THE EARTHIAN — 25

 

THE EARTHIAN, Number Twenty-Five, October 2, 2021, Effective Learning Publications, https://effectivelearning.net/effective-learning-publications/ 32 East Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia, USA, Richard John Stapleton, PhD, CTA, Editor & Publisher   

THE EARTHIAN is a digest of articles containing facts, perspectives, theories, models, analyses, and recommendations concerned about existential states of affairs affecting all species of fauna and flora around Spaceship Earth. Recent relevant articles written and published by intelligent hard-hitting truth-seeking writers in Internet journals about psychological, moral, ethical, philosophical, social, economic, political, military, religious, and ecological states of affairs around Spaceship Earth are posted and linked below as sources.

To comment about this issue of The Earthian in general or any article included as SOURCE READING please scroll to the top of this page and click on the prompt for ELR Editor’s Daily Shares. Write your comment either at the top of the editor’s Facebook page or at the bottom of the specific article you are thinking about that has been posted in the last month or so on the Facebook page.

“ASK LESS WHAT YOUR NATION CAN DO FOR YOU–ASK MORE WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR SPACESHIP EARTH”

Individuals Are Not to Praise or Blame for How Earthian Economic, Social, and Political States of Affairs Evolve

A DARK DASTARDLY DEED IN USIAN HISTORY

By ROUT LOGGER

What’s on my mind now? I’ll tell you what. For the first time in my life yesterday, October 1, 2021, the United States Postal Service did not deliver or pick up the mail to/from my address on a business day. A cursory check on the Internet showed there have been scattered reports about slow postal service recently on CNN and elsewhere, apparently the result of Trump appointing Dejoy as postmaster general to destroy the US postal service. Does Biden not have the power to fire Dejoy? If not why not? This is one of the worst desecrations of USian democracy in history. It’s one thing to slow down mail delivery; it’s something else not to pick up or deliver the mail at all. Nothing is more democratic than USian citizens being able to write a letter in handwriting at any time expressing an assessment and/or opinion of states of affairs and mail it immediately to others from their own unique mailing address. The US post office has been one of the most sacred and most dependable democratic institutions around Earth, and now it is being destroyed by greedy fascists. Not one major newspaper in the US I checked yesterday ran a page one headline about the shameless USian abomination that occurred on October 1, 2021–the USPS not delivering or picking up the mail at everyone’s address, on a beautiful, bright, clear business day. Shameful indeed.

A bitter pill for most people to swallow postulated in the books Business Voyages and Born to Learn is that everything that happens is either predetermined or accidental and therefore no one, including Trump, is to blame or praise. Believing and acting otherwise will perpetuate the same sorry I’m OK–You’re Not OK life position that has bedeviled humankind since time immemorial.

It’s OK to criticize, condemn, stroke, compliment, recognize, reward, punish, and change deleterious human actions in states of affairs; but it’s Not-OK to blame or praise specific humans for doing what they do, since they were caused to do it.

For more information on the use of Transactional Analysis  https://www.itaaworld.org/  to create better discussion groups and democratic processes read Born to Learn:  A Transactional Analysis of Human Learning.  https://www.amazon.com/Born-Learn-Transactional-Analysis-Learning/dp/0692584331 

For more information on how to co-construct better organizations and economic systems using transactional analysis read Business Voyages:  Mental Maps, Scripts, Schemata, and Tools for Co-Constructing Your Own Business Worlds    https://www.amazon.com/Business-Voyages-Schemata-Discovering-Co-Constructing/dp/1413480810

Read “The Evolution of Spaceship Earth, Inc,”  https://blog.effectivelearning.net/the-evolution-of-spaceship-earth-inc/   for some management science ideas on how Earthian humans might eventually co-construct an economic system that is viable and satisfying for everyone aboard Spaceship Earth, making it possible for all Earthian humans to develop an I’m OK–You’re OK life position. 

This entails Earthian humans peacefully reducing through natural attrition the human population aboard Spaceship Earth, never doing work that machines can do better, and delegating the day-to-day management of systems for scheduling, producing, and distributing the necessities of life to artificial intelligence programs and supercomputers.

This is possible based on the general algorithmic matrix algebra form

Max CjXj, s.t. AijXj ≤, =, or ≥ Bi

explained in “The Evolution of Spaceship Earth, Inc.”   https://blog.effectivelearning.net/the-evolution-of-spaceship-earth-inc/  

Flying aboard an airliner about to land at night moving at four hundred miles an hour at thirty thousand feet with cloudy and rainy weather below, which would you rather have landing the plane, the plane’s radar and computer system or the pilot and co-pilot, seeing nothing out their windows but clouds and lightning?

The main reason why turning over the scheduling, production, and distribution of the necessities of life to AI robots and magnum computers is that they do not get greedy and power hungry or play psychological Games. Thus far in human history most leaders atop large organizations such as countries, large corporations, and big banks have become corrupt one way or another playing psychological Games acting out their selfish ego trips, hogging all the power and money they could get their hands on for themselves and their cronies. Whatever their limitations, AI robots and algorithmic computers, in a word, are not egotistical.

We are indebted to Buckminster Fuller for teaching us in his book Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth the airplane-landing metaphor in the above paragraph and for planting seeds for other ideas in the essay “The Evolution of Spaceship Earth, Inc.,” such as computers being the best hope for mankind and humans not doing work machines can do better, being paid to think instead with what Fuller called mind grants. Fuller said unemployment all around Spaceship Earth could be eliminated overnight with mind grants. Apparently Fuller was the inventor of the appellations Earthian and Spaceship Earth.   

If you have ideas on how to democratically discuss in Game-free ways economic and political problems and opportunities in something like the Ogeechee Economic Forum https://blog.effectivelearning.net/ogeechee-economic-forum/ go to the RESPONSES prompt at the top of this page or to https://blog.effectivelearning.net/responses/ and let us know about them.

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SOURCE READING FOR THIS ISSUE OF THE EARTHIAN

October 1, 2021

Yes, happy birthday. Great photo. Great human being.

“Happy 97^th Birthday President Jimmy Carter,” by George Davis, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10225230725971364&set=gm.5093641817318288.

October 1

Sorry state of affairs

“Fed Vice Chair Clarida Traded Millions One Day Before Powell Emergency Pandemic Statement,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fed-vice-chair-clarida-traded-millions-one-day-powell-emergency-pandemic-statement?fbclid=IwAR0xp-a3KHPb3FEgKt-5_pS3w1HwZoWmiOCV2K1tGtQYzcou2Z07ATtiXcA.  

September 30

Would seem to be inevitable sooner or later

“Wall Street’s wild party in jeopardy as Fed threatens aid cutoff,” by Victoria Guida and Ben White, POLITICO, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/02/wall-street-fed-threatens-aid-cutoff-514956?fbclid=IwAR397aLYYnLgqzj4CoCpnVaimMa91qBDDSjzMAjpy0RdlKBvw8tH5OhEmfI.

September 30

Another great explanation by Michael Hudson, Earth’s greatest economist.

“China’s Fortune Cookie Crumbles,” by Michael Hudson – Ross Ashcroft, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/30/chinas-fortune-cookie-crumbles/?fbclid=IwAR1gmAOY1nghdPmdh3l268BLC2DKQnpzevEyeRWbzZA7tr-Q6IBjL5TTlrI.

September 30

Great news. If only all countries could do the same.

“China’s population could halve within 45 years, new study warns,” by Stephen Chen, SOUTH CHINA MORNING NEWS, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3150699/chinas-population-could-halve-within-next-45-years-new-study?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=share_widget&utm_campaign=3150699&fbclid=IwAR22Qj6tLOcsXGdH-ceCe9i_t8G2bndZMFmBw4_ncuWkCjYMdcA6-f4MD10.

September 30

Yes, they don’t want to talk about that

“Today’s Special: Massive Tax Cuts for Billionaires,” Liz Hammill, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/richard.stapleton.397/.

September 29

Say it aint so Joe

“Rabobank: Warren is Right, Powell is Dangerous… So Is The Whole Fed,” by Michael Every of Rabobank, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rabobank-warren-right-powell-dangerous-so-whole-fed?fbclid=IwAR2G8D8WweuR6kXAb6b87xSKvSi2g8X6aBzg4ewNL44lr8Nol3pTJiHx88A.

September 29

Very sad. Greedy humans must decrease their population of the Earth peacefully using natural attrition, natural deaths exceeding births, before they foul the nests of all Earthian species, including theirs.

“U.S. to declare 23 species, including ivory-billed woodpecker, extinct,” by Rich Mckay and Kanishka Singh, REUTERS, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-declare-23-species-including-ivory-billed-woodpecker-extinct-ap-2021-09-29/?fbclid=IwAR397aLYYnLgqzj4CoCpnVaimMa91qBDDSjzMAjpy0RdlKBvw8tH5OhEmfI.

September 29

Of course open borders are not sustainable in rich countries all of whom got rich by commandeering the lion’s share of Earthian resources or by controlling their population growth. Most Earthian humans ought to be able to figure out if open borders happened all around Earth all rich countries would soon be impoverished too, except for the elite rich who might continue to live in luxury while others in the country lived in poverty.

“Biden Agrees With Obama That ‘Open Borders are Unsustainable’,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-agrees-obama-open-borders-are-unsustainable-psaki?fbclid=IwAR1oz6QAFFEdtW6pA-RxxGMMX9K0W_hZys1M2nFH4jemdOmkPaiIgHqo_hc.

September 28

Sad but true. Great article by Thom Hartmann

“When will the US break free from the clutches of its grifters?” by Thom Hartmann, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33864?fbclid=IwAR0yLLOjigSyMa1Sy5a87gIpGvswgIevbgWY53qZW3k34Qy53gMXv77gjG8.

September 28

Shame

“Dallas Fed President Kaplan to retire early on Oct. 8, citing trading disclosure ‘distraction’,” by Jeff Cox, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/dallas-fed-president-kaplan-to-retire-early-on-oct-8-citing-trading-disclosure-distraction.html?fbclid=IwAR03v6-5pTX1a8elacMTs73keB4z49lJIMMbwEcZEuRmFPLBO8LD2aEWZso.

September 28

Right as rain

“We are standing on our principles,” by Gary Huck, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/richard.stapleton.397/.

September 28

Excellent article by Robert Reich

“When I was at law school with Clarence Thomas,” by Robert Reich, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33858?fbclid=IwAR09yZnb7blG7Vy2GFUHMeBrOEa7YaUHmpBZVtd60Wvq6Ktf3rntWghLVMQ/.

September 28

Pathetic this could happen in the US, or anywhere else, for that matter.

“Donald Trump is Building an Army. He Can No Longer Be Ignored,” by Sean Rayford, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/donald-trump-is-building-an-army-he-can-no-longer-be-ignored/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR24mYrgm-yTg87pjk8JlMjNrCWgnT645_FyX6zdgBHgn8Hm41jj2hHEfE0.

September 26

Say it aint so Joe

“In Washington Today: 535 Members of Congress, 1,500 Pharmaceutical Industry Lobbyists,” by Bernie Sanders, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/124955570892789/photos/a.324119347643076/4464240413630928/.

September 26

Amen

“When someone lies to you 30,000 times in 4 years and you still believe him, you’re in a cult,” by Gilberto Lopez, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1549011222112054&set=a.326476614365527.

September 26

No, I did not know that. Any chance the US could undo it?

“Did you know that before 1973 it was illegal in the US to profit off of health care? The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 passed by Nixon changed everything,” by Rene M. Upshaw, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=261892602478081&set=a.105649121435764/.

September 26

Way it should have been

“‘Intelligent Design’ (the one by our founding fathers),” by Robert Vukovic, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10220461548871922&set=a.1526356562021.

September 26

Never knew that

“THE FDA RECEIVES 45% OF ITS ANNUAL BUDGET FROM THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY,” by Fred Jones, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=775282603246672&set=a.721127791995487.

September 26

An interesting story about Abraham Lincoln

“A Daily Dose of History,” FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/DailyDoseofHistory/photos/a.115664163197823/585947662836135/.

September 26

Wrong. The problem is not communism; the problem is fascists getting in control of governments. Stalin was not a communist; he was a fascist. Xi may be becoming a fascist himself. Hitler was a fascist. Any political leader who turns himself into a dictator is a fascist by virtue of subverting democratic processes to make it happen, whether it happens under capitalism, socialism, or communism. Trump and his Repug cult members are trying to install Trump as a fascist dictator under capitalism in the US. A fascist dictator is a fascist dictator, regardless of whether he becomes one under capitalism, socialism, or communism.

“The Problem Is Not Just Xi Jinping; It is Communism,” by David Flint, op-ed via The Epoch Times, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/problem-not-just-xi-jinping-it-communism?fbclid=IwAR37ohBKdByfETF208-7gs7G-BLpjKbyMFz1dpzyDzq1M7d75mDqAGLZGXQ.

September 26

Say it aint so Joe

“U.S. Militarism’s Toxic Impact on Climate Policy,” by Medea Benjamin – Nicolas J.S. Davies, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/24/u-s-militarisms-toxic-impact-on-climate-policy/?fbclid=IwAR3CIk5iOh3aaNbfRlJWTuqHGdtMxd2MHgPUECDYnS4Bidd8foa6pzyXjkM.

September 26

Not your normal teacher

“Remembering Paulo Freire as a Freedom Fighter,” by Henry Giroux, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/24/remembering-paulo-freire-as-a-freedom-fighter/?fbclid=IwAR3nQqv7D1XwBcWBJr2TXC6hRM8s4-LqC9xP5cej3-geYkS7ZT-vZtFSk3k.

September 25

Mistakes on an unimaginably massive scale

“The Record-Breaking Failures of Nuclear Power,” by Linda Gunter, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/24/the-record-breaking-failures-of-nuclear-power/?fbclid=IwAR15jrzLi0v5wXGuhMCtem1wGoO1aLwqmMFuyMuEaTLJa9r9_RfMG6l4SYY.

September 24

So it would seem

“Viewpoint: The Cruelty of American Imperialism,” by Noam Chomsky, THE ECONOMIST, https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/09/24/noam-chomsky-on-the-cruelty-of-american-imperialism?utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_medium=social-organic&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0HebalLyXTLDzAJugsoP-jaTLm_qUj6bAsW0dxEdkBgt6K_3ZOMNEBy8Q.

September 23

As dumb an idea as Reagan’s Star Wars defense shield

“Democrsats File Bill to Abolish ‘Flagrantly’ Wasteful Trump-Formed Space Force,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/democrats-file-bill-to-abolish-flagrantly-wasteful-trump-formed-space-force/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3I-Wgbqgq-awWNYHANF_I3cG0BeG8BHwZgpdlNOgfUrzPdS1hdKaYDZfA.

September 23

With no serious threats in sight insane alright

“Ocasio-Cortez Slams Congress for ‘Shamelessly’ Boosting Defense Budget Each Year,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/ocasio-cortez-slams-congress-for-senselessly-boosting-defense-budget-each-year/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3CIk5iOh3aaNbfRlJWTuqHGdtMxd2MHgPUECDYnS4Bidd8foa6pzyXjkM.

September 19

Yes, it’s time to make the US more democratic, freer, and better off by significantly overhauling its woefully obsolete constitution and desecrated government.

“Constitution Day 2021: It’s time to make America free again,” by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33775?fbclid=IwAR3or8ltUdqswPDAKjsVBv2SHozG_j4d3AIBmAMTybiHGEUKt92Q7N9xgnE.

September 19

Right as rain

“Understanding the Basics of 21^st-Century Democracy, Autocracy, and Capitalism,” by Richard D. Wolff, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/17/understanding-the-basics-of-21st-century-democracy-autocracy-and-capitalism/?fbclid=IwAR08WSAiA-6l2-EoJkTZ8TWkbrTQU_vp0_LZeip_WAi3KEk2raKGjRgnZVY.

September 19

Yes, it’s completely absurd

“Bernie Sanders Rips Into Big Pharma Profits, Says ‘Thousands Die Every Year’,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-rips-into-big-pharma-profits-says-thousands-die-every-year/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR2OZ6JfAuc4zaRCDE5ng-n4YtYy9P0BumQGKmvm8VZ_0H-teIK54H9DbR8.

September 18

Good question

“Peter Espeut: Why do they hate us so?” THE GLEANER, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20210917/peter-espeut-why-do-they-hate-us-so?fbclid=IwAR0YrpOUmBMXtBx2atP27PcmHZwK2XhjIqq2PAHwl_DNxopxpolOBkQ-ndk#.YUaB4STyq_k.facebook.

September 17

Another fearless article by Caitlin Johnstone

“Our gods have no heads,” by Caitlin Johnstone, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33763?fbclid=IwAR1CXQjZq5gdF5u1rieaHWhBqKLiYSLK99yYT2tq9hlNXS0ug7ziAhPS0ws.

September 17

Another cogent article by Eve Ottenberg

“Fireworks at the Select Committee on the Capitol Riot,” by Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/17/fireworks-at-the-select-committee-on-the-capitol-riot/?fbclid=IwAR01nVIwFjs2rBezp0eIoblv9d–1ICB5Rs4gdiogYd8d762t3-06Pi80N8.

September 17

Japan’s debt is 275 percent of their GDP; the US’s debt, according to this article, is only 103 percent of its GDP. This implies the US still has a way to go before it financially explodes or implodes because of deficit spending and debt.

“#MacroView: Deficit Deniers & 40-Years of Economic Erosion – RIA,” by Lance Roberts, RIA ADVICE, https://realinvestmentadvice.com/macroview-deficit-deniers-40-years-of-economic-erosion/?fbclid=IwAR3eKYbPsdqFr33uVQXLwZG1DK_Xyde9oiJu5A8HJ5j_GmxhO4UYhgUjBz0.

September 17

How soon we forget

“20 years of post-9/11 amnesia,” by Margaret Kimberley, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33760?fbclid=IwAR0YrpOUmBMXtBx2atP27PcmHZwK2XhjIqq2PAHwl_DNxopxpolOBkQ-ndk.

September 16

Got to have enemies to justify military expenses

“The Dangerous Exaggeration of the Threat,” by Melvin Goodman, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/16/the-dangerous-exaggeration-of-the-threat/?fbclid=IwAR2YHiKT4_uT19_z7SC-0mFbfNSFBUiViBfWgcXLMOnMfJpD-8t2q4oOiwE.

September 16

As it should

“Supreme Court Approval Hits Historic Low Over Failure to Stop Texas Abortion Ban,” by Chris Walker, TROUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/supreme-court-approval-hits-historic-low-over-failure-to-stop-tx-abortion-ban/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR2FgfGAzysBnkbusKJQNlUaK0CR9EBJu8xXdK6JUA_F49tnkgGVlh-I3MY.

September 16

Agree

“Elizabeth Warren Calls for Ban on Federal Reserve Officials Trading Stocks,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/elizabeth-warren-calls-for-ban-on-federal-reserve-officials-trading-stocks/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0_18-SOt24hbhHnG17VjSxu7GXQy8GPUcBzYEXgnl5GFjaB6j3YGUBxj4.

September 16

Right as rain

“Bernie Sanders Blasts Conservative Democrats for Siding With Big Pharma,” by William Rivers Pitt, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-blasts-conservative-democrats-for-siding-with-big-pharma/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR2PuFZ15LXLgain4lH19UKqhfPoOdl1VEkghjYVp2sWi5Lq-fV-iM9NUWQ.

September 15

A despicable happening

“I Demand The Religious Freedom To Impose My Religious Beliefs On You,” by Barbara Henderson Porter, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1248073412297780&set=a.183054845466314.

September 16

USian federal politicians are bought and paid for by drug companies, so it’s OK for USian medical patients to get ripped off with drug prices significantly higher than those paid by medical patients living in countries with better governments.

“Democrats vote with Republicans to reject adding Medicare drug-price plan to $3.5T budget package,” by Brett Jansen, USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/09/15/democrats-gop-reject-adding-medicare-drug-price-plan-budget/8349347002/?fbclid=IwAR0rSFlZhK0H4n1Vuikhwa2Xl2Fd41CDeAv-Otb75CuDuqKxg486hPq1qAY.

September 16

Great power rivalry should be dismissed as psychological Game-playing to build up business for the military-industrial complex.

“The Center Cannot Hold,” by Thomas Wright, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-08-24/center-cannot-hold?utm_medium=newsletters&utm_source=fatoday&utm_campaign=The%20Center%20Cannot%20Hold&utm_content=20210916&utm_term=FA%20Today%20-%20112017&fbclid=IwAR1LQrpWAlWq2zJ4To4Bz0TXIvBC0M92coSSz36_bk9GZZGIVDCGshEa8cw.

September 15

Here is a case that free market capitalism is dead, killed by capitalists, politicians, and central bankers.

“Nothing is Real: A Visual Journey Through Market Absurdity,” by Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitaerland.com, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/nothing-real-visual-journey-through-market-absurdity?fbclid=IwAR0ygTupk7r8uX4Ja0lcb6cwWhw5FLWfZ6yEz_pgNrwZgTC9wwQMkFPRSPQ.

September 14

Did not know it had gone this far.

“Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could ‘go rogue,’ Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons,” by Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart, CNN POLITICS, https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/politics/woodward-book-trump-nuclear/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2JxH-deoEkvr1WvgtaZFpfab7lhIFoFQn38fWmywzEjox36L2c1wyE950.

September 10

Well said

“The Good Death–Cancel Culture and the Logic of Torture,” by Christopher Van Eecke, QUILLETTE, https://quillette.com/2021/09/09/the-good-death-cancel-culture-and-the-logic-of-torture/?fbclid=IwAR2sqnemwgbg0GSNneYqiEucQl4kpTnbhlEsOKnRvByiiIdRaytCw_JlpiM.

September 10

Well said

“Twenty Years After 9/11: a Health Worker’s Perspective,” by Seiji Yamada, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/09/twenty-years-after-9-11-a-health-workers-perspective/?fbclid=IwAR3SYYBqSouxkJiWOJZTTRxi8vEP9mjEuQayoPIzc2raRdY7PlUCf3D6N-Y.

September 10

This is more than an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

“US Airstrikes Have Killed Up to 48,000 Civilians Since 9/11: Analysis,” by Kenny Stancil, COMMON DREAMS, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/07/us-airstrikes-have-killed-48000-civilians-911-analysis?fbclid=IwAR13SqBsTcAU2o99iOijmmgyvzmDS7s6VjF4DpzlMhIgcsRGCU7GEXxeBxc.

September 7

Fusion energy if it ever happens may be the best hope for Earthing human sustainability

“Physicists Have Successfully Advanced a Key Device For Producing Fusion Power,” by Michelle Starr, SCIENCE ALERT, https://www.sciencealert.com/there-s-been-a-significant-advance-in-harnessing-the-power-of-nuclearfusion?fbclid=IwAR0tyDiY_iYnjzepOqMCKLnN9qa6UwoWQPHuIaghOixhpxB5fotmwzGyQiwd=IwAR0tyDiY_iYnjzepOqMCKLnN9qa6UwoWQPHuIaghOixhpxB5fotmwzGyQiw.

September 7

Pathetic

“The Structural Greed of Corporate America,” by Sam Pizzigati, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/07/the-structural-greed-of-corporate-america/?fbclid=IwAR25eKPntOaz4va8DtFEbdNKZJt1KWVbO5sgWehWq6U-1phduCzauIuqWrk.

September 7

Say it aint so Joe

“Afghanistan and the Purdue Pharma Case are Reminders That the U.S. is a Failed Narco-State, Too,” by Richard Eskow, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/07/afghanistan-and-the-purdue-pharma-case-are-reminders-that-the-u-s-is-a-failed-narco-state-too/?fbclid=IwAR1LSyUpIYmmF-qp-m3Vk0o-SiLQScBfAxTj2oPsD3aFtmInnPc6rsHM1r8.

September 6

Never knew pro-life was also pro-nazi

“Texas abortion law is based on similar measure in Nazi Germany,” by Wayne Madsen, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/33641?fbclid=IwAR1s6yKHtYKAtEX5sJmJjEuZdDecr8DZKvhhDuHq12ldT0IY-K7V_9aQSlI.

September 6

George Soros, the trading master of the world has spoken. Is he right in this case? Probably not. I agree with Michael Hudson, the world’s greatest economist, the author of the article.

“Soros’ Dream: To Turn China Into a Neoliberal Grabitization Opportunity,” by Michael Hudson, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/02/soros-dream-to-turn-china-into-a-neoliberal-grabitization-opportunity/?fbclid=IwAR2qUsz-PUxh9IwSIHaG4jeLd-cyP5BuWwiLic5UelxfGXng-YHCdY5l5do.

September 6

Very sad state of affairs

“At Least 27 Million US Workers Can’t Afford All the Basic Necessities of Life,” by Jeffrey Kucik and Don Leonard, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/at-least-27-million-workers-cant-afford-all-the-basic-necessities-of-life/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0UEwLBZdJaIUXPEOPyhF6T1EQ3jF218wRVj0ms5XXyC3IynTiCpIggfao.

September 6

Enlightening article

“Resistance is Futile: The War on Terror Supercharged State Power,” by Thomas Hegghammer, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2021-08-24/resistance-futile?utm_medium=newsletters&utm_source=fatoday&utm_campaign=Resistance%20Is%20Futile&utm_content=20210906&utm_term=FA%20Today%20-%20112017&fbclid=IwAR2goSYksR06ii8Ex9vZrnC5a3dQl8WeAjehtA926vP-JOFcHJUYRwfjfRA.

September 5

Lived in Holland three months in 1983. Was amazed by the place. Especially the transportation system. The Dutch were way ahead of most USians intellectually and philosophically and had a higher quality of life.

“Dutch trains run entirely on wind energy,” by Rene M. Upshaw, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=248147963852545&set=a.106365118030831.

September 4

Very sad

“Wildlife ‘Red List’ a grim tally of extinction threat,” by Marlowe Hood, PHYS.ORG, https://phys.org/news/2021-09-wildlife-red-grim-tally-extinction.html?fbclid=IwAR0g69MOnQQizLJYaL476qn3nY0pbG4LJlQz5dxJgHhaTOkkmOk-BZsyoQ8.

ABOUT THE EDITOR  

Here’s Richard John Stapleton, PhD, CTA in his office at Georgia Southern University the year he retired in 2005, the senior professor of the university that year. The photo was shot by Lori Grice, a former student, founder of Lori Grice Photography.

The object under his left hand is a Classroom De- Gamer™ he invented in 1978.

He would spin the spinner of the De-Gamer in his classes to randomly select a student at the beginning of each class session to lead a discussion of the case assigned for that day, a case taken from a real business prepared by professional casewriters at Georgia Southern, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Alabama. Grades were based eighty percent on class participation; the rest of the final grade was based on two case write-ups. One write-up was about what the student observed, researched, analyzed, and wrote about an existing business in the local environment or a business plan the student created. The other write- up was an analysis of a professionally written case about a real business assigned as the final exam. Cases used in his courses were taken from all functional areas of business, such as entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, operations management, control, management information systems, and business policy and strategy.

He learned how the case method works teaching with Bernard Bienvenu, DBA and Rexford Hauser, DBA (Harvard Business School doctorates) at what is now known as the University of Louisiana– Lafayette in 1969-70.

He has published refereed journal articles and books explaining how his democratic Game-free Adult-Adult I’m OK–You’re OK case method system works, by banishing Persecutors, Rescuers, and Victims playing psychological Games from the teaching and learning process, first documented in an article titled “The Classroom De-Gamer” he published in 1978 in the Transactional Analysis Journal.

He studied TA with Martin Groder, MD; Graham Barnes, PhD; Vann Joines, PhD; and many others at the Southeast Institute at Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1975-1978).

He has degrees in economics, organizational behavior, and management science from Texas Tech University (1962-1969), and an organizational and educational certification in transactional analysis from the International Transactional Analysis Association (1978).

He had his own case method track at the undergraduate level in the business school at Georgia Southern University taught by him alone in the management department, four or five different elective case method courses offered each academic year (1970-2005), in which he led, coordinated, and graded twenty-five or so students each year who took all or most of those case method courses in their junior and senior years, of about two hundred students who signed up for all of his courses each year, using a democratic circle or amphitheater classroom layout. He also taught most semesters two sections of a capstone integrative business policy course he added to the business school curriculum in 1970 that was required for all undergraduate business majors that could be elected by any student in any major, in which he used the case method. He was the only professor in the business school to use the case method in any course.

His students agreed to a course learning contract that stipulated they would read the facts of the case before class and would lose a whole letter grade from the course final grade if the De-Gamer randomly caught them obviously not having read the case before class, if they had not slipped a note under his office door before class telling him they had not read the case, which they could do twice during the course without penalty.

About five percent or so of his students made A’s and D’s, and most made C’s, which is about right, since C = Average. There were almost no F’s in his courses. The main criterion for course grades was the quantity and quality of ideas sold by students in case method discussions. He used peer ratings to give students feedback showing what their fellow students thought about the quantity and quality of their ideas sold in class, having made it clear the final decision about final grades was his. He did not believe in Lake Wobegon grading.

No student was ever forced to take one of his courses to graduate, and the most hardened Game-players in the school did not sign up for his courses after he issued his Edict of 1972 in which he clearly spelled out in his syllabi the penalty for getting caught unprepared. His Classroom De-Gamer™ was roundly discussed by students in bull sessions across campus every year and was labeled various things, such as The Wheel of Fate and The Death Wheel. Most students near the end of his career simply called it The Spinner. He appreciated the fact Georgia Southern honored his academic freedom as a tenured professor, allowing him control of his teaching methods, classroom layouts, grading procedures, and course books, cases, and materials.

He conducted primary survey research in 1992 that discovered longitudinal data (published in “Evidence the Case Method Works” in his book Business Voyages: Mental Maps, Scripts, Schemata, and Tools for Discovering and Co-Constructing Your Own Business Worlds, 2008, pg. 475) that showed his case method students during 1972-1982 reported higher yearly incomes in 1992 than students electing the same courses in 1972-1982 taught by professors using the lecture method and the authoritarian row and column classroom layout, who graded students based on how well they memorized “right answers” for so-called objective multiple-choice tests, indicating learners learning in Adult–Adult I’m OK–You’re OK Game- free learning processes graded subjectively became more successful in the real world of business than learners lectured to in Parent–Child I’m OK– You’re Not-OK un-De-Gamed learning processes. Only former students who had worked in the real world ten or more years after graduating from the Georgia Southern business school were included in the study.

For more information on these classroom management ethical issues see Stapleton, R.J. and Murkison, G. (2001), Optimizing the fairness of student evaluations: A study of correlations between instructor excellence, study production, learning production, and expected grades, the Journal of Management Education, 25(3), 269-292. He had one of the lowest student grade point averages among professors in the business school and was one of the lowest-ranked professors as an instructor on computerized campus-wide student evaluations up to about 2000; but he was one of the highest-ranked professors in a computerized student evaluation he designed that generated data showing study production, learning production, and relative expected grades data for each professor, published in “Optimizing the Fairness of Student Evaluations.”

To read the article in full, go to https://blog.effectivelearning.net/fair-teacher- evaluations/. After this research was published, Georgia Southern in 2001 added study production, learning production, and expected grades questions to the student evaluation form used campus-wide.

“Optimizing the Fairness of Student Evaluations” has by now (October 1, 2021) been cited as a reference in 81 refereed journal articles concerned about student evaluations in several academic disciplines, including six new citations since April 2021.

As the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein propositioned, “The case is all there is.”

If so, everything else said about Earthian human states of affairs is a rendition of what was or might be.

For more on Stapleton’s cultural, educational, and professional experiences go to https://www. effectivelearning.net.