Moving Up...

Allan Lichtman: There are very few people who can say, unimpeachably, that they called this election. Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University, is one of them. Lichtman first came to attention in May when he told The Fix's Peter Stevenson that his model  based on a set of 13 true/false statements predicted a Trump victory.

It was a model that had successfully predicted the winner of the presidential race in every election since 1984. In October ,amid dire poll numbers for Trump, he doubled down, insisting that he trusted in the model. And he was right.




Kellyanne Conway:
Conway was a known commodity in the polling world before this race. But now she's a known commodity across the country and the world. Conway did what  others couldn't; she managed to manage Donald Trump.

She did so by using her own public megaphone a near-constant TV presence and an active Twitter account to encourage Trump's better angels, always pushing him to stay focused on issues and away from personal attacks.   Just a thought.  [Washington Post]

Slogan...

Thousands attended the Women's March on Washington Saturday. Activist, Gloria Steinem took to the stage to rally the crowd.

With the timing and sheer number of people involved, it comes as little surprise that there are various causes attached to the march, which was largely billed as a demonstration in support of women's rights and civil rights but for many has clear political undertones connected to the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Some of the homemade signs at the rally were related to Hillary Clinton, Trump's campaign rival. One read "Still With Her" using a play on Clinton's campaign slogan, and another read "Lock Him Up," playing on a chant that some Trump supporters directed at Clinton during the campaign. Several "Stronger Together" posters from the Clinton campaign were spotted as well.

We have issues. Let us hope we can communicate it to the officials, not accept hollow slogans from politicians.

Steps...

Fox...*

Fox News took time out of four broadcasts to apologize for four separate instances of incorrect information that portrayed Muslims in a negative light.

Several of the cases involved incendiary comments about "no-go zones" in Europe, where Islamic law supposedly supersedes local law and where non-Muslims fear to go.

Other media outlets have accused Fox of exaggerations and falsehoods, and even British Prime Minister David Cameron mocked one of the assertions. Fox apologized morning, noon and night. 

Jeanine Pirro issued the final correction of the day, for something her guest Steve Emerson said a week earlier: that Birmingham, England is a "totally Muslim city where non-Muslims don't go in." Emerson was ridiculed for his comments, and he subsequently apologized.

"Last week on this program, a guest made a serious factual error that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected," Pirro said. ................ Also, we could find no credible source that indicates Birmingham is a so-called no-go zone."

Earlier this week, a French comedy television show observed that the map in question was identical to a map, made by the French government in 1996, of poor neighborhoods in need of help.
Welcome to Fake News.  [1/18/2015] ....   Just a thought.

Big Yawn...*

It’s a conventionally accepted notion that any attention is good attention, and that brazen tactics are justified if they’re in the name of a good cause. But new research says that may not be true. 

Aside from all the other negative effects of unrealistic, oversexualized advertising, it is just ineffective when you’re “selling ethics.”

Two new University of Queensland studies on “Using Sexualized Images of Women” have found that when subjects view sexy PETA ads, “Intentions to support the ethical organization were reduced for those exposed to the sexualized advertising” and “that behaviors helpful to the ethical cause diminished after viewing the sexualized advertisements.” In one of the studies, researchers found that men who viewed the ads were likely to report (shocker), but that they were no likelier to support the cause itself.

The lead researcher on both studies, says, ”There’s a negative link between dehumanization and the treatment of others, it reduces concern … If you are using images that are dehumanizing, it’s likely to backfire.” So, bikini girls making out with vegetables doesn’t end slaughterhouse abuse?

It certainly back fired. see the image.

History...

Opinion...

Protesting something ...... not sure what, during the Inauguration of Donald Trump.

Hope...?

This is a new Era of hope, a better future for the American people, less military intervention in the affairs of other countries, and a peaceful world to have. Let us try it it may work.

Whistle...*

Fleischmann is a tall, thin, quick-witted securities lawyer in her late thirties, with long blond hair, .......... has survived some very tough times. She's had to struggle to find work despite some striking skills and qualifications, a common symptom of a not-so-common condition called being a whistle-blower.
Fleischmann is the central witness in one of the biggest cases of white-collar crime in American history, possessing secrets that JPMorgan Chase paid $9 billion to keep the public from hearing the truth.

she reviewed loans and flagged many as “stated income unreasonable for profession”; In one case in 2006, managers marked 33 percent loans in a loan sample under this category, but were effectively overturned by executive. Yet the bank continued to “sell...high-risk loans as low-risk securities,” despite the fact that doing so would be fraud.

Fleischmann was laid off in 2008. She was under a confidentiality agreement with Chase, but she did have the ability to report crimes. So she put her trust in the federal government, which was tasked with overseeing and punishing the sort of fraud she witnessed.

Not an easy road. Just a thought.

I Do...