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What to make of Republicans? Deep down they know the election was not stolen, yet they persist in the Big Lie. They know that true democracy allows all eligible citizens to vote, yet they pass voter suppression laws. They know elections should be conducted by impartial entities, yet they try to install their political stooges in charge of elections. They know the people should elect their representatives, but they gerrymander extremely so their politicians select their voters.

They know our country has fought against fascist, authoritarian dictators around the world, yet they worship at the feet of an ex-president who tried to turn the U.S. into a fascist, authoritarian dictatorship and who admires current authoritarians around the world. They say they are the party of law and order, yet they threaten violence against public officials with whom they disagree and staged the Jan. 6 insurrection.

They say they support education, yet they are anti-science and anti-facts. They say they are for individual freedom, yet they try to force their views in the culture wars down the throats of everybody. Most say they are Christians, but most also dont follow Jesus teachings. They say they are the party of fiscal sanity, yet the U.S. deficit always increases more when they are in charge. They say they are a populist party, but only the rich do better when they are in control.

What I make of Republicans is that they are the anti-party of democracy, freedom, fairness and average Americans.

Bill DunnYarmouth

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Letter to the editor: Republicans are anti-American - pressherald.com

Things Fell Apart (BBC Radio 4) | BBC Sounds Doomsday Watch With Arthur Snell (Podmasters) | apple.comBreakfast (BBC 5 live) | BBC Sounds

A couple of new series to make you feel clever. First up, the inimitable author and broadcaster Jon Ronson is back on Radio 4 (and BBC Sounds) with Things Fell Apart, in which he considers todays culture wars. As hinted at by the title, which refers to WB Yeatss poem The Second Coming (things fall apart; the centre cannot hold), Ronson is looking at extremes of argument. Actually, hes searching for the source of those arguments: the event or idea that eventually resulted in the horribly polarised disputes that now rage across social media. QAnon, trans rights, cancel culture you get the idea. Political dog whistles. Dinner party bombs. Family-splitters.

Ronsons approach is non-confrontational hes a non-confrontational man and very similar to the one he used in his excellent The Butterfly Effect podcast. Essentially he looks at how a small act can have unforeseen ripple effects. In The Butterfly Effect, it was when a chap called Fabian decided to offer free online porn. Ronson traced that effect across the world, meeting people whose lives were utterly wrecked by the unexpected consequences.

In Things Fell Apart, his vision is more focused, covering a different topic in each of its eight episodes. The first concentrates on the argument between US pro-life anti-abortionists and those who favour women having easily accessible, legal abortion services. Ah, Roe v Wade, I hear you say. But the story is more unexpected than that. Ronson manages to pinpoint the start of the anti-abortion movement among American evangelicals to, of all places, 1960s Switzerland and a vaguely hippy young man, Frank Schaeffer, who wanted to become a film director. Without giving too much away, the programme traces a direct line from Schaeffers youthful filmic hopes right through to an abortion doctor in the US being shot and killed in his home. Ronson interviews Schaeffer, who thoroughly regrets everything that has happened since. Its quite astonishing.

In the next episode, Ronson talks to Alice Moore, a US pastors wife who manoeuvred herself on to a local schools board in the 1970s because she wasnt happy about the text books on the curriculum. Somehow this leads to a Roger McGough poem, which Moore misinterpreted as being more permissive than it is (Ronson talks to McGough). Her campaign also led to important black writers being excluded from the school libraries. All in the name of protecting children.

So, great research. But Ronson is also a brilliant interviewer, asking the toughest of questions in an amiable, amused way, disarming his interviewees and allowing them to put their own point of view. Because Things Fell Apart is a radio show, there are time restrictions, and each episode is cut and polished to perfection; carved and crafted, like a teeny Japanese netsuke sculpture. Every element matters, and this is a thoroughly satisfying listen.

Doomsday Watch enlightens as it scares the living doo-dah out of you. From indie company Podmasters, this has former diplomat and counter-terrorism operative Arthur Snell talking to experts about which of todays rocky world situations might trigger the apocalypse. Yay!

First up: civil war in America. Or: Trump supporters go fully tonto. No time restrictions on this show, so each expert is allowed to speak freely, which is great. But theyre so erudite that I found I needed an occasional breather from their relentless brilliance and logic. Also, casually delivered sentences such as there are more guns than people in America and Trumps Republican party has decided to ignore any election result that doesnt suit them do have an effect. Excuse me while I breathe into a paper bag.

The next two episodes consider China and Putin and are equally fascinating. Interestingly, each involves a powerful man wanting to return his country to what seems like better times: Make America/China/Russia Great Again. All that potential devastation because middle-aged men tend to believe that life was better when they were young and virile.

On 5 live, Rick Edwards has started his new breakfast gig, presenting alongside veteran Rachel Burden. Hes doing very well, actually: holding his own, whether chatting to listeners or grilling sporting greats. Weirdly, ex-host Nicky Campbell has been popping up on Breakfast every day, in order to promote his new phone-in show, which now runs from 9-11am. Campbell can never resist a little alpha-male-ing, saying on Monday that he was answering Burden as though he was still hosting alongside her.

Edwards is up to the challenge though. On Tuesday, he made a quip about fake bonhomie, and Campbell was reduced to God, hes good, isnt he? Campbell shouldnt worry about leaving Breakfast: his phone-in show is as excellent as youd imagine, and 5 live seems to have managed this important transition very smoothly indeed.

Original post:
The week in audio: Things Fell Apart; Doomsday Watch; 5 live Breakfast - The Guardian

A Black principal who resigned after critics accused him of teaching critical race theory to students said educators are "dealing with people that are delusional" as school district culture wars rage on.

"They're not grounded in any sort of reality," the principal, James Whitfield, told Insider."It is important that we meet that delusion with what's real and we speak truth, and we're unapologetic in our stance to stand firmly in what is true and right."

Whitfield announced his resignation as principal of Colleyville Heritage High School near Fort Worth, Texas, last week after a saga that dates back to summer 2020, which was sparked after sent a letter to the school community saying that systemic racism is "alive and well" as racial justice protests swept the nation.

In the letter, which was reviewed by Insider, Whitfield urged the community to "commit to being an anti-racist."

Whitfield, 43, told Insider that he initially received positive responses to the letter, but that changed in July 2021.

During a July 31 Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District board meeting, a former school board candidate alleged that Whitfield was teaching and promoting "critical race theory," a learning approach that examines racial bias in US laws and institutions.

The academic theory, which is mostly taught at the university level and doesn't feature in Colleyville Heritage High School's curriculum, has become a target in the last year for conservative leaders and parents concerned by baseless claims of students being indoctrinated.

The man said Whitfield has "extreme views" and called for his contract to be terminated as other attendees at the meeting applauded and cheered in the background.

Whitfield denied promoting critical race theory and told Insider that it has been eye-opening to see non-partisan school boards turn into "political battlegrounds."

Whitfield was placed on leave paid leave on August 30, though the district told CNN at the time that it was not related to the critical race theory accusations.

According to a settlement document reviewed by Insider, Whitfield agreed to resign last week and will remain on paid leave until August 15, 2023.

In a joint statement, the school district and Whitfield said they "have mutually agreed to resolve their disputes."

Whitfield told Insider he's "devastated" and that he misses his students and staff.

He said he's gotten mostly positive support and encouragement since the backlash, but has also been called harsh names and received racist messages in the mail.

Whitfield isn't quite sure what his next chapter will look like, but he said he wants to continue having an impact in young people's lives.

"I just want to be part of something that helps bring people together helps just make the world a better place," he said.

Read more from the original source:
Black principal who faced CRT accusations: 'We're dealing with people that are delusional' - Insider

Delegates attend the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Delegates attend the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland

Sean Buchan has started every day of the past two weeks at his computer, tracking narratives about the COP26 U.N. climate summit.

He looks for claims like one about the electric cars ferrying dignitaries around Glasgow being powered by diesel generators. That isn't true: the cars were recharged by generators burning lower-emission vegetable oil.

"But that was subtly left out of the information when it was tweeted or posted, and it makes it seem like the whole of COP26 is running on diesel," Buchan said. "It's not false. But it is highly misleading."

Buchan, an analyst at the British climate-advocacy group Stop Funding Heat, is part of a global team of activists and online researchers that has been tracking false and misleading claims about climate change while world leaders have met in Glasgow.

The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which has long studied online extremism and terrorism, led the effort.

"Climate is being co-opted into this universe of antigovernment sentiment. It's being weaponized by groups that have extremist or conspiracist affiliations," said Jennie King, a senior policy manager at ISD who coordinated the team.

Her team's chief concern was that climate deniers and conspiracists alike would spread messages on social media that risked undermining the summit negotiations and, more broadly, global action to tackle climate change.

Buchan and King say they've witnessed how online influence campaigns can thwart public policy.

In 2009, climate scientists' emails were hacked ahead of another U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. Climate deniers used the hack to manufacture a scandal known as "Climategate," fueling doubt in climate change and dealing a blow to the summit. In 2019, right-wing activists used social media to pressure European governments to drop their support for a U.N. global migration agreement by making it seem like opposition was widespread.

In both cases, "we were able to look back and go, 'wow, all of this coordinated activity put some countries into doubt,'" Buchan said. "What we're trying to do is catch things like that before or while they happen, so we can maybe find a solution before it derails an entire agreement."

Over the last year, ISD and its partners built what King calls an "early warning system: a set of dashboards to monitor climate discussions on Facebook, Twitter and other websites. Every day of the summit, analysts have been poring over the dashboards' constantly updating feeds of climate denialism, misleading memes and viral news articles.

King has sent out daily email bulletins to hundreds of subscribers, including climate organizations, media outlets, scientists, and policy makers about the narratives gaining the most traction.

King says before the summit started, she wondered whether she'd mainly see attacks on specific topics under negotiation, like carbon markets or curbing methane emissions.

Instead, "climate has absolutely become part of the culture wars," she said.

Many of the influencers the group has tracked are long-time climate deniers. Some are linked to the fossil fuel industry.

But increasingly, they include figures who post online all kinds of hoaxes and conspiracies. And those who've long claimed that climate change is a pretext for government overreach are pointing to similar false claims about lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 both framed as authorities' excuses to strip people of their freedom.

"Language around things like climate lockdown is bleeding into spaces that were formed around anti-vax sentiment or around QAnon-affiliated arguments," King said.

"These are not communities that were particularly interested or dedicated to climate to begin with, but they have found a way to connect those other world views or ideologies with fear about the future of climate change response."

She says when misleading or outright false climate claims become embedded in this web of conspiracies, it makes them harder to fight. And that could hamper even more the world's ability to take big, bold action on a global crisis.

More:
These researchers are trying to stop misinformation from derailing climate progress - NPR

The memories of wedging into an outfield reserve seat of the electrifying, drafty and almost surreal coliseum of the Twin Cities, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, will always be some of my most deeply cherished as a Twins fan. During the eras of success under the dome, reporters would compare the decibel level of the crowd to that of a large jet at the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Throughout the dynastic years of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana and Joe Nathan, comparisons tended to fall flat for Minnesota natives.

But alongside peak fandom in the Metrodome came heart-wrenching defeats, most of which fans attributed to the managerial woes of former manager Ron Gardenhire. Fiery, impassioned and regimented, Gardenhire, who ranks seventh on the all-time manager ejections list, would shout and stomp his way through 85- to 90-win seasons, all the while eyeing his first playoff series win since 2002. His trademark altercations with home plate umpires gave the fanbase life during a time when the near-supersonic big-moment success of the teams two World Championships was nothing short of lackluster.

Much like his MLB counterparts, Gardenhire offered a method behind the madness in Minnesota. Real-time decisions to keep the bullpen cold and let Francisco Liriano paint a complete-game masterpiece became the life force of his managerial role. Gameplay strategy on the basis of trusting his guys placed an undeniable weight on his shoulders, still in the shadow of Moneyballs introduction into the game.

Years later, Ron Gardenhires leadership feels like an all too distant era. The rapid infiltration of data into almost every aspect of the game has forcibly and indefinitely shifted the role of a good manager. Dugout deliberations adhere to tried-and-true predictive algorithms at the fingertips of every coaching staff. The dynamic duo of robot umpires and robust video replay virtually reduces the classic tirades of Gardenhire to relics of the past. Analytical insights on pitching make lengthy starting pitcher performances, and all of the managerial wisdom that hangs in the balance, true anomalies.

The role of the MLB skipper is changing, perhaps more rapidly than fans might realize.

With general managers behind closed doors stripping dugouts of more decision-making responsibilities than ever before, a pretty significant dilemma is destined to present itself to MLB offices: How much baseball knowledge is necessary for a successful tenure as manager?

Undoubtedly, the human aspects of managing communication, personality management, real-time health evaluation and support for players are not going anywhere. They cant go anywhere. Algorithms cant act as charismatic spokespersons to reporters.

All things considered, interacting with elite baseball players, I would argue, requires some experience on the diamond. Building relationships and establishing common ground with an ever-evolving mix of diverse players certainly calls for some first-hand experience of the grind at a high level.

Could mere sports therapists, conflict specialists or psychologists that implement the data-driven choices of the front office without batting an eye fit the mold? Could former Ivy League student-athletes with advanced degrees in sociology have what it takes to manage in a data-driven baseball landscape? In all likelihood, no. The most successful managers at any level of the game maintain agency behind their decisions.

Studies have proven that athletes thrive in an environment of trust. Pitchers jog from the bullpen and take the mound with confidence that their manager supports them, trusts them, believes in them. Culture wars within locker rooms have utterly debilitated organizations; safeguarding against so-called culture problems starts at points of leadership, particularly those with agency in the decisions that they make. Simply relaying the calculated and quantified choices of the front office with no dugout involvement leaves very little room for trust between players and coaches.

Enjoy the Gardenhire tirades while we still have them. Take heart in knowing that decisive managers are here to stay.

Excerpt from:
The future of baseball skippers - Observer Online