Topics

1

General Comments / Trump to end birthright citizenship

« on: October 30, 2018, 09:26:33 AM »

"I love the Constitution! True story!"

What a joke to have this going on after all the lecturing from Republicans about Obama and Democrats not caring about the Constitution. Really now. We may witness an executive order that flat-out redefines who is a citizen.

Executive overreach much?

2

General Comments / When is a book not a book? Apparently when the First Lady gives it to you!

« on: September 29, 2017, 11:57:33 AM »

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/09/29/librarian-rejects-melania-trump-s-dr-seuss-books-calls-them-racist-propaganda.html

Yeah, so this reminds me of that time Michelle Obama got pushback on her Eat Healthy program (or whatever it was called) for kids. This is every bit as stupid as Sarah Palin standing on a pedestal prasising kids' freedom to eat junk food.

Holy smokes, can we all just leave First Ladies alone to promote good food and books for kids? This sort of obscenity deserves to be called out on both sides.

3

General Comments / Google manifesto

« on: August 08, 2017, 12:20:37 AM »

So apparently you can get fired for your wrong opinion, even if that opinion is presented constructively in a reasonably well-assembled argument that also calls for civil discussion.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/7/16111052/google-james-damore-fired-anti-diversity-manifesto

Seriously, I'm wishing I could kick Google in the metaphorical nuts right now. Anyone have any idea how I can add my voice to the chorus opposing this behavior?

I'm not a conservative, but I'm increasingly siding with them. This is an outrage.

4

General Comments / Attribution error, BLM and Dallas

« on: July 10, 2016, 09:04:47 AM »

Here's a post-Dallas quote that made me chuckle:
"To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible"

Who said it? Amusingly, it's hard to tell. Was it the police, saying this about the cop who shot a black driver reaching for his ID last week? Was it BLM, saying this about the Dallas shooter? I'll give you a moment...

nah, I'm not going to tell you, but that it reeks of hypocrisy. Because the real mindblowing thing to me right now is that just about everybody getting involved in this debate seems to fall into the lazy mental trap of being angry at a larger group for the actions of a few bad members.

It manifests as racism - the aspersions cast over an entire race because of the (statistically large to other populations but still small on a per capita basis) criminality of a few.

It manifests as anti-police rhetoric in the stone-throwing protestors, and even among many of the peaceful ones who still distrust "police" rather than individual officers.

It manifests as a condemnation of "rape culture" over actual rapists. It manifests as Build-a-Wall Trumpians leering at brown-skinned people for taking their jobs. It manifests in a no-Muslims sign at a gun range, or a black mother teaching her kids that the police are to be feared.

Everywhere I look, it's the same mistake in different clothing. I don't know what to call it except "attribution error", because words like "generalizing" don't seem to capture it.

What percentage of a population makes it appropriate to condemn the whole? Is it 1%? 10%? What about the other 90% who are just fine people going about their lives? Is it not foolish to grind them down and essentially provoke further errors from the other "side"? People that strike me as otherwise reasonable suddenly reveal some side of them that seems to WANT to simplify the math by condemning the large, easily identified group.

Why can't we accept that car crashes happen in any large enough population, and that it is not useful or practical to make them into headline news items? Until we are all in self-driving cars, anyways. Or maybe when all police officers are replaced by Robocops.