Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts

Saturday, October 21, 2017

October roundup of links

GOP releases a tax plan outline summary thumbnail. In keeping with GOP inability to deal with reality including policy making, the tax plan is 5 pages stretched onto 9 pages. It doubles the standard deduction! Cheers! And quietly takes away exemptions. It's the usual cake for the wealthy with a bit of frosting for the middle class. A good list of misleading sales pitches.

Admitted fake news author dies.  He wasn't trying to be a con artist, but rather a satirist. But, according to him: "[Trump's] followers don't fact-check anything — they'll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist."

Fake news generators on Facebook outed by Facebook. At some point, most reality-based GOPers will have to stop pretending that there wasn't Russian interference in the US election. Facebook announced more than 3000 fake ads were purchased by accounts that appear to be Russian.

The new world order that didn't happen. Interesting thought. The world was supposed to gradually accept American values by acclamation amid peace and prosperity. Ooops, it didn't happen. The inevitable wasn't inevitable.

Amazing short summary of Islamic terrorism. Maybe it's too simple, but it holds together in my opinion.

The media misreports probability. The problem includes how media reports weather predictions and the 2016 election predictions. The fact of uncertainty isn't clearly conveyed.

Critique of  The Bell Curve. The 1994 book contained the thesis that blacks were genetically cognitively inferior to other groups. The book caused an uproar. Cognitive scientist formed a committee and wrote this critique of what was wrong with the book and its handling of evidence. I've had to refer to this critique several times.

Image: fivethirtyeight.com


Monday, April 1, 2013

Short: No politics for the foreseeable future

Politicking has been suspended. That is, everything is suspended except for a few important issues like immigration reform, and those issues are being left in the hands of the few who still know how to bargain, converse, and compromise.

I'm actually happy about this, but it means that I won't be posting much, which is fine too. I don't live for political brawling and never have. I'll enjoy the peace and quiet and freedom from petty political squabbles and government meddling. It already feels great.

So the next question is: How long can this peace and quiet last? I think it will last quite awhile, through the next debt ceiling vote, and even through the 2014 fiscal appropriations. We'll have a surprisingly quiet budget season that non-partisans will be able to snooze through. Maybe it will pick up with the midterm elections, but it might not even then.

I'll make a promise now. In one year, I'll wake up, come out of my burrow, sniff the air, and do the pundit thing again. Maybe I'll predict another year of  "No politics." But I have every expectation of being able to stay quietly in my burrow for the next year, and not being rousted out by political tumult. I may on occasion emerge to take a quick look around and enjoy a particular bit of comedy or drama, but it won't be often. I'm going to cherish this quiet time as much as I can.

Image: beach-backgrounds.com