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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: A physician friend wrote me this morning commenting on the fact that Republicans are not getting vaccinated and that this is going to have an effect on how the virus spreads, and how many die. I think he is spot on, and this report confirms that. I am going to follow the illness and death rate of Red states compared to Blue states. As you know from earlier articles I have published it is already clear that there is already a notable disparity showing states governed by Republicans have worse statistics than states governed by Democrats. It makes people very uncomfortable to acknowledge that, but facts are facts. If you live in a Red value state you are at greater risk.
Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/ Photos Getty
The White House just launched a $250 million ad campaign to convince the vaccine-hesitant to get inoculated. President Joe Biden could save himself the money and call on political influencers to do it for him. Just up the street sit members of Congress—about 25 percent of them, mostly Republicans—who haven’t gotten it yet.
If our elected leaders can’t lead us to herd immunity, who can? Each member, under continuity of government rules, is entitled to the shot. No waiting on hold for an appointment, no traveling far afield to get it, no lines. The doctor, in the form of an Attending Physician, is literally in the House.
As the rollout continues, it’s not minorities rejecting the vaccine, even though they have reason to doubt their government’s intentions toward them and have the most trouble nailing one. It’s white Republicans who are resisting—like former President Donald Trump, who treated COVID as something between a hoax and a personal affront. Hydroxychloroquine, or bleach? Maybe. Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine? Hell no. Sen. Ron “Anon” Johnson said having COVID-19 is superior to […]
Stephan: This is what concerns me. The Republican Party is anti-democracy, their 250+ bills to enact voter suppression introduced in state legislatures makes that very clear. But there is also a propensity for violence in that party. Here is some of the evidence.
White supremacist Republican Senator Ron Johnson
United States Senator Ron Johnson said recently that he wasn’t scared when, on January 6, armed insurgents sacked and looted the United States Capitol. They “love this country,” the Wisconsin Republican said. But “had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa [stormed the seat of government], I might have been a little concerned.”
That statement was disturbing not only for the implicit racism it carried, but for the stunning confirmation of what’s becoming clear to those of us who are paying attention. The Republican Party has a paramilitary problem, and it isn’t new.
During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump alleged, without proof, that the electoral system was fraudulent, raising concerns about the impact that his false accusations would have in the event of his defeat. His unexpected victory opened the door to the far-right fringe and legitimized efforts that contributed to strengthening the ties between them. Many feared that this close relationship would be critical in the 2020 presidential election cycle, […]
Stephan: The United States of America is the world's largest death merchant. A statement of fact. How does that sit with you? I find it despicable. Why is it happening? Because it is incredibly profitable for the handful of corporations for which death, violence, and suffering are the purpose of their products.
A new analysis of global weapons sales published Monday revealed that the United States now accounts for well over a third of all arms exports worldwide over the last half decade and nearly half of these weapons of war were sold to nations in the Middle East—a region beset by war and conflicts unleashed and exacerbated by American foreign policy.
According to the new data on global arms transfers compiled and analyzed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a decrease in arms sales between 2016 and 2020 by Russia and China—the second and fifth exporters overall, respectively—was offset by increasing sales made by the other top five weapons exporters: U.S., France, and Germany. And while the sales remained steady compared to the 2011–2015 period, the report shows that the past decade still saw the highest levels of weapons sales worldwide since the height of the Cold War in the 1980s.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=commondreams&creatorUserId=14296273&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1371399722615898114&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2021%2F03%2F15%2Fsaudis-suck-weapons-us-accounts-over-13-all-global-arms-sales&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=e1ffbdb%3A1614796141937&width=550px
According to SIPRI’s analysis:
The United States remains the largest arms exporter, increasing its global share of arms exports from 32 to 37 per cent between 2011–15 and 2016–20. […]
Stephan: I found this story gobsmacking. It's not just the anti-science posturing, and the willful ignorance; it is also the callous indifference about putting other people at risk. It is so Republican and captures in one simple story so much of what is wrong with Republicanism.
Madison Cawthorn at the RNC (Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee Credit: Getty
Slow acceptance of the coronavirus vaccine among lawmakers is delaying plans for the House of Representatives to return to a full legislative session, allowing members like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to stall bills that have clear majority support.
About 25% of House members have either refused to be vaccinated, are avoiding it due to medical conditions or have not reported getting one, according to a memo from the Office of Attending Physician obtained by Axios. The memo said that congressional doctors cannot make new recommendations “regarding the modification or relaxation of existing social distancing guidelines” until they understand why members have not been vaccinated.
The report did not specify which members have been most reluctant to get the vaccine but polls show that white Republicans, particularly men and Trump supporters, are far more likely to oppose the vaccine than any other group, while Democrats overwhelmingly say they want a vaccine or have already received one. Congress has had its own vaccine supply since December.
Stephan: Trump's unwillingness to competently respond to the Covid-19 pandemic through his presidency and, now, in his post-pesidency is, in my opinion, an act of moral evil of historical proportions
Credit: Bloomberg
Reluctance among Republicans to receiving a vaccine is one of the biggest risks to coronavirus control efforts, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said, although one GOP governor said attitudes may change.
Fauci said he’d like to see former President Donald Trump come out and publicly urge his supporters to get the vaccine.
“I wish he would,” Fauci said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He has such an incredible influence over people in the Republican Party. It would really be a game changer if he did.”
A PBS News Hour/NPR/Marist poll released Thursday showed that 41% of people who identify as Republicans, including 49% of GOP-leaning men, said they had no plans to get one of the three federally approved coronavirus vaccines. Among Democratic-leaning men, only 6% said the same.
Separately, a Monmouth University poll found 56% of Republicans either wanted to wait and see before getting a vaccine, or said they were likely never to get one. Only 23% of Democrats felt the same way.
“I just don’t get it,” Fauci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” […]
Stephan: Yesterday I ran a story on the challenges of Hydrogen power Here is a major test case. Japan will show us how Hyrdrogen power plays out at scale.
TOKYO – When Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway announced last August that it had acquired more than 5% of the five largest Japanese general trading companies – Mitsubishi Corporation; Itochu; Mitsui & Co; Marubeni; and Sumitomo Corporation – most failed to notice that Buffet was buying into coal-fired power projects.
Within three months, a group of institutional investors led by Nordea Asset Management of Finland sent a letter to Mitsubishi Corp requesting that it abandon its Vung Ang-2 coal-fired power plant project in Vietnam. Friends of the Earth, Greta Thunberg and Japanese environmentalists piled on, but to no avail.
In February, however, Mitsubishi Corp announced its withdrawal from the Vihn Tan 3 coal-fired power plant project, also in Vietnam, and said that Vung Ang-2 would be its last such project.
Both Itochu and Mitsui & Co have also announced plans to exit thermal coal. Marubeni and Sumitomo Corp plan to do so except in cases when no other source of power is available and where the most advanced emission-reduction technologies are used.
Stephan: I am beginning to see an increasing number of stories about the struggles of coastal communities as they face the challenge of rising sea levels. It is all too often a tragic story and this is just the beginning of this trend. This New York Times report is about the Outer Banks of North Carolina which, by most predictions are doomed to be submerged. But it could be about many places around the world. We are going to see more and more of this, as well as the internal migrations these coastal submergences create.
Avon, N.C., faces a crisis: The main road into town risks being destroyed by the sea. Credit: Erin Schaff/NYT
AVON, N.C. — Bobby Outten, a county manager in the Outer Banks, delivered two pieces of bad news at a recent public meeting. Avon, a town with a few hundred full-time residents, desperately needed at least $11 million to stop its main road from washing away. And to help pay for it, Dare County wanted to increase Avon’s property taxes, in some cases by almost 50 percent.
Homeowners mostly agreed on the urgency of the first part. They were considerably less keen on the second.
People gave Mr. Outten their own ideas about who should pay to protect their town: the federal government. The state government. The rest of the county. Tourists. People who rent to tourists. The view for many seemed to be, anyone but them.
Mr. Outten kept responding with the same message: There’s nobody coming to the rescue. We have only ourselves.
“We’ve got to act now,” he said.
The risk to tiny Avon from climate change is particularly dire — it […]
Stephan: And here is the antipode to the previous story that is going to be the source of the second migration based on a lack of water.
The Western US is in the midst of yet another dangerous dry spell. The drought has been building over the past year, and since November, a greater stretch of the West has been in the most severe category of drought than at any time in the 20 years that the National Drought Mitigation Center has been keeping records.
Western states are already facing water shortages, and with the National Weather Service projectingthat the dry stretch will continue, the problems that accompany droughts are likely to pile up heading into this summer.
Ryan Jensen saw the impacts of California’s last major drought firsthand while working for the Community Water Center in the San Joaquin Valley. When residential wells ran dry, students had to shower in their school locker rooms. To keep toilets running, some rural households relied on hoses slung over fences from their neighbors.
With groundwater depleted by that drought, which only ended in 2017, and ongoing overuse of water on farms,families have had to dig deeper wells, which can be prohibitively expensive.
