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The Contradictions of Ron DeSantis [Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic]

By William McClain
In [The Atlantic]
February 17, 2023
282 views
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  • Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida hasn’t officially decided whether he’ll seek the 2024 GOP presidential nomination – But already the contradictions are sharpening between his prospective general-election strengths and his emerging strategy to win the Republican primaries.
  • DeSantis is pursuing an aggressive strategy of keeping Florida businesses and schools open during the pandemic – This strategy has enabled him to win about three-fifths of Florida’s college-educated white voters in a year when this demographic provided crucial support to Democrats in many other states.
  • DeSantis has ignited a series of culture-war firefights – Including censoring how schoolteachers talk about race, gender, and sexual orientation, and a potential ban on abortion after six weeks.
  • DeSantis’ agenda has found a receptive audience in Republican-controlled states – PEN is tracking copycat bills in many of the other 21 states where Republicans hold unified control of the state legislature and the governorship.
  • DeSantis’ agenda may be less appealing than the sum of its parts – Many polls show that a majority of voters worry less that kids are being taught values their parents don’t like than that culture-war fights are diverting schools from their real mission of educating students.
  • The whole of DeSantis’ agenda may be less appealing than the sum of its parts – Democrats see DeSantis embracing ideas that will cast him as a threat to the values held by the coalition that turned out in big numbers to resist the Trump-era GOP in each of the past three national elections.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Ronald Brownstein’s original post The Contradictions of Ron DeSantis

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How Google Ran Out of Ideas [Cory Doctorow, The Atlantic]

By William McClain
In [The Atlantic]
February 16, 2023
266 views
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  • Microsoft’s Desperate Move – Microsoft has sunk billions into equipping its search engine, Bing, with chatbot technology, ChatGPT, in an attempt to compete with Google Search.
  • Google’s Insecurity – Google has followed suit and is now incorporating chatbots into its products. This is likely due to its history of jumping on trends due to fear of being left behind, as evidenced by its entry into the Chinese market in 2006 and its subsequent attempts to close the social media gap with Facebook.
  • Google’s History – Google’s history has been characterized by follies such as cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party to censor search results, as well as its failed attempt to create a successful social media platform with Google Plus.
  • Google’s Real Business Model – Google’s most successful products are not ones they have created in-house, but rather ones they have acquired. Google’s attempt to integrate chatbots into search is likely an attempt to regain its reputation as an innovator.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Cory Doctorow’s original post How Google Ran Out of Ideas

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How to Beat Trump in a Debate [Mehdi Hasan, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 16, 2023
268 views
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• Donald Trump is an avid practitioner of the Gish Gallop, a debating method designed to defeat opponents by burying them in a torrent of incorrect, irrelevant, or idiotic arguments.
• The Gish Gallop was first used by Duane Tolbert Gish, a biochemist at the Institute for Creation Research, to win debates against evolutionists.
• The Gish Gallop is based on delivery over depth and exploits the fact that it takes more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it.
• Communication experts advise to pick your battle, call out the Gish Galloper, and don’t budge when they start spewing nonsense.
• Jonathan Swan’s interview with Trump in August 2020 revealed the president’s Gish Gallop for what it is: a deliberate strategy to deflect and distract.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Mehdi Hasan’s original post How to Beat Trump in a Debate

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The Tragic Mystery of Teenage Anxiety [Derek Thompson, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 16, 2023
262 views
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• American teenagers, especially girls and LGBQ teens, are experiencing historic rates of anxiety and sadness.
• The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that the share of teenage girls who say they experience “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” increased from 36 to 57 percent from 2011 to 2021.
• LGBQ teens are more likely to experience poor mental health, unstable housing or homelessness, bullying, and suicide attempts.
• The surge in teen anxiety has coincided with other behavioral trends that aren’t obviously bad, such as a decline in smoking, drug use, and drinking.
• Possible explanations for teen anxiety include social media, school shootings, climate change, and changes in parenting.
• The best evidence suggests that social media is not like smoking, but more of an attention alcohol.
• The relationship between rising LGBQ self-identification and rising LGBQ anxiety is complicated, with liberal and conservative explanations that are irreconcilable.
• Despite the ubiquity of “therapy-speak” on the internet, modern internet culture has adopted therapy-speak while repeatedly setting fire to the actual lessons of modern therapy.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Derek Thompson’s original post The Tragic Mystery of Teenage Anxiety

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What Happens When Politicians Brush Off Hard Questions About Gender [Helen Lewis, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 15, 2023
283 views
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• Nicola Sturgeon resigned as Scotland’s first minister due to her party’s declining poll ratings and the troublesome coziness of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, of which her husband is the chief executive.
• Her resignation was also due to the failure of her Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which proposed reducing the waiting period for adults to change their legal gender from two years to three months and removing the need for a medical diagnosis of dysphoria.
• Sturgeon’s political dominance in Scotland led her to disregard critics and ignore obvious problems until they escalated into scandals.
• Her resignation speech showed some of her best qualities: dignity, seriousness, conscientiousness, and her fierce defense of her beliefs.
• The Gender Recognition Reform Bill passed in the Scottish Parliament, but was blocked by the British government.
• Sturgeon ignored warnings from women’s groups, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, and the U.K.-wide Equality and Human Rights Commission.
• Her resignation marks a generational shift in Scottish politics, as no one else looms quite as large as she did.

Published February 15, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Helen Lewis’s original post What Happens When Politicians Brush Off Hard Questions About Gender

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What Not to Ask Me About My Long COVID [Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 15, 2023
261 views
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• Long COVID is a condition that millions of people suffer from, and it is often worse than the physical symptoms.
• Asking “Are you doing any better?” is not helpful, as it is a chronic illness with an unknown recovery timetable.
• People with long COVID often experience depression, shame, and resentment.
• To pass for well, people with long COVID may need to take a combination of medications.
• Doctors often underestimate the quality of life issues associated with long COVID.
• The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has a long-COVID team that thinks holistically, but many people don’t have access to the same resources.
• Be gentle with people who have long COVID, as it can be a difficult and isolating experience.

Published February 15, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Jennifer Senior’s original post What Not to Ask Me About My Long COVID

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‘They Didn’t Understand Anything, but Just Spoiled People’s Lives’ [Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 14, 2023
246 views
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• The Reckoning Project has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, including the targeting of local officials for interrogation and torture.
• Viktor Marunyak, mayor of Stara Zburjivka, was arrested and tortured by Russian soldiers, who seemed to have no clear understanding of why they were occupying Ukraine.
• Other mayors, deputy mayors, and local leaders from the Kherson region were also arrested or kidnapped, and some have disappeared.
• Russian forces have replaced elected officials with random, unqualified people, and have displayed Soviet symbols in an attempt to gain sympathy.
• Volunteers who run charities and civic organizations have also been targeted, as the Russians seem unable to believe that people are spontaneously helping each other.
• Two volunteers, who requested anonymity, were interrogated and beaten, and asked repeatedly about a nonexistent conspiracy.
• The Russian occupiers of Ukraine have been haphazardly attempting to Russify the educational system, with little success.
• They have removed Ukrainian-language books from some schools, imposed a Russian-language curriculum, and forced some teachers to return to work.
• The occupiers have also resorted to violence, including beatings, electric shocks, and arbitrary arrests.
• This violence is rooted in the occupiers’ frustration with their own incapacity to control the Ukrainians, and their incomprehension of Ukrainian culture.
• The occupiers’ actions are reminiscent of the Potemkin village legend, and are part of a larger tradition of Russian imperialism and Soviet genocide.
• Despite the occupiers’ attempts to destroy Ukrainian society, the Ukrainians remain resilient and determined to resist.

Published February 14, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Nataliya Gumenyuk’s original post ‘They Didn’t Understand Anything, but Just Spoiled People’s Lives’

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Math Is Magic [Camonghne Felix, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 14, 2023
268 views
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• In second grade, the author suddenly stopped being able to do math, and her mother connected the dots between her sudden inability and the violent trauma she was experiencing.
• She was labeled an underperformer and troublemaker, and eventually transferred to an alternative high school, where a teacher saw something in her and tutored her during lunch.
• After graduating, she was diagnosed with severe ADHD and bipolar 2 disorder, which can affect cognitive skills and executive function.
• After months of treatment, her ability to compute improved, and she now approaches mathematics from a place of wonder and admiration.
• She now enjoys splitting the bill with her friends, as it gives her the chance to correct the narrative of the past.

Published February 14, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Camonghne Felix’s original post Math Is Magic

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Band Breakups Are No Simple Thing [Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 14, 2023
201 views
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• Panic! at the Disco announced their separation after 19 years, with lead singer Brendon Urie citing his focus on family as the reason.
• Nabil Ayers, a drummer turned record-label executive, explains that a band is like a company, and often is a company, with different agreements between members.
• Ayers discusses the difference between a band breakup and a reunion, and the role of fans in the internet age.
• He also explains that breakups can be seen as a marketing tool, but that they can also be a way for members to gain freedom and pursue other interests.

Published February 14, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Caroline Mimbs Nyce’s original post Band Breakups Are No Simple Thing

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The Simple Explanation for All These Flying Objects [Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 13, 2023
294 views
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• The U.S. military has recently shot down three unidentified objects in the sky over Alaska, northern Canada, and Lake Huron.
• This follows the identification and downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month.
• The U.S. is now looking for more things in the sky and has lowered its standard for shooting objects out of the sky.
• The White House should quickly disclose the nature of the objects now in U.S. possession, even if they are nothing significant.
• It is possible that the U.S. is under a new threat or finally seeing more evidence of an old threat, but it is also possible that none of this is new or terribly threatening.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Juliette Kayyem’s original post The Simple Explanation for All These Flying Objects

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