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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.
University of California, San Francisco, - Phys.org
Stephan: As I watch television I am astonished at how people are sold the idea that coating something or themselves in chemicals, filling their homes with chemicals is going to improve their lives when actually those chemicals are going to do the opposite.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Scientists at UC San Francisco have detected 109 chemicals in a study of pregnant women, including 55 chemicals never before reported in people and 42 “mystery chemicals,” whose sources and uses are unknown.
The chemicals most likely come from consumer products or other industrial sources. They were found both in the blood of pregnant women, as well as their newborn children, suggesting they are traveling through the mother’s placenta.
The study will be published March 17, 2021, in Environmental Science & Technology.
“These chemicals have probably been in people for quite some time, but our technology is now helping us to identify more of them,” said Tracey J. Woodruff, Ph.D., a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF.
A former EPA scientist, Woodruff directs the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and the Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center, both at UCSF.
“It is alarming that we keep seeing certain chemicals travel from pregnant women to their children, which means these chemicals can be with us for generations,” she said.
Stephan: As the Atlanta mass murderer made clear once again, the evangelical christofascist community has real sexual dysfunction issues. We see this over and over, and yet few are willing to admit what their eyes see. This community of White people, particularly the White men, are disordered when it comes to sex.
When Brad Onishi heard that the man accused of a rampage at three Atlanta-area spas told detectives that he had carried out the attacks as a way to eliminate his own temptations, the claim sounded painfully familiar.
Dr. Onishi, who grew up in a strict evangelical community in Southern California that emphasized sexual purity, had spent his teenage years tearing out any advertisements in surfing magazines that featured women in bikinis. He had traded his online passwords with friends to hold himself accountable. “We had a militant vigilance: Don’t let anything in the house that will tempt you sexually,” Dr. Onishi, now an associate professor of religious studies at Skidmore College, recalled.
The evangelical culture he was raised in, he said, “teaches women to hate their bodies, as the source of temptation, and it teaches men to hate their minds, which lead them into lust and sexual immorality.”
Robert Aaron Long, the suspect in the massacres that left eight people dead, told the police this week that he had a “sexual addiction,” and he had been a customer at two of […]
Stephan: I completely agree with this writer. And this Atlanta mass murder is yet another example of America's White male problem. Do you ever see stories about Chinese mass murderers in the U.S.? How about Japanese? No? Indonesians? No? Black killers like the Atlanta killer? No? Cubans? No? Columbians? No? Venezuelans? Not them either? And so that leaves us with what? Why White males, of course, further illustrating America's White male problem. There is something deeply wrong with American culture that White males are the source of nearly all domestic terrorism, and it always seems to involve guns.
A demonstrator places flowers during a protest in Atlanta on Thursday following the mass shooting there this week. (Megan Varner/Getty
An incomplete list of things I do not ever need to hear or read about a shooter again, especially one who targets women:
I do not need to hear that he “snapped,” “lost it” or “had a bad day.”
After he has taken the lives of six or eight or 14 other people, I am not inclined to care what kind of day he had.
I do not need to hear that he was heartbroken over a woman who dumped him/rejected him/ignored him. It is not the responsibility of women to pay attention to men to make sure those men do not shoot other people.
I do not particularly care whether his family was shocked.
I do not particularly care whether he did not resist arrest.
I do not need to hear about how he was a churchgoer, unless that revelation also comes with an acknowledgment that some faiths have historically taught such horrifying messages of misogyny and female subservience that “he went to church” […]
Stephan: Most media attention is focused on Congress, but in the coming months we are going to be significantly impacted by Trump's choices for the Supreme Court. Here is a first take.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch arrives at the U.S. Capitol ahead of the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Jan. 20. Credit:Getty
On Thursday, the Columbia Law Review published one of the most important and topical scholarly articles in recent memory, “Delegation at the Founding.” Its authors, Julian Davis Mortenson and Nicholas Bagley, put forth a sweeping argument: They assert that an ascendant legal theory championed by conservative originalists has no actual basis in history. That theory, called the nondelegation doctrine, holds that the Constitution puts strict limits on Congress’ ability to let the executive branch set rules and regulations. Congress, for instance, could not direct the Environmental Protection Agency to set air quality standards that “protect public health,” and let the agency decide what limits on pollution are necessary to meet that goal.Nondelegation doctrine has enormous consequences for the federal government’s ability to function, since Congress typically sets broad goals and directs agencies to figure out how to achieve them. The theory is supported by a majority of the current Supreme Court; in 2019, Justice Neil Gorsuch signaled his […]
Stephan: The christofascists, they make clear, can't stand Biden, and they hate his policies to get support for families, get rid of racist policies, improve the environment, and support democracy. Such policies says Tony Perkins one of the major voices of the christofascist world, are "from the pit of hell." Yes. He really said that.
Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council, had an open door to President Donald Trump’s Oval Office until January 20. Now he says President Joe Biden’s policies are “literally from the pit of hell.”
Perkins, who continues to serve as Vice Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, was also on President Donald Trump’s evangelical executive advisory board. He, along with Vice President Mike Pence, were able to convince Trump to ban transgender service members from the U.S. Armed Forces.
“These are challenging times, I’m not, I am not gonna put any kind of spin on it, the policies that are coming out of this administration are literally from the pit of hell,” Perkins told end times pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California, as Right Wing Watch reports.
“Within, within hours of taking office, forcing you as a taxpayer to be involved in funding abortions, not just here in America and abroad, around the world. The attack on religious freedom. The attack on our children with forcing schools, this transgenderism on elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges […]
Stephan: Here is today's scummy Republican story. I have trouble just keeping up with them there are so many of these reports. This is less a party than a crime syndicate.
Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, debates a measure considered on the House floor, March 9, 2012. Credit: Florida House of Representatives
Former Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles, a Republican, was arrested on Thursday for masterminding a scheme to push a sham candidate in last year’s state Senate race to sway the results in the GOP’s favor. The Democratic incumbent lost that 2020 election by less than 35 votes.
The race –– which took place in Florida’s Senate District 37 –– pitted former TV personality Ileana Garcia, a Republican, against incumbent José Javier Rodríguez, a Democrat. An unknown auto-parts dealer by the name of Alex Rodriguez, who had the same surname as the incumbent, was also on the ticket as an independent. In the end, José Javier Rodríguez lost the election to Garcia by a mere 32 votes. Alex Rodriguez received just under 6,000 votes. Investigators allege, however, that Artiles planted Alex Rodriguez, a friend of his, onto the ticket as a shadow candidate in an effort to “confuse voters and influence the outcome” by “siphon[ing] votes from the incumbent.”
Stephan: As I am writing this Rachel Maddow is detailing the growing evidence showing that Trump and his orcs were in substance acting as active Russian agents because their power aspirations coincided with Putin's interest. Here is another bit. The question that I think needs to be addressed is how both the Department of Justice and we, as a people, should hold these men to account. It is my view that these people must be held accountable or our laws mean nothing.
A German company newly sanctioned by the Biden administration for its ties to the poisoning of a Russian political activist has been linked to the infamous 2016 meeting at Trump Tower.
The Biden administration sanctioned Riol-Chemie for its “activities in support of Russia’s weapons of mass destruction programs,” but financial records reviewed by The Daily Beast show the poisoning of Alexei Navalny is tied to the money laundering network that Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskya was trying to cover up when she met with Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign officials before the 2016 election.
Documents compiled by Lithuanian investigators show Riol-Chemie received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company registered in the British Virgin Islands that’s accused of laundering some of the $230 million fraud […]
Sharon Lerner, Investigative Reporter - The Intercept
Stephan: It is going to take as much as two years to repair the damage wrought to the United States by Trump and those we served him. It will take some people the rest of their lives to deal with the consequences of the damage. Why did he do these things? In my opinion, for a variety of reasons all having in common that they were selfish.
Vantage Specialty Chemicals, where ethylene oxide is used to make other chemicals and consumer products, is seen in Gurnee, Ill., on Feb. 21, 2021. Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis/The Intercept
Millie Corder didn’t know why there was so much cancer in her family. Her daughter, Cheryl, was only 27 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and 34 when the disease killed her in 2002. By that time, Millie’s husband, Chuck, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He recovered, only to develop skin cancer in 2005. The next year, Millie herself was diagnosed with colon cancer and, two years after that, with breast cancer. Those years were a blur as she shuttled back and forth between her office, her home, and doctors’ appointments. While she was recovering, Chuck died of his cancer. Two years later, her stepson, Brian, was diagnosed with and died from lung cancer.
Millie Corder still can’t say for sure why her family was devastated by cancer. But since burying her daughter, stepson, and husband, she’s learned that the neighborhood where they lived and worked in Lake County, Illinois, has been inundated with dangerous […]
