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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.
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 notable increase in illnesses caused by germs such as campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E coli, listeria, brucella, and salmonella. It is all part of the anti-vaxxer, anti-science trend that is shaping the culture of the United States.
Dairy cows on a farm in Crestwood, Kentucky, in 2021. Credit: Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg / Getty
The discovery comes amid an increasingly heated public debate about the merits and drawbacks of raw milk. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services (HHS), is a proponent of raw milk and has claimed that as HHS secretary, he will support farmers who sell it. At the same time, public health experts have continued to advise against drinking raw milk, which is more likely to contain an array of harmful bacteria.
Here’s what you need to know.
What is raw milk and why are people talking about it?
Raw milk comes straight from the cow (or sheep or goat) and has not been pasteurized. Developed by Louis Pasteur at the end of the 19th century to help kill harmful bacteria in wine, pasteurization is the process of heating liquids in order to eliminate harmful pathogens […]
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.
Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a November 14, 2024 event at his Mar-a-Lago club. Credit: Alex Brandon / AP
Donald Trump has gotten away with causing a violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as part of scheme to overturn the 2020 election, hiding top secret documents from the federal government, and other alleged crimes.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday made official what Trump’s election victory made clear, moving to dismiss the election interference case in which Trump was charged with promoting conspiracies to defraud the United States, obstruct an official government proceeding, and deprive Americans of their civil rights through his attempts to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory. Smith said he was dropping the case due to a Justice Department policy that bars prosecuting a sitting president.
“The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” Smith said in the filing.
The motion leaves Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis’ prosecution of Trump and various former aides as the only standing criminal case related to Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Willis has […]
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.
Without urgent intervention, our study forecasts that more than 80% of adults and close to 60% of adolescents will be classified as overweight or obese by 2050. These are the key findings of our recent study, published in the journal The Lancet.
Synthesizing body mass index data from 132 unique sources in the U.S., including national and state-representative surveys, we examined the historical trend of obesity and the condition of being overweight from 1990 to 2021 and forecast estimates through 2050.
For people 18 and older, the condition health researchers refer to as “overweight” was defined as having a body mass index, or BMI, of 25 kilograms per square meter (kg/m²) to less than 30 kg/m² and obesity as a BMI […]
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 movement. Historians in the future, in some country will, I think, be writing doctoral dissertations about this historically significant failure.
Visitors react as they follow on television the US election night broadcasts, during an American breakfast buffet at the Nieuwspoort press center in The Hague, The Netherlands, on November 6, 2024. Credit: Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP
Once again, the 2024 election provided us an opportunity to test whether the U.S. media system can withstand the pressures of an authoritarian threat. And once again, we observed a media system that far too often privileged profit over democratic concerns. This capitulation was, in some ways, more subtle than what we witnessed before, especially in 2016, when coverage of Trump’s campaign was marked by overt sensationalism. Yet, media’s role during the 2024 election season was no less troubling for what it bodes for U.S. democracy’s future.
Media malpractice
Media outlets should have been well prepared this time. Everyone knew exactly what to expect. There were no ambivalences or ambiguities about Trump’s incessant lying or his rabidly xenophobic, transphobic, racist, and misogynistic rhetoric. And yet, despite it all, our media institutions didn’t rise […]
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 democracy. I find it very sad that so many people are still using social media platforms like X, which are openly and blatantly sources of weaponized lies.
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Dean Lewins / AAP / AP
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Senate Thursday and will soon become a world-first law.
The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
The Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the legislation by 102 votes to 13.
The House has yet to endorse opposition amendments made in the Senate. But that is a formality since the government has already agreed they will pass.
The platforms will have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.
Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the legislation had been “rushed.”
Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the platforms in Australia, said questions remain about the law’s impact on children, its technical […]
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.
Merrick Garland (Screen Capture)
I have been alive long enough to see presidents shot dead in the street, civil rights leaders gunned down in their hotel rooms and horrible, horrible wars started on the wretched basis of disgusting lies. But of all the things I have seen in my long life, nothing compares to Wednesday, January 6th, 2021.
On that day … a terrible, singular day that is burned into our hearts and minds, an evil, broken sociopath who had been voted out of power by the citizens of the United States of America did everything he could to hold onto that power and set the match that led to the most gruesome internal attack on this country since the Civil War.
And when that attack was at full boil, the entire world watching with horror, the President of the United States, the son of a b—- who triggered it, did nothing to stop it for more than three hours.
Instead, he hoped that it would prevail.
Even the monster’s ghastly family begged him to call off his rabid […]
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 them feel important, “manly” and powerful. If Trump does go through with his deportation schemes my concern is these White men are looking forward to civil conflict so we could see real violence, particularly in Red states where these militias flourish.
Militias, like these people training in Georgia in 2017, often want to be prepared to help defend the nation. Credit: Lisa Marie Pane / AP
I have an additional concern about a renewed focus on deportation as someone who has studied U.S. domestic militias for more than 15 years: Some militia units may see it as their duty to assist with such efforts. In fact, local police may even deputize certain militias to help them deport immigrants.
Anti-government, but supporting national defense
Militias are generally wary of the government. They’ve even been known to use violence against politicians and other government representatives, including police. I have found in my research that the […]
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 article describes, are also abandoning MSNBC. So their ratings have gone down, while the Fox propaganda network ratings have gone up. That means MSNBC will be less attractive to advertisers, so there will be less income. And then there is Trump’s grudge against the network’s leading personalities. This is all part of the damage that is going to be done during Trump’s reign to limit freedom of the press It’s what all fascists do.
Screenshot via MSNBC
MSNBC is facing a staggering ratings collapse in the wake of the 2024 election, with the network’s audience shrinking by nearly half as Fox News became the only cable news outlet to show post-election growth.
According to Nielsen data, MSNBC’s total viewership has dropped by 47 percent post-election, and its critical 25-54 demographic plummeted to just 63,000 during primetime—a sharp contrast to its pre-election numbers.
The losses are particularly stark compared to rival network Fox News, which solidified its dominance as the most-watched cable news network during and after the election.
While MSNBC pulled in 644,000 viewers in primetime, Fox News soared to 3.2 million, an 86 percent year-over-year increase in total viewers. In the coveted 25-54 demographic, Fox saw a 147 percent surge, averaging 476,000 viewers.
In total-day ratings, MSNBC’s struggles continued, drawing 497,000 viewers and only 49,000 in the 25-54 demo, as shows like Morning Joe recorded some of their lowest numbers in years. The network’s flagship morning program saw a 37 percent drop in viewership after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with President-elect Donald Trump.
Adding to MSNBC’s challenges, several of its marquee programs, including The […]
