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UM’s Erb Institute lands $4.9M gift to widen access to sustainability degrees
The Fred & Barbara Erb Family Foundation has made a $4.9 million grant to the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan to spur sustainability graduates.
Sacramento receives $6 million state grant for cannabis enforcement, public health and youth programs
The City of Sacramento has received $6 million in state funding to expand efforts to address illicit cannabis activity while supporting public health education and youth development programs. The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday authorized the City to accept the Proposition 64 Public Health and Safety Grant from the California Board of State and Community […]
Manor College Expands Dental Health Center and Dental Hygiene Program Capacity
The improvements were made possible thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. After decades of service to the surrounding community, Manor College’s Dental Health Center completed a total overhaul this summer that will allow the clinic to expand services to even more patients. “It’s exciting,” said Jaime Simpson, Director Read more >
Dear Annie: Group chat strikes again! One cousin ruins it for everyone with regular political rants
This relative mulls just muting the whole thing.
A Closer Look at the $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program
The 2025 budget reconciliation created the Rural Health Transformation Program, which will award $50 billion in state grants over a five-year period. This brief provides an overview of the program, describing its structure, how funds can be used, how funding compares to Medicaid spending reductions in the reconciliation law, and how the funds are being distributed across and within states.
Global Health Watch: LEN Access Pathways, NIAID Reorganization, Global Fund Report, NIH Lawsuit
This week’s issue covers developments shaping access to HIV prevention and the future of US biomedical research, including new pathways to accelerate access to lenacapavir for HIV PrEP, calls for greater transparency around a proposed NIAID restructuring, and a new lawsuit challenging NIH’s screening of research grants. With today as the final day to comment […]
Business and unions clash over how to fix UK’s youth jobs shortage
TUC calls for £1bn expansion of jobs guarantee while employers push for tax cuts
Congratulations, you won a grant! Now try not to give it back.
The Rural Health Transformation Program may be one of the biggest opportunities EMS has seen in years, but winning the money is only the first challenge
Reno health inspectors find wine, linens stored under sewer line
One restaurant was cited for improper storage of wine and linens, and sauce that had been cooling too slowly to prevent bacterial growth.
Why Trump’s new rule for green card applicants is sparking controversy
A new Trump administration rule that is expected to make it harder for many legal immigrants to obtain green cards if they receive or are deemed likely to need public assistance is set to take effect Friday – even as lawsuits seeking to halt it wind their way through federal court.
CT Gov. Lamont, Fazio clash over health care as TV ads increase in final 50 days
With healthcare costs rising, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican challenger Ryan Fazio are clashing over how to solve the problem. Lamont unveiled a new television commercial this week that criticizes Fazio for failing to support…
Everton Face Difficult Task Of Keeping Jarrad Branthwaite
Keeping Jarrad Branthwaite at Everton is going to be a tricky task, with interest likely to go in the defender. Manchester United are already being linked with another potential transfer.
New attractions highlight Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta opening Tuesday
This year's festival, which runs Tuesday through Sunday, will feature some new events and a record number of restaurants.
Texas Tech Health Sciences Center receives $24.5 million NIH grant
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has received a $24.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Texas Tech Health Sciences Center receives $24.5 million NIH grant
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has received a $24.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Recap: East Greenwich School Committee Approves $296,096 Science Classroom Award, $105,650 Anatomy Table, Lunch Payment Contract
The East Greenwich School Committee approved $296,096 in science classroom work and a $105,650 anatomy table under a new federal rural health grant.
Recycling Committee Starts Brainstorming Green Business Certification
The Recycling Committee toyed with a new green initiative at its meeting on Monday, September 14, that would have them work with local businesses to reduce restaurant waste.
Sponsored: From Belfast to Lakewood Ranch
Darren Shore turned a passion for the bar business into a growing restaurant career built on hard work, resilience and relationships.
Sand Springs business owner rebuilds after deadly explosion
Three weeks after a deadly explosion at the Morrow-Gill Business Complex in Sand Springs, screen-printing business owner Brant Blackburn has relocated and resumed operations after a tense wait to recover his equipment.
Broncos Wideout Issues Cold Response to Team’s Contract Maneuver
Denver Broncos wideout Lil'Jordan Humphrey issued a cold response to him being released and re-signed in order to not guarantee his contract. The post Broncos Wideout Issues Cold Response to Team’s Contract Maneuver appeared first on HEAVY.
Trump's targeting of Haitian immigrants takes toll on US healthcare system
Like many Haitian healthcare workers in the United States, Rachelle has been forced into hiding by US President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies.In Florida, home to a large chunk of the Haitian ...
Potential Trade Sends Kyrie Irving to the Houston Rockets
Kyrie Irving might be reuniting with Kevin Durant. Let's look at the pros and cons
WECT NEWS NOW: Bald Head Island Conservancy lands $424K federal grant to train next generation of scientists
Representatives from the Bald Head Island Conservancy joined Randy Aldridge on WECT News Now to discuss the $424,582 grant recently awarded to the organization.
The Yankees Three Biggest X-Factors Heading Into October
The Yankees are in the midst of a historic 17-year World Series drought; these three players may have the biggest impact on the Bronx Bombers' ability to flip the script this October. The post The Yankees Three Biggest X-Factors Heading Into October appeared first on Stadium Rant.
WA Kenyan community, healthcare workers alarmed by uptick in ICE arrests
An increase of arrests of Kenyan immigrants in Washington is raising alarms for communities and labor groups across the state.
Sky Carp owner happy with initial EntreCon Midwest
BELOIT - The inaugural EntreCon Midwest ended up drawing more than 230 registrants, Beloit College verified on Wednesday.
Business Ins & Outs: Bizzeria, UNIQLO and More Georgetown Openings
Discover the latest Georgetown business openings, including Bizzeria, UNIQLO, and other new restaurants, shops and businesses coming to the neighborhood.
Federal 'Science of Reading' Legislation Passes the House
A bipartisan bill would make the evidence-based instruction a priority in some federal literacy grants.
History, art and science join forces to unlock the mysteries of a
A major grant will enable McGill University Libraries to delve into the Libro di Piume, or Feather Book, an exceptional artifact created in Italy more than 400 years ago. This unique object contains
Duke Energy offering grants to small businesses impacted by recent flooding, storms
Small businesses recovering from recent flooding and storm damage could get thousands of dollars in relief through a Duke Energy Foundation grant. Applications are due Sept. 21.
Middle Schooler Selected As Finalist In National Science Competition
Kianoosh Nawai, an eighth grader at the West Virginia Virtual Academy, was the only West Virginia student chosen from close to 2,000 entrants from across the country for a national science competition.
How Trump’s new green-card policy could affect immigrant families
The policy, set to take effect Friday, would give immigration officers broader authority to deny permanent residency to people using public benefits.
LA County launches grants up to $3,000 for businesses impacted by Lineage Fire, East LA oil spill
Officials in Los Angeles County announced the launch of a grant program offering up to $3,000 to small businesses affected by the Lineage Fire in Boyle Heights, as well as the oil spill in East LA.
Meet the 2026 tenured professors in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
The MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences announced that five MIT faculty were granted tenure.
Out-of-warranty iPhone 18 Pro batteries are more expensive to replace
Apple's support page with service prices for the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max reveal a pricier battery replacement.
15 things to do around the Seattle area this weekend
From exploring Seattle's Sandwich District to vibrant sunflower fields, here are the latest local things to do around the Seattle area.
Ray Jones Highlights Proposed Federal Grant Rule Changes in University Business
Spencer Fane attorney Raymond Jones authored the article What These Proposed Grant Rules Mean for Your Next Proposal, recently published by University
Political party leaders contrast visions at forum
How does a nonpolitical organization help keep the public informed about political issues without getting political? The Western Institute of Lifelong Learning decided the solution was not a debate, but an event presenting the differing — and sometimes nondiffering — perspectives on certain issues held by representatives of Grant County’s major political parties. “Party Perspectives: A Conversation on the Issues” was presented Wednesday in Western New Mexico University’s Besse-Forward Global...
Susquehanna awarded nearly $400K from National Science Foundation
Susquehanna University has been awarded a $388,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund research on aquatic microorganisms.
Quantum Science Headed Into Wyoming College Classrooms
Casper College has received a $444,059 grant from the National Science Foundation to expand hands-on quantum science education for students and teachers in Wyoming and beyond.
Apple Increases Battery Replacement Fee for iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max
In the U.S., Apple is charging a higher $129 out-of-warranty fee to replace the battery in an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max compared to previous models, according to its website. Apple has always charged $119 to replace the battery in iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro models, so the fee has increased by $10 for the iPhone 18 Pro models, which have larger batteries.
HCA Healthcare Foundation awards $25,000 grant to Feeding Southwest Virginia
LewisGale Regional Health System announced on Thursday that the HCA Healthcare Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to Feeding Southwest Virginia to help expa
4 Jaguars Players To Watch Vs. Denver Broncos
A sneaky AFC matchup entering Week 2 that isn’t getting a lot of recognition is the Jacksonville Jaguars traveling to Denver to take on the Broncos at Mile High. Jacksonville is coming off a 34-10 win over the Cleveland Browns, while the Broncos are reeling from an ugly 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. […] The post 4 Jaguars Players To Watch Vs. Denver Broncos appeared first on Stadium Rant.
National Institutes of Health awards $3.6 million grant to study health threats from Hawaiʻi’s plantation history
Investigating a hidden environmental health threat across Hawaiʻi—pollutants left behind by decades of agricultural and industrial activity, and whether wildfires and other disasters can bring those contaminants back into the environment and into people’s bodies—is the focus of a new University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai-led research project that received a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
125 schools receive Choose Iowa Local Food for Schools grants
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Wednesday that 125 public and private schools across the state will receive funding through the Choose Iowa Local Food for Schools Program to purchase Iowa-grown and Iowa-raised food. Each school will receive about $1,600 to purchase local food and will match the funding at least dollar-for-dollar. A full…
President Trump is bringing healthy food from harvest to hallways
The Trump administration is launching initiatives to improve school nutrition by increasing farm-to-school grant funding and investing in cafeteria equipment upgrades.
Spotlight on Business: New family-run Italian restaurant and small business workspace
(ABC 6 News) – In this week’s Spotlight on Business, Justin Collopy from Realty Growth is introducing us to a new family-run restaurant serving up scratch-made dishes and a flexible workspace designed to help small businesses grow.Realty Growth showcases local businesses every Wednesday in Spotlight on Business. Have a place you’d like to see featured […]
Jian Li and Akshat Dave Among Faculty Awarded Grants From AI Innovation Institute
Ten interdisciplinary projects have received funds from Stony Brook University’s AI Small Grant Program. Selected from a pool of 63 applications, these research initiatives will advance integrated AI innovation and strategic diffusion of AI technology across Stony Brook’s campus, New York State and the world. Lav Varshney, Della Pietra Infinity Professor and inaugural director of
Analysis | Why Karl Rove, a father of the modern Texas GOP, is voting for a Democrat
How Texas Republicans abandoned their immigrant-welcoming tradition.
Bruce Brown is walking into a Knicks camp fight
Bruce Brown is not arriving at Knicks camp with a handshake and a guaranteed locker. He is arriving with an […]
MDI Health Celebrates Community at 2026 Annual Meeting
BAR HARBOR—MDI Health celebrated the people and partnerships strengthening local healthcare during its 2026 Annual Meeting and Community Celebration, held September 15 at the Bar Harbor Club. The gathering brought together patients, medical staff, employees, trustees, volunteers, supporters, and community partners to recognize the year’s accomplishments and honor those whose contributions make a meaningful difference across the organization and the communities it serves. “This celebration is an opportunity to recognize the extraordinary people who make our work possible,” said Chrissi Maguire, president and CEO of MDI Health. “Their compassion, dedication, and belief in strong local healthcare can be felt throughout our hospital, health centers, Birch Bay Village, and the communities we serve.” During the celebration, MDI Health presented its 2026 Impact Award to Mount Desert Nursing Association (MDNA), recognizing the organization as Community Partner of the Year for providing compassionate, skilled in-home nursing care across Mount Desert Island, Trenton, and Lamoine. “MDNA extends care beyond our walls, helping people remain safely at home, surrounded by the people and places they know and love,” Maguire said. “Its work lies at the intersection of healthcare and community and strengthens our entire healthcare system.” “For 77 years, MDNA has helped our neighbors recover and remain safely at home,” said Amy McVety, MDNA Executive Director. “Our longstanding partnership with MDI Health helps ensure a seamless transition from hospital to home and the continued care patients need. We are grateful for this recognition and especially proud of our talented, hardworking team.” The evening marked a transition in Board leadership. Martha Wagner, PhD, was recognized as she concluded her term as chair of the MDI Health Board of Trustees. Madeleine Braun, PhD, MBA, was introduced as incoming chair. “It is an honor to build on Martha’s leadership and serve an organization so deeply connected to this community,” Braun said. Individual honorees recognized during the evening’s program included Nancy D’Agostino, MDI Health Volunteer of the Year; George Rossi, Birch Bay Village Volunteer of the Year; Marc Woolfolk, Birch Bay Village Employee of the Year; and Beth Applebee, MDI Hospital Employee of the Year. “These honorees represent the very best of who we are,” Maguire said. The program also highlighted new initiatives and honors from the past year. MDI Health launched a free Screening Mammogram Scholarship Program to remove financial barriers to early detection, supported by a generous grant from the Maine Cancer Foundation. An in-hospital food pantry has been opened to meet rising community need and address the link between nutrition and health. MDI Health earned CMS five-star ratings for Patient Experience and Nurse Communication, top marks in the 2026–2027 Lown Institute Hospitals Index, recognition from the American Hospital Association and American Heart Association, and a third consecutive Best Places to Work in Maine designation. The hospital will open its new Main Entrance this fall, as work advances on the expanded Emergency Department and other patient-care spaces. The Building Our Future Campaign has raised more than $56 million in capital and programmatic support to date. “Everything we have accomplished reflects the strength of this community,” Maguire said. “We are grateful to everyone who has contributed their time, talent, leadership, and support to help MDI Health continue meeting the evolving needs of the region.” Subscribe Share Leave a comment
Piddington’s “posh revolt” over migrant housing plans
Oxfordshire village’s symbolic vote to become independent from the UK could “augur a broader mood”
Edmond gets $3M grant for behavioral health crisis response
Edmond received a federal grant providing $750,000 annually for four years to expand behavioral health crisis response.
Tempe sports grill, casual Scottsdale spot hit with health code violations
A popular Tempe sports grill and a causal Scottsdale eatery were among restaurants hit with health code violations in this week's Dirty Dining report.
West El Paso noodle restaurant receives low health inspection score
A West El Paso Asian restaurant got low inspection scores in visits conducted Sept. 7-11.
Guaranteed Rate Affinity Hires Josh Rakiey To Grow New England Business
Guaranteed Rate Affinity has hired Josh Rakiey as vice president of mortgage lending, adding an experienced originator to expand its business across New England.Rakiey will serve homebuyers, develop relationships with real estate agents, and work to grow his team and regional presence, the company announced Thursday.
Ball State University Receives Grant to Strengthen Rural Health Workforce, Access to Care
By Ball State Communications— MUNCIE, IN— Ball State University has received funding through the Indiana Rural Health Transformation Program to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce and expand access to health services in East Central Indiana. The $358,170 award, covering Sept. 1, 2026-July 31
Can researchers trust that AI models won’t leak their ideas?
Research funders are asking how they can stop confidential scientific ideas in grant proposals from leaking out through large language models (LLMs), for example if reviewers use AI to help them judge applications. Last week, a row erupted in mathematics after OpenAI announced it had solved a notoriously difficult problem, only for another mathematician to demand answers over whether the company had used ideas he had fed into its models. The spat, and the broader issue of idea leakage through AI models, was discussed by funders at an R&D policy conference held in Paris on September 14. At worst, it threatens to undermine the correct attribution of breakthroughs, one of the foundations of modern science. The mathematics dispute around OpenAI is “certainly something we're looking at” Jason Gallo, head of the newly established Office of Metascience at the US National Science Foundation (NSF), told the Blue Sky Forum, hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The controversy started on September 8, when OpenAI announced it had cracked a mathematical problem that had gone unsolved for 90 years. Using a swarm of AI agents, millions of dollars’ worth of computing power and a new internal model, the company said it had finally proved that a long-used formula for modelling fluid dynamics breaks down under certain conditions. However, Tristan Buckmaster, a New York University mathematician who had been independently working with collaborators on the same problem using OpenAI’s Codex tool, hit back with a statement questioning whether the company had snooped on his Codex sessions to gain an advantage. OpenAI has always denied it looked up the “specific user data” of Buckmaster and colleagues. However, the company initially admitted that “while unlikely, we cannot rule out that de-identified data derived from their usage of our products helped improve our models,” although its proofs “differ significantly” from Buckmaster’s. The firm later said that, following an investigation, it concluded that Buckmaster’s Codex prompts “could not have influenced the [OpenAI] system in any way, including through training.”Funder concernYet OpenAI’s initial admission that its model might have ingested Buckmaster’s ideas, then spat them out to its own mathematicians, has scientistsworriedthat their work could leak out if shared with AI. Some AI tools give users an opt-out option to stop their sessions from training the model. If such guarantees can be trusted, this gives scientists some confidence they can use an LLM to develop an idea without the risk of it leaking out.But there’s a bigger potential vulnerability. To win money to investigate ideas, scientists have to share them with funding bodies. These grant proposals are normally kept strictly confidential, to prevent other scientists from scooping them, or to protect commercially valuable intellectual property. To preserve this confidentiality, when the NSF uses AI models, “we have to be sure that it's not making server calls out to an external party, leaking that data,” said Gallo to delegates in Paris. Leaks through reviewersHowever, funders normally use external academic reviewers to assess proposals. And there are growing worries that these reviewers are feeding grant ideas into AI models to help them make a judgement. Research funders have noticed that peer review reports and funding recommendations have “suddenly become much longer, more detailed and complex,” said Diogo Machado, head of the data science unit at Technopolis, a science and technology-focused consultancy. “The sense is that reviewers are increasingly using generative AI in their review work, even where guidelines sometimes forbid it,” he told Science|Business. “This is very difficult for funders to control or prove.” Happening at scaleThis sharing of confidential proposals with AI models is “happening at scale already,” said James Wilson, executive director of the Research on Research Institute, based at University College London, during the debate in Paris. In response, Gallo said the NSF had “strict guidance” around the uploading of proposals to AI models. But he added the NSF was mulling new types of assessment to make sure applicants were truly the originators of their ideas, such as following a short-form proposal with an oral presentation, which would allow the foundation to “really interrogate the investigator on their intellectual contribution.” Related articlesHow can Europe cope with a flood of AI-assisted research grant proposals?The risks and benefits of AI in screening research grant proposals Viewpoint: AI could make scientific overload worse“For us as funders, a lot of the ways to ensure that the application remains the applicant's own intellectual contribution, those ways are quite regressive,” Peter Clifford, head of strategy at Research Ireland, told delegates. “They're maybe ten or 15 or 20 years old, and they don't scale particularly well.” Disputes over the origin of ideas are as old as modern science. Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz spent more than a decade arguing over who invented calculus, for example. And long before LLMs emerged, academics would agonise over how much of their early work to reveal at conferences, in case their colleagues scooped them, Jack Leahy, a senior metascience advisor to the UK government, told delegates. But AI was “accelerating” the “problems of the system,” he said.
Canada looks to deepen research and education links with the EU
Canada is looking for deeper research and education links with the EU, according to its prime minister, Mark Carney. His comments followed hard on the heels of an offer from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to give his nation associate membership of the EU, a status that currently has no legal status or definition. Both sides have yet to detail how this newfound political enthusiasm will translate into concrete action.Addressing the European Parliament on September 17, Carney cited both the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and the Erasmus+ student mobility scheme as areas for future collaboration.Association with the next iteration of Horizon Europe “would allow us to pool resources, cooperate on frontier technology, leverage our world-class research institutes and universities,” he told MEPs. Canada joined the present programme in 2024, but only takes part in Pillar 2, which supports collaborative research projects. Carney also said that young people should be allowed to work, study and live where they want, on either side of the Atlantic. “Canadian membership of Erasmus+ would give your students and ours more opportunity to learn at some of the world’s top universities, to broaden their horizon and to build those lasting ties that will sustain our alliance,” he said.Limited exchanges with Canada are already possible, for example in the Erasmus Mundus strand of the scheme, which supports joint master’s programmes. This would be considerably increased if the country became a full associate member, a club currently limited to nations neighbouring the EU.Most favoured nation?As for the offer of associate membership of the EU, the aim would be to build “an alliance for the future to create a common prosperity and economic security base,” von der Leyen said during her state of the European Union address, also in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on September 16.“We will work on intelligent manufacturing,” she went on. “We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project. We will work on energy-critical minerals and batteries, on [artificial intelligence], quantum, cyber and economic security.”Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science advisor, told Science|Business that the political speeches by Carney and Von der Leyen will open the door to even more scientific cooperation between Canada and the EU. She even attributed the broader political partnership to the scientific diplomacy of Horizon Europe association. “The science and research collaborations have predated this political rapprochement,” she said.While she is not part of the government decision-making process, Nemer thinks Carney’s speech in the European Parliament is more than “political posturing” and the Canadian government is likely to come up with more practical ideas for how to boost collaboration in the near future. “The prime minister mentioned Horizon [Europe] and Erasmus+, maybe there is something more concrete around this,” she said.She went on to suggest that Canada and Europe could also work more closely together on setting international standards for emerging technologies, AI safety, data sovereignty and joint research infrastructures, such as particle accelerators and marine research fleets.Nemer confirmed that science cooperation will be on the agenda at an upcoming EU-Canada summit in October. She met recently with EU ambassadors to Canada to "see where the possibilities are, to signal that there is interest."Room for expansionLike other countries outside Europe that are associated to Horizon Europe, such as South Korea, Australia or Japan, Canada is not allowed to host European Research Council (ERC) grantees. However, Canadian universities hint they would like re-open that discussion. “Canada’s participation in Horizon Europe, the world's largest research funding programme, has been a big success,” said Robert Asselin, the chief executive of U15 Canada, an umbrella body for some of the country’s biggest research universities, in a statement. “Ensuring swift re-association to the next research programme, will be vital to maintain this momentum. We would welcome efforts to explore further opportunities to collaborate with European partners, such as through the European Research Council,” he said. Related articlesHow a new multilateral defence bank could boost innovationEurope’s independence hinges on innovation, von der Leyen saysBut so far, there are no details from the Commission on how von der Leyen’s proposal would boost Canadian access to the ERC or other sensitive research calls in Horizon Europe. And it is unclear how other non-European associated countries, such as New Zealand or Australia, would react if Canada was given better access than them. The same questions may arise closer to home. “How would a new category of associate member of the EU differ from Norway’s participation in EU programmes through the European Economic Area?” asked Jan Palmowski, secretary general of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. “And how does this proposal for Canada change discussion for the UK, Norway and Switzerland for the next Multiannual Financial Framework?”Another area for discussion is how far Canadian organisations can participate in sensitive projects. “I would expect some of the most crucial issues at hand to be whether Canada can participate more closely and predictably in calls that are deemed sensitive on research security or EU preference grounds, on critical technologies, for instance,” Palmowski said. Canada’s participation in other parts of Horizon Europe, as well as the European Competitiveness Fund, might also be discussed, he added.Whatever the details, closer cooperation between the EU and Canada represents a “substantial” opportunity, according to Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university group. “Scientific excellence depends on talented people being able to work together, exchange knowledge and access complementary expertise and infrastructure,” he said. “A closer EU-Canada partnership would strengthen these conditions and provide greater certainty for long-term collaboration.”
West Virginia lawmaker raises concerns over Rural Health grant recipient
A state lawmaker raised concerns about one organization set to receive a grant of more than $1 million in Rural Health Transformation funds.
Libya power cuts push small businesses and weary citizens to brink
Power cuts have been a fact of life for years for Naseem Al-Akkari, who owns a chain of restaurants in Libya's capital, Tripoli.
Jim Alexander: Will - or can - Congress actually ‘protect' college sports?
If you watch ESPN's "College Game Day" - and if you do, you're way more tolerant of self-serving idi...
Opinion: Science corrects Itself. So must justice.
Adjusting a conclusion in response to better evidence is not a failure of science. It is science working. The failure would be refusing to change.
Partnership provides grants for small business disaster relief
A new partnership between the American Red Cross and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is helping small business owners ensure they're ready for disasters and giving them a potential lifeline.
Orlando Health grant assists Early Learning Coalition Brevard
The Early Learning Coalition of Brevard County (ELCB) recently announced it has been awarded more than $250,000 from the Space Coast Health Foundation to expand evidence-based social-emotional learning supports for preschool children across Brevard County.
CT adds guardrails on AI use in some health plans. It could expand to all
In January, Comptroller Sean Scanlon will recommend lawmakers require all state-regulated plans to adhere to the same policies.
Leaving a legacy - Illinois Times, the capital city's source of news, politics, arts, entertainment, culture
Seven charitable organizations that help women in need have received a total of $1.21 million in grants from the newly created Justice Benjamin K. Miller Charitable Fund. Justice Benjamin K. Miller was the first Springfield native on the Illinois Supreme Court, serving from 1984-2001, and was chief justice from 1991-1993. Miller was highly respected in […]
From mother to son: The Jamaican values that shaped Byron Donalds’ path to Florida politics
Whether Donalds wins will be decided by voters. But the journey that brought him to the ballot began with the expectations of an immigrant family.
CT financial business has ‘special sauce’ for success. ‘Culture is like no other culture’
The couple said that building the business was the best opportunity for them and that meant building it in a way that people wanted to be part of it.
Alabama awards $262,000 grant to upgrade forensic science equipment
Gov. Kay Ivey's office has awarded $262,000 to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to enhance drug case investigations and morgue services.
Researchers sue National Institutes of Health over censorship claims
Researchers are suing against the National Institutes of Health, saying that grant funding is used to censor topics the Trump administration dislikes.
Scientists challenge US NIH grant screening as unconstitutional
A group of scientists filed a class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. National Institutes of Health, alleging the agency is unconstitutionally screening research grants to suppress viewpoints the Trump administration disfavors on topics like diversity, gender identity and climate change.
Scientists Challenge US NIH Grant Screening as Unconstitutional
By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A group of scientists filed a class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. National Institutes of Health, alleging the agency is unconstitutionally screening research grants to suppress viewpoints the Trump administration disfavors on ...
17 Roaring Fork organizations receive more than $50,000 in health grants
The Roaring Fork Community Health Fund (RFVCHF) awarded over $50,000 to 17 organizations in the Roaring Fork Valley, according to a Western Colorado Community Foundation news release. The scope of the organizations covers a wide...
From immigration to voting to education, the pointed politics of the deep freeze
There is nothing accidental or incidental about the freezing out of immigrant populations. In fact, across policy areas the “freezing” of populations is not only a prong but the point.
Springfield considers cannabis tax revenue for small business grants
Proposed program would provide up to $100,000 to eight local businesses.
Edmond Secures Major Federal Grant to Expand Behavioral Health Crisis Response
The City of Edmond has been awarded the Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Partnerships grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This grant provides $750,000
Trump administration has cut or frozen $177 billion in grants across every state, analysis shows
Among the grants that were eliminated, frozen or delayed were ones related to maternal health in Michigan, education research in Mississippi and assistance to minority farmers in Iowa, the researchers found.
Four rural CT hospitals receive $46 million in federal health grants
Charlotte Hungerford, Day Kimball, Sharon and Windham Hospitals were awarded the funds through U.S. Rural Health Transformation Program.
The Carriage House at Paper Mill Playhouse announces 2026 Fall Entertainment Series
(MILLBURN, NJ) -- The F. M. Kirby Carriage House at Paper Mill Playhouse has announced its 2026 Fall Entertainment Series, featuring an exciting lineup of live entertainment every week at the restaurant and event space throughout September, October, and November.
$25K grant expands funding for Hendersonville downtown business improvements
Downtown Hendersonville businesses will have a new opportunity to fund storefront improvements, murals and other projects through a $25,000 grant.
Maryland health officials are watching illegal markets as kratom products are restricted
Officials at the Rapid Analysis of Drugs are keeping an eye on if demand for the drug will emerge on the black market and the potential for other adulterants to be added to the drug. The state regulated kratom in 2024 and banned 7-OH in July. Kratom can still be bought, but only with certain potencies and warnings.
House votes to hold Epstein associate Leon Black in contempt of Congress
The resolution says the billionaire’s refusal to comply with subpoenas “warrants referral to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for prosecution as prescribed by law.”
George W. Bush’s new book of paintings of political prisoners will be out in March
The release will coincide with an exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
Delaware health officials warn of measles exposure in greater Rehoboth area
Delaware health officials issued an alert after a person with measles visited stores and restaurants in the greater Rehoboth area.
Immigrants Didn’t Take Your Health Care. ICE Did.
Millions of lawfully present immigrants are set to lose health care under the GOP’s changes. Millions more U.S. citizens will join them.
Downtown Boone restaurant says new traffic pattern cut business nearly 28%
BOONE — The owners of fizz Ed, a restaurant at the corner of Howard and Depot streets in downtown Boone, said a permanent shift in traffic patterns on Howard Street
South Carolina Announces Recipients of Rural Health Transformation Program Funding
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster this week announced the state has awarded 228 grants totaling $167,299,900.69 in funding to strengthen health care access, quality and outcomes in primary care, maternal and infant care, pediatrics and behavioral...
Clarksville Police, Centerstone awarded grant for Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Team
The Clarksville Police Department and Centerstone are recipients of a Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Team Partnerships Grant.
Business Expo & Taste of Palm Springs happening tonight
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) — More than 100 businesses and organizations will come together Wednesday night for the 2026 Business Expo & Taste of Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce is hosting the event from 5 to 9 p.m. at Indian Canyons Golf Resort. The annual showcase will feature more than 40 restaurant
Las Vegas restaurateur turns 10M social media followers into a business advantage
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EU membership bid gives boost to Moldova’s fledgling R&D landscape
Moldova’s push to join the EU is having the spillover effect of helping to improve the country’s R&D landscape, which in recent years has suffered from fragmentation, decreasing personnel and a lack of research infrastructure.The country became an EU candidate country in 2022, alongside Ukraine, and officially began accession negotiations in 2024. With a pro-EU government, Moldova has been actively carrying out reforms to align with EU standards. This has helped accelerate the development of R&D, said Igor Chiosa, acting head of the Research and Innovation Policy Directorate at Moldova’s Ministry of Education and Research. “Our R&D landscape is moving up, and we are more and more involved in the European Research Area,” he said. “The support we receive from the EU is very important, not only financially, but also because of incentives, consultation and capacity building.”The R&D landscape in the former Soviet republic is still relatively underdeveloped, despite attempts at improvement going back to a 2004 law on science and innovation and later reforms in 2017 and 2018. But the system remains in a “precarious situation” and “in the process of contraction,” according to an assessment carried out by the government for the current National Programme for Research and Innovation, which runs from 2024 to 2027. The analysis highlights in particular the declining number of researchers and PhDs, which has been continuously falling, as well as limited research funding. This is around 10 times lower than the EU average and “insufficient to maintain a level of research activity that supports higher education and meets the needs of the economy.” The mechanisms for allocating research funds are also described as inefficient, as well as the general fragmentation of the landscape, with research and innovation activities being carried out in 67 different places. The lack of strategic vision for research infrastructure is also noted. The strategy sets out to address these issues and is being fuelled by reforms linked to EU accession. Moldova now has a regulation on open science and gender equality. There is also a new support mechanism for technology transfer offices and a business-academia roadmap. In 2025, the country also became the first Eastern Partnership country to approve a Smart Specialisation strategy, which will coordinate its R&D efforts to focus on strengths, within a European context. “We’ve done a lot in terms of normative acts,” Chiosa said. Horizon Europe successMoldova is also seeing more success in the EU’s flagship R&D programme, Horizon Europe. The country has now won nearly €15 million in funding, already double the amount won under the previous programme, Horizon 2020, and more than the €10 million target set by the government. Chiosa said the priority has shifted now to winning more research-centred projects, rather than those related to support and capacity. Moldova is also targeting further involvement in large European projects. Last year, it joined the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking giving Moldovans access to Europe's supercomputing network. The country is also a member of Danubius-RI, a European research infrastructure focused on river and sea research. Despite these efforts, Moldova’s research capacity is still shackled by its limited R&D budget, which equates to 0.23% of its GDP. This is around half of what its neighbour Romania spends, which is the lowest in the EU. According to Chiosa, the research budget is increasing year-on-year, jumping by €6.34 million between 2024 and 2025. But this doesn’t show up when looking at it as a proportion of GDP. “Of course, it’s difficult,” he said. “That is why we are putting more emphasis on collaboration between business and academia, as well as participation in Horizon Europe, to try to diversify our sources of funding.”A World Bank loan of €30 million, plus a grant of €7.8 million, was agreed in 2025 to support the modernisation of Moldova’s universities. As part of this, a call was launched this year to provide universities grants of up to €900,000 to develop their research infrastructure. Moldova is also collaborating closely with Romania, with which it shares a common language, funding 100 joint projects in 2023 and 2024. This support has been instrumental. “They are helping with sharing their expertise, inviting us into consortia, and lots more,” Chiosa said. Looking forward, Moldova is eagerly anticipating joining the EU. “We are looking closely at what the EU is doing and will shape our future national programme in research innovation accordingly.”EU accession “blocked at a technical level”Moldova is aiming to join the EU by 2028, but despite its swift and eager efforts to meet the accession criteria, there remain obstacles outside of the country’s control. For a country to join the EU, it must have certain legislation in place and meet specific standards in various areas. This is categorised into six thematic clusters containing 33 chapters. Moldova and the EU have so far opened two of the clusters, numbers one and six. The first covers fundamental laws, such as the judiciary, security and financial legislation. The sixth covers external relations. The remaining four clusters are still unopened. This includes the third cluster, on competitiveness and growth, which contains the chapter on science and research.Related articlesQ&A: Albania’s ambition to become a ‘moderate innovator’Data corner: Horizon success rates are droppingThe European Commission has confirmed that these clusters are ready to be opened, with an official saying that the Commission is encouraging EU governments, who have the final say, to move forward on the matter. However, both clusters two and three remain blocked by the EU Council’s working party on enlargement and countries negotiating accession to the EU, a different official, representing the Council, confirmed.This working party is set to meet several times in the coming weeks, with a Council meeting scheduled for mid-October in which enlargement, and Moldova’s bid, will be discussed. But there is no certainty that these talks will lead to progress. According to the Council source, it is “completely impossible to foresee if and when the file will be unblocked,” citing the sensitivity of the matter. Moldova’s situation is particularly complicated. One factor is that it borders Ukraine and is increasingly embroiled in Russia’s war, with drone incursions occurring more often on its territory. Another is Transnistria, a Russian-backed breakaway state that lies within the territory of Moldova. It is unclear how the EU would be able to accept Moldova into the bloc while this situation remains unchanged. While there is no direct reason to delay opening cluster three with Moldova, as it covers matters unrelated to security, it could be that the EU is reluctant to speed through accession negotiations without first resolving broader, geopolitical issues.Chiosa is confident that, if and when the chapter on science and research is opened, Moldova will be able to finalise it quickly. It doesn’t require any legislative changes and is only a matter of proving certain standards, which Chiosa believes Moldova is well prepared to do. “We hope that chapter 25 on science and research will be one of the first chapters opened and closed,” he said.
Louisville Originals Gift Card program returns after 6-year hiatus
Louisville Independent Business Alliance revives its gift card program to support local restaurants, with eight establishments currently participating.
Truth and Politics in the Age of Post-Truth
Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work. Subscribe This is an excerpt from Global Politics in a Post-Truth Era. You can download the book free of charge from E-International Relations. The term post-truth is by now so ubiquitous in describing the state of politics in the Western world and even beyond that the most pressing issue of the day appears to be about making democracy work in the era of post-truth rather than questioning the normalisation of the term itself in the first place. The critical turning point appeared to have occurred in 2016 when the term was chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘The Word of the Year.’ On its website, the Dictionary notes the transformation of post-truth from ‘being a peripheral term to being a mainstay in political commentary and connects ‘the spike in frequency’ directly with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald J. Trump in the United States – both occurring in 2016. Paired with the noun ‘politics,’ post-truth is defined as an adjective ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the term to a 1992 essay in The Nation by the playwright Steve Tesich as he reflected on the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal and the 1990–91 Gulf War: We are rapidly becoming prototypes of a people that totalitarian monsters could only drool about in their dreams. All the dictators up to now have had to work hard at suppressing the truth. We, by our actions, are saying that this is no longer necessary, that we have acquired a spiritual mechanism that can denude truth of any significance. In a very fundamental way we, as a free people, have freely decided that we want to live in some post-truth world (Tesich 1992, 13; emphasis added). He then continued, The Gulf War is over but the war at home goes on. The gulf between rich and destitute widens – between those of us who live in a modern post-industrial nation and those of us who live in the Third World countries of our inner cities. The present administration’s response to this internal crisis has shifted from benign to malignant neglect. The current levels of misery and decomposition of our cities and the economic gulags of our ghettos are acceptable. Since there is only so much hope to go around, there is a freeze on hope. The have-nots have now been reclassified as never-will-haves (Tesich 1992, 13). In the context of Tesich’s essay, truth includes both facts, as in what happens, and ‘moral absolutes,’ as in the ‘self-evident truths mentioned in our Constitution’ (Tesich 1992, 14). Together, these two notions of truth entail the obligation to both act and react. The two passages cited above show that even in the early post-Cold War years, Tesich was already deeply concerned that the American people are neither prepared to act on truth nor react to truth that is disconcerting, or what he calls ‘bad news’ (Tesich 1992, 12). Accordingly, Tesich’s insight as captured by the term post-truth is not that truth is irrelevant to what we know, but rather it is irrelevant to how we act. In contrast, ‘post-truth politics,’ as defined by Oxford as a term that pitches ‘objective facts’ against ‘emotion and personal belief’ such that the latter appears to have overtaken the former in shaping ‘public opinion’ and thereby, democratic politics. When Tesich’s post-truth politics and its current usage are juxtaposed, the two are in fact not identical in terms of what truth is and how it relates to politics. Against such consideration, this chapter provides a critical survey of selected historical events and theoretical considerations for the purpose of gaining a more nuanced understanding of the relation between truth and politics. Truth and Language One notable impact of post-truth politics is that language is being overtly deployed as a political weapon not only by politicians and those in power, but among the general population. It seems that once facts are irrelevant to the validity of what is being said, language becomes the platform for an all-out political contest in which what is said is no more than an act of will expressed as an assertion of power and/or an exercise in defiance. As early as in the writings of Thucydides (460–400 BCE), the vulnerability of logos – which is the human capacity for rational discourse in tumultuous times – was already noted. Thucydides belonged to a school of Greek thought which maintained that language is conventional and that the association between name and things is a result of ‘human use and habit’ rather than ‘nature or divine dispensation’ (Connor 1984, 99). The conventional nature of language means that it is incapable of providing its users with any independent criteria for judgement. In Thucydides’ study of the Peloponnesian War (431–405 BCE), the subversion of logos as seen in the manipulation of language was introduced through his account of the civil war in Corcyra (Thucydides 1972, 236-245). The war first broke out in 427 BCE between the pro-Athenian democratic faction and the pro-Spartan oligarchic faction before it spread to the rest of the Greek world. There was a general breakdown of law and order, resulting in extreme violence and death. Language underwent changes that were reflective of the events of the time. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) translated Thucydides’ description of the situation as follows: The received value of names imposed for signification of things, was changed into arbitrary. For inconsiderate boldness, was counted true-hearted manliness: provident deliberation, a handsome fear: modesty, the cloak of cowardice: to be wise in everything, to be lazy in everything... he that had been so provident as not to need to do the one or the other, was said to be a dissolver of society, and one that stood in fear of his adversary. In brief, he that could outstrip another in the doing of an evil act, or that could persuade another thereto that never meant it, was commended (Hobbes 1839–1845, 8: 348; Thucydides 1972, 242-243). What concerned Thucydides most was that the meanings of words are no more than linguistic conventions that require logos to support them. The Corcyrean civil war was a reminder that such capacity cannot be assumed. This is why history understood as an authentic account of what happens matters. Guided by logos, the historian’s task is ‘the search after truth’, which is established through ‘the absence of the fabulous,’ including ‘the rejection of myth and unverifiable stories’ (de Jonge 2017, 2). Thus, history plays an important role in facilitating the stability of language – without which distinctions and judgements cannot be rendered communicable. Just like Thucydides, Hobbes was a nominalist who subscribed to the view that there is no inherent meaning to words. Hobbes’ state of nature, where there is no common authority, is precisely one in which distinctions cannot be made. As Hobbes put it, there is ‘no Mine and Thine distinct’ nor is there distinction between ‘the notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice’ (1968, 188; emphasis in original). This is clearly an unsustainable condition for everyone. Behind Hobbes’ famous words that life in the state of nature is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’ is his uncompromising argument for the ‘Leviathan’, which is described by the late American political theorist, Sheldon Wolin (1922–2015), as the ‘sovereign definer’ (Hobbes 1968, 186; Wolin 2004, 238–243). Accordingly, the social contract is importantly a ‘linguistic contract’ that binds all parties to ‘general names agreed upon’ (Peters 1979, 125; Hobbes 1968, 111). Through Thucydides and Hobbes, we can identify a line of thinking that sees politics as a contestation over the use of language, which is based on shared conventions and norms. Thus understood, politics is not a collective quest for the true nature of our being or an epistemological exercise in pursuit of true knowledge. Rather, politics is about humans living with one another by finding a shared language to communicate with one another on matters that affect them all. Truth is in that sense contingent on what is being said as opposed to setting the standard for it. In other words, truth is the embodiment of shareability among us. While truth as such ensures the viability of a political entity, truth by no means represents a normative standard to adjudicate among contesting actors in what they say, let alone in what they do. During Thucydides’ times, ancient China was also experiencing a tumultuous time as the ruling Zhou dynasty deteriorated into the period of the Warring States (481–221 BCE). This was when the rulers of Zhou no longer presided over the territories brought under its control through conquest. Instead of professing allegiance to the Zhou royalty, the lords of these territories became kings themselves to rule over their own land. The period was one marked by endless military campaigns as each of the seven major states aimed to conquer the rest (Lewis 1999). Yet, the period was also known for its intellectual vibrancy as different thinkers challenged the restoring of order among these warring states – including offering ideas and advice to rulers on good governance. Among these thinkers was Confucius (551–479 BCE). His thought, which came to be known as Confucianism, went on to become the state ideology of China from the Han dynasty (206 BCE–222 CE) until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911 when China became a republic. The founding text of Confucianism was the Analects, which is a collection of dialogues between Confucius and his students as recorded by them. One key concept Confucius advanced is the ‘rectification of names’. Though the term only appears in one exchange in the Analects, it is considered a major aspect of Confucius’ thought. Generations of Confucian scholars from past and present, including Western academics, have debated over its interpretation (Makeham 2003). The passage in question reads as follows: Zi Lu said: ‘The monarch of the state of Wei wants you to govern the country, what is the first thing you plan on doing?’ Confucius said: ‘First it is necessary to rectify the names.’Zi Lu said: ‘Is that really what has to be done? You are being too pedantic, aren’t you now? How will you rectify these names?’Confucius said: ‘Zhong You, you are too unrefined. A gentleman, faced with a matter that he does not understand, takes a skeptical attitude. If names are not correct, one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, and if one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, affairs cannot be managed successfully. If affairs cannot be managed successfully, rites and music will not be conducted. If rites and music are not conducted, punishments will not be suitable. And if punishments are not suitable, the common people will not know what to do. So, when the gentleman uses names, it is necessary to be able to speak so that people understand. If one can say it, one can definitely do it. A gentleman should not be careless with words’ (Analects 13:3 in Cao 2016, 148). This translation is offered by the contemporary philosopher Cao Feng. As Cao notes, the passage is what started the whole debate over ‘exactly what kind of names did Confucius... wish to rectify’ (Cao 2016, 148). Of the three major groups of interpretation examined by Cao, beginning with classical Confucian scholarship, one is arguably the most influential and certainly most pertinent to the issue of language and politics. This is the interpretation that was first associated with the Neo-Confucian master, Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who argued that the ‘rectification of names is simply the rectification of politics’ (Cao 2016, 149). Within this interpretive framework, rectification has the dual functions of correction and prescription by ensuring that predetermined hierarchical roles are strictly adhered to through following ‘the system of rites and propriety’ (Cao 2016, 151). In addition, the rectification of names entails ‘using names to rectify actuality’ (Cao 2016, 151). Yet Cao rejects this whole body of interpretive works by arguing that these were ideas developed later. Instead, Cao suggests the following: The original meaning of Confucius’ rectification of names may, then, be quite simple. Confucius did not mean to establish a concrete, normative system of “names”; rather, Confucius was simply the first person in history to realize or remark upon the importance of language in politics. As a politician, he noticed and foresaw the impact that the indeterminacy, ambiguity, and arbitrariness of names would have on politics. Confucius recognized the political consequences of language’s not accurately expressing meaning or not being accurately received by people. He realized the great role that names, as a means of distinguishing right and wrong and establishing norms, could play in society and politics (Cao 2016, 168). Scholarly debates aside, Cao’s view has the advantage of identifying an interpretation of this controversial exchange in the Analects that enables its readers to extrapolate from it the observation that the meaning of words depends as much on their users as on their interpreters; neither of which can be predetermined. Accordingly, a good ruler is someone who can speak without ambiguity to his subjects and make good his words through actions. Stated differently, Cao’s view on what concerned Confucius then, who was living through times of protracted political upheaval, is that language is an indispensable political tool for those in power and can be deployed by both good and bad rulers alike. To sum up, this historical survey shows that politics as a war of words is by no means a distinctive marker of contemporary politics nor the Western world. Be it ancient or current, east or west, language is subject to manipulation to serve political purposes and when there is an outright war of words that defies existing norms, it is indicative of a political situation in which people no longer share a language and truth becomes irrelevant. Accordingly, political order entails stability in language use. Truth and Politics As previously noted, current use of the term post-truth as an adjective to the term ‘politics’ suggests that once there was a time when politics aligned with truth. Indeed, if we start with Plato’s Republic as the key founding text of Western political thought, we see that the ideal polis (city-state of ancient Greece) is where truth and politics converge, and justice is achieved. Written around 380 BCE when Athens was still coping with its defeat by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, the Republic is a defence of the rule of the ‘philosopher king’, defined as someone who is ‘guided by the truth’ and is ‘always and in every way’ in pursuit of the truth (Plato 1974, 490a). For Plato, truth converges with virtues and hence, letting the philosopher take charge of politics is to let the wisest and the most virtuous lead the less wise and the less virtuous even if it requires compulsion (Plato 1974, 499b). In Plato’s words, ‘…until the philosophers attain power in a city there will be no respite from evil for either city or citizens…’ (Plato 1974, 501e). The uncompromising rule of philosopher-kings is made palatable by the claim that we are all ‘earth- born brothers’ with random mixtures of gold, silver, bronze and iron, but only the gold can rule (Plato 1974, 414–415). Understandably, academic debates over the interpretation of Plato’s Republic revolve around the question of whether truth as attained in philosophy can be realised in politics as action and whether such a connection is even desirable. Without getting into the details of these scholarly exchanges, I suggest that they all share the concern that truth acquired through the rigorous process of philosophical reasoning is not without problem when applied to the real world of living humans. This is because not all humans are philosophers – and indeed, in Plato’s view, not everyone is capable of becoming a philosopher given the protracted and arduous training that one needs to endure to become one. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), a highly influential political philosopher of the twentieth century, notes that ‘Plato was the first to introduce the division between those who know and do not act and those who act and do not know’ and that such a separation has remained ‘at the root of all theories of domination’ (Arendt 1958, 223, 225). What Arendt points out in this remark is not the gap between theory and practice, but rather that Plato provides the normative ground for those who know the truth to tell those who do not know what to do. Arendt herself took on the challenge of understanding the relationship between truth and politics through her analysis of Nazism and Stalinism. Arendt’s insight, which was controversial when The Origins of Totalitarianism was published in 1951, was to identify Nazism and Stalinism as representative of a new form of political rule – totalitarianism – making it distinct from ‘other forms of political oppression... such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship’ (Arendt 1973, 460). Arendt defines totalitarianism as a self- contained system of ideas driven by their ‘logic’ and marked by a mode of reasoning called ‘ideological thinking.’ Ideological thinking as such is a distinctive form of political reasoning defined by three characteristics. First, ideological thinking claims to provide a ‘total explanation’ of all historical happenings, encompassing the past, the present, and the future. Second, while ideological thinking is an attempt to account for ‘factual reality’ in its totality, this mode of thinking is paradoxically divorced from reality and experience. This is because experience, being rooted in specificity, is clearly limited in its claim to totality. It follows that as its third characteristic, ideological thinking aims to emancipate thought from the limitation imposed by experience through a ‘specific method of demonstration.’ The method involves arranging facts into an ‘absolutely logical procedure’ that starts from an ‘axiomatically accepted premise’. It is, in short, a ‘process of deduction from a premise’ – which is the only possible movement in the realm of logic that leads to one definitive conclusion. This is how the ‘logicality of ideological thinking’ provides the basis for total explanation and the ‘principle of action’ for totalitarian movement (Arendt 1973, 468–474). Stated differently, totalitarianism is a form of uncompromising idealism that exists in one’s head irrespective of shared reality as experienced. It is the perverse form of what Arendt later refers to as ‘rational truth’, which is the product of the ‘speculative mind’ that belongs to philosophy, mathematics and the sciences. The ‘speculative mind’ is the mind working on its way to generate axioms and theories by relying on the cognitive capacity of the human brain (Arendt 1977, 231). The presence of others has no bearing whatsoever on rational truth. In contrast, ‘factual truth’ is what happens when humans are ‘living and acting together’ (Arendt 1977, 231). Factual truth is therefore particular and temporal by definition. But more importantly, factual truth is ‘political by nature’ because it can only be validated in the context of the human community (Arendt 1977, 238). In other words, factual truth is about humans in their plurality rather than in their singularity. For factual truth to be sustainable, we need what Arendt calls ‘common sense’ – understood as ‘community sense’ (Arendt 1982, 72). There is also another distinction about truth that Arendt makes which is pertinent to understanding how totalitarianism works. The issue is whether the so-called totalitarian ideology is simply an unnecessarily cumbersome way of saying that it is an all-round and polished lie. Here, Arendt calls totalitarian ideology the ‘modern lie’ – in contrast to the ‘traditional lie’. The latter is restricted by two conditions: that it is a lie about the ‘particulars’ and that it deceives only the ‘enemy’ – which means that the liar is not engaged in self- deception. The modern lie, however, involves a ‘complete rearrangement of the whole factual texture’. It also intends to deceive everyone alike, to the extent that those who initiate the lie eventually ‘fall victims to their own falsehood’ (Arendt 1977, 249–254). This distinction between the traditional and modern lie is important. It indicates that not only is totalitarianism a lie, but the lie is in fact too big to fit into the standard meaning of the word. To tell a lie from truth, we need a common standard. In the case of a traditional lie, the common standard is precisely ‘the fabric of factuality’. As such, a lie always appears as a ‘tear’ to that fabric. Yet, modern lies require making a surrogate reality with a completely different context for facts to fit ‘without seam, crack, or fissure, exactly as the facts fitted into their original context’. Arendt notes that as long as those who concoct the surrogate reality are prepared to engage in self- deception to ‘create a semblance of truthfulness’, there is nothing to prevent ‘these new stories, images, and non-facts from becoming an adequate substitute for reality and factuality’ (Arendt 1977, 253–254). Totalitarianism therefore requires a person to stand outside of the system itself in order to make sense of it. Arendt points out that it is futile for us to argue with (for example) a Nazi or a Stalinist on race or class. To confront totalitarianism requires more than just a confrontation with specific facts. It is a more fundamental confrontation between reality as experienced and its total rejection. This means that Nazism and Stalinism are more than radical ways of conducting racial conflict or class struggle. Rather: Totalitarian politics – far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist – use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of factual reality, from which the ideologies originally derived their propaganda value– the value of struggle, for instance, or the interest conflicts between Jews and their neighbours – have all but disappeared (Arendt 1973, xv). Accordingly: The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (that is, the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (that is, the standards of thought) no longer exist (Arendt 1973, 474). Who then is the ‘ideal subject’ of totalitarianism? Although there is a revival of interest in Arendt’s observation on truth and politics since the onset of post- truth politics, not enough has been said about her reply to the question (Hyvönen 2018; Klinkler 2018; Lee 2019; Zerilli 2020). Yet if we take a look at Arendt’s portrait of this ideal subject, her view is even more pertinent to our current challenge. As a self-contained system of ideas that is detached from experience, totalitarian thinking offers consistency in ways that reality cannot. Arendt notes that this kind of consistency is especially appealing to those who have lost a sense of bearing in the world (Arendt 1973, 353). They constitute what she calls the ‘masses’. The ‘mass man’ is thus a highly isolated and atomised individual, who is ‘obsessed by a desire to escape from reality’ (Arendt 1973, 318, 352). In his ‘essential homelessness’ the mass man can ‘no longer bear its accidental, incomprehensible aspects’ (Arendt 1973, 352). This longing for escape from reality is a ‘verdict against the world’ in which one is ‘forced to live’ but ‘cannot exist’ (Arendt 1973, 352). Such a situation is ripe for the ‘revolt of the masses’ against ‘common sense,’ which is ‘the result of their atomisation, of their loss of social status’ and with it, the ‘whole sector of communal relationships in whose framework common sense makes sense’ (Arendt 1973, 352). In short, the masses are people who are considered to be ‘superfluous or can be spared … [who] cannot be integrated into any organisation based on common interest’ (Arendt 1973, 311). Whether one agrees with Arendt’s analysis of the social conditions in the interwar years that led to the formation of the ‘masses’, her portrait of the ‘mass man’ is a powerful account of what can happen to an individual who has become disposable to the society that they used to belong to. Hand in hand with this phenomenon is indeed the collapse of ‘common sense’ that leaves the dislodged individual scrambling for reconnection. By offering the masses a substitute reality validated by the ‘logic of an idea’ rather than by experience, totalitarianism makes it possible for them to live in a world where there is no condition of plurality. Between ‘facing the anarchic growth and total arbitrariness of decay’ and ‘bowing down before the most rigid, fantastically fictitious consistency of an ideology’, the masses will likely ‘choose the latter’ (Arendt 1973, 352). A world created by ideology, then, is more attractive to the masses not because ‘they are stupid and wicked, but because in the general disaster this escape grants them a minimum of self- respect’ by conjuring up ‘a lying world of consistency which is more adequate to the needs of the human mind than reality itself’ (Arendt 1973, 353). Moreover, it is precisely this ability to guarantee consistency that makes it possible for the leaders of totalitarian movements to demand ‘total, unrestricted, unconditional and unalterable loyalty of the individual member’ (Arendt 1973, 323). While this chapter is not a study of the social factors that led to specific contemporary developments such as the result of the Brexit referendum or the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Arendt’s ‘mass man’ seem to have found their counterparts among the supporters of Brexit and Trumpism. Studies of voters’ profiles in both events point to a disproportionate share of supporters from white male lower income backgrounds without university educations. These are individuals who have either already lost their jobs to globalisation or who are at high risk of losing their job with very little capacity to be retrained for the twenty-first century market economy of advanced industrialised states (BBC 2016; Pew Research Center 2018). In short, these displaced workers are part of the tapestry forming the modern equivalent of Arendt’s ‘mass man’ – ready to be the recruits of totalitarianism. Conclusion If we step back to take a more comprehensive approach to the relationship between truth and politics, both historically and theoretically, it is not so obvious that 2016 is a defining moment. From ancient China and ancient Greece to our so-called post-truth age, the indeterminacy of language appears to be a persistent political challenge. Language is always open to manipulation by its users to serve power. Nonetheless, the tendency these days is to single out the ubiquity of social media and the proliferation of Internet platforms as the incubator for the countless cyberwars of words that in turn fuel the real world of politics. In this context, language is no longer the conveyor of objective facts and accurate information, but rather the medium for expressing subjective opinions and feelings, as captured by the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the term ‘post-truth politics’. In contrast, the historical approach used in this chapter shows that it is in fact too easy to point the figure at the Internet and digital communication for the political challenge that we face today. What is being suggested here is that with or without the Internet, language, be it used to convey facts or emotions, is simply a tool for communication that humans have invented. While language per se cannot adjudicate what is true or not true, what is right or wrong, it embodies such capacity when language is a shared norm. That shared norm cannot be sustained without some semblance of cohesion in any given community. Any war of words, irrespective of its platform, is indicative of the breakdown of such cohesiveness. Returning to the original context in which the term post-truth politics was first used by Steve Tesich helps to identify the important distinction between truth as the standard for knowledge and truth as the standard for action. The two do not necessarily coincide. Placed in the context of the history of political thought, this distinction is in fact at the heart of Plato’s Republic. Yet when the philosopher as the quintessential bearer of truth becomes king, the polis that he rules over is far from the ideal of a just state that it purports to be. Instead, it is one that is held together by lies and coercion. What Arendt reveals through her study of Nazism and Stalinism is that it is dangerous for the kind of truth that philosophy generates – ‘rational truth’ – to become the guide to politics. Politics guided by rational truth can only be uncompromising and follows a logic of its own that cannot afford the ambiguity and indeterminacy of reality as lived experiences of humans. A world of post-truth politics can be an opportunity for a new kind of politics if it is indeed about dismantling the idea that truth is the ideal that politics should strive for. But as it stands, the post-truth politics of today is more about invoking a past that never exists to judge the presence as a crisis in naming when the real crisis is about rebuilding a shared space that has room for all – be they of the left, right or centre; cosmopolitan or parochial; civic-minded or self-centred; liberal-minded or bigoted. Politics is and always will be about striving for that space, without which no human can thrive. References Arendt, Hannah. 1958. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Arendt, Hannah. 1973. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Rev. ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Arendt, Hannah. 1977. “Truth and Politics.” In Between Past and Future, 227–264. New York: Penguin Books. Arendt, Hannah. 1982. Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy, edited by Ronald Beiner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2016. “Brexit vote: The breakdown.” BBC News, December 7, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38227674 Cao, Feng. 2016. “A New Examination of Confucius’ Rectification of Names.” Journal of Chinese Humanities 2: 147–171. https://doi-org.subzero.lib. uoguelph.ca/ doi/ 10.1163/23521341-12340032. Connor, W. Robert. 1984. Thucydides. Princeton: Princeton University Press. de Jonge, Casper C. 2017. “Dionysius of Halicarnassus on Thucydides.” in The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides, edited by Sara Forsdyke, Edith Foster, and Ryan Balot. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/ oxfordhb/9780199340385.013.17 https://www-oxfordhandbooks-com.subzero. lib.uoguelph.ca/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199340385.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199340385 Hyvönen, Ari-Elmeri. 2018. “Careless Speech: Conceptualizing Post-Truth Politics.” New Perspectives 26 (3): 31–55. https://www.proquest.com/ scholarly-journals/careless-speech-conceptualizing-post-truth/ docview/2204515132/se-2?accountid=11233. Hobbes, Thomas. 1839–1845. The English Works of Thomas Hobbes, edited by Sir William Molesworth. London: John Bohn. Vol. 8. Klinkner, Melanie. 2018. “Reasonable Truth.” International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics 14 (3): 393–99. doi:10.1386/macp.14.3.393_7. Lee, Haiyan. 2019. “When Nothing Is True, Everything Is Possible: On Truth and Power by Way of Socialist Realism.” PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 134 (5). Cambridge University Press: 1157–64. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2019.134.5.1157 Lewis, Mark E. 1999. “Warring States Political History.” In The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, edited by Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy, 587–650. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Makeham, John. 2003. “Zheng ming (Rectification of names).” In RoutledgeCurzon Encyclopedia of Confucianism, edited by Xinzhong Yao. Vol. 2: 813-814. New York: Routledge. Oxford Languages, n. d. “Word of the Year 2016.” Accessed 19 August 2017. https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2016/ Peters, Richard. 1979. Hobbes. Westport: Greenwood Press. Pew Research Center. 2018. “An examination of the 2016 electorate, based on validated voters.” Report, August 9, 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/ politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on- validated-voters/ Plato. 1974. Republic. Translated by G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett. Tesich, Steve. 1992. “Watergate Syndrome: A Government of Lies.” The Nation: 12-14. January 6/13, 1992. Thucydides. 1972. The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Rex Warner. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. Wolin, Sheldon. 2004. Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Westen Political Thought. Expanded Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Zerilli, Linda M. G. 2020. ‘Fact-Checking and Truth-Telling in an Age of Alternative Facts.’ Le foucaldien 6, no. 1: 2, 1–22. Theresa Man Ling Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph (Canada). Lee is a political theorist who specializes in contemporary political thought. Her research and teaching areas include continental philosophy, Marxism and critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, philosophy of social science, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, human rights, disability studies, modern Chinese political thought and comparative political theory. Lee has published on a wide range of subjects in these areas, including intercultural pedagogy and the challenges of teaching as a person with multiple minority designations in a Canadian university classroom.
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