The Power of Truth – Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Ralph welcomes back Jack Dangermond, co-founder of Esri—Environmental Systems Research Institute, the leader in GIS mapping technology, to open his book, “The Power of Where: A Geographic Approach to the World’s Greatest Challenges.” Next up is John R. McArthur, journalist, author, and publisher of Harpers returns to discuss a recent study by neuroscientists that found that students absorb and retain information better on paper than on a screen, and what this means for the future of education and society as a whole.

Jack Dangermond is president of Esri—Environmental Systems Research Institute—and is recognized as one of the most influential people in the field of geographic information systems—GIS—technology. Jack co-founded Esri with his wife Laura in 1969. He is the author of The Power of Where: A Geographical Approach to the World’s Greatest Challenges.

Geography is everything. It’s what happens, when it happens, in some cases why it happens, but most importantly, where it happens.

Jack Dangermond

I believe that geography and maps, the language of geography, are a new way to understand the complexity of our world. Our world is complex. All these relationships, the world is hard to understand. And using these interactive map tools, people can learn a lot in a short time. They can see context, as well as all the content that they are learning in their different disciplines.

Jack Dangermond

Years ago, Jack called and said, help us apply GIS to social action, to social advocacy… We used GIS techniques, we applied federal data, and in a report that we did in the 1990s called “Racial Redlining: A Study Of Racial Discrimination By Banks And Mortgage Companies In The United States,” the map showed the worst lending patterns as prima facie evidence of unlawful discrimination against low-income areas in mortgage lending. And so the applications to social work still need a lot of attention. I don’t think the potential has even come close to what it could be, especially as the field and the technology explodes with innovation.

Ralph Nader

John R. MacArthur is the president of Harpersa journalist and author of several books, including Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War

Common sense instinctively tells you – well, if someone is looking at a page in a book or a newspaper, there are fewer distractions and more focus on what you’re actually reading, whereas on a screen you tend to be distracted and the lighting is not good and so on. But now the obvious has been proven. And I get the feeling that they’re almost embarrassed. They just don’t want to deal with it. Or they’re so deep in big tech.

John R. MacArthur

In case you haven’t heard it yet with Francesco DeSantis

News 9/11/24

1. Zeteo reports “Israeli forces reportedly shot and killed American citizen Ayşenur Eygi… during a protest in the West Bank village of Beita… The 26-year-old was among other Americans demonstrating against illegal settlement activity and providing a nonviolent protective presence for Palestinians… Ayşenur… was shot during the same weekly protest where American teacher and volunteer Amado Sison was gunned down last month.” The piece also notes that Eygi was in the West Bank with the International Solidarity Movement, the same group that American activist Rachel Corrie was affiliated with when she was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned the incident as “unprovoked and unjustified,” saying, “No one… should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have their life put in danger simply for expressing their opinion,” according to CNN. According to Yahoo NewsPresident Biden has not spoken to Eygi’s family, and neither he nor Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris have released a statement on Eygi’s death.

2. Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who was recently nominated by an AIPAC-backed challenger after winning by a seven-to-one margin (according to CNN), has issued a statement in light of revelations that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu sabotaged negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire agreement in July. This proposition reads: “Netanyahu has continually derailed negotiations and made new demands to delay matters for his own political gain, with no regard for the immense death toll and the scale of human suffering… His goal is not to bring the hostages home or to bring peace and security to the region… Every life is precious and must be treated as such… My thoughts are with the families of the dead hostages, who have suffered unimaginable loss, and with the people of Gaza, who face the horrors of genocide and are being indiscriminately murdered every day.”

3. Variety reports that a group of leading Hollywood actors are leading a new initiative to pressure the Biden administration to end illegal arms transfers to Israel. The new push, emerging from the collective Artists4Ceasefire, is led by Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Mahershala Ali, and Ilana Glazer. Ruffalo writes, “Our demand is simple: Our elected leaders must enforce existing U.S. and international humanitarian laws that prohibit the use of military aid to commit ‘serious human rights violations.’” Nixon adds, “Words without action will not end the unbearable suffering… Enough is enough. The global call for a permanent ceasefire—supported domestically by an overwhelming majority of Americans—must be answered.” Despite overwhelming public support for peace, advocating for Palestinian rights has been a dangerous proposition in Hollywood since October 7^andwith “A top movie agent, an Oscar winner and the star of Scream VII (who) have all been demoted or fired for exposing the Israeli bombing of Gaza,” according to Rolling Stone.

4. In a chilling tale from our northern neighbors, the Citizen of Ottawa reports “The Ukrainian Canadian Congress says it plans to go to court to stop the federal government from releasing the names of alleged Nazi war criminals who fled to (Canada).” As this piece explains, “The documents at issue were compiled by a federal war crimes commission in 1986… One of the documents is titled ‘Master List of supposed war criminals resident in Canada… (including) names of alleged war criminals, as well as Nazi scientists and technicians’ who fled to the country. The total number is about 900. The records were requested under Canada’s equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act. The government must now decide whether to release the names. According to this article, the Canadian government has consulted with leaders of Canada’s Ukrainian community, but not with Holocaust survivors or scholars.

5. In a major victory for Biden’s Treasury Department, the IRS announced last week that it has recovered $1.3 billion from wealthy tax evaders since last fall, according to APSince 2023, the IRS has “launched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing… taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax liabilities.” About 80% of the 1,600 tax-evading millionaires have now made a payment, officials said.

6. More positive news is coming from the union front. The Orlando Weekly’s McKenna Schueler reports “Florida’s anti-union law, SB 256, has forced dozens of public sector unions to ask the state for recertification elections — and so far, they’re crushing it all. Of the 26 elections for which final results have been reported, workers voted in all but 1 to keep their unions alive and intact.” But despite the unions’ overwhelming victories in these recertification elections, “more than 68,000 Florida public workers have lost their union representation — NOT because they voted to get rid of their unions, but because their unions had low membership and didn’t petition for recertification elections.”

7. In more news about unions in red states, Washington Post Labor Reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley reports that “Apple store workers in Oklahoma City have secured a tentative union contract, the second Apple store to do so.” This contract between Apple and the workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America, would include “pay increases of up to 11.5% over three years, severance packages and protections against store closings (and) employee involvement in planning.”

8. However, not all is well on the union front. According to NJ.com There is a “civil war” going on between the United Autoworkers and the AFL-CIO in Atlantic City casinos over the UAW’s demand to ban smoking indoors. According to the piece, many dealers in these casinos, represented by the UAW, have developed emphysema or even cancer, despite not smoking themselves due to their constant exposure to secondhand smoke. Meanwhile, the state’s AFL-CIO, led by Charlie Wowkanech, is siding with the casinos against a proposed ban. The UAW’s Daniel Vicente is quoted as saying, “Dealing with Charlie was like dealing with some lame-duck mob guy — it felt like extortion… We’re going to go to war with these other unions… We’re going to attack anyone who gets in the way of our people getting home safely.”

9. Another story of betrayal comes from France. Al Jazeera reports “More than 100,000 left-wing protesters… have taken to the streets across France to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint center-right Michel Barnier as (prime minister), with left-wing parties accusing (Macron) of stealing parliamentary elections.” For the past two months, the French parliament has been hung over legislative elections that have split it into three blocs – the largest of which is the left-wing coalition. But despite a Popular Front alliance between Macron and the left during the election, Macron has now opted to elevate a right-winger as prime minister to appease the far-right bloc led by Marine Le Pen. Al Jazeera notes that French pollster Elabe found that 74 percent of French people believed Macron ignored the election results and 55 percent believe he stole them.

10. Finally, the first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took place on Tuesday. Shortly before the debate, Harris finally came up with some concrete policy proposals on her website. These included vague promises to lower health care costs, raise the minimum wage, and protect the civil liberties of marginalized communities. Harris more clearly articulated her more conservative policies, including bolstering border security, increasing funding for law enforcement, challenging China on the world stage, and keeping the flow of weapons to Israel. This slate of policies seems designed to correspond with her courtship of anti-Trump Republican voters, who have touted the support of Liz and Dick Cheney, among others.

This was Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.