THE EARTHIAN, Number Thirty-Two, August 25, 2022, Effective Learning Publications https://blog.effectivelearning.net/ , 32 East Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia, USA, specializing in Adult education.
THE EARTHIAN is a 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, memes, 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 aboard Spaceship Earth.
“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
OR SO IT SEEMS TO ME RIGHT NOW
By RICHARD JOHN STAPLETON
It seems to me nothing new of systemic significance economically and politically has happened around Spaceship Earth in the last month or so. One positive new thing I am aware of is that the dim dems in Washington were able to get a bill passed in the Senate that became law in a one hundred percent party-line up or down 51-50 vote that will enable the USian federal government to negotiate Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies that should result in lower drug prices, albeit it will be 2026 before it takes effect, too late for it to do a lot of elderly citizens any good. On the other hand, Bernie Sanders tried to get a bill passed in the senate that would withdraw subsidies for oil companies that might help solve global warming problems and tax unfairness problems, that got voted down 99-1, the worst political defeat I ever heard of for a USian senator. Imagine, not one dem senator other than Sanders voted for the bill, showing how much power the money of the oil oligarchs buys and wields. Global warming might exterminate Earthian humans, but, so what, USian humans will still have plenty of gasoline to drive around in their SUVs and pickups, at least for a while, and the oil companies get to keep their unfair tax subsidies. Meanwhile Trump still parades around the country spewing his usual vitriol and ordinary repugs still show up at his rallies and give him some of their hard-earned money for another political run in 2024, based on nothing but magical thinking. Repug Representative Liz Cheney just got punished for her political good deeds in the Trump hearings in Washington by getting voted out of office in a primary vote by her erstwhile repug supporters in Wyoming. Meanwhile the hounds of justice continue to nip at Trump’s heels in several criminal investigations in the US. The situation in Europe featuring the Ukraine proxy war seems to be getting almost normalized and stagnated. The war has done its work in many ways serving the purposes of the Russian and the Usian military-industrial complexes. Russia has proved how vital its natural gas is to ordinary Europeans and the USian military machine has solidified its control of NATO and European vassals. Ukraine could become another Iraq or Syria, or Libya, or Afghanistan. Dem Speaker of the House Nancy “Snow White” Pelosi got back from her trip to Taiwan without setting loose a hornet’s nest of trouble, probably to support USian military-industrial complex efforts to create a second peer cold war enemy in the Far East, namely China, to keep its cash flows flowing from the USian treasury via funny money flowing to the treasury from the USian Federal Reserve System and real money flowing from USian taxpayers to the USian treasury. Torrential floods and scorching heat are now devastating large swaths of territory around Spaceship Earth, washing houses away, burning up crops, and threatening drinking water supplies. The cotton crop is just about burned up in the largest cotton-producing region of the US, the South Plains of Texas. About the only cotton vegetation left there is cotton watered by irrigation systems that seep water to cotton plant roots via holes in plastic pipe buried in the ground to prevent evaporation. Kentucky on the other hand recently almost got washed away by floods, as did Las Vegas. If this ain’t climate change what is? Ordinary repugs are still focused on outlawing abortions and legalizing voter suppression and vote stealing and getting Trump’s wall finished. Ordinary dems are hoping the bottom does not fall out anytime soon while advocating few if any new systemic changes other than restoring women’s right to choose abortions in certain red states that are determined to regress the US back into some sort of fundamentalist fairy-tale world, analogous to what the Taliban have done in Afghanistan, with “real” men fully in control. Meanwhile, about all ordinary Earthian humans can do is peacefully and productively live their lives as best they can despite these threats and hope their fascist leaders do not ignite an apocalypse playing psychological Games with militarization and nuclear weapons proliferation (MNWP)–or that global warming and climate change (GWCC) doesn’t inexorably destroy their habitats and themselves.
A participant in the seminar Rout Logger conducted in the novel As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases wanted to know how the new computerized Earthian management system recommended for Spaceship Earth, Inc. in the Rooster novel could possibly be implemented. Well, it can’t be anytime soon. A major systemic change such as this would take decades, maybe a century or more of discussion, planning, and implementation by millions of Earthian humans; but attempting such a thing would be better than keeping on doing over and over what does not work. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (the philosopher Lao Tzu).
As recommended in As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases, thousands of democracy chapters could be established around Spaceship Earth in which ordinary Earthian humans would be randomly-selected to lead democratic discussions about Earthian existential problems to develop consensual answers about what should be done–presuming Earthian humans somehow figured out a way to significantly change the fascist systems always used around Spaceship Earth that entailed allowing empowered nationalistic leaders sitting atop authoritarian hierarchical organizations to make existential decisions. This would eliminate the worst consequences of zero-sum chess-playing by nationalistic leaders–such as Putin of Russia deciding to invade and bomb Ukraine and Bush II of the US deciding to bomb and invade Iraq–regardless of where their marching orders came from.
Spaceship Earth, Inc. democracy chapters would be established around Earth to develop consensual answers regarding existential matters from the bottom up that would percolate up to randomly-selected humans who would count the consensual answers to make necessary changes. Consensual tactics, strategies, and policies would then be developed around Earth for programming the whole computerized Spaceship Earth management system, that could be operated and controlled using artificial intelligence programming in magnum computers capable of rapidly calculating solutions using large data bases to crank out schedules for producing and distributing the necessities of life.
Randomly-selected groups of Earthian humans of high intelligence with impeccable moral and ethical character and credentials would control codes for programming the Earthian Magnum Computer System to implement bottom-up consensual recommendations of millions of members from discussions in democracy chapters around Spaceship Earth.
All members of elite groups in charge of the codes for the magnum computer system would serve limited terms. These members would not vote or decide what to do. They would merely see to it that the computer system implemented the consensual recommendations of millions of Earthian humans from all walks of life, as determined by honest, free, fair, and frank democratic Game-free discussions in democracy chapters all around Spaceship Earth, as explained and shown in As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases. The overall objective would be to manage the Earthian system in such a way as to maximize, or at least optimize, the lifetime satisfactions of all Earthian humans, as well as all species of life aboard Spaceship Earth, taking verifiable objective resource requirements and constraints for producing the necessities of life for all Earthians into account.
Necessary moral and ethical requirements and constraints could be programmed in the Magnum management system that temporary elite Earthian humans at the top would be required to obey. If changes should be made in the moral and ethical codes in the overall program they would be sent back to the Earthian democracy chapters for discussion and then tabulated and analyzed before algorithms programmed in the system would instantiate new moral and ethical programming in the Magnum management system program.
The output of the whole system would automatically change as changes in the values of the variables of the system changed in reality around Spaceship Earth. On the other hand, systemic changes would be made from time to time in the programming of the system itself as determined by new recommendations made by the democracy chapters.
This magnum computerized management system would require a strict system of security controls like the current codes of nations possessing nuclear weapons, hopefully providing security several magnitudes more secure than current nuclear codes, to make sure a madman could not get in control of any aspect of the Magnum Spaceship Earth Management System.
A management system such as this would significantly improve previous management systems used around Spaceship Earth that have historically empowered egotistical, greedy, power mad, insane, grandiose, poorly educated, not-very-bright individual Earthian humans to make existential decisions affecting the OKness of hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions of humans around Earth, an incredibly dumb thing to do, that has been done over and over again for millennia, resulting in incredible losses and suffering at various moments of history caused by the inexorable unfair and indiscriminate tunneling out of Not-OK, OK, or Good Luck by infinite cause-effect chains for hundreds, thousands, millions, or billions of individual Earthian humans around Spaceship Earth temporarily living in their worm holes of existence, at all times since time immemorial, resulting from the cosmic evolution commencing with the Big Bang.
A tough lesson for Earthian humans to accept propositioned in Effective Learning Publications books is that everything that happens in human states of affairs is either predetermined or accidental and therefore individuals are not to blame or praise for what happens in human states of affairs. This is easier to swallow after accepting that acting otherwise will support and perpetuate the I’m OK–You’re Not OK life position that has bedeviled, sabotaged, and undermined Earthian humans since time immemorial, making losers out of most of them.
About the only way anyone can seriously be affected by others is through democratic face to face discussions, through rigorous honest dialectical, dialogical, and analogical arguing based on facts and reasoning of all kinds, honestly dealing with Earthian human existential states of affairs.
What is considered natural, unnatural; normal, abnormal; right, wrong; ethical, unethical; righteous, sinful; worthy, unworthy; or sane or insane by a particular Earthian human is caused by information lodged in her/his brain caused to be lodged there by the concatenation of infinite cause-effect chains causing her/him to exist and slowly inch through the Earthian worm hole of existence inexorably tunneled out for her or him by her/his unbroken cause-effect chains throughout his/her infinitesimally short cosmic life, however Not-OK, OK, or Good that luck or fate might be as judged by any Earthian human; and all Earthian humans just keep on inching forward in their worm holes as best they can dealing with inevitable problems and opportunities existing at various stages of their lives in their unique tunnels, as they continue to be knocked around like balls in a pin-ball machine by events caused by their cause-effect chains happening in their so-called real worlds and in their conscious and sub-conscious minds at various stages of their lives, however Not-OK, OK, or Good their inherited Luck might have been absolutely, which cannot be proved, however easy it might be to estimate relatively.
It follows that changing the scripts of Earthian humans for the better requires changing the course of unique tunnels of existence in which individual humans accidentally and inevitably live, a tall order indeed. Some biological constructivists would consider this notion a pipedream, instead considering the whole process a meaningless drift in the infinity of time and space.
Constructivism is considered relevant in all three Effective Learning Report books listed below, having been discussed explicitly in Business Voyages and listed as a source in the bibliographies of all three books.
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 free the article “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. This recently-published novel features a new kind of seminar invented and coordinated by Rout Logger that might reduce the probability of Earthian human extinction that requires participants in a seminar to speak out and up when randomly selected by a 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. The rooster is programmed to bob its head up and down and raucously crow 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 beak 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 democratic discussion of what s/he considers the most serious existential problem around Spaceship Earth.
According to Effective Learning Publications books, achieving Earthian human sustainability entails such things as Earthian humans peacefully reducing through natural attrition (natural deaths exceeding births) 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, assuming sufficient quantities of non-human clean energy can be discovered and developed using mind grants.
This is possible managing Spaceship Earth 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/ .
It seems to me this mathematical formulation could one day develop for Earthian humans power in economics loosely analogous to the power of E=mc2 in physics. Max or Min CjXj, subject to, AijXj ≤, =, or ≥ Bi is a general form of the linear programming model, which has been around for many years in management science, operations research, and linear algebra courses.
It seems to me Max CjXj, s.t. AijXj ≤, =, or ≥ Bi symbolizes knowledge that gives the Earthian human species about as much potential power to perpetuate itself as Albert Einstein’s formula E=mc2 symbolizes knowledge that gives the Earthian human species the power to exterminate itself.
Riding aboard an airliner about to land at night traveling at four hundred miles an hour at thirty-five thousand feet with clouds, rain, wind, and lightning below, what would you rather have figuring out the path, 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 windows but clouds and lightning?
The main reason why delegating the scheduling, production, and distribution of the necessities of life to AI programs and magnum computers would be 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 most 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. 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 go to the Ogeechee Economic Forum at https://blog.effectivelearning.net/ogeechee-economic-forum/ and scroll up to and click on the RESPONSES tab at the top of this blog page and speak out about them in writing.
If you feel you’ve gained value from THE EARTHIAN, go to the Internet or any walk-in bookstore around Spaceship Earth and purchase one or more of the above books. As the Rooster Crows Earthian OKness Increases is the latest and probably most engaging Effective Learning Publications book. Rout Logger is the protagonist of the novel story. It’s available now as a Nook Book at Barnes & Noble for $4.99 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/as-the-rooster-crows-earthian-okness-increases-richard-john-stapleton/1140476381?ean=9781088023464.
WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE EARTHIAN, THE THINKING OF HARD-HITTING TRUTH-SEEKING TRUTH-ACCEPTING WRITERS AND ARTISTS ABOUT RELEVANT EARTHIAN PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES PUBLISHED IN RECENT WEEKS IN LINKED ARTICLES AND MEMES IN INTERNET MEDIA AROUND SPACESHIP EARTH.
August 25, 2022
Great article by Rick Staggenborg, MD
“The Stealth Plan to Privatize Medicare for All, by Rick Staggenborg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/24/the-stealth-plan-to-privatize-medicare-for-all/?fbclid=IwAR1Cqj4khw-J-uyV75pAYzfX0pGDh_2SFok394N9Ti0wVw70rjHHI1PyBDE.
August 24
Say it aint so Joe
“Heatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world,” by Michael LePage, MSN, https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/heatwave-in-china-is-the-most-severe-ever-recorded-in-the-world/ar-AA110949?cvid=a9a8feb2315e414a8e806c12cf0a7985.
August 18
Probably truer now than when he spoke it
“As we observe the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we consider this speech given in 1955 by Bertrand Russell,” HUMANISTS UK, https://www.facebook.com/humanists.uk/videos/1252834768861799.
August 18
Davy Crockett, “The king of the wild frontier” in the US, who “kilt him a bar before he was only three,” said “make sure you’re right and then go ahead.” If only it were that simple.
“The Value of Philosoophy” by Bertrand Russell, DR. JEFFREY NAI, https://www.facebook.com/DrJeffreyNall/photos/gm.5714319431934198/5829770260406734/.
August 22
While I disagree with most of the long run assumptions and projections of this article, it seems to me the author’s historical and short run perspectives are relevant and could happen, although nobody knows what the probability of them happening to what degree is
“An Autumn With Epic Collapses of Stocks, Debt, Currencies, Much Higher Inflation – Leading to Poverty & Social Unrest,” by Egon von Greyerz, GOLD SWITZERLAND, https://goldswitzerland.com/an-autumn-with-epic-collapses-of-stocks-debt-currencies-much-higher-inflation-leading-to-poverty-social-unrest/?fbclid=IwAR1S4en-swyjpxQcujbjAD1P0bQ8h9luISXQX1wOrkctSxvpabrzVY2j5s8.
August 22
Say it aint so Joe
“The Best Lack All conviction as the River Goes Brown,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/19/the-best-lack-all-conviction-as-the-river-goes-brown/?fbclid=IwAR2714fDN8mTuGAD9X-WGbna6br1Vud3SD9wujzUPeazUY7MpMZeeeaEkN4.
August 22
Excellent point in this article
“Trump and the Fifth,” by Jacob G. Hornberger, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/22/trump-and-the-fifth/?fbclid=IwAR1llWXWzDejS8HPvt_ZBg-vLRoePGy09HjMrF17LdX46xyaydduOYW_eps.
August 22
No cure on the horizon in this race to the bottom?
“Despite Trump’s Legal Woes, GOP Political Candidates Are Leaping to His Defense,” by Sasha Abramsky, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/despite-trumps-legal-woes-gop-political-candidates-are-leaping-to-his-defense/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0_CLlpbVCmE-JKxhl_jKdVh8mOlpdDa8mq7-IiUndy4GB7_Yfsf7Viu30.
August 22
Grasping at straws?
“Europe is Trying to Solve Its Energy Crisis With Fossil Fuel Projects in Africa,” by Simon Pirani, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/europe-is-trying-to-solve-its-energy-crisis-with-fossil-fuel-projects-in-africa/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1m8ckti-sRPLEyxjg9QfsO0wOoAPjtrKmTVgrR4yzb-MztSL_zCJiwl-I.
August 22
Seems to me the current inflation problem is not caused by more real demand. It’s caused by faux demand caused by the creation and dissemination of funny money, exacerbated by less real supply of energy. The long run solution is to create less real demand by breeding fewer Earthian humans than naturally die each year to make all existing Earthian humans richer by enabling all of them living on Earth to get richer from year to year by receiving larger slices of smaller economic pies of goods and services baked every year, due to the Earthian human population shrinking disproportionately to the Earthian production of goods and services, to deal with Global warming and climate change (GWCC).
“Something is Looming Geopolitically, and We Better Start Taking It Seriously,” THE LAST REFUGE, https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/08/18/something-is-looming-geopolitically-and-we-better-start-taking-it-seriously/?fbclid=IwAR0AR_G-_mp4MFpki5z2d5gmWdGuSwHd5plFKSnhrgkBh9Ap4gEuItIaCeI.
August 22
Sad indeed
“Hitler’s Scuttled Black Sea Fleet, Centuries-Old ‘Hunger Stones’ Emerge From Dry Riverbeds In Drought-Stricken Europe,” by Tyler Durden, ZDEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/hitlers-scuttled-black-sea-fleet-centuries-old-hunger-stones-emerge-dry-riverbeds-drought?fbclid=IwAR1K86fAJG-1ZCovXESnX4eAE4GyrKSzi9NffeKfxYx0-RiFBURg0yPPToA.
August 22
Very sad it’s come to this
“Weaponizing the Bureaucracy: Who Will Protect Us from the Government’s Standing Army?,” by John and Nisha Whitehead, RUTHERFORD.ORG, https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/weaponizing_the_bureaucracy_who_will_protect_us_from_the_governments_standing_army.
August 20
Well said
“A Letter to a Repellent Request about Fascism,” by Betrand Russell, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=619468099541011&set=a.280894120065079.
August 20
Another great article by the brilliant and courageous Eve Ottenberg. It does appear Biden does not know what he is up to or just does not care about some serious problems; but how could that not be a problem with any USian president in the minds of USians?
“The Biden-Trump Persecution of Julian Assange,” by Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/19/the-biden-trump-persecution-of-julian-assange/?fbclid=IwAR14vGGZYoMotQARjhPACGPSCmF-VVJcwcP3HoS_88vVdCno18xj5Ab6RdA.
August 19
What a surprise
“Trump-Appointed Judge Blocks Biden Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing,” by Jake Johnson, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/trump-appointed-judge-blocks-biden-moratorium-on-oil-and-gas-leasing/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0pk0jwODnFhdEGoyBVc4eDj63WZ5LioRVdCFFIHxsVe2tKCXmRIkQnV_A.
August 19
Back down from what? What progressives in Congress? Other than Sanders, Warren, and a handful of others?
“Sanders: ‘It is Absolutely Imperative’ for Progressives to Not Back Down,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/sanders-it-is-absolutely-imperative-for-progressives-to-not-back-down/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0pL2Hsl2vGCeO2xiJzM8jx01BVzipHZY0JOxfvC-Q4HtaPt4q6Iq6X5Ag.
August 19
Ain’t that sumthin’
“How sad it must be – believing that scientists, scholars, historians, economists and journalists have devoted their whole lives deceiving you, while a reality-TV star with decades of fraud and exhaustively-documented lying is your beacon of honesty?,” by Jym Shorts, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=629207892059852&set=a.340686620911982.
August 19
Think we’ve got it bad here?
“Drought conditions in Britain prompt water restrictions for millions of Londoners,” by Anmar Frangoul, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/17/london-to-face-water-restrictions-from-next-week-thames-water-says-.html?__source=sharebar|facebook&par=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR1Ga7eA1ssTq5TNebiuNh4NnUphaYeltrIvX60elmKPJHn_jsiE2CDPKqY.
August 17
How could Wyoming repug voters do this given what Cheney did to preserve truth, justice, and democracy in the US? Apparently Wyoming repugs don’t like or care about democracy
“Cheney ponders 2024 bid after losing Wyoming GOP primary,” by Steve Peoples and Mead Gruver, AP NEWS, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-donald-trump-presidential-wyoming-alaska-48a5444f247727d26cf67a0a72f14637?fbclid=IwAR2nBw7ErufvoQ9IBKc9vZcsql0XuPOXw4GXIjjB2dfctm-MrFTynrGSuwo.
August 17
Great powers and imperial empires are passe, or at least they soon will be, thanks to global warming and climate change (GWCC)
“Washington Wants a New Cold War…That’s a Bad Idea,” by Katrina Vanden Heuvel, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/16/washington-wants-a-new-cold-war-thats-a-bad-idea/?fbclid=IwAR2KXNGnB75T0eb6BuGnjv3oiT8Z7MEZBXX0BClRooLKcb_13u-QdeR1u-M.
August 16
Hell of a note for a so-called non-profit organization
“The California health care industry is massive, a corporate kingdom employing hundreds of thousands, cashing in with billions in profit – for profit and not for profit alike.
“Kaiser Permanente was once considered union friendly, a progressive organization which enrolled thousands of trade unionists. No more. Kaiser is today one of the largest not-for-profits in the country; it, is the pacesetter in California. Kaiser is based in the Bay Area with 39 nine hospitals and some 700 medical facilities. In recent years, it has grown by 600,000 members; it now employs some 300,000 workers, including 80,000 nurses and doctors. In 2020, its profits were $6.4 billion. In 2021, its net worth, according to the California Department of Managed Health Care, was $43.3 billion. CEOs are compensated handsomely. Salaries compared to workers: 231-1! Greg Adams, the chief executive in Oakland received $17.3 million in total compensation in 2020. He and the 100 top executives have the benefit of eight separate retirement plans.
“Kaiser can do this! It has the money.
“The 16,000 member NUHW represents California 4000 Kaiser mental health technicians, clinicians (psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and chemical dependency counselors), including another 2000 in southern California who settled earlier in the year.
“We are striking because our patients aren’t receiving needed services,” says Shay Loftus, a psychologist, also in Kaiser’s Napa/Solano “We’re not willing to be part of a system that disrespects the work we do and prevents us from providing ethical care. Kaiser has no excuse to continue treating mental health care as a separate and unequal service, and we’re going to keep striking until that changes.”
“The Strike at Kaiser,” by Cal Winslow, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/16/the-strike-at-kaiser/?fbclid=IwAR2JgOOnoiOmSHjRrHaefvmBo8PrLo9BRiAL1olh12sPI_HML-SgRhxa3TE.
August 16
Where I grew up. Sad
“‘Worst I’ve Ever Seen’: Cotton Prices Soar After Historic USDA Cut Amid Megadrought,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/worst-ive-ever-seen-cotton-prices-soar-after-historic-usda-cut-amid-megadrought?fbclid=IwAR1RxYgUdRh7sTzuVNnuAxxVJIyCAQgim3mcEzothTnsTvxUbmyUwnZFN7k.
August 13
Lies, lies, and damned lies, all around in USian politics. another brilliant incisive fearless truth-telling article by Paul Street
“The Dangerous, Degenerate Dems: Pied Piper 2022 and Other Forms of Complicity,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/12/the-dangerous-degenerate-dems-pied-piper-2022-and-other-forms-of-complicity/?fbclid=IwAR3iJXVh67SKlamSozijOyeHIqLvmIKiKm5B9zLv7GXWnOHJlvc4g7CuQPM.
August 13
Another dynamite to the point right as rain article by Eve Ottenberg
“American Dystopia Gets Bleaker,” by Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/12/american-dystopia-gets-bleaker/?fbclid=IwAR2jEvL_MTAhj2W4dMPEhDHT3-jIBRpJvRDOGJ9iza5ViKrNAjquJan0KH4.
August 12
Good essay on why and how the USian political process does not change
“Talking Sense About ‘A New American Civil War’,” by Richard E. Rubenstein, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/12/talking-sense-about-a-new-american-civil-war/?fbclid=IwAR3a90VR2HWfnq20pOgRnniFxHArAzl3hpM50pXeiMmSvurohbH28BQwm4M.
August 12
Here’s a brave assessment of a sensitive problem. At issue is whether Earthian humans are depressed because of maladies in their brains or because of maladies in their social, economic, religious, military, and political systems
“Behind Rolling Stone’s Hatchet Job on a Psychiatrist Critical of Neoliberal Capitalism,” by Bruce E. Levine, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/11/behind-rolling-stones-hatchet-job-on-a-psychiatrist-critical-of-neoliberal-capitalism/?fbclid=IwAR3PaLzq2AJSA9ALLEFU8_nYNPv9iYn8eICrL-loVJ_4CrLvwuJp08eDZVU.
August 11
Here’s an interesting Poem
“The Gestalt Prayer,” by Fritz Perls
I do my thing, and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your
expectations
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
And if by chance, we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped.
Posted by Richard John Stapleton, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=158143964207258&set=a.147106731977648.
August 10
Well, maybe not too surprising
“Surprising Book Facts,” by Edward Bruce Williams, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10229895560270644&set=a.1349205047677.
August 10
Lyin’ it seems is goin’ on about jobs. It appears the bottom line is that yes there are a lot of new part-time jobs, but fewer full-time jobs that one can make a living doing
“The Bombshell in the July Jobs Report,” by Jack Rasmus, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/10/the-bombshell-in-the-july-jobs-report/?fbclid=IwAR0WFR-S_eUcMJWq5MFwGPAZ_RPItbNHldOF64JtyLtCP4lVyY4ZV_X-ojQ.
August 9
Want to know how the world works? Read this
“The Destiny of Civilization: Michael Hudson on Finance Capitalism, the Economic Consequences of Ukraine and the End of Globalization,” by Eric Draitser, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/09/michael-hudson-on-finance-capitalism-the-economic-consequences-of-ukraine-and-the-end-of-globalization/?fbclid=IwAR1dBucaDFkXAKKeymC-PY_Pnrfn3fKdWleZwTZ706cXdBc7UaTfJQ9bgk4.
August 9
Say it aint so Joe
“Work, Work, Work–So a Few Can Be Rich,” by Michael D. Yates, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/09/work-work-work-so-a-few-can-be-rich/?fbclid=IwAR0nOdHCmLbAPBgMyJPEu_jUv6Cqjdp1hhwfKBW-j5fsXzggAfHkiAFlhpQ.
August 8
Say it aint so Joe
“Hudson raises a shocking question: ‘when it comes to global famine, was a more covert and even larger strategy at work’? It is now looking like the major aim of the U.S. war in Ukraine all along was merely to serve as a catalyst, an excuse to impose sanctions that would disrupt the world’s food and energy trade, and to manage this crisis in a way that would afford US diplomats an opportunity to not only lock in Western Europe but to confront Global South countries with the choice ‘Your loyalty and neoliberal dependency or your life’ – and, in the process, to ‘thin out’ the world’s non-white populations…’ Basic survival hangs in the balance for more than half the world’s people.
“An implicit Russian and Chinese counterplan
“‘What is needed for the world’s non-US/NATO population to survive is a new world trade and financial system,’ Hudson says. More people will die of the Western sanctions than will have died on the Ukrainian battlefield. Financial and trade sanctions are as destructive as military attack. So Global South countries need to reject the sanctions and reorient trade to Russia, China, India, Iran and their fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. A debt moratorium – really a debt repudiation – must be declared. And the World Bank and IMF must be replaced with ‘a genuine Bank for Economic Acceleration’ and ‘a replacement for the IMF that is free of austerity junk economics and does not subsidize US client oligarchies or currency raids of countries resisting US privatization and financialization takeovers.’ Hudson adds that Global South countries should join ‘a military alliance as an alternative to NATO, to avoid being turned into another Afghanistan, another Libya, another Iraq or Syria or Ukraine.'”
“How to Resist the Empire’s Neoliberal Debt Trap,” by Dee Knight, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/08/how-to-resist-the-empires-neoliberal-debt-trap/?fbclid=IwAR2ugCeX7Ug8FzaOZdUudNgQfwGchxwmoQL-A5RhxSu9htHGYz5Gc7Snhxo.
August 8
Well, it was worth a shot
“99 Senators Vote Against Sanders’s Proposal to Remove Big Oil Handout From Reconciliation,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/nearly-all-senators-vote-against-sanderss-amendments-to-inflation-reduction-act/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR3uSKSS_-bX0mjYoousnDTK7WVc2_zOIByIADKlX5dq68KFFxJtEIhfYiY.
August 8
The man told the truth as he saw it. That’s what free speech is. As they used to say about politics, “If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.” Not everyone has to believe, or pretend to believe, lyin’ eyes (Richard Pryor’s words) and ears to get along or survive politically or otherwise
“MSNBC Remains Silent After Elie Mystal Unleashes Racist Attack on Herchel Walker, by Jonathan Turley, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/political/msnbc-remains-silent-after-elie-mystal-unleashes-racist-attack-herschel-walker?fbclid=IwAR31Y3bLoyNtJP6WL1cwMG1nARsZMFBISkVZz8Gj0LwtpkKxzyE5tUOSwhc.
August 7
Say it aint so Joe
“Climate Reality Is Hitting Us Like a Breakaway Glacier,” by JP Smith, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/climate-reality-is-hitting-us-like-a-breakaway-glacier/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0WjbaxE7P8PbTx39XlnnW0VkacMCHuJbOfc8-vGe2HyGNhvoje9FMSUKc.
August 7
Say it aint so Joe
“Stephan Hawking Left Us Bold Predictions on AI, Superhumans, and Aliens,” by Max de Haldevang, POCKET, https://getpocket.com/explore/item/stephen-hawking-left-us-bold-predictions-on-ai-superhumans-and-aliens?utm_source=fbsynd&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0WjbaxE7P8PbTx39XlnnW0VkacMCHuJbOfc8-vGe2HyGNhvoje9FMSUKc.
August 6
What next
“The Secret Service Text Cover-Up Keeps Getting Bigger,” by William Rivers Pitt, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/the-secret-service-text-cover-up-keeps-getting-bigger/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0NVdhCTcg1kt2DhAKBh4iutFxhMsaKLFxYENbxIGWI6B6v2yNJ3J1lDl4.
August 5
One reason I went to Georgia Southern University and Statesboro, GA, west of I-95 in Southeast GA, in 1970, was to remove myself from this environmental problem in South Louisiana. I taught one year at the University of Louisiana–Lafayette, having gone there from Texas Tech University in Northwest Texas where I had lived all my life on higher ground. I enjoyed teaching at USL, as it was called at the time, and the Cajun culture of the area, one of the most unique and ebullient cultures of the US.
“End-Times: a Visit to Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana,” by Stephen F. Eisenman, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/05/end-times-a-visit-to-isle-de-jean-charles-louisiana/?fbclid=IwAR0VP3HRLJtiq-B2BOmZ9t7I68FlMLP7N4WNA9UxW-eEVUu9hmMYbsD9Bwk.
August 3
Another right on ultra-comprehensive pulling no punches article by Michael Hudson, the greatest economist alive
“American Diplomacy as a Tragic Drama,” by Michael Hudson, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/29/american-diplomacy-as-a-tragic-drama/?fbclid=IwAR2NXQEU7QBEp0uiGWx6TC3skUIZDJtmgBdJ_40CjaZoTVranWF9MnVgpgI.
August 3
Afraid he’s right
“Barbarians at the Gates,” by Evaggelos Vallianatos, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/03/barbarians-at-the-gates/?fbclid=IwAR3sAujFAU9JFaKrIHRVLE7ykSeLX-PerZ24Gu_o5vFUYa57AyKFxDFVSoU.
August 3
Ralph Nader hits the nail right on the head again. The whole USian telephone communication system is now a farce, designed to shield organizations and groups from personal responsibility. Most large businesses and governmental agencies no longer care about pleasing the customer or constituent with their telephone responses using their robot voices and menu choices. Robo calls from call centers hound and disturb citizens incessantly with junk calls and the USian government does nothing about it. It seems poor telephone service for ordinary users in the US has now been normalized and must be profitable for oligarchs in this business.
“Callers say–’Can’t Get Through’–Callees –’Don’t Want to Let Them Through,” by Ralph Nader, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/01/callers-say-cant-get-through-callees-say-dont-want-to-let-them-through/?fbclid=IwAR3HLpEMhoNVxTb3RUtE4xuUTE8hYTqvJu5OuUfCVJyn7R0ew9SfBE5S5wg.
August 3
Scary to think the USian constitution makes it possible for characters like this to gain control of the USian government
“Henry Kissinger: A Warmonger’s Lying Continues,” by Melvin Goodman, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/02/henry-kissinger-a-warmongers-lying-continues/?fbclid=IwAR3Tqu2E-rY1RQy6LU7GAwlgjodr_ltpnYnXVx7_tALSSDq0gCkG_02jRiE.
August 3
Nancy “Snow White” Pelosi plays a dangerous psychological Game with Taiwan
“Nancy Pelosi Could Get Us All Killed,” by Norman Solomon,COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/02/nancy-pelosi-could-get-us-all-killed/?fbclid=IwAR0hM1InUXK7-Vq_JgiHG15cBNZgnu0H6q0OXqJL_CRrPGEl_HY3jeGeUXA.
August 3
How much bribe money did you give lobbyist locusts in Washington this year to bribe lawmakers to enact good laws? I used to think you elected representatives and senators to write good laws to promote the greater good for the greater number without you having to give them extra money after they got there to do their jobs. What are their congressional salaries and retirement plans for?
“Federal Lobbyists Slated to Spend in Record Amounts After Raking in $2B in First 6 Months of 2022,” by Sharon Zhang, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/report-lobbyists-raked-in-record-2-billion-in-first-6-months-of-2022/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0imY8rnV3f_lPH5beBezkvCln9V9MDPNAidcBB-CteoAgNn04VCznCXzw.
August 2
Wow. Here’s another blockbuster u-tube presentation by Richard Wolff about problems Earthian humans now face
“Global Capitalism: War, Sanctions, Deepening Splits: Economic, Political, and Cultural (July 2022),” by Richard Wolff, YOUTUBE.COM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVfTS489IY.
August 2
Well said
“Albert Einstein’s Essay on Racial Bias in 1946,” by the On Being Project, ONBEING.ORG, https://onbeing.org/blog/albert-einsteins-essay-on-racial-bias-in-1946/?fbclid=IwAR0Reg_IREGqjx4sHiADDo0Xlxx_U-U3Rb2U_e3g9Sf03d5TNcQEY5aPOYA.
August 1
What a family
“Elon Musk’s Father Insists He Isn’t Proud of Him,” by Darika Fears, THE DAILY BEAST, https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/elon-musk-e2-80-99s-father-insists-he-isn-e2-80-99t-proud-of-him/ar-AA10aDC4?fbclid=IwAR2DDxmwfp8F4muNFtW-D-C4B4aA24Q25SmTdKH4mrBSzzwBM7S88ZE_kE8
August 1
What a world
“U.S. kills al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in drone strike,” by Alexander Ward, Paul McLeary, Nanal Toosi and Lara Seligman, POLITICO, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/01/sources-u-s-kills-al-qaeda-leader-ayman-al-zawahri-in-drone-strike-00049089?fbclid=IwAR1Ff-xQThT8Qt0H7Pplv3iFR8PHZKiOL__OCRn80ixHiZY_G6napkFR260.
August 1
Say it aint so Joe
“UN chief warns world is one step from ‘nuclear annihilation’,” by Edith M. Lederer, AP NEWS, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-covid-health-antonio-guterres-2871563e530f9a676d7884b3e2d871c3?fbclid=IwAR0I9e_-dxjZCQKaxcC10VtbS9BmuHcQjyXhh8hfMsuyBDETbFx9cbXvIPI.
July 31
One of the most satisfying times of my life was hiking to the top of Hermit’s Peak with about thirty hikers, elevation 10,000 feet, near Western Life Camp where I lived for a month one summer with about one hundred other kids, counselors, cooks, and others, near Las Vegas, New Mexico, in the southernmost stretch of the Rocky Mountains, in the summer of 1952. Life was beautiful then in the area. A counselor said you can see five states from the top of Hermit’s Peak, and there was no smoke from wildfires to be seen in any direction when you got up there.
“New Mexico’s Megafires Are a Hint of the Climate Nightmare Ahead,” by William deBuys, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/new-mexicos-megafires-are-a-hint-of-the-climate-nightmare-ahead/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0sAjGxyebL47tZn6frDDdpEI1cv2ZUBLIPEY1hoQJmG9XFCNM16ZYL47U.
July 31
Another dynamite article by the inexhaustible Eve Ottenberg
“The West Can’t Stop Pillaging Other Countries’ Bank Accounts,” b y Eve Ottenberg, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/29/the-west-cant-stop-pillaging-other-countries-bank-accounts/?fbclid=IwAR1_pkcc0rjUZM_OulymDHW_ObM0pN2fVFOz8_sKSeNdU7-K0fcrIiikOE8.
July 31
Yuk. Another canary in a coal mine?
“Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts,” by Noam N. Levy, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/nursing-homes-are-suing-the-friends-and-family-of-residents-to-collect-debts/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR0ScbDkSXSC4bGeii_QSZCxUCgoWJ-FPpAH34FMeRzQfiHsCke9KFpTZfA.
July 31
And who would want to live in one of those five thousand dollar rents?
“This New Jersey city is now America’s most expensive to live in,” by Mary K. Jacob, NEW YORK POST, https://nypost.com/2022/07/29/jersey-city-is-now-americas-most-expensive-city-to-live-in/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons&fbclid=IwAR2RdzTrD1-ecgi29bPUAjMlFfw6MRzAcpRFDw_emB-ddZB8DMmsIXxrvb0.
July 30
Sad
“I fought for liberty and was deprived of all liberty,” by Julian Assange, FILMS FOR CHANGE, https://nypost.com/2022/07/29/jersey-city-is-now-americas-most-expensive-city-to-live-in/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons&fbclid=IwAR2RdzTrD1-ecgi29bPUAjMlFfw6MRzAcpRFDw_emB-ddZB8DMmsIXxrvb0.
July 31
Say it aint so Joe
“Everything is determined…by forces over which we have no control,” by Albert Einstein, THE LIGHTS OF KABBALAH, https://www.facebook.com/lightsofkabbalah/photos/a.319056761576811/2274043399411461/.
July 29
Say it will never happen here Joe
“German Cities Turn Off Hot Water And Cut Lighting at Government Buildings, by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/german-cities-turn-hot-water-and-cut-lighting-government-buildings?fbclid=IwAR2xp3KOdCt5TrJ3RiqSwPecWoe0bac1GxGBohZMPRuDd8nKfFIgZUeYBz0.
July 29
One species?
“We are One Species,” by Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/28/we-are-one-species/?fbclid=IwAR33ClbSfdlpzy8QIWkp01WstlUw-u8Q6JdOLW6nE17MMI3xmZuS8fGT8M8.
July 28
Ought to say it all
Herschel Walker or Raphael Warnock, by Kaolin Kay, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10210427012109211&set=a.2254967151267.
July 27
Say it aint so Joe
“Wobbling Towards Our Own Extinction,” by Daryan Rezazad, COUNTERPUNCH, https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/26/wobbling-towards-our-own-extinction/?fbclid=IwAR1HmeAWqUWlImvwr4T-DZxW1NE0ZQKDt3gkH2sCzPHhKITnAW8eYa1MiAk.
July 27
“Now, compare those hopeful scenarios to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). At the moment, world oil production is hovering at around 100 million barrels daily and is projected to reach 109 million barrels by 2030, 117 million by 2040, and a jaw-dropping 126 million by 2050. So much, in other words, for “peak oil” and a swift transition to green energy.”
“World Oil Production is Rising, With No End in Sight,” by Michael T. Klare, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/world-oil-production-is-rising-with-no-end-in-sight/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR1HmeAWqUWlImvwr4T-DZxW1NE0ZQKDt3gkH2sCzPHhKITnAW8eYa1MiAk.
July 27
Why not indict? Is it the Attorney General of the US is afraid to indict because doing so might incite more violence among Trump’s supporters?
“January 6 Committee Has Provided Sufficient Evidence for Garland to Indict Trump,” by Marjorie Cohn, TRUTHOUT, https://truthout.org/articles/january-6-committee-has-provided-sufficient-evidence-for-garland-to-indict-trump/?utm_campaign=Truthout%20Share%20Buttons&fbclid=IwAR166g6_NLCDhhMm43cKhHucpIelbr89DFlIN6a4J_UWhwIvebx8pU1QLlw.
July 27
My father was a rancher in Central and Northwest Texas. Very sad what has befallen ranchers, and cows, there
“Ranchers are Selling Off Their Cattle in Unprecedented Numbers Due To The Drought, and That Has Enormous Implications for 2023,” by Tyler Durden, ZEROHEDGE, https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/ranchers-are-selling-their-cattle-unprecedented-numbers-due-drought-and-has?fbclid=IwAR0llWjKC7xQVVpAeKQNfjQEdqWP30qZ5jAzzK28mIMzMAicv38RM3YfZac.
July 27, 2022
“There are two principal tracks of the investigation that could ultimately lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, two people familiar with the situation said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
“The first centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, the type of charges already filed against individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and on two leaders of far-right groups, Stewart Rhodes and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who did not breach the Capitol but were allegedly involved in planning the day’s events.
“The second involves potential fraud associated with the false-electors scheme or with pressure Trump and his allies allegedly put on the Justice Department and others to falsely claim that the election was rigged and votes were fraudulently cast.”
“Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan 6 criminal probe,” by Carol D. Leonnig, Devin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, and Spencer Hsu, THE WASHINGTON POST, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/justice-dept-investigating-trump-e2-80-99s-actions-in-jan-6-criminal-probe/ar-AA100h1s?fbclid=IwAR3EOpEYhre6Ihq8oeP5sLkKiRD0Kl7de-eK4ucrlTTqRh_K2NVOFCp54QQ.
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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 version of the 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 case researched and written by business professors about a business assigned as the final exam. Cases used in his courses contained processes, problems, opportunities, and data occurring in 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 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 learned and trained in transactional analysis 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 taught in his own case method track at the undergraduate level in the management department of the business school at Georgia Southern University offering four or five elective case method courses 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 signing up for all his courses each year majoring in all disciplines. He used a democratic circle or amphitheater classroom layout in all his classes. 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. 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 simply called it The Spinner.
He appreciated Georgia Southern honoring his academic freedom thereby giving him control of his teaching methods, classroom layouts, grading procedures, and course books, cases, and materials, some of which he researched, wrote, and published. He was promoted to full professor at age thirty-six.
He collected longitudinal research data using questionnaires in 1992 showing 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 militaristic row and column classroom layout, who graded students based on memorizing or calculating “right answers” for tests, indicating learners learning in Adult–Adult I’m OK–You’re OK Game-free democratic case method learning processes graded subjectively became more successful in the real world of business than learners lectured to and graded using so-called objective tests, in this case.
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. The data are shown, analyzed, and discussed in full 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.
For more information on related 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 that weighted only instructor excellence scores up to 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 https://studysites.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 (August 24, 2022) been cited as a reference in 83 refereed journal articles concerned about the ethics of student evaluations in several academic disciplines, including eight 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://blog.effectivelearning.net/.
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