Dear Republicans...

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2 News Stories about Crazy People

In case you're worrying about the mental health of this country, I regret to inform you you're not worried enough. I think the entire Republican Party needs an intervention.

Jan 6 Suspect Says Ashli Babbitt, Brian Sicknick May Not Have Died

...Cooper then threw to a clip of an interview the correspondent had with Couy Griffin, who said he doubted whether Ashli Babbitt and U.S. Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick had even died as a result of the riots.

"I'm not even so sure that Officer Sicknick's even dead," Cuoy Griffin said, stunning the CNN correspondent. "I'm serious," he continued, "That's, that's how – and I hate to be so crazy conspiracy-minded. I'm not even so sure Ashli Babbitt is dead."

"I mean, who's to say that was – have you seen anything of any of her family?" Griffin added.

The answer to that was yes, as the clip then segued into an interview with Babbitt's brother, Roger Witthoeft who described how close the siblings had been and how he was dealing with her loss.

Matt Gaetz Claims FBI May Have 'Animated' January 6 Storming of Capitol

Rep. Matt Gaetz has appeared on TV to spread a conspiracy theory that the FBI was involved in plotting the January 6 attack in the Capitol after infiltrating far-right groups.

During an appearance on Newsmax show Cortes & Pellegrino on Thursday, the Florida Republican said he believed that the FBI might have had a role in "organizing and participating" in the attack and had written a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray to demand answers.

"The FBI clearly doesn't have objections to selected releases of video and images from these days, but it begs the question: why is there not more transparency? What did the FBI know? And when did they know it?" Gaetz said.

"The question of whether or not the FBI animated some of the criminal conduct is one that is far more grave."

You can't trust your memories. You're probable just a bit wrong

The following is part of my report on earthlings to the mothership. 🛸 (Soon may it return).

https://theconversation.com/amp/are-memories-reliable-expert-explains-how-they-change-more-than-we-realise-106461

Are memories reliable? Expert explains how they change more than we realise

Your memory probably isn’t as good as you think it is. We rely on our memories not only for sharing stories with friends or learning from our past experiences, but we also use it for crucial things like creating a sense of personal identity. Yet evidence shows that our memory isn’t as consistent as we’d like to believe. What’s worse, we’re often guilty of changing the facts and adding false details to our memories without even realising.

(... snip...)

{Getting details wrong, like with the telephone game} can happen to our memories. There are countless reasons why tiny mistakes or embellishments might happen each time we recall past events, ranging from what we believe is true or wish were true, to what someone else told us about the past event, or what we want that person to think. And whenever these flaws happen, they can have long-term effects on how we’ll recall that memory in the future.

Take storytelling for example. When we describe our memories to other people, we use artistic license to tell the story differently depending on who’s listening. We might ask ourselves whether it’s vital to get the facts straight, or whether we only want to make the listener laugh. And we might change the story’s details depending on the listener’s attitudes or political leaning. Research shows that when we describe our memories differently to different audiences it isn’t only the message that changes, but sometimes it’s also the memory itself.

I wonder why so many scholars of Islam pronounce Caliph as 'CAY-liff' & not 'cah-LEEF'

Have I been saying it wrong all these years? I'm asking as World History teacher for over 20 years. I've always assumed it was just a British eccentricity, like the way they mispronounce "con-TRAH-vuh-see" or "SHED-jule" (don't even remind me what they do to "Junta'')

But recently I've see a few videos on YouTube where accredited scholars, normal American scholars mind you, some of Middle Eastern origin, use this sure-sounds-eurocentric pronunciation of "CAY-liff" for Caliph. Does anyone here know what's the correct way to say this? (I seriously don't need to repeat my infamous "purrogative" incident of 2003)

I wonder why so many scholars of Islam pronounce Caliph as "CAY-liff" & not "cah-LEEF"

Have I been saying it wrong all these years? I'm asking as World History teacher for over 20 years. I've always assumed it was just a British eccentricity, like the way they mispronounce "con-TRAH-vuh-see" or "SHED-jule" (don't even remind me what they do to "Junta'')

But recently I've see a few videos on YouTube where accredited scholars, normal American scholars mind you, some of Middle Eastern origin, use this sure-sounds-eurocentric pronunciation of "CAY-liff" for Caliph. Does anyone here know what's the correct way to say this? (I seriously don't need to repeat my infamous "purrogative" incident of 2003)

Racism didn't exist in the military before Biden, Sen. Tom Cotton says with straight face

Racism didn’t exist in the military before Biden, US Senator says with straight face

A white senator from the South told America’s first Black defense secretary on Thursday that President Joe Biden’s nascent administration has witnessed the birth of racism and sexism within the military.

The cause of this completely new phenomenon is allegedly the anti-extremism and diversity training that troops have taken so far this year, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said during Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“Mr. Secretary: We’re hearing reports of plummeting morale, growing mistrust between the races and sexes where none existed just six months ago, and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone,” said Cotton, a former Army captain and a graduate of Ranger School.

Dog whistles aside, there is plenty of evidence that racism and sexism within the ranks actually predates the Biden administration. Task & Purpose has documented 40 cases since 2016 of service members and veterans participating in extremist organizations, such as white supremacist groups.

The Pentagon tried to bury a 2017 survey that found nearly one-third of Black service members who responded said they had experienced racism. Moreover, 30% of Black respondents and 22% of Asian respondents felt their chances for promotion would be harmed if they reported the racial harassment and discrimination that they endured.

America's Image Abroad Rebounds With Transition From Trump to Biden

Source: Pew Research

The election of Joe Biden as president has led to a dramatic shift in America’s international image. Throughout Donald Trump’s presidency, publics around the world held the United States in low regard, with most opposed to his foreign policies. This was especially true among key American allies and partners. Now, a new Pew Research Center survey of 16 publics finds a significant uptick in ratings for the U.S., with strong support for Biden and several of his major policy initiatives.

In each of the 16 publics surveyed, more than six-in-ten say they have confidence in Biden to do the right thing in world affairs. Looking at 12 nations surveyed both this year and in 2020, a median of 75% express confidence in Biden, compared with 17% for Trump last year.

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In France, for example, just 31% expressed a positive opinion of the U.S. last year, matching the poor ratings from March 2003, at the height of U.S.-France tensions over the Iraq War. This year, 65% see the U.S. positively, approaching the high ratings that characterized the Obama era. Improvements of 25 percentage points or more are also found in Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada.

Still, attitudes toward the U.S. vary considerably across the publics surveyed. For instance, only about half in Singapore and Australia have a favorable opinion of the U.S., and just 42% of New Zealanders hold this view. And while 61% see the U.S. favorably in Taiwan, this is actually down slightly from 68% in a 2019 poll.


Read more: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/06/10/americas-image-abroad-rebounds-with-transition-from-trump-to-biden/

Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen

Source: Axios

Criminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year, some experts say...

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By the numbers: Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me, a service that tries to prevent this kind of fraud, tells Axios that America has lost more than $400 billion to fraudulent claims. As much as 50% of all unemployment monies might have been stolen, he says.

Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, estimates that at least 70% of the money stolen by impostors ultimately left the country, much of it ending up in the hands of criminal syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere...

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"President Biden has been clear that this type of activity from criminal syndicates is despicable and unacceptable. It is why we passed $2 billion for UI modernizations in the American Rescue Plan, instituted a Department of Justice Anti-Fraud Task Force and an all-of-government Identity Theft and Public Benefits Initiative.”

Read more: https://www.axios.com/pandemic-unemployment-fraud-benefits-stolen-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html