Focused Attention

Politics, psychology, AI, machine learning and the world around us. Try to think rationally. Work to make the world a better place when I think I know how.

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@Neoavatara @jmp_nyc I'll be super surprised if more than a small minority of GOP senators publicly (or even privately) agree with @benshapiro's statement.

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@Shakestweetz How do you know? Or what evidence can you marshall to make that claim?

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@ali A pundit is basically "someone who regularly reminds others when they've erred" - usually only when they disagree with the author or just dislike them. Journalists are almost the same, except, thankfully, most still try to live up to a code of journalistic integrity.

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@govttrader Possible. But there's plenty of that already in the pipeline, and China/Mexico have been de-escalatory and mostly rational. My guess is he's more likely to attack where it's easier to inflame his base: immigration, the dems, etc.. That would be my guess anyway, what do you think?

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@Copernicus2013 @walterkirn My point is not that he's physically hitting reporters as you well know. It's that he's trying to punish media outlets that he doesn't like for reporting verified stories that don't happen to stroke his ego.

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@Copernicus2013 @walterkirn Snubbing news outlets that don't lick his boots. Singling out individual reporters. Calling everything he doesn't like "fake news" without evidence or backing up claims.Threatening violence against media outlets (even if in jest) & whipping up his followers into anti-media frenzy

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@SantiagoAuFund Let's get real. Infowars wasn't a crusade by media. That was a public outcry against an outlet pushing harmful & verifiably false conspiracy theories. Also "press freedom" is a paper tiger while the key issue is that a sitting president has never so violently attacked the press.

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@walterkirn Let's get real. Infowars wasn't a crusade by media. That was a public outcry against an outlet pushing harmful & verifiably false conspiracy theories. Also "press freedom" is a paper tiger while the key issue is that a sitting president has never so violently attacked the press.

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@TheViewFromLL2 @EWErickson Yeah the McCabe report does seem to have some far-reaching significance.

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This thread is definitely worth reading if you at all care about what's going on with the FBI right now. https://t.co/hipudxZcIi

[Susan Simpson @TheViewFromLL2]

From the OIG report, it does seem like the conclusion that McCabe lacked candor in various interviews is well supported. And that's a big deal. But it's not as big or nationally important as another matter that is at the heart of the OIG report, but is referenced only indirectly:

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@joshmccrain @NateSilver538 @jayrosen_nyu @BrendanNyhan @kreissdaniel Trumpvotes also correlated with quality measures for early childhood education & public high school funding, etc. Basically agree disentangling these factors is hard. Would be interested to see multi-factor study. Has anyone seen one? Correlation with edu of particular interest.

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@AnimaAnandkumar @roydanroy I voted yes as a man, but honestly wouldn't be able to answer the "is necessary" part of the question and in my mind substituted "would you prefer" or maybe something like "would you be willing to since you think it might help and is unlikely to cause harm"

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@SocProf Honestly I'd like to see pieces that specifically interview crossover voters - i.e. Obama-Trump voters. Those are the interesting ones to me.

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Wait, is this satire or not? https://t.co/9GMavAMFlQ @MichaelCohen212 @TrueFactsStated @MichaelAvenatti @renato_mariotti @TeaPainUSA @StormyDaniels

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@CurtisHouck @EWErickson You think teasing a high-schooler cause he didn't get into a college counts as reasoned criticism of his views? Evidence-based criticism of a kid's political views is fair, but do you really support Ingraham's personal attacks? Not the best way to get the good ideas into policy.

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@emilynussbaum Humiliated by what precisely? That he comes across as pathetic throughout the whole episode?

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@NateSilver538 I am much more interested in the story for its abuse of power aspects than any dumb sex tidbits, but agree that the very fact that "porn star" is in the headline gives it a bit of media boost.

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@FiveThirtyEight @NateSilver538 @Nate_Cohn @ForecasterEnten It would be interesting to see some attempt at an explanation for the trends and fluctuations in this measure. And yes, I'm also shocked that it's that high.

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@maggieNYT If being stiffed was the main concern, lawyers could require prepayment on, say, a quarterly basis, or an escrowed deposit. I wonder if anyone has suggested it? But of course that he doesn't follow advice + reputational risk also an issue. Maybe he's a "tough negotiator" on fees?