Badlands Journal
Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice
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9-9-22
Common Dreams
Analysis Shows 'Quiet Fleecing' of US Workers—Not 'Quiet Quitting'—Is the Real Problem
"Workers are more productive than ever, but their pay hasn't kept pace while top 1% wages have skyrocketed," says the Economic Policy Institute.
KENNY STANCIL
“The main danger that arises from machine intelligence,” according to according to philosopher Byung-Chul Han, “is that human thinking will adapt to it and itself become mechanical.” One of the characteristics of information generated by computers is that it is data and only data. It can be added to, theoretically ad infinitum, but the machine does not understand or provide the means of understanding the data it generates.
Finally, at least for the spotty reading of Badlands, a reasonable, plausible explanation for EU and NATO madness about Russia arrives. Of course, we are in the realm of Tragedy Time now, where things ring true but always too late except as a warning for future generations, assuming, of course ...Once again, we applaud F. William Engdahl for another act of profound responsibility. -- blj
8-31-22
New Eastern Outlook
Europe’s Energy Armageddon From Berlin and Brussels, Not Moscow
: F. William Engdahl
Another example of artificial intelligence helping us poor Americans get through our mortal rounds. -- blj
9-1-22
Of all the sentimental errors which reign and rage in this incomparable republic, the worst, I often suspect, is that which confuses the function of criticism, whether aesthetic, political or social, with the function of reform. Almost invariably it takes the form of a protest: “The fellow condemns without offering anything better. Why tear down without building up.” So coo and snivel the sweet ones; so wags the national tongue. The messianic delusion becomes a sort of universal murrain.
“The worsening drought crisis across the west is not just bad for business and farms. It’s an existential threat to our communities and to our livelihoods,” (Interior Secretary Deb) Haaland said during a visit to a Madera-based Specialty Crop Company almond orchard. -- Fresno Bee, 8-18-22.
The true existential threat to the communities and businesses of the Central Valley is agribusiness, Dr. Walter Goldschmidt, anthropologist, said in As Ye Sow, 1947.
8-19-22
World-Grain.com
Cargill to build corn syrup refinery
Cargill_corn syrup refinery rendering
Rendering of Cargill's new refinery planned for Fort Dodge, Iowa, US. Image courtesy of Cargill.
By Lisa Berry
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — Cargill has announced plans to invest more than $50 million to build a corn syrup refinery in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
But the federal government left unresolved the looming question of how seven Western states will divide what’s left of the dwindling river in the years ahead. Those states blew past Monday’s deadline, set by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in June, to reach a voluntary agreement on how to reduce water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet — up to a third of the river’s annual average flow. -- Partlow and Bruliard, Washington Post, Aug. 16, 2022
In other words, midterms Trump. -- blj
8-16-22
Washington Post
“The PNAC plan envisions a strategic confrontation with China, and a still greater permanent military presence in every corner of the world,” wrote Michael Parenti in his 2004 book Superpatriotism.