RAGA: Flying Under The Radar To Overthrow Democracy In The USA

"The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) is a United States national political advocacy group that focuses on electing Republicans as state attorneys general. Its Democratic counterpart is the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

"RAGA operates The Rule of Law Defense Fund, which became the center of controversy following revelations that it had sponsored mass robocalls urging recipients to support President Donald Trump's rally in front of the Capitol on January 6; the rally resulted in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[4] The robocall did not advocate for violence or storming the Capitol complex.[4]" (link)

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"If you sit down and talk with Republicans, which I advise against doing, you will notice that they justify nearly every one of their awful policies with a call to states’ rights. They say they want to take power away from national representatives in Washington, D.C., and redistribute it to state and local governments, which, they claim, are best equipped to determine the best policies for their constituents’ particular, parochial concerns. They use this appeal to 'federalism' to shield them from moral accountability for their disastrous actions. Republicans will say, for instance, that their intention is not to take away abortion rights but merely to let the states decide when a person can be forced to give birth against their will."

Click on the link below for more:

Meet RAGA—One of the Scariest GOP Groups You’ve Never Heard Of

Definitions All Voters Need To Know

ANTI-SCIENCE: a set or system of attitudes and beliefs that are opposed to or reject science and scientific methods and principles (link)

AUTOCRACY: government in which one person possesses unlimited power (link)

CORRUPT: to change from good to bad in morals, manners, or actions (link)

CULT: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (link)

EVIL: morally bad, cruel, or very unpleasant (link)

FASCISM: a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government (link)

GASLIGHTING: manipulating someone into believing things that are not true (link)

LYING: deliberately untruthful; deceitful; false (link)

GULLIBLE: easily deceived or cheated (link)

RACIST: someone who believes that their race makes them better, more intelligent, more moral, etc. than people of other races and who does or says unfair or harmful things as a result (link)

SYCOPHANT: a person who tries to win favor from wealthy or influential people by flattering them; also known as brown-nosers, teacher's pets, or suck-ups (link)

THEOCRACY: government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided (link)
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IF YOU VOTE FOR THE REPUBLICANS IN THE US 2024 ELECTION, THE ABOVE IS WHAT YOU ARE AND/OR WHAT YOU WILL BE GETTING.

Science Itself Is In Crisis

There is much scientific activity but such has yet to lead to the type and amount of progress that has happened historically. Sabine Hossenfelder exposes the roots of this situation: a focus on the quantity of research rather than the quality. Click on the link below for the details:

Scientific Progress is Slowing Down. But Why? 

The Battle Between Democracy & Autocracy Is Not New, But - - -

"This week, we’re sharing a recording of an event hosted at the Center for Brooklyn History where Chris interviewed author Ari Berman. Berman is the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and has written numerous books including his latest, “Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It,” which is the subject of this conversation. They discuss parallels between founding fathers’ ideologies and contemporary figures, threats to our democracy, and the movement to counter regressive efforts."

Click on the link below for a podcast comparing the historical struggle against autocracy in the USA with the state of politics presently:

The Right-Wing Attack on Democracy 

The Facts About Coffee

"If you're like many Skeptoid listeners, there is a good chance you are in your car right now on your morning commute, perhaps sipping your favorite coffee from your very awesome insulated stainless steel tumbler that you got on the Skeptoid store. And if that's the case, you might be wondering how much truth there is to that thing some insufferable person told you about coffee the other day. For it turns out the world is full of coffee myths. Any popular product — and coffee certainly qualifies — is going to draw myths and misinformation like flies. Today we're going to do our best to separate the true beans from the fake beans."

Click on the link below for the details:

Coffee Myths

Another Look At Geothermal Energy

"Geothermal energy is everywhere, just right under our feet. So could it be the solution to climate change? I used to think it was just too difficult and expensive to make much sense in most places, but some recent advances have made me rethink. Let’s have a look."

Click on the link below for another video from Sabine Hossenfelder regarding geothermal energy. She appears to be giving it a positive look now (see prior posts):

Geothermal Power Everywhere: Tech Advances Rapidly

The "Cowboy Myth" Of Rugged Individualism Destroyed

"I write a lot about how the Biden-Harris administration is working to restore the principles of the period between 1933 and 1981, when members of both political parties widely shared the belief that the government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, promote infrastructure, and protect civil rights. And I write about how that so-called liberal consensus broke down as extremists used the Reconstruction-era image of the American cowboy—who, according to myth, wanted nothing from the government but to be left alone—to stand against what they insisted was creeping socialism that stole tax dollars from hardworking white men in order to give handouts to lazy minorities and women.

"But five major stories over the past several days made me realize that I’ve never written about how Trump and his loyalists have distorted the cowboy image until it has become a poisonous caricature of the values its recent defenders have claimed to champion."

Click on the link below for more:

Conservative Economics Debunked

Mega-Corporations And Big Tech: A Monopoly Nightmare

"The effort to turn theory into practice that will open up new ways of thinking about antitrust lawsuits attempting to rein in big tech and other mega-corporations, which are operating in a new phase of capitalism."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting the history of monopolies, anti-trust legislation and what is needed presently to resist the continuing growth of monopolistic corporate practices:

New Era of Antitrust for a New Era of Capitalism, Mega-Corporations and Big Tech

Urban Tree Planting: A Solution To Climate Change?

"When it comes to cities, we know that planting trees will help urbanites endure the climate crisis by creating shade while photosynthesis can cool the atmosphere. But what many city planners and scientists have trouble implementing are cost-efficient and effective climate mitigation strategies. Many look to trees as an ideal solution, but even that’s proven hard to implement. In 2007, the City of Boston announced its plan to plant 100,000 trees in 10 years, but struggled to keep newly planted trees alive and ultimately failed to meet its goal.

"Since then, the climate crisis has only gotten worse with record breaking global summer temperatures and dangerous heat waves. A sweeping 2021 climate report released by the United Nations found the crisis is accelerating, not slowing, increasing the urgency to implement the best possible solutions to curb global climate disaster. So how can cities like Boston hope to succeed in mitigating climate change and cut their own carbon emissions?"

Click on the link below for more:

The MacArthur 'Genius' Changing How We Think About Urban Trees

The Reason Today's Young Are Pissed Off (And, Rightly So)

"In a scorching talk, marketing professor and podcaster Scott Galloway dissects the data showing that, by many measures, young people in the US are worse off financially than ever before. He unpacks the root causes and effects of this "great intergenerational theft," asking why we let it continue and showing how we could end it."

Click on the link for the video:

How the US Is Destroying Young People’s Future

An Example of "Bidenomics"

"The Biden administration has been scrupulous about making sure that money from the funds appropriated to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and manufacturing base has gone to Republican-dominated districts; indeed, Republican-dominated states have gotten the bulk of those investments. 'President Biden promised to be the president of all Americans—whether you voted for him or not. And that’s what this agenda is delivering,' White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian told Matt Egan of CNN in February.

"But there is, perhaps, a deeper national strategy behind that investment. Political philosophers studying the rise of authoritarianism note that strongmen rise by appealing to a population that has been dispossessed economically or otherwise. By bringing jobs back to those regions that have lost them over the past several decades and promising 'the great comeback story all across…the entire country,' as he did today, Biden is striking at that sense of alienation."

Click on the link below for more details about how empathetic Biden is regarding the working class AND WHAT HE IS DOING TO ATTACK THE ECONOMIC INEQUALITY FOSTERED BY THE OTHER POLITICAL PARTY HISTORICALLY AND PRESENTLY:

The Working Class Has Suffered Under Republicans

The Horror Since The End Of Roe V Wade

"We’re sharing another episode in our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series, in which we choose specific areas of policy and talk to an expert about Trump and Biden’s records on the topic. This week, we’re discussing the seismic changes to reproductive rights over the past few years and both candidates’ stances. Jessica Valenti is an author and the founder of abortioneveryday.com. She joins WITHpod to discuss Trump creating the conditions for Roe v. Wade to be overturned during Biden’s term and what the overturning of it has meant, the status of abortion laws across states, why she feels hormonal birth control will be taken away from teenagers and more."

Click on the link below for a dystopian view of the future of the USA should Trump/Republicans win in 2024:

The Stakes for Reproductive Rights

Chinese Immigrants: Hate & Fear Under The Radar

"In the New York Times today, Amy Qin and Patricia Mazzei reported on the new Florida law that prohibits many Chinese citizens from buying property in Florida, especially near important infrastructure like airports, refineries, and military installations. Qin and Mazzei note that more than three dozen states either have enacted or are crafting laws to restrict the purchase of land, businesses, or housing by Chinese nationals, even if they have legal residence in the United States. The justification for the laws is that Chinese investment in the U.S. is a national security risk, although Chinese nationals own less than 400,000 acres in the United States.

"It was an odd echo, for on this day in 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese workers, but not scholars, businessmen, or diplomats, from immigrating to the United States for ten years. This was the first federal limitation of voluntary immigration to the United States, and it would be extended for more than 60 years."

Click on the link below for more:

A History of US Bigotry

Math Education: It's Not Easy

"Dr. Jo Boaler is a leading math education expert and one of the writers of the California Mathematics Framework, a set of guidelines focused on improving equity in California's math classrooms. We first talk about her upcoming book, Math-ish, and the beauty of pursuing more "ish" in our lives. Then, we discuss a recent anonymous complaint that was filed with Stanford University, accusing Dr. Boaler of misrepresenting research to serve her own agenda."

Click on the link below for an example of a new approach to mathematics education that is not well-received in some academic circles:

Dr. Jo Boaler Tried To Improve Math Education. Then An Anti-woke Mob Came For Her

Economic Inequality: The Root Of All Evil?

"The past, present, and future of tackling the uselessness of extreme wealth by exposing and closing tax avoidance loopholes and pushing for a culture change to embrace the need for a more equal society."

Click on the link below for an exploration of all the possible negative effects of economic inequality in the USA:

Society of Extreme Wealth and its Discontents: Tax avoidance, wealth inequality and the detrimental effects felt by us all

A Look At Quantum Technology

"In honor of World Quantum Day (April 14th), Quantum Anne is here to discuss when quantum is better, when it's worse, and when it could honestly go either way.

Quantum Sensing

Quantum Computing Overview

100 Years of Quantum!"

Is Quantum Technology Actually Better?

B Corp Certification: Why Is It Not Better Known?

"B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. In order to achieve certification, a company must: 

• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards. 

• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction. 

• Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.  

"As leaders in the movement for economic systems change, B Corps reap remarkable benefits. They build trust with consumers, communities, and suppliers; attract and retain employees; and draw mission-aligned investors. As they are required to undergo the verification process every three years in order to recertify, B Corps are by definition also focused on continuous improvement, leading to their long-term resiliency. 

 

"B Corp Certification is holistic, not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue. And the process to achieve and maintain certification is rigorous and requires engaging teams and departments across your company. Taking company size and profile into account, verification involves documentation of your company’s business model and information about your operations, structure, and various work processes, as well as review of potential public complaints and possible site visits. Recertification confirms these standards continue to be met on an ongoing basis. Read more in our FAQs."

Measuring a company’s entire social and environmental impact

Are College Campus Protests Effective?

The current college campus protests are bringing back reminders of when I was in college and the protests against the war in Vietnam were at their peak. As was the case then, there is much discussion about whether such activities help or hinder the resolution of the problem being addressed. Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell whether what happens after protests is a cause-effect or a correlation. Below are the results of some studies to shed some light on this controversial activity:

The impact of anti-Vietnam demonstrations upon national public opinion and military indicators

"In an attempt to assess the national impact of anti-war protest, 15 major anti-Vietnam demonstrations occurring in the United States from 1965 through 1971 were analyzed for their effects upon Gallup public opinion survey data, American troop strength, and American munitions expenditures. While weak and short-term counterproductive effects appeared for two opinion indicators, an equally likely conclusion is that the demonstrations had little or no lasting impact. The possible reasons for this finding, and its social implications, are discussed."

REFLECTIONS ON THE VIETNAM ANTIWAR MOVEMENT AND ON THE CURIOUS CALM AT THE WAR'S END

"Some years ago I did a study comparing public opinion on the war in Vietnam with public opinion on the Korean War. Using various tests I found that, although television supposedly made Vietnam somehow unique, the wars actually affected public opinion quite similarly. Both wars were supported by the same demographic groups: the young and the well-educated, in particular. Sentiment for withdrawal and escalation was about the same and mostly came from the same groups. Moreover, the wars were about equally popular during the periods in which they were comparable; that is, while the war in Vietnam eventually became more unpopular than the Korean War, it became so only after American casualties there had substantially surpassed those of the earlier war. Trends in support for the wars followed the same course: basic support declined as U.S. casualties increased, and it did so according to the same mathematical relationship. (2)

"This similarity seems surprising because, while the two wars had many things in common, the Korean War inspired no organized public protest remotely comparable to the one generated during the Vietnam War. If one paid attention to vocal protest and to media reports about that protest during the two wars, it would certainly seem the later war was far more unpopular.

"It seems to me these findings suggest two cautions about assessing vocal protest. The first is fairly obvious: One should be careful about assuming vocal agitators necessarily represent the masses they purport to speak for. Labor union leaders may not speak for workers, active feminists may not accurately represent women, and the Moral Majority may, as the bumper sticker suggests, be neither.

"Second, and perhaps more interestingly, it may be that the Vietnam protest movement, at least through 1968, actually was somewhat counter-productive in its efforts to influence public opinion--that is, the war might have been somewhat more unpopular had the protest not existed."

The Shadow Docket And More: The Corruption of the US Supreme Court

"Today's guest, or should I say last year's guest, is Steve Vladeck! He holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, and is a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law, and military justice. Last year, he released the New York Times bestselling book, "The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic." We spoke about the book and about the state of our horrible Supreme Court."

Click on the link below for a podcast delving into the disgusting bowels of the Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court: the Full Monty

The Young Are Not All Progressive

"Author and journalist Kyle Spencer knows - she wrote the book on it. It's called Raising Them Right, soon to be out in paperback. She spent extensive time with Charlie Kirk, among others, and saw how he built an effective right wing youth movement. How did he do it? Who is funding it? Do these people really believe what they say? She answers those questions and more."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting how the conservatives are radicalizing college students in the USA:

Believe It Or Not, The Right Has An Effective Youth Movement