Eric Spitznagel,    -  The Free Press Stephan: Benjamin Netanyahu is destroying Israel's status in the world, and creating massive anti-semitism in the U.S. and other countries. Look at the pro-Palestinian demonstration videos on the news on most channels, and consider the effect it is having on major prestige universities. I wondered what effect, as the high school year is ending, this is having on college applications. People have a hard time apparently making the distinction between Israel and Judaism as a religion. This is what I found. It may take as long as a generati ..read more

Eric Levitz ,  Staff Writer  -  Vox Stephan: A woman who told me she has been reading SR for 20 years sent me this article telling me, "You cover trends, but this is a trend I haven't seen you say a word about, but I live in Texas and I see this trend blossoming everywhere." I read the piece and did some research on it in the conservative media, and realized she is right. I find it hard to believe this kind of thinking is taking power amongst conservative women, but apparently it is. Credit: Paige Vickers / Vox / Getty In February, America’s most prominent conservative acti ..read more

Mekela Panditharatne,  Counsel for the Brennan Center’s Elections & Government Program  -  Brennan Center for Justice Stephan: I am increasingly concerned that AI misinformation is going to destroy a fair election in November. Here is an article describing what I mean but, happily, it also offers some solutions. We will have to see if the President, Congress, or state legislatures take this issue seriously. Illustration by Chris Burnett On the eve of the 2024 New Hampshire primary, robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden counseled voters against partaking ..read more

David Edwards,  Contributing Writer  -  Raw Story Stephan: I watched the reporting on Trump's attorneys presenting his case for immunity. My main takeaway was the corruption and unethical quality of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Just start with Clarence Thomas not recusing himself in a trial over incidents in which is wife was a significant player. Or Samuel Alito's comments. In my opinion, there is a desperate need to change the Supreme Court, both in terms of ethical standards, and tenure. Corrupt christofascist Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Credit: Er ..read more

Zoë Richards,  Reporter  -  NBC News Stephan: This is what we have come to in America. Once again we see guns considered more important than children. Instead of controlling weapons, we arm teachers. Can you imagine your fourth-grade teacher walking around the classroom you remember with a Glock or a Smith & Wesson on her hip, or bulging in her pocket? Maybe she's gotten a shoulder holster. She couldn't put it in her handbag because she would never get to it in time if someone came into the classroom with an AR-15. I asked my wife who for several decades was an elementa ..read more

Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewski,  Reporters  -  The Washington Post Stephan: Yet another story of how AI is distorting American society, and damaging our democracy. We are destroying our ecosystems out of greed and now degrading our democracy with AI. You would think that this would be a defining moment for this issue less that 200 days before an election. Do you see or hear anyone in Congress bringing this up? No? Neither do I. Divyendra Singh Jadoun, 31, a creator of deepfake content, poses against a green screen which he uses for generating videos using artificial intel ..read more

Cristian Farias ,  Staff Writer  -  truthout Stephan: The United States has more people incarcerated than any other nation, over two million. Many are physically or psychologically ill. The American Gulag is a national shame. Finally, there is some awakening as to how awful this crisis has become. Maybe there is hope. If jails, prisons and detention centers are death-making by nature, then it follows that the public’s health is ill served by continuing to invest in carceral structures that make people and their communities sick. Credit: Getty In Body and Soul, a pathbr ..read more

SYRIS VALENTINE,  Staff Writer  -  truthdig Stephan: Here is some good news about the transition out of the carbon era that BIden is making possible. More hope. Credit: Adobe Clean energy, like so many commodities in this country, is neither distributed evenly nor equally. Disadvantaged communities have far fewer solar panels arrayed across their rooftops than areas with higher incomes. The federal government just took a major step toward crossing that chasm. On Monday, President Joe Biden announced the 60 organizations that, under the administration’s Solar ..read more

Robert Reich,  Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California  -  AlterNet Stephan: It has always surprised me that so many working-class men and women vote Republican. Anyone who takes some time to do a few Google's quickly discovers that the two things that created the middle class in the United States were the unionization of workers, and the federal programs after WWII that allowed veterans (mostly working-class men) to get financing to go to college, and to buy homes. And then particularly starting du ..read more

Laura Paddison,  Reporter  -  CNN Stephan: Here is yet another example of how profit, no matter the damage it does is the defining priority of most of today's human cultures.  Here also is a possible solution to that damage. This, of course, is what the U.S. Congress ought to be working on, instead of the nonsense they now waste their time and our social wellbeing on. People collecting plastic waste at Dandora dumpsite, in Nairobi, Kenya.  Credit: Simone Boccaccio / SOPA Images/ LightRocket / Getty Countries could slash plastic pollution by 80% in less t ..read more