Actually, let’s all think back on that. Did any of us grow up disbelieving in science?
We certainly all had people in our lives who sucked at science, but up until recently, they were thought of as merely stupid, and we felt sorry for them.
We had no idea that they would someday form an important political constituency.
IMO, Jamie Raskin is the perfect spokesperson for the activities of the January 6th Committee.
Graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College.
J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Constitutional law professor at American University Washington College of Law for more than 25 years.
Now says: We now have evidence to support the story of the worst presidential political offense against the Union in American history. The @January6thCmte hearings in June will expose every facet of the assault against our democracy and Constitution on 1/6.
If you have to believe something that isn’t founded in science, I suppose omnism is as good as anything.
It certainly sounds better than nihilism, i.e., that we live meaningless lives, alone, surrounded by an icy cold universe that is completely indifferent to our happiness.
Despite the overwhelming support of the American for common sense gun laws, this entire subject is going nowhere. (more…)
Unfortunately, Elon Musk is enjoying a great deal more than 15 minutes of fame.
On the plus side, his viewpoints are so fringe that they’re hard to take seriously.
It’s shocking, too. This guy has accomplished so much–and he communicates in Fox News talking points?
I’m reminded of an acquaintance who went to a great private school, then to Princeton. Now he talks about the need to “Build That Wall!” I’m not sure he needed a top 0.1% education to form the sensibilities of the people in Oklahoma.
Cows lined up for feeding (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
There are plenty of reports that extol the virtue of replacing beef farming with meat products that are derived from the various proteins found in plants, e.g., the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat.
Meat and dairy rely on huge quantities of feed crops and occupy nearly 80 percent of global farmland—accounting for between 14 percent and 30 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. (more…)
Perhaps the ultimate conspiracy theory, and it’s one that’s been around for at least the last 300 years ago, is that all the major decisions that are made on this planet come from a mysterious and invisible group of the ultra-elite, say, the Illuminati.
Let me ask you this: Given what you know about world politics, does it seem likely that the Xi, Putin, and Trump answer to some more powerful group of people? Someone even crazier than Trump himself ordered the former president to attempt to overthrow the United States government?
Noam Chomsky is arguably the most intelligent and best-informed person on the planet, but I think he has this one wrong. I believe that what we’re seeing is a natural consequence of the greed and amorality that is inseparable from unregulated capitalism.
The winners have won and the losers have lost, so now most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Yes, most of them are uninvolved politically, but it’s hard to believe that’s by design.
Have you ever had the unpleasant experience of learning that someone you admired was actually a terrible person?
Here’s former U.S. Rep Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) writing to Elon Musk: (more…)
Our species has evolved to live most effectively in groups, and to put up walls of resentment, suspicion, and even hate against member of different groups.
Up until recently, this aspect of human civilization has been regrettable, though not potentially lethal. Now we live with a world with social media and fake news, declining educational standards, the proliferation of guns, nuclear weapons, overpopulation, impending environmental collapse, pandemics, heightened religious fanaticism, the aggregation of wealth into the hands of a few, and the decay of of morals and personal integrity.
There is no doubt that people who disconnect from the news cycle have happier and less stressful lives.
And today’s bad news isn’t about car accidents and house fires; it’s about global pandemics, environmental collapse, and our trajectory towards world fascism, as Trump works to join Putin as the world’s next authoritarian.
The problem, of course, is that these things really are happening, whether we’re paying attention to them or not.
