I don’t know what I was thinking. How can one not be able to string two sentences together after seeing the Presidementia-Elect trounce yet another over qualified presidential candidate? It is, after all, a target-rich environment.

Witness the delicious MAGA backlash at the news leaked yesterday that Captain Bonespurs has picked fellow Floridaman, Marco Rubio to be 4th in line to be president (after Ridgerunner JD, MAGA Mike (?), and whoever President Pro Tem of the Senate will be) should something awful happen to him.

Raw Story has gathered some amazingly predictable quotes from Don the Con’s bevy of butt munchers.

Laura “Looney” Loomer: “Why are people inside Mar-a-Lago leaking Trump’s possible cabinet picks to the media? Not a good sign that things are being leaked already.”

Libertarian “comedian” Dave Smith: “Might as well give Liz Cheney the State Department. Awful sign.”

Charlie Kirk: “Folks, word of wisdom. If Trump hasn’t confirmed it on Truth [Social], don’t jump to conclusions and don’t believe everything you see.”

That’s more than one word, Charlie.

Suddenly, the cockles of my heart are thawing as I observe that Von Shitzenpantz’s own MAGA elite are now doubting what they see and hear. It is literally the opposite of what we now call “sanewashing.” Nominating a person who is arguably a moderate conservative with experience in the area of foreign relations rather than another clueless candidate for the looney bin has got to stick in their craws.

I wonder what you call the opposite of “sanewashing.”

I have some advice for MAGA maniacs. A maxim that has served me in the past as far as Pumpkin McPornhumper goes: Pay no attention to what he says, watch what he does.

Lately, bone broth collagen has been gaining a lot of attention, and with good reason. While we’ve heard a lot about regular collagen for skin and joints, bone broth collagen is like a secret powerhouse that does so much more for your body. Packed with nutrients and amino acids, it goes beyond what other collagen supplements can do, offering real, whole-body benefits that make a difference you can actually feel.

Let’s take a closer look at the surprising ways bone broth collagen can enhance your health and well-being, from glowing skin to a happier gut.

What Exactly is Bone Broth Collagen?

Bone broth collagen is made by simmering animal bones and connective tissues for hours (sometimes even a full day!). This process extracts essential nutrients that regular collagen supplements often miss, like glycine, glucosamine, and a mix of minerals. So, while both types of collagen support skin, joints, and more, bone broth collagen comes with these added bonuses that help nourish you in ways regular collagen alone can’t.

Now, let’s dive into some of the benefits and see how adding bone broth collagen to your routine can work wonders.

1. Glowing Skin from the Inside Out

Bone broth collagen is fantastic for supporting skin health. As we get older, our natural collagen production slows down, leading to wrinkles, dry skin, and a general loss of that youthful glow. Bone broth collagen is packed with amino acids like proline and glycine, which help to restore skin elasticity and keep your skin hydrated from within.

Unlike creams that just cover the surface, bone broth collagen works on a much deeper level. It can help smooth out fine lines, keep your skin feeling firm, and give it that “lit from within” glow that many of us are after. And since it works from the inside out, the results are more sustainable and long-lasting.

2. Flexible, Comfortable Joints

If you’re someone who experiences joint stiffness or discomfort, bone broth collagen can be a game-changer. It’s rich in glucosamine and chondroitin, compounds that cushion your joints and reduce inflammation, making movements smoother and less painful. These nutrients are naturally found in cartilage, so taking bone broth collagen is almost like replenishing your body’s natural joint support system.

Many people find that after adding bone broth collagen to their diet, everyday activities like walking or even exercise feel a bit easier. It’s a natural, gentle way to keep your joints feeling young and flexible, without relying on synthetic joint supplements.

3. A Happier, Healthier Gut

One of the most unexpected perks of bone broth collagen is its impact on gut health. The gelatin found in bone broth can help strengthen your gut lining, which is essential for digestion and nutrient absorption. This is especially helpful if you experience bloating or symptoms of “leaky gut,” where the gut lining becomes too permeable, allowing unwanted particles into the bloodstream.

The amino acids in bone broth, particularly glycine and glutamine, play a huge role in keeping the gut lining strong and healthy. A strong gut barrier means fewer digestive issues and better overall wellness since a healthy gut is key to a healthy body.

4. Stronger Bones

When you think of bone health, calcium probably comes to mind. But bone broth collagen brings more to the table—it’s packed with minerals like magnesium and phosphorus, which work together with calcium to support bone density and structure. Unlike most collagen supplements, bone broth collagen delivers these minerals in a highly absorbable form.

As we age, bone density naturally decreases, putting us at risk for fractures and osteoporosis. Bone broth collagen can provide your bones with the nutrients they need to stay strong and resilient, which is especially helpful if you’re active or simply want to support your bones as you get older.

5. Muscle Recovery and Strength

Bone broth collagen is a gentle protein source that can really benefit your muscles. It contains amino acids like arginine and glutamine that help with muscle repair and recovery after workouts, making it great for athletes or anyone with an active lifestyle. You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to appreciate this benefit—anyone can use bone broth collagen to help with soreness and muscle maintenance.

It’s a natural, easy-to-digest protein source that helps you bounce back from physical activity more comfortably, making it easier to stay active.

6. Better Sleep and a Calmer Mind

One of the hidden gems in bone broth collagen is glycine, an amino acid known for its calming properties. Glycine has been shown to improve sleep quality and help you feel more relaxed, making it a natural ally for anyone struggling with stress or poor sleep.

Incorporating bone broth collagen into your evening routine—maybe sipping on a warm cup before bed—could help you unwind and get a more restful night’s sleep. Over time, the calming effects can help reduce anxiety and contribute to a more balanced mood.

7. Immune Support from Within

Bone broth collagen offers a boost for your immune system too, thanks to its rich nutrient profile. The gelatin and minerals like zinc, magnesium, and calcium play key roles in immune health. Plus, by supporting gut health, bone broth collagen can indirectly boost immunity, as a significant part of the immune system resides in the gut.

Regularly incorporating bone broth collagen can be an easy way to give your immune system a natural lift, which is particularly beneficial during cold and flu season.

How to Add Bone Broth Collagen to Your Diet

Adding bone broth collagen to your routine is easy and versatile:

• Homemade Bone Broth: If you’re up for it, you can make bone broth at home by simmering animal bones with veggies and herbs for 12-24 hours.
• Bone Broth Powder: A convenient alternative is using a high-quality bone broth powder. Just mix it into soups, stews, or smoothies.
• Cooking Base: Use bone broth as a base for recipes like soups or sauces to pack in the nutrients without even noticing it’s there.

A Whole-Body Boost

Bone broth collagen is more than just a trend; it’s a holistic, whole-body supplement that can support various areas of health. From smoother skin and stronger joints to better sleep and a healthier gut, the benefits go beyond what you’d expect from a regular collagen supplement.

So if you’re looking for a natural way to support your overall health and well-being, consider giving bone broth collagen a try. You may just find that it’s the missing piece in your wellness routine, delivering benefits you can see and feel.

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After Trump’s second election victory, lots of Americans are talking about emigrating, most commonly to Canada. This happens with every rightwing election win[1], but nothing ever comes of it. With the real prospect of indefinite Trumpist rule, the issues are more serious, but it seems unlikely that much will happen. But why not?

It’s fairly well known that Americans rarely emigrate. There are, for example, only about a million US citizens living in Canada at the moment. Conversely, there are around a million Canadians living in the US. These are surprisingly low numbers for contiguous countries with a common language (except for Quebec) and relatively straightforward[2] paths to migration.

A detailed illustration of a U.S. passport with the text ‘US Paort’ on the cover, lying on top of a Canadian flag background. The Canadian flag’s red and white colors with the maple leaf design are vibrant and easily recognizable behind the passport. The setting is simple, with the passport angled slightly to showcase the modified cover design, creating a contrast between the blue of the passport and the red and white of the flag.
As usual ChatGPT didn’t quite get the text right

More generally, it’s a common rightwing talking point that the USA is the country most commonly named as a desired place to migrate to. What’s less remarked is that Donald Trump’s expressed desire for more migrants from “places like Denmark” reflects underlying reality. Migration from other rich countries to the US is very limited. In 2022, about 300 000 people (excluding tourists) from Europe arrived in the US, and the majority of these were students, most of whom would probably return. And Europe includes a lot of poor countries.

There’s a lot more migration between other rich countries, including between other Anglospheric countries. For example, although Canada has about a 10th of the population of the US, there are about half as many Canadians in Australia (50 000) as Americans (100 000).

The conclusion I draw is that the US is very different from other, superficially similar countries, I’ve visited the US on lots of occasions and had a couple of extended stays totalling two years. But it still seems a very foreign place to me, much more so than New Zealand or the UK, where I’ve been less frequently. And I imagine the same is true, in reverse, for Americans abroad.

Looking at the recent election results, they are in part a reflection of global trends (anti-incumbent, anti-migrant etc). But the vote for Trump was substantially higher than for most of the far-right policies in other countries. I think (hope) that this reflects some specifically American factors.

The option of moving to Canada is, for most Americans, an illusion. They will have to sort out their problems at home, as best they can.

fn1. In the event of a Democratic victory, there aren’t a lot of options for rightwingers, even ignoring practical difficulties. Lots of them have nice things to say about Hungary, but I think only Rod Dreher has moved there. Same in spades for Russia.

fn2. Migration is never easy. But, excluding moves within the EU, Canada-US migration seems to be about as straightforward as anywhere. CUSMA (formerly NAFTA) makes it relatively easy to get work permits, and thereby make the contacts needed for employer sponsorship.

Growing up, I had a strong sense of character. It started at home, where I learned kindness, curiosity, spirituality, humility, gratitude, and other virtues.

It also extended into civic organizations I participated in, such as the Boy Scouts and Boys State, where I learned about duty, honor, integrity, teamwork, and selflessness.

It seems that there is a crisis of character of late, where we are exposed to leaders of all kinds who practice greed, fraud, injustice, hypocrisy, gaslighting, cruelty, and cowardice in public without a hint of shame.

I’ve made it my business to work with leaders and their teams on character strengths, and I would hope that others follow suit.

These fall into six buckets that are taken from the four classical virtues: wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance, with humanity and transcendence added in.

“Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private Virtue, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.” — John Adams, 1776

When John Adams first arrived at the White House on November 1, 1800, he arrived unceremoniously, with only his secretary in tow. The Executive Mansion was still unfinished, the plaster was still wet and only a handful of rooms were ready.

On that first evening in the sprawling place, he wrote a now-famous letter to his wife Abigail. It included the following two sentences, which Franklin Roosevelt had carved into the mantel of the State Dining Room:

“I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”

While Adams could be irascible, vain, and proud, he also knew something about character: it was he who nominated George Washington to be the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and recommended Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence.

He was the only presidential Founding Father who did not own slaves, as a matter of principle.

In “Speech on the Issues of the Presidential Election, 1888,” Frederick Douglass had something to say about character:

“In a Presidential canvass three things are always in order: First, we have to consider the character of the candidate… A man in the presidential chair should stand for something more than a lucky and successful politician. He should be one among millions—a model man; one to whom the sons of after-coming generations can be referred as an example to them.”

That’s something I don’t think we give enough consideration to. What leaders and heroes do we use as models for our children?

We have a hard enough time keeping them off of their devices and social media; I can’t imagine we’re over-indexing on pointing out leaders with integrity and character.

So when the president addressed the nation following the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, this section stuck out to me:

“You know, at the outset of our nation, it was the character of George Washington, our first president, that defined the presidency.  He believed power was limited, not absolute, and that power would always reside with the people — always.

Now, over 200 years later, with today’s Supreme Court decision, once again it will depend on the character of the men and women who hold that presidency that are going to define the limits of the power of the presidency, because the law will no longer do it.”

My thoughts turn wistfully back to my days at Boys State, with my fellow idealists who were learning about civic duty and the inner workings of government.

I recall the scholarship I received from the American Legion and the couple of years I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where I met and admired tough old men who had proudly served their country.

In each of these scenarios, I was surrounded by people who cared about norms and traditions, upheld by a common belief in character.

And now I have to wonder: does it matter anymore?

I hope so.

There’s so much to learn.

This article originally appeared on July 3, 2024, on the “Timeless & Timely” Substack from Scott Monty.

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With Control of the White House and the Senate, Republicans Are Poised to Upend U.S. Climate Policy.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump early Wednesday morning, ending one of the costliest and most turbulent campaign cycles in the nation’s history. The results promise to upend U.S. climate policy: In addition to returning a climate denier to the White House, voters also gave Republicans control of the Senate, laying the groundwork for attacks on everything from electric vehicles to clean energy funding and bolstering support for the fossil fuel industry.

“We have more liquid gold than any country in the world,” Trump said during his victory speech, referring to domestic oil and gas potential. The CEO of the American Petroleum Institute issued a statement saying that “energy was on the ballot, and voters sent a clear signal that they want choices, not mandates.”

The election results rattled climate policy experts and environmental advocates. The president-elect has called climate change “a hoax” and during his most recent campaign vowed to expand fossil fuel production, roll back environmental regulations, and eliminate federal support for clean energy. He has also said he would scuttle the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, which is the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history and a landmark legislative win for the Biden administration. Such steps would add billions of tons of additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and hasten the looming impacts of climate change.

“This is a dark day,” Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement. “Donald Trump was a disaster for climate progress during his first term, and everything he’s said and done since suggests he’s eager to do even more damage this time.”

During his first stint in office, Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international climate accord that guides the actions of more than 195 countries; rolled back 100-plus environmental rules; and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. While President Joe Biden reversed many of those actions and made fighting climate change a centerpiece of his presidency, Trump has pledged to undo those efforts during his second term, with potentially enormous implications — climate analysts at Carbon Brief predicted that another four years of Trump would lead to the nation emitting an additional 4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide than it would under his opponent. That’s on par with the combined annual emissions of the European Union and Japan.

One of President-elect Trump’s primary targets will be rolling back the IRA, which is poised to direct more than a trillion dollars into climate-friendly initiatives. Two years into that decade-long effort, money is flowing into myriad initiatives, ranging from building out the nation’s electric vehicle charging network to helping people go solar and weatherize their homes. In 2023 alone, some 3.4 million Americans claimed more $8 billion in tax credits the law provides for home energy improvements. But Trump could stymie, freeze, or even eliminate much of the law.

“We will rescind all unspent funds,” Trump assured the audience in a September speech at the Economic Club of New York. Last month, he said it would be “an honor” to “immediately terminate” a law he called the “Green New Scam.”

Such a move would, however, require congressional support. While many House races remain too close to call, Republicans have taken control of the Senate. That said, any attempt to roll back the IRA may prove unpopular, because as much as $165 billion in the funding it provides is flowing to Republican districts.

Still, Trump can take unilateral steps to slow spending, and use federal regulatory powers to further hamper the rollout process. As Axios noted, “If Trump wants to shut off the IRA spigot, he’ll likely find ways to do it.” Looking beyond that seminal climate law, Trump has plenty of other levers he can also pull that will adversely affect the environment  — efforts that will be easier with a conservative Supreme Court that has already undermined federal climate action.

Trump has also thrown his support behind expanded fossil fuel production. He has long pushed for the country to “drill, baby, drill” and, in April, offered industry executives tax and regulatory favors in exchange for $1 billion in campaign support. Though that astronomical sum never materialized, The New York Times found that oil and gas interests donated an estimated $75 million to Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, and affiliated committees. Fossil fuels were already booming under Biden, with domestic oil production higher than ever before, and Vice President Kamala Harris said she would continue producing them if she won. But Trump could give the industry a considerable boost by, for instance, reopening more of the Arctic to drilling.

Any climate chaos that Trump sows is sure to extend beyond the United States. The president-elect could attempt to once again abandon the Paris Agreement, undermining global efforts to address the crisis. His threat to use tariffs to protect U.S. companies and restore American manufacturing could upend energy markets. The vast majority of solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, for example, are made overseas and the prices of those imports, as well as other clean-energy technology, could soar. U.S. liquefied natural gas producers worry that retaliatory tariffs could hamper their business.

The Trump administration could also take quieter steps to shape climate policy, from further divorcing federal research functions from their rulemaking capacities to guiding how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies and responds to health concerns.

Trump is all but sure to wreak havoc on federal agencies central to understanding, and combating, climate change. During his first term, his administration gutted funding for research, appointed climate skeptics and industry insiders, and eliminated several scientific advisory committees. It also censored scientific data on government websites and tried to undermine the findings of the National Climate Assessment, the government’s scientific report on the risks and impacts of climate change to the country. Project 2025, the sweeping blueprint developed by conservative groups and former Trump administration officials, advances a similar strategy, deprioritizing climate science and perhaps restructuring or eliminating federal agencies that advance it.

“The nation and world can expect the incoming Trump administration to take a wrecking ball to global climate diplomacy,” Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union for Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. “The science on climate change is unforgiving, with every year of delay locking in more costs and more irreversible changes, and everyday people paying the steepest price.”

The president-elect’s supporters seem eager to begin their work.

Mandy Gunasekara, a former chief of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump’s first term, told CNN before the election that this second administration would be far more prepared to enact its agenda, and would act quickly. One likely early target will be Biden-era tailpipe emissions rules that Trump has derided as an electric vehicle “mandate.”

During his first term, Trump similarly tried to weaken Obama-era emissions regulations. But the auto industry made the point moot when it sidestepped the federal government and made a deal with states directly, a move that’s indicative of the approach that environmentalists might take during his second term. Even before the election, climate advocates had begun preparing for the possibility of a second Trump presidency and the nation’s abandoning the global diplomatic stage on this issue. Bloomberg reported that officials and former diplomats have been convening secret conversations, crisis simulations, and “political war-gaming” aimed at maximizing climate progress under Trump — an effort that will surely start when COP29 kicks off next week in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“The result from this election will be seen as a major blow to global climate action,” Christiana Figueres, the United Nations climate chief from 2010 to 2016, said in a statement. “[But] there is an antidote to doom and despair. It’s action on the ground, and it’s happening in all corners of the Earth.”

This article originally appeared in Grist HERE.

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

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