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reality is the state of things as they actually exist
sep 30, 2023
Real News Today
HOW TEXAS BECAME THE NEW "HOMEBASE" FOR WHITE NATIONALIST AND NEO-NAZI GROUPS
America
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
lex: candidates for the presidency:
Trump animates California Republicans with calls to shoot people who rob stores
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — In an occasionally dark and profane speech, Donald Trump on Friday sought to win over Republicans in California by complaining that rich people in Beverly Hills smell bad because they’re denied water, reiterating lies about widespread election fraud and calling on police to shoot people robbing stores. (Associated Press)
‘NO ENEMIES TO THE RIGHT’
DESANTIS ALLY HOSTS DEBATE HEDGING WHITE NATIONALISM
CHRISTOPHER RUFO’S TWITTER SPACE DISCUSSED CONSERVATIVES COOPERATING WITH EXTREMISTS ‘TO DESTROY THE POWER OF THE LEFT’
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Americans can't make the grade on civics
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thom hartmann
How Libertarianism is a Poison that’s Crept into America (Part 1)
Now that Robert Kennedy Jr. says, “I’ve always been aligned with libertarians on most issues” let’s look at how libertarianism would work out in America, and where it came from in the first place...
Libertarianism: Why Do Republicans Embrace Cruelty like Tearing Moms from their Kids? (Part 2) The man who so inspired Ayn Rand’s fictional heroes was named William Edward Hickman, and he lived in Los Angeles during the Roaring Twenties...
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from "exterminate all the brutes" by sven lindqvist
...imperialism necessitated racism as the only possible excuse for its deeds. "Lying under anybody's nose were many of the elements which gathered together could create a totalitarian government on the basis of racism"
by hannah arendt the origins of totalitarianism(1951)
GOP working to "undermine" elections
GOP waging a "coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," says leading official
New report highlights a nationwide onslaught of threats and harassment that's driving election officials to quit
By AREEBA SHAH - salon
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 6:01AM (EDT)
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat viewed as a national leader in voting rights, has received 67 death threats and over 900 threats of online abuse within just three weeks, according to a system used by her office that tracks harassment and threats against election workers.
In 2020, Griswold's office launched a "rapid response" election security unit, a team of election security experts tasked with protecting Colorado's elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. A year later, her office set up a tracker to monitor the growing number of threats against election workers.
Griswold told Salon that "if anybody understands" what election workers around the country "are going through, it's me." She continued, "Everything that we have done for my security, we have had to fight tooth and nail for. State and federal governments have largely abandoned election workers. I understand what these county clerks are going through and I'll do anything I possibly can to ease their burden and make sure that they feel safe and supported."
Election workers in many states and counties are leaving their jobs in large numbers due to an increase of harassment and threats, the proliferation of conspiracy theories and heightened workloads, according to a new report released this week by Issue One, democracy-focused nonprofit group.
The group's research focused on 11 states in the American West and found that roughly 40% of counties in those states have had a new chief local election official since the 2020 presidential election. In four states, that number exceeds 50%.
These turnover rates, experts say, pose a distinct threat to American democracy, since election administrators with decades of knowledge and experience are leaving their roles and being replaced by individuals with vastly less experience not long before a pivotal presidential election that is likely to see near-record voter turnout.
"Election workers across the country are dedicated to keeping our democratic processes secure, fair and safe," Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, told Salon. "When experienced election officials leave their positions, they take with them years of institutional knowledge and expertise. Our leaders have an obligation to protect our nation's election workers and make sure they have what they need to keep our elections strong."
According to Griswold, Republicans allied with Donald Trump's MAGA movement are doing everything they can to "destabilize" elections and convince local election officials to quit, up to and including harassing workers and threatening them with violence.
"There is a coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," Griswold said, pointing to the example of Trump supporters showing up to county clerk's offices in 2021 and threatening them if they didn't provide access to voting equipment.
The turnover rate among local election officials since 2020 is far higher than it was previously, particularly in battleground states where local election officials have faced a heightened level of death threats and harassment, the Issue One report found.
Making matters worse, the report found, new election officials are grappling with a shortage of resources to staff other vital roles essential to ensure that elections run smoothly.
More than 160 chief local election officials have departed from their roles since November 2020 within the 11 Western states tracked by Issue One tracked. Those 11 states includes two perennial battleground states and a mix of Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning states, where elections are typically managed at the county level by a single official.
As these threats have surged and election officials have left their positions in droves, Griswold said, not enough has been done to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
"State and federal governments have abandoned our quest to safeguard democracy, to a large extent," Griswold said. "With that said, people in my office — we are very scrappy and dedicated, and we're going to get the job done."
Griswold said she has implemented specific measures to address likely issues ahead of next year's elections. She has expanded her team to offer direct support to Colorado's counties and, within the past year, has contracted with former election officials to increase much greater on-the-ground presence.
She has also spearheaded changes in the Colorado state legislature, such as criminalizing retaliation against election workers and providing a process to shield their personal information and to make "doxxing" — or revealing a person's home address and phone number without their consent — a punishable offense.
Colorado has also enacted a law prohibiting the "open carry" of firearms close to drop boxes, voting centers and areas where ballots are being processed, in an effort to ensure that election workers are not intimidated by armed individuals. Her team has also prepared for hypothetical "disaster scenarios," including such potential instances as a "deepfake" video showing Griswold spreading false information.
"We've overcome a lot of challenges with a great outcome," Griswold said, "including armed men filming people at drop boxes to county clerks that breach their own security trying to prove the Big Lie. "There has been massive disinformation, and we continue to have incredibly well-run elections. I think 2024 will be no different."
The Brennan Center released a poll in April that surveyed local election officials and found that 12% of workers were new to their jobs since the 2020 election, and that 11% said they were likely to leave their jobs before the 2024 election.
Nearly one in three election officials have been harassed, abused or threatened because of their jobs, the survey found, and more than one in five are concerned about being physically assaulted on the job during future elections. Nearly half the respondents expressed concern for the safety of other election officials and workers.
The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has created a task force on election threats, but so far it has been quiet. Just 14 cases have been prosecuted involving threats against election officials and workers, leading to nine convictions, according to an August press release.
For many years, local election officials were relatively anonymous figures, working behind the scenes with little controversy to ensure the integrity of democratic processes.
But the spotlight was turned on many of them unexpectedly during the 2020 presidential election, largely due to a coordinated disinformation campaign led by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters. Most officials say the surge in harassment and threats came as a direct result, prompting numerous officials to retire or resign.
Josh Daniels is a former county clerk of Utah County, the second-largest county in its namesake state. He says he faced this dilemma personally. He initially joined the county's election team in 2019 as chief deputy after being recruited by a friend who had been elected clerk.
Then the 2020 presidential election happened.
"People came out of the woodwork in our community to spout, parrot and share these sorts of national election-denying conspiracies," Daniels said. "It became quite exhausting," Daniels said.
His office was inundated with phone calls from individuals accusing election officials of being untrustworthy. They were subjected to what he called "Cyber Ninja-style audits," similar to the one conducted in Arizona's Maricopa County.
Daniels was forced to spend many hours in public meetings with "angry" individuals who made baseless allegations drawn from internet conspiracy theories.
Utah County is predominantly white and predominantly Republican. Donald Trump won nearly two-thirds of the vote there in 2020. Nonetheless, Daniels said, the "political dynamic" of the community changed in the wake of that election, thanks to a "loud faction" of the community that spread distrust about how the election had been conducted.
"We didn't get a lot of help from other political leaders in our community," Daniels said. Instead, some "would almost accelerate" the tension, creating "forums for more of these concerns to be shared and create further political chaos."
Daniels decided not to seek re-election in 2022, but he says the conspiracy theories and threats against election workers have continued.
In Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah — the four states with the highest turnover rates among election officials — Issue One's research found that twice as many local election officials had left their positions than had done so in Washington and Idaho.
Among the 161 counties in Western states that have new chief local election officials since November 2020, the report notes a significant decline in the average years of experience held by these officials, going from a previous figure of about eight years to roughly one year. The "brain drain associated with this exodus is real," the report finds, calculating that departing election officials in those counties have taken with them more than 1,800 years of combined experience.
In 2020, Griswold's office launched a "rapid response" election security unit, a team of election security experts tasked with protecting Colorado's elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. A year later, her office set up a tracker to monitor the growing number of threats against election workers.
Griswold told Salon that "if anybody understands" what election workers around the country "are going through, it's me." She continued, "Everything that we have done for my security, we have had to fight tooth and nail for. State and federal governments have largely abandoned election workers. I understand what these county clerks are going through and I'll do anything I possibly can to ease their burden and make sure that they feel safe and supported."
Election workers in many states and counties are leaving their jobs in large numbers due to an increase of harassment and threats, the proliferation of conspiracy theories and heightened workloads, according to a new report released this week by Issue One, democracy-focused nonprofit group.
The group's research focused on 11 states in the American West and found that roughly 40% of counties in those states have had a new chief local election official since the 2020 presidential election. In four states, that number exceeds 50%.
These turnover rates, experts say, pose a distinct threat to American democracy, since election administrators with decades of knowledge and experience are leaving their roles and being replaced by individuals with vastly less experience not long before a pivotal presidential election that is likely to see near-record voter turnout.
"Election workers across the country are dedicated to keeping our democratic processes secure, fair and safe," Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, told Salon. "When experienced election officials leave their positions, they take with them years of institutional knowledge and expertise. Our leaders have an obligation to protect our nation's election workers and make sure they have what they need to keep our elections strong."
According to Griswold, Republicans allied with Donald Trump's MAGA movement are doing everything they can to "destabilize" elections and convince local election officials to quit, up to and including harassing workers and threatening them with violence.
"There is a coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," Griswold said, pointing to the example of Trump supporters showing up to county clerk's offices in 2021 and threatening them if they didn't provide access to voting equipment.
The turnover rate among local election officials since 2020 is far higher than it was previously, particularly in battleground states where local election officials have faced a heightened level of death threats and harassment, the Issue One report found.
Making matters worse, the report found, new election officials are grappling with a shortage of resources to staff other vital roles essential to ensure that elections run smoothly.
More than 160 chief local election officials have departed from their roles since November 2020 within the 11 Western states tracked by Issue One tracked. Those 11 states includes two perennial battleground states and a mix of Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning states, where elections are typically managed at the county level by a single official.
As these threats have surged and election officials have left their positions in droves, Griswold said, not enough has been done to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
"State and federal governments have abandoned our quest to safeguard democracy, to a large extent," Griswold said. "With that said, people in my office — we are very scrappy and dedicated, and we're going to get the job done."
Griswold said she has implemented specific measures to address likely issues ahead of next year's elections. She has expanded her team to offer direct support to Colorado's counties and, within the past year, has contracted with former election officials to increase much greater on-the-ground presence.
She has also spearheaded changes in the Colorado state legislature, such as criminalizing retaliation against election workers and providing a process to shield their personal information and to make "doxxing" — or revealing a person's home address and phone number without their consent — a punishable offense.
Colorado has also enacted a law prohibiting the "open carry" of firearms close to drop boxes, voting centers and areas where ballots are being processed, in an effort to ensure that election workers are not intimidated by armed individuals. Her team has also prepared for hypothetical "disaster scenarios," including such potential instances as a "deepfake" video showing Griswold spreading false information.
"We've overcome a lot of challenges with a great outcome," Griswold said, "including armed men filming people at drop boxes to county clerks that breach their own security trying to prove the Big Lie. "There has been massive disinformation, and we continue to have incredibly well-run elections. I think 2024 will be no different."
The Brennan Center released a poll in April that surveyed local election officials and found that 12% of workers were new to their jobs since the 2020 election, and that 11% said they were likely to leave their jobs before the 2024 election.
Nearly one in three election officials have been harassed, abused or threatened because of their jobs, the survey found, and more than one in five are concerned about being physically assaulted on the job during future elections. Nearly half the respondents expressed concern for the safety of other election officials and workers.
The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has created a task force on election threats, but so far it has been quiet. Just 14 cases have been prosecuted involving threats against election officials and workers, leading to nine convictions, according to an August press release.
For many years, local election officials were relatively anonymous figures, working behind the scenes with little controversy to ensure the integrity of democratic processes.
But the spotlight was turned on many of them unexpectedly during the 2020 presidential election, largely due to a coordinated disinformation campaign led by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters. Most officials say the surge in harassment and threats came as a direct result, prompting numerous officials to retire or resign.
Josh Daniels is a former county clerk of Utah County, the second-largest county in its namesake state. He says he faced this dilemma personally. He initially joined the county's election team in 2019 as chief deputy after being recruited by a friend who had been elected clerk.
Then the 2020 presidential election happened.
"People came out of the woodwork in our community to spout, parrot and share these sorts of national election-denying conspiracies," Daniels said. "It became quite exhausting," Daniels said.
His office was inundated with phone calls from individuals accusing election officials of being untrustworthy. They were subjected to what he called "Cyber Ninja-style audits," similar to the one conducted in Arizona's Maricopa County.
Daniels was forced to spend many hours in public meetings with "angry" individuals who made baseless allegations drawn from internet conspiracy theories.
Utah County is predominantly white and predominantly Republican. Donald Trump won nearly two-thirds of the vote there in 2020. Nonetheless, Daniels said, the "political dynamic" of the community changed in the wake of that election, thanks to a "loud faction" of the community that spread distrust about how the election had been conducted.
"We didn't get a lot of help from other political leaders in our community," Daniels said. Instead, some "would almost accelerate" the tension, creating "forums for more of these concerns to be shared and create further political chaos."
Daniels decided not to seek re-election in 2022, but he says the conspiracy theories and threats against election workers have continued.
In Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah — the four states with the highest turnover rates among election officials — Issue One's research found that twice as many local election officials had left their positions than had done so in Washington and Idaho.
Among the 161 counties in Western states that have new chief local election officials since November 2020, the report notes a significant decline in the average years of experience held by these officials, going from a previous figure of about eight years to roughly one year. The "brain drain associated with this exodus is real," the report finds, calculating that departing election officials in those counties have taken with them more than 1,800 years of combined experience.
Americans can't make the grade on civics
EXCERPT: "How you lose your democracy": Shocking new research shows Americans lack basic civic knowledge
Do you know what the three branches of government are? Do you understand their roles? Many Americans do not
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA - SALON
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 9:13AM (EDT)
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 12:19PM (EDT)
...In an example of Orwellian Newspeak, Republicans present themselves as defenders of freedom, when they actually oppose it. More specifically, Republicans believe that freedom is the ability and power of a select group of White Americans (rich, white, "Christian" men) to take away and otherwise deny the rights and liberties of other Americans and people in this country they deem to be less than, second-class, not "real Americans" and the Other, such as Black and brown people, the LGBTQI community, women, non-Christians, and other targeted groups.
Unfortunately, many Americans are unaware of their basic constitutional and other guaranteed rights and liberties – and how the country's democratic institutions are ideally supposed to function. How can the American people defend and protect their democracy and rights, if they lack such basic knowledge?
Such an outcome is not a coincidence: it is the intentional outcome of how the American right-wing and conservative movements have undermined high-quality public education for decades with the goal of creating a compliant public that lacks the critical thinking skills and knowledge to be engaged citizens. Now new research by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center provides insight into the extent of this crisis. Some of the Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey's findings include:
[W]hen U.S. adults are asked to name the specific rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, only one right is recalled by most of the respondents: Freedom of speech, which 77% named.
Although two-thirds of Americans (66%) can name all three branches of government, 10% can name two, 7% can name only one, and 17% cannot name any.
I recently spoke with Matthew Levendusky, who is a Professor of Political Science, and the Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, at the University of Pennsylvania, about this new research. His new book is "Our Common Bonds: Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide."
In this conversation, he explains how America's democracy crisis is connected to a lack of basic political knowledge and civic literacy, the role that education can play in equipping Americans to defend their democracy, and why contrary to what many "conservatives" like to believe, America is not a "republic".
How you are feeling about the country's democracy crisis, given your new research that shows a lack of basic civics knowledge among a large portion of the American public?
I am worried, with occasional glimmers of hope. But mostly I worry. Why? Our data show that people lack key civics knowledge, continuing a trend from recent years. A new report from Pew confirms what many suspected: Most Americans are fed up with government and don't think it's working. Those two things are deeply related.
To understand why, it's helpful to take a step back and think about why civics matters, broadly speaking. The main reason is that we want people to understand how they can make their voices heard in our democracy. But you can't make your voice heard if you don't understand our system of government. For example, if you don't know the three branches of government and their roles, then you won't know why President Biden and Congress are sparring about spending, immigration, green energy, etc. If you don't know what rights are protected by the First Amendment or what they mean, then you won't understand why the government can't censor the New York Times, but Facebook can make you take down a post that violates its community standards policy. If you don't know which branch has the responsibility of determining whether a law is constitutional, you won't understand why the Supreme Court and its rulings are so important and influential. In short, without some basic civic knowledge, you can't even follow the news of the day to be an informed citizen. If you can't do that, then you cannot know what to expect out of your government. That is not—at all—to say that a lack of knowledge is the root of dysfunction (it is not). But it is to say that they are related. [...]
Unfortunately, many Americans are unaware of their basic constitutional and other guaranteed rights and liberties – and how the country's democratic institutions are ideally supposed to function. How can the American people defend and protect their democracy and rights, if they lack such basic knowledge?
Such an outcome is not a coincidence: it is the intentional outcome of how the American right-wing and conservative movements have undermined high-quality public education for decades with the goal of creating a compliant public that lacks the critical thinking skills and knowledge to be engaged citizens. Now new research by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center provides insight into the extent of this crisis. Some of the Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey's findings include:
[W]hen U.S. adults are asked to name the specific rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, only one right is recalled by most of the respondents: Freedom of speech, which 77% named.
Although two-thirds of Americans (66%) can name all three branches of government, 10% can name two, 7% can name only one, and 17% cannot name any.
I recently spoke with Matthew Levendusky, who is a Professor of Political Science, and the Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, at the University of Pennsylvania, about this new research. His new book is "Our Common Bonds: Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide."
In this conversation, he explains how America's democracy crisis is connected to a lack of basic political knowledge and civic literacy, the role that education can play in equipping Americans to defend their democracy, and why contrary to what many "conservatives" like to believe, America is not a "republic".
How you are feeling about the country's democracy crisis, given your new research that shows a lack of basic civics knowledge among a large portion of the American public?
I am worried, with occasional glimmers of hope. But mostly I worry. Why? Our data show that people lack key civics knowledge, continuing a trend from recent years. A new report from Pew confirms what many suspected: Most Americans are fed up with government and don't think it's working. Those two things are deeply related.
To understand why, it's helpful to take a step back and think about why civics matters, broadly speaking. The main reason is that we want people to understand how they can make their voices heard in our democracy. But you can't make your voice heard if you don't understand our system of government. For example, if you don't know the three branches of government and their roles, then you won't know why President Biden and Congress are sparring about spending, immigration, green energy, etc. If you don't know what rights are protected by the First Amendment or what they mean, then you won't understand why the government can't censor the New York Times, but Facebook can make you take down a post that violates its community standards policy. If you don't know which branch has the responsibility of determining whether a law is constitutional, you won't understand why the Supreme Court and its rulings are so important and influential. In short, without some basic civic knowledge, you can't even follow the news of the day to be an informed citizen. If you can't do that, then you cannot know what to expect out of your government. That is not—at all—to say that a lack of knowledge is the root of dysfunction (it is not). But it is to say that they are related. [...]
NO HOPE FOR MAGATS!!!
Chicago Sues Monsanto for “Widespread Contamination” of the Chicago River
“Records show that Monsanto intentionally misled the public,” a Chicago lawyer said.
By Zane McNeill , TRUTHOUT
Published September 25, 2023
Chicago is suing the Monsanto Corporation for producing cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The complaint filed in Cook County court last week alleges that the company caused “widespread contamination” across the banks and sediment of the Chicago River which the city continues to bear the cost of cleaning up.
The Monsanto Corporation was the sole producer of PCBs, which were used in electrical equipment and other industrial applications, in the United States from the 1930s through 1977. While the U.S. banned the production of PCBs more than 40 years ago because the chemicals are harmful to human and environmental health, PCBs continue to be released into the Chicago waterways through stormwater.
“For decades, Monsanto knew that its commercial PCB formulations were highly toxic and would inevitably produce precisely the contamination and human health risks that have occurred. Yet Monsanto intentionally misled the public,” the complaint says.
PCBs are linked to a number of potential health threats, including cancer, and studies have shown that pregnant women who have consumed fish contaminated with PCBs have given birth to children with neurological damage.
“The accumulation of PCBs in natural resources, and fish in particular, poses a public health threat to Chicago residents,” the suit says.
As a result of the contamination, Chicago is being required by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce PCB contamination in stormwater that is discharged to Lake Michigan by an estimated 99.6%.
“These violations [by Monsanto] have caused and will cause the City to incur costs reasonably related to these violations of law. These costs include the costs of cleaning up contaminated sites and reducing PCB concentrations in the City’s stormwater,” the lawsuit says.
Chicago is following the lead of other cities and states that have sued Monsanto, alleging that Monsanto knew of the environmental and health risks of the chemicals before they were officially banned. According to a memo published by The Poison Papers project, the company was aware of the health and environmental problems posed by PCBs at least as early as 1969, eight years before it stopped producing the chemicals.
“Records show that Monsanto intentionally misled the public despite knowing the dangers PCBs posed to the environment,” said Mary Richardson-Lowry, an attorney for the City of Chicago, in a statement. “We bring this lawsuit to ensure that polluters are held accountable for their actions.”
Last year, Illinois’ Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a similar suit against the company, alleging that Monsanto contributed to statewide contamination by producing PCBs. That case is now progressing in federal court. Bayer, the German company which bought Monsanto in 2018, has also agreed to settle other PCB-related lawsuits brought by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Oregon. Monsanto is also currently facing other lawsuits in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington.
In a statement, a Monsanto representative told CBS News Chicago that the case is “meritless” and “the company never manufactured or disposed of PCBs in or near the Chicago area.” The company claims the chemicals were instead manufactured by unnamed “third parties,” although the company’s relationship with these firms remains unclear.
“Moreover, the products that are alleged to be the source of any environmental impairments were manufactured by third parties, not Monsanto, “ the statement claims. “Additionally, the City itself may be responsible for water quality impairments as it has over 200 combined sewage outfalls that discharge into the Great Lakes watershed.”
“This PCB contamination constitutes a substantial and unreasonable interference with rights enjoyed by the public, including rights under Article XI of the Illinois Constitution,” the Chicago lawsuit says. “This contamination has caused harm that is severe and greater than the City and the public should bear without compensation.”
The Monsanto Corporation was the sole producer of PCBs, which were used in electrical equipment and other industrial applications, in the United States from the 1930s through 1977. While the U.S. banned the production of PCBs more than 40 years ago because the chemicals are harmful to human and environmental health, PCBs continue to be released into the Chicago waterways through stormwater.
“For decades, Monsanto knew that its commercial PCB formulations were highly toxic and would inevitably produce precisely the contamination and human health risks that have occurred. Yet Monsanto intentionally misled the public,” the complaint says.
PCBs are linked to a number of potential health threats, including cancer, and studies have shown that pregnant women who have consumed fish contaminated with PCBs have given birth to children with neurological damage.
“The accumulation of PCBs in natural resources, and fish in particular, poses a public health threat to Chicago residents,” the suit says.
As a result of the contamination, Chicago is being required by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce PCB contamination in stormwater that is discharged to Lake Michigan by an estimated 99.6%.
“These violations [by Monsanto] have caused and will cause the City to incur costs reasonably related to these violations of law. These costs include the costs of cleaning up contaminated sites and reducing PCB concentrations in the City’s stormwater,” the lawsuit says.
Chicago is following the lead of other cities and states that have sued Monsanto, alleging that Monsanto knew of the environmental and health risks of the chemicals before they were officially banned. According to a memo published by The Poison Papers project, the company was aware of the health and environmental problems posed by PCBs at least as early as 1969, eight years before it stopped producing the chemicals.
“Records show that Monsanto intentionally misled the public despite knowing the dangers PCBs posed to the environment,” said Mary Richardson-Lowry, an attorney for the City of Chicago, in a statement. “We bring this lawsuit to ensure that polluters are held accountable for their actions.”
Last year, Illinois’ Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a similar suit against the company, alleging that Monsanto contributed to statewide contamination by producing PCBs. That case is now progressing in federal court. Bayer, the German company which bought Monsanto in 2018, has also agreed to settle other PCB-related lawsuits brought by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Oregon. Monsanto is also currently facing other lawsuits in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington.
In a statement, a Monsanto representative told CBS News Chicago that the case is “meritless” and “the company never manufactured or disposed of PCBs in or near the Chicago area.” The company claims the chemicals were instead manufactured by unnamed “third parties,” although the company’s relationship with these firms remains unclear.
“Moreover, the products that are alleged to be the source of any environmental impairments were manufactured by third parties, not Monsanto, “ the statement claims. “Additionally, the City itself may be responsible for water quality impairments as it has over 200 combined sewage outfalls that discharge into the Great Lakes watershed.”
“This PCB contamination constitutes a substantial and unreasonable interference with rights enjoyed by the public, including rights under Article XI of the Illinois Constitution,” the Chicago lawsuit says. “This contamination has caused harm that is severe and greater than the City and the public should bear without compensation.”
McCarthy embraces massive 70 percent cut to home heating assistance to appease MAGA caucus: report
Brad Reed - RAW STORY
September 26, 2023 1:05PM ET
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is reportedly embracing drastic measures to avoid a government shutdown, including a massive 70 percent cut to a program that provides assistance to lower income families who have trouble affording heat during the winter.
The Washington Post reports that McCarthy has decided to push through a number of cuts demanded by far-right members of his caucus with the hopes of getting enough votes to avoid a shutdown of the House over a spending bill – despite the fact that the proposed cuts would likely be doomed in the United States Senate.
In addition to the aforementioned cuts to home heating, the Post reports that the plan being put forth by Republicans also calls "for a roughly 80 percent cut to funding for schools that serve high concentrations of students in poverty," and would also "cut by at least half a fruit and vegetable benefit for poor pregnant mothers, which serves roughly 5 million people." There would also be "multibillion cuts to the National Institutes of Health, Head Start, and preschool grants."
Even with all this, it's unclear if there would be enough votes for McCarthy to pass these drastic reductions, as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have already said such cuts are not sufficient, reports the Post.
In addition to demanding cuts for programs benefiting low-income families, hardliners in the GOP caucus have also demanded that Congress defund special counsel Jack Smith's office, which is currently running two different criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reports that McCarthy has decided to push through a number of cuts demanded by far-right members of his caucus with the hopes of getting enough votes to avoid a shutdown of the House over a spending bill – despite the fact that the proposed cuts would likely be doomed in the United States Senate.
In addition to the aforementioned cuts to home heating, the Post reports that the plan being put forth by Republicans also calls "for a roughly 80 percent cut to funding for schools that serve high concentrations of students in poverty," and would also "cut by at least half a fruit and vegetable benefit for poor pregnant mothers, which serves roughly 5 million people." There would also be "multibillion cuts to the National Institutes of Health, Head Start, and preschool grants."
Even with all this, it's unclear if there would be enough votes for McCarthy to pass these drastic reductions, as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have already said such cuts are not sufficient, reports the Post.
In addition to demanding cuts for programs benefiting low-income families, hardliners in the GOP caucus have also demanded that Congress defund special counsel Jack Smith's office, which is currently running two different criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.
truth be told
Trump Gets Very Special Greeting In Philly: 'F*ck You, Traitor!'
Welcome to RepublicanDebt.org
This site tracks the current Republican Debt.
The Republican Debt is how much of the national debt of the United States
is attributable to
the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush,
George W. Bush, Donald J. Trump,
and
the Republican fiscal policy of Borrow-And-Spend.
As of Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 4:35:39PM PT,
The Current Republican Debt is:
$32,002,095,163,541.80
which means that in a total of 24 years,
these four presidents have led to the creation of
97.16%
of the entire national debt
in only 9.7166% of the 247 years of the existence of the United States of America.
IN THE LAND OF STUPID NOTHING IS BAD!!!
US mother sentenced to two years in prison for giving daughter abortion pills
Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty in July to providing an abortion after 20 weeks and tampering with human remains
Carter Sherman - the guardian
Fri 22 Sep 2023 12.35 EDT
Jessica Burgess, a Nebraska mother accused of helping her teenage daughter use pills to end her pregnancy, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison.
Burgess and her daughter, Celeste Burgess, stand accused of working together to end Celeste Burgess’s pregnancy in April 2022.
According to prosecutors, after the pair bought pills to end the pregnancy, Celeste Burgess gave birth to a stillborn fetus. At the time, Nebraska law banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Celeste Burgess’s pregnancy was well past that point, according to court records.
Police say that the Burgesses buried the fetal remains. An examination of the remains suggested they may have also been burned, according to court documents.
Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty in July to charges of false reporting, providing an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, and concealing, removing or abandoning a dead human body. She was sentenced to one year in prison each charge, but the sentences for false reporting and tampering with human remains will run concurrently, with the sentence for the illegal abortion to served consecutively with the sentences for the other charges, a spokesperson for the Madison county courthouse said.
Celeste Burgess also took a plea deal and was sentenced to 90 days for concealing or abandoning a dead body earlier this year.
Although the case occurred before the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, it has been seen as a harbinger of how law enforcement may prosecute people for ending their own pregnancies in a post-Roe era – and how giant tech companies could go along with it.
Court documents in the case revealed that Facebook’s parent company Meta supplied police with the private Facebook messages that Celeste and Jessica Burgess had sent one another. In one message, Celeste told Jessica: “Remember we burn the evidence.”
Although most states do not ban people from inducing their own pregnancies – abortion bans typically penalize abortion providers, not patients – abortion rights advocates have long warned that if a prosecutor wants to target someone for a self-managed abortion, they will find a statute that is elastic enough to do so.
Celeste Burgess was released from Madison county jail earlier this month, after serving a little more than half of her 90-day sentence, local Nebraska news outlet KTIV reported. At her sentencing, Celeste Burgess said that her family could not have afforded a funeral for fetal remains, according to Courthouse News. (In a financial affidavit obtained by Vice, Jessica Burgess said she had $400 to her name.) Celeste Burgess also reportedly deals with multiple mental health issues and became pregnant due to an abusive relationship.
Jessica Burgess was set to undergo a court-ordered psychological evaluation ahead of her sentencing. But the evaluation was canceled due to lack of funding, according to KTIV.
Nebraska law now bans almost all abortions past 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Burgess and her daughter, Celeste Burgess, stand accused of working together to end Celeste Burgess’s pregnancy in April 2022.
According to prosecutors, after the pair bought pills to end the pregnancy, Celeste Burgess gave birth to a stillborn fetus. At the time, Nebraska law banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Celeste Burgess’s pregnancy was well past that point, according to court records.
Police say that the Burgesses buried the fetal remains. An examination of the remains suggested they may have also been burned, according to court documents.
Jessica Burgess pleaded guilty in July to charges of false reporting, providing an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, and concealing, removing or abandoning a dead human body. She was sentenced to one year in prison each charge, but the sentences for false reporting and tampering with human remains will run concurrently, with the sentence for the illegal abortion to served consecutively with the sentences for the other charges, a spokesperson for the Madison county courthouse said.
Celeste Burgess also took a plea deal and was sentenced to 90 days for concealing or abandoning a dead body earlier this year.
Although the case occurred before the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, it has been seen as a harbinger of how law enforcement may prosecute people for ending their own pregnancies in a post-Roe era – and how giant tech companies could go along with it.
Court documents in the case revealed that Facebook’s parent company Meta supplied police with the private Facebook messages that Celeste and Jessica Burgess had sent one another. In one message, Celeste told Jessica: “Remember we burn the evidence.”
Although most states do not ban people from inducing their own pregnancies – abortion bans typically penalize abortion providers, not patients – abortion rights advocates have long warned that if a prosecutor wants to target someone for a self-managed abortion, they will find a statute that is elastic enough to do so.
Celeste Burgess was released from Madison county jail earlier this month, after serving a little more than half of her 90-day sentence, local Nebraska news outlet KTIV reported. At her sentencing, Celeste Burgess said that her family could not have afforded a funeral for fetal remains, according to Courthouse News. (In a financial affidavit obtained by Vice, Jessica Burgess said she had $400 to her name.) Celeste Burgess also reportedly deals with multiple mental health issues and became pregnant due to an abusive relationship.
Jessica Burgess was set to undergo a court-ordered psychological evaluation ahead of her sentencing. But the evaluation was canceled due to lack of funding, according to KTIV.
Nebraska law now bans almost all abortions past 12 weeks of pregnancy.
in the land of stupid!!!
STUPID ATTRACTS STUPID
Hotel Lobbyist Predicts The End Times If They Help Homeless
Chip Rogers, of American Hotel & Lodging Association, Predicts doom and gloom if they are forced to help homeless people.
Fox News report claimed Arizona gov 'mysteriously disappeared.' She was in D.C. for a meeting.
Trump used bigots' favorite tool by splitting Jews into 'good' and 'bad': extremism expert
Matthew Chapman - raw story
September 25, 2023 9:53AM ET
Former President Donald Trump was reaching back to an ancient era of antisemitism with his angry rant against Jews who don't vote for him on Rosh Hashanah, extremism expert Tim Wise said in an interview with Salon released on Monday.
"Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let's hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!" Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, then going on to list the "things Trump did" for Jews when he was president.
This sort of commentary didn't come from out of nowhere, explained Wise. In fact, it's part of a pattern of how anti-Semites have thought about the Jewish people for centuries.
"By dividing Jews between the 'good' conservative ones and the 'bad' liberal ones, Trump is engaging a trope that has always been utilized by anti-Semites," said Wise. "From the 'good' Jews who were willing to convert, or at least hide their Jewishness during the Inquisition to the 'good' Jews who served as Kapos to the Nazis, anti-Jewish bigots have always found examples of Jews they like. But only as a cudgel to use against the rest."
This sort of division, Wise warned, needs to be immediately confronted and called out not just by Jews, but by the conservative Christians who have claimed for years to support Jews because of their backing of the State of Israel.
All of this comes at a time when evangelical leaders are divided over whether to continue their support for Trump, fearful that he no longer centers their movement and that he may not be able to deliver further victories for it.
"Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let's hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!" Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, then going on to list the "things Trump did" for Jews when he was president.
This sort of commentary didn't come from out of nowhere, explained Wise. In fact, it's part of a pattern of how anti-Semites have thought about the Jewish people for centuries.
"By dividing Jews between the 'good' conservative ones and the 'bad' liberal ones, Trump is engaging a trope that has always been utilized by anti-Semites," said Wise. "From the 'good' Jews who were willing to convert, or at least hide their Jewishness during the Inquisition to the 'good' Jews who served as Kapos to the Nazis, anti-Jewish bigots have always found examples of Jews they like. But only as a cudgel to use against the rest."
This sort of division, Wise warned, needs to be immediately confronted and called out not just by Jews, but by the conservative Christians who have claimed for years to support Jews because of their backing of the State of Israel.
All of this comes at a time when evangelical leaders are divided over whether to continue their support for Trump, fearful that he no longer centers their movement and that he may not be able to deliver further victories for it.
THE DAILY TRASH REPORT featuring today's despicables
thomas jefferson called them "waste people" and benjamin franklin called them "rubbish" we call them "maga people"
WHEN THE STUPID AND THE RACISTS ELECT YOUR POLITICAL LEADERS, THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!!
Tim Scott pandered to ‘Sambo section of the Black community’ during GOP debate: Rep. Jamaal Bowman
‘I’m broke: One day before shutdown and with no plan Kevin McCarthy says he has ‘nothing’ in his ‘back pocket’
Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office under scrutiny for spending: 'Clear and convincing evidence' of misconduct
family values!!!
DeSantis, Florida Revictimizes Foster Children
Foster kids in Hillsborough County are warehoused in a boarded up cement building and aren't receiving needed services.
Chris capper Liebenthal — crooks & liars
September 27, 2023
The State of Florida has a long history of failing its foster children. They have often been found to not providing suitable housing and having foster kids sleeping in empty offices until a foster home can be located. They have also repeatedly failed to provide needed services to children under their care.
Sadly, things do not appear to have improved at all under Governor Ron DeSantis:
8 On Your Side’s Brittany Muller found a local facility where foster children are sent during the day. Operators said facilities like this one keep foster kids off the streets, but critics said it’s just a way to warehouse children with no place else to go.
A boarded-up cement block building sits on Corrine street in Tampa’s Palmetto Beach neighborhood. Signs outside say it used to be a Pentecostal Church. These days, neighbors see kids coming and going, but say they’re not sure what’s happening inside.
[...]
We checked with the Tampa Police Department and found more than 130 police calls to the building on Corrine Street since June—calls reporting physical battery, criminal mischief, disturbances, runaway calls and even an attempted suicide.
Attorney Ad Litem, Maria Pavlidis, who volunteers to represent foster children in court, is concerned that facilities like the one on Corrine Street could do more harm than good.
“You are removing children from a home that you think is inappropriate or has violence neglect, and then you’re putting them in a place that’s almost worse than where they were before,” said Pavlidis.
The report states that Florida does not require these types of facilities to be licensed so there is little to no monitoring to see what level of care, if any, the foster children are receiving.
And considering that many of these children were removed from their parental homes due to neglect, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida are simply revictimizing these children.
Ironically, a parent who provided that lack of care could be criminally charged. DeSantis is running for president and eating pudding by the handful.
Sadly, things do not appear to have improved at all under Governor Ron DeSantis:
8 On Your Side’s Brittany Muller found a local facility where foster children are sent during the day. Operators said facilities like this one keep foster kids off the streets, but critics said it’s just a way to warehouse children with no place else to go.
A boarded-up cement block building sits on Corrine street in Tampa’s Palmetto Beach neighborhood. Signs outside say it used to be a Pentecostal Church. These days, neighbors see kids coming and going, but say they’re not sure what’s happening inside.
[...]
We checked with the Tampa Police Department and found more than 130 police calls to the building on Corrine Street since June—calls reporting physical battery, criminal mischief, disturbances, runaway calls and even an attempted suicide.
Attorney Ad Litem, Maria Pavlidis, who volunteers to represent foster children in court, is concerned that facilities like the one on Corrine Street could do more harm than good.
“You are removing children from a home that you think is inappropriate or has violence neglect, and then you’re putting them in a place that’s almost worse than where they were before,” said Pavlidis.
The report states that Florida does not require these types of facilities to be licensed so there is little to no monitoring to see what level of care, if any, the foster children are receiving.
And considering that many of these children were removed from their parental homes due to neglect, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida are simply revictimizing these children.
Ironically, a parent who provided that lack of care could be criminally charged. DeSantis is running for president and eating pudding by the handful.
New research sheds light on racial attitudes and their impact on perceptions of crime
PsyPost - raw story
September 22, 2023 1:00PM ET
The Journal of Applied Social Psychology published a study in which researchers found that individual racial attitudes significantly influence perceptions of Black and White individuals accused of a crime. The evidence reveals that those with pronounced racial biases tend to align their evaluations of Black offenders more closely with criminality stereotypes. Historically, numerous studies have emphasized the racial biases present in the American criminal justice system. Racial attitudes, both explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious), have been examined as possible drivers of these bias...
Read More
Read More
Bites from Real News
*9/30/2023*
*FASCISM IN AMERICA
A LONG HISTORY THAT PREDATES TRUMP
*South Korea has jailed a man for using AI to create sexual images of children in a first for country
South Korea has jailed a man for using AI to create sexual images of children in a first for country’s courts Seoul, South Korea CNN — A South Korean man has been sentenced to jail for using artificial intelligence to generate exploitative images of ... (CNN)
*New York AG plans to call Trump and his adult sons as witnesses in upcoming $250M fraud trial
New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to call former President Donald Trump and his adult sons to the stand during their $250 million civil trial on fraud charges slated to start next week, according to a list o ... (ABC News)
*Philips Kept Complaints About Dangerous Breathing Machines Secret While Company Profits Soared
Tainted CPAP machines and ventilators went to children, the elderly and at least 700,000 veterans despite internal warnings. Company insiders said the devices posed an “unacceptable” risk.
*A meat processer killed a 16-year-old. Yet US lawmakers want more child labor
Adult workers are demanding a fairer slice of corporate profits – so child labor is a way to increase and undercut the labor pool
*TurboTax Parent Company’s Latest Argument Against Free Tax Filing: It Will Harm Black Taxpayers
Articles published around the country repeat Intuit’s assertion — sometimes almost word for word — that the upcoming IRS pilot program would hurt Black Americans. A researcher whose work is cited by Intuit says the company is misstating her findings.
*Al Gore: Fossil Fuel Industry Is Not Sincere About Addressing Climate Crisis
The industry must “stop blocking the efforts of everybody else to solve this crisis,” the former vice president said.
Idaho Sheriff Won’t Return Library Books He Thinks Are Obscene LAW AND HOARDER Published Sep. 30, 2023 12:47PM EDT
DAILY BEAST CHEAT SHEET
In the latest chapter in the book-banning movement, an Idaho sheriff has obtained two books that were checked out of a public library and he says he won’t return them because he thinks they are obscene. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, whose actual job is fighting crime, proudly told the Idaho Statesman that he would rather pay for “Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL” and “Identical” than return them to shelves—where they were classified for teens and adults, not young children. Among the content that shocked his conscience was a passage about “dry humping.” The sheriff, who is very clear that he does not want these books in the library, also says, “It has nothing to do with banning books... It has nothing to do with restricting books.”
Woman Posed as Mom of Man Pretending to Be Student, Cops Say
SCHOOL’S OUT
Mathew Murphy
Senior News Editor
Published Sep. 30, 2023 8:25AM EDT
DAILY BEAST CHEAT SHEET
Police arrested 22-year-old Angela Navarro Friday in Nebraska, saying she helped 26-year-old Zachary Scheich pose as a teenage student at two Lincoln high schools last school year. Navarro is accused of pretending to be Scheich’s mother and registered him in classes as a 17-year-old boy named Zak Hess, police said. Lincoln Police Sgt. Chris Vollmer said she had a “past relationship” with Scheich. Scheich, who was arrested in July, attended classes at Lincoln Northwest High School in 2022 before transferring to Lincoln Southeast, the school he graduated from in 2015. He was charged with sex trafficking a minor and for child enticement, allegedly coaxing 13 girls to send him sexually explicit photos. Navarro has been charged on suspicion of criminal impersonation.
the key to republican support
*What's Inside*
HOW THE GOP SUCKERED AMERICA ON TAX CUTS
REALITY
ADVOCATES SUE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR FAILING TO BAN IMPORTS OF COCOA HARVESTED BY CHILDREN(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
RACISM AT HEART OF US FAILURE TO TACKLE DEADLY HEATWAVES, EXPERT WARNS
WHITE SUPREMACY
'MISLEADING': ALARM RAISED ABOUT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE 'SCAM'
REALITY
SLAVERY ISN’T JUST BLACK HISTORY — IT’S US HISTORY
RACE MATTERS
BOFA HIT WITH $250 MILLION IN FINES, PENALTIES, REFUNDS FOR 'DOUBLE-DIPPING' FEES, FAKE ACCOUNTS(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
FOOD INSECURITY IN US REACHES NEW HIGH
AMERICA
EXCERPT: WHY ARE WE LETTING THE RED STATE WELFARE OLIGARCHS MOOCH OFF BLUE STATES?
REALITY
RACIAL INEQUITY LEADS TO LOST BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT
RACE MATTERS
WHITE WOMEN BENEFIT MOST FROM AFFIRMATIVE ACTION — AND ARE AMONG ITS FIERCEST OPPONENTS( RACE MATTERS)
AMERICA'S "SYSTEMIC RACISM" ISN'T JUST DOMESTIC: CONSIDER WHO DIES AROUND THE WORLD IN OUR WARS(REALITY)
LAWSUIT SAYS VIRGINIA’S DISENFRANCHISEMENT LAWS VIOLATE POST-CIVIL WAR STATUTE
AMERICA
*late news of interest*
A Meditation On Practical Applications Of Stupidity
The Mystery of Anti-Vax & Anti-Mask
Kat Ignatz - DAILY KOS
Sunday August 01, 2021 · 5:00 AM PDT
...“The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity” seems as good a way as any to explain the insane situation we’re in. It’s speculative, but in my opinion, guessing is all we’ve really got right now.
In his essay, Cipolla divides human beings into four categories and builds his theory on these characteristics.
His categories are:
And he presents his theory as five laws:
Taking Cipolla’s laws and looking for correlations with anti-vax/mask behavior, you can map out anti-vax/mask actions like this:
And you could do the same matching of Cipolla’s laws with anti-vax/mask actions, and together, we could come up with a big, five-part list of parallels between Cipolla’s theory and the anti-vax/mask movement.
And it would prove nothing.
But looking at it might make you wonder, like me, if there’s anything but dangerous, illogical, and incomprehensible behavior there.
Cipolla doesn’t explain stupid people. He simply says that they exist, and they’re irrational, unpredictable, and hazardous. He states that irrational people can’t be understood by rational minds and cautions against getting involved with irrational people because it always comes with a cost that’s often a big cost.
He says the only hope is for rational people to create more gains than the losses that irrational people cause. He was an economist so his theory is all gains and losses, and another way to think about his four human traits is total gain, loss/gain, gain/loss, and total loss.
And maybe that’s the real answer here. Maybe, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with why anti-vax/maskers act like they do. Perhaps, we should simply accept them as an incredible danger to our country, states, cities, friends, families, and selves, and we should just do everything we can to do more good than they do harm.
I like Cipolla’s theory, and I find it to be a compelling model for many of the problems we’re experiencing—like, for instance, Republicans.
In this writings, Cipolla makes a point of dividing bandits into Intelligent Bandits and Stupid Bandits. Intelligent bandits cause an equal amount of loss and gain, and they get everything they take from others. Stupid bandits cause more loss than gain, and they only get part of what they cause others to lose.
When I read that, I think about how Republicans are actively working to crash the US so they can keep their wealth and power. And then I think that they’re going so far with it that they may have moved from being stupid bandits to fully stupid because it’s irrational to think they’ll keep much of anything if the country collapses.
I also start thinking about how prevalent stupid banditry is in the world—as if it’s the only way to do business. The “bigs” are especially dangerous: big agriculture, apparel, chemical, electronics, oil, pharmaceuticals, retail, etc.
We’re all losing our lives in one way or another to these dubious ventures.
But that’s my mind drifting on to a topic for another diary, and I’ll stop this one here.
In his essay, Cipolla divides human beings into four categories and builds his theory on these characteristics.
His categories are:
- Intelligent People whose actions benefit others and themselves
- Helpless People whose actions harm them but benefit others
- Bandits whose actions harm others but benefit them
- Stupid People whose actions harm others but don’t benefit them and may, in fact, harm them, too
And he presents his theory as five laws:
- Everyone always underestimates how many stupid people there are.
- Stupidity is unrelated to any other human trait.
- Stupid people cause losses to others without gain and, possibly, with losses to themselves.
- Non-stupid people always underestimate how harmful stupid people are.
- Stupid people are the most dangerous type of person.
Taking Cipolla’s laws and looking for correlations with anti-vax/mask behavior, you can map out anti-vax/mask actions like this:
- How many: 30% of the US population is hesitating, resisting, or outright refusing to get a coronavirus vaccine.
- Unrelated to other traits: Health care workers are protesting against getting vaccinated.
- No gain and possible losses: Not even the threat of death is changing anti-vax/mask behavior.
- How harmful: Who would have predicted that Missouri would end up in such terrible condition?
- Most dangerous: Anti-vax/maskers are bringing the systems we rely on for our safety and health to the brink of crashing.
And you could do the same matching of Cipolla’s laws with anti-vax/mask actions, and together, we could come up with a big, five-part list of parallels between Cipolla’s theory and the anti-vax/mask movement.
And it would prove nothing.
But looking at it might make you wonder, like me, if there’s anything but dangerous, illogical, and incomprehensible behavior there.
Cipolla doesn’t explain stupid people. He simply says that they exist, and they’re irrational, unpredictable, and hazardous. He states that irrational people can’t be understood by rational minds and cautions against getting involved with irrational people because it always comes with a cost that’s often a big cost.
He says the only hope is for rational people to create more gains than the losses that irrational people cause. He was an economist so his theory is all gains and losses, and another way to think about his four human traits is total gain, loss/gain, gain/loss, and total loss.
And maybe that’s the real answer here. Maybe, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with why anti-vax/maskers act like they do. Perhaps, we should simply accept them as an incredible danger to our country, states, cities, friends, families, and selves, and we should just do everything we can to do more good than they do harm.
I like Cipolla’s theory, and I find it to be a compelling model for many of the problems we’re experiencing—like, for instance, Republicans.
In this writings, Cipolla makes a point of dividing bandits into Intelligent Bandits and Stupid Bandits. Intelligent bandits cause an equal amount of loss and gain, and they get everything they take from others. Stupid bandits cause more loss than gain, and they only get part of what they cause others to lose.
When I read that, I think about how Republicans are actively working to crash the US so they can keep their wealth and power. And then I think that they’re going so far with it that they may have moved from being stupid bandits to fully stupid because it’s irrational to think they’ll keep much of anything if the country collapses.
I also start thinking about how prevalent stupid banditry is in the world—as if it’s the only way to do business. The “bigs” are especially dangerous: big agriculture, apparel, chemical, electronics, oil, pharmaceuticals, retail, etc.
We’re all losing our lives in one way or another to these dubious ventures.
But that’s my mind drifting on to a topic for another diary, and I’ll stop this one here.
