Opinion Forum

Opinion Forum Is No Longer Posting New Articles

May 22nd, 2013

Opinion Forum is no longer posting new articles. All previously posted articles are still available, and commenting remains open. Articles can be found in the list of those most recently posted or in monthly archives located on the left sidebar. All articles can be searched using the site search box on the right sidebar.

Government Needs to Get Bigger. Quickly.

May 20th, 2013

By Dan Miller

There is far too much subversion for a small Government to handle. The Administration needs to be protected no matter how high the cost.

Considering all the matters with which our grand and glorious Federal Government is forced to deal on a daily basis we need more, not less, of it. It cannot be expected adequately to respond to the many vicious attacks coming from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy unless it expands sufficiently to deal with them. Here, for example, is a vile attack published by one member of that disgraced conspiracy, the Daily ~~Pest~~ Beast.

Following the attack in Benghazi, senior State Department officials close to Hillary Clinton ordered the removal of a mid-level official who had no role in security decisions and has never been told the charges against him. He is now accusing Clinton’s team of scapegoating him for the failures that led to the death of four Americans last year.

Cognitive Biases Are Bad for Business

May 20th, 2013

By Dr. Jim Taylor

The conventional wisdom in classical economics is that we humans are “rational actors” who, by our nature, make decisions and behave in ways that maximize advantage and utility and minimize risk and costs. This theory has driven economic policy for generations despite daily anecdotal evidence that we are anything but rational, for example, how we invest and what we buy. Economists who embrace this assumption seem to live by the maxim, “If the facts don’t fit the theory, throw out the facts,” attributed, ironically enough, to Albert Einstein.

But any notion that we are, in fact, rational actors, was blown out of the water by Dr. Daniel Kahneman, the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for economics, and his late colleague Amos Tversky. Their groundbreaking, if not rather intuitive, findings on cognitive biases, have demonstrated quite unequivocally that humans make decisions and act in ways that are anything but rational.

Cognitive biases can be characterized as the tendency to make decisions and take action based on limited acquisition and/or processing of information or on self-interest, overconfidence, or attachment to past experience.

Hail to the Chief! Of What?

May 19th, 2013

By Dan Miller

When He appears officially it is played. Who is the Chief? Of what?

Writing about Hail to the Chief here, I observed that President Obama is the chief only of the military.

Obama and Islamists Unite to End Abuse of Women

May 19th, 2013

By Dan Miller

Inadequately covered females force male members in the Religion of Piece to react impurely. Ditto in the U.S. Armed Forces. That must cease, right now. No matter how hard the task may become, the rank and file must embrace Our Loving President’s creative solutions.

President Obama’s gracious embrace of Islamism and his own heroic assassination of Osama Bin Laden have brought peace to the Islamic World including even the United States. Because of his historic foresight in making it perfectly clear that “the future must not belong to those who ~~speak accurately of~~ slander the prophet of Islam,” we are no longer under threat of attack by ~~Islamic terrorists~~ extremists and instead face only sporadic and ineffective workplace violence such as (allegedly) engaged in at Fort Hood by the sadly misunderstood Major Hasan.

David Axelrod Is Right: Government Is Too Big and Uncontrollable

May 16th, 2013

By Dan Miller

President Obama, as usual, is blameless for any misfeasance and malfeasance of the Government he ~~allegedly~~ leads. Let’s make it easier for him by making it simpler and smaller.

Due to the complexity and multiplicity of scandals increasingly enveloping the Obama Administration, I became too bogged down with constantly emerging new stuff to write about it. Sadly, President Obama also has to rely on media reports, so I can easily understand his problems. Indeed, even this little bit about the Justice Department almost escaped me:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department failed to provide the names of some terrorists in the witness protection program to the center that maintains the government’s watch list used to keep dangerous people off airline flights, the department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday.

Continue reading »

Does Modern Academia Encourage Unthinking Acceptance of Authority?

May 12th, 2013

By Dan Miller

This post is based in large part on an article titled Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill.

Is there a current tendency to consider those who cherish and seek to preserve our rights, including those under the First and Second Amendments, mentally ill for that reason? Interesting for the focused question it poses directly, the article should raise broader but similar questions about the current nature of academia in general.

I have had no direct contact with academia since my years in undergraduate school (1959 – 63) and in law school (1963 – 66). “Back in the good old days,” we were encouraged toward independent thought and away from authoritarian notions that discourage it. Continue reading »

The White House Did NOT Change Any Benghazi Talking Points!

May 11th, 2013

By Dan Miller

Nor did the White House even suggest that any changes be made. Indeed, the White House never even read any talking points. Suggestions to the contrary by the partisan Republican obstructionists are damaging our very nation.

I just watched a YouTube video of Press Secretary Carney’s highly ~~incendiary~~ illuminating one hour long press briefing of May 10th. Instead of repeating himself interminably, shifting, dodging, dancing around — and in many cases stepping into — traps maliciously attempted to be laid by the faux media, he should have responded to all questions about White House involvement as follows:

Trust – but Verify – Governmental Statements and Actions

May 10th, 2013

By Dan Miller

If verification is not seriously attempted, lies will go unnoticed. More lies will follow. That’s one difference Benghazi makes now.

What difference does it make?

What Do Young People Say About Their Relationship with Technology?

May 8th, 2013

By Dr. Jim Taylor

To give you a sense of the scope of the effect of technology on the psychological and emotional health of young people, I want to describe the results of an international study involving more than 1000 students from ten countries across five continents that asked students to disconnect from technology for 24 hours. The results and insights, I think you will agree, are startling, disturbing, sobering, and just a little bit hopeful. To give you a preview of the findings, the adjectives most frequently associated with this period of disconnection were addiction, failure, boredom, confusion, distress, loneliness, anxiety, and depression; not one feel-good descriptor in the lot.

Not surprisingly given the students’ seemingly unhealthy relationship with technology, a “clear majority” was unable to last 24 hours unplugged. The study revealed the indispensable role that technology now plays in young people’s lives. A Chilean student screams, “I didn’t use my cell phone all night. It was a difficult day…a horrible day. After this, I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT MEDIA!” As with many aspects of their lives, young people (and many adults, for that matter) seem to have lost sight of what “need” means. People may really, really, really want their smartphone, mp3 player, or tablet, but need is typically associated with more elemental requirements such as food, water, and shelter. Continue reading »

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