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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: This is what the Trumpian alt-right anti-vaccine disinformation campaign and willful ignorance has produced. It is going to be tragic, stupid, and lethal.
A woman receives the Covid-19 vaccine during a vaccination event on February 11, 2021 at the Jeff Vander Lou Senior living facility in St Louis, Missouri. Credit: Michael Thomas/Getty/North America/TNS
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI — One-quarter of adult Missourians say they would not get a coronavirus vaccine at any point, according to results of a national survey released Friday. The findings from collaborators at four universities, including Northeastern and Harvard, place Missouri’s level of vaccine resistance above the national average of 21%, and near the middle of the pack, compared to other states. Massachusetts had the smallest share of respondents opposed to a coronavirus vaccine, at 9%, while Oklahoma and North Dakota tied for the greatest portion of residents who said they would not get the vaccinations at 33% each.
The study — based on polls of 21,459 U.S. residents from every state, including 424 Missourians — helps outline what experts say will be a critical effort to gauge vaccine hesitancy as the nation pushes to vaccinate its residents. The subject has already fueled conversation among St. Louis researchers and policy adjustments […]
Griff Witte, Abigail Hauslohner and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Reporters - The Washington Post
Stephan: This article is very important, because it showcases the defining profile of the United States. Compared to every other developed nation in the world, although you'll rarely hear any politician or media person admit it, our exceptionalism is defined by contrasting extremism, and this article lays it out very clearly. This must change if we are to get through climate change without catastrophic pain, suffering, and death.
A homeless camp in Austin last month, covered in a rare snow. Credit: Sergio Flores/The Washington Post
The Perseverance rover, fresh off its flawless landing, was on a mission, scouring the surface of Mars for evidence of ancient life, relaying crystal-clear images of an alien world, proving that when it comes to space exploration, no one does it better than the United States.
And 139 million miles away, back on Earth, 38-year-old Chris Prescott was still washing dishes, bathing and cooking with bottled water.
It had been two weeks since an Arctic blast swooped into Texas, knocked out the power grid and busted Prescott’s pipes just as Perseverance was touching down. For many in his impoverished Houston neighborhood — only a short drive from the Johnson Space Center — the water coming out of their taps was as dark and dingy as the Martian landscape.
“People were already struggling,” said Prescott, who gets by on the money he makes doing occasional yard work, having lost his full-time job to the pandemic. “Now this has put them at the bottom […]
MADELEINE STONE, Staff Writer - National Geographic
Stephan: A few days ago I ran a story about sinking cities. Here is a more detailed follow-up which also notes that as cities are sinking the sea is rising and American cities such as New Orleans are facing a double whammy. Everything I read these days is telling me that the U.S. coastline is undergoing radical change, and that internal migrations away from the coasts are inevitable.
The Jakarta Bay seawall protects shops, homes, and mosques from being inundated by the sea. Due to rising sea levels and the overextraction of groundwater, the capital is considered one of the world’s fastest sinking cities. Credit: Ian Teh, Panos Pictures/Redux
The world’s coastal residents are experiencing more extreme sea level rise than is widely appreciated because they are concentrated in places where the land is sinking rapidly, a study published Monday in Nature Climate Change has found.
Sea levels are rising globally as Earth’s ice sheets melt and as warming sea water expands. But on a local scale, subsidence, or sinking land, can dramatically aggravate the problem. Cities like New Orleans and Jakarta are experiencing very rapid sea level rise relative to their coastlines—the land itself is sinking as the water is rising.
Now, an international team of researchers has demonstrated that this one-two punch is more than a local problem. Sinking land makes coastal residents around the world disproportionately vulnerable to rising seas: The typical coastal inhabitant is experiencing a sea level rise rate three to four times higher than […]
Stephan: When I read this I thought it had to be satire, but no it is genuine. Not only did every Republican in the Congress vote against you and your family getting help in this pandemic crisis, but Republican Senator Rick Scott, former and notably incompetent governor of Florida, is now begging Republican governors and mayors to return the money allotted to their states and cities. Yes, he is really doing that. Here's the story.
Two Republican grifters, Rick Scott and Donald Trump
Following the passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, one Republican congressman finds himself with little recourse but to impotently beg his fellow Republicans to return billions in relief aid to the federal government.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is set to meet with Donald Trump this week at Mar-a-Lago, is beseeching states and cities across America to refuse federal aid and put politics over policy. In a missive sent to governors and mayors just after the bill was approved on Wednesday, Scott tarred the piece of legislation as “massive, wasteful and non-targeted.” He encouraged state and local leaders, by way of sending back the aid, to demand that Congress “quit recklessly spending other people’s money.”
“By rejecting and returning any unneeded funds, as well as funds unrelated to COVID-19,” his letter read, “you would be taking responsible action to avoid wasting scarce tax dollars. After all, every dollar in this package is borrowed.”
Scott wrote that refusing the money is “simple and common sense,” given that “10% […]
Stephan: For over a decade I have been telling my readers that we are going to have three great internal migrations, in addition to the widely known migration into the U.S. from the failed nations of Central and South America. This is one of the reasons it is so important to begin developing national programs, not based on profit, to cope with what is coming. In this essay, Charles Blow takes his look at these issues.
San Antonio area residents in line at a food distribution center on Sunday. A winter storm in Texas left millions without power or running water. Credit: Christopher Lee/The New York Times
The humanitarian and infrastructure disaster that followed Texas’ winter storm illustrates that catastrophic weather events may soon become less freak occurrences and more part of an unremitting new normal.
It should also remind us of how a new era in which extreme weather is normal will push — or force — some to migrate to new locations less impacted by this weather.
As a reportresulting from a partnership between ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, with support from the Pulitzer Center, found:
“Across the United States, some 162 million people — nearly one in two — will most likely experience a decline in the quality of their environment, namely more heat and less water. For 93 million of them, the changes could be particularly severe, and by 2070, our analysis suggests, if carbon emissions rise at extreme levels, at least four million Americans could find themselves living at the fringe, […]
Jura Koncius, Home and Design Writer - The Washington Post
Stephan: it is going to be very interesting to see how our culture is changed as we come out of the pandemic year. Here is one early take on this.
Last March, Americans were told to close schools and avoid bars, restaurants and travel. The guidelines to basically stay home ground much of the economy to a halt, and we had no idea when normal life would resume. We still don’t. As days with nowhere to go stretched into weeks and months — and now a year — our attention increasingly turned to our homes.
Families used every inch of space, carving out places to work and study. We cooked three meals a day, did armloads of laundry and finally had the time to address home to-do lists. Comfort and coziness became priorities, as did styling Zoom backdrops that wouldn’t embarrass us in front of teachers and co-workers. We searched for antibacterial wipes and stocked up on bleach. Paint and new furniture replaced travel and eating out in family budgets.
Many home-related industries pivoted to meet shifting priorities. Service industries had to find ways to keep employees and customers safe, including requiring masks and sanitizing procedures. Many people who had never bought anything larger than a box of […]
Stephan: I just don't know how the Republican position about democracy could be made any clearer. If you know a Republican ask them if they believe all citizens should be able to vote. If they say, no, ask them why not, and who should be able to vote? If they say yes, ask them how it is possible they can be a Republican?
Arizona Republican State RepresentativeJohn Kavanagh
State Rep. John Kavanagh, who chairs the the Government and Elections Committee in the Arizona House, says not everyone should be voting, and the “quality of votes” matters. One of the nation’s top voting rights experts is blasting that rhetoric, suggesting it’s racist, “straight out of Jim Crow.”
“There’s a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans,” Kavanagh, a Republican, said, as CNN reports. “Democrats value as many people as possible voting, and they’re willing to risk fraud,” he claimed, not only without any proof, but falsely. While there are relatively few voter fraud and election fraud cases across the country, those who have committed these crimes are almost always Republicans.
“Republicans are more concerned about fraud,” Kavanagh claimed, “so we don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote — but everybody shouldn’t be voting.”
“Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they’re totally uninformed on the issues,” Kavanagh added, again, without merit. “Quantity is important, but we have to look at the […]
Stephan: As the Biden administration actually behaves professionally and realistically about the Covid-19 pandemic, it becomes very easy to see how incompetent the Trump administration was. It is also bringing into sharp focus the difference between Republican Red value state governance, and Democratic Blue value state governance. Watch what happens in the states governed by the incompetent likes of DeSantis, Abbott, Noem and others. I think this is going to get even clearer as the anti-mask, anti-science Trumpers become the problem with stopping the virus because their behavior is why Covid cases keep cropping up in certain locales.
A healthcare worker administers the second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine during the first day of the second dose vaccinations at the Ratliff Stadium Mass Vaccination Site on March 2, 2021, in Odessa, Texas. Credit: Jacob Ford/Odessa American/AP
The Biden administration can finally ship large quantities of coronavirus shots into the American heartland, where health officials are encountering a reservoir of vaccine skepticism among rural Americans who’ve adopted former President Donald Trump’s denial of a virus battering their communities.
If a critical mass of people don’t accept Covid-19 vaccines, the country won’t achieve “herd immunity.” When there was just a trickle of vaccines, hesitancy didn’t matter as much because plenty of people were clamoring for the scarce shots. Now that the supply is ramping up, the challenge is to overcome fear, distrust and outright antagonism to the new vaccines shared by some groups in large numbers. That’s the path to save lives, slow the emergence of new virus variants, end the stress on the health care system and restore the economy.
