25-01-2018, 02:26 AM
James Lateer Wrote:Tracy and others:
I would refer everyone to an excellent article in the current issue of Scientific American on page 50 entitled the Tribalism of Truth. The article refers to recent psychological research which allegedly proves that many people today "argue to win" rather than "arguing to learn." Apparently this is a recent development and may be epidemic from my experience. On a "conspiracy theory" website, it's difficult to understand why anyone would be "arguing to win" and not "arguing to learn."
I can testify to personal experience that there is a terrific high when one discovers the truth behind what has been covered up, especially if it relates to a personal experience like the JFK case. Sad to say, though, that many are prisoner to their 2018 partisan political dogma and many more will spend their energy and the limited time they have left on earth blindly defending their religious dogma or their social class on a knee-jerk basis. My advice is "wake up and smell the roses." The roses are, of course, the truth. Not the stuff people believe, but the stuff that conforms to the planet we live on in its infinite detail.
The truth, not partisan dogma. The truth, not biased religious indoctrination. And the truth, not the defense of your social rank and privileges. The truth, the truth, the truth.
James Lateer
James, I was a Republican for about 10 years, and then became a registered independent about 20 years ago. If you look at my posts on this forum, you'll see that I've spoken against tribalism in all its forms. A larger (all too human) problem with investigating any complicated case is that many people will make up their minds first, and then look for the evidence to support their pet theory. In the JFK case, someone might decide that "LBJ did it" or "the Russians did it" or "Oswald acted alone" and then exclude any data that doesn't support their thinking.
Unfortunately, in this Russia-Trump scandal, some on the alt-left joined with the alt-right in a knee-jerk reaction more than a year ago: They're trying to restart the Cold War, so they're blaming the Russians, it's all a hoax...and then they basically stopped paying attention to the evidence. If I had predicted a year ago that four of Trump's people would be in the dock by now, and practically everybody else on his team would be under investigation, I would have been laughed at.
Personally, I'm kind of a Russophile and wish that the US and Russia could have better relations. But Putin has proven to be a murdering, corrupt thug (and a very rich one), and Trump's involvement with Russian dirty money couldn't be better documented. His own stupid sons, Uday and Qusay, could never keep their mouths shut -
Donald Trump Jr. bragged in 2008:
"And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There's indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble," he said."
https://www.eturbonews.com/5008/executiv...merging-ma
"President Trump's son, Eric, once told a golf writer that funding for Trump golf courses come from Russia, that writer recounted in a new interview. James Dodson during an interview Friday with Boston's WBUR described meeting Donald Trump in 2014 and being invited to play golf at the Trump National Golf Club Charlotte. He said asked Donald Trump how he was paying for his courses, and the now-president "sort of tossed off that he had access to $100 million," Dodson said in the interview.Dodson said he then questioned Eric Trump, who was along for the day.
"I said, 'Eric, who's funding? I know no banks because of the recession, the Great Recession have touched a golf course. You know, no one's funding any kind of golf construction. It's dead in the water the last four or five years,'" the writers told WBUR."And this is what he said. He said, 'Well, we don't rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.' I said, 'Really?' And he said, 'Oh, yeah. We've got some guys that really, really love golf, and they're really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.'"
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/332270-...funding-we