A teacher friend of mine works with older elementary school kids, so probably 9 or so. She was telling me that while they do a lot of their writing assignments on computers (itself a world away from what I experienced), the kids are so much less comfortable with that than a phone keyboard that they’ve recently decided to let them draft their stuff on the phone notepad app and then submit it digitally.
This is not so much in the category of “the kids are doomed” but more a reflection of how different the world they’re living in was to ours and there will clearly be implications for that.
I think I heard that the younger generations are actually much better at picking up on internet based misinformation than the older ones because they just grow up around it and can see straight through it. Not sure if that was scientifically backed up or opinion based however.
I definitely agree that classes in misinformation would be a good idea. Same as making languages mandatory and lessons on paying taxes etc.
The popularization of the idea was definitely based on data from studies and there are strong arguments to support it’s plausibility - those who grew up in the 3 network era where Kronkite = Truth were essentially trained to hear something/believe somthing.
I’ve seen some reporting more recently though suggesting its tipping, or maybe the studies were not reproducible, but cannot recall the details
my sister has her master’s in education, has been teaching for 15yr and specializing in at-risk youths and kids with learning deficiencies. They/she spends a lot of time trying to make the classroom comfortable for the kids (especially those with autism and a background of abuse) and I’ve refitted a number of computers for her kids to use for writing assignments. But those “workstations” are offline and only used for basic word processsing documents and such.
however, even she puts a lot of emphasis on the basic skill of handwriting as it does help their brain development in ways a screen cannot.
I said after Younkin won the VA governors race last year (running on Trump issues but with a smile that the press fell over themselves to tell us he was normal) that what happens in the midterms would depend on what the press learned of that experience, and what the Dem campaigns learned of how little they can expect a fair shake from the press.
This is why the GOP is likely to take back at least partial control of congress next week
The essence of the argument is that the GOP are running on an anti democratic platform but it’s the Dems messaging about democracy being at stake that is really what is killing democracy.
I think we need to stop calling them conspiracy theorists. They don’t think the 2020 election was stolen. They are shameless grifters who have jumped on a path to power. They know pretending to beliebe it will make people vote for them, and they know they wont have to meaningfully be made accountable by the press for their bullshit.
All this does is, yet again, launder an awful bad faith position into the most respectable version of the argument and circulate it into the mainstream conversation as a position that is as valid as any other being discussed in the election.
How much attention does the Vice President get? I’ve barely seen anything of her since Biden was elected, particularly this year in the run up to the mid terms.
Is that just a reflection of the media that circulates outside the US?
Have you seen Veep? It’s a pretty accurate take on the typical difficulty a VP has getting attention or even meaningful responsibilities. In the administrations where they are seen as important its usually because of the dynamic between them and the president makes that helpful. Biden was an unusually relevant one for Obama. Why Harris is so lacking in visibility I don’t know other than people just dont seem to like her.
VPs usually don’t have a very high profile unless they are clearly not the next nominee, or clearly are. She has been in a weird gray area, partly self-inflicted partly due to Biden’s fuzzy signal
Her early staff choices did not work out well, on both the media relations and execution side. So Biden’s people started to distrust her office. That furthered the dynamic of Item 1.
She isn’t much of an asset for the 2022 Senate races, more of a target, and that may be true of many House races. With some early PR struggles, the Democrats have chosen not to put her front and center in many places until after November. She isn’t happy about it by some accounts, but also recognizes it gives her sometime to build a more robust office - and one that could be the core of a nomination run if it comes to it.
“Worst damnfool mistake I ever made was letting myself be elected Vice President of the United States. Should have stuck with my old chores as Speaker of the House. I gave up the second most important job in the Government for one that didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I spent eight long years as Mr. Roosevelt’s spare tire.”
and
“The Vice Presidency isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.”
Interesting and provocative screen grab from CNN this morning. Keep in mind the election is still four days away. With the polls beginning to go against them (and the ultimate result remains far from clear), left-leaning outlets may be preparing their own post-election narrative.
They did think better of this later and changed the headline.
I’m speaking anecdotally but I saw CNN recently and thought it was quite right wing. They had some pundits on and it had a whiff of Fox News about it.
On another note, to European sensibilities, American politics is extreme right wing with whiffs of fascism (some would say it more strongly than that), and at the other end of the spectrum it is like moderate right wing.
If you say anything along the lines of giving workers a fair wage and beefing up programs to help the poor, you are virtually a communist.
An added complicating ingredient is the veneer of culture war over all this, with people in America getting their knickers in a twist over numerous things I would consider to be personal matters.
Chris Licht, who is now the main guy there, I think is misunderstood. He is not the ideologue who is driving this, but he is unambiguously working towards the new Discovery mandate. Even CEO’s in corporate America have bosses and he is dancing to their tune and if he doesnt do they will replace him.
Licht himself is saying the right things about wanting to restore the 90s era prestige and reputation of the network, but his bosses have gone on record with the direction they have given him to follow, which is not aligned with that. It is about creating a Fox light under the guide of being left wing.
But also remember, even at the height of their supposed opposition, they were still the network that gave people as dishonest as Lord and Santorum platforms.
Yeah, I read he was going to try to moderate things at CNN a bit. You watch their prime time shows, it’s hard to see. Still, a mouthpiece of the Democratic politics, as Fox is the opposite. Not sure there is a market for centrist news.
If I want straight news, I read Reuters. Seems the only such outlet.