BROADCASTS.com

Ralph welcomes back Jack Dangermond, co-founder of Esri\u2014Environmental Systems Research Institute, the leader in GIS mapping technology to open up his book, \u201cThe Power of Where: A Geographic Approach to the World\u2019s Greatest Challenges.\u201d Then John R. MacArthur, journalist, author and publisher of\xa0Harper\u2019s\xa0returns to discuss a recent study by neuroscientists that concluded that students absorb and retain information better on paper than they do on screens and what this means for the future of education and society as a whole.

Jack Dangermond is President of Esri\u2014Environmental Systems Research Institute\u2014and is recognized as one of the most influential people in the field of geographic information system\u2014GIS\u2014technology. Jack, along with his wife Laura, founded Esri in 1969. He is the author of The Power of Where: A Geographic Approach to the World\u2019s Greatest Challenges.

NatGeo Mapmaker

Geography is everything. It's what happens, when it happens, in some cases why it happens, but most importantly, where it happens.

Jack Dangermond

I believe geography and maps\u2014the language of geography\u2014are a new kind of way to understand the complexity of our world. Our world is complex. All these relationships\u2014the world is hard to fathom. And using these interactive mapping tools, people can learn a lot in a short amount of time. They can see context, as well as all the content that they're learning in their various disciplines.

Jack Dangermond

Years ago, Jack called up and said\u2014help us apply GIS to civic action, civic advocacy\u2026We used GIS techniques, applied federal government data, and in a report we came out with in the 1990s\u2014it was called \u201cRacial Redlining: A Study Of Racial Discrimination By Banks And Mortgage Companies In The United States\u201d\u2014the map showed the worst-case lending pattern as prima facie evidence of unlawful discrimination against low-income areas in mortgage lending. And so, the applications for civic work still need a lot of attention. I don't think the potential has been reached anywhere near what it could be, especially as the field and the technology just explodes with innovation.

Ralph Nader

John R. MacArthur is the president of Harper\u2019s, a journalist, and the author of several books, including Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War

Common sense tells you just instinctively\u2014well, if somebody's looking at a page in a book or in a newspaper, there's less distractions and there's more focus on what you're actually reading, whereas on a screen you have a tendency to get distracted and the lighting is not good and so on and so forth. But now the obvious has been proven. And I get the sense that they're almost ashamed. They just don't want to address it. Or they're in so deep with big tech.

John R. MacArthur

In Case You Haven\u2019t Heard with Francesco DeSantis

News 9/11/24

1. Zeteo reports \u201cIsraeli forces allegedly shot and killed US citizen Ay\u015fenur Eygi\u2026at a demonstration in the West Bank village of Beita\u2026The 26-year-old was there alongside other Americans who have been demonstrating against illegal settlement activity and providing a nonviolent protective presence for Palestinians\u2026Ay\u015fenur\u2026was shot at the same weekly demonstration where American teacher and volunteer Amado Sison was shot last month.\u201d This piece also notes that Eygi was in the West Bank with the International Solidarity Movement, the same group that American activist Rachel Corrie was affiliated with when she was murdered by an IDF bulldozer in 2003. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken decried this incident as \u201cunprovoked and unjustified,\u201d saying \u201cNo one\u2026should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for expressing their views,\u201d per CNN. According to Yahoo News, President Biden has not talked to Eygi\u2019s family, and neither he nor Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have issued a statement on Eygi\u2019s death.

2. Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who was recently primaried by an AIPAC-backed challenger after being outspent a by margin of seven-to-one (per CNN), has issued a statement in light of the revelations that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu sabotaged negotiations for a hostage and ceasefire deal in July. This statement reads \u201cNetanyahu has continuously derailed negotiations and added new demands to stall for his own political benefit, with zero regard for the immense death toll and scale of human suffering\u2026His goal is not to bring the hostages home or bring peace and safety to the region\u2026Every life is precious and should be treated as such\u2026My thoughts are with the families of the dead hostages, who have suffered an unimaginable loss, and with the people of Gaza, who are facing the horrors of genocide and being killed indiscriminately every day.\u201d

3. Variety reports a group of prominent Hollywood actors are leading a new initiative to pressure the Biden administration to end illegal arms transfers to Israel. This new push, growing out of the Artists4Ceasefire collective, is led by Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Mahershala Ali, and Ilana Glazer. Ruffalo writes \u201cOur demand is simple \u2014 our elected leaders must enforce existing U.S. and international humanitarian laws that prohibit the use of military assistance to commit \u2018grave human rights violations.\u2019\u201d Nixon adds \u201cWords without action will not end the unbearable suffering\u2026Enough is enough. The global call for a permanent ceasefire \u2014 supported domestically by an overwhelming majority of Americans \u2014 must be answered.\u201d Despite overwhelming public support for peace, advocating for Palestinian rights has been a dangerous proposition in Hollywood since October 7th, with \u201cA top movie agent, an Oscar winner, and the star of Scream VII [having] all been demoted or fired for calling out Israel\u2019s bombing of Gaza,\u201d per Rolling Stone.

4. In a chilling story from our Northern neighbor, the Ottawa Citizen reports \u201cThe Ukrainian Canadian Congress says it plans to go to court to stop the federal government from making public the names of alleged Nazi war criminals who fled to [Canada].\u201d As this piece explains, \u201cAt issue are documents created by a 1986 federal government war-crimes commission\u2026One of the documents is titled \u2018Master List of alleged war criminals resident in Canada\u2026 [including] names of alleged war criminals as well as Nazi scientists and technicians\u201d who fled to the country. The total number is around 900. These records have been requested under Canada\u2019s equivalent to the Freedom of Information Act. The government must now decide whether or not to disclose these names. According to this article, the Canadian government has consulted with leaders of Canada\u2019s Ukrainian community, but not with Holocaust survivors or scholars.

5. In a major win for the Biden Treasury Department, the IRS announced last week that it has clawed back $1.3 billion from rich tax dodgers since last fall, per AP. Since 2023, the IRS has \u201claunched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing\u2026taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.\u201d According to officials, approximately 80% of the 1,600 tax delinquent millionaires have now made a payment.

6. More positive news comes to us from the union front. The Orlando Weekly\u2019s McKenna Schueler reports \u201cFlorida's anti-union law, SB 256, has forced dozens of public sector unions to ask the state for recertification elections\u2014and so far, they're all crushing it. Out of 26 elections with final results reported, workers in all but 1 have voted to keep their unions alive & intact.\u201d Yet despite the unions\u2019 overwhelming victories in these re-certification elections, \u201cmore than 68,000 public employees in Florida have lost their union representation - NOT because they voted to get rid of their unions, but because their union had low membership and didn't petition for a recertification election.\u201d

7. In more red-state union news, Washington Post Labor Reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley reports \u201cApple retail workers in Oklahoma City secured a tentative union contract, the 2nd store to do so at Apple.\u201d This contract between Apple and the workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America, is said to include \u201cpay increases of up to 11.5% over 3 years, severance & store closure protections [and] worker involvement in scheduling.\u201d

8. Yet not all is well on the union front. According to NJ.com a \u201ccivil war\u201d is brewing between the United Autoworkers and the AFL-CIO at Atlantic City casinos over the UAW\u2019s demand to end indoor smoking. According to this piece, many of the dealers at these casinos, represented by the UAW, have contracted emphysema or even cancer despite not smoking themselves due to their constant exposure to secondhand smoke. Meanwhile the state AFL-CIO, led by Charlie Wowkanech, is standing with the casinos against a proposed ban. The UAW\u2019s Daniel Vicente is quoted saying \u201cDealing with Charlie was like dealing with some lame-ass mafia guy \u2013 it felt like a shakedown\u2026We\u2019re planning to go to war with these other unions\u2026We\u2019re coming straight at anyone who stands in the way of our people coming home safe.\u201d

9. Another story of betrayal comes from France. Al Jazeera reports \u201cMore than 100,000 left-wing demonstrators\u2026have taken to the streets across France to protest President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s decision to appoint centre-right Michel Barnier as [Prime Minister], with left-wing parties accusing [Macron] of stealing legislative elections.\u201d For the past two months, the French parliament has been hung due to legislative elections that left it divided into three blocs \u2013 the largest of which being the left-wing coalition. Yet despite a popular front alliance between Macron and the Left during the elections, Macron has now chosen to elevate a right-winger as PM in order to appease the far-right bloc led by Marine Le Pen. Al Jazeera notes that French pollster Elabe found that 74 percent of French people believed Macron had disregarded the results of the elections and 55 percent believe he has stolen them.

10. Finally, the first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was held on Tuesday. Shortly before the debate, Harris finally released some concrete policy proposals on her website. These include vague pledges to reduce the cost of healthcare, increase the minimum wage, and protect the civil liberties of marginalized communities. Harris more clearly articulated her more conservative policies, including beefing up border security, increasing funding for law enforcement, challenging China on the world stage, and keeping weapons flowing to Israel. This suite of policies seems designed to correspond with her courtship of anti-Trump Republican voters, which has included touting the endorsement of Liz and Dick Cheney.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven\u2019t Heard.