Here’s what happens when the world’s richest man buys the presidency
Sabrina Haake,  Contributing Writer  -  Raw Story

_Stephan: Here are the four things I think citizens should be demanding, with tens of millions going into the streets across the nation to demonstrate for them. First, the Supreme Court Citizens United decision has to be rendered meaningless by the Congress passing legislation that can overcome Trump’s veto. Second, Congress should pass le … ⌘ Read more

For Gen Alpha, learning to read is becoming a privilege
Jane Ridley and Ayelet Sheffey,    -  msn

_Stephan: Literacy is essential to maintain a healthy democracy, and literacy is declining. Consider this: 54% of Americans can’t read and comprehend anything above 6th grade reading, and 43% can’t read and comprehend about 5th grade level. Even more alarming, as this report lays out, Gen Alpha, kids 2 to 12, aren’t even very interested in learning to read anything more com … ⌘ Read more

‘World’s first’ grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant announced in the US
Laura Paddison,    -  CNN

Stephan: Here is a first report on a new fusion technology that may become a very significant power technology to help us leave the carbon era.

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Insurers Are Dictating Care and We’re Sick, Sick, Sick of It!
Adam Brown,  Emergency Care Physician, Entrepreneur, and Healthcare Executive.  -  MedPage Today

_Stephan: In order to create change in any culture it requires 10% or more of the community, state, culture to change its consciousness about something. It can be good or bad. Trump got elected because there was a critical coherence of consciousness centered on fear, genderism, racism, and resentment. To change … ⌘ Read more

More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility
Jeffrey M. Jones,  Staff Researcher  -  The Gallup Organization

_Stephan: Here is another aspect of the changing coherence consensus emerging on healthcare. Note particularly the difference by political party. Republican voters simply do not understand that they are going to be severely impacted by the chaos Trump, Musk, and Johnson are trying to get the country into. That said, I think a new coherence … ⌘ Read more

Nuclear bunker sales increase, despite expert warnings they aren’t going to provide protection
MARTHA MENDOZA,  Reporter  -  Associated Press

_Stephan: Ostensibly this is a story about nuclear war bunkers, but I don’t think that is what is really driving this trend in the rich building bunkers. As the article points out and as any one able to think about nuclear war rationally, should realize a nuclear bunker may keep you alive a fe … ⌘ Read more

The Crumbling Foundation of America’s Military
Mark Bowden,  Contributing Writer  -  The Atlantic | msn

_Stephan: This is the best assessment I have ever read about how a military-industrial complex so expensive that it costs you and me almost a trillion dollars a year, more than the nine next biggest military national budgets combined, yet cannot meet the needs of even the Ukrainians because of poor planning and corporate greed. Imagine what those billions properly spent could … ⌘ Read more

Ferries, Planes Line up to Purchase ‘Solar Diesel’ a Cutting-Edge Low-Carbon Fuel from Swiss Start-up
Andy Corbley,  Staff Writer  -  Good News Network

Stephan: I spent several hours of my afternoon looking for good news trends, because I wanted to do at least one edition this week that was positive. It wasn’t easy because this is not a happy time in human history. But I was able to find these.

![](https://www.goodnewsnetwo … ⌘ Read more

Today’s EV Batteries May Last Up to 40% Longer Than Expected, Study Finds
Paige Bennett,  Contributing Writer  -  EcoWatch

_Stephan: Here is some good news about EV batteries. If you drive an EV you will find this reassuring that your batteries  will last longer than you were originally told they would which may save you a lot of money. This means that EVs are cheaper than was thought compared to the cost of buying and operating a petroleum-powered vehic … ⌘ Read more

Republicans cry foul with some judges ‘unretiring’ before second Trump term
Anthony Adragna,  Staff Writer  -  Politico

Stephan: The Republicans have been trying to take over the nation’s judiciary for several decades led by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society. This “unretiring” of Democratic judges, blocks Trump as this article describes. This isn’t getting much media attention, but it is going to have an interesting positive effect.

![](https: … ⌘ Read more

New Low-Carbon Concrete Outperforms Today’s Highway Material While Cutting Costs in Minnesota
Andy Corbley,    -  Good News Network

Stephan: Throughout the country the roads need to be rebuilt, and this new technology may provide resurfacing that is cheaper and less polluting, and that is good news.

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Gerrymandering Decided House Control
Michael Li,  Staff Writer  -  Brennan Center for Justice

_Stephan: We are watching the United States democracy being destroyed, and a pseudo-election process being crafted to replace an honest democracy election.  By March, I predict, the United States will no longer be a democracy; it will have become  a larger version of Hungary, Turkey, and Russia. Within a year all the things the oligarchs seek, reduced taxes on the rich, reduced social support fo … ⌘ Read more

How white supremacy prevented America from having single-payer healthcare
Thom Hartmann,  Commentator  -  Raw Story

Stephan: Thom Hartmann is historically and factually correct. Pay attention to the points he makes. You and I are no more than docile chickens herded by billionaires and the illness-profit corporations they control, and no better cared for than those industrially farmed birds

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/ … ⌘ Read more

Dr. Oz Exposed for Colossal, Multimillion Dollar Conflict of Interest
Edith Olmsted,  Staff Writer  -  The New Republic

_Stephan: Out of half a dozen stories I saw today reporting the organized corruption that constitutes the incoming Trump administration, I picked this one because it is going to directly affect your life if you are a recipient of Medicare of Medicaid. But I thought I should also mention that Elon Musk spent $277 million buying Trump the Pr … ⌘ Read more

Donald Trump Controls a Publicly Traded Company. Now He Will Pick Its Regulator.
Justin Elliott, Robert Faturechi and Alex Mierjeski,  Staff Writers  -  ProPublica

_Stephan: After having tea with my wife, and debriefing with her about how hard it is becoming to do SR every day because of how depressing it is to report on what is happening to the United States, I decided I did need to do this corruption story because, I think it finally settles th … ⌘ Read more

The Planet’s Largest Iceberg Is on the Loose
Margherita Bassi,  Staff Writer  -  Gizmodo

_Stephan: Climate change is significantly altering the poles. An iceberg bigger than Rhode Island – 1,418-square-miles – has broken free in the Antarctic and is now floating in the Southern Ocean about halfway between the southeast coast of Argentina and the Antarctic continent but more than 1,200 miles east.    It will pass by South Georgia Island a British overseas territory inhabited only … ⌘ Read more

Bernie Sanders Says Defeating Oligarchy Now Most Urgent Issue
Jon Queally,  Managing Editor  -  Common Dreams

_Stephan: I was a Bernie Sanders delegate for the 2020 Presidential election and I wish he had won, we would be a very different much better country if he had. Now he is crying out to get the attention of Americans exclaiming about the demise of democracy in the United States. What surprises me is the docile response of Americans. I have been studying how … ⌘ Read more

UK Government Announces Plan for 95% Green Energy by 2030
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes,  Staff Writer  -  EcoWatch

Stephan: The science on the negative effects of carbon energy on Earth’s wellbeing is irrefutable. But still, the United States under the worst President in the country’s history is preparing to emphasize its commitment to carbon energy. In contrast the rest of the world’s democracies are going in the opposite direction. Here is the latest from the U.K.

![ … ⌘ Read more

As Trump escalates war on facts, scientists warn “we are going to get screwed”
Matthew Rozsa,  Staff Writer  -  Salon

_Stephan: So many Americans, including a large number of Republican Congress members, led by Trump, are so poorly educated that they have become convinced environmental science is some kind of conspiracy, not the actual truth. Every scientist I know, including myself, sees this Trumpian war on facts as an ongoing catastrophe for Amer … ⌘ Read more

Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Have Subsidized Project 2025 and Climate Denial
Chuck Collins ,  Staff Writer  -  truthout

Stephan: As this report describes, because the bribery of politicians is legal in the United States, and MAGAt billionaires and the corporations they control, have also rigged the nonprofit system, your money and mine is paying for the degradation of our own wellbeing. We are nation defined by corruption.

![](https://www.schwar … ⌘ Read more

Texas’ abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine
,    -  Associated Press | CNN

Stephan: The White male christofascist Republicans that the people of Texas chose to put into office want women to get the message: “You are a subordinate gender that is supposed to be obedient. We control your body, and you better listen and learn that.”

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp- … ⌘ Read more

Americans spend more time living with diseases than rest of world, study shows
Maya Yang,  Reporter  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: ”Americans spend more time living with diseases than people from other countries, according to a new study.” What more needs to be said?  To quote from the JAMA paper: “Gains in life expectancy across global populations are recognized as a societal achievement.[1](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/ful … ⌘ Read more

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism
Annie Waldman,  Staff Writer  -  ProPublica | G

_Stephan: Another horror story about the American illness profit system and the UnitedHealthcare/Optum conglomerate. I understand why Congress does nothing to remedy this abuse; they are mostly whores owned by illness-profit corporations. What I don’t understand is why millions of Americans voted for … ⌘ Read more

Here’s what happens when the world’s richest man buys the presidency
Sabrina Haake,  Contributing Writer  -  Raw Story

_Stephan: Here is what I think is a very insightful commentary on what is going to happen starting 21 January when the United STates becomes an authoritarian oligarchy instead of a democracy. All the weak-minded Trump voters are about to discover what they have done to themselves as they, and the rest of us, experience the worst and most bia … ⌘ Read more

‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research
Ian Sample ,  Science Editor  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

Stephan: You’ve probably never heard of “mirror life” microbes. I had heard of them, and read a paper on on this research, but had not understood the threat to all life on Earth they represented. We are about to see if greed trumps the safety of life on this planet.

![](https://www … ⌘ Read more

Deepfake Pornography Targeting Members of Congress
,    -  American Sunlight Project

_Stephan: The internet has become a sewer, and unbelievably – to me at least – nearly one in six women members of Congress have deepfake pornography images of themselves floating around social media sites.  I have already done several reports on schoolgirls and their classmates discovering fake nude and fake porn images of themselves; it is a particular problem in the 7th and 8th grades. … ⌘ Read more

‘Our big fear’: How Trump’s plan to privatize USPS could have ‘disastrous consequences’
Carl Gibson,  AlterNet Staff Writer  -  Raw Story | AlterNet

_Stephan: Since he took office as Postmaster General, I have been reporting in SR about Louis DeJoy’s destruction of the Postal Service. It is much slower and more expensive than it was when he came into office. I consider it one of the major failures of the Biden administration and the Republica … ⌘ Read more

Kennedy’s lawyer has asked the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine
Brenda Goodman,  Reporter  -  CNN Health

_Stephan: Former heroin addict Robert Kennedy, Jr. had a worm in his brain, and I think the worm won. Perhaps that explains a level of stupidity, unlike anything I have ever seen in politics. Anti-vaxxer Kenedy and his lawyer Aron Siri have literally killed hundreds of thousands who followed their anti-vaxxerism. And Kennedy is t … ⌘ Read more

‘The next recession starts here’: Trump team weighs abolishing bank regulators
Jake Johnson,  Senior Editor  -  AlterNet

_Stephan: The Trump authoritarian oligarchy is trying to take the United States back to the 1930s before there were government regulations that protected the general population from exploitation by the uber-rich the the corporations they controlled. I would not be surprised to see a recession by next summer, and people losing all … ⌘ Read more

Ontario Threatens to Cut Off U.S. Energy Exports If Trump Makes Good on Tariff Plan
Janna Brancolin,  Staff Writer  -  msn | The Daily Beast

Stephan: I think the U.S. economy will be devastated if the stupidity of Trump’s tariff plan is enacted. Here is an aspect of the Canadian response that neither Trump nor his congressional submissive seems to have even considered.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screensh … ⌘ Read more

‘Burdened by diseases’: Study details what’s wrong with American healthcare
Alex Henderson,    -  AlterNet

Stephan: It is interesting to note that the murder of the Healthcare CEO has finally stimulated people to think and talk about our dreadul illness profit system. Here is some very interesting data.

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The murder … ⌘ Read more

Trump’s policies ‘should be turning off farmers’ – why did so many vote for him?
Stephen Starr,  Staff Writer  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: As I read or watch American journalism media I have been struck by the interviews with Trump voters who, if Trump does what he says he will, are going to be severely impacted, but don’t seem to think that will happen to them. It is very weird, but it seems to be the case. So by March, I think we are going to … ⌘ Read more

Bipartisan Plan to “Reform” Energy Permits Is a Brazen Giveaway to Fossil Fuels
Basav Sen ,  Staff Writer  -  truthout

_Stephan: Jennifer M. Granholm, the Secretary of Energy under Biden has done everything she can to  move the United States through its transition out of the Carbon era. She has not always had the support of Biden and others in his administration, because the petroleum industries pour so many millions into the American government t … ⌘ Read more

Tech billionaires prepare to invade the Pentagon
Paul McLeary and Jack Detsch,  Staff Writers  -  Politico

_Stephan: The transition of the United States into an authoritarian oligarchy is speeding up. By the inauguration which, I think it should be noted, is being paid for with million-dollar donations from billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg, I think the transition will all be in place. The Republican Party is no longer interested in democracy, and the Democrat Party leade … ⌘ Read more

Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US
Todd Richmond,  Reporter  -  Associated Press

_Stephan: This is good news about a bad situation. The annual Monarch butterfly migration that has been going on for thousands of years in the past several decades was seriously endangered by human greed and stupidity. But these iconic butterflies have now been placed on the endangered species list and will receive protection as described in this article. … ⌘ Read more

Billions of People Could Benefit from This Breakthrough in Desalination That Ensures Freshwater for the World
Andy Corbley,  Staff Writer  -  Good News Network

Stephan: Here is some good news that will positively affect the lives of millions of people worldwide, and give them enough water to drink.

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‘Grim place’: Famed NY Times columnist unleashes blame in bleak farewell column
Adam Nichols,  Editor-in-Chief  -  Raw Story

_Stephan: I have always had great respect for Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, and I share his views about the current situation and what we are becoming. I can’t use his full column because it is behind a paywall. But this will give you his thinking. Every scholar I know who studies the current economics and geopolitics agrees. … ⌘ Read more

Increased Christianity in schools opens the door to Satanic Temple education programs
Lexi Lonas Cochran ,  Staff Writer  -  The Hill

Stephan: I doubt the evangelical MAGAt community as they worked to Christianize public education in the United States anticipated that their parody, the Satanic movement would use the same path they are creating against them. But they are.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/imag … ⌘ Read more

The great disruption: Climate change provoked migration and its effect on American healthcare
Stephan A. Schwartz,  Editor  -  Schwartzreport

_Stephan: Trump is turning the United States from a democracy into an authoritarian plutocracy. I think most of the uber-rich he has appointed will be confirmed by the Republican Congressional whores. If this does happen I predict that by March the American healthcare system will be turned o … ⌘ Read more

Giant Underground ‘Batteries’ Are Shaping the Future of Renewable Energy Storage
,    -  Gizmodo

Stephan: This is an important development in the transition out of the carbon era, how to store excess electric power until it is needed. Here is some good news that also explains the problem which few Americans, including journalists and politicians seem to understand.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024- … ⌘ Read more

Weakened US public broadcasters will fight for their lives in 2025
Max Tani,  Staff Writer  -  SEMAFOR

_Stephan: If you watch PBS/NPR, or listen to it on the radio as my wife and I do, I am sure you have noticed a significant increase in time spent on fundraising. This article describes why this is happening, and where it is headed. The Trump autocracy and their Republican servants in Congress, I think, and this article confirms, are going to try and cut off … ⌘ Read more

College enrollment is falling at a ‘concerning’ rate, new data reveals
Erum Salam,  Staff Writer  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

Stephan: The United States population is becoming a notably less educated, and I mean from kindergarten to college. Here is the latest on this trend.

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Jayapal, Sanders Offer Answer to Elon Musk’s Healthcare Cost Question
Julia Conley,  Staff Writer  -  Common Dreams

_Stephan: I see endless nonsense spewing out of MAGAt Republican mouths about how universal birthright single-payer healthcare is socialist or communist. When you hear, see, or read someone saying that the first thing to know is they have no idea what communism or socialism actually is. The second thing to know is that based on objectively ver … ⌘ Read more

‘Nonsense’: Historians balk at Trump ending birthright citizenship with executive order
Alex Henderson,  Staff Writer  -  AlterNet

_Stephan: There are probably people reading this who became American citizens by being born in the United States, in accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution on July 9, 1868. The Fourteenth Amendment and what is known as the Citizenship Clause which states: “All persons born or naturalized in … ⌘ Read more

Drylands now make up 40% of land on Earth, excluding Antarctica, study says
Fiona Harvey,  Environment Editor  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: To quote from this report, “Barron Orr, chief scientist at UNCCD, said: ‘For the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world, with potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even clos … ⌘ Read more

Arctic Refuge Is One of Earth’s Last Truly Wild Places. Trump Calls it America’s “Biggest Oil Farm.”
Maanvi Singh,  Staff Writer  -  Mother Jones

_Stephan: The Trump authoritarian oligarchy is going the significantly increase the use of carbon energy and the destruction of the environment. Nothing I am seeing in this transition period suggests the future holds much good news. Quite the contrary. I think by March we are going to se … ⌘ Read more

Wealth of World’s Richest Has Doubled Over Past Decade
Julia Conley,  Staff Writer  -  Common Dreams

_Stephan: Yet another fact shows that the United States has become a neo-medieval oligarchy. This was all done by the Republicans rigging the tax code to favor the rich grotesquely. Think about it: “The wealth of the four richest people in the U.S.—Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg—has hit $1 tril … ⌘ Read more

Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System
David Blumenthal, Evan D. Gumas, Arnav Shah, Munira Z. Gunja, and Reginald D. Williams II,    -  The Commonwealth Fund

_Stephan: As we prepare to be a nation whose healthcare, already the worst amongst the developed democracies, is about to be taken over by incompetent weirdos, I thought it might be useful to readers to see how really bad the American illness profit system already is. By March I … ⌘ Read more

Nine States Poised To Shrink Medicaid Coverage
Phil Galewitz,  Senior Correspondent  -  Kaiser Family Foundation | Truthdig

_Stephan: The Republican Congressional prostitutes whose services have been rented out to the illness profit system corporations are just waiting for Trump to come into power so that they can cut Medicaid. As this article describes, this would leave over 3 million Americans, many of whom voted for Trump, without health coverage.  If you live in any of the … ⌘ Read more

Choosing Empathy Is Critical to Democracy
C. Daryl Cameron,  Associate Professor of Psychology, Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, and Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State University.  -  Scientific American

_Stephan: You have heard me talking about why fostering wellbeing by always choosing in every decision you make the option that is the most compassionate, life-affirming, and fostering of wellbeing is both the best choice … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

The news is getting ever bleaker and it is getting more complicated to get fact-based data. I want to thank all who have been sending in monthly contributions or who have sent in support over the past several days. This makes a great deal of difference to me.

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out whether a potential advertiser fosters wellbeing. Over the years i … ⌘ Read more

Trump’s ‘Government of Billionaires’ Boasts Combined Wealth Greater Than New Zealand’s GDP
David Gilmour,  Staff Writer  -  msn | MEDIAite

_Stephan: On January 20th we will officially become a government of oligarchs, grifters, and sex offenders, headed by a multiple felon, rapist, and traitor.  Welcome to the USA. That may sound like a politically partisan statement, but it isn’t. It is a simple statement of fact. One can only imagine h … ⌘ Read more

‘Dirty and dumb!’ Trump may cancel major government contract
Jessica Corbett,  Staff Writer  -  AlterNet | Common Dreams

Stephan: A first taste of Trump’s new administration’s corruption, further damage to an already deeply wounded postal service, with more sure to follow.

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The deep roots of Americans’ hatred of their health care system
Dylan Scott,   Editor and Senior Correspondent  -  VOX

_Stephan: The expense, quality, and social outcome data of America’s illness profit system (IPS) has become so expensive and bad that many apparently see the shooting of United Healthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson as a killing done by someone enflamed with rage by something that happened to them done by the IPS.  I think Trump, the oligarchs who serv … ⌘ Read more

There’s only one way to defeat Trump’s billionaires boys club
Thoma Hartmann,  Commentator  -  Raw Story | AlterNet | Commentary

Stephan: I think Thom Hartmann has it right. I have been quite struck by the contrast between how the people of the nations of Georgia and South Korea responded to authoritarianism, and the weakness of the American response. I don’t think most Americans have a clue as to what is about to happen to them.

![](https://www.schwartzreport … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

The news is getting ever bleaker and it is getting more complicated to get fact-based data. I want to thank all who have been sending in monthly contributions or who have sent in support over the past several days. This makes a great deal of difference to me.

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out whether a potential advertiser fosters wellbeing. Over the years i … ⌘ Read more

Donald Trump’s Second Administration Will Be As Women-Hating as Ever
Rebecca Gordon,  Lecturer Department of Philosophy - University of San Francisco  -  The Nation

_Stephan: As I study the trends shaping the United States, it has become clear to me that one of the most central trends is the MAGAt attempt to reimpose on American society a kind of late 19th century genderism, mostly by defining what is acceptable behavior for women. Women are supposed to be … ⌘ Read more

What Trump’s Victory Means for the Private Prison Industry
Lauren-Brooke Eisen,    -  Brennan Center for Justice

Stephan: The United States has the shame of being the country with the largest  and most racist incarcerated population in the world.

In 2024, there were over 1.9 million people incarcerated in the United States, including:

_- 1,566 state prisons

• 98 federal prisons
  
• 3,116 local jails
  
• 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities
  
• 142 immigration deten … ⌘ Read more

Republican senator prepares ‘DOGE Act’ targeting agencies
Kevin Bogardus,    -  Politico

_Stephan: Tennessee MAGAt Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has always been a notably inferior and incompetent member of the Senate, although the people of Tennesse don’t seem to see this. She has also always been a submissive doxy to Trump, and I am not surprised that he chose her to introduce legislation to legalize his previously non-existent DOGE agency that is going to gut d … ⌘ Read more

The Right Has a 150-Page Battle Plan to Shut Down Progressive Civil Society
Negin Owliaei and Maya Schenwar ,    -  truthout

_Stephan: The MAGAt Republicans under Trump’s guidance first with Project 2025 and now with legislation like HR 9495 have made it very clear what they intend, and this is what I think is going to happen to the United States. By March, I think America will have become a plutocracy with Trump as an authoritarian leader. What I w … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

Two readers wrote me, and my wife told me, I should have left this note up for a couple of more days. And so I do.

First of all, I want to thank all who have been sending in monthly contributions or have sent in support over the past two days. This makes a great deal of difference to me. I am going to run this one more day.

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out … ⌘ Read more

This is how many animals could go extinct from climate change
Benji Jones,   Environmental Correspondent   -  Vox

_Stephan: Nothing I see suggests to me that the coming christofascist autocracy is going to do anything substantial about protecting the matrix of life from the devastation of climate change. Here is a sense of what is coming. I urge you to get involved with some citizens’ movement that works to protect democracy and prepare meaningfully to change the … ⌘ Read more

How climate risks are driving up insurance premiums around the US – visualized
Oliver Milman ,  Environment Reporter  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: I have given you a number of articles about what climate change is doing, and is going to do to the cost of home and business insurance if you can get it at all. The insurance industry, both healthcare and real estate, poured millions of dollars into getting Trump elected, so I doubt he is going to d … ⌘ Read more

Transcript: Expert Stunned as Trump Picks 9th Billionaire for Top Job
Greg Sargent,  Contributing Writer  -  The New Republic

Stephan: When I tell you that the United States is about to become a racist, genderist, christofascist authoritarian nation, that is not a politically partisan statement. It is an emerging factual reality.

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China’s plan for 621MPH floating train that goes faster than a PLANE takes step forward with first track laid down
James Evenden,  Reporter  -  The U.S. Sun

_Stephan: The United States is falling further and further behind the infrastructure standards of the rest of the developed world, and China particularly is leaving us in the lurch. Most of our infrastructure was built between the administrations of Democrat … ⌘ Read more

Billionaire investor with military contracts picked to be No. 2 at Trump’s Pentagon
Sarah K. Burris,  Senior Editor  -  Raw Story

Stephan: Welcome to the christofascist authoritarian oligarchy the United States is about to become.

Image

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he intends to … ⌘ Read more

Builders have 108,000 unsold homes. Good luck trying to buy one
James Rodriguez,  Senior Reporter  -  msn | Business Insider

_Stephan: Something very strange is happening to the housing market, as this article describes. It is getting very hard for younger first-time buyers to own a property because interest rates are close to 7% if they can find a house and afford the down payment and monthly costs. But even if they can do that finding a home, as described, is … ⌘ Read more

The US supreme court’s trans rights case threatens decades of civil rights precedent, experts say
Sam Levin,    -  The Guaardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: The MAGAt-controlled Supreme Court, like Republicans in general, don’t seem to understand or even care about the wellbeing and medical reality of children as well as the LGBTQ subpopulation. With Trump in the Presidency, Congress dysfunctional, and the corrupt MAGAt majority dominating … ⌘ Read more

Walmart rolls back DEI programs after right-wing backlash
y Nathaniel Meyersohn,  Reporter  -  CNN

Stephan: As MAGAt world becomes increasingly dominant in the United States the emerging trend is we are becoming an increasingly nasty country, and I predict it is going to get much worse, particularly in states controlled by the Republican MAGAt Party.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, will curb some [diversity, equity … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

First of all, I want to thank all who have been sending in monthly contributions or have sent in support over the past two days. This makes a great deal of difference to me. I am going to run this one more day.

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out whether a potential advertiser fosters wellbeing. Over the years it has taken longer and longer each day to researc … ⌘ Read more

Federal Court Rules Idaho Can Enforce Law Banning Interstate Travel for Abortion
Julia Conley ,  Staff Writer  -  truthout | Common Dreams

_Stephan: As we enter Trump’s christofascist mafiosa regime Republicans at the state level feel evermore empowered to control women. This court ruling in Idaho by the Federal Ninth Circuit Court will be used in other Republican-controlled states to limit their women from traveling to another state to get he … ⌘ Read more

Activists claim cockfighting rampant in Arkansas, accuse lobbyists of trying to ease animal cruelty law
Amir Mahmoud,    -  Banner-News (Arkansas)

_Stephan: In the Republican-controlled states the people of America seem to be devolving back into the 19th century, both as how they wish women to be treated, but also, how they treat animals and birds. Cockfighting is a booming trend throughout rural America, particularly in s … ⌘ Read more

Young men leaving traditional churches for ‘masculine’ Orthodox Christianity in droves
Rikki Schlott,    -  New York Post

_Stephan: While a growing number of Americans are leaving any affiliation with a religion, for a growing group of young White men they are leaving their evangelical churches because they feel they have become too “feminized” and joining the most orthodox churches they can find. This article describes what is happening, a … ⌘ Read more

Separation of church and state? Religion in public schools is being tested by Christian conservatives
Erik Ortiz,  Senior Reporter  -  NBC News

_Stephan: For the Founders who had either experienced or knew about family that had experienced a culture in which church and state were one, creating a country in which church and state were separated was very important. They did everything they could to wall them off from each othe … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out whether a potential advertiser fosters wellbeing. Over the years it has taken longer and longer each day to research fact-based articles and reports, and it has become ever more expensive. My out-of-pocket costs last year were $22,000, and this year it will be more. So if you read SR regularly, and are able to, I would certai … ⌘ Read more

Private donations pour in for cash-strapped national parks
Mike Magner,  Staff Writer  -  Roll Call

_Stephan: I constantly search for good news trends, but I do not see many today. But here is one, Americans are donating and volunteering work in support of our national parks, forests and wild places. This makes me personally very happy. Over the course of my life I have spent many days and weeks in those places, hiking, backpacking, and canoeing. Many of my happiest … ⌘ Read more

‘Monumental Victory for the Ocean’: Norway Halts Plans for Deep-Sea Mining
Olivia Rosane,  Staff Writer  -  Common Dreams

Stephan: Here is some more good news that will affect the wellbeing of the entire Earth. Bravo Norway.

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One campaigner called it “a testament to the power of principled, courageous political action, and… a mom … ⌘ Read more

Who are the people Trump has picked for key positions in his second administration so far
Steve Benen,    -  PBS News

_Stephan: Well, I found two good news stories, so now I have to deal with the reality of what is happening to America. Convicted multiple felon, rapist, and traitor Donald Trump, who a small majority of citizens chose to be the country’s leader, is creating the equivalent of a mafia cabal as this articles describes to l … ⌘ Read more

California suspends distribution of Raw Farm raw milk products after bird flu detection
Jamie Gumbrecht,  Staff Writer  -  CNN

Stephan: The raw milk trend, which seems to be the choice of anti-vaxxers, and anti-science people, is dangerous, as this article describes. The only time you can safely drink raw milk is when you are in direct contact with the farmer and his cows, and know exactly what their health status is.

![](https://www. … ⌘ Read more

Editor’s Note – Can You Help
,    -

Stephan:

I have been doing SR now for 33 years; I give it away freely and don’t permit advertising because I don’t have time to dig out whether a potential advertiser fosters wellbeing. Over the years it has taken longer and longer each day to research fact-based articles and reports, and it has become ever more expensive. My out-of-pocket costs last year were $22,000, and this year it will be more. So if you read SR regularly, and are able to, I would certai … ⌘ Read more

U.S. gets poor grade for maternal, infant health care outcomes
Marina E. Franco,    -  Axios | March of Dimes

Stephan: Yet another miserable report about the inferiority of America’s illness profit system. While the two parties in Congress whine and rant about each other no one other than Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren seems to give a damn about the grim healthcare social outcome data that failed, yet so expensive, system produces year after year.

![](h … ⌘ Read more

A surprise solar boom reveals a fatal flaw in our climate change projections
Noah Gordon and Daevan Mangalmurti,  Staff Writers  -  Vox

_Stephan: I took two things away from this report. First, how poorly humanity is assessing its power needs and preparing for exiting the carbon power era. Second, how poorly the United States is doing in this, and how we are being seriously outclassed by China. As the report says, “The world is already on track to … ⌘ Read more

American Nightmare: Only 31% think they’ve financially ‘made it’
Study Finds Staff,    -  Study Finds | Talker Research

Stephan: Here is the latest fact-based data I can find on how Americans feel about their financial security. It is quite surprising, and not very happy news.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK —Despite being the land of op … ⌘ Read more

Trump is taking the mask off after lying to us for more than a year
Thom Hartmann,  Commentator  -  Raw Story

Stephan: Thom Hartmann and I usually agree, and we certainly do about this. I think by March we are going to have a pretty good idea whether we will remain a genuine democracy or whether we are on the path to becoming a pseudo-democracy like Hungary and Russia.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-01-at … ⌘ Read more

Nearly a Quarter of Republicans Would Vote for Trump to Get Third Term
Matt Keeley,    -  New Civil Rights Movement

_Stephan: We are watching the complete dismemberment of American democracy as Republicans at both the state and Federal level try to alter the laws to allow them to stay in power no matter what voters say. It is all straight out of the fascist playbook. So is Trump frequent mention that he will run for a third term even though that violates … ⌘ Read more

Pete Hegseth’s Mother Accused Her Son of Belittling, Abusing, and Lying to Women
Pemy Levy,  Reporter  -  Mother Jones

_Stephan: It is notable that so many of Trump’s nominations, like himself, are sex offenders. there is no precedent in our history for this. But as bizarre as that is what kind of man is Pete Hegseth, who Trump wants to make Secretary of Defense. His own mother has come out to accuse him of his vile behavior treating women includi … ⌘ Read more

Elon Musk Targets Consumer Protection Agency for Deletion
Nicholas Liu ,  Staff Writer  -  truthout

Stephan: The oligarchs are becoming more and more explicit in what they are trying to do to America’s democracy. I think that by March we are going to be living in a very different and strange country and the Republican voters are going to be totally unprepared for what they have allowed to happen by how they voted.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uplo … ⌘ Read more

Meet the Western conservatives moving to Russia
Owen Matthews,    -  The Spectator

Stephan: This is how christofascist some Americans have become; they are immigrating to Russia. As someone who spent a great deal of time in the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1991, and can’t imagine living there under the Putin oligarchy all I can say is I hope they stay there, but doubt that they will.

![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-30-at-8.33.25 … ⌘ Read more

Doing good is good for you, research shows
Richard Sima,  Reporter  -

_Stephan: Here is further research proof that fostering wellbeing is good for you and good for society. This was my reason for starting SR 33 years ago. Helping people to be informed about the trends affecting our future and making the point that fostering wellbeing was always the best option to choose from those available. This is how you change the culture you live in for the better for everyone, including yours … ⌘ Read more

Gen Z spends record six hours a day online
Matthew Field,  Senior Technology Reporter  -  The Telegraph

_Stephan: This is why the weaponization of lies has become such a powerful factor in the shaping of culture in the developed democracies, particularly in the United States. As local media dies, and major corporate media is taken over by billionaires who also own the major social media platforms the survival of democracy becomes ever more problematic, and the power of the oligarch … ⌘ Read more

White button mushroom extract shrinks tumors and delays their growth
Paul McClure,    -  New Atlas

_Stephan: Here is some interesting good news about the benefits from eating white button mushrooms. To read the actual peer-reviewed research study.  To read the peer-reviewed paper go to: [Reduction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in prostate cancer murine models and patients following white button mushroom treatment](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ … ⌘ Read more

The truth about raw milk and why experts are ‘absolutely horrified’ by the trend
Madeleine Aggeler,   Lifestyle and Wellness Reporter  -  The Guardian (U.K.)

_Stephan: Robert Kennedy, Jr. is a raw milk advocate and would like to see the laws changed to allow the sale of unpasteurized milk, and would try to make this change if his nomination is approved by the Senate.  If Kennedy and the people around him are successful in this expect to see a not … ⌘ Read more

Jack Smith Makes It Official: Donald Trump Got Away With Everything
Dan Friedman,  Senior Reporter  -  Mother Jones

Stephan: For the first time since the United States was created we have a President who is a convicted sex offender, multi-felon, and traitor. A man who seeks to end democracy and make the country a christofascist authoritarian nation ruled by an oligarchy. It will be interesting to see what the U.S. is in March.

![](https://www.schwartzrepo … ⌘ Read more

Breaking the scale: Study finds 208 million Americans are now overweight or obese
Marie Ng et al,  Affiliate Associate Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington  -  Study Finds

Stephan: I keep seeing study after study about the rise in obesity. It is literally killing hundreds of thousands of us each year, and shortening our already shorter than any other developed nation lifespans. This is the latest.

• [Science](https://st … ⌘ Read more

A Corporate Media System Bound to Capitalism Delivers for Trump for a Second Time
Victor Pickard,  Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication - Co-director the Media, Inequality & Change Center  -  Common Dreams

_Stephan: This is an article confirming what I have been telling you for several years now about the failure of American corporate media to properly and accurately cover Trump and the MAGAt movemen … ⌘ Read more

A social media ban for under-16s passes the Australian Senate and will soon be a world-first law
ROD MCGUIRK,  Reporter  -  Associated Press

_Stephan: The Australians seem to have learned what American politicians have not, or will not. The weaponization of misinformation has distorted the thinking of every generation, but particularly the young. It distorted our election in the United States, and is a destructive force in a dem … ⌘ Read more

Merrick Garland and his ‘Justice’ Department should never be forgiven
D. Earl Stephens,  Contributing Writer  -  Raw Story | Commentary

Stephan: I completely agree with this article. I think in the future historians and legal scholars are going to condemn Merrick Garland’s weakness and incompetence as Attorney General. As a result of Garland’s mismanagement of DoJ Trump is getting away scot-free from literally dozens of crimes and traitorous activity.

! … ⌘ Read more

As Trump touts plans for immigrant roundup, militias are standing back, but standing by
Amy Cooter,  Director of Research, Academic Development, and Innovation at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism  -  The Conversation

_Stephan: I have been doing reports on these MAGAt citizen militias of insecure White men, including a number of sheriffs for years now. These men adore guns, and train like soldiers because it makes th … ⌘ Read more

MSNBC Loses Almost HALF Its Viewers in Stunning Post-Election Ratings Report
David Gilmour,    -  MEDIAite

_Stephan: Something important and sad is taking place at MSNBC. First MSNBC and CNBC are being split off from NBC News, and it is not at all clear whether what will become two companies will cooperate, and in what way. If MSNBC loses access the the worldwide NBC network of reporters, it is going to change them fundamentally. Viewers, as this a … ⌘ Read more

Mercedes reinvents the brakes for electric vehicles
Joe Salas,    -  New Atlas

_Stephan: Here is some good news about an important new development for braking in EVs. Sadly, American automakers are falling further behind technologically, and this is going to be seriously exacerbated if Trump carries through with his Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese tariff schemes.  American automakers are heavily dependent on those countries to produce their cars and trucks, and thousands of … ⌘ Read more