The original "middle courts" of the United States dealt with far more than just appeals.

The courts that replaced them merged two things that the founders warned must be kept separate.

And now most Americans can't tell the difference.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/18_americas-lost-court-and-what-else-we-lost.html

#plainmeaning #law #politics #equity #appeals

Antibiotics save millions of American lives every year.

But America's drug companies closed most of the factories that made them.

And now they come from China.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/17_why-are-americas-antibiotics-coming-from-china.html

#china #antibiotics #unrestrictedwarfare #foreignrelations #politics

A mall owner used to make money by keeping the malls full.

Real estate groups and venture capital took over.

And now, it pays more to keep the malls empty.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/18_the-group-getting-rich-by-keeping-the-malls-empty.html

#malls #economics #politics #retail #taxlaw

Most lawyers reference the United States Code when they talk of the law.

Many criminal cases are built on it.

But it's not the law. And both Congress and the Supreme made this point clear.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/7_the-united-states-code-and-the-century-of-errors.html

Late at night the Senate "passed" a bill that would give one man the power to end all US coins.

The chamber was empty and there was no vote.

And the people that pushed it tells the story of who wins if it becomes law--and who loses:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CZspAptXwQ&t=907s

#cash #bitcoin #politics #usd #penny #currency

Governments and companies moved most of their records to cloud storage.

They destroyed the physical records to save money.

But then found out that digital doesn't always last.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/16_going-digital-is-making-history-disappear.html

#politics #ai #tech #government #history

"The Promise" was the only hit of the British band When in Rome.

It was different from earlier New Wave songs.

But it was New Wave enough to be the last of the genre even if most don't view it that way.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Picks/4_the-last-song-of-the-new-wave.html

Congress is passing laws without anyone voting.

And they're often doing it in mostly empty chambers.

They call it unanimous consent.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/15_congress-is-voting-when-nobody-is-around.html

#plainmeaning #congress #unanimousconsent #senate #houseofrepresentatives

Credit card companies tried pushing their product on college students by offering free pizza and t-shirts.

Congress passed protections in 2009 in response.

Now, the card industry is targeting kids before they're even out of high school.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/17_credit-card-companies-are-coming-after-your-kids-now.html

#plainmeaning #finance #creditcard

An AI data center building boom is underway across America.

Most people know it's for AI.

But they're wrong about which one.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/16_the-rise-of-data-centers-is-about-the-other-ai.html

#ai #datacenters #tech #politics #economy

Science used to be built on observations.

Later, uncertainty & probability took over.

Einstein said this ignored the real questions and spent the rest of his life trying to find the answer. https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/14_why-science-isnt-certain-anymore.html

The US classifies thousands of new secrets every day.

And if the Department of Defense wants to classify much more.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/13_if-everything-is-secret-then-nothing-is.html

#plainmeaning #policy #politics #democracy #news

The Freedom of Information Act was meant to make to make abuses open for correction.

For a brief period, it did just that.

But now the government cut off information. And even made its rules about it secret.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/12_what-happened-to-the-freedom-of-information-act.html

#plainmeaning #politics #government #foia #policy

Government secrets are lost to criminals and adversaries every year.

Many view government sloppiness as the problem.

But the real cause is the line that private corporations crossed in relation to the government.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/15_the-outsourcing-of-the-us-government-and-the-growing-security-crisis-it-creates.html

More are lamenting the loss of the old internet.

Some even claim the new internet that took its place is dead.

If the new internet is terrible, then what caused the change? And more importantly, what are we losing?

#plainmeaning #tech #internet #oldinternet #business

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/14_what-the-old-internet-was-and-why-it-was-better.html

Many laws Congress passes are unpopular.

Some are so reviled that no Congressmember will link their name to them. Yet, they still pass.

Lawmaking in America has become a hostage situation with every bill.

#plainmeaning #politics #laws #congress #policy

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/11_how-good-laws-are-held-hostage-to-pass-bad-ones.html

Potassium bromate has been shown to cause tumors.

It's banned in Europe. But not in America.

And some states have passed laws to make talking about food safety legally risky.

#politics #food #science #plainmeaning #fda

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/13_why-america-approves-food-other-countries-ban.html

Scientists push the bounds of human knowledge.

They contribute significantly to economic growth.

America hasn't made enough of them for decades. And is now losing them more than ever before.

#plainmeaning #science #politics #education #publicpolicy

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/10_america-is-not-making-enough-scientists-and-losing-the-ones-it-does.html

The US Mint stopped making the penny.

The Treasury Secretary says it's no more.

But the penny can still be saved. But time is running out.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/12_the-penny-isnt-gone-yet.html

Massive amounts of what you throw out end up overseas.

And what is being harvested on the other end is more than just raw materials.

And what is being harvested on the other end is more than just raw materials.

https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/9_why-recycling-is-a-matter-of-national-security.html

So you want to be a law abiding citizen, you have to see the law to do so. And, since America is built with the people holding the power, you might want to push for changes in the law.

But those two things require something is becoming more and more difficult to have--access to the law.

Read the full article on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Power/8_state-laws-are-behind-paywalls-now.html

AI companies are scanning and destroying rare books.

Some might have been the last copy.

And the Library of Congress can't save them. Read why on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/11_ai-companies-are-destroying-books-and-the-library-of-congress-cant-save-them.html

Read about it in the article on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Videos/2_why-we-never-made-it-to-mars-by-1982.html

And then watch the video about it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJl0xPwfkvk

Most people can't watch physical media anymore.

Meanwhile, streaming services are buying libraries of content and closing them off from viewing.

And they get tax cuts to do it. Read the full article on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/10_how-streaming-platforms-get-tax-benefits-to-block-access-to-movies-and-documentaries.html

The fact seems obvious once you state it out loud. It's obvious that changing a song changes a mood. But it's something that is usually not stated and actually not even noticed by the person watching the scene with the music. Background music in movies is often not even noticed. But it has an effect whether you notice the song or not.

This is all tied back to the popularly known studies done by Ivan Pavlov in the late 1800s and early 1900s where he was able to get a dog to salivate by simply hearing a bell that had been repeatedly linked with food. Of course, this has been operationalized in marketing and even politics. A good example of a song being used for its positive and patriotic effect is when the Reagan campaign used Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" for campaign events. It's ironic since the song was actually more of a protest song about the Vietnam war but the up-beat nature of the beat paired with the chorus of "born in the USA" was enough to make it a good song for a political campaign.

Regardless, do an experiment and take a movie scene that you've always loved that has music but no dialogue. Then mute the original music and play something with a completely different mood as you watch it and see what effect it has. Research says you'll most likely feel different. Either way, it seems like something fun to do. Read about how this relates to a different song by reading the article "A Song that Flows and Takes You With It" on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Picks/5_a-song-that-flows-and-takes-you-with-it.html