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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: I have been telling my readers for 20 years that if you want to support good health for yourself and your family, go through your home and garden supplies and eliminate all toxins and poisons, which means most of the things you see in stores and on television. The toxin load carried by most Americans in their bodies is gobsmacking, and can be the source of a whole spectrum of diseases and illnesses.
So what to replace them with? Try these.
There have never been more choices when it comes to organic, natural, or eco-friendly cleaning products. Knowing which products are certified organic and which ones are just a safer alternative to traditional cleaners is often confusing. And how do you know which ones can really get the job done?
That’s where we come in. To help you choose the safest and most effective nontoxic cleaning products, we’ve put together recommendations of 13 products that fit the bill.
Because the market for USDA certified organic cleaning products is relatively small and some options can be on the pricier side, we’ve also included a few noncertified safer alternatives worthy of consideration.
How We Chose
To curate our list of top-rated cleaning products, we considered many criteria. Some key elements include:
The types of ingredients in a product. We took a careful look at the ingredients used in each product to make sure they were safe, nontoxic, and naturally derived. We avoided products with ingredients that have the potential to negatively impact the health of your family or the environment.
Top choices from reputable environmental organizations. Groups like the Environmental […]
Stephan: This is getting almost no American media coverage, other than a few short pieces such as this one from CNN, but I see this latest incursion of the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) as a big geopolitical deal. When you read this little piece see it in the context of Trump's withdrawing thousands of troops from NATO, and his complete unconcern when briefed back in March that Putin was offering bounties for Americans killed in Afghanistan. Trump is basically committing treason because he is obligated in some way to Putin.
But that is only one level of what is happening. This is not being done for Americans, this is Putin showing countries currently allied with the U.S.: You can't rely on the fact that the Americans will protect you. Look at what I am doing on America's borders; what I am doing in Afghanistan; and what that buffoon in the White House is doing with NATO. America is weak, and led by weak people, while I am strong and smart. America doesn't scare me.
Russian aircraft
US F-22 fighter jets intercepted four Russian Tu-142 reconnaissance aircraft Saturday entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), NORAD said in a statement.Saturday’s intercept follows similar encounters earlier this month in which US F-22 jets intercepted Russian nuclear-capable bombers near Alaska on three separate occasions. The last previous one was Wednesday when US F-22 fighter jets intercepted two Russian IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Zone late Wednesday.NORAD also said the Russian aircraft came within 65 nautical miles south of the Alaskan Aleutian island chain and loitered in the ADIZ for nearly eight hours. It added the Russians remained in international airspace and at no time entered US or Canadian sovereign airspace.”This year alone, NORAD forces have identified and intercepted Russian military aircraft including bombers, fighters, and maritime patrol aircraft on ten separate occasions when they have flown into the ADIZ,” said NORAD commander Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy.
Stephan: I am increasingly convinced that Trump thinks he is going to lose and completely in character, as both a bully and a coward, has decided to take vengeance on the country for not re-electing him.
If you have been reading SR you know he is putting the most vile people into office he can while he still has power, so that they can wreak havoc on America. Here is yet another example of the kind of scumbags he is nominating, knowing the Republican Senate, made up of quislings and led by Mitch McConnell, a man without conscience only personal avarice, dare not oppose him.
In this photo from Oct. 11, 2019, William Perry Pendley speaks at a conference for journalists in Fort Collins, Colorado.
President Donald Trump will formally nominated William Perry Pendley, a self-proclaimed “sagebrush rebel” with extreme anti-environmental views and a long history of advocating for the sale of federal lands in the West, to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management.
Pendley was tapped last July for a senior policy position at BLM, an agency of the Department of the Interior, and quickly elevated to acting chief. The backdoor appointment put him in charge of overseeing 245 million acres of public land — more than 10% of the entire U.S. landmass — and 700 million subsurface mineral acres. It also enraged environmentalists and sparked fears of a public lands sell-off.
Pendley, a native of Wyoming, is the former longtime president of Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that has pushed for the government to sell off millions of federal acres. He’s written several books about Western land issues, including one titled “Sagebrush Rebel,” a […]
Stephan: As you read this story, ask yourself: Could this be a coincidence, that a right wing Trump appointee to the Federal Election Commission at just this moment would leave, essentially making the FEC defunct, and go to work for a Koch organization? If you can believe that you probably believe God chose Donald Trump to be president. The Republican Party is doing everything in its power to rig the November election.
Caroline Hunter testifies during a hearing before the Elections Subcommittee of House Committee on House Administration November 3, 2011. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty
After 10 months, the Federal Elections Commission in May regained a quorum with the confirmation of Republican appointee Trey Trainor—and promptly lost it just over five weeks later on Friday when commissioner Caroline Hunter resigned to join the Koch-funded group Stand Together, leaving the regulatory body again essentially powerless as the November general election draws closer.
“The FEC’s brief period of functioning appears to be over,” tweetedPublic Integrity reporter Carrie Levine.
Hunter’s last day is July 3.
“Republican FEC commissioner leaving to joining the Koch network’s dark money fundraising apparatus,” tweeted Dig Left researcher Andrew Perez. “Says a lot!”
In a statement reacting to the resignation, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the chair of the Committee on House Administration, said the news “makes abundantly clear the shortsightedness of the Senate Majority’s naked partisanship in abandoning a longstanding tradition of confirming bipartisan pairs of Commissioners.”
“The FEC just emerged from a nine-month period without a quorum—the longest running period of the commission’s history—during which it was hamstrung […]
Stephan: Yet another article in the foreign press describing a failing America. And I think this report by the BBC is correct. This trend is just starting.
Credit: BBC
As hair salons, churches and restaurants reopen across the US, so are eviction courts. Advocates and experts say that an unprecedented crush of evictions is coming, threatening millions of Americans with homelessness as a possible second wave of the pandemic looms.
Sitting in her car parked outside of the little white house in Kansas City, Missouri, where she’d lived for two years, Tamika Cole was overwhelmed. She’d worked a long shift as a machine operator the night before, at a factory where she makes detergent bottles for $18 an hour. It’s good, stable work. Nevertheless, Cole was on the brink of losing her home. Her nerves were shot.
“What am I supposed to do?” she said. “I’m tired of crying.”
Cole said that she came home in early May to find an eviction notice affixed to her door. She believed that it was because of a dispute she had with her upstairs neighbour, but that her landlord never spoke to her about it before filing the eviction against her.
Due to the coronavirus, an eviction moratorium was in place in […]
Stephan: Just because millions of Americans have Covid-19, and over 100,000 have died in the worse handled pandemic in modern history doesn't mean that Trump and his greed orcs are not out working to advance their interests.
Credit: strmx/AP
On Thursday, five federal regulatory agencies voted to roll back a key financial rule enacted following the 2008 financial crisis. The change will make it easier for banks to invest in venture capital and will tweak some restrictions on bank investing in hedge funds and private equity—all forms of riskier investing that Congress limited after 2010.
The revised rule will also shrink the financial cushion that banks are required to keep on hand during certain types of derivatives trading. This particular change could free up an estimated $40 billion of capital for banks to trade with.
Sheila Bair, who served as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the financial crisis, told CNBC that she believes the changes are “ill-advised” because “that $40 billion that will no longer be in banks to protect them” will expose the government to more risk.
Called the Volcker rule, the original version of this regulation has long been one of the most controversial parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping package of Wall Street reforms enacted after the 2008 crisis and the bailout that stabilized the […]
Stephan: As I noted in the first story in today's edition just because we are in the worst pandemic in our lifetimes, with millions sick, and over 100,000 dead, and millions out of work, why what better time could there be to try and destroy America's already barely functioning healthcare? What this report describes is a level of nastiness at the Caligula level. Unusual? Not at all. Just another day for Donald Trump and the orcs around him.
Supreme Court chamber
Credit: Wikimedia
The Trump administration on Thursday night urged the Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare, pushing forward with its attack on the health care law as millions of newly jobless Americans may come to depend on its coverage.
The Justice Department in a new legal brief argues Obamacare in its entirety became invalid when the previous Republican-led Congress axed the unpopular individual mandate penalty for uninsured people. The filing comes weeks after President Donald Trump confirmed his administration would continue to press for Obamacare’s elimination, ignoring warnings from top aides about the risk of voter backlash in November.
“No further analysis is necessary; once the individual mandate and the guaranteed-issue and community-rating provisions are invalidated, the remainder of the ACA cannot survive,” the Justice Department stated.
Trump’s new legal brief offers fresh ammunition to Democrats and their presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, who believe their advantage on health care will help the party retake the White House and possibly the Senate this fall. On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced plans to vote […]
Stephan: Here's a question for you: Can you be appointed to a senior position in the Trump administration if you are NOT a White supremacist grifter? It would appear not. Here is the latest orc Trump has put forward.
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata in 2013. Credit: Chris Seward, The News & Observer/AP
Anthony Tata is a combat veteran. But the retired Army brigadier general and Fox News commentator — now a nominee for the No. 3 post at the Defense Department — does not have the courage of his odious convictions.
CNN’s KFile team, led by ace Internet sleuth Andrew Kaczynski, has unearthed a long trail of deranged comments from Tata, many of which he recently deleted from Twitter in an unsuccessful attempt at cleanup. The first CNN story, on June 12, reported that Tata had called Islam the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” and that he had described President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” who did more to “help Islamic countries than any president in history.” Tata argued that Obama negotiated the Iranian nuclear deal because he had “Islamic roots” and wanted “to help Iranians and the greater Islamic state crush Israel.” In addition, he lashed out at Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling them “violent extremists” and accusing Waters of […]
