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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.
Sheila Kaplan, Investigative Reporter - The New York Times
Stephan: This report came out a few days ago, and I thought surely it would be reversed. But no, and that convinces me that Trump and the Republicans are fully in thrall to bogus science claiming that "herd immunity" is the way to go. No reputable scientist or physician believes that to be true and, as a result of these new Trump policies, I think at least another hundred thousand people will die who did not have to.
The C.D.C. order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials.
The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency’s “quarantine powers” and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said the order would have required face coverings on airplanes, trains, buses and subways, and […]
Paul Braterman, Research Fellow; Professor Emeritus in Chemistry - University of Glasgow (Scotland) - Alter Net
Stephan: If Jesus actually came back, how do you think he would react to this christofascist? Then ask yourself how could anyone who claimed to be a Christian follow such a psycho?
Pastor John MacArthur Credit: Grace Community Church
Every so often you come across a piece of writing so extraordinary that you cannot help but share it. One such piece is a sermon on global warming by American pastor John MacArthur. Full of beautifully constructed rhetorical flourishes, it is forcefully delivered by an experienced and impassioned preacher to a large and appreciative audience.
For me, as a man of science, it is the most complete compilation of unsound arguments, factual errors and misleading analogies as I have seen in discussions of this subject. But it’s important because climate change is a big election issue this November in the US, where there is a growing movement of evangelical Christians who deny its existence, while Joe Biden promises a “clean air revolution”.
The minister of the COVID-denying, law-defying Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California – which has encouraged worshippers to congregate as normal despite state COVID-19 restrictions – MacArthur is an impressive figure whose Study Bible has sold almost 2 million copies.
He regards the infallibility of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, as essential to his […]
DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS, - The Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Stephan: This article is the lede in the most important paper in Israel, something I find quite notable. I think this is a true indication of what Trump and his administration have done to destroy the stature of the United States. It should be seen as yet another sign of the world's changing geopolitics, and it is very personal to Trump as this article describes.
USPresident Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping arrive at state dinner, Great Hall of the People, Beijing, 2017. Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters
Negative perceptions of China have soared over the past year across many advanced economies, reaching all-time highs in a number of countries including the UK, Germany and Australia, a Pew Research Center poll published last week has found. While the increasingly unfavorable view of China is driven in large part by belief that the country did not handle the coronavirus pandemic well, America came off even worse. The survey was taken in 14 countries between June 10 and August 3, with 14,276 respondents quizzed on whether they held a positive or negative view of China, how well they thought China had done on handling the pandemic, and whether they had confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs.A majority in every country held negative views on China, ranging from 86% of those in Japan and 85% in Switzerland holding this view, to 62% in Italy saying the same. The […]
Stephan: Most Americans don't seem to fully comprehend what Trump has done to America's stature in the world by withdrawing from a long list of international organizations; this being the latest such withdrawal. Trump seems to be so naive about international geopolitics that he does not really appear to understand that the development and stability of the world for the past 70 plus years has been grounded in international relationships such as those from which he is withdrawing. And, as it pertains to this Covid-19 vaccine effort, his ignorance and incompetence may put the lives of everyone in America at risk.
Credit: Getty
When SARS-CoV-2 started spreading, the countries of the world had no pandemic vaccine plans in place. But a lot can happen in six months.
There’s also the world’s first attempt at a global effort to ensure that, when we have a working vaccine or vaccines, all countries have access, no matter their GDP.
The initiative is called Covax, and it aims to support the development and equitable distribution of 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines before the end of 2021. It’s the biggest multilateral effort since the Paris climate agreement, according to Seth Berkley, the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, one of the partners behind Covax, along with the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
It’s the “busiest period of my life,” he told Vox recently.
Stephan: I wonder if Trump has ever done anything honestly and ethically in his life? There is nothing in his history to suggest this possibility so I guess the answer is no. Here is the latest.
Trump arrives to speak as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and Vice President Mike Pence look on during a Coronavirus Task Force press briefing at the White House on April 19, 2020. Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty
Less than a month away from the November election, Trump administration officials are reportedly rushing to implement the president’s recent proposal to send $200 prescription drug discount cards to nearly 40 million Medicare recipients—an $8 billion plan that would be financed by dipping into the Medicare trust fund.
Politicoreported Thursday that the administration is “seeking to finalize the plan as soon as Friday and send letters to 39 million Medicare beneficiaries next week, informing seniors of Trump’s new effort to lower their drug costs, although many seniors would not receive the actual cards until after the election.” While the design of the cards has yet to be finalized, officials are reportedly discussing ways to put Trump’s name on them.
“It’s a shameless stunt that steals billions from Medicare in order to fund a legally dubious scheme that’s clearly intended to benefit President Trump’s […]
KATY MURPHY and REBECCA RAINEY, Columnist - Politico
Stephan: As a result of the incompetence of the handling of the pandemic, no national safe system was put in place to handle the billions involved with the Covid relief funds. Therefore, while millions of American families are barely hanging on financially, billions of their tax dollars have been grifted away. Here is an aspect of the pandemic that has not received much attention.
State officials are seeing big surges in unemployment applications indicating that criminals are trying to game the system. Credit: Paul Sakuma/AP
The Secret Service and Labor Department have been warning states for months that criminal networks are trying to steal billions of dollars in federal pandemic unemployment aid. But the overburdened and antiquated state systems that send out the checks have been unable to stop a lot of the fraud.
Using huge databases of stolen personal information, cybercriminals based everywhere from Nigeria to London have pocketed an estimated $8 billion meant for people forced out of work due to the coronavirus so far, the Labor Department’s inspector general told states last month. The IG predicts that $26 billion in the federal aid programs alone eventually could be lost to fraud.
The system is easy to breach because Congress allowed applicants to receive some payments before providing documents verifying their identities as lawmakers rushed to pump relief into the economy back in March.Despite the warnings, the federal government largely left it to states to detect which applications […]
Stephan: For ordinary Americans, say those making less than $400,000 a year -- the average income in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $33,706 -- Donald Trump and his administration have been a disaster, perhaps the worst president in history. How bad a disaster? Well, here are the data.
It only took a handful of months for the U.S. economy to reel from COVID-19’s effects.
As unemployment rates hit all-time highs and businesses scrambled to stay afloat, new data shows that current dollar GDP plummeted from nearly $21.6 trillion down to $19.5 trillion between Q1’2020 and Q2’2020 (seasonally adjusted at annual rates).
While all states experienced a decline, the effects were not distributed equally across the nation. This visualization takes a look at the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, uncovering the biggest declines across states, and which industries were most affected by COVID-19 related closures and uncertainty.
Change in GDP by State and Industry
Between March-June 2020, stay-at-home orders resulted in disruptions to consumer activity, health, and the broader economy, causing U.S. GDP to fall by 31.4% from numbers posted in Q1.
The U.S. economy is the sum of its parts, with each state contributing to the total output—making the COVID-19 decline even more evident when state-by-state change in GDP is taken into consideration.Search:
StateReal GDP ChangeBiggest Industry DeclineIndustry Change (p.p.)Alabama-29.6Durable Goods Manufacturing-5.02Alaska-33.8Transport and Warehousing-9.43Arizona-25.3Accommodation and Food […]
Stephan: If you read me regularly you know my Theorem of Wellbeing. Social policies that foster wellbeing are always more efficient, easier to implement, more productive, nicer to live under, less violent, longer enduring, and much much cheaper. Here is yet another proof of the theorem.
A man walking through a Vancouver tent city in March. Researchers in a new study found that homeless people who received direct cash transfers were able to find stable housing faster.
You’ve heard this refrain before — giving money to homeless people is not the best way to help them because it might be squandered, or spent on harmful habits. But a new Canadian study makes a powerful case to the contrary.The study, dubbed “The New Leaf Project,” is an initiative of Foundations for Social Change, a charitable organization based in Vancouver, in partnership with the University of British Columbia.Researchers gave 50 recently homeless people a lump sum of 7,500 Canadian dollars (nearly $5,700). They followed the cash recipients’ life over 12-18 months and compared their outcomes to that of a control group who didn’t receive the payment.The preliminary findings, which will be peer-reviewed next year, show that those who received cash were able to find stable housing faster, on average. By comparison, those who didn’t receive cash lagged about 12 […]
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