State of Union and Response

I was still on a plane when the President spoke, however I was driving home from the airport when Kennedy responded.  And from what I can tell it sounds like I did not miss a thing...


Both sides are still absolutely dedicated to playing to their more extreme bases.  And we really should not expect any enlightened collaboration / progress from either party.


CNN State Of Union
CNN Kennedy Response
CNN 6 Take Aways
CNN 7 Elephants
MinnPost SOU 1
MinnPost SOU 2
MinnPost SOU 3

I Hate Politicians

Now these idiots can not actually pass a budget, however they have plenty of time for stupid games.  Apparently there are 2 memos regarding this topic, a GOP version and  DEM version.  And the GOP folks are voting against the recommendation of the Justice department... Which called the releasing of the memo "extraordinarily reckless” and could harm national security and ongoing investigations."


Meaning they will release the GOP version, and not the DEM version. (at least not at this time)
VOX GOP Votes to Release GOP Memo
Fox News Memo


Why can't these people focus on running the country?  I mean is a simple budget too much to ask?  We are almost half way through the year!!!

Trump: Look at ME...

Here is Trump's latest case of trying to take credit for things that he had nothing to do with.

"Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!"

The graph here clearly shows that the vast majority of the unemployment rate drop occurred under the Obama tenure. And more importantly that the rate of drop has slowed during the Trump first year. CNBC WH Explains Jay Z Tweet

Of course, FOX News neglected to include that telling graph in their coverage.

 

It would much more accurate to say that Trump has not screwed up the economy yet. And we are thankful for that...

1. So back to Trust and Truth, are we attacking Trump for noting his error?
2. Or did he tweet this silliness to keep his name on the front page?

Either way Van Jones and Jay Z are happy for the free publicity.

Another interesting link...

CNN GDP Growth is very NORMAL

On Truth and Trust

Eric is discussing this topic over here. Here is my latest response to Ilya.

"First one has to note that you are citing a Right leaning publication who is citing research from an even more Right leaning organization. So their definition of "hostile" is likely suspect.

If Trump blatantly lies / exaggerates as is his norm, and they fact check him is that hostile? If Trump pays hush money to a adult film star that he cheated on his wife with and they report it is that hostile? If his campaign meets with Russian operatives and they report it, is that hostile?

Second, if Trump wants to garner positive coverage it is in his power to do so. He simply needs to be professional, positive, informed and honest. Unfortunately he is having a hard time growing out of his egotistical, attacking, lying, reactive, etc self. I keep hoping he can do so, but it is getting harder to keep the faith that that old dog can learn new tricks.

From your link.
"The working relationship between President Trump and the news media shows no signs of improving. Journalists continue to appear aggressively hostile toward the president, according to research released Tuesday by the Media Research Center, a conservative press watchdog.

The new study of major broadcast coverage reveals that 90 percent of statements made by reporters and nonpartisan sources the last three months on ABC, NBC and CBS evening newscasts about Mr. Trump and his administration were negative."

Grad Rates Up and Proficiency Down?

Erin has an interesting post at MinnPost  Then Joe insulted the education folk, so I had to step in to defend them...

"I hope at some point Americans wake up and once again demand that public High Schools get back to preparing our children for the real life of competition in the job market. Teaching the trades (yes folks, some people work with their hands in the real world), teaching the basics (hard to get a job if you can’t speak English, do math, read and write) and teach problem solving.

The years and years of social engineering, coddling little Jimmy and Jane to make sure they feel good about their failing grades, teachers and school districts being more concerned about what children are learning than actually having the children learning how to learn and being afraid to tell students that when 8 people are competing for 4 high paying jobs the owner will hire the most capable.

Competition drives the workforce and business, being afraid of teaching that has us where we are as a country with High School students.

We are currently 35th in the world in educating our children, we were number one in the 70’s into the 80’s. You would think with the Trillions we spend on public education, we might be better. Sad to say nothing will change until tax payers demand more from their money and the Teachers Union gets back to students first and advocating 2nd." Joe

"Now as most here know, I am no fan of tenure, steps, lanes, senior teachers picking their schools / classrooms, etc... However the idea of blaming this disaster primarily on schools is just silly. :-)

Look on the graph at the top of this source for the root cause of the academic achievement gap.
Single Parent Household Graph

Now the question is what are we as a society going to do to reduce the number of unplanned conceptions, encourage 2 Parent households, hold Parents accountable for fulfilling their responsibilities?

Here is one of my favorite comics regarding the topic.
Teaching: Then and Now" G2A

Of course I do love Charles Sykes Rules of Life though and wish Parents and Schools taught then.

The Great Wall

Well, my 52nd birthday was January 27th and I thank everyone for their best wishes. I was also trapped in Beijing over the weekend on business... So I decided to finally take a tour bus to the Great Wall and found something else to be very thankful for !!! I am very thankful that I did not keel over from a massive coronary while walking up all those steps.   The blue arrows show roughly the 2 end points of my little hike. Note to self: Take Alieve before bed...

WH Immigration Proposal

This seems like a good proposal, what do you all think?


Sorry for that very short post... I left home Tuesday at 4 AM, travelled to Beijing, travelled to Tianjin met with customers and travelled back to Beijing last night.  I am always amazed how I can be "awake" and moving for days, and yet seem to be in some lower state of consciousness... Well last night I hit the bed and was out for 12+ hours.  Now I feel a bit better.


Due to customer conflicts I am trapped in Beijing this weekend, however I have finally scheduled time tomorrow to see the Great Wall.  The concierge assured me that this is the best tour since President Obama went there. :-)


Now back to the topic of the post.
White House Immigration Framework
NPR WH Outline
VOX Explains


The VOX piece covers the topic pretty well, and I think these will be the DEM sticking points.

"It mentions “same treatment of illegal aliens, regardless of country of origin” — an allusion to changing the law that prevents Border Patrol agents from summarily deporting unaccompanied children from countries other than Mexico. And it refers to changing “the ‘catch and release’ policy through which immigrants are released while awaiting a hearing” — which would make it harder for asylum seekers to get a lawyer while their cases are pending.

Democrats have rejected past attempts at these changes as cruel: a crackdown on people fleeing gang violence that doesn’t make anyone safer. It’s not clear how many of them will accept these changes now as the cost of citizenship for DREAMers.

Preventing people from sponsoring parents, adult children, or siblings for US citizenship. The White House, led by Trump, has demanded limits on family-based immigration — which accounts for the majority of legal immigration to the US — as part of a DACA deal. The Trump framework would limit family sponsorship to “spouses and minor children” — thus presumably changing the F3 and F4 visas, used for US citizens to bring adult children and siblings, respectively, to the US, as well as an unlimited visa for citizens to sponsor their parents. (Reports indicate that people currently in line for those visas — a backlog that extends for years — will be able to remain in line.)"

I heard a Liberal woman on CNN who was adamant that the USA should keep all illegal workers and accept all people who show up at our borders because "they are just trying to improve their lives"!!!  Which of course is one of the silliest rationales I have heard since after travelling the world for decades I have never met anyone who is intentionally trying to ruin their life!!!  I have however met:

• People who have beliefs and behaviors who make their life worse.
• People who work to improve their lives in their home country.

So do you think the Far Left and Far Right can swallow their pride long enough to pass something that is as common sense as this proposal?  Or are they going to stay entrenched in their near religious zealotry?

Trump to Testify Under Oath?

I have to wonder what an oath means to a serial liar like Trump?
Does he even know when he is stating an untruth?
Do you think we will get to hear his version of the truth?
Or is his statement just another lie?


CNN Trump Wants to Testify Under Oath


And the true Trump Believers still puzzle me.  They keep coming to his aid to defend his amoral behavior no matter what is uncovered.  Now I agree that Stormy Daniels is smoking hot, but that does not excuse Trumps behavior.


Washington Examiner Stormy Daniels Feels Bad
CNN Graham say Trump is a Changed Person


Why is it so hard for them to say that the man is a snake, but he is our snake?

The Talking Stick

I love this story of common sense and good process, maybe there is hope for our politicians.  CNN Talking Stick and Kisses  Here is how Covey explains it.


By the way, I got to the airport at ~4 AM to find out that my 6 AM flight thru Detroit was now an 8:30 AM flight thru Seattle. The joys of business travel... My point is I have some time to write.

Did the DEMs Lose the Shutdown?

Well I am really hoping the airport is operational at 6 AM tomorrow... I am heading for Detroit and then Beijing again. (yippeee... :-( )  I'll check in when I can...

I think I agree with Ezra that the DEMs fared okay with the shutdown gambit.  They still have the leverage, the GOP knows they are serious, etc.  The big question is will all those idiots start acting like moderate adults or will they keep caving to their most extreme constituents?  Thoughts?

CNN How DEMS Lost the Shutdown?
VOX DEMs did not Cave
MinnPost Why?
MinnPost Outrage
VOX Shutdown

No Compromise Negotiations

From Government Shutdown Opinion

"President Trump has been clear on his goal for dealing with immigration. Along with a DACA fix, he wants increased security at the border, an end to chain migration, and an end to the visa lottery program."

After watching the morning shows, what amazes me most is that Trump, the supposedly superb negotiator, seems adamant that the DEMs should capitulate and give him every thing has requested.

Negotiate: "Bargaining (give and take) process between two or more parties (each with its own aims, needs, and viewpoints) seeking to discover a common ground and reach an agreement to settle a matter of mutual concern or resolve a conflict. "

Have I missed the part where Trump has been willing to give anything to help resolve this government shutdown?  Instead he sits there tweeting names and insisting that the Senate should invoke the Nuclear Option.  Which would really screw him next year if / when the DEMs take the Senate back.

At least his staged photos spread some joy. :-)

Washington is Broken

After listening to NPR on the way in to work, where GOPers were pointing fingers at the DEMs and DEMers were pointing fingers at at the GOP...  It is hard to disagree with CNN Washington is Broken.


Though Trump is absolutely failing as a leader, it is hard to see What would make Americans Happy?  "We the People" seem to be splitting into 2 very stubborn and self centered camps.


I have no idea how to change / improve on this.  And how do we expect politicians to better at representing the people, when we have so little common ground?

Desperate Need for Political Center

Eric posted and interesting piece. MinnPost New poll shows our desperate need for a political center. Here is my first comment on it. (hopefully)

I agree with you totally though I have no idea how to get there.  I have been playing the Devil's Advocate to people on the Far Left and Far Right for almost 10 years now and it seems folks are pretty much right where they started or even further split. 

Depending on the day I am now attacked for being a socialist by those on the Far Right, or a Conservative by those on the Far Left. And I think what concerns me most that it seems the level of anger is growing.  On the upside people are passionate about their beliefs.  On the down side it seems they are seeing the folks with different beliefs as an "enemy".  

And with people so strongly invested in confirmation bias, and mostly communicating with those of like minds...  I have no idea how to bring this nation back together. I really am starting to miss the days when we watched the same national news and had to actually talk to a mix of people. 

Here was my attempt to try and understand what is center and what would make Americans happy.  Unfortunately it did not get too far. :-(
G2A What would make Americans Happy

MN Bonding Battle Begins

I am guessing the GOP controlled legislatures are not going to be very friendly with Gov Dayton after his attempt to defund them last year... Thankfully they had enough in reserves to get by, though I am sure this is going to be a very confrontational year in MN.  Thoughts?
MN Bonding Fight Starts Again


We even made it in WAPO

Minnesota Regions

Greta posted a cool piece at MinnPost.

There is more than one Greater Minnesota

Reminder: Our family farm is in SW MN.

Trumps Biggest Accomplishment

Laurie apparently did not think much of "G2A American Liberals are SO Selfish" since she left us this gift. :-)

As your topic is idiotic I am going to post an unrelated link rather than a comment. Trump’s most consequential accomplishment so far isn’t the tax bill The accomplishment is not a good one. it is becoming the first administration that routinely lies about everything. I believe the count is at more than 2000 lies. 

Will DEMs Shutdown Government?

The days are slipping away towards the deadline, what will the moderate DEMs do?  Will they vote for the continuing resolution? Or stand up for the DACA kids and shutdown the government?  Then one can not forget those on the Far Right who may vote No also...

Since I am usually a fan of gridlock and don't work for the government, this is fine with me...  It will be interesting to see how the week proceeds.

American Liberals are SO Selfish

This writer has an interesting take on America's illegal residents and MP won't accept my comment. Even after 3 rewordings. Minnpost If the Trump era is about putting America first, those 200,000 Salvadorans should not only stay, they should become citizens

"But if the Trump era really is about putting America first, evidence suggests they not only should stay. They should become citizens. "

In essence the argument goes that the DACA, El Salvadorans and other illegal residents are smarter, more law abiding and harder working than many legal American citizens. And for the good of America we should convert them all to American citizens and keep them here. Now personally I have no problem doing this as long as we lock down the border first.

My questions that have not been posted are that if these 11,000,000 folks are smart, hard working, law abiding and Americanized:

• Wouldn't their home countries benefit from getting them back?
• Wouldn't that improve the odds of their countries changing and becoming much more successful?
• Wouldn't that be beneficial of all the citizens of their home countries?
• Aren't we being selfish by attracting and keeping the most daring and motivated from these countries?
• In essence, sabotaging those more challenged countries?

This reminds of how community choice has destroyed many communities and schools in the USA. Whenever things start to get tough, the most capable, smartest and wealthiest run for the Burbs... Thus leaving a higher density of the incapable, not so smart and poor behind, and the toilet continues to flush.

Now it is too bad that Liberals seemingly want to promote destruction in those foreign countries. :-)

Racist, Bigoted or Logical

So is preferring to have immigrants from wealthy first world countries racist, bigoted or logical? VOX Trump's Long History

"Speaking about immigration in January 2018, Trump asked, in reference to Haiti and African countries, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" He then suggested that the US should take more people from countries like Norway. The implication: Immigrants from predominantly white countries are good, while immigrants from predominantly black countries are bad. "

When some one looks for a business partner, employee or son-in-law, does one start looking in places where fewer educated and culturally similar people live? As usual, I think Trump could phrase his comments much more tactfully, however he may have a point. We as Americans really need to determine what we want our immigration policy to accomplish.

By the way, the following comment didn't make it by the Minnpost moderators when I tried to post on 2 different articles. MP Drop in Refugees and MP Dreamers for a Wall I will never understand their guidelines...

"Now I truly do feel for the refugees of the world and the illegal workers in MN, however I have to wonder why so many Minnesotans want to prioritize their needs above the unlucky kids who are US Citizens and MN residents.

You know the kids I am talking about. The children born into generational poverty and are being raised by a "parent(s)" who simply is not mature, knowledgeable, self disciplined, financially stable, etc enough to be an effective parent(s).

Therefore the child(ren) fall behind academically, behaviorally, physically, etc. And then they usually get enrolled with many more children like themselves in a school that struggles to overcome the challenge this presents. Especially since the Parent(s) and the Local society are incapable or unwilling to help?

The unfortunate reality is that settling refugees in MN and harboring illegal workers in MN takes resources away from the most vulnerable residents of our state (ie our unlucky children) and puts downward pressure on wages. Thoughts? "

I agree that the USA needed a lot of the world's needy and down trodden to move here back when we had an excess of land, factories, etc.  Therefore we had a very open immigration policy to encourage laborers to come here.  Now that we have a large population of citizens who are struggling to succeed, shouldn't we adjust our immigration policies accordingly?

Instead of inviting the world's down trodden here, how can we help them improve their home countries?

Women Denounce Me Too Hysteria

Thankfully here are some women acting as the voice of reason regarding this sensitive topic...  And of course others will try to shout them down...  Thoughts?


CNN CD Denounces
NPR 100 Say Me Too Has Gone Too Far
Ind Men Should Be "free to hit on" Women 

Medicaid Work Requirements

Since I see Medicaid as just a different form of welfare, I agree that work requirements should be in place. Thoughts?


VOX Medicaid Work Requirements
CNN Money Work Requirements
KHN Work Requirements
Guidance Document

School Boundary Gerrymandering

This piece discusses how successful folks work hard to protect their children and property values from the unsuccessful folk. Which unfortunately contributes to unsuccessful folks staying unsuccessful...

Of course there is a good reason that districts do this. Successful people are free to take their children and the money tied to them to less demographically challenged schools whenever they choose. Our district, Robbinsdale 281 has been fighting this as long as I have been here. That is why we have 3 magnet schools and the people from the SW side go to Armstrong High School and the folks from the NE side go to Cooper High School. And even with these accommodations we still lose hundreds of successful families and their support to Wayzata, Orono, Minnetonka, Privates, etc

As I have asked before, what is the Parent to do:
Fight for their community and keep their children in a more demographical challenged / diverse school. Hoping that this benefits them in someway.
Ensure their child is able to attend the least demographically challenged / very homogenous school. Assuming that academics are more important than diversity.

Note: When I talk diversity, I am NOT TALKING RACE... I am talking economics, family structure, academic focus / history, parental engagement in child's learning, etc. As I have noted many times before, my girls have friends from all races. However we have taught them to steer clear of kids who are making poor choices. (ie gangs, drugs, drinking, smoking, bullying, skipping homework, etc)

VOX School Boundary Gerrymandering

And here is how RDale and Mpls look to their tool. As always. click the image to make it bigger...

Drop In Refugees Coming to MN

From Minnpost Drop In Refugees

"Now I truly do feel for the refugees of the world and the illegal workers in MN, however I have to wonder why so many Minnesotans want to prioritize their needs above the unlucky kids who are US Citizens and MN residents.

You know the kids I am talking about. The children born into generational poverty and are being raised by a "parent(s)" who simply is not mature, knowledgeable, self disciplined, financially stable, etc enough to be an effective parent(s).

Therefore the child(ren) fall behind academically, behaviorally, physically, etc. And then they usually get enrolled with many more children like themselves in a school that struggles to overcome the challenge this presents. Especially since the Parent(s) and the Local society are incapable or unwilling to help?

The unfortunate reality is that settling refugees in MN and harboring illegal workers in MN takes resources away from the most vulnerable residents of our state (ie our unlucky children) and puts downward pressure on wages. Thoughts?

Somewhat related.
MP Chronic Absence
MP School Discipline Issues
Black and White Inequality
We are #2 and that is NOT a good thing...
NCCP MN Kids Poverty

Freezing Schools

From Laurie...  Public school buildings are falling apart, and students are suffering for it

"Maybe you should stop complaining about lazy, underachieving students and support federal funding for adequate schools. as I mentioned yesterday this would be a better use for the money than Trump's wall."

The irony of course is that I don't think I have ever complained about "lazy, underachieving students"...  Mostly I complain about:

•  irresponsible, neglectful, and/or immature Baby Mamas and Papas, and that our society is not holding them accountable for being good Parents.  
• School Unions putting the Teacher / Administration's wants ahead of the needs of the unlucky kids. (ie tenure, steps, lanes, lowest paid Teachers with most challenged students, etc)

Now back to Laurie's link, please note that this is a State level issue.  And that Maryland has been a pretty Blue State. And it is a very wealthy state.

So why again are many of the school buildings not up to the Winter challenge?  And why is Baltimore such a poor messed up city?  And most importantly why should the Feds be involved?  Other than maybe to tell the State to get it's act together...

Maryland School Funding

Gov Proposes Corruption Investigation

Fire and Fury

A gift from Laurie.
The ‘stable genius’ isn’t even functioning as president

I am unsure why folks see Trump as so "deranged" when I have known several people very like him, these include family, bosses, commenters, etc.  Now I agree that Trump's habit of attacking and escalating is a bit more extreme.  Then again maybe not, I am not sure how the people I know would react if they had to defend their pride and self image in a very public form...

Some of their characteristics:

• they believe they are owed unquestioning respect from people who they believe have less experience, age, stature, etc
• they really like having "yes" people around them
• they get very angry when people ask for their rationale / belief 
• they "know more than others" and "know what to do"

Now imagine how frustrating being a President would be if one had that personality. I mean all the checks and balances built into the system and the non-stop critiques would be infuriating. I assume most of these people enjoy being self employed or being a CEO, in these positions they would not be questioned and could be the "emperor"...

Market Gains Benefit Smaller Group

Here is one for the Liberals. And since I am not a big fan of progressive taxation to fix this, I really don't know what to do about it.  MSN Why Small Group Benefits from DOW Growth

To me the answer is to increase the capabilities of American workers:

• strongly promote 2 parent households (indifferent to sex of Parents)
• strongly dissuade single parent households 
• demand that people on welfare / medicaid improve, grow, change, etc and stop being a drag on our country
• demand that people on welfare / medicaid severely limit their number of children until they can afford and responsibly raise them
• offer low cost education options for sectors that are short of skilled knowledgeable employees

And to drive lower end wages up using basic supply and demand rules:

• limit the number of low end workers competing for those jobs (ie ship illegal workers home)
• immigrate more workers for the high dollar jobs to push down those costs
• encourage American consumers to support American workers

Now I am fine with progressive taxation to help the unsuccessful as long as there are strong improvement / learn / work incentives in place for the recipients of that wealth transfer.  It is the giving without expectation / consequences thus enabling people and their children to keep making the same mistakes decade after decade that I am against because it keeps them trapped in generational poverty that frustrates me greatly.  It is so unfair to the kids.

This piece from the Heritage org explains it pretty clearly.  An even simpler summary is:

• Caring for and raising for kids is hard.
• Paying household bills and saving is hard.
• Single parenting often leads to poverty
• Single parenting often leads to child problems

So if we really want to stop this gap from growing, we really need to focus on the bottom end.

DEMs Strive to Give Wealthy A Tax Cut

I find this so hypocritical of these supposed "tax the rich" and more government is good Liberals... I mean it is the Liberal States who continually push for more Federal programs and spending, and yet now they are trying hard to find ways to keep their wealthy residents from paying their full share in Federal taxes.


Please remember that the new tax bill left an up to $10,000 SALT tax deduction so most normal folks like ourselves can continue to write off our state and local taxes on the Federal form.  So all of these desperate State proposals are actually out to protect the write offs of their wealthy citizens...


Maybe it is true...  Big government is good as long as you are not the one paying for it...


CNN DEM States Looking for Ways to Avoid SALT cap
Reuters DEMs States...

Show Us the Money...

Now I know that my yearly raise did not impress me, and it seems I am not alone...  Maybe that is why I am blogging right now instead of working.  Some kind of passive aggressive rebellion. 😁


To me it seems we are a very confused and conflicted society...  Here is why:


Liberals swear that:

• They want Americans to be paid more, but they want to allow more low skill low academic workers to immigrate or stay here which increases the worker supply a lot, and the worker demand a little which makes it harder for our low skill low academic workers to find good paying jobs.
• Then they make this worse by being frustrated when companies get "low tax" incentives to make huge investments in a community.
• Then they seem to believe that "workers" should not have to move physically or adjust to get these better jobs.  They comment that it is a terrible burden for these folks. The irony being of course that tens of millions of legal and illegal have sacrificed much more to get those same jobs.
• Finally they often really like VWs, Subarus and Other Low Domestic Content vehicles.

Conservatives swear:

• Conservatives say they want to bring jobs back to America so wages will increase and yet many complain when they have a hard time finding help.
• They seem to want growth while keeping wages constrained, so that the Investors get more profit.
• Finally they complain about the skill / knowledge level of the labor pool while fighting against making training programs low cost to the trainee.

And of course automation is only going to make this worse... We will need fewer low skill low knowledge employees, and more high skill high paid workers...  Thoughts?


CNN Show Me the Money
CNN Wisconsin Foxconn: Wage Increase Concerns
CNN California Sanctuary State
CNN California Homelessness

Trump Did Not Want to Win

From Laurie, Donald Trump Didn’t Want to Be President
One year ago: the plan to lose, and the administration’s shocked first days.

Cancerous Behaviors / Beliefs

Or... How to Alienate People? or How to Stay Personally Frustrated?

Now everyone falls into the following destructive Behaviors / Beliefs at times. The big questions are:

• how often, how many, with who and how severely?
• how can we each avoid these traps personally?
• how can we help others who we care about avoid these traps?
• or is just accepting them as they are the only option?

The reality is that most people do not like being around people who spend a lot of time here. Us humans tend to prefer fun people who are praising, upbeat, self confident, helpful, collaborative, trusting and flexible. Thoughts?

The 8th Habit (Steven Covey) Five Cancerous Behaviors

• Criticizing - Nobody can ever do anything right for this person. 
• Complaining - Nothing is ever good enough for this person.
• Comparing - This person compares people or possessions with envy, jealousy or put-downs.
• Competing - For sense of worth within relationship, families, work teams and cultures. This person thinks they are better, smarter or richer than everyone else.
• Contending - This person tries to make other people look like losers, so he or she can look like a winner. Everything is a competition.

Two Other C's

• Cynicism - contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives; an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; skepticism
• Control - having a need to dictate other people's behavior; having the need to dictate how something is managed or done; finds it difficult to let others behave / do things as they wish.

Maren 5 Dangerous Behaviors

Covey Video

G2A Life is Hard

G2A 5 Debilitating Cs

NS Complain Compare Compete

Carroll 5 Emotional Cancers

FB Political Posts: What To Do?

What should one do when Facebook friends post political statements?

In the last month or so I have had 2 Conservative and 2 Liberal friends post political opinions / links on Facebook.  Now these are the smart capable friends with whom one should be able to have a rational discussion.  Not the crazy guy who is always sending out propaganda...

Of course me being me, I feel a compulsion to comment with questions or a more analytical view.  All the while knowing that these friends just want to espouse their views, have them reaffirmed and are not happy to have them questioned.

To their credit, they have occasionally entered into a discussion online. However one of them has called me an online troll and another said that I was sticking my nose in other people's business as usual.  Thankfully none of them have unfriended me yet.

Now I do post links to my G2A posts on my Facebook page, however I am always happy to discuss the questions and views I raise.  My questions today are what to do when others "go political" on Facebook?

• Just ignore them, roll my eyes and say there they co again?
• Add a comment well knowing that they just want one way communication?
• Or comments that reassure them that their world view is the correct one?
• Unfriend them so I never need to see their silliness again? 

The larger question is if people only read opinion / news sources that are friendly to their world view, only listen to friends who are friendly to their world view, want to propagate their world view without being questioned, etc.  How do we ever expect to close the massive political divide in our country?