AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

• Veiled and headless mannequins are a ubiquitous sight in fashion shops across Afghanistan. 
• A shop owner says the Taliban’s restriction has affected the psyche of female shoppers.
• Afghans say life is difficult under the Taliban, with no signs of things improving. 

Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, women have been forced to cover up. Now, the faces on mannequins of all genders must be hidden, too.A mannequin’s head is covered in a dress shop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.

AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

For the past two years, the Taliban has gradually erased women from public spaces. Being a woman in Afghanistan means being invisible. Women are not allowed to work, go to school, and are forced to wear the veil in public. 

The Taliban’s move to restrict women’s rights in Afghanistan began with vandalizing storefronts displaying images of women. Today, the Taliban have ramped up these efforts by trying to ban a seemingly inconspicuous object: mannequins. 

Insider spoke to several locals from Kabul, including a shop owner, a female athlete, and an Afghan-born scholar, to find out why the Taliban wants to destroy mannequins and how this affects the lives of both men and women in Afghanistan. 

In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, mannequins were once a symbol of fashion and culture. But in the past year, shop owners have resorted to displaying them headless or covered in cloth, just to keep their stores open.Black plastic bags cover the heads of mannequins displayed in evening gowns in Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.

AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

In August 2021, the Taliban announced that shop owners must remove the heads of their mannequins, or do away with them all together.

But several shop owners pleaded with the Taliban to let them keep their mannequins intact. The Taliban agreed, but on one condition — all mannequins must have faces covered. 

One such shop owner is Faisal Azizi. Before coming to the US to study political science and government at Dartmouth College in March, he operated a family business selling traditional Afghan clothing.

Azizi told Insider that the Taliban forced locals to deface banners displaying photos of fashion models before trying to totally ban the use of mannequins. 

The Taliban believe statues and images of the human form are forbidden, according to their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

But experts like Bahar Jalali, an Afghan-born professor of the history of modern Middle East at Loyola University Maryland, believes the move to deface mannequins is part of an extremist ideology to attack personal freedoms and to rid life in Afghanistan of any semblance of normalcy.

“Even under the most conservative Afghan regimes of the past, mannequins were part and parcel of the urban landscape,” Jalali, who fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979, told Insider, adding that the Taliban sees the figures of women as offensive and shameful.

Shop owners now use various materials to cover the faces of mannequins: lace, cloaks, and even black plastic bags.Hooded and cloaked mannequins in Afghanistan.

Stringer/AFP via Getty Images

While some shop owners in Afghanistan have resorted to using aluminum foil or paint to obscure the faces of mannequins, Azizi still feels it’s important for the mannequins to look stylish. Azizi, with the help of his brothers in Afghanistan, continues to run the shop from the US.

Mannequins are a valuable commodity to shop owners because of how expensive they are. Azizi estimates that each one costs between $200 and $300.

“We try to match it to the color of the dress, to make it look like a mask,” Azizi said. “We can’t just put a plastic bag — it looks like you’ve abducted someone.” 

No matter how hard the shop owners try to make it look fashionable, Azizi feels the requirement has affected shoppers’ psyche.

“Sales are completely down at the moment,” he said, adding that sales for his shop have dropped between 50% and 70% since the restrictions began.

“When people go to the store and see the covers they don’t want to buy,” he added. 

For many Afghan women, shopping in itself is a difficult experience under the Taliban. Like the mannequins, they too are subjected to many rules.Tape wrapped around the head of a mannequin in Afghanistan.

Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images

In Afghanistan, women must be accompanied by a male chaperone whenever they leave their house, Jalali said, and going shopping is no exception.

Marwa Ali, a 21-year-old soccer player raised in Kabul, said many women like her experience a harrowing journey from their homes to the apparel shops. Ali declined to share where she currently lives for security reasons.

“I went shopping with my brother in our personal car, and the Taliban forced me to leave the front seat of the car and sit in the back,” Ali told Insider, adding that she likely would have been treated worse had she refused to wear a mask or cover her face.

Ali said she misses shopping in her relaxed clothing and that browsing fashion shops doesn’t make her feel “alive” like it did before.

“We don’t want to cover the faces of women or mannequins,” she said.

In an effort to keep female employees protected, Azizi often has them act as shoppers during spot checks by the Taliban.The heads of mannequins at a clothing store in Afghanistan.

Stringer/AFP via Getty Images

Operating a shop with female employees in Afghanistan is risky, Azizi said. Those caught are often subjected to violence.

“You can’t argue with them. They come with guns,” Azizi said, adding that the Taliban can “just abduct you or put you in jail without due process.” 

Working women are harassed, he said. Azizi likened the Taliban’s treatment of women to living in “a cage” where “they can’t go out.”

 

Several of Azizi’s female employees are widows. He explained that many of their husbands died while serving in the now-defunct Afghan National Army.Veiled mannequins in an apparel shop in Afghanistan.

Courtesy of Faisal Azizi

In a patriarchal society like Afghanistan, living as a woman without a husband makes life even harder.

Living under Taliban rule is a balancing act, Azizi said: Shop owners need “to be nice with them” in order for their businesses to survive, but they also need to employ female workers in order to help families in need.

“My business is feeding 40 to 50 families,” he said. “Women are not allowed to work. There’s no protocol. But I try to take care of my employees.”

For Marwa Ali, whose father died 12 years ago, the hardship is something she witnesses everyday.

“There are so many women, like my mother, who don’t have a husband to work for them. They need a job. How else would they have income or food for their family?” Ali said. 

The future of the mannequins — and women — under the Taliban continues to look bleak.A close up of traditional Afghan clothing.

Courtesy of Faisal Azizi

Mannequins might just be the tip of the iceberg, Azizi said, adding that he expects the Taliban to impose more restrictions over time.

“For the local economy, the Taliban need to be nice to the locals. But once they are stable — in three or four years — they’ll ban everything,” he said.

For the Taliban, the plan is to continuously erase women from the public sphere, Jalali said. She sees the mannequins as just one more example of the broader attack on women and their presence in the public sphere.  

“Being a woman in Afghanistan will be the equivalent of being under house arrest with no opportunity for education, employment, freedom of movement, and basically no sense of normalcy,” she added.

Oscar Wong/Getty Images

• Gen Z has little faith that anyone can keep them safe online, according to a Dell Technologies study.
• 18% of respondents said they trust the government to protect their data, while 17% trust private sector companies.
• Gen Z’s main cyber threat concern relates to having their personal data or photos shared.

Gen Z doesn’t think anyone can keep them safe online.

That’s according to a Dell Technologies study released in December. The company surveyed 15,105 people between the ages of 18 and 26 years from 15 countries about how investments in technology can be used to support the economy. The findings indicate that Gen Z doesn’t trust any entity, public or private, to keep their data safe online.

The survey found that:

• 18% of respondents said they trust government bodies, ministries, and departments to protect their data
• 17% said they trust private sector companies
• 25% of respondents said they trust both equally

As for Gen Z’s top cyber security concern? Having their personal data or photos shared without permission.

In addition, more than half of the surveyed individuals said they have low or neutral confidence that their personal data is being stored properly by healthcare providers.

The survey’s findings follow a spate of high-profile cyber attacks targeting major companies.

Earlier this month, hackers leaked details of over 200 million Twitter accounts onto an online forum, including email addresses and phone numbers.

In August 2021, T-Mobile announced that the personal information of 47.8 million people was stolen in a data breach. The stolen data includes customers’ first and last names, social security numbers, and driver’s license information.

Companies face serious repercussions for their failure to protect their clients: The average cost of recovering from a ransomware attack is $1.85 million, per a 2021 survey by the cybersecurity firm Sophos.

Ukraine’s defence minister is expected in Paris on Tuesday to meet President Emmanuel Macron amid a debate among Kyiv’s allies over whether to provide fighter jets for its war against Russia, after U.S. President Joe Biden ruled out giving F-16s.

Ukraine planned to push for Western fourth-generation fighters like F-16s after securing supplies of main battle tanks last week, an adviser to Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday.

Asked at the White House on Monday if the United States would provide F-16s, Biden told reporters: “No.”

But France and Poland appear to be willing to entertain any such request from Ukraine, with Macron telling reporters in The Hague on Monday that “by definition, nothing is excluded” when it comes to military assistance.

In remarks carried on French television before Biden spoke in Washington, Macron stressed any such move would depend on several factors including the need to avoid escalation and assurances that the aircraft would not “touch Russian soil.” He said Reznikov would also meet his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu in Paris on Tuesday.

In Poland Monday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also did not rule out a possible supply of F-16s to neighbouring Ukraine, in response to a question from a reporter before Biden spoke.

Morawiecki said in remarks posted on his website that any such transfer would take place “in complete coordination” with NATO countries.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukraine president’s office, noted “positive signals” from Poland and said France “does not exclude” such a move in separate posts on his Telegram channel.

Biden’s comment came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had begun exacting its revenge for Ukraine’s resistance to its invasion with relentless attacks in the east.

Zelenskiy has warned for weeks that Moscow aims to step up its assault after about two months of virtual stalemate along the front line that stretches across the south and east.

Ukraine won a huge boost last week when Germany and the United States announced plans to provide heavy tanks, ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock on the issue.

While there was no sign of a broader new Russian offensive, the administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, said Russian troops had secured a foothold in Vuhledar, a coal-mining town whose ruins have been a Ukrainian bastion since the outset of the war.

Pushilin said Ukrainian forces were continuing to throw reinforcements at Bakhmut, Maryinka and Vuhledar, three towns running from north to south just west of Donetsk city. The Russian state news agency TASS quoted him as saying Russian forces were making advances there, but “not clear-cut, that is, here there is a battle for literally every meter.”

Ukraine still controls Maryinka and Vuhledar, where Russian attacks were less intense on Monday, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.

Pushilin’s adviser, Yan Gagin, said fighters from Russian mercenary force Wagner had taken partial control of a supply road leading to Bakhmut, a city that has been Moscow’s focus for months.

A day earlier, the head of Wagner said his fighters had secured Blahodatne, a village just north of Bakhmut.

Kyiv said it had repelled assaults on Blahodatne and Vuhledar, and Reuters could not independently verify the situations there. But the locations of the reported fighting indicated clear, though gradual, Russian gains.

In central Zaporizhzhia region and in southern Kherson region, Russian forces shelled more than 40 settlements, Ukraine’s General Staff said. Targets included the city of Kherson, where there were casualties.

The Russians also launched four rocket attacks on Ochakiv in southern Mykolaiv, the army said, on the day Zelenskiy met the Danish prime minister in Mykolaiv city, to the northeast.

Most of the hundreds of modern tanks and armoured vehicles pledged to Ukraine by Western countries in recent weeks are months away from delivery.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said the 14 Challenger tanks donated by Britain would be on the front line around April or May, without giving an exact timetable.

Zelenskiy is urging the West to hasten delivery of its promised weapons so Ukraine can go on the offensive.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Western countries supplying arms leads “to NATO countries more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict – but it doesn’t have the potential to change the course of events and will not do so.”

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank said “the West’s failure to provide the necessary materiel” last year was the main reason Kyiv’s advances had halted since November.

The researchers said in a report that Ukraine could still recapture territory once the promised weapons arrive.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow justifies as necessary to protect itself from its neighbour’s ties with the West, has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

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Australia’s nuclear safety agency said on Tuesday it had joined a week-long hunt for a tiny radioactive capsule missing in the west of the country that sparked a radiation alert.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is working with the Western Australian government to locate the capsule, it said in a statement.

The capsule, believed to have fallen from a truck, was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed which had been entrusted by Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) to a specialist contractor to transport. The company apologised on Monday for the loss, which could have occurred any time over the past more than two weeks.

“ARPANSA has sent a deployment team with specialised car-mounted and portable detection equipment to support the search of the transport route between the Pilbara region and Perth,” it said in the statement.

“They will be operational from 31 January.”

Authorities are now grappling with the daunting task of searching along the truck’s 1,400 kilometre (870 mile) journey from north of Newman – a small town in the remote Kimberley region – to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth – a distance longer than the length of Great Britain.

The search is being led by the state’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services alongside radiation experts.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has also sent deployment teams of radiation services specialists, and detection and imaging equipment to assist in the search, ARPANSA said.

“ARPANSA is committed to supporting efforts to locate the missing source and protect the community from the harmful effects of radiation.”

Western Australia state emergency officials issued a fresh alert to motorists along Australia’s longest highway on Tuesday to take care when approaching the search party.

“DFES and radiation specialists are searching along Great Northern Highway by driving north and south directions at slow speeds. Take care when approaching and use caution when overtaking.”

The gauge was picked up from Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine site on Jan. 12. When it was unpacked for inspection on Jan. 25, the gauge was found broken apart, with one of four mounting bolts missing and screws from the gauge also gone.

Authorities suspect vibrations from the truck caused the screws and the bolt to come loose, and the radioactive capsule from the gauge fell out of the package and then out of a gap in the truck.

PERTH, Australia — Authorities in Western Australia are searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth, officials said Saturday.

Emergency services said they were hampered by a lack of equipment and have called on the Commonwealth and other states to provide assistance.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has deployed teams with handheld radiation detection devices and metal detectors along 36 kilometers (22 miles) of a busy freight route to look for the 8 millimeters by 6 millimeters (0.31 inches by 0.24 inches) unit.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) journey from the Rio Tinto mine in Newman to the the Perth suburb of Malaga.

“What we’re not doing is trying to find a tiny little device by eyesight,” said Superintendent Darryl Ray, adding they were concentrating on populated areas north of Perth and strategic sites along the Great Northern Highway.

“We’re using the radiation detectors to locate the gamma rays,” he said.

Authorities were also using the truck’s GPS data to determine the exact route the driver took and where it stopped after it left the mine on or about Jan. 10.

There are concerns the solid capsule may have already become lodged in another vehicle’s tyre and potentially be hundreds of kilometers (miles) away from the search area.

It is believed a screw became loose inside a large lead-lined gauge and the unit fell through a hole.

Rio Tinto said it contracted an expert radioactive materials handler to package the capsule and transport it “safely” to the depot and was not told it was missing until Wednesday.

Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson defended the Western Australia government’s decision to wait two days to inform the public on Friday, saying the mine and depot had to be searched and excluded, and the route confirmed.

He said the capsule was packed in accordance with the radiation safety transport and regulations inside a box bolted onto a pallet.

“We believe the vibration of the truck may have impacted the integrity of the gauge, that it fell apart and the source actually came out of it,” he said. “It is unusual for a gauge to come apart like this one has.”

An investigation will look at the handling of the gauge and capsule at the mine site, the transport route used and the procedures at the depot in Perth after it arrived on Jan. 16.

Police have determined the incident to be an accident and no criminal charges are likely.

Authorities ruled out theft at the depot before the box was opened on Wednesday.

The small silver cylinder is a caesium 137 ceramic source commonly used in radiation gauges.

Robertson previously said the unit emits the equivalent of 10 X-rays in an hour and members of the public should stay at least 5 meters (16 feet) away. Contact could result in skin damage, burns and radiation sickness, including impacts to the immune and the gastrointestinal systems.

Long-term exposure could also cause cancer, however, experts say the capsule cannot be weaponized.

“Our concern is someone will pick it up, not knowing what it is, think this is something interesting (and) keep it,” Robertson said.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.O) is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, and has lined up liquidators to close additional stores unless a last-minute buyer emerges, four people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The timing of any bankruptcy filing was in flux Monday evening, with the U.S. home goods retailer’s advisers locked in meetings exploring any remaining options to avoid it, another person familiar with the matter said.

Bed Bath & Beyond is negotiating a loan to help it navigate bankruptcy proceedings, with investment firm Sixth Street in talks to provide some funding, two of the people said. The firm loaned Bed Bath & Beyond $375 million last year.

The chain, once considered a category killer in home goods like dinnerware and small appliances, has lined up liquidators who are readying store closing sales that could be launched as soon as this weekend, two of the people said.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are not public.

The chain has said it is closing 87 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and five buybuy BABY stores, in addition to 150 closures announced last year. It is also shutting its health and beauty discount chain Harmon.

The people cautioned that a last-minute buyer for the chain could emerge, or it could still ink a deal for its brands such as buybuy BABY. Prospective buyers sometimes wait until a company files for bankruptcy before agreeing to purchase assets, hoping to negotiate more favorable terms.

Bed Bath & Beyond said in a statement to Reuters that it continued to work with its advisers to consider “multiple paths” but declined to comment on any bankruptcy planning.

The company has previously said it was exploring a range of options to address plunging sales, including selling assets, raising financing and declaring bankruptcy.

Sixth Street declined to comment.

Bed Bath & Beyond said last week it defaulted on a loan, bringing it closer to bankruptcy. Sources have also told Reuters that Bed Bath & Beyond is considering skipping debt payments due on Feb. 1, a typical move that distressed companies take to conserve cash.

Retailers in distress often decide to file for bankruptcy protection after the holiday season to take advantage of the cash cushion provided by recent sales.

Toys R Us liquidated in March 2018 in one of the largest failures to date of a specialty retailer.

As of February 2022, Bed Bath & Beyond had 953 locations, including buybuy BABY.

Bed Bath & Beyond for years had been considered a go-to shopping destination for couples making wedding registries and planning for new babies, but it lost its footing when it tried to expand into store brands.

The retailer’s management has since reversed course and aimed to bring in national brands shoppers knew the chain for. But the strategy has not gained traction with shoppers.

Earlier this month, the company raised doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern and said it would cut jobs.

Bed Bath & Beyond reported a loss of about $393 million after sales plunged 33% for the quarter ending Nov. 26.

Bankrupt crypt exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday, seeking to claw back $445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022.

FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager’s bankruptcy preceded FTX’s filing by four months.

After Voyager filed in July, it demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to FTX and its affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research.

FTX said in a court filing that on Alameda’s behalf, it paid Voyager $248.8 million in September and $193.9 million in October. FTX also made a $3.2 million interest payment in August, according to its court filings.

Because those loan payments were made so close to FTX’s own bankruptcy filing, they are eligible to be clawed back and potentially used to repay other FTX creditors, according to FTX’s complaint.

FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing losses in the billions of dollars.

Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been indicted on fraud charges, and several top executives, including Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to fraud. Bankman-Fried has denied wrongdoing and is scheduled for trial in October.

FTX initially appeared to weather the storm that brought down Voyager and other crypto firms in summer 2022, presenting itself as a “white knight” that could stabilize reeling crypto markets. FTX offered to buy Voyager’s platform in a bankruptcy auction, but the proposed acquisition fell apart when FTX imploded in November.

In its Monday court filing, FTX acknowledged the allegations that Alameda raided FTX customer assets to cover its risky borrowing and lending. But it said Voyager and other crypto lenders were complicit in Alameda’s conduct, “knowingly or recklessly” pushing their clients’ assets toward Alameda.

“Voyager’s business model was that of a feeder fund,” FTX said. “It solicited retail investors and invested their money with little or no due diligence in cryptocurrency investment funds like Alameda and Three Arrows Capital.”

Three Arrows Capital also went bankrupt in 2022, and its founders have refused to cooperate with court-appointed liquidators who are trying to recover assets for Three Arrows customers.

NEW YORK — Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is urging American Jews not to give up on Israel as many worry that its new government will cast aside democratic norms.

“Even though we are going through a midlife crisis, do not give up on Israel,” Bennett said in an appearance in Manhattan Monday evening at Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center. “We have an internal debate that we have to hash out. It’s not easy. We will overcome this because the majority of the public wants a Jewish and democratic Israel.” 

More than 100,000 people across Israel have rallied against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in recent weeks amid growing anger over a plan to weaken the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions. This week, American Jews in several major cities organized similar though smaller protests. American Jews voiced fears that the government will turn its back on religious and other minorities, and sideline Jews who challenge the Orthodox religious establishment.

“I don’t want to dispel all worries,” Bennett said in his talk, a question and answer session co-hosted by the UJA Federation of New York. “While one may like more or less a certain government, Israel is our family and when a family member goes through a crisis, you don’t give up on them. Quite the contrary, you embrace and help them through this period.”

He encouraged American Jews to keep voicing their views to Israel’s leaders.

Netanyahu, he said, should listen to even those who disagree with him. And he called on the opposition, which he once led, to work with the government toward reasonable reforms. “I’m worried because the discourse is so toxic,” Bennett said. “There’s a lot of foolish words flying around.” 

Then Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and former prime minister Naftali Bennett at the funeral of Rabbi Haim Drukman on Dec. 26, 2022. Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Striking an optimistic tone, Bennett voiced support for some of the reforms in the new government’s judicial overhaul plan, but said it still needs to evolve. “I smell compromise,” he said. 

Israeli officials as a rule do not criticize their government abroad and Bennett, who ousted Netanyahu from office in June 2021, abided by it Monday evening. In his hourlong talk he mostly reflected on his short tenure as prime minister, which ended last June. 

Bennett, a former settler leader who supported the permanent Israeli annexation of the West Bank, managed to cobble together an astoundingly diverse coalition — which included an Arab party for the first time in Israeli history — to drive Netanyahu from office. At the outset, partners in the fragile coalition agreed not to tackle critical issues, including  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On the diplomatic front, his government restored warm relations with Washington, and Bennett established himself as an arbitrator between Russia and Ukraine. American Jews were also pleased that his government, the first that did not include Haredi parties, moved to liberalize religious rules on kashrut, marriage and conversion. 

But Bennett could not settle disputes within his own Yamina Party, failing to satisfy Knesset members pressured by constituents to  expand settlements in the West Bank. Colleagues accused him of contravening party ideology for personal gain, and of paying too much attention to the crisis in Ukraine at the expense of crises within Israel. His coalition government lost its Knesset majority after ten months. Two  months later, Bennett triggered an early election — the fifth election in three years — reviving concerns over the health of Israel’s democracy.

On Monday, Bennett said he regretted not focusing more on domestic politics when he led Israel.

“I ought to have invested much more time on pushing out the message and doing politics and cultivating every member of Knesset,” he said.

But he added that he was satisfied with his governance overall, and hoped to have the chance to lead again.

“I will be back,” he said.

The post ‘Don’t give up on Israel,’ former Israeli premier Bennett urges American Jews appeared first on The Forward.

I want to address a question I constantly see. Why do people keep voting against their own self-interest? It’s sort of impossible to answer because everyone has their own reasons. But some reasons rise to the top.

Many books have been written about this subject. “What’s the matter with Kansas” is a good one to read if you haven’t. It’s important to understand that many people do not think as we do. It is hard for us to believe that someone would cast their vote solely because they’re afraid of strangers coming to take their guns but these people exist, and there are lots of them.

The GOP also uses fear. They exploit their voters by playing on their worst nightmares. Examples would be the poisoning of people’s minds with critical race theory. History shows us this country has a long history of mass hysteria. Think about times past, such as Salem, which I’ve written about often. Think about the terror of the mob.

Fear comes from feelings of powerlessness. And the GOP further exploits those fears by sending the message that their voters ARE powerless — and that Republicans alone can fix it — can save them. Behavioral economics has shown through research that many people often have biases that lead them to make poorly informed decisions.

And remember the advertising, which is always in the background pandering to the woes and fears of the American voter. And Republicans are patient in their brainwashing. A good example would be their attempts to conquer Miami-Dade county in Florida.

The republicans HAVE made inroads there. Radio is one of their preferred methods. One thing Republicans do is exploit the fears of many of these residents, including ones who hail from Cuba.

Republicans have been utterly ruthless with their radio ads and trying to convince these voters that Democrats are “socialists.” Fear can be a great voting mobilizer. And some of these people, many who fled Cuba, have now been conditioned to shrink in fear of certain words.

I would say in closing that there are vast and different reasons for people voting, sometimes against their self-interests But the words”conditioned response” are part of it. It is an automatic response generated in people by: “neutral stimuli.”

Only republicans seek that conditioned response from their voters by breeding in them a rabid fear of “wokeism” and equating it with people taking control of their lives. It is insidious, but that’s what they do and how they often get the reactions they do. It’s a conditioned response and sadly it very often works.

The post The conditioned response of right wing lunacy appeared first on Palmer Report.

One of the reasons most Republican candidates have backed off from the whole “declare victory and claim it was rigged” thing is that it plays rather poorly with voters the next time around. Another reason is that if you’re not careful, you might end up under criminal investigation for it. For instance, the DOJ Special Counsel investigating Donald Trump isn’t just looking into Trump’s espionage, but has also taken over the DOJ’s criminal case against Trump for January 6th. Now, famous loser Kari Lake may be on the wrong end of this as well.

Lake is having an increasingly difficult time trying to milk the “rigged election” narrative in Arizona, and so she’s been getting desperate. She recently tweeted copies of voter signatures as part of her latest attempt at spinning up some conspiracy theory – and that’s a problem, because it’s illegal.

To that end, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has referred Kari Lake for investigation to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, according to NBC News. Mayes is a Democrat and a straight shooter who can be expected to handle the matter in accordance with the law. We’ll see if Lake’s actions add up to criminal charges. But at the least, Lake is now facing potentially serious legal trouble for her increasingly fraudulent antics.

The post Kari Lake referred for criminal investigation appeared first on Palmer Report.