PGT: President-Elect Donald J Trump

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Trump not taking advantage of the daily presidential brief.

Trump was given an initial briefing within days of his election victory, and took part in a second session with senior U.S. intelligence analysts Tuesday in New York before he departed to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, officials said. Trump turned other briefing opportunities away.

A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, the office that oversees the production of the daily presidential brief, declined to comment. Spokesmen for the Trump transition did not respond to requests for comment.

The President’s Daily Brief, as the classified document is known, is designed to provide a summary of key security developments and insights from all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as an update on covert programs being run overseas by the CIA. It is typically delivered each morning by intelligence analysts selected because of their experience and expertise for the prestigious job.

The contents are among the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, but it is likely that recent versions of the brief covered developments including the resumption of Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria and the disruption of an alleged Islamic State terrorism plot in France.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d25_story.html

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

So they cross the border, give themselves up and then start going through a process to get refugee status? That's different than border jumping and laying low until you can figure out a way to help keep the economy afloat.

Edit: If they are also coming from Central America, then why not stop once they get into Mexico and apply for refugee status there? They are out of whatever political/social dangers that threaten them in Central America, no?

I can't speak to their motivations, but given the choice between Mexico and the US as a safe haven I know which one I pick.

[2Stonedbirds]

Originally Posted by New Era

I can't speak to their motivations, but given the choice between Mexico and the US as a safe haven I know which one I pick.

Apparently beggars CAN be choosers.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

Apparently beggars CAN be choosers.

Why not?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by photon

Trump not taking advantage of the daily presidential brief.

Trump was given an initial briefing within days of his election victory, and took part in a second session with senior U.S. intelligence analysts Tuesday in New York before he departed to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, officials said. Trump turned other briefing opportunities away.

A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, the office that oversees the production of the daily presidential brief, declined to comment. Spokesmen for the Trump transition did not respond to requests for comment.

The President’s Daily Brief, as the classified document is known, is designed to provide a summary of key security developments and insights from all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as an update on covert programs being run overseas by the CIA. It is typically delivered each morning by intelligence analysts selected because of their experience and expertise for the prestigious job.

The contents are among the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, but it is likely that recent versions of the brief covered developments including the resumption of Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria and the disruption of an alleged Islamic State terrorism plot in France.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d25_story.html

Good thing is the actual President has gotten almost daily briefings.

A team of intelligence analysts has been prepared to deliver daily briefings on global developments and security threats to Trump in the two weeks since he won. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, by contrast, has set aside time for intelligence briefings almost every day since the election, officials said.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by New Era

Wait... what??? You mean Pizzagate wasn't real??? You mean it was all BS??? Can't wait for Illuminaughty to raise his ugly head again! I think his six pages are up.

You want to know why people are turning to "Fake news"? Because of the lazy journalism that was in the NYT article you just quoted.

Click bait headline claiming authority on a subject? Check.
References and allusions to Fake News? Check.
One sided interview with the owner? Check.
Addressed none of the allegations involving Podesta and this guy that Pizzagate has brought forward? Check.

If someone was a believer in Pizzagate, the only thing this article would do is re-enforce the belief that they are correct and encourage them to dig deeper.

I don't think Pizzagate has much legitimacy, but you know that this article doesn't pass the smell test. It's like posting a Rick Bell piece and calling it fact about city hall.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

You want to know why people are turning to "Fake news"? Because of the lazy journalism that was in the NYT article you just quoted.

Click bait headline claiming authority on a subject? Check.
References and allusions to Fake News? Check.
One sided interview with the owner? Check.
Addressed none of the allegations involving Podesta and this guy that Pizzagate has brought forward? Check.

If someone was a believer in Pizzagate, the only thing this article would do is re-enforce the belief that they are correct and encourage them to dig deeper.

I don't think Pizzagate has much legitimacy, but you know that this article doesn't pass the smell test. It's like posting a Rick Bell piece and calling it fact about city hall.

But don't you get into the freeman on the land type legal decision where there is just so much bull#### to go through to rebut the stupidity it's just not worth it.

Should a reputable news source spend its journalistic resources debunking the stupid. It's just not possible given the current funding model. I think that posting the damage that fake news is doing is likely a more effective tact and that is what the article accomplishes.

We need to find a way to reprogram people so whilepresenting well reasoned arguments to the uninformed can lead them to make an informed decision presenting reasonable arguments to the misinformed causes them to dig into their belief further.

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Good thing is the actual President has gotten almost daily briefings.

Well, maybe it would be wise of Trump to start familiarizing himself with world events. He's not neutering grade school and waiting until the first day to find out the assignment.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by GGG

But don't you get into the freeman on the land type legal decision where there is just so much bull#### to go through to rebut the stupidity it's just not worth it.

Should a reputable news source spend its journalistic resources debunking the stupid. It's just not possible given the current funding model. I think that posting the damage that fake news is doing is likely a more effective tact and that is what the article accomplishes.

We need to find a way to reprogram people so whilepresenting well reasoned arguments to the uninformed can lead them to make an informed decision presenting reasonable arguments to the misinformed causes them to dig into their belief further.

Exactly. Pizzagate, the realm of such stupidity that it is amazing anyone bothered to waste time or energy on debunk it. But the fact of the matter is that there are more than enough stupid people out there that the reputable media has to waste their time to debunk this crap. It is sad. What is even worse, there are Canadians who fall for this garbage too. Very disappointing and surprising at the same time. Critical thinking skills are in short supply everywhere I guess.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

Well, maybe it would be wise of Trump to start familiarizing himself with world events. He's not neutering grade school and waiting until the first day to find out the assignment.

But it's so much easier for someone with the attention span of a toddler to just get the cliffs notes from Pence, or more likely he'd prefer Kushner, which would explain why he would want him to get clearance.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by GGG

But don't you get into the freeman on the land type legal decision where there is just so much bull#### to go through to rebut the stupidity it's just not worth it.

Should a reputable news source spend its journalistic resources debunking the stupid. It's just not possible given the current funding model. I think that posting the damage that fake news is doing is likely a more effective tact and that is what the article accomplishes.

We need to find a way to reprogram people so whilepresenting well reasoned arguments to the uninformed can lead them to make an informed decision presenting reasonable arguments to the misinformed causes them to dig into their belief further.

Like it or not, Pizzagate has a pretty large following, especially among Trump supporters and probably has more legitimacy than being a Freeman on the land does. With the deletion of the Pizzagate subreddit, it will probably only continue to grow.

Rationalism is the only way to kill this thing.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Like it or not, Pizzagate has a pretty large following, especially among Trump supporters and probably has more legitimacy than being a Freeman on the land does. With the deletion of the Pizzagate subreddit, it will probably only continue to grow.

Hah, well there's a high bar to clear.

[Dion]

Talked to my brother this evening, who lives in Minneapolis and asked him how he felt about Trump. His response was that Minnesotan's know all too well about bad politicians as they once had Jesse "The Body" Ventura as their Govenor.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Like it or not, Pizzagate has a pretty large following, especially among Trump supporters and probably has more legitimacy than being a Freeman on the land does. With the deletion of the Pizzagate subreddit, it will probably only continue to grow.

Rationalism is the only way to kill this thing.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...ot-uninformed/

When dealing with the misinformed rationalism does not appear to work. The above article sites some interesting research into the topic.

In 2000, James Kuklinski and other political scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign established an important distinction: American citizens with incorrect information can be divided into two groups, the misinformed and the uninformed. The difference between the two is stark. Uninformed citizens don’t have any information at all, while those who are misinformed have information that conflicts with the best evidence and expert opinion. As Kuklinski and his colleagues established, in the U.S., the most misinformed citizens tend to be the most confident in their views and are also the strongest partisans. These folks fill the gaps in their knowledge base by using their existing belief systems. Once these inferences are stored into memory, they become “indistinguishable from hard data,” Kuklinski and his colleagues found.

Furthermore, in 2010, political scientists Brendan Nyhan1 and Jason Reifler2 found that when misinformed citizens are told that their facts are wrong, they often cling to their opinions even more strongly with what is known as defensive processing, or the “backfire effect.”

Strong partisans are more likely to participate in the primary process, making it also likely that at least some highly engaged primary voters are also confidently misinformed and unwilling to accept contradictory evidence.

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

But it's so much easier for someone with the attention span of a toddler to just get the cliffs notes from Pence, or more likely he'd prefer Kushner, which would explain why he would want him to get clearance.

Great point...point taken! Lol

[photon]

Originally Posted by GGG

When dealing with the misinformed rationalism does not appear to work.

Definitely there's a number of cognitive biases that actively work against it.

Reasoning with a 9/11 truther or a young earth creationist or a free energy from water believer rarely works. I mean I spent YEARS talking about making a cart that would go down wind faster than the wind, a guy built one and got it certified by the land sailing speed record organization whatever they were called, and people STILL thought it was a hoax.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by GGG

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...ot-uninformed/

When dealing with the misinformed rationalism does not appear to work. The above article sites some interesting research into the topic.

A combination of rational and ridicule are both effective at reducing belief. Here is a study that talked about changing conspiracy theory beliefs - it is quite technical, but worth a skim. Ridicule is particularly effective when something is made to look stupid and a person isolated from a group. They used the example of the KKK being mocked in this and how registration dropped to low numbers.

However, I think that is a lot more difficult to achieve now when in a connected world, you can always find people who believe and there is less fear of being an outcast.

Link

Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs can be harmful. How is it possible to reduce them effectively? Three reduction strategies were tested in an online experiment using general and well-known CT beliefs on a comprehensive randomly assigned Hungarian sample (N = 813): exposing rational counter CT arguments, ridiculing those who hold CT beliefs, and empathizing with the targets of CT beliefs. Several relevant individual differences were measured. Rational and ridiculing arguments were effective in reducing CT, whereas empathizing with the targets of CTs had no effect. Individual differences played no role in CT reduction, but the perceived intelligence and competence of the individual who conveyed the CT belief-reduction information contributed to the success of the CT belief reduction. Rational arguments targeting the link between the object of belief and its characteristics appear to be an effective tool in fighting conspiracy theory beliefs.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Flynn broke rules he thought were stupid. He once told me about a period he spent assigned to a C.I.A. station in Iraq, when he would sometimes sneak out of the compound without the “insane” required approval from C.I.A. headquarters, in Langley, Virginia. He had technicians secretly install an Internet connection in his Pentagon office, even though it was forbidden. There was also the time he gave classified information to nato allies without approval, an incident which prompted an investigation, and a warning from superiors. During his stint as Mullen’s intelligence chief, Flynn would often write “This is bull####!” in the margins of classified papers he was obliged to pass on to his boss, someone who saw these papers told me.

In 2012, Flynn became director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, in charge of all military attachés and defense-intelligence collection around the world. He ran into serious trouble almost immediately. I’ve spoken with some two dozen former colleagues who were close to Flynn then, members of the D.I.A. and the military, and some who worked with him in civilian roles. They all like Flynn personally. But they described how he lurched from one priority to another and had trouble building a loyal team. “He made a lot of changes,” one close observer of Flynn’s time at the D.I.A. told me. “Not in a strategic way—A to Z—but back and forth.”

Flynn also began to seek the Washington spotlight. But, without loyal junior officers at his side to vet his facts, he found even more trouble. His subordinates started a list of what they called “Flynn facts,” things he would say that weren’t true, like when he asserted that three-quarters of all new cell phones were bought by Africans or, later, that Iran had killed more Americans than Al Qaeda. In private, his staff tried to dissuade him from repeating these lines.

Flynn’s temper also flared. He berated people in front of colleagues. Soon, according to former associates, a parallel power structure developed within the D.I.A. to fence him in, and to keep the nearly seventeen-thousand-person agency working. “He created massive antibodies in the building,” the former colleague said.

Flynn had been on the job just eighteen months when James Clapper told him he had to go. Clapper said that he could stay for another nine months, until his successor was vetted and confirmed, according to two people familiar with their conversation. Flynn was livid.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-d...curity-adviser

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Ugh, this recount thing might actually happen if Jill Stein can raise enough money by Friday.

http://www.jill2016.com/recountpr

[Fuzz]

Spoiler!

He's already lost his shine. He looks 10 years older and hasn't even taken office. Is his hand made of rubber?