In Between Times 8-4-2023
We're not as polarized as we think, RFK Jr wants to "end polarization", The $23K EV SUV, Why people don't trust the news
We’re not as polarized politically as many of us think
The truth is most of us are not that far from one another politically. MOST of us want a safe place to raise our kids, prosperity, some sense of general security, the roads to work, and to be able to make a living. These are what some people call “kitchen table issues” and they are the most important issues. But they are not terribly sexy. Transgenderism, abortion, immigration, and some of the other big wedgies as I call them always get the attention, when in the end they are at best secondary issues for most people in this country.
We are not dismissing these hot button issues as unimportant. By no means, the big wedgies are wedge issues because at a certain level, and for a certain minority of the electorate, they are very important indeed. But fundamentally it is kitchen table issues that matter most. And on those, Americans have broad areas of agreement. We would be wise to build on this middle 70% of the electorate, the relatively sane middle. It constitutes a super-majority of voters.
Think about that.
Americans are tired of political division. Here’s how to bridge It
How to tackle political polarization — the researchers trying to bridge divides
PBS: How a group of Ohio voters are working to bridge the widening partisan divide
RFK Jr.: I want to bridge the divide and appeal to people's idealism, "I want to end the polarization"
The challenges facing RFK Jr are massive. He carries a lot of baggage, both political and personal. He is perceived as a potential spoiler candidate by some on the left. He is challenging a sitting president in his own party. And yet he is seriously resonating with some voters in this country, both Democrats and Republicans.
(From Real Clear Politics)
“And so I'm proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don't agree with him on most of his issues. Because I don't want to alienate people. I want to bring people together. I'm proud that all these people like me, and that I have independent supporters and Democratic supporters, and I'm able to bring a lot of people, every Democrat says, I want to end the polarization. But how do you do that without talking to people who don't agree with you? How do you do that without appealing to people without my purpose is to find the issues of values that we have in common? Then, you know, focus on the issues and the personalities that keep us all apart.”
So the number two Democratic candidate, even if he is deeply behind at this moment, is proud that President Trump likes him. That is interesting and a statement no doubt that the more partisan people on the left will use against him in the primaries.
But consider again the statement. In a way it is remarkably refreshing. Few would doubt RFK Jr’s liberal credentials (though some will try), the guy is an environmental lawyer and a KENNEDY after all. But he is talking unity and common ground.
And that sadly is all too rare in presidential politics. It is also sadly, probably a liability.
Click here for the article.
Here comes the sub-$30K EV (Under $23K with tax credits) from Fisker
Fisker had a bad quarter earnings-wise but it is hoping for better days ahead. If it is able to deliver on it’s most inexpensive offering, the PEAR (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) at the advertised price we see good things for the company in the future.
As we have said in the past, the key to EVs becoming the norm is price. So long as the range of the vehicle is reasonable, most people will have few qualms parting with their gas fueled cars. They just have to be able to afford them.
(From The Verge)
The most affordable vehicle in the lineup is scheduled to be the Pear (which stands for “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution”). Fisker hopes to eventually sell the SUV for $29,900 when it goes on sale in mid-2025, which Electrek notes should bring its price down to $22,400 after tax credits. Fisker hopes to hit this relatively affordable price point by producing the Pear in large quantities and with a simplified design process that it says results in it needing 35 percent fewer parts than comparable models. The car will be assembled by contract manufacturer Foxconn in Ohio, where it has a plant it acquired from Lordstown Motors.
Click here for the article.
Many of these minerals are key to renewable energy tech. Some think the current reliance on China is a US (and global) security threat.
IBM and NASA launch carbon emissions-tracking AI model to monitor climate change
AI represents a revolutionary technology. It is changing the face of society right in front of our eyes. Some scientists believe that AI can help them create more useful data around climate change. Right now carbon emissions are mostly a black box. This new technology might shine some light into that box.
(From TechMonitor.AI)
One of the biggest problems facing companies and climate scientists is a lack of labelled data, or data in an accessible format. A study published earlier this year by Microsoft and Tata Consultancy Services found 80% of businesses were failing to disclose operational emissions targets. This is part due to a lack of data throughout the supply chain and of global trends. IBM argues that AI can help simplify this process.
While foundations models are trained on large datasets of unlabelled data, they can be fine tuned for specific use cases and deployed using labeled data. This means the geospatial model published by IBM can be re-tuned based on company information, or data for a specific scientific use to improve analysis.
While it is being published to Hugging Face, which allows developers to freely share AI models, initially, a commercial version will also be available on watsonx later this year. This, the company says, would allow enterprises to utilise the information in emission tracking and net zero targets.
Click here for the article.
Artistic representations of data can help bridge the US political divide over climate change
US Trust in Media at 32% in Reuters Digital News Report
There is a reason why many people don’t trust the mainstream media. It has done a very poor job for years of covering the actual news. That is one reason. Another is that aside from Fox News and the New York Post, many people on the right (half the country at least) look at the legacy (or old) media as holding them in utter contempt. But third, and perhaps most important, is that people are just more savvy, more informed thanks to the Internet, than they used to be.
Your editor was listening to a podcast yesterday and the host was discussing how bad old TV actually was. We like to think back to TV of yesteryear with fondness, but the host made the point that Happy Days, the deeply loved sitcom, literally didn’t make sense half the time. The plots - made - no sense. But that was entertainment. That is what people had. So they watched it.
We have a similar situation with news. Once Walter Cronkite - and this blows me away - used to end his broadcast with “And that’s the way it was…” The way it was? Maybe for for him. Maybe for the core of America in the urban North East. But was it the “way it was” for everyone else? Most of the time we’d bet no.
Now people can do research for themselves. Talking heads now have to back up their reporting or assertions.
Of course some bemoan this. There is a subset of humanity that always wants to defer to “the experts” on everything. It’s much simpler. The talking head says X, it has been blessed by the official media priests, so X must be true.
But this is only a subset of the public. Most people are in the “trust but verify” camp these days. The general distrust of an old media that continues to assert its supremacy is profound. As such trust in the old/legacy/mainstream media will continue to erode.
By the way, we always include “Tools to Escape the Echo Chambers” at the end of each In Between Times and we encourage you to explore them. All are excellent sources. We particularly encourage you to take a look at Breaking Points if you haven’t checked them out already. Krystal (on the left), and Saagar (on the right) are just excellent, often.
(From All Sides)
Each year since 2012, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has published a Digital News Report in which it presents data, details international trends regarding media consumption and attitudes, and reports changes in the media industry. The 2023 report covers 46 countries – which Reuters (Center bias) calls markets – accounting for over half of the world’s population.
According to the report, in the United States, only 32% of people trust the news. The report underscores serious challenges faced by the media industry – along with low trust, it also touches on increasing news avoidance and changing source preferences.
Click here for the article.
August 16 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
Briefing on the Building Civic Bridges Act
Bridge Alliance Education Fund
Location: Online
Join the Bridge Alliance, Citizen Connect, and Resolutionaries teams for a briefing on how the Building Civic Bridges Act will serve Americans, and how we can all get involved in making it happen.
For more information on the Building Civic Bridges Act, explore the Resolutionaries information and Congressional advocacy page here!