A huge, disconnected, contradictory web of false claims, misinformation, disinformation, and damnable lies.

Living in a world of lies is more like it.

A huge, disconnected, contradictory web of false claims, misinformation, disinformation, and damnable lies.

Once again yesterday, someone I know from elsewhere waded into a thread I was in, engaged me ‘innocently’ enough with a comment about media — but when I responded noting that there is wide divergence in reliability of different media, he launched into an attack on fact-checkers in general and Factcheck.org, Politifact, and Snopes specifically — and stated that ‘at least half’ of what was on Snopes was incorrect.

Since I’d been in discussions with this gentleman before, and knew his habits — I told him I certainly had not seen what he described, but that if he had, he ought to cite an article or two which had such errors and point us to credible evidence otherwise. After all, if HALF of what’s there is wrong… should be easy, right?

He went on and on — but I repeatedly suggested that he should back up his initial assertion about Snopes if he wanted to be considered as having any credibility.

He went on some more, all without citing any such ‘incorrect’ assertions on Snopes — and then, finally, he said he didn’t have any more time because company was coming over.

He’s not everyone. But I have come across a LOT of people claiming various mainstream, legit, nonpartisan fact-checking organizations put out incorrect information — and they are usually asserting that it’s part of intentional disinformation — yet NOT ONCE — not one single time — have I had any of these folks, when prodded, offer any credible, contrary evidence.

Is Trump team incompetence and ignorance of foreign trade processes pushing the US into a trade war with Europe?

 

The current U.S. president appears to be jaw-droppingly ignorant of foreign trade processes. European leaders have been aghast at his slow grasp of details. German Prime Minister Angela Merkel reportedly had to explain that it would be legally impossible for Germany to set up trade agreements directly with the U.S. (since Germany is part of the European Union) eleven times before he is said to have grasped that schoolkid fact).

And the ignorance and confusion apparently doesn’t stop with Trump. Wade Jacoby, writing in the Washington Post, notes that Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro appears profoundly confused about Germany’s monetary goals:

Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, seems to think that Germany wants a weak euro. In fact, German officials have spoken out consistently against the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing policy that is helping hold down the euro’s value.

The analysis suggests that while Trump and his team are largely clueless, that doesn’t mean they’re automatically wrong about everything — though they don’t appear to have the operational competence to address the extremely complex trade, savings, and investment relationships at the heart of the issue.

Monkey Cage

Analysis

Donald Trump just threatened Germany over trade. Here’s what you need to know

Merkel: The US can’t be counted on by its allies under Trump

Sadly, I think it’s obvious she’s right.

From abrogation of long-established treaties, to providing the top secrets of US allies to their — and our — adversaries, to a constant barrage of lies, disinformation, and misinformation — Donald Trump and his team of willfully ignorant incompetents have turned the current US administration into a betrayer of allies and a traitor to our national ideals and principles.

Newsweek: ANGELA MERKEL SUGGESTS GERMANY CAN’T COUNT ON THE U.S. UNDER TRUMP

H.R. McMaster doesn’t know anything about it — except that Jared Kushner’s attempt to set up a Russian-controlled communications backchannel between the Trump team and the Kremlin is nothing to worry about.

Remember when national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, had a shred of credibility left? Looks like, instead of him imposing discipline on the Trump team, the Trump style has turned McMaster into one of them…

Even though he suggested it was all nothing to worry about, he ALSO claimed that he knew nothing about Jared Kushner’s efforts to set up a secure backchannel communication with Russia using their facilities — a communication channel specifically designed to prevent US intelligence agents from being able to monitor it: “it’s not something that I’ve in any way been involved with or that I have any knowledge of.”

Got that? He doesn’t know ANYTHING about it — but he can assure you it’s NOTHING to worry about. Thanks, H.R. Great work keeping the country safe and free.

Washington Post: Trump adviser: ‘I would not be concerned’ about a Russia back channel, irrespective of Kushner

Neither one nor the other… but both.

I have come to the conclusion that one cannot back Trump unless he or she is both mentally and morally deficient.

A cynical smart person would be able to see how much he lies, how often he breaks promises, and would have investigated his business and other dealings — that’s just smart self-interest. Having done so, they would realize that his ‘business acumen’ is largely PR puffery — had he merely invested all the millions he was given and loaned by his father in index stocks, it’s estimated he would be considerably wealthier. His supposed business acumen lags the market.

A person of lesser intellect and insight but with a sense of common decency might fall for his promises and lies — but would not be able to ignore his bigotry, his cruelty to the weak and different, or his toxic vulgarity.

Pundits go big for Hillary. Everyone else, apparently, thinks Sanders ‘won’ the first Democratic Party presidential debate.

Fortune:

Fortune: Did Hillary Clinton really win the Democratic debate? 

The Atlantic: Why Bernie Did Better Than the Pundits Thought

CNN: Video clip of CNN Live Poll results

Police and society

We’ve been confronted with some very ugly realities about the performance of police of the decidedly difficult and dangerous tasks we’ve set for them.

Individual humans will err, of course. But it appears that these problems are SYSTEMIC — and systemic problems need to be taken up by society as a whole, going beyond mutual blame games and scapegoating, and looking for new solutions that actually work.

Because it’s clear that we are moving farther away from the goals we have, as a society, set for ourselves.

Independent thought and unitary thoughts

Any thought that appears independently without corroborating observations, corollary conclusions, or peripheral considerations should be suspect, seems to me. If it just ‘pops into your head’ it may well have been put there to achieve someone else’s ends.

I came to the conclusion back in my wild and wooly twenties that sorcery, marketing and politics were all part of the same game.

Child prisoners raped by prisoners AND staff on an ongoing basis in Michigan, according to lawsuit.

Michigan prison officials actually claim they are not responsible for rape, murder, or violence against child prisoners mixed with the adult prisoner population. The courts don’t seem to see it their way, including a $100 million judgment against the state for allowing prison staff to sexually assault and harass hundreds of female prisoners…

Inmates under 18 were forced to engage in sex acts with adult prisoners and staff, according to the lawsuit, with some abuse “open and obvious.” The Corrections Department disputes the allegations, and state attorneys have argued that employees shouldn’t be held liable.

But after more than a year of litigation, the inmates have some important victories.

Associated Press via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:  Michigan fighting claims of sexual abuse by teens in prison

 

Bigots complain of prejudice… the world weeps.

A coalition opposed to allowing non-heterosexuals to marry is protesting that they and their fellow bigots are feeling excluded from civil society for what others see as their hateful, narrow-minded views. But those others say it’s about time, that bigots should be shunned and their bigotry publicly shamed.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

As gay rights gain acceptance, conservatives say they face discrimination