Page 2

Note: At one time, the opening pages of my website consisted of a home page and then subsequent pages with "bulleted" points about stuff I read on the web. It has since been "downsized" and all the old stuff moved to the folder /old_stuff/. This was originally page 2 of that website. There were subsequent numbered pages, but those were consolidated into page 2.

There is so much misinformation on the Internet today that it is hard to know what to believe. Much of the information is opinion that can fall into the category of "lies, damned lies, and statistics." One way to assess whether what you are reading is true is to consult "fact checking" websites. For example, one well known "fact checker" is PolitiFact. But every "judge" has a bias and you need to be aware of it. There is a website dedicated to critiquing PolitiFact's conclusions. It is human nature to agree with opinions that agree with our own values. The key is to read opinions opposed to your own and constantly challenge your own beliefs. Unfortunately, most people do not have, or take, the time to do this given the firehose of information the Internet spews out today.

Peggy Noonan on Donald Trump: "Because while his followers love America, he doesn’t."

"More than 100 Republican nominees for statewide office or Congress this year have falsely claimed that election fraud helped defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Almost 150 members of Congress — more than half of the Republicans serving there — went so far as to vote to overturn the 2020 election result."—NY Times. Too many Republicans have lost their integrity.

Today's NY Times (2022-07-21) has a series of columns that are fascinating. Eight of the Times' regular opinion writers each present a column on a major topic (Trump voters, Facebook, Mitt Romney, etc.) in which they explain that they came to realize that their original conclusions and published opinions were wrong. Another vivid reminder to read about both sides of an issue and form your own opinion. Even the pundits, for all of their research and observations, can get it wrong. Reader beware.

Provocative article from Ezra Klein.

"We may say with truth and meaning, that governments are more or less republican as they have more or less of the element of popular election and control in their composition." —Thomas Jefferson

Damn, Microsoft! Couldn't you have found a way to preserve my Explorer view setup for 22H2? I spent a lot of time getting that the way I wanted it!!

I love Peggy Noonan. From a recent column: "Then there’s Mike Pence, a good man. But hearing him give a speech is proof that the dead are trying to contact us."

"Most of those who worked with Mr. Trump have been unsparing: He was harebrained, selfish, knew nothing of history and didn’t feel enough respect for our institutions and arrangements to bother learning."

I do the website for the Center for Lifelong Learning in Aiken, SC. If you live in the CSRA, check it out.

You can find my past posts here.

"Bills like H.R. 8 should be signed into law, and the age to purchase a high-caliber semiautomatic weapon that can hold a high-capacity magazine should be the same as it is to purchase a handgun." And high-capacity magazines should be outlawed.