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Report shows the ozone layer is rapidly repairing itself faster than anyone imagined
Tod Perry, Staff Writer - Upworthy
_Stephan: Here is some good climate news, and proof that when the nations of the world make even a small attempt to recognize the matrix of consciousness and improve things, it makes a big difference. Now if the leaders of the world will wake up to this maybe we can avert some the disaster climate change portends._
![] ... ⌘ Read more
This is the disturbing truth about how much unearned wealth and power has been accrued by elites
Sonali Kolhatkar, Award-winning Multimedia Journalist. - Raw Story
_Stephan: There is a very important trend taking place that until just the past few days. except for SR (see SR archives), has been getting very little public attention, and even now I don't think the long term implications are fully comprehended. As a culture we a ... ⌘ Read more_
Kevin McCarthy promises to repeal IRS funding meant to catch rich tax cheats
Julia Conley, Staff Writer - Alter Net / Common Dreams
_Stephan: Here is what political whoring looks like, and proof of what I said in my comment on the previous article. I am afraid the Republican dominated House for next two years is going to pulse on grievance and vengeance and little of consequence will take place to foster wellbeing._
Soon after the U.S. House re ... ⌘ Read more
Corporations Slyly Funding Election Deniers All Over Again
Mary Papenfuss, Trends Reporter - Huffington Post
_Stephan: As a result of the Powell Memorandum (see SR archive) and Citizens United, the American government is broken. Congress, particularly the Republicans in the House, is filled with cartoon characters who are basically corporate whores. Fostering wellbeing is not even part of their conversation_
![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/ ... ⌘ Read more
No SR Today
, \\-
_Stephan:_
Stephan’s power and internet have been knocked out by stormy weather. There will be no SR edition today. ⌘ Read more
School Vouchers Have Been A Disaster—Now Advocates Are Trying To Rename Them
Peter Greene, Retired English Teacher - Bucks County Beacon / Independent Media Institute
_Stephan: The sabotage of public education by Republicans, in my opinion, is not getting anywhere near enough attention in the media. Republicans do not want an educated populace because the more education a person has the more likely it is that they will vote for Democrats. What t ... ⌘ Read more_
America’s Adult Education System Is Broken. Here’s How Experts Say We Can Fix It.
Annie Waldman, Aliyya Swaby and Anna Clark, - ProPublica
_Stephan: This is the latest in a trend SR has been following for several years now. From the report: "48 million American adults struggle to read basic English, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That may leave them unable to find and keep a decent job, navigate the signage on city ... ⌘ Read more_
Faith on the Hill
JEFF DIAMANT, - Pew Research Center
_Stephan: Pew Research Center has just published a very interesting paper on the religious makeup of both the House and Senate revealing that Congress is far more affiliated with religions than the general American population. In the general population religious affiliation has been going down for years, but not amongst politicians. Based on the data it is my opinion that what is driving this is the increasing linkage in the Christian churches bet ... ⌘ Read more_
Great Salt Lake will disappear in 5 years without massive ‘emergency rescue,’ scientists say
Rachel Ramirez, - CNN
_Stephan: Utah is an overwhelmingly Red state, it has voted for Republicans 17 times in the last 18 Presidential elections, and it is strongly influenced, some would say controlled, by a fundamentalist religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) -- approximately 80% of Utah state lawmakers ident ... ⌘ Read more_
In ‘Major Step Forward,’ Biden EPA Restores Water Protections Rolled Back by Trump
JULIA CONLEY, Staff Writer - Common Dreams
_Stephan: Here is some more good news from the Biden administration. They have reversed the incompetence and stupidity of Trump and his administration and restored a sensible EPA approach to water protection. Over the last several months I have been struck by how much Biden and his administration have been able to acco ... ⌘ Read more_
Retail pharmacies can now offer abortion pill, FDA says
ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and LAUREN GARDNER, Staff Writers - Politico
_Stephan: Here is some good news from Biden and his FDA about women being about to control their own bodies. It is still not optimal, but the new regulations are better. I predict at both the federal and state level in 2023 Republicans will attempt to block this. The anti-choice/male dominance community has not given up.
Let me also say somethi ... ⌘ Read more_
159,244,000: Record Number of Americans Employed in December
SUSAN JONES, - CNS News
_Stephan: This is good news about U.S. employment and its trend under the Biden administration. I have deliberately chosen the report on employment of a Rightwing website that would not be disposed to report something favorable about Biden and his administration, yet they had to._
_A productive ... ⌘ Read more_
‘It never stops’: killings by US police reach record high in 2022
Sam Levin , - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: Based on the facts, the United States has the most violent incompetent law enforcement of any developed democracy. In the past five years alone the police have murdered at least 5,710 men, women, and children. American police kill more people in a single year than all the European countries combined. I want to be clear here. There are police who are ... ⌘ Read more_
They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars.
Brett Murphy, Staff Writer - ProPublica
_Stephan: Part of the problem with having such poorly educated and poorly trained police and sheriffs is that they are easily influenced by popular attitudes and junk science, and this incompetence negatively affects the lives of tens of thousands of Americans. Again, let's stick with fa ... ⌘ Read more_
Oxford study warns of extreme heat and drought impacting 90 percent of Earth’s population
Kenny Stancil, - AlterNet
_Stephan: This Oxford University study is, as climate change research usually is, very alarming. What I find so depressing is that we as a species seem incapable of realizing what is happening, what we are doing to make it happen, and how much harm the cultures and nations of the world are going to experience as a resu ... ⌘ Read more_
Restricting abortion may lead to increased suicide rate among young women, study finds
NICOLE KARLIS, Senior Writer - Salon
_Stephan: This is a very sad story about the effect of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe. But I also think it is a data point on The Great Schism Trend. We are already seeing women changing their choice of colleges from Red to Blue states. There is also evidence that fertile women are choosing to leave Red states ... ⌘ Read more_
Millionaires and billionaires are bankrolling a ‘radically anti-democratic agenda’**
Alex Henderson, - AlterNet
_Stephan: This is all the result of the wealth inequality that pervades this country because our tax code has been rigged to grotesquely favor the uber-rich. We have a cadre of them, who want to end our democracy, and because our Congress both Democrats and Republicans, but particularly Republicans, have lacked the spine to recogniz ... ⌘ Read more_
The Law That Brought Down Mob Bosses Is Being Turned Against the Oil Industry
Nina Lakhani, - Reader Supported News
_Stephan: Here is an interesting development. The petroleum industry is spending millions to stop any legislation or regulation that would limit their profits, now someone is pushing back. We'll watch and see how this goes._
_A ... ⌘ Read more_
California passed a milestone law to stop neighborhood drilling. Now Big Oil has launched its counterattack.
Bianca Begert, - Grist
_Stephan: If you thought the carbon energy industry would just peacefully go out of business here, in fact, is what is really happening, and why I find the previous article about the RICO suits against the industry so significant._
_American teenag ... ⌘ Read more_
Unlike Prior Generations, Analysis Shows Millenials Are Not Getting More Conservative As They Age
Kate Anderson, - Daily Caller
_Stephan: Here is some more good news -- ironically from a Right-wing publication -- although bad news for the Republican Party. As younger voters age, unlike their parents, they are not growing more conservative. They are less racist, less concerned about LGBTQ folk, and far more conscious of clim ... ⌘ Read more_
New Research Uncovers Concerning Increases in Youth Living with Diabetes in the U.S.
, \\- Center for Disease Control and Prevention
_Stephan: Diabetes, particularly Diabetes II is on the rise in the U.S., largely as a result of the poor diet of American youth who eat chemical-infused fast food and prepared food. Food prepared by corporations not for wellbeing, but for maximum profit. It so clearly illustrates what is wrong with our cultu ... ⌘ Read more_
New studies show the Supreme Court’s ‘imperial’ behavior really is unprecedented
Hunter, - Daily Kos
_Stephan: For most of my life the Supreme Court, an institution fundamental to a healthy democracy, has been considered a body above politics that in most cases made their decisions honoring precedent and on a basis of law. Now less than half of Americans see the current Supreme Court as an honorable institution. I certainly don't see the Court ... ⌘ Read more_
Supreme Court Trust, Job Approval at Historical Lows
JEFFREY M. JONES, - The Gallup Organization
_Stephan: Here, from a reliable research source, is the data on how Americans now see and trust the U.S. Supreme Court. I consider this an alarm warning us that our democracy is now longer based on law, instead, we have a high court whose majority is driven by ideology._
... ⌘ Read more
“Why are these conflicts allowed?” Corporate giving to SCOTUS-linked group sparks blowback
JON QUEALLY, Staff Writer - Common Dreams
_Stephan: The United States is the only developed democracy in the world whose Supreme Court has no ethical standards. For two centuries a cultural standard was assumed but that is no longer the case. Today, we have the most corrupt Supreme Court of all the developed democracies in the world. And, as a r ... ⌘ Read more_
GOP Appoints Failed Politician to Judgeship Despite Her Having Zero Judicial Experience
Daniel Villarreal, - New Civil Rights Movement
_Stephan: I don't know how the Republican Party could make it any clearer that they have no interest in a competent fair judiciary. Rather the contrary, they want a judiciary with ideologue judges, and this is true at every level of government. Here is the proof. I think it is impossible to be a Repub ... ⌘ Read more_
2023
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan:_
As we close out 2022 with all its problems I am still optimistic about our future. I wish each of you the very best for the new year, and hope that 2023 is a better year for you and those for whom you care than 2022.
I thank each of you who has contributed to support SR. I am very touched by this, and by the notes and emails I have received. I had not fully appreciated, f ... ⌘ Read more
Biden administration poised to ‘repair’ judiciary after Senate majority
Joan E Greve, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: As we close out the year, I have been looking at everything BId and his administration have accomplished and was heartened by how effectively he has been fostering wellbeing. I don't think we have had a president since FDR who has done as well._
_A contractor carries a solar panel on the ro ... ⌘ Read more_
5 U.S. States Are Repaving Roads With Unrecyclable Plastic Waste–And Results Are Impressive
Andy Corbley, - Good News Network
_Stephan: American roads are in very bad shape, and here is some good news about how they are being repaved with plastic waste._
Headache-inducing plastic waste such as printer cartridges and plastic bags are being turned into aggregate material for asphalt road mixtures around the country.
_Credit: Unsplash / CC0 Public Domain_
Kathleen Ferris stared acr ... ⌘ Read more
Exposed: The Most Polluted Place in the United States
Tara Lohan, - ecowatch
_Stephan: This is why I am so strongly opposed to any expansion of nuclear power plants. We are going to be cursed with the waste of this technology for untold time, the half-life is thousands of years. And it is lethally dangerous._
_A container of waste is excavated from an underground st ... ⌘ Read more_
Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S.
Lena H. Sun , - msn
_Stephan: It is amazing to me that the anti-vaxxers just seem impervious to facts and are literally willing to put the lives of themselves and their children at risk because of political misinformation. The death toll from this willful ignorance now runs to the millions._
_Stephan: We humans are doing so much damage to the earth's matrix of life, out of willful ignorance and greed, that it both enrages me, and makes me deeply sad. Beyond my emotional issues, this abject failure by humans is going to severely impact each and ever human on earth. Rich or ... ⌘ Read more_
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
A Policy Renaissance Is Needed for Rural America to Thrive
Tony Pipa, Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution. - The New York Times
_Stephan: Rural America is in crisis in so many ways and finally, the Biden administration is seriously trying to do something to revitalize what amounts to the largest area of America. It is going to be a long hard path, but I see this as excellent good news._
. I find it quite extraordinary that Americans who are Republicans by the hundreds of thousands have committed suicide on the basis of Republican disinformation spewed out by Fox, Alex Jones, ... ⌘ Read more_
What the Hell to Do About Clarence Thomas?**
Robert Reich, Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California - Berkeley - Reader Supported News
_Stephan: It is a measure of the corruption afflicting the American government, that a man like Clarence Thomas can sit on the highest court in the land and rule on decisions that directly affect his christofascist wife's efforts to overthrow American democracy. Robert Reich ... ⌘ Read more_
Conservative donors pour ‘dark money’ into case that could upend US voting law
Peter Stone, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: The Supreme Court, in contrast to every other court in the United States, has no ethical standards of conduct, as the behavior of justices like Clarence Thomas has illustrated. That plus Citizens United which legalized what amounts to bribery of government officials has combined to produce the situation described in this ... ⌘ Read more_
3 Reasons Local Climate Activism is More Powerful Than People Realize
Adam Aron, - The Conversation
_Stephan: As I wrote in my book, The 8 Laws of Change, small groups of people holding a common intention who work with the 8 Laws can and have changed the course of history for the better. And there are people doing that now. Here is an example. I see this as good news._
_Stephan: The Supreme Court, in contrast to every other court in the United States, has no ethical standards of conduct, as the behavior of justices like Clarence Thomas has illustrated. That plus Citizens United which legalized what amounts to bribery of government officials has combined to produce the situation described in this ... ⌘ Read more_
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
Jamie Raskin: electoral college is a ‘danger to the American people’**
Ramon Antonio Vargas, -
_Stephan: I completely agree with Raskin. The Electoral College, should be eliminated. It was created as a scheme put together originally to satisfy the slave states with smaller populations, just as Blacks were counted as 3/5s of a White person. The college is distorting our democracy, skewing it in favor of the smaller states, which is to say the Republicans. We ... ⌘ Read more_
9 breakthroughs this year that gave us hope for the future
Izzie Ramirez, Rachel DuRose, Oshan Jarow, and Julieta Cardenas, - Vox
_Stephan: As we come to the end of the year, here is some good news, that hasn't really gotten appropriate attention._
_Credit: Vox_
2022 wasn’t as defined by the coronavirus pandemic as 2020 or 2021, but it was still marred by its ... ⌘ Read more
Attitudes about transgender issues vary widely among Christians, religious ‘nones’ in U.S
MICHAEL LIPKA AND PATRICIA TEVINGTON, Editorial Manager of Religion Research \\| Research Associate on Religion Research - Pew Research Center
_Stephan: Personally, I have never understood the negative obsession over transgenders. Why is it anybody's business how a human being defines themselves. But millions do make this an issue, particularly as ... ⌘ Read more_
Did George Santos Lie About Everything?**
Ben Jacobs, - Reader Supported News
_Stephan: I am publishing this article not because I particularly care about George Santos, a scummy little liar with no ethics seeking power. I am publishing this because it is a particularly glaring example of what has happened to the Republican Party, that's the trend. You will notice that the Republicans in Congress are perfectly content to admit to their number a man who is a fraud and utterly without ... ⌘ Read more_
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
Race Is a Biological Fiction, and Potent Social Reality
CHARLES M. BLOW, Columnist - The New York Times - Undark
_Stephan: Racism is inherently irrational, genetically we are one species. This is a scientific fact. Yet racism or, I think, more accurately fear of the other, is genetically inbred, and I think it dates back hundreds of thousands of years to when there were multiple hominid species -- Neanderthal, Denisovan, most prominently -- existed, in tribal and fam ... ⌘ Read more_
More migrants dropped off outside VP Kamala Harris’ home on Christmas Eve in frigid temps
ABC News - Channel 7 Staff, - ABC News - Channel 7
_Stephan: Greg Abbott is a vulgar nasty man. I think it tells you a lot about the people of Texas that they have chosen him to be their governor._
_Three busloads of migrants were dropped off ... ⌘ Read more_
Key facts about China’s declining population
, \\-
_Stephan: I have closely followed with great interest China's population policies since the country began its one-child policy in 1980 because there is no other country in the world that has literally tried to shape its population through political policies. The one child policy ran until 2016 and had a massive and disruptive effect on the country. Because of the cultural bias for boy babies, and an open abortion policy, famili ... ⌘ Read more_
The Gay World War? Inside Putin’s warped reality
YULIA LATYNINA, journalist, worked for Echo of Moscow radio station and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper until they were shut down by Putin's administration - The Hill
_Stephan: Here, from a Russian journalist is, I think, an important take on what is going on in Russia, and a profile of Putin during this period. I publish it for that reason but, also, because it is yet another example of the sexual dysfunction of the authoritarian ... ⌘ Read more_
Merry Christmas
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: I wish for each of you a lovely and joyous holiday. Let's all work to make 2023 a better year for everyone in every way we can._ ⌘ Read more
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
5 studies released in 2022 that might change how you think about healthcare
Dylan Scott, - Vox
_Stephan: One of the main things 2022 and the pandemic should have taught politicians is that American healthcare sucks compared with that of other developed nations, as reported in dozens of social outcome studies in the professional academic literature. If you read SR regularly you know this from the many papers, articles and reports I have published ... ⌘ Read more_
5 ways climate change made life more expensive in 2022
Jake Bittle, Kate Yoder, Joseph Lee, Brett Marsh, and Emily Pontecorvo, Grist Editorial Staff - Grist
_Stephan: We have seen both our electric bill, and our water bill increase this year, and perhaps you have as well. I think it will happen again in 2023. And the price of groceries has become unlike anything I have ever seen, $11 for a head of lettuce. Thank God my wife grows our food biodynamically organic excep ... ⌘ Read more_
My Fellow Members of the Jan. 6 Committee and I Don’t Want You to Forget About ‘the Republican Congressmen’**
Adam Schiff, U.S. Representative - Reader Supported News
_Stephan: Representative Adam Schiff, makes what I consider to be an essential and important point. Something has to be done about the Republican Senate and House members who participated in the Donald Trump orchestrated attempted coup to overthrow American ... ⌘ Read more_
Northeast’s century-old rail bridges, tunnels land $9 billion overhaul
Michael Laris and Luz Lazo , - The Washington Post
_Stephan: Under the dark circus of the Republican cultural war which dominates the news, the Biden administration is getting some serious and desperately needed work done. This report is an example of what I mean._
_The Reconstructi ... ⌘ Read more_
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
The Secret Abortions of Texas
Stephania Taladrid, - The New Yorker
_Stephan: This is the world before Roe, the world that is now Texas, a state where women, particularly poor women, suffer because they do not have the right to legally control their own bodies. The Dobbs decision overturning Roe, will not end abortion, it simply threw America back to an earlier time, and degraded wellbeing._
; Dan Bishop and Virginia Foxx (NC); Lauren ... ⌘ Read more_
Editor’s Note – Please Help SR
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
_Stephan: We are coming to the end of 2022, and what has been a very difficult time for America. I hope you and those close to you have come through the year safe and well, and reasonably undisturbed. 2023 will be the 32nd year I will be doing SR. Think of it as 3-4 hours of unpaid work each day, seven days a week. I don't charge for SR, and I don't permit advertising which would help offset the costs associated with t ... ⌘ Read more_
Drought emergency declared for all Southern California
Hayley Smith, Ian James, - Yahoo News / Los Angeles Times
_Stephan: Here is a report on the other major trend I see that is going to affect food production in the U.S.. While our Congress, because of the Republican cartoon character members, is mostly focused on culture wars, what we need is a series of long-range planning agricultural programs that prepare the country for what climate change is doing_
400 Million Guns Aren’t Going to Just Go Away. In San Jose, We’re Trying Something New.
Sam Liccardo, Mayor of San Jose California - The New York Times
_Stephan: For several years now as I have reported on the growing gun violence in America -- over 40,000 people in the U.S. have died from gunfire this year -- and gun ownership has grown to the point where there are more guns than people, I have worried about how this madness was going to ... ⌘ Read more_
A Judge In Texas Is Using A Recent Supreme Court Ruling To Say Domestic Abusers Can Keep Their Guns**
April M. Zeoli, Shannon Frattaroli and Lisa Geller, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Michigan \\| Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University \\| Director of State Affairs at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healt ... ⌘ Read more
Trump and the IRS: A massive tax cheat and a hapless, corrupt agency
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON, Contributing Writer - Salon
_Stephan: We seem to be reaching a crescendo of reports about Trump's criminality. To me, his tax reports are less about money and more about the endless fraud, lies, and finagles Trump has used in relation to his taxes -- you can see why he never wanted any of this to come out. We are also seeing yet another example of the corruption of ... ⌘ Read more_
Republicans Rage Against Disclosure Of Trump Tax Returns
Arthur Delaney, - HuffPost
_Stephan: What is standing out for me in this miasma of reports about the criminality of Trump and his minions, is the deafening silence of the Republicans. Whether it is the insurrection or Trump's taxes you hear no one in the Republican leadership speaking out critically. Rather the contrary as this report describes._
 Consciousness and The Weaponization of Lies. This is a trend, created by the universality of the internet, which I think has reshaped American culture in a negative way and as a society we need to address this. MAGAt world was birthed by Trump working with corporations that were anti-climate change, and what were then fringe anti-LGBTQ, White ... ⌘ Read more_
The Finale of the Great Internet Grievance Wars Is Here
JUSTIN PETERS, - Slate
_Stephan: Here is another take on the weaponization of lies and the struggle it represents in today's American culture. I run it not because I agree with all that Justin Peters says, I don't, but because I think my readers need to be aware that this is a major emerging trend. I think it was quite notable that Elon Musk said he would run a survey amongst Twitter users to see if he should ... ⌘ Read more_
Why magical thinking is so widespread – a look at the psychological roots of common superstitions
Dimitris Xygalatas, - The Conversation
_Stephan: Here is yet another take on disinformation, this one dealing with the psychological issues that make people vulnerable to being manipulated by disinformation and "magical thinking". What it doesn't include is the megaphone power of the internet and social media. But these two thing ... ⌘ Read more_
Overcoming the Myth of Separateness
Dar Vanderbeck , Vice President of the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network - Stanford Social Innovation Review
_Stephan: And finally, this, article. It makes the point that separateness, and creating separateness does not foster wellbeing. We are all in this together, and the sooner as both individuals and as a culture we recognize that truth, the better it will be for all of us._
“ _Love and justice are not two. without inner change, ... ⌘ Read more_
A mass exodus from Christianity is underway in America. Here’s why.
Suzette Lohmeyer and Anna Deen, Senior Editor \\| Data Visualization Reporter - Grid
_Stephan: One of the byproducts of the rise of White supremacy christofascism, which has turned Christianity in the U.S. into a rather hate-filled fear and resentment-driven political cult is the sharp rise in people, particularly young people, just walking away from Christianity altogether. Here are the fac ... ⌘ Read more_
Why You Should Be Worried About the Split in the Methodist Church
JOSHUA ZEITZ, Contributing Writer - Politico
_Stephan: Here is further data and historically grounded insight into what is happening in Christianity in the U.S. This isn't getting much attention in the mainstream corporate press, but it is becoming a very big deal at the local level as church congregations tear themselves apart over culture war issues and change their affiliations._
TSA finds record number of firearms at security checkpoints in 2022
Sareen Habeshian, - Axios
_Stephan: An increasing number of Americans, particularly Americans in Red states, routinely now go around carrying a gun, and many try to get on airplanes carrying a gun, or with one in their carry-on bag or purse. America is a very dangerous country compared with the other developed democracies in the world. As of today, according to the Gun Violence Archive ... ⌘ Read more_
Ron DeSantis Is a Case Study in the Threat of Fascism in the US
Henry A. Giroux , - truthout
_Stephan: I have never met DeSantis but from everything I read, watch, and hear, including from people who do know him, he seems a coarse power-hungry self-involved man utterly lacking in ethics, and with no particular interest in fostering the the wellbeing of the citizens of Florida, who elected him as their governor. A perfect candidate for president for MAGAt wo ... ⌘ Read more_
Conservative donors pour ‘dark money’ into case that could upend US voting law
Peter Stone, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: America is perhaps the most corrupt developed nation in the world. Few Americans seem to truly comprehend just how corrupt the United States has become since the Citizens United decision that legalized bribery although, of course, the Supreme Court didn't use that word. Everything in government, every law, every regulation ... ⌘ Read more_
America’s growing zero-sum economy
Robert Reich, Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, - Robert Reich blog
_Stephan: Robert Reich nails it. Because profit and greed are our only social priorities we now have a large segment of our economy that produces nothing of value. As a result, from our infrastructure, to our healthcare, our education system, childcare, eldercare, or anything else you choose to name we ra ... ⌘ Read more_