THE EARTHIAN, Number Twenty-Seven, February 13, 2022, Effective Learning Publications https://blog.effectivelearning.net/ , 32 East Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
THE EARTHIAN is an approximately monthly digest of articles written by free-thinking truth-seeking critical-thinking creative-thinking truth-accepting hard-hitting independent writers in linked Internet journals containing facts, perspectives, theories, models, analyses, and recommendations concerned about psychological, moral, ethical, philosophical, social, economic, political, military, religious, and ecological states of affairs affecting the existential well-being of all species of fauna and flora around Spaceship Earth, including the human species.
“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
SPEAKING OUT, UP, OR NOT AT ALL
By ROUT LOGGER
Whoever woulda thunk how much of a problem free speech is. Kids are told by a lot of parents to keep their mouths’ shut and pay attention, along with saying children are to be seen and not heard. And most Earthian humans would probably agree with the USian comedian W.C. Fields who said, “Tis far better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.” Jesus said Earthian humans should not “hide your light under a bushel basket,” while he also said Earthian humans should not “cast your pearls before swine,” while only casting them to those “who have eyes to see and ears to hear.” One often hears humans say others should “keep their opinions to themselves.” The USian government, as well as most Earthian governments, would say “you had better keep your mouth shut about any of our classified secrets you might have learned, or we will put you in prison forever.” It’s common for some people to be morally and ethically bound to secrecy about what they have learned about the affairs of their customers and clients. Lawyers and bankers come to mind. Also doctors in some cases. Lying by omission about the truth is often considered not only moral and ethical but legally mandatory.
According to the USian constitution citizens are entitled to free speech. But how free is it? And does it apply to everyone in all circumstances? Unequivocally no.
One of the biggest problems around Spaceship Earth today is that billions of Earthian humans are required to be or act ignorant of the truth of ordinary obvious states of affairs, grinning and bearing it, ostensibly living in bliss. There are so many lies and dirty deeds and tricks that have been committed by politicians and governments in the past that supposedly have to be covered up for “national security” and other reasons that in some cases only relatively trivial matters can be seen, heard, read about, learned, and freely discussed in the here and now in the public square. The JFK assassination cover-up comes to mind. Earthian humans are often mandated by governments to lie by omission. More often Earthian humans are constrained from talking freely about certain states of affairs by community customs and mores.
If you don’t believe this, read about what happened to Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, and Julian Assange because of truthfully telling the truth about states of affairs. Thousands of political victims through time in various nations telling the truth met similar fates.
One of the first things fascist dictators do when they get in power is imprison, torture, and disappear writers and other truth-tellers who tell truths they do not want told or heard. Serious learning, education, and truth that would enable their underlings to know what is really going on are anathema to what they have in mind. What counts most with fascists is cronies and underlings believing propaganda and doing what they are told. This has also been true to various degrees in different kinds of learning situations around Spaceship Earth. The best way to ensure a high grade-point average in some schools is to believe or pretend to believe everything teachers say and obey without question everything teachers tell students to do, following instructions to the letter, not by telling the truth as you see it in any kind of open, free, fair discussion. This has also happened in some non-school learning situations, whether the teacher happens to be a parent, military drill sergeant, priest, preacher, business manager, or anyone having authority over supposedly-inferior underlings.
Consequently, it’s not easy to figure out whether you should speak out, up, or not at all. One can build a case that most humans will do what they have been genetically, psychologically, and socially programmed to do in early childhood. Earthian humans programmed to use primarily critical parent and adapted child ego states are programmed by default to comply and get along in groups and organizations, doing what they are told without question. Humans programmed to use primarily adult and free child ego states have higher probabilities of running into trouble getting along in groups and organizations. Those programmed to use primarily rebel child ego states are guaranteed to have problems getting along in groups and organizations.
Speaking out indiscriminately entails risk of loss of various kinds in most cases. Speaking up to power is especially risky. But not saying anything at all is irresponsible and cowardly. What are you anyway, a man or a mouse?
A tough lesson for Earthian humans to accept propositioned in Effective Learning books is that everything that happens in human states of affairs is either predetermined or accidental and therefore no one is to blame or praise for what happens in human states of affairs. This is easier to swallow after accepting that believing and acting otherwise will support and perpetuate the I’m OK—You’re Not OK life position that has bedeviled Earthian humans in groups and organizations since time immemorial, making it highly unlikely humans can eradicate the probability of imminent Earthian human extinction caused by global warming and climate change and militarization and nuclear weapons proliferation.
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 Discovering and 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.
Read As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases, at https://www.google.com/search?channel=nus5&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=as+the+rooster+crows+earthian+okness+increases+++++++richard+john+stapleton . This recently-published novel demonstrates a new kind of seminar lead by Rout Logger that might help eradicate the probability of imminent Earthian human extinction that requires participants in the seminar to speak out and up when randomly selected by a colorful copper Truther rooster positioned in the center of a randomly-selected group of forty humans sitting in a circle. The Truther rooster resembles a spinning weather vane sitting atop a house. The rooster is programmed to bob its head up and down and raucously crow in the seminar room after being twirled by a randomly-selected seminar participant, as it spins round and round winding down, letting group members know it’s time to wake up and get to work, before it’s too late. When the Truther rooster stops spinning whoever is at the end of a line of imaginary fire extending from the rooster’s head to her or him sitting in the circle is automatically selected as the Leader of the Moment for the group, proving pure democracy can happen. The Leader of the Moment must then lead the group into a discussion of what s/he considers the most serious problem around Spaceship Earth.
According to Effective Learning books achieving Earthian human sustainability entails such things as 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 using the general algorithmic matrix algebra form
Max CjXj, s.t. AijXj ≤, =, or ≥ Bi
explained in “The Evolution of Spaceship Earth, Inc.” at https://blog.effectivelearning.net/the-evolution-of-spaceship-earth-inc/ .
Riding aboard an airliner getting ready to land at night traveling at four hundred miles an hour thirty-five thousand feet up in the air with heavy thick clouds, rain, wind, and lightning below, what would you rather have setting the direction, speed, and angle of descent of the aircraft for touch-down, the plane’s auto-pilot, radar, and computer system or the pilot and co-pilot, seeing nothing out their plane windows below but clouds and lightning?
The main reason why turning over the scheduling, production, and distribution of the necessities of life to AI programs and magnum computers is a good idea is that magnum computers and algorithmic AI programs do not get greedy and power hungry or play psychological Games. Thus far in Earthian human history almost all leaders and rulers atop large organizations such as nations have become corrupt one way or another playing psychological Games, acting out selfish greedy ego trips, hogging all the power, money, strokes, stimulation, and recognition they could get their hands on for themselves and their cronies, leaving the hindmost to their underlings to fight over. Whatever their limitations and possible threats, algorithmic computer programs and super computers are not egotistical, greedy, and power-hungry.
Thanks to Buckminster Fuller for providing the above airplane-landing metaphor in his book Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, first published in 1969, and for planting seeds for other ideas in the essay “The Evolution of Spaceship Earth, Inc.,” published in the Effective Learning Report, 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. Buckminster 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 speak out about them in writing.
If you feel you’ve gained value from THE EARTHIAN, go to the Internet or any brick and mortar bookstore and purchase one or more of the above books. As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases is the most interesting one. Rout Logger is the protagonist of the novel story. It’s available now at amazon.com as an ebook for $3.99. https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks-Richard-Stapleton-Store/s?rh=n%3A154606011%2Cp_27%3ARichard+Stapleton
RECOMMENDED LINKED ARTICLES RECENTLY PUBLISHED IN INTERNET MEDIA BY RELEVANT WRITERS DEALING WITH EARTHIAN EXISTENTIAL ISSUES
February 13, 2022
Well said. It has not happened yet, but it might
“Hell and Earth,” by Charlie Chapman, https://www.facebook.com/richard.stapleton.397.
February 11
Here’s a must-read article by Michael Hudson, the greatest economist alive
“America’s Real Adversaries are Its European and Other Allies,” by Michael Hudson, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/11/americas-real-adversaries-are-its-european-and-other-allies/?fbclid=IwAR1_n-L4HZ8tIsf3Y1og7RrtPn-m0DRquha56SkwKcCXJUe7NpOvaGrka-c.
February 11, 2022
Let’s grieve this war is not replicated in the US. Ominous agitating causative conditions in Spain before the Spanish Civil War and conditions now in the US are isomorphically analogous.
“Spanish Civil War, (1936–39), military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative elements within the country. When an initial military coup failed to win control of the entire country, a bloody civil war ensued, fought with great ferocity on both sides. The Nationalists, as the rebels were called, received aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union as well as from the International Brigades, composed of volunteers from Europe and the United States.
“The war was an outcome of a polarization of Spanish life and politics that had developed over previous decades. On one side, the Nationalist, were most Roman Catholics, important elements of the military, most landowners, and many businessmen. On the other side, the Republican, were urban workers, most agricultural labourers, and many of the educated middle class. Politically, their differences often found extre…”
“Spanish Civil War: Definition, Causes, Summary and Facts,” Britannica. Com, https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-Civil-War.
February 11
Amazing Cubans have been able to function as well as they have since Kennedy signed this document. The US govt says it believes in free international trade for everyone…until a successful govt close to the US decides to believe in socialism or communism rather than capitalism. On the other hand, if the socialist/communist country is far away, such as China, it’s ok, a good trading partner. It’s too bad about what the US did to North Korea and Vietnam fighting socialism or communism for nothing. The USian big enemy after WWII—the communist Soviet Union, having collapsed in 1990 after fighting the US in the cold war arms race—now operating as the new fascist Russia under Putin—is now engaged in a public relations war playing Games with the US in Ukraine, showing both countries need to keep pouring a high percentage of their tax and funny money revenues into their military-industrial complexes, rather than spend it on their civilian infrastructure.
“The Legacy of Lester Mallory: Brief Statement Against the U.S. Economic War Against Cuba,” by Isacc Christiansen, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/10/the-legacy-of-lester-mallory-brief-statement-against-the-u-s-economic-war-against-cuba/?fbclid=IwAR3Q95JTd7gxdovW0ry6k_zDohdlSWzYblR2vLT66OvVpTW-DGITdcIqPNM.
February 11
Never saw a cause-effect chain like this before
“It took two months for a teen to get this clip – all in one take,” Nifty, https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeednifty/.
February 11
You might say this fellow is not happy with the way the USian economy is working.
“The ‘Crapification’ of the U.S. Economy is Now Complete,” by Charles Hugh Smith, OF TWO MINDS.COM, https://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-crapification-of-us-economy-is-now.html?fbclid=IwAR1Jb5U8jn1Fwt8LCWIk3pCPl7E7tb3KpRkHoYuHcDwf6nsVlVUFb8_fX4w.
February 10
Assuming The Economist magazine knows what it’s talking about the US aint doin’ so hot as a democracy. Think the Repug and Dem parties, Trump, Mcconnell, Sinema, and Manchin might have somethin’ to do with it?
“These Are the World’s Most — and least — Democratic Places, by Alex Millson, BLOOMBERG NEWS, https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/these-are-the-world-s-most-and-least-democratic-countries.
February 9
When corporations invest millions and billions in lobbyists and give money to politicians to cause the government to increase their after-tax profits by decreasing their before-tax tax rates and change the rules of economic life in their favor ordinary USian citizens have a problem
“How Empires Die,” by Charles Hugh Smith, OF TWO MINDS.COM, https://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2022/02/how-empires-die.html?fbclid=IwAR0AzPfrF_YdYH2km5FcRUM4rDAm4GybhmiWNcJKV8IAD5JwhCJAk7oRGhI.
February 9
Of course most ordinary USians do not want war with Russia in Ukraine. The only beneficiaries would be the USian military industrial complexhttp://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34867
“Memo to Congress: Diplomacy for Ukraine is spelled M-i-n-s-k,” by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34867?fbclid=IwAR15fQRNuOyYgVn6iy2w50QhpPaDWW-h4rpaAOP0XquoKQ5i0fb18BWNhR0.
February 9
A white dove?
“Israel, an Apartheid Nation? Of Course!,” by Melvin Goodman, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/09/israel-an-apartheid-nation-of-course/?fbclid=IwAR0zLutotQPSTVL02EvlOKAWhE-OnFPbqACvnAT1Fym-y28QbKGnlaniLdM.
February 9
Interesting details about the propaganda campaign in Ukraine
“Erdogan in Kiev, Putin in Beijing: can neo-Ottomanism fit into Greater Eurasia?, “ by Pepe Escobar, THE CRADLE, https://thecradle.co/Article/columns/6612?fbclid=IwAR1aNkye5_PgfJ5VUpZ9IEHfipA9s2SkT3Re8sUF_UTgOrWdXPLjJ0NLNYc.
Febrary 8
Sounds about right to me
“US continues to foment war hysteria in Ukraine crisis,” by John Wojcik, INTERPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34856?fbclid=IwAR2XBoK8DNK4wEjPiPbr2Ii5w4lAGJ4kWfkugMKJK6OQWZrwq_7a3JO0LdM.
February 8
About time
“Drug Decriminalization is Working in Oregon. Other States Should Follow,” by Jared Rodriguez, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/drug-decriminalization-is-working-in-oregon-other-states-should-follow/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR25ndCV_fU1ElfJZPU6TFvO-S_XlTtGdv890npafwlKK6c7rmRLOA_xZQY.
February 8
No telling how much damage this did to the welfare of the Cuban people. The US govt says it believes in free international trade for everyone…until a govt believes in socialism or communism rather than capitalism
“The blockade against Cuba turns 60,” by Rosa Miriam Elizaide, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34844?fbclid=IwAR0zLutotQPSTVL02EvlOKAWhE-OnFPbqACvnAT1Fym-y28QbKGnlaniLdM.
February 7
Good point, but a bit overboard on the notion that toxic and leadership are oxymoronic. There has always been toxic leadership around Spaceship Earth, probably more toxic leadership than nurturing leadership
“Toxic ‘Leadership’: The Other Pandemic That Afflicts Us,” by Gregory D. Foster, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/07/toxic-leadership-the-other-pandemic-that-afflicts-us/?fbclid=IwAR2zQbilP3bNvx_BjxIbVNrPIsmVz_QkmwmmdovVkxhZPvJ_iNkqN4NTzpE.
February 7
I used to think the word sanction meant to give someone or something permission and support for doing something. Very definitely not so now according to the USian govt. Sanction is one of its most Orwellian oxymoronic euphemisms for doing people serious harm.
“US Sanctions on Afghanistan May Kill More That 20 Years of War,” by Mstk Eridntoy, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/07/us-sanctions-on-afghanistan-may-kill-more-than-20-years-of-war/?fbclid=IwAR3hWx67o_AneBVGYHj_BGC12mpE5GN5aW1aLwcTgr_jtkbtmFLPS9X0-vo.
February 7
Sad
“Hard times: 7 in 10 Americans say they’re living paycheck to paycheck now,” by Chris Melore, STUDYFINDS, https://www.studyfinds.org/living-paycheck-to-paycheck/?fbclid=IwAR1YeuYtlVz2G_MawY4C1RkcFFyIXMyqfu7Na-YnaBPTdAgHChlxvb0On4U.
February 7
Hell yes it would be mad
“Biden’s Brinkmanship,” by David Rovics, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/07/bidens-brinksmanship/?fbclid=IwAR06HYO2k8qZEYyoKWnJXb5hJbX7-31gSVPS9j6bdOtqyida_WV-A74CI_Y.
February 6
Say it aint so Joe
“Trump’s Political Depravity Sank to a New Level This Past Week,” by Sasha Abramsky, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-political-depravity-sank-to-a-new-level-this-past-week/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3nLy4GG9qeC3B50nePHPd5-pi7fHDn8Fw4EO0u_hMLcfoSjG6Qc3sndyQ.
February 6
Why many young men and their wives went west
“Would you take free land in rural America?,” by Mark Dent, THEHUSTLE, https://thehustle.co/would-you-take-free-land-in-rural-america/?utm_source=pocket-newtab&fbclid=IwAR3iveF2TmbbAcQdgu9F04IaLgrF6qyJVqNoQtXw3ovdgOgPmefpET4G3pQ.
February 5
Another fearless article by Paul Street, maybe the bravest truth-telling writer alive, mincing no words, pulling no punches
“The ‘American Experiment’ is a Savage Nightmare,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/04/the-american-experiment-is-a-savage-nightmare/?fbclid=IwAR2jh0Do0voubqZGX9CX1LWHPsyvJJuORUfvGuA4pTmYXcQTaZgRJxrRo-8.
February 4
Fully agree with Chomsky. This is mainly psychological Game-playing to keep politicians and militaries in power
“Chomsky: US Approach to Ukraine and Russia Has ‘Left the Domain of Rational Discourse’,” by C.J. Polychroniou, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/us-approach-to-ukraine-and-russia-has-left-the-domain-of-rational-discourse/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1SB7QUOyDqR86lWWNIMNa-01pTxlZokKJQ2ZYWSbxKMyeMgG-lCHXq-5U.
February 4
Has this legislator in Iowa gone nuts or is he avant garde in Usian culture?
“Iowa Republican Authors Bill Demanding Cameras in Every Classroom in States,
by Chris Walker, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/iowa-republican-authors-bill-demanding-cameras-in-every-classroom-in-state/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1MtJ5S0U8V41kXnwF8VxKU5Pm975ZfcwXqlAHJBag4kM9Coi483K4Zujk.
February 4
Say it aint so Joe
“How Bad is Crime in L.A.?” by Peter Kiefer, LAMAG.COM NEWSLETTERS, https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/how-bad-is-crime-in-l-a/?fbclid=IwAR1D_ugbHpoJkKbelqv6NkM4jQHLbClukSmm1lIdl6PTkA-3lmRs6Rdaw4E.
February 4
Yuk
“Clueless Newsome Shocked at California’s ‘Third World’ Conditions,” REASON.COM, https://reason.com/2022/02/04/clueless-newsom-shocked-at-californias-third-world-conditions/?fbclid=IwAR2Ux38tp_Lj5isqtN730lzUJYgtz-a46wPGbAli7Kym0QdAnoDLP6Sxhx8.
February 3
Here’s another reason why trust on Earth is such a rare commodity
“Snowden slams ongoing impunity for NSA’s domestic spying,” by Jessica Corbett, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34813?fbclid=IwAR1traJJ5aNwUE3cxYU07c0kbmAJTzEEierAmkftQsVDVullOntHdYgQTnI.
February 3
In order to trust someone or something you have to believe they or it are not out to do you harm, and you have to believe they are competent and secure enough to do what they say they will do
“What and Whom to Believe (or How to Cope with Disillusionment),” by Alfred De Zayas, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/03/what-and-whom-to-believe-or-how-to-cope-with-disillusionment/?fbclid=IwAR3cntrfTH9Bg2CSwpadaeovtSJq7Az0qm5xfoSFjPYGQ1J-IJo0UD4ZA-8.
Februrary 3
Hear Hear
“A Menacing Wind: a Glimpse of Climate Chaos,” by Evaggelos Vallianatos, COUNTERPUNJCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/03/a-menacing-wind-a-glimpse-of-climate-chaos/?fbclid=IwAR3Hw9MaYNltA88m4UQNpUrERjfBEFaBKVCRKovfRAHt8JCNNhhqpossCEo.
February 3
Another cogent article by truth-seeking truth-accepting writers, Kevin Martin and Brad Wolf
“A No-Nukes Strategy or a No-Win Reality,” by Kevin Martin and Brad Wolf, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/03/a-no-nukes-strategy-or-a-no-win-reality/?fbclid=IwAR0feIQNjzAWYY9mRCzc9IOiyI6u5Epn6QRDoiwGcv-IlpYg-y4r7BLZk4M.
February 3
Here’s Paul Street again trying to make sense of USian voters and politicians
“Sleepy Woke Joe, Coal Mine Manchin, the Holy Charter, and the Color and Gender of Faces in High Places,” COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/03/sleepy-woke-joe-coal-mine-manchin-the-holy-charter-and-the-color-and-gender-of-faces-in-high-places/?fbclid=IwAR38DWE0eTfqoxs9yAwzy1DzeLTzSqXOglB_7F64EnXadQ4t_CmDoIVrA4I.
February 3
Super OK
“Sadio Mane, a Senegalese soccer star, earns approximately $10.2 million annually. He gave the world a rude awakening after some fans were flabbergasted when they saw him carrying a cracked iPhone 11…” and he gave most of his ten million to charity, posted by Tom McGuire, https://www.facebook.com/tom.mcguire.790.
February 2
Why would the US want to whip up cold war hysteria?
“U.S. takes stage at United Nations to whip up Cold War hysteria,” by John Wojcik and C.J. Atkins, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34802?fbclid=IwAR0od7Giop0wBWTthNvbOtz4XB17ORF5cov1sXQkrh-i36CwNrLMCdw6P8s.
February 2
Whoopee, another charismo to make the victims feel a little better
“Historical Pact Coalition Heads for Elections in Violence-Ridden Columbia,” by W. T. Whitney, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/02/historical-pact-coalition-heads-for-elections-in-violence-ridden-colombia/?fbclid=IwAR1xQz6_vsqLvJFrqzv4WjIH3zgIkYrKalqCc542nmI0EZFSZnvM06Px4bg.
February 2
Who is the US to change its mind?
“Rabobank: Russia is Prepared to Declare Economic War On The West, Inflicting ‘Huge Economic Pain’,” by Michael Every, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rabobank-russia-prepared-declare-economic-war-west-inflicting-huge-economic-pain?fbclid=IwAR33aticVos_MLURK2Ja8oNmPLBFxJ0Imr35zapz6RwsPozq2g8Sv7qHM0I.
February 2
Like kids playing with matches
“In the Line of Eternal Fire: Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors,” by Linda Pentz Gunter, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/02/in-the-line-of-eternal-fire-ukraines-nuclear-reactors/?fbclid=IwAR1eskd0MKA94sVXqYrhOfu7WiCrHlxh6fNJutfRT3FLLpsOtzzBsfAkoH8.
February 2
Round and round she goes where she stops nobody knows
“National debt surpasses $30 trillion for the first time,” by Matt Egan, CNN, https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/national-debt-surpasses-30-trillion-for-the-first-time/ar-AATnlcL?fbclid=IwAR2_GsN1ugcDDWrdQohRi5_q7sQol4mq2t3ZjINZ-xwa1wR153tNAEC_GzI.
February 1
Amazing story
“He Spent 25 Years Infiltrating Nazis, the Klan, and Biker Gangs,” by Paul Solotaroff, ROLLINGSTONE, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/fbi-infiltrator-nazis-kkk-biker-gangs-1280830/?fbclid=IwAR3ATp3X904SZi-BjyMsUUV_prNfukAQy-mtLrut18ABlBCyLttr6CspeXM.
January 31
“One hundred seconds to midnight. That’s the latest setting of the Doomsday Clock, unveiled yesterday morning (January 20, 2022) by the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
“That matches the setting in 2020 and 2021, making all three years the closest the Clock has been to midnight in its 75-year history. ‘The world is no safer than it was last year at this time,’ said Rachel Bronson, the president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. ‘The Doomsday Clock continues to hover dangerously, reminding us how much work is needed to ensure a safer and healthier planet’.
“As for why the world is supposedly lingering on the edge of Armageddon, take your pick. Covid-19 has amply demonstrated just how unprepared the world was to handle a major new infectious virus, and both increasing global interconnectedness and the spread of new biological engineering tools mean that the threat from both natural and human-made pathogens will only grow. Even with increasing efforts to reduce carbon emissions, climate change is worsening year after year. New technologies like artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, even advanced cyberhacking present harder-to-gauge but still very real dangers.”
“What the Doomsday Clock is really counting down to,” by Bryan Walsh, VOX.COM, https://www.vox.com/22893594/doomsday-clock-nuclear-war-climate-change-risk?fbclid=IwAR0XXysM5sWwfSrp88dw5h9gh3LV28Pjz25HMRhz_Y3E4uWFTJhaCYN3748.
January 31
Don’t get me wrong. I would never advocate or willingly support full-blown communism; but this article deserves to be read for the simple reason it rationally argues that full-blown competitive dog-eat-dog capitalism among nations and individual humans has got to significantly change if the Earthian human species is to have a decent chance of surviving global warming and climate change. Cooperation, not competition, is what the world needs now.
“A Communist Intervention: Reflections on Crisis, Revolution, and Personal Responsibility,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/28/a-communist-intervention-reflections-on-crisis-revolution-and-personal-responsibility/?fbclid=IwAR2Mb6s6cqz2kz-_cSeJP7jYMb2Q02SZQMzLyJt-sEZOdJ0dcuFZg-zPpbI.
January 31
Good question
“Will I be forced to register as a Russian agent?,” by Bev Conover, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34779?fbclid=IwAR0jjPDw96vVYZLwBLMygTZ-QEYd7xdAFw86fdMXFfpVLWaWSrAe0odVnUM.
January 29
Who has suffered most in wars?
“Tales of invasions past: The facts about Russia’s ‘annexation’ of Crimea,” by Kate Clark, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34767?fbclid=IwAR0JzdPMlD3eOZD-W6U1GePgRkgMB6DSEWYeJ8QPGjzW3HxMW2-HimBxOK8
January 29
Another case showing how money talks and the powerful win
“Corporations are Funding Police Repression,” by Kelly Hayes, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/audio/corporations-are-funding-police-repression/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR2g63nF78oTvcPfoTtkVMv6_G6EljFCiIrZiomcQzZenDPe4cog_2YljJY.
January 29
A bit paranoid perhaps, but the article contains some rational points
“Authoritarian Madness: The Slippery Slope from Lockdowns to Concentration Camps,” by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead, THE RUTHERFPORD INSTITUTE, https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/authoritarian_madness_the_slippery_slope_from_lockdowns_to_concentration_camps.
January 28
This insane behavior is psychological Game-playing of the worst kind—Victims who cause themselves to temporarily feel better about themselves by Persecuting targeted Game Victims, primarily playing NIGYSOB (Now I’ve Got You, You SOB), wherein the only possible payoff is the jubilation of venting anger and temporarily feeling superior to Game targets. Most of these Game players, including Trump, are low-OKness Loser Survivors who have been poorly scripted throughout their lives by various inevitable economic, social, political, and psychological forces. The only thing they can win playing this Game is psychologically feeling superior and possibly more secure. Their actual social, economic, and political life positions will not change one iota no matter how superior or heroic they might feel after winning NIGYSOB Games.
“The Politics of Ethicide in an Age of Counter-Revolution,” by Henry Giroux, COUNRTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/28/rethinking-necropolitics-in-the-age-of-insurrections/?fbclid=IwAR2nc9O2MDHyI1lF9cRLEo_tKUXQKJHnjFtpoOejCqAydlGRosVanq0ZyVo.
January 28
Pathetic and disgusting historical state of affairs
“Fascism’s ‘Legal Phase’ Has Begun. Threats of White Vigilante Violence Are Real,” by William Horne, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/fascisms-legal-phase-has-begun-threats-of-white-vigilante-violence-are-real/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3CLAkVY-xU9drJ21clOEXQP3U03Cvm_UZpkRQS4zTMWohPwNWpi3nafA4.
January 28
This is real economic news not psychological Game propaganda
“Two Shortages That Threaten To Absolutely Eviscerate The Global Economy in 2022,” by Michael Snyder, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/two-shortages-threaten-absolutely-eviscerate-global-economy-2022?fbclid=IwAR2CfAYrwUK7huLy8sqptjba60BuoFD9ATML2on0mACOUPhOkRJhhm3pFws.
January 27
Want to learn more about what’s going on around Spaceship Earth? here’s a good place to start
“The State of the World (and a Few Predictions),” by David Rovics, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/27/the-state-of-the-world-and-a-few-predictions/?fbclid=IwAR0vSkJXgBhd46gHxmxIEuosJb43ekeaIyMRQ_h-uf5sR6QTPJRSsXBJy24.
January 27
How long can they keep it up?
“Debt Up $2 Trillion in 1 Year of Biden,” by Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNEWS, https://cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/debt-2-trillion-1-year-biden?fbclid=IwAR2myXwYKTBq3mQ_gNRFNsgNGilcOxNXc_GSgVW7KtBn2q8ekK6eM8mxGGo.
January 27
What’s good for the goose is not good for the gander
“Who is invading whom? U.S. forces already in Eastern Europe,” by John Wojcik, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34756?fbclid=IwAR22wclYcgV6bNVNWl5OpqVmtXF1knI6EOUdY8iuNISHK-uPg2Gh4wpGelU.
January 27
Sounds right on to me
“Ukraine as Game Board,” by Ron Jocobs, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/26/ukraine-as-game-board/?fbclid=IwAR2nc9O2MDHyI1lF9cRLEo_tKUXQKJHnjFtpoOejCqAydlGRosVanq0ZyVo.
January 27
Yuk
“Report: Billionaires Spend 40 Times More on Political Campaigns Than in 2010 Thanks to ‘Citizens United’,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/since-citizens-united-billionaires-are-spending-nearly-1b-more-on-elections/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3zIvoMDAQ-VWhueV9SzkejoNvJmbj3GA1Ajs9wA2op3eiXVTmAyV4UPc8.
January 26
Amen
“’Is Pelosi insane?’ Dems rebuked over $500 million in military aid to Ukraine,” by Jake Johnson, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34742?fbclid=IwAR3Il9KKudNAd7wv9HqcdeT_ZnCNR0mgRDHvK_cJRGYLEBqFfFYh0dfWldA.
January 25
Political Games are psychological; phosphate is real. You gottta have it to grow lots of crops
“Morocco drives a war in Western Sahara for its phosphates,” by Vijay Prashad, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34726?fbclid=IwAR1QfEZzjGHRkY0S4cA-fecbOowI9q8n5p2U1MSahxx3wL2fejD8qywgALY.
January 25
Political Games are much the same in egotistical nations
“Boris Johnson’s Populism May be Muted, But it is Still Accelerating Britain’s Decline,” by Patrick Cockburn, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/25/boris-johnsons-populism-may-be-muted-but-it-is-still-accelerating-britains-decline/?fbclid=IwAR0G_joagOn86cCIZqPkQIAV7m8_vqk-woqJF5qYc0T5zzxk_EQdQexV9ds.
January 25
Let us grieve for Willis. She is under tremendous extra-judicial political pressure from Trumpian cult members
“Fulton County Judges Approve Special Grand Jury for Probe Into Trump Election Tampering,” by Chris Walker, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/judges-approve-special-grand-jury-for-probe-into-trump-election-tampering/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1mtZyfB1Go9NNANzqYYvG76sSG3uePWZPzPVvw3H9dfUp8ag2Vx16YT8c.
January 25
Sadistic Games of the highest order
“Julian Assange Can Now Seek Appeal Against US Extradition to Top UK Court,” by Marjorie Cohn, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/julian-assange-can-now-seek-appeal-against-us-extradition-to-top-uk-court/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1_ZqvRXvT1PGdKoWnySW62OTDQpxAzN2U-3MtqDfZcxa0Ie8kyFGGSE1s.
January 25
Ever see a picture of Cuba’s new replacement for Castro? Serious Game-playing is underway
“Putin discusses ‘strategic partnership’ with Cuban leader amid fears of military threat,” by Nora Gomez Torres, STARS AND STRIPES, https://www.stripes.com/theaters/americas/2022-01-24/putin-cuba-strategic-partnership-4402280.html?fbclid=IwAR2BmdO0DBlGOkj1YrNs5GvyyjmpGzt_WgE_1AsbCCiskjf84OGEPbwyN3M#.YfBh6GXsSCc.facebook.
January 25
And so it goes. The US is now 25 on the list.
“Denmark, New Zealand and Finland top list of least corrupt nations,” by Rachael Malone, DAILYMAIL, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10438219/Anti-corruption-fight-stalled-COVID-not-helping.html?ito=facebook_share_article-bottom&fbclid=IwAR3QXgRGCNFGXlR6M6x6ZIngY-E9Bsw9Qz1oDf1h2RW9FJjpgNAVPGWDDbc.
January 25
Sad
“One Year in Biden’s Nuclear Policies Look a Lot Like Trump’s,” by Jon Letman, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/one-year-in-bidens-nuclear-policies-look-a-lot-like-trumps/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR2j4EgfgvDNX4OjBLklLqvuyOPcFr1cW-LLD2ECF4za9UBiI9S6aQtJeZs.
January 25
Say it aint so Joe
“Biden is Considering Deploying Thousands of Troops to Eastern Europe,” by Jake Johnson, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/biden-is-considering-deploying-thousands-of-troops-to-eastern-europe/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0lHIQ8SAAIsjeRd3ghea7uzH-reD1L5gPdRsHCBkC1XXL3xdMMcDep0uI.
January 25
Say it aint so Joe
“The US Bombed A Vital Dam in Syria, Lied About it, & Called Anyone Who Reported the Truth ‘Crazy’,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-bombed-key-dam-syria-lied-about-it-called-anyone-who-reported-truth-crazy?fbclid=IwAR2siCxWtkPCppZC7VDMyigpFUpUBRtcjLwHXtGyTJ85ZTvHWNP_UJZbZLI.
January 24
How this woman got so smart I do not know, but she seems way up there
“The surprise ending,” by Caitlin Johnstone, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34698?fbclid=IwAR0kI32z4i9HBkGHp4w_5qo52wx8WcmsKkO6YimHjkg2-rUiizrhN7b24Qw.
January 24
Here’s another article by Caitlin Johnstone giving her perspective on the situation with Russia/Ukraine. Be sure to read the tweets from politicians at the bottom of the piece. I have not been a believer of the notion that USian mass media are seriously brainwashing USian citizens to get what they want, but regarding the Russia/Ukraine situation I am beginning to wonder. I confess to liking most of what I have seen and heard on MSNBC about the Trump fiasco and other matters, but I have lost respect for most MSNBC talking heads for their positions on the Russia/Ukraine problem. MSNBC is the only USian tv or print mass media outlet I have exposed myself to several days of the week for any period of time in twenty or more years, so who am I to know how extensive the brainwashing efforts of the entire USian mass media system have been. As I understand it the real problem with Russia/Ukraine is that most of the population of eastern Ukraine is Russian speaking and wants to be annexed by Russia. If so, let it happen, and let all Earthian humans get on with life. The western part of Ukraine and the dominant part of Ukraine politically is relatively fascist and NATO-European-oriented, and has been relatively corrupt compared to most Earthian governments. Why should we ordinary USians give a rip if Russia annexes the Russian part of Ukraine that wants to be annexed by Russia? We have nothing to gain or lose in this game. Who in the US would gain from a war with Russia? The USian military-industrial-intelligence-banking complex, of course, by such a war creating even more business for defense/offense corporations in the US manufacturing and providing war devices, materials, and services and making it seem 800 or so USian military bases and thousands of military personnel scattered around Spaceship Earth are worth their cost in real money forked over by USian taxpayers and funny-money creators at the USian federal reserve system who use the funny money to buy USian federal govt treasury bonds so the USian fed govt can meet its payroll for its civilian and military employees, hoping this will also prop up the USian civilian domestic economy, while satisfying the greed of rich USians who have given significant money to USian politicians to lower their federal taxes. It took WWII after all to finally end the USian great depression of the 1930’s under capitalism. Who wants to go back to that? And who benefited most after all the carnage, dust, suffering, and misery of WWII had settled? The original USian rich.
“Lunatic Pundit Says It’s ‘All But Certain’ We’re On The Cusp Of A Massive War With Russia,” by Caitlin Johnstone, CAITLINJOHNSTONE.COM, https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/01/22/lunatic-pundit-says-its-all-but-certain-were-on-the-cusp-of-a-massive-war-with-russia/?fbclid=IwAR2BmdO0DBlGOkj1YrNs5GvyyjmpGzt_WgE_1AsbCCiskjf84OGEPbwyN3M.
January 24
Just doesn’t get any doomier than this
“Consider The Possibility That This Is Already The Dystopia You Fear,” by Caitlin Johnstone, CAITLINJOHNSTONE.COM, https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/01/21/consider-the-possibility-that-this-is-already-the-dystopia-you-fear/?fbclid=IwAR3wBCV67vqAuvklxqfrLJefZewixV0pvJ7RMQgmYWP4lCfkV7-MZQKvzXk.
January 24
Interesting
“Live Like the Ancient Cynics,” by Arthur C. Brooks, THE ATLANTIC, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/01/cynicism-modern-ancient-true-meaning/621314/?utm_source=pocket-newtab&fbclid=IwAR1ANbTQd7ayaFEMaU7unMRmX40GttSFVGGoRIvWOvpGU7TXIZF2MQ6KxSw.
January 24
Yuk
“Nuclear Waste Risks Can be ‘Minimized’ and Other Myths,” by Linda Pentz Gunter, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/24/nuclear-waste-risks-can-be-minimized-and-other-myths/?fbclid=IwAR2q6oaoVAWVLzHWQ7DhoCopq2tgH1NqpxsL-TC03kwsriarHaUINOR5uCU.
January 24
A digest of the Trump years
“A LIST OF ALL ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE EFFECTIVE LEARNING REPORT SINCE SEPTEMBER 2016, by Richard John Stapleton, EFFECTIVE LEARNING REPORT, https://blog.effectivelearning.net/a-list-of-all-articles-published-in-the-effective-learning-report/?fbclid=IwAR0wTyjGfTvGADtWPh_McRTrXdl0N599WJf4qEf5A0dURuGdnTaAEiFj4XY.
January 22
Say it aint so Joe
“At the Bottom of the Empire: Homelessness, housing injustice, and Jesse Jackson’s Call to ‘Eradicate Poverty’,” by David Masciotra, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/21/at-the-bottom-of-the-empire-homelessness-housing-injustice-and-jesse-jacksons-call-to-eradicate-poverty/?fbclid=IwAR2-cKYrb5aAECbWkcEFZyomCknuBJm7DO8gZNRJK-YjBb0JE3DGJQcHAoM.
January 22
Say it aint so Joe
“This Happened Here: The Fascist Trump Presidency as Living American History,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/21/this-happened-here-the-fascist-trump-presidency-as-living-american-history/?fbclid=IwAR3qwoUhOkXA8slaJQDauiYLKlJyEPKPgbXrRugnWs-NzFdzIZ5alghmucQ.
January 21
Another great article by Eve Ottenberg
“An Abyss of Human Wickedness, You Can’t Get Much Worse Than Threatening Nuclear War,” by Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/21/an-abyss-of-human-wickedness-you-cant-get-much-worse-than-threatening-nuclear-war/?fbclid=IwAR1Zyvr7uh4K9FsubbeSc0n-h6m22zh-W3T-PtmjnfYn-lYde3lAtG01KiA.
January 21
Interesting
“Fatal Vision: Joel Coen’s ‘Macbeth’,” by Marilyn Simon, QUILLETTE, https://quillette.com/2022/01/19/fatal-vision-a-review-of-joel-coens-macbeth/?fbclid=IwAR3IwpM3Xa10rwFMBaMo2Diqdo5MqNPNHxyF1BxBonrAFo4o2EVUSad5flE.
January 12
Say it aint so Joe
“They don’t want us looking up,” by Thom Hartmann, INTREPID REPORT, https://quillette.com/2022/01/19/fatal-vision-a-review-of-joel-coens-macbeth/?fbclid=IwAR3IwpM3Xa10rwFMBaMo2Diqdo5MqNPNHxyF1BxBonrAFo4o2EVUSad5flE.
January 12
Interesting
“What’s not to like about Ike,” by Howard Lisnoff, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/12/whats-not-to-like-about-ike/?fbclid=IwAR3LVD6C11FDoY4eiTGFQZrSVYcwPb-xihq9HyFeSEfDe7S6a4qhPra0vT4.
January 12
So it seems
“The United States: A Push toward moral decline, political extremism, political divisions and violence?” by Dr. Rodrique Tremblay, INTREPID REPORT, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/34611?fbclid=IwAR0t-q2B9cDxF_DPXVm-88ayjP77cWQ9obq5naSwKN681N5FOejVXeWkVOI.
January 11
Just won’t go away
“Fukushima Takes a Turn for the Worse,” by Robert Hunziker, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/10/fukushima-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/?fbclid=IwAR2-cKYrb5aAECbWkcEFZyomCknuBJm7DO8gZNRJK-YjBb0JE3DGJQcHAoM.
January 9
How would I know
“When to Build Sea Walls,” by Robert Hunziker, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/07/when-to-build-sea-walls/?fbclid=IwAR0h2xuRPlCPjVw_f-ifb9GU_PZzlin4P4hp-cwukhVRwBxSbjg4mtsA0NU.
January 9
Hard to believe
“Self-driving race cars zip into history at CES,” by Julie Jammot, TECHXPLORE, https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-self-driving-cars-history-ces.html?fbclid=IwAR2nJHMEQbnm19BdxLp4cSzNnhDAagmmxqt1CZaRc8DdKFHF3v-p_TEFg3M.
January 7
Interesting article. Fascism is alive and well in the US, and it looks like it’s winning. I saw it coming in the Nixon days but I never imagined it would come to what we have today. I feared Trump would try to take over the country in a coup if he lost the election in 2020 but I never imagined he would try to do what he has done. If the USian military had sided in with him a coup could have been a fait accompli overnight and Trump would be USian dictator for life like his buddies around Spaceship Earth, Putin, Kim, et. al., and the USian government and way of life would have become totally corrupted with greed and cronyism.
“1/6, 9/11 and Glenn Greenwald,” by Nick Pemberton, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/07/1-6-9-11-and-glenn-greenwald/?fbclid=IwAR28B4zCDl1hyVvFi67M7mWPfwlPIXXEOToqBUG5ljZ1ov7JYrp-ipl1owE.
January 7
It seems USian democracy is under attack by a large lawless street gang led by Trump
“Trump is Winning the New Nightmare Years,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/07/trump-is-winning-the-new-nightmare-years/?fbclid=IwAR3cJVvqlDUbUDQypkTHwJgf2WPCF7bCg-bSpwTOOgYgD3SS6yOJqLidhHU.
January 7
Another hard-hitting article by Eve Ottenberg
“Covid Colonizes the Future,” by Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/07/covid-colonizes-the-future/?fbclid=IwAR3-LidyGK3ns54JIkR0E3M4OM0qs_HeEwhfO6L1tXjoGYfmbZ26lHH5eYY.
January 6
The Way to Fascism
Is the root cause of the USian anger racket menace white men who are afraid they are being “replaced” by women and people of color, a USian Taliban led by USian warlords out to plunder what they can, attempting to enrich and empower themselves, at the expense of others, lawless liars, robbers and thieves of the worst kind, committing a crime of the highest order, the mocking, desecration, and destruction of a democracy, producing nothing of value for decent law-abiding citizens, inexorably stumbling down a nihilistic suicidal and/or genocidal slope to catastrophe?
“Much of Gellman’s analysis (quoted below) comes from a dialogue he has with Richard Patterson, a retired captain in the New York Fire Department. Patterson speaks for a large segment of the Republican electorate who believe that Trump really won the 2020 election. More so, he speaks for the growing number of deeply dissatisfied white people, but especially men, who believe in what is known as the “Great Replacement,” that white men’s place in society is being “replaced” by women and a growing number of people of color, especially African Americans.
“Gellman also draws on the work of Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats (CPOST), who, with his team, provided invaluable profiles of the participants of the January 6th Capitol attack, the new “storm troopers.” The CPOST team developed their profiles based on court documents, public records and news reports.
“Gellman reenforces this insight, noting: “Slicing the data another way: Respondents who believed in the Great Replacement theory, regardless of their views on anything else, were nearly four times as likely as those who did not to support the violent removal of the president.” Drawing upon Pape’s polling data, Gellman points out that “just over 8 percent agreed that Biden was illegitimate and that violence was justified to restore Trump to the White House. That corresponds to 21 million American adults. Pape called them ‘committed insurrectionists.’”
“A Warning: Will the 2024 Election End U.S. Democracy?,” by David Rosen, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/06/a-warning-will-the-2024-election-end-u-s-democracy/?fbclid=IwAR3x3JmownF0zsvizKY8QMTUvJsEPNFo2cZkIVsUdZBRNv754xx4ldOscCM.
January 5
Another vivid truthful article by Paul Street
“Four Analogies,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/05/four-analogies/?fbclid=IwAR05J54PcRQHWAPOo74jev6Ze_Mdeyh3d1Poj_yyJSuriaGVO6Exz8F-HQc.
January 5
Hoorah, for a truthful judge
“Taibbi: Meet Jed Rakoff, The Judge Who Exposed The ‘Rigged Game’,” by Matt Taibbi, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/political/taibbi-meet-jed-rakoff-judge-who-exposed-rigged-game?fbclid=IwAR1LXZfyfWRA4Pu9pOenF4jgSU8mYIim07PVs0kiBsS542AGu_Mogff0VEg.
January 5
Most people have not yet figured it out or accepted it. Greed and growth are not good, and better processes are needed
“Nuclear Power Doesn’t Belong in the Green New Deal,” by Linda Pentz Gunter, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/nuclear-power-doesnt-belong-in-the-green-new-deal/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR39nR2kCMGr0W_hxTfEqtwefGVp7TZ_yjo9-Hr9Q3C3qpxCW-k1rvSs-fc.
January 5
Say it aint so joe
“The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates that 700,000 of the nation’s 4.2 million homeless youth are unaccompanied by a parent or guardian: 1 in 10 young adults between 18 and 25, and one in 30 aged 13 to 17. More than a quarter (27 percent) identify as queer, with LGBTQIA+ youth of color experiencing higher rates of homelessness than other populations.”
“700,000 US TEENS NAVIGATE SCJHOOL WITHOUT FAMILY SUPPORT OR PERMANENT HOUSING,” by Eleanor J. Baeder, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/700000-us-teens-navigate-school-without-family-support-or-permanent-housing/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3x3JmownF0zsvizKY8QMTUvJsEPNFo2cZkIVsUdZBRNv754xx4ldOscCM.
January 5
This is psychological Game-playing on a massive scale, Rescuers and Persecutors pretending to save Victims on a Drama Triangle
“Community Bonds and Mutual Aid Sustain Anti-Fascists Targeted by the State.” by Shane Burley, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/community-bonds-and-mutual-aid-sustain-anti-fascists-targeted-by-the-state/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3jUUR4kxsMe2nZaRT0eHHxicf4nGPf_R5cfYMcfMpBuPSXnJwtqTB9Pcg.
January 5
Say it aint so Joe
“World Powers Including Russia & China Pledge ‘Nuclear War Must Never Be Faught,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/political/world-powers-including-russia-china-pledge-nuclear-war-must-never-be-fought?fbclid=IwAR3rAIhkqLld32WL_RXJRKwEDcdswtSU5phGgaw2AQLtCfXl5r1UDSwcN2w.
January 4
“At first instance Assange’s lawyers argued that he would be subjected to inhumane treatment in the US prison to which he would be confined if he were to be tried in the US and sentenced. The Magistrate accepted the argument and the extradition was refused. The US Government appealed to the UK Court of Appeal. The appellate court overturned the first instance ruling and accepted the US Government’s assurances that he could serve his sentence in Australia and that he would not be sent to the high security prison in the US where he would be placed in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day.
“The legal issues are interesting on at least three levels….”
“Julian Assange’s Enduring Legal SAGA,” by Courtenay Barnett, EFFECTIVE LEARNING PUBLICATIONS, https://blog.effectivelearning.net/julian-assanges-enduring-legal-saga/?fbclid=IwAR2vBdlh-qijkRvXiRXkyNY-bOvdlN7t6tCXwf44Elc2OmBvkxJgEewU6aY.
January 4
Here is by far the best video on international relations I ever saw and listened to, featuring an interview with Lawrence Wilkerson, a former chief of staff in the USian state department, who is straight as an arrow hitting the nail right on the head over and over, forwarded to me by Courtenay Barnett, a featured writer who publishes in the Effective Learning Report. if you want to know what’s really going on internationally, you should watch and listen to this video interview.
“Why is Biden Pushing Putin on Ukraine?, by Larry Wilkerson, YOUTUBE.COM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfs2yaOr2Ao.
January 4
Mind-boggling
“Pentagon Fails Audit (Again!),” by Dave Lindorff, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/31/pentagon-fails-audit-again/?fbclid=IwAR1QTZvDqFAGupiN2qhfM9Y4Lajk7du5B4uKilGTXuNWwwhPCg_dxd6rtt8.
January 3
Article is more right than wrong
“Brazil, Amazon, World: Sociopathy vs. Democracy,” by Jean Willys and Jule Wark, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/31/brazil-amazon-world-sociopathy-vs-democracy/?fbclid=IwAR1359vJuWrzOhZIgsaHbZwPP_lyQ1XTqgETBXdWwDn2NZwhdsdMfm6U9fM.
January 3
More brilliant courageous writing by Eve Ottenberg
“How CIA Plots Undermined African De-Colonization.” By Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/31/how-cia-plots-undermined-african-decolonization/?fbclid=IwAR2cBjs70wPMqifO4vLQHtdKAj9m4TnOMTOtyRKwjEhv03SF6blI7sxdeys.
January 3
Well said
“Happy New Year! A Reflection on 20 Years at Truthout,” by William Rivers Pitt, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/a-moment-to-reflect-after-20-years-with-truthout-pitt-new-years-draft/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0KF7lvQpVnm2TGAyh9q07-Qhi0lm9oLLRJS3rHZJhyUD0YbbkhDJgt6js.
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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 ten percent of his students made A’s and about five percent made D’s. 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 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 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 authoritarian lecture method and the 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. Stapleton 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 weighting only instructor excellence scores up to about 2000; but he was one of the highest-ranked professors in a computerized student evaluation he designed that generated data also showing and weighting study production, learning production, and expected grades scores for each professor, published in “Optimizing the Fairness of Student Evaluations.”
To read the Optimizing Fairness article in full, go to http://www.sagepub.com/holt/articles/Stapleton.pdf. 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 (February 13, 2022) been cited as a reference in 83 refereed journal articles concerned about student evaluations in several academic disciplines, including eight new citations since April 2021, proving the article is still being read and cited by serious academics twenty-two years after publication.
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://blog.effectivelearning.net/ and click on the various prompts at the top of the page.
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