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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.
Here is some good news to encourage the transition out of the carbon era. My concern is that U.S. auto makers just don’t get why this transition is so important or, they do understand it and just don’t care because continuing profit from carbon-powered vehicles without the required recapitalization to EVs is what they want.
A new Lexus EV at the New York International Auto Show in New York City on March 27, 2024. This year’s show highlighted new EVs and hybrids. Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has tightened fuel mileage standards for vehicles in an effort to transform the country’s auto market into one dominated by more climate-friendly electric vehicles.
“Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil. These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gasoline costs over the lifetime of their vehicle,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in the press release.
The new standards will save nearly 70 billion gallons of gas through 2050 and prevent more than 782.6 million tons […]
The MAGAts led by criminal Trump are literally destroying the stature of the United States to the point where our northern neighbor Canada is beginning to calculate whether we are about to break into a civil war. I think that if Trump loses in spite of everything the Republican Party is doing to engineer the election they may be right. There are a large number of gun-toting MAGAts who would like to see civil violence break out. They’re even looking forward to it.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau with Democratic President Joseph Biden
When Justin Trudeau meets Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Italy this week, Trudeau will probably not ask whether the United States is at risk of erupting in civil war in the next few years.
A think tank housed within Trudeau’s government is already pondering that question.
In a spring report titled “Disruptions on the Horizon,” a quiet office known as Policy Horizons Canada proposed American civil war as a scenario that Ottawa should consider preparing for.
This hypothetical was tucked into the middle of the 37-page document, which sketched the possibility in 15 spare words: “U.S. ideological divisions, democratic erosion, and domestic unrest escalate, plunging the country into civil war.”
It’s an unsettling thing to find out your immediate neighbor is getting nervous about the possibility of gruesome violence in your home.
There has been no shortage of apocalyptic forecasting about Trump-era American politics. Since […]
538, which has a good track record for the accuracy of their polling, says with “95% confidence rating” that criminal Trump and President Biden are closely tied in the judgment of voters. Frankly, while I believe it, I do not see how any rational person of average intelligence could possibly vote for multiple convicted felon and rapist and business grifter Donald Trump. The reality of the 538 polls is why I think the Canadians may be correct when they think that we are headed for a civil war.
Today 538 published our official forecast for the 2024 presidential election. The model builds on our general election polling averages by asking not just what our best guess is about who is leading the presidential race today, but what range of outcomes are possible for the actual election in November. At least once per day, we’ll rerun our simulations of the election with the latest data, so bookmark our interactive and check back often.
At launch, our forecast shows President Joe Biden locked in a practically tied race with former President Donald Trump, both in the Electoral College and national popular vote. Specifically, our model reckons Biden has a 53-in-100 chance of winning the election, meaning he wins in slightly more than half of our model’s simulations of how the election could unfold. However, Trump still has a 47-in-100 chance, so this election could still very much go either way. The range of realistic* Electoral College outcomes generated by our forecasting model stretches from 132 to 445 electoral votes for Biden — a testament to how much things could change by November (and how off the polls could be).
TAYLOR GIORNO, Money-in-Politics Reporter - The Hill
Stephan:
This report illustrates why the United States is so corrupt, and how the oligarchs are trying to gain control over the government. In my opinion, all donations like this should be illegal. We should have publicly funded elections, and candidates should be designated on the basis of the number of voters willing to sign a petition for their candidacy.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce received an $800,000 wire transfer from billionaire donor Hank Meijer days after it endorsed his son, then-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), in a contentious 2022 primary, according to previously unreported internal emails reviewed by The Hill.
Within days of the transfer, the Chamber spent $381,000 on “Media Advertisement – Energy and Taxes – Mentioning Rep. Peter Meijer,” according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
But because the ad — titled “Thank you, Rep. Peter Meijer” — does not explicitly advocate for his election or defeat, the pro-business lobbying giant did not have to legally disclose the donation from Hank Meijer, the co-chair and CEO of the Meijer chain of superstores. It also did not have to disclose any other potential contributions behind the $1.8 million it told the FEC it spent on “electioneering communications” that cycle.
Emails obtained by The Hilllay out the timeline of the endorsement, donation and ad buy just weeks before the Aug. 2, 2022, House GOP primary in Michigan. Campaign finance experts told The Hill that the emails pull back the curtain on a surge of “dark money” in U.S. elections, spending where the […]
Here is what looks like some very good news about colorectal cancer. If you know someone suffering from this, you might pass it on, so they can discuss it with their oncologist.
High hopes for the use of dostarlimab-gxly in successfully ‘reversing’ a type of colorectal cancer, with hopes it will be able to target other forms. Credit: Depositphotos
In what researchers have called an “unprecedented” response, a new drug that treats locally advanced rectal cancer has shown to have completely eradicated tumors in all 42 patients who took part in the Phase II trial.
The drug, Jemperli (dostarlimab-gxly), had earlier shown great potential for eliminating mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) cancers, which make up 5-10% of colorectal cancers. Following the Phase II trial, the first 24 patients assessed showed a “sustained complete clinical response” – no cancer evident – after an average of 26.3 months.
“These findings demonstrate the potential of dostarlimab-gxly as a novel approach to treating locally advanced dMMR rectal cancer that leads to durable complete tumor regression without the need for life-altering treatment,” said Dr Andrea Cercek, researcher and oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). “As […]
The weaponization of misinformation is only one of the assaults on the wellbeing of American society that is occurring as a result of internet usage. The thief of personal data is another, as this article describes. I urge you to become very careful about filling in internet requests for personal data and understand that even when you do have to fill something out, be aware that it may not be safe as the Snowflake attack cautions.
A hack against customers of the cloud storage company Snowflake looks like it may turn into one of the biggest-ever data breaches. Last week, Snowflake, which allows companies to store huge datasets on its servers, revealed that criminal hackers had been attempting to access its customers’ accounts using stolen login details. Data breaches targeting Ticketmaster and Santander have been linked to the attacks.
In the days since Snowflake first said a “limited number” of customer accounts had been accessed, however, cybercriminals have publicly claimed to be selling stolen data from two other major firms and alleged the information was taken from Snowflake accounts. At the same time, TechCrunch has reported that hundreds of Snowflake customer passwords have been found online and are accessible to cybercriminals.
Amid the claims, there remains uncertainty about the scope and scale of the attempted attack against Snowflake customers, who the attackers may be, and how an attack tool callously named “rapeflake” operates. It also highlights the growth in the use of infostealer malware in recent years and underscores the need for third-party software providers and companies to turn on multifactor authentication to reduce the chances of […]
ELIZABETH HENDERSON, Contributing Writer - COUNTERPUNCH
Stephan:
You don’t often read, hear, or see anything about the far-right’s views on agriculture, but here taken directly from the Right’s Plan 2025 they are, and they are dangerous to wellbeing of humans and the matrix of life, and disgusting. They display no awareness of the impact of climate change, or any real understanding of the impact of pollution. One has to be deliberately willfully ignorant to hold views such as those expressed in Plan 2025. This is what Trump and the Republicans will do if they are elected.
During the public debates on the Farm Bill every five years—that compendious package of legislation that regulates food and farming—politicians from all camps praise the iconic American farmer and defend […]
Sand batteries. It is a fascinating post-carbon technology, and here is some good news about this energy production that is actually being implemented in Scandinavia.
Credit: De an Sun
Could plain old beach sand be the next frontier in renewable energy?
In the ongoing quest for sustainable energy solutions, innovative technologies are necessary to implement renewable sources like solar and wind power.
One such potential breakthrough revolves around an unexpected but abundant resource: beach sand.
Sand batteries represent an emerging approach to energy storage, particularly effective in harnessing and retaining energy from intermittent sources like solar and wind.
The physical properties of sand, such as its ability to store heat at high temperatures, make it an excellent medium for energy retention. This capacity is being leveraged by innovative technologies to create a more stable and reliable energy supply, as sand can efficiently accumulate and release heat as required.
The science behind sand batteries involves heating sand to high temperatures using surplus energy generated from renewable sources. This stored heat can then be converted back into energy when needed.
This system capitalizes on the thermal properties of sand to create a natural battery that can offer both heating solutions and electricity generation.
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