March 18, 2022

Could Putin and Trump be any more similar, except maybe in the IQ department?

Putin appears at big rally as troops press attack in Ukraine


Lviv, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally in Moscow and praised his country’s troops Friday as they pressed their lethal attacks on Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles.

Moscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the rally and concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.

The event included well-known singer Oleg Gazmanov singing “Made in the U.S.S.R.,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, It’s all my country.”

As Putin prepared to take the stage, speakers praised him as fighting “Nazism” in Ukraine, a claim flatly rejected by leaders across the globe. ............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2022/03/18/russian-strikes-hit-outskirts-ukraine-capital-kyiv-and-lviv/7088399001/

March 18, 2022

Plans to turn Detroit's I-375 into an 'urban boulevard' to move forward this spring

On Edit: Fixed the link


(Detroit Metro Times) By now, everyone should know that the prominent Black neighborhoods Paradise Valley and Black Bottom were bulldozed back in the day to build Detroit’s I-375 freeway — among the many other predominantly Black communities that were razed by the interstate highway system.

Now, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced the state is finally ready to move forward with plans to replace 1-375 with an “urban boulevard.”

Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan reportedly met Wednesday to discuss the plans, with Duggan imagining the boulevard to look something like the Avenue of Fashion on Livernois — a sprawling, walkable district populated mostly by Black-owned businesses.

Whitmer had previously requested federal funding for the project, and it was given the green light after an environmental review by the Federal Highway Administration was completed.

Now that Michigan has secured a Finding of No Significant Impact (a formality that had to be given before work on the project could start), the design phase will commence this spring. Construction is expected to begin in 2027. ...............(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/plans-to-turn-detroits-i-375-into-an-urban-boulevard-to-move-forward-this-spring/Content?oid=29570582#.YjSekEqXP-8.link

March 18, 2022

Shepler's Ferry on Mackinac Island sells to billionaire after 77 years

(Detroit Free Press) Shepler's Ferry, which has shuttled millions of visitors to storied Mackinac Island since the 1940s, has sold.

Chris Shepler, whose parents raised their children in a blue and white rusted trailer near the end of a dock in Mackinaw City, informed employees, including some who have worked at the 77-year-old company for decades, at 8 a.m. Friday. The deal was scheduled to close immediately after the staff meeting for an undisclosed amount.

"They're keeping everything the same, including the name. Nothing really is going to change from the guest perspective," Shepler told the Free Press. "I'm guaranteed three years to work for the company in my current role as president. There are options to stay on, but when I do walk out the door, it's my job to make it like I was never there. Seamless."

Shepler, 59, of Harbor Springs said he looks forward to one day seeing his current employees eventually run the company. It's all part of the sale, keeping the team in place because the new buyer is so impressed with how operations are run. ....................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/03/18/sheplers-ferry-mackinac-island-sold-hoffman-family-companies/7077585001/

March 17, 2022

The Intellectual Exodus from Russia: Escaping Putin

The Intellectual Exodus from Russia
Escaping Putin

An Essay by Mikhail Viktorovich Zygar
Russia is currently experiencing the most invisible exodus in history – the mass flight of journalists, artists and programmers. They are part of a long tradition of intellectuals who have been forced to flee from Moscow's heavy hand.


(Der Spiegel) It’s not known how many people have left Russia in the last two weeks, but there is no doubt: We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people. It is perhaps the least visible exodus in history. As the entire world focuses on the war in Ukraine with horror, a mass exodus of Russian journalists, artists, actors and programmers has begun.

According to rough estimates by the Georgian authorities, around 20,000 to 25,000 Russians have made their way to Tbilisi since the start of the war.

Tbilisi has always been a popular city among Russians for its delicious food, good wine and hospitable people. But now there are too many Russians. The influx of immigrants is worrying many in the country. Some residents of Tbilisi have begun collecting signatures for a petition to introduce visa requirements for Russian citizens.

And the behavior of the authorities has been contradictory: On the one hand, Georgia has submitted an official application for European Union membership. On the other, though, at least two famous Russian journalists who have protested against the war in Ukraine and have long criticized Putin were turned away when they tried to enter the country. Georgia is where most of the recent wave of Russian emigrants have ended up, and many of them realize that this is far from the safest place for them.

The departure of the Russian middle class from the country, which began on Sunday, Feb. 27, has become increasingly infused by panic. That was the day most European countries closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. Many Russians thought that the borders would soon be sealed and that there would be no way out. ................(more)

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-opposition-flee-from-russia-they-leave-knowing-they-are-cursed-everywhere-a-cceca3e5-a922-495d-a922-2b1cc5a228c4

March 17, 2022

Lesson in bigotry: Conservatives take over the classroom to pull us closer to a gender-less dystopia

Lesson in bigotry: Conservatives take over the classroom to pull us closer to a gender-less dystopia
We already teach kids gender and sexual orientation every day — but we don't have to teach hate

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
PUBLISHED MARCH 16, 2022 1:13PM


In a piece that couldn't be better designed to cause Democratic panic that Republicans are winning the culture wars, Politico published an alarming poll on Wednesday that supposedly shows over half of Americans support Florida's draconian new "don't say gay" bill.

"A slim majority of U.S. voters who were polled — 51 percent — support" the bill, explains the article detailing the results of a Morning Consult poll, "while 35 percent are opposed."

Scary stuff indeed, especially as Republicans are using the debate over this new law as an excuse to revive tired, homophobic myths accusing LGBTQ people of being pedophiles who recruit children. Closer examination of the actual questions, however, suggests that the people being polled simply don't understand the issue. Using the same loaded language as the original bill itself, the poll asked people if they support the "banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade."

Under the circumstances, it's no wonder that respondents mistakenly pictured teachers giving detailed instructions on how to be gay or trans in class, or conjured up images of teachers giving sexual instructions to 5-year-olds. That is exactly what the right-wing culture warriors who thought up this bill want people to imagine.

In reality, however, the classroom discourse the bill is addressing isn't nearly as titillating as Republicans want you to believe. As Ian Millhiser at Vox explained, the law is so vaguely written that "no one actually knows the full extent of the behaviors it forbids." A lesbian teacher, Millhiser explains, may be bullied out of mentioning her wife in passing. Or a teacher could be sued for allowing a kid with same-sex parents to talk about his family to other students. Indeed, that is the point of the law: To intimidate teachers from even acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ people. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/16/lesson-in-bigotry-conservatives-take-over-the-classroom-to-pull-us-closer-to-a-gender-less-dystopia/

March 16, 2022

Trump admits he was wrong about Putin -- but just can't quit him

Trump admits he was wrong about Putin — but just can't quit him
His allegiance to Putin puts Trump in a bind on the issue of Ukraine, which Republican voters strongly support

By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
PUBLISHED MARCH 16, 2022 9:59AM


(Salon) On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin slapped back at the United States' sanctions on Russia and various Russian oligarchs by putting what he called a "stop list" on 13 Americans. The list includes President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and White House press secretary Jen Psaki among other members of the Biden administration. Putin also put former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the list as well as Biden's son Hunter, neither of whom are in the current government or hold any official job. Curiously, Putin failed to name even one Republican. How odd?

Responding to a question about this during the daily press briefing, Psaki said, "it won't surprise any of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead." Unsurprisingly, Republicans had little to say about it. Well, except for one. Former President Donald Trump was jubilant:



I don't think I have to point out the monumental level of chutzpah in that statement coming from the man who had a Trump Tower Moscow in the works as he was running for president and spent his entire term running his business out of the oval office. When it comes to conflicts of interest, the Trump family wrote the book.

....(snip)....

Trump went on to tell the Examiner what he's been saying to anyone who'll listen ever since he realized that he'd made a very big mistake. He said he was actually tough on Putin by getting NATO to "pay their dues," sanctioning Russia and "stopping" the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, between Germany and Russia, all of which is untrue.

....(snip)....

So, in other words, Trump is full of it as usual.

Still, he is in a bind on this issue. Regardless of his protestations to the contrary, everyone knows Trump is soft on Russia. As we look at the horrors on our TV screens and see the massive migration of millions of refugees, he is exposed. And his party is starting to notice. ......................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/16/admits-he-was-about-putin--but-just-cant-quit-him/

March 16, 2022

Ancient tombs and sarcophagus unearthed beneath Paris' Notre Dame

(Guardian UK) Several tombs and a leaden sarcophagus likely dating from the 14th century have been uncovered by archaeologists at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as work continues on the building’s reconstruction after its devastating 2019 fire.

The burial sites “of remarkable scientific quality” were unearthed during preparatory work for rebuilding the ancient church’s spire at the central spot where the transept crosses the nave, France’s culture ministry announced late Monday.

Among the tombs was a “completely preserved, human-shaped sarcophagus made of lead”.

It is thought the coffin was made for a senior dignitary in the 1300s – the century after the cathedral’s construction.

As well as the tombs, elements of painted sculptures were found just beneath the current floor level of the cathedral, identified as parts of the original 13th-century rood screen – an architectural element separating the altar area from the nave. .............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/15/ancient-tombs-unearthed-beneath-notre-dame

March 16, 2022

Secret Service report details growing threat of "incel" terrorism

Anew Secret Service report highlights a concerning rise in terrorism threats posed by men who called themselves "involuntary celibate," often refered to as "incels."

The 26-page report, released on Tuesday by the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), documents a sharp uptick in incel-fueled attacks against women over the past decade.

"The term 'incel' is often used to describe men who feel unable to obtain romantic or sexual relationships with women, to which they feel entitled," the report notes.

Researchers put a particular emphasis on the case of Scott Beierle, 40, who in 2018 shoot several women at a Florida yoga studio. According to the report, Beierle had a long history of warning signs leading up to the shooting. CBS reports that he'd previously been fired from several teaching jobs, and banned from numerous restaurants and apartment buildings. .........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/15/secret-report-details-growing-of-incel-terrorism/

March 15, 2022

How this tiny Christian college is driving the right's nationwide war against public schools

How this tiny Christian college is driving the right’s nationwide war against public schools
Exclusive: In the full-scale conservative assault on public education, Hillsdale College is leading the charge

By KATHRYN JOYCE
PUBLISHED MARCH 15, 2022 6:30AM

This is the first of a three-part investigation of Hillsdale College, its charter school network and its connection to the national struggle over education.


(Salon) The mood in Costa Mesa on Feb. 2 was more love bomb than fire bomb: yet another school board meeting packed with impassioned parents. But this time they'd come out, on a mild Southern California evening, not to let the board know how angry they were, but how delighted.

The parents who rose to speak at the monthly meeting of the Orange County Board of Education weren't shouting about mask mandates, vaccine requirements, trans kids on sports teams or books about racism. They didn't have to. Instead, mother after mother, with young children in tow or on their hips, came to the podium to say that their kids used to cry before going to school, but now were filled with confidence and wonder; that they had found a transformative community among the school's other moms; that the teachers were giving their children "the best education in the entire country."

One former homeschooler said she'd always sworn to keep her kids out of public school, but the one they attended now had changed all that. One father was moved to talk about sunsets in explaining how the school's mission was uniquely equipped to guide children toward goodness, beauty and truth. From the dais, the board members beamed back at the parents, and when a lone trustee protested that they should address a conflict of interest that appeared to undermine the entire proceedings, the audience burst into laughter and the trustee's colleagues, amid jokes, voted her down.

The school under discussion that night wasn't a regular public school. It was a recently-launched charter called the Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA), which is funded with taxpayer money but follows a private school-like curriculum centered "on the history and cultural achievements of Western civilization" and an ambiguous mission to instill "virtue."

....(snip)....

But OCCA isn't only a school, or even a network of schools. It's just one facet of a national movement driven by the vision and curriculum of Hillsdale College, a small Christian school in southern Michigan that has quietly become one of the most influential entities in conservative politics.

In an era of book bans, crusades against teaching about racism, and ever-widening proposals to punish teachers and librarians, Hillsdale is not just a central player, but a ready-made solution for conservatives who seek to reclaim an educational system they believe was ceded decades ago to liberal interests. The college has become a leading force in promoting a conservative and overtly Christian reading of American history and the U.S. Constitution. It opposes progressive education reforms in general and contemporary scholarship on inequality in particular. It has featured lectures describing the Jan. 6 insurrection as a hoax and Vladimir Putin as a "hero to populist conservatives around the world." ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/15/how-this-tiny-christian-college-is-driving-the-rights-nationwide-against-public-schools/

March 14, 2022

No, you can't really tell if someone is lying from their facial expressions

No, you can't really tell if someone is lying from their facial expressions
"Experts" are selling classes on how to tell if someone is lying from reading expressions. They're lying to you

By MARIA HARTWIG
PUBLISHED MARCH 13, 2022 7:30PM


What does the CIA have in common with Disney, Apple, Harvard and the New York Police Department? According to Paul Ekman, the staff of these companies and agencies – how many is unclear — have taken his classes on how to detect lies based on so-called "micro-expressions." Ekman, a famous psychologist who was once one named of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine and was ranked fifteenth among the most influential psychologists by a scientific journal, sells "Micro Expressions Training Tools" on his website. For $299/year, it is possible to purchase "all the tools to help read micro expressions plus tools to help you respond to the emotions you detect in other people."

Ekman's training revolves around learning how to read facial expressions in order to spot what he calls micro-expressions – supposedly, fleeting and subtle expressions of a strong emotion that a person is trying to suppress. According to the website, training to detect micro-expressions is "appropriate for those whose work requires them to evaluate truthfulness and detect deception, such as police and security personnel, as well as those in sales, education, and medical professions."

The purpose of this training is to hone a person's social abilities; more specifically, their ability to navigate the tricky territory of determining whether a person is being honest or deceptive. It is not surprising that there is a range of professionals who have received this training, since judgments of deception and truth are common in numerous settings, indeed particularly in law enforcement.

Ekman's theory is that our emotions, along with the expressions that accompany them, are hardwired in our brains; and, if a person experiences an emotion that they wish to mask, hide or distort, a brief display of the experienced emotion will flash across the face automatically.

....(snip)....

All this would be well and good if micro-expression training actually worked to help people detect deception. The problem is that there is not a shred of evidence that such training works. Worse, law enforcement and intelligence agencies who rely on the training are wasting precious resources on pseudoscience. As an expert in the psychology of deception and its detection, pseudoscience in this domain troubles me deeply. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/13/lie-detection-pseudoscience/