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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: In 1968 biologist Paul Ehrlich freaked the world out with his book The Population Bomb which argued that humanity faced a catastrophic crisis as a result of over-population and growing shortages of raw material supplies which would lead to grave economic consequences as prices for those materials went up. Ehrlich added, "If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."
For over a decade Ehrlich made an international reputation proclaiming this, appearing on Johnny Carson nighttime show 20 times. Then in 1980, an economist, Julian Simon, who had had enough of Ehrlich's prophesies challenged him to a bet. Simon wanted something that could be objectively verified, and he proposed to Ehrlich that he pick five commodities whose prices he was willing to bet would go up and they settled on the price of five metals — copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten, and whether in a decade the prices would go up as Ehrlich predicted.
Enrlich lost the best, and in October 1990, Simon was going through his mail and found an envelope from California. Inside was a check from Paul Ehrlich for $576.07. There was no note.
As to the Ehrlich's population claims, yes the population is going up, but most developed nations do not actually have sustainable birthrates, 2.3 births for each death. Here is the latest on this trend.
Human populations are set to decline in countries from Asia to Europe – and an unusual form of rewilding is taking place.
The village of Selas near Molina de Aragon, part of a vast region of central eastern Spain that is one of the least populated areas in Europe. Credit: David Ramos/Getty
For many years it seemed that overpopulation was the looming crisis of our age. Back in 1968, the Stanford biologists Paul and Anne Ehrlich infamously predicted that millions would soon starve to death in their bestselling, doom-saying book The Population Bomb; since then, neo-Malthusian rumblings of an imminent disaster have been a continual refrain in certain sections of the environmental movement – fears that were recently given voice on David Attenborough’s documentary Life on our Planet.
At the time the Ehrlichs were publishing their dark prophecies, the world was at its peak of population growth, which at that point was increasing at a rate of 2.1% a year. Since then, the global population has ballooned from 3.5 billion to 7.67 billion.
But growth has slowed – and considerably. As women’s empowerment advances, and access to contraception improves, […]
Stephan: I think this is very good news, and I am very glad the Democrats are making this a priority. We need to stop voter suppression, racist tactics that make it difficult for people of color to vote, and all the other little twists and turns being used to rig our elections.
Voting booth Credit: Vanderbilt News
Democrats plan to move quickly on one of the first bills of the new Congress, citing the need for federal election standards and other reforms to shore up the foundations of American democracy after a tumultuous post-election period and deadly riot at the Capitol.
States have long had disparate and contradictory rules for running elections. But the 2020 election, which featured pandemic-related changes to ease voting and then a flood of lawsuits by former President Donald Trump and his allies, underscored the differences from state to state: Mail-in ballots due on Election Day or just postmarked by then? Absentee voting allowed for all or just voters with an excuse? Same-day or advance-only registration?
Democrats, asserting constitutional authority to set the time, place and manner of federal elections, want national rules they say would make voting more uniform, accessible and fair across the nation. The bill would mandate early voting, same-day registration and other long-sought reforms that Republicans reject as federal overreach.
“We have just literally seen an attack on our own democracy,” said U.S. Sen. […]
Stephan: As I told you yesterday, as time goes on we will learn more and more about how close we came to losing democracy in America, and that ultimately Trump will be the equivalent for the United States of Nero, Caligula, and Commodus for Rome -- the worst of the worst. But, I confess, I didn't think the revelations would come quite this quickly and be this bad.
Jeffrey Clark, a Trumpian roach, who led the Justice Department’s civil division, had been working with President Donald J. Trump to devise ways to cast doubt on the election results. Credit: Susan Walsh/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s top leaders listened in stunned silence this month: One of their peers, they were told, had devised a plan with President Donald J. Trump to oust Jeffrey A. Rosen as acting attorney general and wield the department’s power to force Georgia state lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results.
The unassuming lawyer who worked on the plan, Jeffrey Clark, had been devising ways to cast doubt on the election results and to bolster Mr. Trump’s continuing legal battles and the pressure on Georgia politicians. Because Mr. Rosen had refused the president’s entreaties to carry out those plans, Mr. Trump was about to decide whether to fire Mr. Rosen and replace him with Mr. Clark.
The department officials, convened on a conference call, then asked each other: What will you do if Mr. Rosen is dismissed?
Stephan: Former President Trump's political organization, at his direction, paid millions of dollars to organize the rally that at his urging turned into an insurrection to overthrow democracy and capture Speaker Pelosi and hang former Vice President Pence. The facts are now clear and indisputable, Trump did everything in his power to end democracy in America, and to keep himself in power.
Trump attempting to destroy democracy in the United States
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign paid a total of $2.7 million to groups that organized the political rally that directly preceded the now-infamous riots at the United States Capitol building on January 6th.
Bloomberg reports that legal filings show the Trump campaign paid $1.7 million to Event Strategies Inc., the organization that was primarily responsible for the rally’s stage and production management.
In addition to Event Strategies, several prominent GOP operatives raked in campaign cash for organizing the rally, including Maggie Mulvaney, the niece of former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; Megan Powers, who was an operations manager for the rally; and GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren.Tired of ads? Want to support our progressive journalism? Click to learn more.
At the rally, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol building to show “strength” that would convince members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
These supporters would go on to forcibly enter the Capitol […]
Stephan: It will be interesting in the coming months to see if the Republican Party survives in its current form, or splits and the christofascist Trumpers go off to start their own party. Here is one of the signs that such a trend is developing.
Trumpian christofascist paraphernalia
As President Donald Trump departed Washington for the final time, leaving his diehard fan base despondent, some of his most ardent supporters were busy fantasizing online about what they see as the very real next phase of the MAGA movement: The Patriot Party.
Online forums were filled with citations of a Wall Street Journal report that Trump, irritated by a perceived lack of loyalty from Republicans in the aftermath of the Capitol Hill invasion he helped foment, was considering starting his own nationalist political entity. While it’s unknown how serious the incredibly forgetful and famously fickle former president is about the idea, his followers, desperate for a light in the void, latched onto it.
“All on board the Patriot party train!!!” said one user on Patriots.win, the latest iteration of a fanatically pro-Trump message board that was booted from Reddit last year. “Cuz if ya ain’t a Patriot, then yer a stinkin’ commie!…. Time to draw the line that matters,” followed up another user, angered by the GOP’s inability or unwillingness to install Trump as president despite his […]
Stephan: It may be hard for you to believe but there is a growing secessionist movement in the United States being driven by members of the Republican Party. Here is proof of this trend, as published in a very conservative newspaper.
Wyoming GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne, secessionist
A top Republican official in Wyoming floated the idea of seceding from the United States after a high-profile member of his party from the Cowboy State embraced the impeachment of President Trump.
Wyoming GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne suggested the idea toWar Room Pandemic podcast host and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in a weekend interview focused on the decision by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranked Republican in the House, to vote in favor of impeaching Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection related to the deadly riot that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“We need to focus on the fundamentals that’s been stated in this broadcast, and that is what Wyoming is,” Eathorne stated. “We are straight-talking, focused on the global scene, but we’re also focused at home. Many of these Western states have the ability to be self-reliant, and we’re keeping eyes on Texas too and their consideration of possible secession. Now, they have a different state constitution than we do […]
Stephan: As time goes on I think historians are going to realize how very close we came to a crisis from which we might not have recovered. Suppose, for instance, the Trumpers had captured Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi and held them hostage for several days and then killed them. They came very close to doing so. Read this report and think about what might have been. Even a Republican representative like John Katko recognizes this.
Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation Security, John Katko grills a panel of witnesses including U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations Executive Assistant Commissioner John Wagner on the potential security risks involved in the resumption of commercial aviation to and from Cuba. Credit: BP/Glenn Fawcett)
Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), the first Republican lawmaker to publicly support efforts to impeach former President Donald Trump, is speaking out about the deadly Capitol riots that erupted on Jan. 6 as lawmakers worked to complete the Electoral College certification.
Although the American public watched in shock and dismay as the disturbing series of events unfolded, Katko insists the riots were far worse than reported on television. During an interview with Syracuse.com, Katko shared details about the day of the deadly U.S. Capitol riots.
While he could not offer specific details about the classified briefings he has received, he did reveal that the incident was far worse than reported.
“I’ve had a lot of classified briefings on it, and it’s deeply troubling,” Katko told […]
Stephan: Now that we have ethical adults running the government again, particularly with John Kerry overseeing our climate change policies, I think the United States will begin dealing with this critical issue in a rational science-based manner. The European Union is clearly waking up to the reality of the challenge.
Europe needs to acknowledge that its future is no longer with fossil fuels, said the President of the European Investment Bank as he presented the bank’s 2020 results on Wednesday (20 January).
“To put it mildly, gas is over,” Dr Werner Hoyer said at a press conference on the EIB’s annual results.
“This is a serious departure from the past, but without the end to the use of unabated fossil fuels, we will not be able to reach the climate targets,” he added.
Under their climate bank roadmap published in 2020, the EIB plans to use 50% of its activity to support climate and environmental sustainability, unlocking €1 trillion for green funding by 2030. It will also ensure that all activity is aligned with the Paris Agreement.
