# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
#
# Usage:
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/users View list of users and latest twt date.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/twt View all twts.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/mentions?uri=:uri View all mentions for uri.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/conv/:hash View all twts for a conversation subject.
#
# Options:
# uri Filter to show a specific users twts.
# offset Start index for quey.
# limit Count of items to return (going back in time).
#
# twt range = 1 6117
# self = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://feeds.twtxt.net/Schwartzreport/twtxt.txt&offset=5017
# next = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://feeds.twtxt.net/Schwartzreport/twtxt.txt&offset=5117
# prev = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://feeds.twtxt.net/Schwartzreport/twtxt.txt&offset=4917
The Six Months That Short-Circuited the Electric-Vehicle Revolution
Mike Colias, Nora Eckert, and Sean McLain, Reporters - The Wall Street Journal
_Stephan: The EV vehicle market is crashing, and this article gives the details. Why is this happening? In my opinion, because people who buy EVs discover that there is no nationwide system for charging them. Why does this not exist? Because under criminal Trump, in contrast to Republican Dwight Eisenhower's a ... ⌘ Read more_
Child labor remains a key state legislative issue in 2024
Nina Mast, Staff Writer - Economic Policy Institute
_Stephan: Child labor is becoming a significant, although little covered by media, trend. Backed by corporations who want to be able to employ children, and are funding/bribing state legislators across the country, America's decades-long tradition of ending child labor is being weakened. Look at the map at the head of this article. If you live in one of th ... ⌘ Read more_
‘Gun-loving’ GOP governor reportedly seen ‘running scared for his life’ from mass shooting
David McAfee, Senior Editor - Raw Story
_Stephan: Missouri is a state with very poor social wellbeing based on objective facts. Poor Healthcare, closing its libraries, terrible laws to control women, and awful, basically insane, gun laws. A 12-year-old can carry an unlicensed AR-15. Today the voters and the governor lived with the consequences of ... ⌘ Read more_
‘Utter stupidity’: Missouri Republican bids to bring back dueling for senators
Martin Pengelly, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: Just how stupid are the MAGAt Republicans of Missouri? Read this. This is why 18,854 Americans died by gunfire in 2023. America's gun psychosis has warped our entire society and made attending any mass event in the United States potentially dangerous, as the Kansas City Mass Shooting makes clear. Will anything happen to ... ⌘ Read more_
Missouri senators vote against allowing abortions in rape, incest cases
LAUREN SFORZA , Staff Writer - The Hill
_Stephan: It was not my intention when I started to plan SR for Thursday to focus on Missouri. But the wellbeing of this Republican-controlled state is deteriorating so alarmingly and so quickly that when one compares it to what is happening in Texas, Florida, or a dozen other Republican-controlled states one sees The Great Schism Trend play ... ⌘ Read more_
Nearly 15% of Americans don’t believe climate change is real, study finds
Aliya Uteuova, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: The problem with the Republican Party is Republican voters. Here, in this report on who does and does not believe in climate change, you can see why I say this. Our problem as a country is we have a large percentage of the population who are poorly educated barely literate racists. I think what this is telling us is that as a count ... ⌘ Read more_
A Growing Number of Economists Are Joining the Fight to Rein In the Big Banks
C.J. Polychroniou , Contributing Writer - truthout
_Stephan: Here is a very important interview about the grotesque and, in my view the evil wealth inequality that is doing such damage to America's social wellbeing. It also discusses how to reverse this negative trend. One of the key steps is reversing the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. That isn't going to ha ... ⌘ Read more_
Retraction Notice on Mifepristone Paper Used by Judge in His Decision
, Reporter - Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology
_Stephan: You may remember a federal judge in Texas ruling that Mifepristone the drug that induces abortions should be taken off the market citing a peer-reviewed journal published by the academic publisher Sage. It turns out, however, that the paper was misinformation submitted by a group of anti-choice researchers. S ... ⌘ Read more_
Trump and the GOP’s Fascist Rhetoric Has Broad Appeal: Poll
TIM DICKINSON, - Rolling Stone
_Stephan: MAGAt world is largely a White, low education, low literacy, racist christofascist cult. Why? I think one reason that gets almost no discussion is that no living Americans have ever experienced organized massive civil violence in their own town, city, or county; it hasn't happened since the Civil War. I think that is an important reason so many people in the Unite ... ⌘ Read more_
Human activity pushing more than 1 in 5 migratory species toward extinction: UN
Julia Conley, - Alter Net
_Stephan: One of the rarely discussed negative consequences of the materialist paradigm which fails to recognize that all life is interdependent and interconnected in the matrix of consciousness is the greedy stupidity that is driving our fellow beings on earth to extinction. This report suggests we may be awakening to this. I certainly h ... ⌘ Read more_
Majority of Americans think both Biden and Trump are too old to serve second terms
, \\- IPSOS
_Stephan: Personally, I think both of them are too old. I think Trump is a criminal who was the worst president in American history, and he ought to be in prison. Biden has been a good and effective President but will be 86 by the end of a second term, and that is simply too old. My preference would be for a younger progressive president, and my ... ⌘ Read more_
Is The Media Prepared for an Extinction Level Event?**
Clare Malone, Staff Writer - The New Yorker
_Stephan: I think Clare Malone and The New Yorker have published a critically important coherent report on what is happening in the media. The media you grew up with, and read, listened to, and watched is dying, and fact-based journalism is disappearing. Replaced by misinformation, biased reporting, and AI. I have been doing SR since 1991, because as long ago as that I was f ... ⌘ Read more_
Why I Am Now Deeply Worried for America
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist and Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York - The New York Times
_Stephan: Here is Paul Krugman's view of the state of America, which I read after writing my commentary for the previous article. I was very pleased to discover we saw things much the same way. The illiteracy and ignorance of American voters, particularly the MAGAt crowd, and the failu ... ⌘ Read more_
Inside my quest for a climate-friendly bank
PEARL MARVELL, Contributing Writer - Yale Climate Connections
_Stephan: This article explains how you can foster social wellbeing by something you do. Change your bank to one that is not investing and supporting carbon energy. You can click through the article to find a list of banks that meet that standard. If enough people do this the carbon supporting banks will change their policies. This is how individual actions can change a soc ... ⌘ Read more_
Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who pay too little
Edward Helmore / Associated Press ? Agence France-Presse, - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: Peace amongst the developed Democratic nations has prevailed for 75 years since NATO was founded on 4 April 1949. But it is now under threat from criminal Trump. It began when he was President he worked against what is arguably one of the most important peace and mutual securit ... ⌘ Read more_
Evangelicals’ Trump Worship Looks More Like QAnon Every Day
Ron Filipowski, - Daily Beast
_Stephan: Evangelical religiosity in the United States has nothing to do with Christianity except the forms of the meetings, and the words they use. It is a racist fascist political cult that sees, criminal Trump as a new King David. It has nothing to do with Jesus, indeed, it violates almost every one of his teachings. The hypocrisy is so overwhelming that should make an a ... ⌘ Read more_
Texas Abortion Ban’s Ripple Effect on Medical Care for Pregnant People
Kendall Turner , Contributing Writer - truthout / OpenDemocracy
_Stephan: Because of the Republican Party healthcare for women in the United States is third rate. We have the worst maternal mortality, the worst infant mortality in the developed world. If you are a woman in a Republican-controlled state just standard gynecological care can get tricky, and if you are pregnant your lif ... ⌘ Read more_
The Loss of Things I Took for Granted
ADAM KOTSKO, Professosr Shimer Great Books School at North Central College - Slate
_Stephan: For the past week after several weeks of research, I have been writing a research paper on the growing illiteracy of Americans. Here is some data from my paper:_
_1. 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022
2. 54% of adults have a literacy below 6th grade level
3. 45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level
4. 44% of the ... ⌘ Read more_
Study Shows Collapse of Critical Atlantic Current System More Likely Than Thought
Brett Wilkins , Staff Writer - truthout / Common Dreams
_Stephan: As the world centers on genocide in Gaza, and criminal invasion in Ukraine, climate change is gaining momentum and we are about to see major changes like the collapse of the Atlantic Current System, as this article describes. The United States, particularly, has been derelict in its response to ... ⌘ Read more_
The Earth is getting greener. Hurray?**
Benji Jones, Senior Environmental Reporter - Vox
_Stephan: Here is a very complex warning, that I had not previously read about. It makes the fact-based assertion that just making the earth greener in color is not going to solve our problems; it may make some of them worse. This shows how complex it is to effectively deal with climate change, and how poorly humans seem to understand what needs to be done. This is what our politicians ought to be ... ⌘ Read more_
US Court Bans Three Weedkillers and Finds EPA Broke Law in Approval Process
Johnathan Hettinger, Reporter - Reader Supported News
_Stephan: Here, amongst all the bad climate news, is some good news. A federal judge, as described in this report, has reversed a decision by criminal Trump and banned a weedkiller that has done terrible damage all over the United States. Never, ever buy a product manufactured by Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta, the makers o ... ⌘ Read more_
In Red States, the Bill for School Voucher Bait-and-Switch Is Coming Due
JENNIFER C. BERKSHIRE and JACK SCHNEIDER, Education Podcast Host \\| Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst - The Nation
_Stephan: The MAGAt Community, working through the Republican Party which they control, is trying to restructure or even eliminate public schools that students can attend without fees. Why? Because they ... ⌘ Read more_
How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board—And How Parents Took It Back
Kathryn Joyce, Contributing Writer - Vanity Fair
_Stephan: This is the kind of thing that is going on in school districts around the country, and it is not a story that makes America look good. What all this says to me is that unless people who want education to be based on facts not indoctrination in falsehoods, and who support democracy get out and wor ... ⌘ Read more_
Donald Trump and His Boomer Base
James Risen, Contributing Writer - The Intercept
_Stephan: Here, in my opinion, is a very insightful article by a Boomer generation writer about his generation. I am not a Boomer being older, but I lived through and remember the history of that generation, and consider it a tragic one for the reasons James Risen lays out in his exegetic essay. History is not going to treat the Boomers well._
_Illustrations by Anna Kim / Politico_
A ... ⌘ Read more
Prison Lockdowns Are Becoming More Frequent and More Brutal Across the US
Silja J.A. Talvi , Investigative Journalist - truthout
_Stephan: The United States has and has had for decades the largest number of people incarcerated in the world -- roughly 1.8 million men and women at the end of 2023. And the conditions in American prisons are amongst the worst in the developed world and getting worse. Here is a major trend that is going on in U.S. priso ... ⌘ Read more_
A big idea for small farms: How to link agriculture, nutrition and public health
Selena Simmons-Duffin, - npr
_Stephan: Here is some more good news about what is becoming a growing trend in American agriculture. With all the bad news we all see every day this trend is one of the positive wellbeing fostering developments._
_A purple da ... ⌘ Read more_
Getting Wall Street out of our houses
, \\-
_Stephan:_
_Drawing by Robert Reich_
Ask average Americans why they’re grumpy — why, for example, they don’t credit Joe Biden with a good economy — and lack of affordable housing comes high on the list.
An important but little understood reason home prices and rents have skyrocketed across America — causing so many young people, in ... ⌘ Read more
Joe Biden just did the rarest thing in US politics: he stood up to the oil industry
Bill McKibben, Contributing Writer / Founder of Third Act - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: Bravo Joe Biden. Finally, as this article describes, someone has stood up to the petroleum industry. A step towards moving out of the carbon era. Will most Americans know about or appreciate this? I doubt it, and that ignorance is part of America's ongoing political tr ... ⌘ Read more_
As Use of A.I. Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
DAVID BERREBY , Editor - the Robots for the Rest of Us - Yale Environment 360
_Stephan: The AI revolution that is taking place, in my opinion, is not receiving anything like the attention from Congress that it should command. The United States Congress, particularly the House, reminds me of a kindergarten of spoiled brats arguing over who gets to get on the rocking horse. It is the worst most dysfun ... ⌘ Read more_
1 in 10 Premature U.S. Births Linked to Chemicals Found in Common Plastic Products
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, Contributing Writer - EcoWatch
_Stephan: Here we go again. Medicine has known for decades that what are called Phthalates produce negative health effects. But they are oh-so profitable for the plastics industry. Yet one more example of profit being more important to an industry than fostering wellbeing because the people who lead the ... ⌘ Read more_
World’s first year-long breach of key 1.5C warming limit
Mark Poynting, Reporter - BBC (U.K.)
_Stephan: Here is the latest report on global warming. It is not a happy report, and it makes it clear that unless humanity takes climate change far more seriously than it has we are in for catastrophe. "Doom is not inevitable," we are told but it is getting much closer._
_When the US targeted Russia’s oligarchs after the invasion of Ukraine, the trail of assets kept leading to our own backyard. Not only had our nation become a haven for shady foreign money, but we were also incubating a familiar class of yacht-owning, industry-dominating, resource-extracting billionair ... ⌘ Read more_
DeSantis and Florida GOP Targeting Kids With Cuts to Food, Healthcare, Work Protections
David Badash, - New Civil Rights Movement
_Stephan: The voters of Florida are getting what they voted for, a state government reconstructed by their MAGAt Republican governor and legislature to harm hundreds or thousands of children, the poor, the elderly, females, and the LGBTQ community. Florida is becoming a sad failed state. Oh, I should also me ... ⌘ Read more_
Shock video shows Atlas robot training for automotive work
Loz Blain, - New Atlas / Boston Dynamics
_Stephan: This, I think, is an early sign of a trend that is going to radically change societies around the world, and is going to affect literally billions of people. AI and robots are going to change how everything is manufactured, which is going to radically change employment. What are those workers displaced by AI and robots going to do. Few in this dysfunctio ... ⌘ Read more_
How Forests Heal Us
H. PATRICIA HYNES , - truthdig
_Stephan: Spending time in forests and wilderness has been a very big part of my life, for exactly the reasons this article describes. Do yourself a favor. Find some wooded trails in a park and a couple times a week go for a walk in the woods. It will change your perspective and your sense of wellbeing._
Korean scientists have confirmed that walking through forest areas improved older women’s blood pressure, lung capacity and elasticity in their art ... ⌘ Read more
After a Decade of Planning, New York City Is Raising Its Shoreline
ANDREW S. LEWIS, Contributing Writer - Yale Environment 360
_Stephan: Here is some good news, an early report on a critically important emerging coastal trend. American coastal cities are beginning to learn something the Dutch have long recognized and practiced. What is now called "living with water." The sea is rising, and it is too late to do much about that. But while many politicians ba ... ⌘ Read more_
Move to sustainable food systems could bring $10tn benefits a year, study finds
Jonathan Watts, Global Environment Editor - The Guardian (U.K.)
_Stephan: As I have been telling readers for decades, all life is interconnected and interdependent. Here finally is data proving this, and giving humanity an alternative to industrial chemical monoculture agriculture. When you interact with anyone in Congress, ask them what they are doing to support t ... ⌘ Read more_
Pope Francis Rebellion Grows as 90 Catholic Figures Sign Scathing Letter
James Bickerton, Reporter - Newsweek
_Stephan: Although it still has millions of followers, with the exception of Pope John XXIII, I have always thought of the Roman Catholic Church as a deeply corrupt, and sexually perverted institution. Now the Church has a new enlightened leader in Pope Francis who is trying to bring the institution he leads into the 21st Century. Not surpri ... ⌘ Read more_
Inflation has fallen. Why are groceries still so expensive?**
Abha Bhattarai and Jeff Stein, Economic Correspondent \\| White House Economics Reporter - The Washington Post
_Stephan: Most Americans as the polls indicate have very little understanding of how the government works, or what drives the economy. Large numbers can't even name the three branches of the government, many can't read or do math above a 5th or 6th grade level. What they do know is grocery prices ... ⌘ Read more_
‘The situation has become appalling’: fake scientific papers push research credibility to crisis point
, \\-
_Stephan:_
_Fake research papers could jeopardize drug development, warn academics. Credit: Westend61 / Getty_
Tens of thousands of bogus research papers are being published in jour ... ⌘ Read more
Idaho librarians contemplate leaving work–and the state–as a result of proposed legislation
Mia Maldonado, Reporter - Idaho Capital Sun / The Guardiand
_Stephan: Idaho, like many Republican-controlled states, is a state whose social wellbeing is in decline. Female medical care is greatly diminished. In some areas there are no longer any OB/GYN specialists. In one city, Sandypoint, the only hospital in town no longer offers Obstet ... ⌘ Read more_
Abbott Appointee Slams Brakes on American Indian / Native Studies Course
Josephine Lee, David McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow - Texas Observer
_Stephan: MAGAt Republicans are purposely and deliberatively willfully ignorant. They do not want children to be taught factual history, they want them to be indoctrinated into the pseudo-history they want Americans to believe. Texas, with its MAGAt Republican Governor Greg Abbott, is one of the strongest ... ⌘ Read more_
Ted Cruz wants lawmakers to get security escorts through America’s airports
ORIANA PAWLYK, Staff Writer - Politico
_Stephan: How interesting. The Republicans having stirred up civil violence to a level never before seen are now becoming frightened by what they have done. They also want to keep their travels secret from the public. And who reveals this? None other than MAGAt Republican Senator Ted Cruz. It is a case of reaping what you sow, and so ... ⌘ Read more_
Threats and Intimidation Are Distorting U.S. Democracy
Michael Waldman, - Brennan Center for Justice
_Stephan: The outcome of the primary in South Carolina I was thought was heartening, and this essay by Michael Waldman also gives me hope that a democracy movement is arising that is pushing back against the White supremacist, sexism, hate, entitlement, and resentment that so clouds our present day. Maybe there are enough of us to push back against the MAGAt scum and ... ⌘ Read more_
This ancient material is displacing plastics and creating a billion-dollar industry
Marta Vidal, Reporter - The Washington Post
_Stephan: Here is some good news, but the main reason I picked this report is that it shows something I think is very important. A green approach to solving a need previously met by plastics, the worst pollutant in the world. This is the kind of approach we should think about with all manner of issues like this._ ... ⌘ Read more
Republican Hits Clarence Thomas With Lawsuit Over His Taxes
Katherine Fung, Staff Writer - Newsweek
_Stephan: This is a very interesting development. As the article describes a Republican is suing MAGAt Associate Justice Clarence Thomas for tax fraud. It is going to be very interesting to see how this develops._
MAGAt _Associate Supreme Court Justice Clare ... ⌘ Read more_
U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, much better than expected
Jeff Cox, Reporters - CNBC
_Stephan: I was really struck by the power of misinformation on social media. I watched a series of interviews with young Black men who were asked whether they favored criminal Trump or President Biden. A surprising number favored Trump. How could any Black person favor Trump, I thought? He is a blatant racist who did nothing for anyone but privileged Whites. ... ⌘ Read more_
U.S. Corporations Are Openly Trying to Destroy Core Public Institutions. We Should All Be Worried.
Jules Roscoe, - Vice News
_Stephan: It is amazing to me that President Biden has done as well as he has. We have a Congress, particularly a House, that is essentially dysfunctional, filled with nasty little trolls who serve only their own interests. Our Supreme Court has been deliberately rigged to support the rich and the corpo ... ⌘ Read more_
Charles Koch’s Sinister Attack on Regulation
PHIL MATTERA, - truthdig
_Stephan: Here is further detail about how the oligarchs are using the rigged Supreme Court to take control of the country. As I keep telling you, there is only one way we are going to get out of becoming a christofascist oligarch controlled nation, and that is to vote while voting still matters. And to vote only for Democrats. The corporate media won't touch these trends, but the evidence for what I am sayi ... ⌘ Read more_
Largest US Solar Storage Project Goes Online – Enough for a Quarter Million Homes
Andy Corbley, GOOD NEWS NETWORK -
_Stephan: Here is some good news about how, in spite of the Congressional bribery and all the rest of it, we are still slowly making our way out of the carbon era. Here is the evidence._
_Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage proje ... ⌘ Read more_
Fossil Fuel Industry Was Aware of Climate Threats as Early as 1954, New Documents Reveal
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, Contributing Writer - EcoWatch
_Stephan: This article describes the most perverse greed in modern history. It illustrates exactly what is wrong with American capitalism which places profit above all other considerations. Let me be clear. I am not against capitalism and profit-making. I simply think that the facts are clea ... ⌘ Read more_
Haley says states have the right to secede
BRAKKTON BOOKER, Staff Writer - Politico
_Stephan: I don't think Nikki Haley has any chance of becoming the Republican nominee unless one of the slower-than-slugs courts convicts criminal Trump, and the issue suddenly becomes: will he serve prison time or will it be house arrest, and in either case he is rendered unable to campaign. But that apart Haley makes it clear, as this article describes, that she is just another MAGAt cultist w ... ⌘ Read more_
Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis
Alec MacGillis, Reporter - ProPublica
_Stephan: Here is the factual future of the pandemic generation, and the United States as a nation. We are becoming the least educated, least literate, least numerate, least employable, and least competent country in the developed world. We have a crisis that, as this article describes in detail, almost no one in politics is even thinking about, let alone doing anything about: Large n ... ⌘ Read more_
Deepfake Porn Is Out of Control
Matt Burgess, Senior Writer - Wired
_Stephan: About a week ago I got an email from a reader who had a friend whose daughter had someone create and post to social media a series of fake porn images of the girl, in which her face had been transferred onto the body of a woman whose body shape and hair color were similar. She said her friend thought it was done by a boy in the girl's school when she turned him down for a date, but no one could prove it, and he ... ⌘ Read more_
Silence Is Dangerous in the Current Age of Rising Fascism in the US
Henry A. Giroux , McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. - truthout
_Stephan: I listened to interviews with a number of Trumpers over the past few days, from teenagers to older men and women, and was very saddened by what I heard. Unless criminal Trump a ... ⌘ Read more_
4 Million People Killed by Climate Change Since 2000
ZOYA TEIRSTEIN , Staff Writer - truthdig
_Stephan: I have been warning you for years about the death and misery that would arise caused by climate change. The Republican Party has been blocking significant policies to prepare for climate change, and about a third of MAGAt world still doesn't really accept the implications of climate change. Well, here is a first report. And this is just the very beginning._
Scientists Discover Stunning Evidence of Multiple Lost Prehistoric Societies
Mirjam Guesgen, - Vice News
_Stephan: There is so much bad news, that I thought readers might be interested in these new archaeological discoveries that rewrite the history of our ancient past. We think we have it all worked out, only to have new discoveries rewrite the book._
_Stephan: I think it is time that we admit that about a third of the White population in the U.S. neither understand nor want America to be an equalitarian democracy -- where all people are created equal. Instead they are Republicans, which means they are White nationalist fascists who see women as a subordinate specie ... ⌘ Read more_
Republicans now say it might be okay to ignore the Supreme Court
Aaron Blake , - Microsoft Start / The Washington Post
_Stephan: When I tell you that the Republican Party is trying to destroy America's over two-century-old democracy I want to be clear that I am not exaggerating. Here is yet another example of what I mean. If you care about democracy, if your family and friends care about democracy you must all vote for only Democrats. Why? Because if you d ... ⌘ Read more_
Internet Outage
, \\-
_Stephan:_
Due to an Internet failure at Stephan’s office, there are only two stories in today’s edition. ⌘ Read more
China Installed More Solar Panels Last Year Than the U.S. Has in Total
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, Contributing Writer - EcoWatch
_Stephan: Because of the Great Schism Trend that is rendering Congress dysfunctional and tearing America apart, we are falling further and further behind the other developed nations. It isn't just China that is leaving us behind, in everything from healthcare, to literacy, to the transition out of the carbon era, we are second ... ⌘ Read more_
Measles outbreaks a wake-up call for the unvaccinated
JOSEPH CHOI , Staff Writer - The Hill
_Stephan: I am seeing more and more reports on measles. If you have an unvaccinated child, or are yourself unvaccinated, I urge you to rectify that. I have had both kinds of measles. Not something I would like to have again, and people die from catching the long form. Also measles are very contagious. Someone who catches measles and comes into contact with someone unvaccinated ... ⌘ Read more_
Two Warring Visions of AI
Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Information and Communication at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. - Prospect
_Stephan: Here is a good exegetic essay on the current debate about AI and its effect on humanity. Well-reasoned and detailed but, like the entire AI debate based on materialism. It does not recognize that consciousness is causal and fundamental and that, as Max Planck the founder of quantum mechanics said in 1931, "spacetime aris ... ⌘ Read more_
Where billions of cicadas will emerge this spring (and over the next decade), in one map
Brian Resnick, Science and Health Editor - Vox
_Stephan: This is what is coming this Spring. Be prepared._
_Credit US Forest Service via Wikimedia Commons_
For 17 years, cicadas do very little. They hang out in the ground, sucking sugar out ... ⌘ Read more
Meet the communities trying to take over their local electric utility
Akielly Hu, News and Politics Fellow - Grist
_Stephan: Here is what I consider to be good news. I believe public utilities should be owned by the people they serve with wellbeing of those people their first priority, not maximum profit. And where it has been tried it always works better._
 for almost a decade now is coming to some kind of crisis, an ... ⌘ Read more_
Covid, Year Four
Gregg Gonsalves, Staff Writer - The Nation.
_Stephan: If you think Covid is over you are wrong, as this article spells out. More than that if you don't realize and acknowledge how badly Republican state governments have dealt with this pandemic than you are either willfully ignorant or just lying to yourself. Covid is still a major threat and the Republican governance, the anti-vaxxer movement, from RFK, Jr to The horrible DeSantis' quack Surgeon General, have killed hundred of thousands ... ⌘ Read more_
Measles outbreaks are occurring in some pockets of the US. Here’s why doctors are concerned
Mary Keatos and Youri Benadjaoud, Reporters - abc News
_Stephan: The World Health Organization (WHO) has just issued a fresh warning over measles after an almost 45-fold rise in cases across Europe. Epidemologists from the organization said Europe is seeing an “alarming rise” in the spread of the disease, which has “accelerated in recent mont ... ⌘ Read more_
States With Abortion Bans Saw Over 65k Rape-Related Pregnancies After “Dobbs”**
Sharon Zang, News Writer - Truthout
_Stephan: If you are a woman, or girl in a Republican-controlled state with the usual abortion ban that party advocates, and you are raped and become pregnant, you will probably be one of the over 65,000 women or girls who this year had to bear the child of that rape and have your life changed forever. It amazes me that a woman in a R ... ⌘ Read more_
The End of Europe As We Know It?**
John Feffer, Contributing Writer - truthdig
_Stephan: The attempt of the MAGAt christofascists to take over the United States is not a singleton event, it is part of an international trend. Around the world, this is happening, and Europe is part of the trend, as this article describes. Because of fear, manipulated by misinformation, the future of humanity is beginning to look much darker, and climate change is going to dramatically affect this change._
![] ... ⌘ Read more
The Corporate Media’s Deceptive Coverage of Trump’s GOP Primary Dominance
Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley - Common Dreams
_Stephan: I have noticed the same thing Robert Reich has. Corporate media is grossly misreporting what is happened in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. I read it as Reich does, although I see it as even worse. Trump is winning but nothing in the numbe ... ⌘ Read more_
‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-DEI Crusade
Nicholas Confessore, Reporter - RSN / The New York Times
_Stephan: This is an excellent article explaining how the anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement came into existence and grew to thrive. Particularly in Republican-controlled states, this movement is dismantling fact-based education from K to 12 as well as in colleges and universities. It is a well-funded by billionaires attempt to indoctrinate ch ... ⌘ Read more_
Fear of Discrimination Deters LGBT Americans From Fostering
SARAH FIORONI and ANDREA MALEK ASH, Researchers - The Gallup Organization
_Stephan: MAGAt world is condemning millions of boys and girls to live their lives in impersonal institutions rather than having caring parents who love them. It is part of the anti-DEI movement and I thinking is disgusting and evil._
_Stephan: The Guardian newspaper, which is owned by a foundation not a corporation, is finally willing to say that which is not said by anyone on American corporate media. Wealth inequality is one of the trends tearing the United States apart. I have been saying this for years, but few seem to be listening. Sadly, ... ⌘ Read more_
Drought Cuts Panama Canal Traffic by 36%**
Paige Bennett, Contributing Writer - EcoWatch
_Stephan: Between the Houthi violence in the Red Sea and the lack of water in the Panama Canal, shipping companies are having to reroute their ships around South Africa. That adds at least another week to transport time, as well as tens of thousands of dollars in costs. Expect prices on anything that has to be shipped by sea to go up significantly in 2024._
In the midst of the hacking attack on my personal computer, and the fact that I have to go in for surgery on Friday, as well as all the evil and madness I see every day as I do research for the daily SR and the weekly SR podcast, which leaves me very p ... ⌘ Read more
Big Oil Launches Propaganda Campaign to Thwart US Energy Transition
Dharna Noor, Staff Writer - Mother Jones
_Stephan:_
_Double Eagle Energy Oil Rig, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Midland, Texas. Credit: Tony Gutierrez / AP_
TheAmerican Oil Lobby launched an eight-figure media campaign this week promoting the idea that fossil fuels are “vital” ... ⌘ Read more
Republicans put U.S. species on ‘direct path to extinction’ with poison pill riders
Editorial Staff Common Dreams, - Raw Story
_Stephan: Would you please do me a service? Work to get 10 friends to join you, and ask them to get 10 of their friends to join as well and vote only for Democrats. We have to see that the Democrats win the Presidency and win a majority in both Houses. This is not about partisanship. The Democrats have all kinds of ... ⌘ Read more_