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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: Report after report makes it clear that the largest and most dangerous threat of domestic violence in the U.S. is White supremacy militia violence. Seventy six percent of the domestic terrorism traces back to these hate-filled groups, and mixed in with the militias are a significant percentage of sheriffs. Here is but one story; there are many. Personally, I think the position of sheriff should be eliminated. It is the only elective law enforcement position in the country, and it seems to attract bullies and thugs.
Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf
An anti-mask Michigan sheriff shared a stage with one of the right-wing militants who were allegedly plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor.
Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf was a guest speaker at the May rally in Grand Rapids against stay-at-home orders issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, where he stood alongside kidnap plot suspect William Null, reported WXMI-TV.
“I haven’t read everything up on it, I’ve got other duties to do,” Leaf told the station when asked about the kidnapping plot. “It wasn’t our investigation. I was shocked, did not see this coming with those guys, but still we can’t convict them in the media here, they do have a right to a fair trial.”Defend democracy. Click to invest in courageous progressive journalism today.
Leaf is no stranger to the right-wing fringe. He has lent support to the Bundy family and has close ties to the rogue Constitutional Sheriff and Peace Officers Association that promotes the legal fallacy that […]
Stephan: At first glance, this just seems a silly story of little importance. But, as the article itself describes, I think it is telling us something very important about gender issues in this country. I see it not as a trivial story, but as one to be taken into account. It is obvious that a large percentage of men, particularly religious men, seem to have serious problems with women in positions of authority.
Senator Kamala Harris Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty
The vice presidential debate on Wednesday was followed by a spike in people searching Google for Senator Kamala Harris, alongside the terms “nude,” “bathing suit,” and “bikini.”
With less than a month to go until the presidential election on November 3, Harris debated Vice President Mike Pence for 90 minutes at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.
According to Google Trends—a website run by the search engine that collects data on how popular search terms are around the world—there was a surge in people in the U.S. searching for “Kamala Harris bathing suit,” “Kamala Harris Nude,” and “Kamala Harris bikini” in the hours after the pair faced off.
Google Trends listed these as “rising related queries” for the search term “Kamala Harris” in the four hours pior to 7 a.m. ET. That means in the four hours before 7 a.m. ET, people searching for “Kamala Harris” also used the terms “bathing suit,” “nude,” and “bikini.” “Rising” indicates that those search terms related to Kamala Harris saw the biggest spike compared to all others in that four hour period.NEWSWEEK SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS >
Stephan: The New England Journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the British Medical Journal constitute the leading medical journals in the world. To have the New England Journal come out against a president is unprecedented' it has never before happened in over 200 years. I think, this editorial should be taken as a measure of the disgust and rejection of Donald Trump and his policies by the medical community of the United States.
Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the world. This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.
The magnitude of this failure is astonishing. According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering,1 the United States leads the world in Covid-19 cases and in deaths due to the disease, far exceeding the numbers in much larger countries, such as China. The death rate in this country is more than double that of Canada, exceeds that of Japan, a country with a vulnerable and elderly population, by a factor of almost 50, and even dwarfs the rates in lower-middle-income countries, such as Vietnam, by a factor of almost 2000. Covid-19 is an overwhelming challenge, and many factors contribute to its severity. But the one we can control is how we behave. And in the United States we have […]
Stephan: Amy Coney Barrett is so wrong as a Supreme Court nominee. Imagine the president nominating a Muslim Taliban cult member for the court. Does that seem inconceivable? Well, Barrett is the same thing, only a member of a christofascist cult, part of the movement that has taken over Christianity in the United States, as the Taliban took over Islam in Afghanistan.
Knight After Night Art by Mr. Fish/Scheerpost
The Christian right is content to have the focus on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett revolve around her opposition to abortion and membership in People of Praise, a far-right Catholic cult that practices “speaking in tongues.” What it does not want examined is her abject subservience to corporate power, her hostility to workers, civil liberties, unions and environmental regulations. And since the Democratic Party is beholden to the same donor class as the Republican Party, and since the media long ago substituted the culture wars for politics, the most ominous threat Barrett’s appointment to the court represents is going unmentioned.
All fascist and totalitarian movements paper over their squalid belief systems with the veneer of morality. They mouth pieties about restoring law and order, right and wrong, the sanctity of life, civic and family virtues, patriotism and tradition to mask their dismantling of the open society and silencing and persecution of those who oppose them. This is the real game being played by Christian fascists, who since the early 1970s […]
Stephan: These two women scientists, to their great credit, the first two-woman team to ever win a Nobel Prize have opened a door, but to what is not clear. On the one hand, it could bring great wellness if made equally available to all as needed. On the other hand, a dark path could be taken. If only the uber-rich get control of it, it could result in the creation of a new species of human, Homo Superior. I have written about this in several papers (see SR archive). That would create a world with two kinds of humans, and that is a very dark path indeed.
Emmanuelle Charpentier, left, and Jennifer Doudna may have made the most important biological advance since the discovery of the structure of DNA. Credit:Miguel Riopa/Agence France-Presse/Getty
When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled “The Double Helix” on her bed.She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama, filled with colorful characters, about ambition and competition in the pursuit of nature’s wonders. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.
She would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, later told her was the most important biological advance since he and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA. She worked with a brilliant Parisian biologist named Emmanuelle Charpentier to turn a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform […]
Stephan: This should be ringing alarms in every media. Trump's world has prospered mightily during his tenure, but the country, as a country, is in shambles.
Jerome Powell Federal Reserve Chairman Credit: CNBC.com
As the United States continues its struggle with the pandemic-induced economic recession and a sputtering recovery, the country’s burgeoning debt is not anyone’s top concern these days.Even deficit hawks are urging a dysfunctional Washington and a chaotic White House to approve another round of badly needed stimulus to the tune of trillions.”The US federal budget is on an unsustainable path, has been for some time,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week. But, Powell added, “This is not the time to give priority to those concerns.”However, when the country eventually pulls out of its current health and economic crises, Americans will be left with a debt hangover.
On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that for fiscal year 2020, which ended September 30, the US deficit hit $3.13 trillion — or 15.2% of GDP — thanks to the chasm between what the country spent ($6.55 trillion) and what it took in ($3.42 trillion) for the year.As a share of the […]
Stephan: We won't know how the election will play out until it happens, but the signs of potential violence coming particularly from the Trumper base is very alarming. And it has certainly alarmed a large percentage of the American population.
Credit: USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Bill Fry, 61, is a supporter of President Donald Trump in rural Ohio who doesn’t share much in common politically with Matt Edelman, 29, a Joe Biden backer in Brooklyn, New York.
Except this: They both worry about the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election and fear an outcome that appears tainted could heighten the nation’s already frayed psyche and exacerbate violence in the streets.
They’re not alone. A new poll shows a large swath of Americans harbor deep reservations about the election results weeks before Election Day and are concerned about what actions people might resort to as a consequence.
The YouGov poll of 1,999 registered votersfound that nearly half – 47% – disagree with the idea that the election “is likely to be fair and honest.” And that slightly more than half – 51% – won’t “generally agree on who is the legitimately elected president of the United States.” The online poll was conducted Oct.1-2 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.56 percentage points.
Stephan: Trump and the NRA partners in promoting fascism, and dismembering democracy.
Wayne LaPierre, Kyle Rittenhouse and Donald Trump Credit: Photo illustration by Salon/Getty
Mass killers and violent militias have echoed President Donald Trump’s rhetoric for years, but his stoking of dangerous conspiracy theories and tacit approval of extremists have resulted in “countless threats of violence and looming civil war” ahead of the election, according to a new report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown shared exclusively with Salon.
