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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: Hard to get more racist than this move by Trump, unless he announced it wearing a KKK gown.
Trump arrives to speak during a news conference at the White House July 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Credit: : Alex Wong/Getty
In a pair of tweets one advocacy group denounced as “racist, classist garbage,” President Donald Trump on Wednesday boasted that he is working to prevent construction of low-income housing in the suburbs by repealing an Obama-era rule aimed at combating persistent racial segregation in those communities.
“I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low-income housing built in your neighborhood,” Trump tweeted. “Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!”
“Words can’t quite capture how outrageous and racist this is. Trump and Ben Carson have worked hand in glove to obstruct and destroy decades of work to promote fair housing in our country.” —Kristen Clarke, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Trump was referring to the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, an addition to the 1968 Fair […]
Stephan: Here is a charming story sent to me by a physician friend. Such an intelligent project.
Detection dog
A few months ago we wrote about a research project in the UK where scientists were exploring how dogs could be trained to sniff out signs of the novel coronavirus. A similar venture has now been undertaken by researchers at the University of Hanover, Germany, where a team found that with little training, sniffer dogs were capable of detecting the virus with a high degree of accuracy.
Scientists have previously tapped into the incredible nose sensitivity of dogs for a number of purposes, including detecting cancer, malaria, and explosive devices. By exposing the animals to samples in a room and teaching them to distinguish between those that are infected and those that aren’t, the hope is that dogs can become a powerful screening tool in public spaces to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
To investigate these possibilities, the German researchers recruited eight specialized sniffer dogs, which have been trained over the course of one week to distinguish between some 1,012 samples infected with the […]
Stephan: Trump and his minions keep telling us that the U.S. has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in the world. Just another lie. Here are some facts.
The Canadian and European Union flags. Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a rate over 17 times higher than that in the EU and Canada.
More than six months into the U.S. outbreak of the coronavirus, Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a rate over 17 times higher than that in the European Union and Canada, when adjusted for population.
In the U.S., with a population of about 328 million, an average of about three people per million are dying each day, according to data compiled by Our World in Data. That’s about 17 times higher than in the European Union, which has a population of about 446 million and less than one (0.18) daily death per million, on average. In Canada, home to about just under 38 million people, less than one (0.16) person per million is dying daily, on average.
The U.S. has a seven-day average of just over 1,000 deaths per day, according to a New York Times tracker. The seven-day average in Canada is about six COVID-19 deaths per day. Meanwhile, the European Center for Disease Prevention […]
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist and Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: I think Paul Krugman has absolutely focused on the real pandemic, the real crisis in America. The Founders would be appalled
An antimask protester in Columbus, Ohio, on July 18. Credit: Jeff Dean/Agence France-Presse/Getty
America’s response to the coronavirus has been a lose-lose proposition.
The Trump administration and governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis insisted that there was no trade-off between economic growth and controlling the disease, and they were right — but not in the way they expected.
Premature reopening led to a surge in infections: Adjusted for population, Americans are currently dying from Covid-19 at around 15 times the rate in the European Union or Canada. Yet the “rocket ship” recovery Donald Trump promised has crashed and burned: Job growth appears to have stalled or reversed, especially in states that were most aggressive about lifting social distancing mandates, and early indications are that the U.S. economy is lagging behind the economies of major European nations.
So we’re failing dismally on both the epidemiological and the economic fronts. But why?
On the face of it, the answer is that Trump and allies were so eager to see big jobs […]
Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Readers know I have been talking about the repercussions that will flow from the destruction of forests all over the world in order to service human greed. If we refuse to acknowledge that we live in a matrix of consciousness in which all life is interconnected and interdependent, we are condemning ourselves to not one but a series of catastrophes. This report speaks to this.
Logging in the Brazilian rainforest. ‘Human activity has created a continuous cycle of viral spillover and spread.’ Credit: Brazil Photos/LightRocket /Getty
In late 2013, in the village of Meliandou in rural Guinea, a group of children playing near a hollow tree disturbed a small colony of bats hiding inside. Scientists think that Emile Ouamouno, who later became the first tragic “index” case in the west African Ebola outbreak, was likely exposed to bat faeces whileplaying near the tree.
Every pandemic starts like this. An innocuous human activity, such as eating wildlife, can spark an outbreak that leads to a pandemic. In the 1920s, when HIV is thought to have emerged in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, scientists believe transmission to humans could have been caused by a bushmeat hunter cutting themselves while butchering a chimpanzee. In 2019, we can speculate that a person from south-west China entered a bat cave near their village to hunt wildlife for sale at the local wet market. Perhaps they later developed a nagging cough that represents the beginning […]
Paul Rosenzweig, Senior Fellow in the National Security and Cyber Security Program -- R Street Institute - USA TODAY
Stephan: It is my view that William Barr should be disbarred, indicted and, if convicted, sent to prison, like John Mitchell before him.
“How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?” the old joke begins. The answer: “Whenever his lips are moving.”
The humor reflects the reality of how an average citizen views the legal profession. It’s seen as mendacious and amoral. Of course, the reality is different. While not every lawyer can be an Atticus Finch defending the innocent, most are hardworking and honest.
And then there is the attorney general, William Barr, who is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee under threat of subpoena. His lack of honesty and ethics is the basis for a complaint filed last week by 27 prominent lawyers, who are seeking to have Barr’s license to practice law revoked.
All lawyers are bound to follow the ethical rules adopted by the State Bar Association where they are licensed to practice law. These rules are part of the profession’s effort to regulate itself and prevent bad lawyers from practicing law.
Undercutting Mueller, IGs and the FBI
According to the complaint, Attorney General Barr has violated the Washington, D.C., rules and engaged in unethical conduct. It says he has been dishonest and deceitful, and has also interfered with the […]
Stephan: This is how fascism works. This is America, a land in which only money matters.
A Salt Lake City police officer at a protest earlier in July. Police foundations – which provide funds to local police departments – in cities such as Salt Lake are partially funded by corporate names. Credit: Rick Bowmer/AP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Big corporations accused of driving environmental and health inequalities in black and brown communities through toxic and climate-changing pollution are also funding powerful police groups in major US cities, according to a new investigation.Trump is using federal agents as his ‘goon squad’, says Ice’s ex-acting headRead more
Some of America’s largest oil and gas companies, private utilities, and financial institutions that bankroll fossil fuels also back police foundations – opaque private entities that raise money to pay for training, weapons, equipment, and surveillance technology for departments across the US.Advertisement
The investigation by the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit corporate and government accountability research institute, and its research database project LittleSis, details how police foundations in cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and Salt Lake City are partially funded by household names such as Chevron, […]
Stephan: Well, to no surprise, Bill Barr lied, and Donald Trump lied, and once again only because a military officer, Major Adam DeMarco in this case, with integrity like Col. Vindman has stepped forward do we know this. And because of his bravery, we learn the whole Layfayette Park event was nothing more than a Trumpian reality video game.
To read Major DeMarco's full testimony go to: https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Mr.%20Adam%20DeMarco%20-%20Written%20Testimony_.pdf
In this Monday, June 1, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump walks past police in Lafayette Park after visiting outside St. John’s Church across from the White House in Washington. Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky
The U.S. Park Police began the violent clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square last month without apparent provocation or adequate warning to demonstrators, immediately after Attorney General William Barr spoke with Park Police leaders, according to an Army National Guard officer who was there.
The account of Army National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco challenges key aspects of the Trump administration’s explanation for the clearing of the protest in front of the White House, just before President Donald Trump walked through the area to stage a photo event in front of a historic church.
DeMarco’s account was released in written testimony for his scheduled appearance Tuesday before the House Natural Resources Committee’s hearing on the Park Police’s punching, clubbing and use of chemical agents against what appeared to be largely peaceful protesters on June 1. The administration’s forceful clearing of the protest area in front of the […]
