Category: General

The press loves to sway opinion; their success at opinion mongering is a measure of how important a particular publication has become. However, some mislead in the process. Even NPR is not immune to this effect.

NPR published a story regarding a claim of President Trump that he can eliminate birthright citizenship in the U.S. by executive order (he can’t, but such an action will start the ball rolling on a potential Supreme Court review of the wording of the 14th amendment). In this story they note that 30 countries in the world (out of 194, or less than 16% of countries) confer birthright citizenship. What they don’t tell you is that the only 1st world countries that confer citizenship by birth are the U.S. and Canada – and that politicians in Canada are trying to eliminate this path, too. Note also that not a single country in Europe offers such citizenship – not Great Britain, not France, not Germany… the list goes on. In Europe, blood relations to a citizen is required for citizenship to be passed at birth.

Thanks, NPR, for the misleading story.

According to this news article in the Washington Post, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled against a women in a free speech case. They argue that the court “…carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected.” They also said that the court’s decision “…served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace.”

And just what do you think will happen when when the aim is to preserve “political peace”? Yeah; that’s what I think, too.

Do you think Michael Bloomberg is pouring money into California elections (from clear across the country) because he is concerned with the interests of the people in Southern California? He’s only out for control so that he can remake America in his image:

Michael Bloomberg drops $9.5 million on ads targeting GOP Reps. Rohrabacher and Knight in midterm election

At the risk of also being called a “transphobic bigot” by the winner of this competition, I have to agree with the “not fair” assessment raised by their competitor. Being born with XY chromosomes generally gives a size and strength advantage over those with XX chromosomes, and it needs to be considered when classifying some competitions. Note, too, that sometimes the advantage is reversed.

‘Not fair’: World cycling bronze medalist cries foul after transgender wins gold

This is not a question of with which sex you identify; it is solely a question of significant, obvious and natural genetic advantage. The separation of sporting competitions based on such an advantage is fair; ignoring it is not. In this case, even if a transgender athlete suppresses their advantageous hormone levels as required by IOC rules the damage is already done. The effect of growing up male has resulted in stronger limbs, bones and muscles as well as larger physical size – likely providing some advantage over cisgendered female athletes participating in this event.

One solution is to categorize athletes by identifiable characteristics that reasonably group them into competitive categories, for instance by genetic sex (XY or XX chromosomes). Alternatively, we can open all competitions to all sexes and orientations, then group competitors by physical traits such as size and weight. This last alternative will likely produces dominance by one group or another in some cases, but would not involve sex or sexual orientation in the decision process and thus will at least stem the current controversy.

Not all opinions are the result of bigotry; sometimes people just disagree. In these cases civil discourse is required, not petty insults.

Why is it that Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the U.S. Government acceptable, but Mary Bono’s protest against Nike is not?

USA Gymnastics chief resigns over anti-Nike tweet, addresses Kaepernick

Interesting read:

Former Facebook engineer who railed against liberal culture explains why he quit

Isn’t Trump calling Stormy Daniels “horseface”  kind of like the pot calling the kettle black? It’s not like Trump is the belle of the ball or anything…

Trump’s comments are childish and repugnant. His opinion on the physical appearance of Stormy Daniels has no bearing on anything, and his comment was insulting to woman in general.

Isn’t it time, President Trump, that you start acting a little “Presidential”?

The assault on the Constitution continues, with Democratic politicians once again calling for the elimination of the electoral college. The latest cry for action is from the ever-wise Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (from her Twitter page and a Fox News article):

“It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic.”

Somehow she managed to overlook the fact that Abraham Lincoln – yes, the president who ended slavery – won the electoral college but only 39% of the popular vote. I’d bet that the pro-slave southern states would have done anything to eliminate the electoral college…

The Washington Post did an excellent piece, “In defense of the electoral college”,  shortly after Clinton’s defeat in 2016.  A highly recommended read for those entertaining the idea of eliminating this component of our constitution.