And now for something completely different

 If this last election proved one thing, it is challenging a person's beliefs no longer works.

I have come to the conclusion after studying conspiracy theorists that providing them with facts will not change their mind.  Besides a personal experience (if we could shoot flat earthers into space) it is now very hard to change someone's mind.

So here is a different method.

Do not criticize, belittle, or contradict.  

Just ask:        "Why"

Ask why and then ask them to defend their position.

They probably cannot.  

Then ask "What if" questions.

What if this or that part of their argument is proven false, would they change their mind.

If they say no, then there is no further use arguing with them.  They are locked in their ways.

Fortunately, there are people who might be willing to change. 

That is the only hope we have.

Well What do they say now?

 “They’ve already started cheating, 2,600 votes. Every vote was written by the same person. It must be a coincidence,” he said at a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, last Tuesday.

Donald Trump dances as he leaves a campaign rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, 30 October 30, 2024: he has his fists raised and people are holding red Make America Great Again placards behind him

Republicans preparing to reject US election result if Trump loses, warn strategists

Nationally, a key pillar of Republicans’ claims has been the falsehood that non-citizens are voting and could sway the election. Elon Musk, the billionaire who is a key Trump ally in the campaign, has played a significant role in amplifying this claim. Several studies have shown that non-citizen voting is extremely rare.

“If the fraud theme of 2020 was: ‘Covid is allowing ineligible people to vote or ballots to be manipulated,’ the 2024 theme seems to be ‘illegals are voting,’ and that fits in very much with the kind of nativist anti-immigrant language coming from the top of the Republican ticket,” Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an interview in October.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/trump-2024-election-subversion-explainer

So I guess in the end, they were lying.  Well what do they say now?

Well which is it? Man-made or not man-made?

 JULIE GREEN: This is exactly one of the things that the Lord had talked about. I have to get out which prophecy it was. I think it was the one from yesterday or Monday. He was talking about how this is the same thing as Maui. This is all on purpose. This is all done for complete devastation. And one of the things that He actually had on there and I have to — I'll look it up, of which one it was because I have several of them pulled up here again. But He said it was blatant. It was deliberate. What happened in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and those really hard areas, those areas were hit for a specific reason. And again, this is all man-made. All of the stuff, we know they can modify weather, and they're doing this on purpose. This is another form — and I hate to say this, but it's so true. This is what the Lord was saying. It's another form of election interference. This is another form to weaken people, to destroy people more, it’s more to get us to the point where we are so broken spiritually, physically, financially that we will not fight them back. This is another tactic and a strategy of war.   (2024)

"If you believe in God, then intellectually, you cannot believe in man-made global warming. You must be either agnostic or atheistic to believe that man controls something he cannot create."  Rush Limbaugh 2013

There is a big difference between controlling the environment and controlling the weather.  Is sitting in a air conditioned room, controlling the weather?  Cloud seeding to create rain, assumes there are clouds holding moisture first.  You cannot create moisture where there is none.  So man has very limited effect on the weather.  So how then can man affect the climate?  Well one man cannot, 10 men cannot.  But 8 billion people working unknowingly together can give it a kick.  Give it a kick over 300 odd years and it might kick back.  Pour grease down you sink drain and not much happens.  Do this for ten years and it is time for the plumber.  

So no we cannot direct hurricanes.  One person can start a wildfire - but one started has no control over it.  An atomic bomb strategically placed, might start an earthquake, but the damage by the bomb would probably be worse.  

Ironically misinformation and disinformation can have a bigger effect on an election, and is much cheaper that trying to change the weather.  

DeSantis also seemed to equate hurricane-related conspiracy theories — which authorities say are causing real harm — with scientists pointing out that human activity drives climate change. When asked for his response to the disinformation swirling around the hurricanes, the governor joked: “Look, if I could control the weather, I would do, you know, 78 and sunny year-round.” 

Well - at least he is consistent.

---------------------------------------------

Julie Green - https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/lara-and-eric-trump-backed-prophet-claims-god-told-her-hurricanes-were-man-made-and-they   (+many more)

Rush Limbaugh: https://geochristian.com/2013/10/24/rush-is-wrong/ (+ many more)

Ron Desantis - https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/ron-desantis-climate-change-hurricane-milton-florida-rcna175047

Words of Jefferson

 In 1785 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Peter Carr, probably a protégé of Jefferson.  He was the son of Jefferson's sister.

Her wrote the following:

 It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/let31.asp

Ah, but only if the current political establishment would take this to heart.

But how do we know when a politician is lying (the old cliche not withstanding)?

First - anything that gets you upset or angry, be suspicious of.  These statements are usually exaggerations or embellishments of items which have just a slight bit of fact.

Second - be aware of projection - this is somewhat new but traces its origination way back - the pot calling the kettle black.  Someone accuses the other of a crime the first has committed.

Third - watch for amplification and spread.  A saying attributed to Mark Twain, but more probably from Johnathan Swift, is the idea that a lie spreads so fast that the truth is always lagging behind.  If everyone is sending it to you or you are being bombarded with a statement - be wary.

How to you be sure a statement is true or false?  In the past you would have to go to the library or find a person with  personal connection.  Today, you need to go to the Internet - set the search parameters BEFORE the statement was released, and do some digging.  I have found that most of the "just found out" items, have already been found and discussed and rarely rise to the level of outrage warranted.

Fact checking sites are useful, but don't just read their summaries - look at their sources. If they don't have sources and references - move on.   If something is important to you - do the research 

They still cannot count (Update)

 In the post "Lies, damn lies, and statistics", David Strom attacks those on the assumed left for promoting climate change fears.

"What percent of conversations regarding a contested issue are actually focused on assessing the evidence and determining the truth?

It’s not large. In fact, such discussions are rare as hen’s teeth."

He uses this statistic:

To claim that 2023 is below 2022.  Comparing 1/2 a year to a previous year.

And he compares days over 100, without differentiating a 100 degree day with a 119 degree day.

"But John Burn-Murdoch of the Financial Times? He is clearly trying to lie to you. He is a data analyst. He knows that he is lying with statistics."

Well David, you do not back your argument up with statistics, just that other's statistics are wrong and their methodology defective.

The problem with this argument, is that without doing proper research, your argument is just as flawed as you claim the other side.  

"That’s why it is vital to keep bringing up these failures in truth-telling made by these journalists who are really advocates. If people don’t change their minds right away, and they almost never do, it is our job to undermine the credibility of the “amen chorus” and propagandists. People will have their own “Aha!” moments.

We all get red-pilled at different moments."

Pot meet Kettle.

All this does is feed polarization - but maybe that is what your purpose is.

Update.

We are not at the end of the year, but for a year that was Ranked 113 when he did this post, it has jumped up to #3

https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/phoenix/yearly-days-of-100-degrees

I wonder if he will take down or edit his post.....

UPDATE - well I guess he is really looking bad this year:

https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/phoenix-hits-least-100-degrees-100-days-row-shattering-record

When you only get one side of the story

 I was flipping through the radio dial when I came across the Mike Gallagher show.  The first guest was:

Edward Kovalik Joins Mike to Talk About Oil Facts And Fueling The Energy Market: The Indisputable Facts And The Irrefutable Truths To Support Them.

Edward is one of the directors of Prairie Operating Company, a company whose business claims:

Committed to Responsible Energy

Prairie places sustainable development at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people and the environment. We are dedicated to developing affordable, reliable energy to meet the world’s growing demand, while continuing to protect the environment.

But it basically is a oil drilling rights company:

July 9, 2024 Prairie Operating Co. Announces the Launch of Its Development Program"

HOUSTON, Texas, July 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prairie Operating Co. (Nasdaq: PROP) (the “Company” or “Prairie”) today announced plans to commence its initial drilling program in August 2024, starting with an 8-well pad on the recently acquired bolt-on acquisition, “Shelduck South”.

The have a web page:

Oil Facts.com

Which basically says - Oil Good - everything else bad.

Their entire premise on oil is that it alone has made life better in the world along with other fossil fuels.

Forgetting of course that water and wind power have been around before fossil fuels became the dominant form of energy.  Their statement that China is doubling down on fossil fuels goes against this information.

"How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy"

I thought one of the more interesting quotes from the interview is that the Biden/Harris administration was politicizing energy, and then in then next sentence said we should be producing more oil to go against Russian and Iranian oil production!  What is that, if not politics?

Oh well - as long as people sit in their echo chambers.....

What happened to "Don't trust anyone over 30", and "Trust but verify"?

My way or the low way

 In politics today, there are 4 ways of governing:

1. The Democratic Way
2. The Republican Way
3. The Bipartisan Way
4. The Trump Way

We could have had a border security plan - a bipartisan plan - but no - it would hurt Trump so it has to go.

The Fed might lower rates before the election, but already there is pressure NOT to do so, not for any reason, other than it would hurt Trump (rather than helping the average person say, be able to better afford a house?).

See the pattern here?  Only what is good for Trump is allowed.  

If he gets elected - you can be sure that the first 3 ways will go out the window, and number 3 is the one that hurts the most.....