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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.
This is a large study, and although it is about young people in Germany, other research I have seen suggests that these trends are also what is happening in the United States. To properly understand these trends they must be placed in the proper context with other related trends: decreased fertility of men, marriage for both genders later in life, and fewer children born to couples. What that reveals is that profound changes are going on in the cultures of many developed nations. Now add climate change and massive migrations of millions of people. The world of our children, and their children is going to be dramatically different than society today.
MAINZ, GERMANY— Maybe romance really is just for adults after all. A new study suggests that teenagers today are not only more likely to be single, but also happier about it compared to previous generations. It’s an interesting shift in attitudes towards romantic relationships among young people considering rising levels of loneliness across the world today.
The research, conducted by a team of psychologists in Germany and published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, examines how satisfaction with being single has changed over time for different age groups. Their most striking finding was that adolescents born between 2001 and 2003 reported significantly higher satisfaction with singlehood compared to those born just a decade earlier.
This trend appears to be unique to teenagers, as the study found no similar increases in singlehood satisfaction among adults in their 20s and 30s. The results suggest that broader societal changes in how relationships and individual autonomy are viewed may be having a particularly strong impact on the youngest generation.
“Adolescents nowadays may be postponing entering relationships, prioritizing personal autonomy and individual fulfillment over romantic involvement, and embracing singlehood more openly,” the researchers speculate. However, they caution that more investigation is needed to understand the exact […]
Sean Murphy, Statehouse Reporter - Associated Press
Stephan:
Christian Nationalism across the country, but particularly in Republican-controlled Red States, is a growing trend with all kinds of implications, from the gutting of libraries, to how American history is taught, to how LGBTQ kids and issues are treated and taught, to outright attempts to breach the firewall between a pseudo-Christian theology and the state. Oklahoma, a deeply Red State is an example of what is going on.
Oklahoma White Christian Nationalist and Republican State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters. Credit: Sue Ogrocki / AP
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools Thursday to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms.
The directive drew immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and supporters of the separation of church and state, with some calling it an abuse of power and a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The order sent to districts across the state by Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters says adherence to the mandate is compulsory and “immediate and strict compliance is expected.”
“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction.”
Oklahoma law already explicitly allows Bibles in the classroom and lets […]
Here is some good news. People are beginning to awaken to the reality that the problem of climate change arises largely because corporations put profit above all other considerations, and they are holding them responsible — and winning. If this is the trend, it will not be long until corporations begin to realize they have to spend the money to develop new technologies, or risk going out of business. How many of them will do this? I predict we will see in the coming decade.
Campaigners and legal counsel of the Dutch citizens’ movement Fossil-Free NL walk towards the court before filing a case against KLM because of the Dutch airline’s misleading advertisements that suggest flying won’t worsen the climate crisis, on April 20, 2023 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Credit: Michel Porro / Getty
A new report has found that climate lawsuits being filed against companies are on the rise all over the world, and most of them have been successful.
The report by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) — Global trends in climate change litigation: 2024 snapshot — said that roughly 230 climate cases have been brought against trade associations and corporations since 2015, more than two-thirds of which have been filed since 2020.
“Climate litigation… has become an undeniably significant trend in how stakeholders are seeking to advance climate action and accountability,” said Andy Raine, the United Nations Environment Programme’s deputy director of law division, as The Guardian reported.
I wasn’t going to run this request again, however, it was suggested very strongly to me that I run it one more day so I am. SR needs some help because it is getting quite expensive to produce SR and now the SR podcast, which so many of you asked me to do. So if you are able to help I would very much appreciate any support you could provide. I particularly thank those of you who make monthly contributions.
This report, and the factual data upon which it is based, is telling us that everything being done about climate change is not going to stop humanity from crossing the 2°F threshold into civilization-changing catastrophe. And why is that? Because the few hundred people who make the decisions about the carbon power industries care more about their profits than they do about humanity itself. It is my personal belief that the governments of the world should pass legal standards to force these corporations to meet the limits needed. And if they do not within a year these men and women should be arrested wherever they are and tried for crimes against humanity that are leading to mass death and the destruction of the matrix of life.
Credit: Adobe
Oil majors are not on track to hit Paris Agreement climate targets that limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, a new report reveals.
Eight fossil fuel giants – Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Eni, Equinor, and ConocoPhillips – are on course to use 30 percent of the world’s remaining carbon budget for that 1.5°C goal, according to the Big Oil Reality Check report by nonprofit Oil Change International (OCI).
Combined, the oil and gas companies’ extraction plans are consistent with a temperature rise of over 2.4°C, the report found. That level of warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will reduce food security, risk irreversible loss of ecosystems, and increase heat waves, rainfall, and extreme weather events.
“We analyzed the climate promises and plans of the largest eight international oil and gas companies that are owned in North America and Europe. What would it take for an oil and gas producer to align their production with limiting warming to 1.5?” David Tong, […]
The evidence for climate change and sea rise is so irrefutable and the response to the damage it is going to do is so pathetically inadequate. Do you think this issue will even come up in this afternoon’s debate?
Jim Comunale and Pam Mervos walk in Hollywood, Florida as heavy rain floods their neighborhood. Credit: Matias J. Ocner / Miami Herald / ZUMA Press Wire
Sea Level Rise driven by global heating will disrupt the daily life of millions of Americans, as hundreds of homes, schools and government buildings face frequent and repeated flooding by 2050, a new study has found.
Almost 1,100 critical infrastructure assets that sustain coastal communities will be at risk of monthly flooding by 2050, according to the new research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The vast majority of the assets—934 of them—face the risk of flood disruption every other week, which could make some coastal neighborhoods unlivable within two to three decades.
Almost 3 million people currently live in the 703 US coastal communities with critical infrastructure at risk of monthly disruptive flooding by 2050, including affordable and subsidized housing, wastewater treatment facilities, toxic industrial sites, power plants, fire stations, schools, kindergartens and hospitals.
The number of critical infrastructure assets at risk of disruptive flooding is […]
If you take multivitamins with the intent it will help your health, you should read this.
Credit: Pixelbliss
Key Takeaways
For generally healthy adults, taking a daily multivitamin doesn’t appear to help you live longer.
The study found no benefit for multivitamin use in preventing death from major causes like heart disease and cancer.
These findings held true across different groups, regardless of age, sex, or overall diet quality.
The researchers emphasize that eating a healthy diet, exercising, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight are much more important for longevity than taking a multivitamin.
Some groups (like pregnant women) may still benefit from specific vitamin supplements as recommended by their doctor, but for most adults, getting nutrients from a balanced diet is likely sufficient.
This study challenges the common belief that multivitamins are a simple way to improve health and prevent chronic diseases.
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND — For decades, multivitamins have been a staple in medicine cabinets across America. Nearly one in three adults pops these colorful pills daily, hoping to fill nutritional gaps and boost their overall health. But do these supplements actually help us live longer? A […]
Hamas exists because Israel was not wise enough to realize that a two-state solution would have allowed the Palestinians to create a functioning culture. I want to be clear that doesn’t excuse or justify what they have done. But fascist Netanyahu and his government are committing genocide, and as an American, I wouldn’t give them a single bullet to expedite the slaughter of children, let alone support them with truckloads of bombs.
A Palestinian man waits for news of his daughter as rescue workers search for survivors under the rubble of a building hit in an overnight Israeli bombing in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 21, 2024. Credit: Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty
As the death toll in Gaza continues to grow amid Israel’s punishing bombardment of the Strip, so too does another statistic: the missing children. To date, at least 21,000 children are missing amid the chaos of the war, according to a new report by Save the Children—a figure the charity says includes 17,000 children who are unaccompanied or separated from their families as a result of the war and the 4,000 children who are thought to be missing under the rubble, as well as the untold number of children who have either been detained by Israeli forces or have been recently discovered in mass graves.
As with all of the statistics coming out of Gaza—including the more than 37,000-person death toll, a figure that is tracked by the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry and which […]
