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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: Climate change is going to have aspects few have even considered. For instace, as this report proposes what happens when the U.S. South West gets too hot for farm animals?
Cattle farming in the San Pedro Valley, Arizona. Credit: Witold Skrypczak/Alamy
As temperatures rise, farmers are being forced to adapt, experimenting with new breeds and cooling methods
South-west of Phoenix, Arizona, in the hottest desert in North America, Beth and Tim Wilson use sprinklers to cool their 300 pigs. Nearby, the Adams Natural Meats bison ranch employs shaders and misters. North of the city, chicken farmer Dave Jordan says he cannot put his 10,000 birds out to pasture.
“If they were out in the sun, they would just get cooked.”
Animal agriculture accounts for one-third of the US south-west’s agricultural revenue. Like the rest of the world, however, the region is changing. Between 1901 and 2016, its average temperature increased by 0.9C (1.6F), and by 1.6C (3F) in some of its hottest places. Arizona recently struggled through a summer that was the hottest ever recorded in some parts of the state.
Animal farmers are now compelled to find ways to adapt to this climatic shift, exploring new ways of keeping chickens and cows cool, or importing more heat-resistant breeds. Lingering in the air is the […]
Stephan: Except for the Saudis and the Israelis, the world's leaders all recognize the era of Trump is over, and are happy to welcome America back to the world community.
Biden Harris Victory Speech
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was looking forward to working with Biden and said the transatlantic relationship is “irreplaceable.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said of Vice President-elect Harris, who is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, that her “success is pathbreaking.”
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.S. is Britain’s most important ally
WASHINGTON — Leaders from around the world congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Saturday.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted his congratulations, calling Harris’ accomplishment of becoming the first woman and person of color elected to the vice presidency a “historic achievement.”
“The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security,” he wrote.
In a pair of tweets, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Biden and Harris.
Modi said of Harris, who is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, that her “success is pathbreaking.” He also added that her success was of immense pride for all Indian-Americans.
Stephan: One of the least noticed outcomes of this election is that the insanity over the criminalization of drugs (as opposed to therapy as needed) has been significantly eliminated. I live in a state where marijuana has been legal for some years and the answer as to what happens when it is legalized, is nothing happens, except, there seem to be less illegal drug transactions and less police thuggery. Those who use marijuana use it, those who don't don't. It is revealed to be a non-issue. So I take this as good news.
San Francisco (CNN Business)Plenty of uncertainty remains with the 2020 election, but one thing is clear: Recreational cannabis had a big night at the ballot box.Voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota cleared cannabis for adult use, bringing the total number of states that have approved it for that purpose to 15.”They passed overwhelmingly; they were not close races,” said John Hudak, a cannabis policy expert and deputy director at the Brookings Institution. “This is a resounding win for cannabis.”Most industry estimates peg Arizona and New Jersey as billion-dollar markets in a few years, and companies like Curaleaf Holdings (CURLF) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) have been making chess moves well in advance of Tuesday’s election to ensure they capitalize.Curaleaf, which operates cannabis businesses in 23 states, has been investing heavily to increase production and its retail footprint in both states, said Joe Bayern, the company’s president.
Larry Dossey, MD, Executive Editor - Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing - Explore
Stephan: Larry Dossey is one of the founders of modern holistic medicine, and someone who thinks and writes about wellbeing and makes profoundly sound observations and recommendations. Here he addresses what I think is one of the most important social implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. Isolation. You may have experienced this yourself.
Credit: Medium
Isolation: aloneness, privacy, seclusion, separateness, solitariness….1 solitude: the quality or state of being alone or remote from society.2 We humans are gregarious creatures. It is our nature to gather in groups. So, it’s not surprising that isolation and solitude have long been associated with those who don’t fit in — cranks, misfits, hermits, religious zealots. However, in our pandemic era, isolation and solitude have taken on global importance as a means of avoiding or spreading the lethal Covid-19 virus. As a consequence, it is likely that more people are isolated now than ever before.
Isolation is a concept that has long been connected with healthcare. When a patient with an infectious disease is separated from others, he or she is less likely to spread the illness to others. Solitude, a related term, describes those who choose aloneness in order to facilitate some personal pursuit — e.g., writers, poets, thinkers, philosophers, and scientists who need to shut out interference from the outside world in order to focus on their work.
Juliet Eilperin, Dino Grandoni and Darryl Fears, Reporters - The Washington Post
Stephan: This, in my view, is ultimately the most important change Biden and Harris will make. Finally, we have a President, and a Vice President, who grasp the implications of climate change. It will produce a historic redirection, and that is very good news.
President-elect Joe Biden exits his car for a flight at the New Castle Airport in New Castle, Del., on Sept. 21. Credit: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post
Joe Biden, the projected winner of the presidency, will move to restore dozens of environmental safeguards President Trump abolished and launch the boldest climate change plan of any president in history. While some of Biden’s most sweeping programs will encounter stiff resistance from Senate Republicans and conservative attorneys general, the United States is poised to make a 180-degree turn on climate change and conservation policy.Follow the latest on Election 2020
Biden’s team already has plans on how it will restrict oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters; ratchet up federal mileage standards for cars and SUVs; block pipelines that transport fossil fuels across the country; provide federal incentives to develop renewable power; and mobilize other nations to make deeper cuts in their own carbon emissions.
“Joe Biden ran on climate. How great is this?” said Gina McCarthy, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency during President Barack Obama’s second term […]
Stephan: Here is some very good news. One of the things I have noticed and applaud is the number of civically engaged groups that have come forward with a deep commitment to support democracy. Here is one of the few articles I have seen that has taken note of this.
Four years ago, after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump, one of the most brutal conversations I had was with my then-11-year-old son, who had grown up imagining that the world looked a certain way and discovered overnight that it did not. He was worried that he might someday have to defend children at his school from racists and bigots in the schoolyard, and he feared he wasn’t up to the task. His words at the time broke my heart. He said something like, “I know myself. I’m never gonna be the No. 1 guy to step in. If someone else steps up, I could be the No. 2 guy. But I don’t think I could stop it myself.” We talked a lot in the weeks after about bystander intervention, about being the chip guy on the subway (he just ate chips until a violent situation was defused), and about the beautiful words Mary Beth Tinker once shared with me, about how terrified she was when she wore a black armband to school to protest […]
Stephan: The Republican Party, knowing that they are becoming a permanent minority party, are not interested in democracy. Democracy does not serve their interests. What they care about is how, as a minority party, they can stay in power. They make this clear almost every day by act and statement.
Trump and his orcs
The story started with little more than a vague rumor. “They found six ballots in an office yesterday in a garbage can,” President Donald Trump told a Fox News radio show on Sept. 24. “They were Trump ballots. Eight ballots in an office yesterday in a certain state.” Four hours later, the White House hinted to reporters that state was Pennsylvania. And by that afternoon, the rumor had become official in the form of an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department. In a press release, federal prosecutors declared that nine discarded ballots had been found in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and that seven of them were votes for Trump.
It is exceedingly rare for federal prosecutors to publicize an investigation that has barely started and rarer still for them to reveal politically sensitive details in the process. The case exploded on national news and social media, with Republicans touting it as evidence of a plot to rig the election and Trump arguing the same thing during a national debate watched by 73 million viewers. By the time Pennsylvania’s […]
Stephan: Because of the difference between the down ballet and presidential ballot results, that is a repudiation of Trump, but continued support for Trumpian orcs like Lyndsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Mitch McConnell in the Senate and House, I conclude that the Democrats must make major changes in their party.
It is obvious that Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republican Senators are going to do everything in their power from day 1 to sabotage everything Biden and Harris try to do. So what is the response? I strongly suggest that what Biden needs to do is reproduce the approach of Franklin Roosevelt who inherited a nation in collapse and, instead of talking partisan politics he came out and said, in my terms, my administration is going to focus on fostering wellbeing, and began immediately to set in motion by Executive order programs to do just that.
Trump and McConnell
Joe Biden just won more votes than anyone else in American history, but the next four years may go down in history as the stymied presidency. That’s because it looks highly unlikely that the Democrats will get a majority in the Senate, leaving the chamber under the ironfisted control of Mitch McConnell, patron saint of polluters and profiteers.
Even before noon on January 20, 2021, Donald Trump will be in a position to do enormous harm that will complicate the Biden presidency. Indeed, we should expect Trump is already looking for ways to use his last eight weeks in office to punish our nation — or at least the states that voted for Biden.
That assessment comes not from me, but from Trump himself. His life philosophy is a single word: revenge.
Trump wrote that in his book Think Big. Then he went on for 16 pages about how what gives him pleasure is ruining the lives of anyone who does not do as he asks. His long diatribe was intermingled with observations about his desires […]
