes the greatest fostering of wellbeing is always proven to be the best one, including the best just on financial terms. And it is becoming clear that most economists are now agreeing with me.
A woman holds a poster reading, “Wake up humans, you’re endangered too,” at a Fridays for Future protest for climate action in Vienna, Austria on March 19, 2021. Credit: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty
While scientists and campaigners continue calling on world leaders to pursue more ambitious policies to cut planet-heating emissions based on moral arguments and physical dangers, a U.S. think tank released survey results on Tuesday that make a clear economic case for sweeping climate action.
“These findings show a clear economic case for urgent climate action.” —Peter Howard, Institute for Policy Integrity
The Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law invited 2,169 Ph.D. economists to take a 15-question online survey “focused on climate change risks, economic damage estimates, and emissions abatement,” according to a report (pdf) on the results. Nearly three-quarters of the 738 economists who participated in the survey say they agree that “immediate and drastic action is necessary.”
“In sharp contrast, less than 1% believe that climate change is ‘not a serious problem,’” the report says, noting a jump in support for bold climate action now compared […]
Stephan: Here is another good news example of the emerging wellbeing era technologies.
AI-controlled vertical farms promise a revolution in food production. Credit: Plenty
National Geographic recently predicted that by 2050, there would be more than two billion additional mouths to feed By 2050. However, the Earth’s irrigable land remains essentially the same, so feeding this ever-growing population is getting harder and harder. Vertical farming seems to be a critical tool for feeding them – and without the massive carbon footprint that comes with shipping food from distant farms.
Plenty, an ag-tech startup in San Francisco co-founded by Nate Storey, has been able to increase its productivity and production quality by using artificial intelligence and its new farming strategy. The company’s farm farms take up only 2 acres yet produce 720 acres worth of fruit and vegetables. In addition to their impressive food production, they also manage the production with robots and artificial intelligence.
The company says their farm produces about 400 times more food per acre than a traditional farm. It uses robots and AI to monitor water consumption, light, and the ambient temperature of the environment where plants grow. Over time, the AI learns […]
