Vouchers Found to Lower Test Scores in Washington Schools

Stephan:  I believe it is conceptually possible to design a wellbeing fostering voucher system, just as one could design a charter system. It wouldn't be very efficient, but it's possible. What's wrong with what Trump and DeVos want to do is that the systems they are talking about have profit not wellbeing as their first priority. As a result the effect is a diminishment of wellbeing as represented by the lowered test scores. The laws of social wellbeing cannot be faked.

The Climate Denier Caucus in Trump’s Washington

Stephan:  We are in the situation we are because  American voters elected the President, Representatives, and Senators we did. And about 40% of us are just fine with where we are. That's the nasty truth we don't like to talk about. In 2018 we are going to get a last chance to correct our attitudes and policies about climate change. After that it would be only a question as to how destructive of civil life it is all going to become. Each one of us will decide that day to be part of the problem or part of the solution.

Credit: Diana Ofosu

Donald Trump’s surprise victory last November swept a climate science denier into the nation’s highest office. And he’s not alone: in this new Washington, there are 180 members of Congress who deny the science behind climate change and have received more than $82 million from fossil fuel industries, according to new analysis from the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The majority of Republican members of Congress are still ignoring public opinion, but as members of Congress increasingly face resistance in their districts with constituents calling for climate action, some deniers are starting to shift their tone.

While 2016 became infamous for its electoral consequences in America, it also marked the third straight year that earned the title of hottest year on record globally. Last week, the earth reached record levels of carbon dioxide, and so […]

Read the Full Article

1 Comment

Donald Trump is taking on Michelle Obama’s healthy food legacy

Stephan:  In 100 days Donald Trump and his band of Trump zombies have done irreparable harm to the meager social safety net in America. It will take some months for the impact of these decisions to play out, but soon enough we will see by the social outcome data that society has become degraded. What bothers me the most about all this is how nasty minded and greedy it all is.

Michelle Obama in the White House Garden — a lasting tribute to the food movement.
Credit: Chip Somodevilla

Trump brags about eating fast food. Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden at the White House. Now it seems the President is quietly trying to overtake the former First Lady’s vision for the future of food in America.

Michelle Obama had a strikingly successful record of fighting the obesity epidemic and improving nutrition — both symbolically and through advocacy for legislation. But many Obama-era efforts to push the food industry in a healthier direction are now under threat.

Over the last couple of weeks, a number of reports have surfaced suggesting that the food industry is trying to capitalize on Trump’s anti-regulation agenda and push back on reforms aimed at making our food supply healthier. The food lobbyists, emboldened by the current White House, are reportedly pushing back on recent healthy food and transparency mandates that would hurt their bottom line.

Some of the key battlegrounds — school lunches, food […]

Read the Full Article

2 Comments

Trump Mostly Performing to Americans’ Expectations

Stephan:  It is very possible that you see Donald Trump as one of the worst disasters to befall America. But the truth is he got elected and so did the representatives and senators. And the reason this happened lies with American voters; those who did or did not vote, and who they voted for. I think that is very important to keep in mind.
  •  56% say Trump is performing about as they expected
  • Nearly one in four say he is doing worse than they expected
  • More think he will improve than worsen on the job

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As President Donald Trump nears his 100th day in office, a slight majority of Americans (56%) say his performance in office so far has been about what they expected. The rest are closely split between saying he has done worse (23%) versus better (19%) than they expected.

Majority in U.S. Say Trump Performing About as They Expected
Overall, has Donald Trump done better than you expected as president, worse than you expected or about as you expected?
Better than expected
Worse than expected
As expected
Other/No opinion

%
%
%
%

U.S. adults
19
23
56
3

Republicans
37
5
57
1

Independents
18
25
53
4

Democrats
4
38
57
1

Gallup, April 21-22, 2017

Majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents say that Trump is meeting their expectations — although that is clearly not a positive statement from Democrats, most of whom disapprove of the job Trump is doing.

There is a strong relationship between Americans’ views of Trump’s overall job performance as president and whether he is meeting their expectations.

America’s Other Drug Problem

Stephan:  The depth of the depravity and greed of the American pharmaceutical industry is so much vaster and encompassing than most people can imagine. I think the case could be made that this is the most evil conglomerate on the planet. Read this and see what you think.

An Iowa nursing home threw away these unused aripiprazole pills, which are used to treat psychiatric conditions. The nonprofit SafeNetRx recovered them and will donate them to a needy patient.
Credit: Rachel Mummey/ProPublica

Every week in Des Moines, Iowa, the employees of a small nonprofit collect bins of unexpired prescription drugs tossed out by nursing homes after residents died, moved out or no longer needed them. The drugs are given to patients who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

But travel 1,000 miles east to Long Island, New York, and you’ll find nursing homes flushing similar leftover drugs down the toilet, alarming state environmental regulators worried they’ll further contaminate the water supply.

In Baltimore, Maryland, a massive incinerator burns up tons of the drugs each year — for a fee — from nursing homes across the Eastern seaboard.

If you want to know why the nation’s health care costs are among the highest in the world, a good place to start is with what we throw away. Across the country, nursing homes routinely toss large quantities of perfectly good […]

Read the Full Article

4 Comments