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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: As I watch the civil rights demonstrations, what I see honorable men and women exercising their Constitutional rights infiltrated by anarchists and rightwingers set on creating as much conflict as possible, each for their own and different reasons. Trump I think is setting in motion a narrative in which he thinks he wins either way.
If the disturbances get bad but not horrible, he orders in the army and, for one of the very few times in our history, he directs the American military to dominate the American people. If it gets really bad then Trump declares martial law in American cities and maintains that the pandemic plus the civil unrest makes a fair election impossible. It's a win in his view, either way.
There is something else going on and that is as the civil stress is going on it is revealing for all to see that American law enforcement is partly decent honorable men and women, but it is also partly authoritarian thugs whose bullying and racism is done under the color of authority that protects them.
Demonstrations continued across the United States on Sunday as the nation braced for another grueling night of unrest over police shootings and the death of George Floyd, amid growing concern that aggressive law enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming tensions.
Videos showed police officers in recent nights using batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters, bystanders and journalists, often without warning or seemingly unprovoked. The footage, which has been shared widely online, highlighted the very complaints over police behavior that have drawn protests in at least 75 cities across the United States.
In Salt Lake City, officers in riot gear shoved a man with a cane to the ground.
In Atlanta, police officers enforcing a curfew stopped two college students in a car, fired Tasers on them and dragged them out of the vehicle.
And in Minneapolis, where there have been six consecutive nights of protests and clashes, a video appeared to show officers yelling at people on their […]
Stephan: American corporate media, owned by basically six companies -- did you know that -- has a very specific television structure, which is where most Americans get their news. Either that or off social media which is too superficial and chaotic to have any structure at all.
There is an A block story, a B block story, some interviews about the A and B block, a much smaller C block story, and a smaller yet, and sometimes they don't even get to it, D block. You can watch this happen anytime you turn on your television whether it is to a cable or broadcast channel. Right now in the news there are only two blocks. The A block is the civil rights demonstrations, the B block on the coronavirus, with a small emerging C block about police violence against demonstrators.
But that is not how the country actually operates, particularly in the era of Trump. Quite apart from those A, B, C, blocks is the activity that is shaping the future, and it is now horrific, I try to cover it for my readers, which is why SR often seems completely out of synch with what you see on television, and today, I am going to dedicate the entire issue to what I see happening behind the news, because it has such profound implications for our future.
Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic Editor - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Here are a series of seemingly unrelated stories, except I do not think they are unconnected.
I have thought from the beginning of his presidency that Trump was under some obligation to Russia, or more specifically Russians. Based on what I have read I think this is probably the billionaire oligarchs of Russia in Putin's circle, who loaned him hundreds of millions of dollars through the Deutsche Bank. That's why Trump is so desperate to keep his financial records from the bank secret.
As Trump has made evident in a hundred ways he cares nothing for anyone's interests but his own. He doesn't understand or care about the geopolitical interests of the United States. His relationships with Putin are not about the nation's interests but his own. He knew the Russians were hacking our elections, but it was to advance his interests, the country as a country was not a consideration.
Trump is servicing Russia's interests by bringing Putin back into the G-7. The other nations he wants to include are just his usual distraction moves. The point of the drill in my opinion, is restoring Russia's status, and protecting his debt.
Donald Trump listens to other leaders make a point during the G7 meeting in Canada in June 2019. Credit: Handout/Getty
Donald Trump has been forced to cancel a planned face-to-face summit of G7 leaders in June and now wants to host an expanded meeting in September dedicated to countering China, to which Vladimir Putin would be invited.
Trump revealed on Saturday that he had cancelled the June meeting, which he had billed as a symbol of the US “transitioning back to greatness”, after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, told him in a phone call that she saw the summit in Washington DC as a health risk. Hundreds of security staff, journalists and officials also attend the two-day summits.
Reports suggest the call between Merkel and Trump on Thursday was stormy, ranging over German plans for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Hong Kong, and the potential health risks of a face-to-face summit.
Stephan: Have you ever wondered why, in the face of incontrovertible scientific evidence that carbon energy is destroying the balance of the earth's biosphere, Trump continues to support it?
Could it be possible that he supports those industries for two reasons: First, they provide enormous political funding through every vector available. Second, the Russian economy is almost entirely based on petroleum. Did you ever know anyone who bought a Russian television, refrigerator, or smartphone?
Putin and Trump's relationship is usually discussed in geopolitical, nation to nation terms, and that is true of Putin, whose life was spent in the Soviet intelligence, but in Trump's world, it is personal. There is an international cohort of very rich men, and Trump lives in an edge of that world, and seeks power in it. He's obsessed with dominance and submission. Look at the proven Trump sexual stories. That's how he is operating. This is all personal. It's just hard to believe that is true, I think.
President Donald Trump’s bid to end the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia is breeding cautious hopes in Moscow of a possible way out of the damaging stand-off, potentially reversing some of the collapse in crude prices. Credit: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to end the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia is breeding cautious hopes in Moscow of a possible way out of the damaging stand-off, potentially reversing some of the collapse in crude prices.
The fact that it was Trump who placed the call to Vladimir Putin Monday, reversing his earlier stance welcoming the drop in oil prices, was seen in Moscow as a positive sign, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Trump’s move to appeal for Russian help in stopping the oil rout could allow Putin to appear in a stronger position even if he needs to make some concessions, according to Andrey Kortunov, director of the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “The Kremlin views the call itself as a kind of diplomatic victory,” he said.
Stephan: This is an older story but I am publishing it to show another aspect of the Putin Trump relationship and to further clarify what I think is going on. The usual explanation is Trump loves authoritarians, and that may be true but it is superficial. I think the reality is that Trump is obligated in a way that would be devastating and very embarrassing if the truth became public.
Russia’s main strategy to deter NATO is to encourage splits that will paralyze the alliance’s ability to respond to aggression in a unified way.
NATO only works as long as all its 29 countries remain continuously on board with “Article 5,” the promise that they will automatically fight if any of them are attacked.
This week, Trump said Article 5 was merely a “question.”
Trump has also driven Turkey into a compromising arms deal with Russia.
The US president is so toxic that, internally, NATO officials regard him as a security risk.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is afraid to be seen with him.
These splits are exactly what Vladimir Putin wants.
Russia is not a member of NATO, obviously, and thus Vladimir Putin is not present at the NATO meeting in London on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Nonetheless, the Russian leader got pretty much exactly what he needed from the meeting, thanks in large part to US President Donald Trump.
The context here is “Article 5,” the fundamental guiding principle that underpins the US-Europe military alliance, and its role in […]
Stephan: The truth is there are two American politics, only intermittently tangential. Bribery is legal thanks to the Citizens United decision, and it will now, as this describes, be unmonitored. The government is for sale to the rich. It is post-Republic Rome all over again. Then there are the actual voters.
It is a trend that really began growing with Eisenhower, and he warned us about it and now, under Trump, it has become explicit and obvious.
More than half of all TV ads related to 2020 elections are sponsored by dark money groups. Credit: Krisanapong Detraphiphat/ Getty
Political groups that don’t fully disclose their sources of funding have already spent more than $100 million to influence 2020 races, a figure that is sure to rise as “dark money” backed super PACs unload their unprecedented cash reserves.
Dark money groups such as political nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors have spent nearly $14 million to influence 2020 races, according to Federal Election Commission filings. “Grey money” outside groups that disclose a portion of their funding — such as super PACs that take money from shell companies or political nonprofits — have spent over $89 million.
By choosing to keep their donors secret, these groups leave voters in the dark as to exactly who is funding their political activities. Under a new Trump administration regulation, the Internal Revenue Service won’t know either.
The IRS finalized a rule this week that will exempt some dark money groups from disclosing their donors to the IRS. Many of 501(c)(4) nonprofits affected by the new rule […]
Stephan: This is what buying the government looks like. Trump seeking status in his world, displays the power bestowed on him by his office and directs the government to serve his friends in ways like this. It's all personal.
Environmental groups fear the agency will cave to pressure from state regulators and chemical industry groups. Credit: Alexandros Maragos/Getty
Ethylene oxide is a particularly dangerous chemical that’s both extremely flammable and potentially highly toxic to humans. Just a brief exposure to enough ethylene oxide gas can trigger vomiting and diarrhea, and respiratory problems that can damage the lungs. Long-term exposures to the chemical have been linked to cancers, reproductive problems, irreversible and heritable genetic changes, and neurotoxicity.
Despite its volatility and toxicity, ethylene oxide is used ubiquitously in all sorts of industrial processes, from the manufacture of ethylene glycol — which is used to make antifreeze, among other products — to the fumigation of agricultural products and the sterilization of medical equipment.
Just how widely used is it? The National Air Toxics Assessment shows the cancer risk from air pollution broken down into individual U.S. census tracts. Of the 109 census tracts in the latest assessment with a cancer risk from air pollution higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) upper limit, 91 percent of the risk comes from […]
Stephan: Yet another report of the right-wing trying to rig the November election. In my opinion, American democracy hangs by a thread.
Six states are facing federal lawsuits and threats of litigation from the ultra-conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch that could jeopardize the integrity of upcoming primary and general elections.
The suits claim that states are not properly maintaining voter rolls as required by federal law, and raise the specter of voter fraud, arguing that improper maintenance could leave the door open to “dirty elections.”
Judicial Watch, which focuses on the courts and is funded primarily by large grants from conservative foundations, is suing Pennsylvania’s chief election official, along with county legislators and election officials in three of the state’s six counties with the most registered voters. Pennsylvania was critical to Donald Trump’s win in 2016. He won by less than 1 percentage point, losing only 11 counties, including the three suburban Philadelphia counties being sued by Judicial Watch. It was the first time Pennsylvania went red since 1988. Democrats almost certainly need to win the state — where former Vice President Joe Biden was born, and where his campaign is headquartered — to take back the White House.
The group has filed similar suits in North Carolina and Maryland. The Pennsylvania lawsuit follows notices Judicial Watch sent to 19 counties in Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, Colorado, and Kentucky last […]
