Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Dissonance...*

Image result for keep me warm in a cold night
Many describe situations in which people find themselves hating the person they once loved.  

Love and hate are not diametrically opposed.  First, love is broader in scope than is hate. While in hate the object is considered to be basically a bad agent, in romantic love the object is perceived to be both good and attractive. Second, there are many varieties of each emotion, and each kind cannot be the exact opposite of all other kinds of the other emotion.

Our desire for exclusivity arises in romantic love but not in hate. In hate we want to see our negative attitude shared by others. It seems natural that we want to share our negative fortune with others while wanting to keep the positive part merely to ourselves.  

Hating the one we love is possible from a logical point of view. This phenomenon, however, entails profound emotional dissonance.

Standard...



Image result for CNN promoting Avenatti cartoons


The California State Bar, which oversees discipline for all California-licensed attorneys, issued a "consumer alert" Monday evening concerning Michael Avenatti, saying it was moving to suspend him from the practice of law because his alleged conduct "poses a substantial threat of harm to clients or the public."

The sudden development further accentuated Avenatti's dramatic public fall from grace.

He was celebrated, for more than a year, in liberal media circles as a potential challenger to President Trump and the next Democratic Presidential election of 2020. The Democratic circles also promoted this individual as a solution to the party's problem.

He faces numerous federal criminal charges in both California and New York courts for allegedly trying to blackmail the clothing giant Nike, impersonating a client, misappropriating client funds for personal purchases, and related matters.
Time to shut down the Media outlets that was promoting this person for their own ratings.

Monday, June 3, 2019

Preponderance...

Image result for blindfolded lady justice in court

In most civil cases, the burden of persuasion that applies is called “a preponderance of the evidence.” This standard requires the jury to return a judgment in favor of the plaintiff if the plaintiff is able to show that a particular fact or event was more likely than not to have occurred.

In some civil cases, the burden of proof is elevated to  “clear and convincing evidence.” This requires the plaintiff to prove that a particular fact is substantially more likely than not to be true. 

This standard sets a higher threshold than the preponderance of the evidence standard, but it does not quite rise to the widely recognized standard used in criminal cases, known as “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Assange...




The Justice Department has decided not to charge Assange for his role in exposing some of the CIA’s most secret spying tools, according to a U.S. official.
The decision means that Assange will not face punishment for publishing one of the CIA’s most potent arsenals of digital code used to hack devices, dubbed Vault 7. The leak  one of the most devastating in CIA history  not only essentially rendered those tools useless for the CIA, it gave foreign spies and rogue hackers access to them.

Broaching such a classified subject in court risks exposing even more CIA secrets. The CIA has never officially confirmed the authenticity of the leaked documents, even though analysts widely believe them to be authentic. 

Do we need transparency here or just leave things where they are? Just a thought.

Exonerated...

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Professional...

Image result for medication prices are so high cartoon

Potential 2020 Democratic presidential contenders are rolling out a slew of plans to lower prescription drug prices.
Democrats see lowering drug prices as a way to harness populist anger at pharmaceutical companies and reclaim an issue that President Trump has put in the spotlight.
Harris joined with Sens. Jeff Merkley and Amy Klobuchar, to introduce a bill allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to review and reject drug price increases that it deems unreasonable.
Warren introduced a bill to let the government manufacture certain drugs and sell them at lower prices if there is not enough competition.
Booker introduced a bill to increase transparency requirements around drug company payments to people with influence over deciding which drugs Medicaid covers.
Sanders unveiled a bill to strip monopolies from drug companies if their prices are deemed excessive.
Democrats see the issue as a political winner for their side, but they are dancing around it with nonreal solution.  Just a thought.

Gross...

Confidence...