Dear Friends,
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM (and click here to share my blog). Here’s our line-up:
(01:28) Let’s talk about “woke,” with Mark Clipsham
(18:46) An eyewitness report from Ukraine, with Peter Lumsdaine
(37:52) Headlines, including alien vehicles being impounded
(53:58) “Local” foods: What you expect vs. what you might get, with Kathy Byrnes
WOKE. Mark Clipsham and I get into it on the “woke” movement, which to my way of thinking has morphed into a bipartisan problem. Sure, woke folk are aware of issues like racism, sexism, poverty, climate change, etc. Excellent. I get it.
But for some, the claim to wokeness is a form of virtue signaling, i.e., “I understand what’s going on, you don’t, so I’ll use my superior status to bludgeon you. Oh, and while we’re at it, you’re canceled.”
That’s pretty counterproductive. And it ignores the reality that some of us have been aware of (and working to fix) such problems for decades. Furthermore, visionary women and men of past generations were “woke” to injustice and fought against it in a far more hostile environment.
Of course, the Right’s intentional misrepresentation of “woke” is even more problematic — and also used as a bludgeon. Just listen to Ron DeSantis talk for five minutes about any subject, and if he doesn’t mention “woke,” it’ll be a rare occurrence.
My two-part solution? Part One: Push back against the radical-right by cutting to the chase. Drop the word “woke.” Challenge the DeSantises of the world (or your Rush Limbaugh-loving Uncle Bob) on the actual issues. Where do they stand on systemic racism? If they say it doesn’t exist, share this Business Insider article: 25 simple charts to show friends and family who aren’t convinced racism is still a problem in America.
Climate change is a hoax? Share this NASA report: The Causes of Climate Change.
Same on other issues that many of us, including scientists of various denominations, have been “woke” to for decades. Maybe I’m naive, but I still believe that evidence matters, and that when presented with incontrovertible proof, sane people will change their minds.
Peter Lumsdaine, who recently visited Ukraine, is my guest on the second segment of this week’s program.
Part Two: Cut the “I’m better than you because I’m woke” BS. And stop denigrating historical figures like Washington, Lincoln, Sanger, King, and Gandhi, because they don’t stand up to modern standards. (Of course, when it comes to historical icons whose primary claim to fame was slaughter and pillage — Christopher Columbus and Oliver Cromwell come to mind — cancel away.)
UKRAINE. Peter Lumsdaine with Physicians for Social Responsibility recently visited Ukraine. His first-hand perspective from that trip is well worth listening to. One thing I learned from our conversation is that there is a Ukrainian peace movement. Not everyone in Ukraine is on board with the protracted conflict embraced by US politicians and the mainstream media. If you like what you hear in my conversation with Peter, consider inviting him to your town to speak on his experience. He can be reached at tierralinda@live.com.
ALIEN VEHICLES IMPOUNDED. It feels like a news-of-the-weird story, but apparently alien vessels may indeed be in the hands of the US government, according to one whistle blower. Personally, I’ve never seen a vehicle made by an alien. Well, there is the Tesla. Elon Musk is almost certainly from another planet.
TRUMP’S INDICTMENT. It’s more than a little disturbing that a recent poll found 4% of Americans feel that violence against the US government is acceptable. We should all be relieved that, so far, Trump’s legal battles haven’t elicited a violent response.
DESANTIS’ CLIMATE HYPOCRISY. Cities in Florida resolve to move to 100% clean energy? Governor DeSantis to the defense of Big Oil. DeSantis signed legislation that prevents cities from taking such action. So much for the Republican claim to support local control. DeSantis also says he rejects the politicization of weather. Climate scientist Michael Mann hits the nail on the head: “It is Ron DeSantis who is engaged in the ‘politicization of the weather’ by denying basic, established science – the intensification of tropical storms with human-caused warming of the oceans.” No surprise though, since DeSantis has taken millions of dollars in campaign contributions from fossil fuel interests.
CANADA’S WILDFIRES. I agree we need to secure the border — the northern border. Smoke from Canadian wildfires (which have been worsened by climate change) are causing major air pollution problems, especially in the eastern US. The hordes of illegal particulates streaming across our border must be stopped. We need a border-fence lined with huge fans blowing that smoke back to where it came from. If that doesn’t work, we could try addressing the climate crisis with the urgency it demands.
FOOD FACTORIES VS FARMS. I like The Guardian. It’s one of the few mainstream media outlets I find consistently reliable — except when it comes to food production. This week, columnist George Monbiot discusses pending food shortages, suggesting that “the solution is not more fields but better, more compact, cruelty-free and pollution-free factories.” Sorry, George, if we get to the point where factories are the preferred venue for food production, we have truly taken a wrong turn as a species.
DUMPING ON KANSAS. When it comes to the siting of wind and solar energy installations, the New York Times thinks we oughta do away with local input. After all, as the Times opines, rural Kansas has too few people. Why should they have any say in what the rest of us do to their land? Cover it with wind turbines and solar panels. Build transmission lines to pump all that “clean” energy to where people actually live. Brilliant. It’s no wonder that people in “fly-over country” feel that many coastal liberals are out-of-touch elitists.
“LOCAL” FOODS. When you reach for “locally grown” produce at your grocery store, what exactly does that mean? The term “local” is pretty much unregulated, so it could be from a small farm a few miles away or an industrial-scale operation hundreds of miles distant.
Thanks for reading, listening, and doing what you can to build a better work.
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Ed Fallon