Indy Digest: May 16, 2024
One of the biggest problems facing our country today, in my humble opinion, is that far too often, facts don’t really matter.
Whether we’re talking about election integrity or climate change or vaccines or whatever, people express beliefs that are either 1) not backed up by any facts at all, or 2) easily disproven by readily available facts. Some people express these beliefs even though they know the beliefs are unfounded or flat-out wrong, in a craven effort to gain power. Others believe them because they’re letting hopes or ideology overrule evidence and facts. Yet others believe them because they’re flat out idiots.
Finally, a disconcertingly large number of people have these beliefs because they trust the people spreading the misinformation.
ProPublica, in partnership with The Texas Tribune, published a couple of stories earlier this week about the experiences of Courtney Gore, a far-right online talk-show host in Texas who ran for a seat on her local school board. She won—and what happened next is fascinating:
Citing “small town, conservative Christian values,” she pledged to inspect educational materials for inappropriate messages about sexuality and race and remove them from every campus in the 7,700-student Granbury Independent School District, an hour southwest of Fort Worth. “Over the years our American Education System has been hijacked by Leftists looking to indoctrinate our kids into the ‘progressive’ way of thinking, and yes, they’ve tried to do this in Granbury ISD,” she wrote in a September 2021 Facebook post, two months before the election. “I cannot sit by and watch their twisted worldview infiltrate Granbury ISD.”
But after taking office and examining hundreds of pages of curriculum, Gore was shocked by what she found—and didn’t find.
The pervasive indoctrination she had railed against simply did not exist. Children were not being sexualized, and she could find no examples of critical race theory, an advanced academic concept that examines systemic racism. She’d examined curriculum related to social-emotional learning, which has come under attack by Christian conservatives who say it encourages children to question gender roles and prioritizes feelings over biblical teachings. Instead, Gore found the materials taught children “how to be a good friend, a good human.”
Gore rushed to share the news with the hard-liners who had encouraged her to run for the seat. She expected them to be as relieved and excited as she had been. But she said they were indifferent, even dismissive, because “it didn’t fit the narrative that they were trying to push.”
To Gore’s immense credit, she then spoke out. She admitted she was wrong. She now believes that, among other things, “she was unwittingly part of a statewide effort to weaken local support of public schools and lay the groundwork for a voucher system.” (You can read more about that here.)
One of the reasons I remain in journalism, when there are so many other things I could be doing that are less stressful and pay much better, is that I believe in the importance of facts. I believe in science. I believe in research. I believe in seeing things with my own two eyes.
I remain open, of course, to considering legitimate evidence of things like election fraud or conspiracy theories or etc. Trust me: If, say, the 2020 election had really been stolen, and there were evidence to prove that, I would want to break that story. I like Pulitzer Prizes.
But that evidence does not seem to exist. In fact, there are piles of evidence proving the opposite. Yet people in positions of power continue to disregard the evidence, the science, and what’s in front of their own two eyes—and they continue to deceive the people who trust them. We all suffer as a result.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
Approaching Accreditation: The California Indian Nations College’s Second Annual Fire Gala Raises Funds for What Will Become the State’s First Stand-Alone Tribal College
By Haleemon Anderson
May 16th, 2024
The Fire Gala raises funds for the California Indian Nations College as it approaches its seventh year of providing higher education programs with a focus on indigenous culture.
CV History: In the 1950s, a Tribal Council Consisting Entirely of Women Changed the Destiny of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
By Greg Niemann
May 15th, 2024
Vyola J. Ortner answered the call of duty as she joined the Tribal Council for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and soon became vice chair. By 1954, Ortner was the council’s chair—and all of the other members were women.
11 Days a Week: May 16-26, 2024
By Staff
May 15th, 2024
Coming up in the next 11 days: punk rock in Idyllwild; a 50th anniversary celebration of a creepy film; and more!
The Weekly Independent Comics Page for May 16, 2024!
By Staff
May 16th, 2024
Topics touched upon this wee include the NHL playoffs, the Cybertruck, sleazebags, #metoo—and more!
More News
• Today’s recall news involves … Aldi cream cheese! CNN reports: “Cream cheese sold by Hy-Vee and Aldi has been recalled due to potential contamination with salmonella. So far, no illnesses have been reported. The companies say customers should discard the recalled products or return them to the stores for a refund. … The recalled Aldi products were sold in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.” Read the story for the details.
• Next up on the list is … “immune support” tea! Food & Wine says: “If you’re a tea drinker, it’s time to check your pantry. On March 12, East West Tea Company, LLC, initiated a recall of more than 54,000 boxes of its Yogi tea bags, which were distributed nationwide. According to the FDA’s recall report, the recall was initiated ‘because pesticide residues were detected above action levels.’ The recalled items include the 16-count boxes of Organic Yogi Echinacea Immune Support tea bags, which come with six tea bags per pack, and four packs per box, totally nearly 900,000 bags of tea.”
• What is California’s “real” unemployment rate: The Orange County Register reports: “Is California’s unemployment problem double what’s commonly discussed? Ponder a quarterly employment report from the (Bureau of Labor Statistics) that contains for Californians another bit of discomforting data: a jobless measurement using a broad interpretation of folks with paycheck problems. This benchmark includes the officially jobless, the discouraged worker and those who are underemployed. It includes people working part-time who want full-time employment. It also tracks folks with no jobs who aren’t counted as unemployed because that haven’t recently looked for work. What some people consider the ‘real’ unemployment rate shows 9.5% of Californians were in this distressed employment status in the year ended in the first quarter. That’s almost double the ‘official’ jobless rate, and it’s the state’s worst reading since 2022’s second quarter. It’s also highest in the nation.”
• Should we be worried about a bird flu that’s been around for almost 30 years? A Stanford University publication says we should be keeping our figurative eye on things: “In particular, the recent spread of the virus among dairy cows and the discovery of genetic traces of the virus in 1 in 5 milk samples have sparked concerns that the virus may become more transmissible to humans. (No live virus strains of were found in the milk samples, and the Food and Drug Administration says pasteurized dairy products are safe to consume—although raw milk and unpasteurized cheeses should be avoided.) While the public may be weary of pandemic news following four years of COVID-19, now is a critical time for scientists, public health officials and the general public to take preventive action, said Michele Barry, MD, director of the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health and senior associate dean of global health. This includes taking steps to protect and monitor the health of livestock and the people who care for them through a ‘One Health approach’—meaning one that fosters collaboration between countries, disciplines, and sectors to prevent disease outbreaks among humans and animals and protect their shared environments. ‘This virus has the potential to seriously disrupt our agricultural supplies and also jump from other mammals to humans and become an epidemic or even a pandemic,’ Barry said.”
• The governors of Nevada and California are squabbling over gas prices. Politico reports: “Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, sent a letter Tuesday to California Gov. Gavin Newsom warning him against imposing a cap on oil refineries’ profits that he said could affect his own state’s fuel prices. ‘While we have no details on what this might look like, I’m concerned that this approach could lead to refineries either constraining supplies of fuels to avoid a profit penalty or even leaving our shared fuels market entirely,’ Lombardo wrote, pointing out that 88 percent of his state’s fuels are delivered from California via pipeline or truck. ‘Either scenario would likely lead to limited supplies and higher fuel costs for consumers in both of our states.’ Newsom’s staff on Wednesday offered a tough response, accusing the Republican governor of politicizing rising gas prices on behalf of oil industry allies and trying to pass off blame. ‘This is a stunt to appease Governor Lombardo’s Big Oil donors, who contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign,’ Newsom spokesperson Alex Stack told POLITICO in a statement.”
• And finally … we’ve all heard the argument over whether a hot dog is a sandwich. Well … are tacos and burritos sandwiches? A judge in Indiana has ruled they are. The Associated Press says: “Martin Quintana, 53, has been trying for about three years to open his second The Famous Taco location in Fort Wayne, a city about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis. But the initial written commitment for the development at a plaza Quintana owns limits the business to ‘a sandwich bar-style restaurant whose primary business is to sell “made-to-order” or “subway-style” sandwiches.’ … He sued the Fort Wayne Plan Commission in December 2022 after it denied his proposed amendment that would specifically allow his restaurant to offer made-to-order tacos, burritos and other Mexican-style food items, The Journal Gazette reported. Allen Superior Court Judge Craig Bobay ruled Monday that the plan commission acted correctly when it denied Quintan’s proposed amendment. But the judge also found that his request was not needed and he found that the original commitment allows restaurants like the proposed The Famous Taco. ‘The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and the original Written Commitment does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches,’ Bobay wrote.” So it has been decided!
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