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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

SCHWARTZ REPORT PODCAST

Schwartz Report Episode 51: The Precognition That is Shaping Our Culture

References to further explore this episode can be found HERE

State Reproductive Policies Important to Enrollment Decisions

Stephan: 

The Great Schism Trend is having a very serious effect on colleges and universities in Red States, which will further degrade the social outcome data of states controlled by the TCP, both their educational status and the quality of their healthcare, particularly for women. It is further evidence that we are becoming two quite different countries technically operating as a single nation.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • 71% say state reproductive healthcare policies impact college choice
  • 80% of all current/prospective students prefer states with greater access
  • 86% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans prefer states with greater access

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seventy-one percent of currently enrolled and prospective college students say that states’ reproductive healthcare policies are at least somewhat important in their enrollment decisions. This is up slightly from 67% who said the same in late 2022. An even greater increase in the relevance of this issue to prospective and current students is also seen among those indicating these policies are highly important in their enrollment decisions (38% compared with 30% in 2022).

Both surveys were conducted after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022.

The latest results are from the Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2024 State of Higher Education Study, conducted Oct. 9-Nov. 16, 2023, via a web survey with 14,032 current and prospective college students. This includes 6,015 students enrolled in a post-high school education program (certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree), 5,012 adults not currently enrolled with some college but no degree, and 3,005 adults who have never been enrolled in a postsecondary school or […]

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Another lens into the rightward shift of Black and Hispanic Americans

Stephan: 

How is it possible for a Black or Hispanic person to vote for the TCP which is so blatantly White supremacist in both their words and deeds?  I think it is a calculation to gain power, in hopes that if they vote for Trump they will be able to bargain for some benefit. Sadly, if Trump wins they are going to discover how wrong their judgment was.

One of the recurring rebuttals to Donald Trump’s endless claims that the 2020 election was stolen was that — contrary to his insinuations — swing-state cities were not hotbeds of voter fraud. In fact, they often supported Joe Biden at smaller margins than they had Hillary Clinton four years before.

That change in some of the most racially diverse places in the country, combined with the shift in heavily Hispanic parts of the country to Trump, were early hints that the conventional wisdom about race and party was being undercut. In the years since, we’ve seen more evidence that Black and Hispanic Americans in particular are less hostile to the Republican Party and Trump than they used to be.

The question, then, is how much less? And — specifically for Democrats looking toward November — how alarming is that shift for Biden’s reelection campaign?Sign up for How To Read This Chart, a weekly data newsletter from Philip Bump

Last month, Gallup released data showing how the two-party margin between Black and Hispanic Americans had shifted dramatically since 2020. In 2020, Black Americans were 66 points more […]

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100 Most Obese U.S. Cities: America’s Weight Problem Centers In The South

Stephan: 

This is another aspect of The Great Schism Trend. States where voters have voted into power advocates of TCP, are not just the least educated, most illiterate, shortest lifespan men and women, they are also the most obese. If you click through you can get a list of all the fatty communities. It was too long for me to put it in SR.

Obesity problem in United States Credit: C.Z. Andriano / stock.adobe

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The South is known for its fine cuisine and delicious barbecue, but a new survey finds it’s also at the center of the nation’s growing obesity epidemic. Researchers have found that many of the country’s most overweight and obese cities are in the southern part of the United States.

WalletHub’s findings (full list below) also paint a concerning picture of health and financial burdens across the nation. With nearly 42 percent of U.S. adults classified as obese, the ramifications extend far beyond individual health, affecting the nation’s economy with obesity-related medical treatments costing around $190.2 billion annually and work absenteeism resulting in approximately $4.3 billion in productivity losses each year.

The study compared 100 of the most populated U.S. metropolitan areas across 19 key metrics, ranging from the percentage of physically inactive adults to future obesity projections and access to healthy foods. This approach sheds light on the cities that are most affected by weight-related issues and underscores the pressing need for public health interventions.

Obesity is becoming more […]

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No SR Today

Stephan: 

Stephan’s computer has been attacked once again. He is unable to post today’s edition. Technicians are working on his system, but cleaning up the malware will cost another $500. He wants to thank everyone for your continued support.

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In states with laws targeting LGBTQ issues, school hate crimes quadrupled

Stephan: 

When you breed hate you get hate crimes, and that is exactly what is happening to LGBTQ kids where the Trump christofascist Party (TCP) controls the state government. This is the exact opposite of government designed to foster wellbeing. This is part of the Great Schism Trend, and I believe we are going to see families with LGBTQ kids moving from these Red states.  How big is this population: Here is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has to say:

Number and percentage of students, by sexual identity — Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, 2021

 
Site Sexual identity
Heterosexual (straight) Gay or lesbian Bisexual Other/Questioning
No. % CI* No. % CI No. % CI No. % CI
National survey
Total 12,421  74.2 (72.4–75.9)    520   3.2 (2.7–3.7)  1,848  11.9 (10.9–12.9)  1,482   9.0 (8.0–10.0)
Male  7,358  87.3 (85.8–88.7)    195   2.4 (1.9–3.1)    356   4.0 (3.2–5.1)    333   3.7 (3.1–4.3)
Female  4,992  61.6 (59.1–64.0)    298   3.7 (3.0–4.5)  1,449  20.0 (18.5–21.6)  1,055  13.7 (12.3–15.3)
LGBTQ students Credit: USA Today

School hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people have sharply risen in recent years, climbing fastest in states that have passed laws restricting LGBTQ student rights and education, a Washington Post analysis of FBI data finds.

In states with restrictive laws, the number of hate crimes on K-12 campuses has more than quadrupled since the onset of a divisive culture war that has often centered on the rights of LGBTQ+ youth.

At the same time, calls to LGBTQ+ youth crisis hotlines have exploded, with some advocates drawing a connection between the spike in bullying and hate crimes, and the political climate.

LGBTQ+ students have long dealt with bullying and harassment at school, but some students are feeling particularly vulnerable due to the wave of legislation. They are also on edge following the death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died after a fight in their Oklahoma public school bathroom.

That’s the case for Carden, a transgender 17-year-old. He argues that politicians’ anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has shaped the views of adults in the conservative Virginia county where he […]

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‘Like the Nazis Did’: Critic Slams Trump Plans to Remake US Education System

Stephan: 

Trump and his Trump christofascist Party (TCP) do not like public education, and are openly making it clear if Americans elect them they are going to gut the system that probably educated you. They don’t want education. Like Hitler and the Nazis they want indoctrination not fact-based education. Don’t say you haven’t been warned about their intentions. They also want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That’s the TCP’s agenda, is that what you want?

In two separate videos on Trump’s little-noticed “Agenda 47” website, the ex-president details his vision to take millions of dollars away from the endowments of private colleges and universities, through lawsuits and fines, as retribution for some students he suggests embraced Hamas after it attacked Israel. Those millions of dollars would be used to create an entire new federal government university system which, Trump vows, would be entirely non-political: no “wokeness” would be allowed.

Trump claimed colleges and universities are “turning our students into communists, terrorists, and sympathizers of many, many different dimensions. We can’t let this happen. It’s time to offer something dramatically different. Under the plan I’m announcing today we will take the billions and billions of dollars that we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments, and we will then use that money to endow a new institution called the American Academy.”

Trump also announced plans to entirely eliminate the U.S. Dept. of Education, allowing states to keep those funds so they can determine what and how children should be taught.

“Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools […]

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The New Science on What Ultra-Processed Food Does to Your Brain

Stephan: 

A large percentage of Americans have terrible diets because they eat ultra-processed foods, as described in this report. If you do this, please stop. This is one of the reasons Americans have such poor health, are so obese, and have a life expectancy five years shorter than most Europeans and the Japanese.

Illustration by Elena Scott / The Wall Street Journal

Ultra-processed foods may not only affect our bodies, but our brains too.

New research suggests links between ultra-processed foods—such as chips, many cereals and most packaged snacks at the grocery store—and changes in the way we learn, remember and feel. These foods can act like addictive substances, researchers say, and some scientists are proposing a new mental-health condition called “ultra-processed food use disorder.” Diets filled with such foods may raise the risk of mental health and sleep problems.

The science is still early and researchers say there is a lot they don’t know. Not all ultra-processed foods are equal, some scientists say, adding that some might be good for you. A diet high in ultra-processed foods has been linked with obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease, but researchers are still figuring out exactly why, beyond calorie counts and nutrient composition. 

Makers of foods such as processed meats and muffins defend their products, and note that there isn’t a consistent, universally accepted definition of ultra-processed food. 

“The makers of […]

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Nearly 50% of US parents financially supporting adult children, study finds

Stephan: 

Adult children are still being supported in some way by their parents. And so many, 50 per cent as reported in this article. It is a major change in our culture.

Adult Children supported by their parents. Credit: Scary Mommy

The study – conducted by Savings.com – found that young, working-class Americans were not substantially benefiting from the recovery of the country’s economy, as “evidenced by high employment, falling inflation, and economic growth”. That has forced many of them to continue to rely on their parents to help cover costs of living.

The average age of adults receiving financial help from their parents – sometimes at the risk of the parents’ retirement security – was 22, according to the study. And while parents surveyed in the study on average said their adult children should become financially independent by 25, many were supporting those children beyond that milestone.

Of parents providing support, 21% were helping millennials (age 28-43) or members of gen X (age 44-59). Millennials and gen X adult children were on average given between $907 and $960 each month by their parents.

Gen Z adults (between 18 and 27) were getting more help from their mothers and fathers, averaging about $1,515 monthly.

Notably, many adults from gen Z still have […]

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