Dear Friends,

LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM, WITH CHARLES GOLDMAN AND ED FALLON:

(01:15) Rescuing rich adventurers while migrants drown
(08:20) “Pregnant people” vs “pregnant women”
(12:45) Trigger warnings might do more harm than good
(21:55) Republicans against crony capitalism?
(35:00) The town where corporations might get to vote
(40:25) The return of Earth’s problem child
(45:25) Montana youth sue state over climate crisis
(54:38) Honeybee populations plummet, with Kathy Byrnes

1. RESCUING RICH ADVENTURERS WHILE MIGRANTS DROWN. Not many of us could afford to drop $250,000 on a boat ride to the bottom of the sea to gawk at the wreck of the Titanic. But last week, five rich guys did just that and, sadly, perished when their submersible imploded. Taxpayers shelled out over $6.5 million (according to one source) in an unsuccessful rescue mission. I have no problem with the rescue mission, but the estates of these dudes — three millionaires, two billionaires — oughta pick up the tab.

What I have a whole lot of trouble with is what happened, by comparison, off the coast of Greece last week. Over a hundred migrants are dead and hundreds more missing after a fishing boat transporting them capsized. According to a story in The Guardian, there is “rising evidence that European authorities knew the boat was in trouble but did not intervene.”

This quote from Abdul Karim, a Pakistani shopkeeper who lost a cousin and uncle on the boat, sums it up: “It’s sad that a submarine carrying five rich people was given much more consideration, coverage and importance than the migrants on the Greek boat.”

Already this year, over 2,000 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean.

2. PREGNANCY SEMANTICS. “Pregnant people” vs “pregnant woman.” I agree with Jenny Gamble, a professor of midwifery at Coventry University, who writes, “Confusing the idea of gender identity and the reality of sex risks adverse health consequences and deeper and more insidious discrimination against women. Sex [a reproductive category], gender [a societal role], and gender identity [an inner sense of self] are not synonymous but are being treated as if they are.”

3. TRIGGERED BY TRIGGER WARNINGS. Really? “Virgin” is a trigger warning? Man in the middle? No can do? These words/phrases and a slew of others were flagged by students and faculty at Brandeis University. With some exceptions (Charles makes a good case that “person with a substance use disorder” should replace “addict”), we concur that trigger warnings do more harm than good.

4. REPUBLICANS AGAINST CRONY CAPITALISM? Some Republican Senators — Rubio, Cotton, Vance, Young — are proposing economic and labor reforms that are historically Democratic priorities. Are they merely posturing, as Charles believes? Are they actually shifting their stance in order to appeal to a broader chunk of the electorate, as Ed believes? Is this a sincere transformation on policy, as no one believes?

5. DELAWARE CITY MIGHT ALLOW CORPORATIONS TO VOTE. If you think corporations have too much power, well, sorry, you’re wrong. As Mitt Romney famously reminded Joe Fagan at the Iowa State Fair in 2011, “corporations are people too, my friend.”

And people vote, right? So, it’s only fair that corporations get to vote, too. (I know, my logic here is impeccable.) Well, the Delaware legislature is poised to allow the city of Seaford to let corporations vote. Only 340 people voted in an election in Seaford this April. There are 234 corporate entities in the town — enough to assure that every elected official will have a corporate connection. What could go wrong with that?

6. THE RETURN OF EARTH’S PROBLEM CHILD. With the periodic arrival of El Niño (“the boy” in Spanish), things are about to get warmer and wetter. Scientists say it’s likely, with the double gut punch of El Niño and climate change, we’ll see new global temperature records, if not this year, then soon. Furthermore, El Niño-induced floods could impact rice, corn, and wheat yields across the globe.

All the more reason we need to build the infrastructure for local food security immediately.

7. MONTANA YOUTH SUE STATE OVER CLIMATE CRISIS. A group of young Montanans aren’t sitting back and letting the climate crisis unfold without a challenge. The case, Held v. Montana, claims that state officials and agencies must be held accountable for their role in worsening the climate crisis, thus damaging young Montanans’ constitutional rights. It’s the first state-level constitutional climate trial in US history. It shouldn’t be the last.

8. HONEYBEE POPULATIONS PLUMMET. A recent survey found that commercial honeybees suffered a 48% loss from April 1, 2022, to April 1, 2023 — up from 39% the year before. The varroa mite, pesticide drift, and starvation as floral habitat is lost to mono-cropping are big contributors to the problem. So is climate change. One example cited in a University of Maryland and Auburn University survey pointed out that this past January in Washington, DC, temperatures up to 80°F brought some bees out of hibernation prematurely, so when the temps returned to normal, bees froze and died.

Thanks for reading, listening, and doing what you can to build a better work.

*******

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Please support the local businesses and non-profits who make this program possible. Click on their logos on the Fallon Forum website and in our weekly email, and visit Dr. Drake Family Psychiatry, Story County Veterinary Clinic, Bold Iowa, and Birds & Bees Urban Farm. Thanks to Des Moines Irish Session for providing our bumper music, and thank you for supporting the civil alternative to the shock jocks!

Ed Fallon