Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Thirteen Journalists on How They Are Rethinking Ethics; Columbia Journalism Review, August 21, 2025

JULIE GERSTEIN AND MARGARET SULLIVAN, Columbia Journalism Review; Thirteen Journalists on How They Are Rethinking Ethics

"Seek truth. Own up to mistakes. Consider all sides of a story. Prioritize accuracy, minimize harm, be transparent, avoid conflicts of interest. These are the core ethics many working journalists today learned in school or during their first years on the job.  

This summer, the two of us—Margaret Sullivan and Julie Gerstein, of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia University—have been exploring, in a series of pieces with CJR, whether those ethics are sufficient for journalists in the modern moment. Whether, in the face of artificial intelligence, “fake news,” eroding protections for sources, and the weakening of their business model, journalists should adjust their core tenets. 

As part of our research, we asked working journalists and academic journalism ethicists to share their thoughts on themes including disinformation, objectivity, AI, nonprofit news business models, and dealing with sources. 

In some areas, we heard calls for change. “Traditional journalistic norms and conventions for covering politics and politicians were not created for a president like Donald Trump,” said Rod Hicks, executive editor of the St. Louis American and formerly the director of ethics and diversity at the Society of Professional Journalists. Stephen J. Adler, director of the Ethics and Journalism Initiative at the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and chair of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued that “the media isn’t doing its job in correctly balancing the news value of a leak versus. the news value of who made the leak and why.” 

But other journalists spoke out in favor of renewed allegiance to old values. “Limiting the use of unnamed sources to matters of public interest wherever we can helps us ensure we don’t dilute the credibility that makes our coverage worth reading,” pointed out Elena Cherney, senior editor at the Wall Street Journal and leader of the newsroom’s Standards & Ethics team. And even as business models have changed, Matthew Watkins, editor in chief of the nonprofit Texas Tribune, argues, “the need to protect journalism from the potential corrupting influence of money is as old as the profession itself.” 

Their comments highlight the value of open, honest conversation among thoughtful leaders in an industry seeking a path forward."

Friday, August 22, 2025

We shouldn’t focus on ‘how bad slavery was’ says Trump. What’s next?; The Guardian, August 22, 2025

 , The Guardian; We shouldn’t focus on ‘how bad slavery was’ says Trump. What’s next?

"The attack on museums, like the assault on education, is meant to convince us that the truth doesn’t matter, that there is no truth, that the wisest course is to blindly accept and repeat whatever lies an authoritarian government chooses to tell.

There’s some disagreement about who first said: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Some claim it was Winston Churchill, others attribute it to George Santayana. But does anyone doubt its veracity?

Perhaps the most nightmarish explanation is that our current administration actually wants us to repeat the most loathsome events of our common past – and to be assured that every act of brutality will disappear from our collective consciousness. There’s a terrifying kind of freedom in knowing that our most odious deeds will be erased from our historical memory, that what we do now will have no consequences – indeed, no reality – in the years to come.

According to the “historically accurate” museum exhibits and history books of the future, there will have been no slavery, there was no discrimination, there were no massacres of our Indigenous population. There was never a time when hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families were separated, when yet more children were stolen from their parents, when, according to the current estimate, 80,000 people – most of them entirely innocent – were imprisoned, when thousands more were kidnapped off the streets and deported from a country they had labored so hard to benefit. And none of this will be mentioned, none of this can be said or written on a wall text, lest we allow the unpatriotic ideologues to make America look bad."

Saturday, August 16, 2025

‘State-driven censorship’: new wave of book bans hits Florida school districts; The Guardian, August 16, 2025

, The Guardian ; ‘State-driven censorship’: new wave of book bans hits Florida school districts

"A new wave of book bans has hit Florida school districts, with hundreds of titles being pulled from library and classroom shelves as the school year kicks off.

The Republican-dominated state, which has already had the highest rate of book bans nationwide this year, is continuing to censor reading materials in schools, bowing to external pressures in an effort to avoid conflict and government retaliation.

“This is an ideological campaign to erase LGBTQ+ lives and any honest discussion of sex, stripping libraries of resources and stories,” William Johnson, the director of PEN America’s Florida office, told the Guardian.

“If censorship keeps spreading, silence won’t save us. Floridians must speak out now.”

Book bans have been rising at a rapid rate across the US since 2021, but this latest wave comes after increased pressure from the state board of education in Florida.

The board issued a harsh warning to the Hillsborough county school district in May, saying that if they didn’t remove “pornographic” titles from their library, formal legal action could ensue. More than 600 books were pulled as a result, and the process was expected to cost the district $350,000.

The books taken off the school shelves included The Diary of Anne Frank and What Girls Are Made of by Elana K Arnold. None of them were under formal review by the district, and they hadn’t been flagged by local parents as potentially inappropriate. Parents with children in the school system even had the opportunity to opt their children out of a particular reading, without removing them from the class for everyone.

PEN called the board of education’s mass removal in Hillsborough county a “state-driven censorship”, and concluded “it is a calculated effort to consolidate power through fear, to bypass legal precedent, and to silence diverse voices in Florida’s public schools,” in their press release.

Fearing similar retribution, nine surrounding school districts have taken proactive measures, pulling books which they are worried could cause similar controversy. This includes Columbia, Escambia, Orange and Osceola, who have followed suit and quietly complied, probably to avoid similar state retaliation.

“Censorship advocates are playing a long game, and making Hillsborough county public schools bend the knee is a huge win for them,” said Rachel Doyle, who goes by “Reads with Rachel” on social media.

Doyle has two children in the Hillsborough school district system and is frustrated that they are being used as political pawns. She feels that her voice has been erased by far-right groups like Moms for Liberty and that parental rights groups do not have her kids’ best interests in mind.

“I do not want or need a special interest group or a ‘concerned citizen’ opting out for me,” Doyle said. “Once Florida becomes a place where this is the norm entirely, other states will follow.”

In Escambia county, one of the nine school districts that have taken books off their library shelves after the Hillsborough removal campaign, 400 titles have been removed without review. These include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, a satirical anti-war novel centered around a prisoner of war in Dresden after the Allied bombings in the second world war.

What is happening in Florida is part of a broader, nationwide censorship drive fueled by conservative backlash against teachings about race, gender and diversity.

Unsurprisingly, red states on average have seen higher instances of banned reading materials, with Florida accounting for 4,561 cases of prohibited titles this year, spanning 33 school districts.

These bans often target authors of color, female writers and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Books that educate about any of these experiences, or that document historical periods, are the recipients of frequent censorship attacks.

Rob Sanders, the author of several acclaimed children’s books like Ruby Rose and Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights, and a former Hillsborough county educator, has seen many challenges to his books in Florida and beyond.

“If we eliminate every book that tells a story that is different than the life experiences of an individual or a family, there will be no books left in the library,” Sanders said.

“As an author, the best thing I can do for children is to keep writing books that tell the truth and that celebrate the wonderful diversity in our world.”

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

The truth hurts; The Washington Post, August 4, 2025

, The Washington Post ; The truth hurts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/04/trump-bls-commissioner-firing/

Trump firing of statistics chief puts US data credibility at risk, experts warn; The Guardian, August 5, 2025

  , The Guardian; Trump firing of statistics chief puts US data credibility at risk, experts warn

"Donald Trump’s firing of the head of the main agency for producing jobs figures risks propelling the US into the same category as countries notorious for “cooking the books” such as Argentina and Greece, experts have warned.

Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner last Friday, after accusing her agency of “faking” the latest employment figures for “political purposes,” which showed the US economy adding a lower-than-expected 73,000 jobs in July.

The BLS, the US government official source for labor statistics since 1884, also revised down the estimates of new positions created in May and June by a combined 258,000.

Trump provided no evidence for his accusations against McEntarfer, which he reinforced in social media posts on Monday, calling the bureau’s latest reports “rigged” and concocted.

But his decision jeopardizes the US’s tradition of impartial and reliable statistic collection on which the country’s economic stability and international reputation depends, specialists have told the Guardian.

Erica Groshen, McEnterfer’s predecessor as BLS commissioner during Barack Obama’s presidency, warned earlier this year that an impending civil-servant rule change that presaged last Friday’s sacking could usher in a “politicization” of government statistical bodies – whereby experts are pressured to produce massaged numbers that fitted an incumbent president’s agenda.

She raised the specter of Greece and Argentina, where official statistics became discredited as a result of government-instigated misrepresenting of figures."

Monday, July 28, 2025

Connie Chung Says ‘Shame On’ Shari Redstone and the Ellisons: ‘I Fear the End of CBS as I Knew It’ | Video; The Wrap, July 26, 2025

 , The Wrap; Connie Chung Says ‘Shame On’ Shari Redstone and the Ellisons: ‘I Fear the End of CBS as I Knew It’ | Video

Former “CBS Evening News” anchor Connie Chung said the impending sale of Paramount and “60 Minutes” skirmish with Donald Trump represent “the end of CBS News” as she knew it, blaming Shari Redstone and the Ellisons for the demise of “unbiased, fact-based journalism.”

“CBS was always a standalone network,” Chung said in a CNN interview with Brianna Keilar on Saturday. “The news division was autonomous. It was always unencumbered by pressures from politicians – including presidents – and unencumbered by bean-counters. But now I can see that the days [of] honest, unbiased, fact-based journalism is being tainted.

Chung placed the blame squarely on Redstone, chair of Paramount Global, and “Larry Ellison, and his son David,” who “seem to only know greed, avarice. I worry about the CBS I used to know.”"

Thursday, July 3, 2025

2012 Video of Bill Moyers on the Freedom to Read and the "Bane of Banning Books"; Ethics, Info, Tech: Contested Voices, Values, Spaces, July 3, 2025

Kip Currier; 2012 Video of Bill Moyers on the Freedom to Read and the "Bane of Banning Books"

Nobody writes more illuminating "I-didn't-know-THAT-about-that-person" obituaries than the New York Times. (I didn't know, for example, that Moyers was an ordained Baptist minister.) And, true to form, the Times has an excellent obituary detailing the service-focused life of Bill Moyers, who passed away on June 26, 2025 at the age of 91. 

The moment I learned of his death, my mind went to a 3-minute video clip of Moyers that I've continued to use in a graduate ethics course lecture I give on Intellectual Freedom and Censorship. The clip is from 2012 but the vital importance of libraries and the freedom to read that Moyers extolls is as timely and essential as ever, given the explosion of book bans and censorship besetting the U.S. right now.

Below is a description of the video clip and this is the video link:

"The Bane of Banned Books

September 25, 2012

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the American Library Association’s “Banned Books Week,” Bill talks about the impact libraries have had on his youth, his dismay over book challenges in modern times, and why censorship is the biggest enemy of truth."

https://billmoyers.com/content/the-bane-of-banned-books/

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Virginia Theological Seminary launches ‘Have Mercy’ resource for faith leaders; Episcopal News Service (ENS), June 17, 2025

Episcopal News Service (ENS); Virginia Theological Seminary launches ‘Have Mercy’ resource for faith leaders

"Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) has launched a new resource to help faith leaders navigate the current political climate.

Inspired by the sermon preached by VTS graduate the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde at the Service of Prayer for the Nation, “Have Mercy” is a series of essays and accompanying discussion questions that examine how foundational Christian commitments take on political significance.

The initiative was created by three VTS faculty members with the aim of providing a resource for alumni, Christian leaders and the faith communities they serve to explore the power of the Gospel in the current moment.

Each essay takes one core Christian belief or practice, rooted in scripture, and examines its significance for our political context. An essay on a new topic written by a member of the faculty at VTS and The General Theological Seminary (GTS) will be published every week during the summer of 2025.

The series launched with an essay by the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean and President of VTS and President of GTS, based on a sermon he preached on the importance of inclusion and having a plurality of voices. It will be followed by essays on “Love your neighbor,” “Lift up the lowly,” and “God’s Weakness… God’s Power.”

Kyle Lambelet, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ethics and Director of the Saint Nicholas Center for Faith and Justice, said: “Jesus preached a Gospel of love that challenged the political leaders of his day, so much so that after his public protest in the temple he was promptly tried and executed by the Roman Empire. It should not surprise us, therefore, that the Gospel of Jesus continues to confront even as it consoles, to challenge even as it inspires.”

The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean and President of VTS and President of GTS, said: “Our goal is not to be shrill nor crudely partisan. Instead, we strive to bring the eternal verities to this moment. And, as Bishop Budde did in that powerful sermon, to remind our country and our world of the values embedded in the Gospel and emerging from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible.”

The initiative was launched by three VTS faculty, Kyle Lambelet, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ethics and Director of the Saint Nicholas Center for Faith and Justice, the Rev. Canon Altagracia Perez-Bullard, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Multicultural Ministries and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, and the Rev. Ruthanna Hooke, Ph.D., Professor of Homiletics, emerging from a conversation during the faculty’s annual retreat in January 2025. Wanting to affirm the courageous voice of Bishop Budde and to encourage others to speak with such clarity of conviction, the three faculty members invited their colleagues to contribute short essays. “There is a lot of confusion about whether and how Christians should engage a pluralistic public,” Lambelet said. “These essays offer guidance for those of us in the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement regarding how we can be ministers of truth, healing, and justice.”

You can read the essays here: https://vts.edu/have-mercy-initiative/"

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Whistleblower: Trump judge nominee told DOJ lawyers to ignore court orders; Axios, June 24, 2025

 

"Why it matters: The official in question, Emil Bove, is Trump's former personal attorney and a current Trump nominee for a federal appeals court judge.

Driving the news: DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni and the whistleblower, identified as a fired DOJ lawyer, told the DOJ's internal watchdog and members of Congress in a letter that Bove told attorneys to consider telling judges "f––k you" in order "to implement the administration's removal priorities."


Those removal priorities include the Trump admin's efforts to deport immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, which the Supreme Court blocked in March.


Bove, during a March 14 meeting with the whistleblower, Reuveni and others in the department, "stressed to all in attendance that the planes [carrying the immigrants] needed to take off no matter what," per the letter.


"Mr. Reuveni, almost immediately after receiving notice of his promotion to serve as Acting Deputy Director of OIL, became aware of the plans of DOJ leadership to resist court orders that would impede potentially illegal efforts to deport noncitizens, and further became aware of the details to execute those plans," the letter states.

The letter comes as multiple federal judges have said that the DOJ has failed to comply with court orders and as the DOJ antagonizes judges who run afoul of the Trump administration."

Monday, June 23, 2025

Pope: Intelligence is seeking life's true meaning, not having reams of data; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, June 20, 2025

Carol Glatz , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Pope: Intelligence is seeking life's true meaning, not having reams of data

"Access to vast amounts of data and information is not the same thing as having intelligence, which is uniquely human and requires being open to truth, goodness and the real meaning of life, Pope Leo XIV told AI experts and executives.

"Authentic wisdom has more to do with recognizing the true meaning of life than with the availability of data," he said in a written message released by the Vatican June 20.

"Acknowledging and respecting what is uniquely characteristic of the human person is essential to the discussion of any adequate ethical framework for the governance of AI," he wrote.

The message, written in English, was addressed to people attending the second annual Rome conference on AI, Ethics and the Future of Corporate Governance being held in Rome and at the Vatican June 19-20.

The conference "brings together executives from leading AI companies as well as large enterprises using AI with policymakers, scholars, ethicists and lawyers to consider in a holistic way the challenges facing the ethics and governance of AI, both for companies developing this revolutionary technology as well as the enterprises incorporating AI into their businesses," according to the event's website."

Sunday, June 22, 2025

‘Censorship:’ See the National Park visitor responses after Trump requested help deleting ‘negative’ signage; Government Executive, June 18, 2025

 Eric Katz, Government Executive; ‘Censorship:’ See the National Park visitor responses after Trump requested help deleting ‘negative’ signage

The administration asked for help erasing language on park displays that failed to emphasize American grandeur, but visitors have not identified any examples.


[Kip Currier: Trump 2.0's Interior Department initiative inviting National Park visitors to "snitch" on anything they see at a national park that they think presents America in "negative" or "inappropriate" ways is an affront to the complexities of history.

It's also an affront to us: as free-thinking individuals with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

There are many aspects of America and our history that are exceptional, uplifting, and inspiring. There are also aspects of America and our history that are not. Recognizing that duality does not diminish America or us. It actually strengthens us. It acknowledges that we are imperfect but are always striving to be better and do better.

Moreover, we can handle the grey complexity of parts of our history. We don't need government to sanitize and erase the parts of our history that are messy or which don't depict us at our best or listening to our better angels.

This Government Executive article gives me hope. Hope that more Americans will continue to share their voices and say that we can handle the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of our history. And hope that our government will leave their "HANDS OFF" of our collective history: if more people are willing to speak up.]


[Excerpt]

"The Trump administration recently began posting signs on federal parks and historic sites asking for help from visitors in identifying language that negatively discussed America’s past or present and launched a process for federal agencies to remove, cover or replace flagged materials. 

In the responses submitted by visitors to National Park Service sites, however, which were obtained by Government Executive, no single submission pointed to any such examples. Instead, in the nearly 200 submissions NPS received in the first days since the solicitations were posted, visitors implored the administration not to erase U.S. history and praised agency staff for improving their experiences.  

The new request at NPS and other Interior Department sites followed an executive order from President Trump dubbed “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that called for federal lands to remove information that could “improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events.” That in turn led to an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that department staff solicit public feedback to flag “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.” The reviews should include exhibits, brochures, films, waysides and signs, the secretary said. 

In instructions to staff also obtained by Government Executive, NPS employees were told to review feedback from visitors weekly but not yet remove any materials. For each comment, staff can either mark it as received but not requiring action, requiring action but not related to the signage issue or flagged for review by NPS leadership in Washington. Parks will receive follow up information in August. 

In the meantime, NPS said, the agency’s Harpers Ferry Center is currently “developing standard protocols and templates to assist with expedited removal, covering, or temporary replacement of any media that does not comply with” Burgum's order. It added a “long-term plan for permanent replacement is also under development for affected media.” 

So far, NPS is not getting the help it was hoping for from those scanning the QR codes now posted around park sites soliciting assistance in identifying language in violation of Trump and Burgum’s orders. Instead, visitors accused the Trump administration of seeking to erase the nation’s history.

“There shouldn't be signs about history that whitewash and erase the centuries of discrimination against the people who have cared for this land for generations,” a visitor to Indian Dunes National Park said.

A visitor to Independence Hall in Philadelphia called the new signs “censorship dressed up as customer service.” 

“What upset me the most about the museum—more than anything in the actual exhibits—were the signs telling people to report anything they thought was negative about Americans,” the visitor said. “That isn't just frustrating, it's outrageous. It felt like an open invitation to police and attack historians for simply doing their jobs: telling the truth.” 

Several visitors to the Stonewall National Monument in New York lamented changes there the park’s website that removed mention of transgender individuals in the Stonewall Uprising. 

“Put them back,” the visitor said. “Honor them. There would be no Stonewall without trans people.”

A visitor at Yellowstone National Park said the information presented there should challenge people. 

“The executive order to asking for feedback is ****,” the message read. “Parks already do an amazing job telling stories that contain hard truths and everyone is entitled to the truth to make better decisions in our lives. So what if people feel bad?” 

Without factual information, the person added, “everything is just a pretty facade with no real substance.”

At Manzanar National Historical Site, one of the internment camps that held Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans during World War II, a visitor said the site existed to present information about the costly errors in U.S. history. 

“The entire purpose of parks like this one is to learn from the mistakes of the past so we can avoid repeating them,” the visitor said. “Please do not water down the reality of the experience for future visitors.”

A visitor at the Natchez National Historical Park had a similar takeaway. 

“Slavery was a dark time in our history and we need to come to terms with that,” the individual said, “not gloss it over and romanticize the Antebellum South.” 

Only one visitor—at Petersburg National Battlefield, a Civil War site—noted they read signs that “didn’t sit right,” though the individual did not specify any materials that needed changing. Instead, the person requested a “second look” to potentially identify “more balance.” A Grand Canyon National Park visitor said the site should change its signs, but added “signed, Elon,” suggesting the comment was left in jest. 

Many of the comments asked NPS to include more information that highlighted the U.S. government’s discriminatory practices toward Native Americans. A bevy of visitors also asked for increased staffing and complimented the steps existing employees took to improve their experiences. 

Theresa Pierno, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, called the directive requiring park staff to post the new signs with accompanying QR codes “an outrage” that shows the “deep contempt for their work to preserve and tell American stories.”   

“If our country erases the darker chapters of our history, we will never learn from our mistakes,” Pierno said. “These signs must come down immediately.”

An Interior Department spokesperson said in response to a request for comment that leaks “will not be tolerated.”

“It is a true shame that employees are spending their time leaking to the media instead of doing work for the American people, the spokesperson said. “The same American people who fund their paychecks.”

Trump, in his executive order, said federal lands should display materials that amplify American greatness. 

ark materials should “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape,” Trump said. 

The Independence Hall visitor suggested that line of thinking would not effect the desired result. 

“Putting up signs like that doesn't protect anyone, [it] just tells visitors that the truth is a problem,” the visitor said. “And I can't think of anything more offensive than that.”"

Sunday, June 15, 2025

It’s not a genuine apology’: Spanish women reject Catholic attempt to redress Franco incarceration; The Guardian, June 15, 2025

 , The Guardian; It’s not a genuine apology’: Spanish women reject Catholic attempt to redress Franco incarceration

"As the members of the Catholic organisation wrapped up their speech with an appeal for forgiveness, the auditorium in Madrid exploded in rage. For decades, many in the audience had grappled with the scars left by their time in Catholic-run institutions; now they were on their feet chanting: “Truth, justice and reparations” and – laying bare their rejection of any apology – “Neither forget, nor forgive”.

It was an unprecedented response to an unprecedented moment in Spain, hinting at the deep fissures that linger over one of the longest-running and least-known institutions of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship: the Catholic-run centres that incarcerated thousands of women and girls as young as eight, subjecting them to barbaric punishments, forced labour and religious indoctrination.

The centres operated under the direction of the Women’s Protection Board, a state-run institution revived in 1941 and helmed by Franco’s wife, Carmen Polo. They aimed to rehabilitate “fallen women”, aged 15 to 25, as well as others deemed to be at risk of deviating from the narrow path marked out for women during the dictatorship.

Survivors, however, describe a reality that was far more brutal. “It was the greatest atrocity Spain has committed against women,” said Consuelo García del Cid, who was drugged by a doctor at her home in Barcelona and taken to a centre in Madrid at the age of 16."

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Ken Jennings: Trivia and ‘Jeopardy!’ Could Save Our Republic; The New York Times, June 5, 2025

Ken Jennings , The New York Times; Ken Jennings: Trivia and ‘Jeopardy!’ Could Save Our Republic

"How do we understand the seeming anachronism of “Jeopardy!”? In a dark time, my secret optimism is that our viewers’ love for quiz games is a sign of what can eventually save us: a practical belief in fact and error that is more fundamentally American than the toxic blend of proud ignorance and smarter-than-thou skepticism that’s brought us to this point.

It stands to reason, then, that making government run more like a quiz show can only be a step in the right direction. In May at a congressional hearing, Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to define habeas corpus, a bedrock common-law protection under fire from the administration.

Ms. Noem wasn’t even close. “Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” she answered.

“That’s incorrect,” noted Ms. Hassan, sounding as much like a quizmaster as a senator.

Later that week on “Jeopardy!” a category, “definitions of legal terms,” happened to pop up in the first round. The game was taped months in advance, so it was by sheer coincidence that one of the five clues concerned the definition of, yes, habeas corpus.

The “Jeopardy!” contestant, you’ll be relieved to hear, responded correctly."

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Shoemaker Clarks is turning 200. Its Quaker roots made it a pioneer of ethical business; The Conversation, June 9, 2025

Professor, Department of Leadership and Human Resource Management, Northumbria University, Newcastle , The Conversation; Shoemaker Clarks is turning 200. Its Quaker roots made it a pioneer of ethical business

"The Quakers – more formally known as the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) – have a history of nearly 400 years in Britain and the US. While Quakerism has Christian foundations, Quakers also emphasise moral commitments to peace, truth, integrity, simplicity and equality – the five testimonies in Quaker theology. These came to define how Quakers approach the world, and their businesses.

As early Quakers were deemed radical and challenged the established church, they became persecuted by the state during the 17th century. They were excluded from political and public life, as well as from universities. Perhaps as a direct consequence, Quakers became highly active entrepreneurs and came to dominate many industries through a combination of their testimonies and outward entrepreneurial action. 

This led to the reputation that Quaker firms had for trustworthiness and integrity. Their impact was perhaps so acute as to represent a distinctive form of ethical entrepreneurship."

Sunday, June 8, 2025

They are not good at this: Nearly five months into Trump’s new reign of error, his administration’s mistakes are multiplying.; The Washington Post, June 6, 2025

 , The Washington Post; They are not good at this: Nearly five months into Trump’s new reign of error, his administration’s mistakes are multiplying.

"Nearly five months into this reign of error, the mistakes are multiplying. It becomes more obvious each week that Trump and his aides are just not good at this governing thing...

Trump, at a town hall this spring, was asked what mistakes he had made in his first 100 days. He was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll tell you, that’s the toughest question I can have because I don’t really believe I’ve made any mistakes.” The audience laughed.

Even by then, the administration had already racked up an impressive catalogue of maladministration. (Mother Jones published an entertaining list of them.)"

Friday, June 6, 2025

If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price; The Guardian, June 6, 2024

 , The Guardian; If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price

"With the sharp decline of the local newspaper business over the past 20 years, many parts of America have turned into what experts refer to as “news deserts”. These are places that have almost no sources of credible local reporting.

As local newspapers have shuttered or withered – at a rate of more than two every week – news deserts have grown. The effects are sobering. People who live in news deserts become more polarized in their political views and less engaged in their communities.

One of the foundations of democracy itself – truth – begins to disappear. People turn to social media for information and lies flow freely with nothing to serve as a reality check.

Right now, many small and rural communities that are on the brink of becoming news deserts do still have access to public media – particularly to National Public Radio’s network of member radio stations, which employ dedicated local reporters.

But the Trump administration’s new effort targeting public radio and television is a serious threat...

Voters – especially those in rural areas, small towns and red states – should let their elected representatives know that they need public radio and television to continue. That public media may even be their lifeline."