How quickly they forget

Representative Mark Meadows is upset that the Democrats cannot even come up with 5 billion dollars for President Trump's "wall".

He says this is just a small number.  Maybe he forgets the 1.5 TRILLION that the Republicans gave to the wealthy in the form of tax breaks.

Do you think if they had not squandered that money they may have been able to find the money for the wall?

Mis-Simplification

People who deny climate change often look to headlines for their ammunition:

THE PLANET NOW HAS MORE TREES THAN IT DID 35 YEARS AGO

The world is getting greener. Why does no one want to know?

Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds

Conservative web site used this information to claim that we have nothing to fear from "climate change" and that getting warmer is good for our planet.

I call this mis-simplification of the information.  They take a bit of information, out of context, present it with no backing data and draw a conclusion from it.

For example - the planet has more trees than it did 35 years ago.  Okay - some questions:
1. Was there a reason why 35 years ago we had a dearth of trees?
2. Are the trees today equal to trees prior to 35 years ago.
3. What about 100 years ago?
4. If there are more trees - are they the same trees?
5. What does more trees mean exactly?

Even in the case of the second headline, the author of the article (A) admits that the author of the study (B) he cites,  has told A to stop misquoting B!

So how do you identify mis-simplification?

1. The information comes from headlines, not a careful reading of the article
2. There information is too specific ("35 years")
3. The information is too logical - so obvious that it is hard to contradict.

Mis-simplification might is a major part of "fake news" and is being used to distract people from real issues and critical thinking.

How we convince people to recognize this?  We have to them to question their own biases.  That is a much more difficult problem.

Supreme Agony

In watching the circus which is the hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh, the following thought struck me.  For all those defending Judge Kavanaugh, with 100% certainty and how unfairly he is being treated, what about Bill Cosby?  What about all the priests and bishops of the Catholic Church who were accused and convicted of abuse.  What about the Hollywood producers and stars who ended up being guilty? 

We are going through a period in time where past sins are being dug up and used against people.  We have not yet drawn the line between what is fair and sensible and what is over the top.  Certainly what was done as a teenager is different than something done as an adult.  Certainly people can change and correct their faults.  As a Catholic, redemption is the key part of our beliefs.  However, redemption has a price. Honest admission of failings, expressing contrition, and leading a better life after.  I get the feeling Judge Kavanaugh has done the last one, not sure about the first two.

How come come nobody thought of this?

There is much talk about who is the "anonymous" writer in the NYT op ed.

What about is this is a compilation of many people?

The "author" does say "we" so might that also mean that several people contributed to it?

That way all could say they did not write (the entire) it, and not implicate any one other person.

Hmmm.

UPDATE - 3 days after this someone else had the same thought - Steve Bannon -not sure I want to be in that company....

Mark Twain and the new truth

It is alleged that Mark Twain said "A lie goes around the world before the truth even gets its pants on".

Whether he did or did not, he was credited with saying it.

Well I have come up with my own saying and hope to be a famous as he is.

"TRUTH FINDS ITS SEAT AT THE 50 YARD LINE."

The damage is done

Update 2/17/2018 - From what I have found out, Carter Page's surveillance started in October 2016.  It was renewed 3 times for 3 months each so unless it was renewed unknown to us, the surveillance ended in October 2017.  So if he was not currently under surveillance when the memo came out, they would claim that no unmasking took place.  I still wonder if finding out anyone was under surveillance so close to the ending of the surveillance was damaging, but technically, it is not unmasking.

One thing that has not been addressed with the release of the "Carter Page" memo, is that in unmasking Carter Page as the person who was being surveilled, this ended any information that was forthcoming from the surveillance.  Now, it might be that the information was already winding down, or that his identification was out there to the point that the information being gathered was not longer trustworthy; in fact could have been already been purposely misleading.  The fact is, now that Carter Page has been "unmasked", no more information will be coming from this investigation.

One year down

Okay,

Here is my quick review of the President Trump's first year in office.

1. Supreme Court Nominee - Here the President really owes a debt of gratitude to Mitch McConnell.  If McConnell did not take the risk of delaying the nomination of President Obama's nominee (remember Garland?), then there would be no nomination to make.
2. Economy - like it our not, 2017 was still President Obama's.  The Dow came from almost nothing (6400 in 2009), to end up at 19,887 in 2017.  It is just crossed 25000 as I write this, but my opinion is that it is overvalued and due for a correction.  Will companies buy back stock keep it high?  Tune in during 2018.
3. Jobs - for 2017, we see the same problem as the last 8 years - jobs that are created are either highly skilled or minimum wage and not enough workers to fill the first scenario.  With the college bubble about to bust (a correction in tuition), I think companies should spend some of their saved tax money, not to invest in machinery, but to invest in training centers for the workers they need.
4. I do not see any problem with controlling immigration and protecting our borders.  The "my way or the highway" attitude hurts more than helps.  The Republicans know they need to turn many non-citizens into good taxpaying citizens, but after demonizing them for so long,  how do they get to that point?  DACA will be the first turning point.
5. Foreign Policy.  The President has some good people who are being compromised by the 3am Tweets and other outbursts.  Then you wonder how many good people are being forced to say things they don't want to.  An example is Nikki Haley's "we are taking names" comments at the UN.  If the administration does not have the courage of their convictions to take some criticism, you wonder if they are right.  The "It is my ball and if you don't play by my rules I am going home" is a childish attitude.

And that is all I will comment on.  Happy New Year

ChrisZ