James N. Druckman from Northwesten University and Lawrence R. Jacobs from University of Minnesota make the case that presidents from both Republican and Democratic parties mainly serve and are guided by the wishes of the wealthy and political elites and exploit public opinion in order to serve those ends.
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015
Travis Gettys, - The Raw Story
Stephan: This story about Louisiana's using the Bible to teach science in its public schools, which ought to be inconceivable in the 21st century, tells us important things about several trends.
It speaks to the Great Schism Trend. They are not using the Bible to teach science in Boston's public schools.
It is also a narrative about the Willful Ignorance Trend. A group of people, fundamentalist Christians in this case, have consciously chosen to ignore science, and make facts subordinate to theology, and have achieved political power making Louisiana a Red value state. But that isn't all of it. It also shows the evangelical need to intellectually castrate others. In my mind this is no different than ISIS, a group of fundamentalist Muslims, smashing up museums.
S
ome students in Louisiana literally use the Bible as their science textbook, according to recently obtained records.
State law permits teachers to promote classroom discussion on evolution, but critics say the Louisiana Science Education Act allows creationism to be taught in public schools.
That’s exactly what has happened in the Bossier Parish school district, where emails obtained by Slate as part of a public records request show that students read the Book of Genesis to learn creationism in biology class.
“We will read in Genesis and them [sic] some supplemental material debunking various aspects of evolution from which the students will present,” said Shawna Creamer, a science teacher at Airline High School in an email to Principal Jason Rowland.
A teacher at Caddo Parish schools wrote a newspaper column saying that her job is to present both evolution and creationism.
“God made science,” wrote fifth-grade teacher Charlotte Hinson.
While one parent complained to the principal that another teacher Cindy Tolliver, was “pushing her twisted religious beliefs onto the class,” another praised biology teacher Michael Stacy because he “discussed evolution […]
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015
Thom Hartmann, - truthout
Stephan: Here is a transcript of a Thom Hartman show which touches on a number of important trends. I am using it, because it lets me give you some datapoints on some positive developments.
In today’s On the News segment: 1.2 million people found jobs in renewable energy last year alone; China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, reduced its coal use by about 8 percent in a single year; Canadian scientists don’t find genetically modified salmon fit for human consumption; France will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent within 15 years; and more.
TRANSCRIPT:
Thom Hartmann here – on the best of the rest of … Science and Green news….
You need to know this. One-by-one, the excuses for failing to act on climate change are disappearing. Earlier this month, China proved that it’s possible to quickly and dramatically reduce carbon emissions. According to an analysis by Greenpeace, our planet’s largest greenhouse gas emitter reduced coal use by about 8 percent in a single year. That reduction is roughly equivalent to all of the carbon dioxide emitted by the United Kingdom over that same period. And, it proves that lawmakers who say that China’s pollution makes our climate action irrelevant are really just looking for excuses. Another one of the Right’s favorite excuses is that we can’t get renewable energy up and running fast enough to replace fossil fuels, but that claim […]
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C Robert Gibson and Taylor Channing, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Three things stood out for me about this report. First, it is in a British newspaper, no corporate media in the U.S. would touch this story. Second, America is now perceived as so corrupt that a report on how much it costs to bribe -- I mean influence -- an American senator is reported not in outrage but as business as usual. Third, given the multi-billion profit potential for TPP, note how cheap bribery is in the U.S. Congress. Less than $20,000 for a "yes" vote — corporate pocket change.
U.S. Senate Chamber
Credit: content.time.com
A decade in the making, the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is reaching its climax and as Congress hotly debates the biggest trade deal in a generation, its backers have turned on the cash spigot in the hopes of getting it passed.
“We’re very much in the endgame,” US trade representative Michael Froman told reporters over the weekend at a meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on the resort island of Boracay. His comments came days after TPP passed another crucial vote in the Senate.
That vote, to give Barack Obama the authority to speed the bill through Congress, comes as the president’s own supporters, senior economists and a host of activists have lobbied against a pact they argue will favor big business but harm US jobs, fail to secure better conditions for workers overseas and undermine free […]
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