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When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
Stephan: You would think people in public office would realize that over time everything will come out. But they don't. With Trump it is already starting. I had two readers who are in the national security community send me URLs for this story, telling me that it is well-researched and fact-based. It is also horrifying.
The author claims Trump’s association with Russia began in 1976 when he decided to make his move from developing real estate in Queens to Manhattan
Trump was rescued multiple times from multiple bankruptcies by boatloads of Russian cash laundered through his real estate in the 1980s and 1990s
When Trump became President, it was time to pay the piper and Trump gave Putin everything he wanted, Unger writes
The author claims Trump was connected to Russians through friend Jeffrey Epstein, who was supplying the Russians and Silicon Valley with underage girls
Trump also appealed to the KGB because he was ‘vain, narcissistic, highly susceptible to flattery and greedy,’ the author writes
The author interviewed high-level sources, Soviets who defected, former CIA officers, FBI counter-intelligent agents, lawyers and more for the book
Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset more than 40 years ago which exploded into a decades-long ‘relationship’ of mutual benefit to both Russia and […]
Stephan: When I saw the vote in which 45 Republican senators voted to say that they believed Trump should face no trial in the Senate, I realized that Trump may be gone but Trumpism is not and that there has been a fundamental change in the Republican Party. Most of the Republican Senators no longer support democracy and a system of governance based on the law and accountability, and about 25% of the American population is okay with that. We are getting wonderful good news from the Biden administration, but I want to make sure my readers do not think this fight for America is over.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a man who has surrendered his integrity to try and retain power. Credit: C-Span
President Joe Biden has promised swift action on the pandemic, the economic crisis and more, but much of his agenda hinges on whether he can get enough support in the Senate, where an unprecedented number of bills in recent years has required a 60-vote supermajority in order to overcome filibusters. Many progressives and civil rights groups have urged Democratic leaders to kill the filibuster, warning that if they don’t, Senate Republicans will obstruct Biden’s plans just as they did with the Obama administration. Former Senate aide Adam Jentleson, author of the new book “Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy,” says the filibuster has historically been used to stop racial progress and thwart majority opinion. “The framers … did not want the filibuster to exist,” he says. “When they created the Senate, it was an institution that had no filibuster power. It was designed to be a majority-rule body.
Stephan: Marjorie Taylor Greene is a representative of the new Republican Party, no longer a party of conservative economics, limited government, and now a White supremacy, anti-democracy, christofascist party. Start with this. How could the people of Georgia have elected someone like this? Then look at the Republican House members and ask, how is it possible that her party colleagues find someone like this acceptable to serve with them. I think those of us who care about societal wellbeing must acknowledge that a large segment of Americans no longer support democracy, and are actively aligned with people like Marjorie Taylor Greene. That means we must vote at every opportunity, and support those who make wellbeing their priority.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, walks to the House floor during debate on the second impeachment of Donald Trump on 13 January 2021. Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
On Wednesday morning, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, had said only that he “planned to have a conversation” with Greene.
The congresswoman’s committee assignments have not yet been announced. Greene has said she will sit on the education panel.
On Tuesday, CNN reported actions by Greene on social media in 2018 and 2019. In one, she “liked” a comment on a discussion of how to remove Pelosi, the House Speaker, which said “a bullet to the head would be quicker”.
Greene also liked comments about executing FBI agents for being part of the “Deep State”. That conspiracy theory holds that bureaucrats and intelligence agents worked to thwart Donald Trump. A key […]
Stephan: I was listening to Fox the other night and was amazed that the Fox disinformation operation has apparently decided to go straight out racist and to support QAnon. I take this as a calculated move based on their sense that the most profit is to be made by catering to the White racist christofascist demographic. That means that Trump may be gone, but Trumpism is alive and well, and those of us who care about social wellbeing need to understand that we face a community that is not fact-based and, therefore discussing anything with them is going to be entirely an exchange of emotions, not actual reality.
Fox propagandist Laura Ingraham
Supporters of the far-right QAnon conspiracy cult were among the extremists who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, inspiring national security experts to voice concerns about QAnon possibly making inroads in the military and law enforcement. But some pundits at Fox News, including Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, don’t view QAnon as a threat and are now defending the movement by equating criticism of QAnon with attacks on free speech.
Carlson, during one of his angry rants on Tuesday night, mocked the idea that QAnon is dangerous.
“The real threat is a forbidden idea,” Carlson said mockingly. “It’s something called QAnon.”
Carlson went on to show a collage of cable news clips describing QAnon’s extremism before suggesting that those attacking QAnon are promoting “tyranny.”
“No democratic government can ever tell you what to think,” Carlson told viewers. “Your mind belongs to you. It is yours and yours alone.”
This was a non-sequitur. The clips he had showed included media figures sharing fears and concerns about the belief system, not a call for the […]
Stephan: Let me be clear from the get go. I have nothing against profit or entrepreneurship. What I do object to is vampire capitalism where profit is the only social priority. It is destroying the balance of earth's matrix of life, and the culture of the United States. The evidence for this is clear and unequivocal. Period. Full stop. The Dutch, like the Nordic countries, and New Zealand, are moving in a different direction; a direction that makes wellbeing the first priority. And I say Bravo! to all of them.
Illustration by Chris Dent for TIME
One evening in December, after a long day working from home, Jennifer Drouin, 30, headed out to buy groceries in central Amsterdam. Once inside, she noticed new price tags. The label by the zucchini said they cost a little more than normal: 6¢ extra per kilo for their carbon footprint, 5¢ for the toll the farming takes on the land, and 4¢ to fairly pay workers. “There are all these extra costs to our daily life that normally no one would pay for, or even be aware of,” she says.
The so-called true-price initiative, operating in the store since late 2020, is one of dozens of schemes that Amsterdammers have introduced in recent months as they reassess the impact of the existing economic system. By some accounts, that system, capitalism, has its origins just a mile from the grocery store. In 1602, in a house on a narrow alley, a merchant began selling shares in the nascent Dutch East India Company. In doing so, he paved the way for the creation of […]
Stephan: From 1971 to 1975 I was the Special Assistant for Research and Analysis to the Chief of Naval Operations, under first Admiral Elmo Zumwalt and, then, Admiral James Holloway, and part of the small team that transformed the American military from a racist, male dominant, elitist conscription military, the armed forces of the Viet Nam War, into an egalitarian all-volunteer meritocracy, the military of today. Donald Trump was a vile throwback who tried to restructure the military and revert to an earlier age. President Biden to his great credit is erasing Trump's policies and restoring fairness and meritocracy.
President Biden
President Biden signed an executive order on Monday overturning the Trump administration’s ban on transgender Americans serving in the military.
A 2016 RAND Corporation study estimated that the number of active-duty transgender troops could range from 2,000 to 11,000, but stressed that the true number could vary based on self-reporting.
“Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force,” the White House said in a statement. “Simply put, it’s the right thing to do and is in our national interest.”
Where it stands: Biden ordered military records to be correctedif service members were discharged or denied reenlistment or continued service due to their gender […]
Stephan: More good news from President Biden; it is so refreshing so antipodal to Trumpian corruption.
Finally, we have an administration that understands we must exit the carbon era.
Pres. Biden: "The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we're going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America, by American workers."https://t.co/figJbDMrptpic.twitter.com/racgwk9VGw
President Joe Biden has just announced that he will replace the entire US federal fleet with electric vehicles made in the US.
The US federal fleet consists of over 645,000 vehicles, according to the latest Federal Fleet Report. This includes 245k civilian vehicles, 173k military vehicles, and 225k post office vehicles.
We do not have a timeline for replacement, merely a commitment so far. No specifics of this plan have yet been released.
Some federal vehicles may avoid replacement in the short term – it would be a significant cost to retire certain vehicles early, and some specialized vehicles will undoubtedly require more development before they’re ready to be electrified. But mass usage of electric vehicles should bring significant cost savings in fuel and maintenance for the government […]
Alex Tanzi and Catarina Saraiva, Reporters - Bloomberg
Stephan: Our economy is a disaster for 90% of the people in America. The rich have increased their wealth by more than a trillion dollars in the last year. Meanwhile, 40% of American families could not write a $400 check in a crisis, and one in eight have food issues. Other than climate change there are two things I want to see this year: first, reversal of the Republican tax cut for the rich. Second, universal birthright single-payer healthcare.
Despite improvements in the overall poverty rate since the middle of the 20th century, Black Americans had been about three times as likely to be poor as White Americans for most of the past 60 years. The gap started to narrow after the financial crisis, during the longest economic expansion in history.
These December poverty estimates are based on survey data collected late in the month after some government relief measures expired. The researchers found that the stimulus checks the federal government issued in the spring helped forestall the poverty rate from rising even faster.
In late December, $900 billion in addition federal relief aid was passed, and President Joe Biden is asking Congress for an additional $1.9 trillion in stimulus.
