JERRY LECLAIRE • Indivisible—The High Ground

We are already awash in misinformation and disinformation on the internet and on social media, some provided intentionally and systematically by foreign governments, material that oftentimes relies on sharing by people taken in by their own confirmation bias. The article adds a new twist, pointing out how AI and unscrupulous actors already can monetize thoughtless and deceptive, but plausible, lies that could further loosen our grasp of what is and isn’t real.

This is not reason to despair, but it is a wakeup call to be ever more mindful and critical of the source of what one reads and hears.

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON • Letters from an American

Today a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed strong economic growth of 3.3% in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2023, setting growth for the year at 3.1% (by comparison, in the first three years of Trump’s term, before the pandemic, growth was 2.5%). A year ago, economists projected that the U.S. would have a recession in 2023, and forecast growth of 0.2%.

JERRY LECLAIRE • Indivisible—The High Ground

There will always be those who, for one reason or another, denigrate the public schools. The schools don’t adhere to this or that parent’s view of how certain things should (or shouldn’t) be taught, often sex education, evolution, or race relations; the public schools cost too much; the public schools are administratively top heavy, teachers are paid too well, they get too much vacation. The direction of these complaints are two fold: either, as we’re seeing now at school board meetings across the country, an activist minority decides they will bend the curriculum to suit their particular ideology—or such a minority wants to establish private schools of a particular bent—and wants public money to fund them.

JERRY LECLAIRE • Indivisible—The High Ground

This article critiques the longstanding economic formula advocated by U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and many Republicans, emphasizing tax cuts for the wealthy and reduced regulations as a means to spur economic growth. Tracing the roots of this approach to Reaganomics, the essay highlights its adverse effects on wealth inequality, middle-class erosion, and rising homelessness over the past four decades.

Range Media • Spokane

Seems like there’s an election every year. Maybe we should make them better.