Chandra Childers ,    -  Economic Policy Institute Stephan: Recently I have had several readers write me, often criticizing me, and asking why I say the Red States, particularly the Red States of the South, have such inferior governance, and such poor wellbeing. They tell me they accept the social outcome data I publish frequently. but they don't understand or deny my conclusions. So why do the old Confederacy states continue such poor governance? Here is the answer. The Red States are not governed to product wellbeing. They are governed to further enrich a White minority a ..read more

,    -   Stephan:  Speaker of the House Republican Mike Johnson Credit: The Hill President Biden’s move to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel has drawn the fury of Republicans, further polarizing U.S. efforts to deter Israel from launching a bloody campaign in southern Gaza.  The U.S. held back some 3,500 bombs that had already been approved for Israel as the White House is growing increasingly frustrated with the civilian toll in Gaza and is concerned about a looming Israeli full-scale invasion of Rafah, a southern city where more than a million Palestinia ..read more

Chris Walker ,  News Writer  -  truthout Stephan: This story about the Republican politicians in Louisiana is disgusting. I don't know how Republicans live with themselves. As this report describes how would you ever get the image of a raped child delivering a baby while holding her Teddy Bear out of your memory? I certainly couldn't. But then most of these anti-choice politicians have never seen anyone deliver a baby. All they care about is White male dominance. And the Tradwives who vote for Republicans seem to find their submission the most important factor in their live ..read more

Nicholas Eberstadt,    -  Foreign Affairs Journal Stephan: The world of the next century is going to be very different than it is today. It isn't just climate change, it is also dramatically changing population levels, and vast migrations both internally and across nations. Here is the headline on population from this research paper. "In the decades immediately ahead, East Asia will experience perhaps the modern world’s most dramatic demographic shift. All of the region’s main states—China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—are about to enter into an era of depopulation, in wh ..read more

Cristen Hemingway Jaynes,  Contributing Writer  -  EcoWatch Stephan: Here is some good news -- not great news, it could be better, but good -- about humanity emerging from the carbon era and addressing the pollution humans have created that is destroying the earth's matrix of life. According to the new Global Electricity Review 2024 from think tank Ember, renewable energy now exceeds more than 30 percent of the world’s electricity supply, following a fast rise in solar and wind power. According to Ember’s executive summary of the rep ..read more

Brianna Navarre,  Staff Writer  -  U.S. News Stephan: Obesity has become one of the defining characteristics of the American population. It is one of the main ways Europeans and Asians identify American tourists on sight. It is also, as this report describes, costing us almost $200 billion dollars in health costs because it is the source of a whole spectrum of health problems. It is also, although nobody talks about this, one of the defines of the Great Schism Trend. Look at the list of the top 10 most obese states. What do you notice, what stands out? Of the top 10 states ..read more

Max Taves,  Staff Writer  -  Raw Story / DC Report Stephan: American guns are the murder weapons of choice throughout Central and South America. How is this possible? Because the Republicans in Congress have been rented like prostitutes by the corporations that make the murder weapons, and no law constraining gun manufacture or sales can get passed. The result is not only that a shot in their bodies has become the main cause of death of children in the U.S., it is also now becoming a main cause of death in the rest of the hemisphere. I see this as a national shame. Heavily ..read more

Chris Walker,  News Writer  -  truthout Stephan: I told you this would happen, and it is. We are seeing the population of the United States sort itself in accordance with the Great Schism Trend. Conservatives in significant numbers are moving to Red States so they can be around people who agree with their sense of resentment, victimization, racism, and views on abortion, education, and libraries. Young people and young couples, in contrast are moving to Blue States, as this poll and article describe. What this is also doing is creating a growing disparity in the intellectua ..read more

Jak Shafer,  Staff Writer  -  Politico Stephan: This is an excellent article on the change in journalism. It is a major trend changing our culture as it withers, and not in a good way. Journalism is being replaced by the weaponization of lies on social media. The result is a population of ill-informed people who have lost contact with the truth, and who no longer understand or value democracy. Members of the press cover former President Donald Trump’s address to supporters at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Credit: Francis Chung/Politico Wounde ..read more

JULIANNE MCSHANE,  Staff Writer  -  Mother Jones Stephan: I do not in any way excuse or defend the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas. They are war crimes. But I do not think what they have done compares with the genocide of Muslim women and children being carried out by the Israelis. How is it possible that Jewish men, many of whose forebearers were murdered by Hitler's Nazis, could participate in such mass murder? To get the answer to that question watch my podcast Consciousness, Authoritarianism, and Political Violence, which will air this Friday afternoon on You ..read more