O'Reilly: The United States of Trump

 

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to say I don't read too many of Bill O'Reilly's books.

O'Reilly who refers to himself as a "news analyst" known for his long-running TV program The O'Reilly Factor and currently has the program The No-Spin News has written a number of historical books including this one. Though in the case of The United States of Trump it's a bit more current than many of his books.

He analyzes Trump, discusses his own personal history with him. They're both New Yorkers of course and he may say they have similar personalities. It's a fascinating look at a man who's competitive, flamboyant, a showman, an entrepreneur, and later a politician.

Allow me to add, Trump as the 45th P.O.T.U.S. was the first one to have had no experience in either politics or gov't and the military. He went directly from the business/entertainment world to the political world. Isn't that amazing?

And you know that kept me from voting for him in 2016. He was an unknown to me as a politician. He was known for his business dealings (and the case could be made he was a true cultural icon in-spite of that snarky line I had assigned to the now former Vice President Kamala Harris) and his TV program The Apprentice.

Either way, does this 1 hour program give you any great insight about President Trump? Does it change your opinion of him.

$O$ Cast: How being TOO NICE keeps you broke

 

[VIDEO] Being too nice might cause you to pursue those jobs which are lower paying though less demanding and certainly less competitive.

Of course there is a fine line between being timid vs being too assertive. Sometimes being always disagreeable is as bad and being timid and unwilling to speak up could cause a person to be forgettable.

Sometimes it's about how you go about it. You could turn it up all the time and that might cause some people to back off from you. Or you can turn it down to mute and you won't even register.

Let's say at work, if you're the one always being the "tattletale" always trying to call people out and often for the wrong reasons being very dramatic then people might not look at you very favorably. On the other hand if you never talk or stay quiet then you run the risk of being someone who just blends in and don't stand out.

One just have to find the right way to stand out and that's difficult as I'm learning. It's OK to be competitive, though I hope you're competitive for the right reasons. That is really challenge yourself though I hope you do so against the best and hopefully it helps you achieve your goals.

Bill O'Reilly: Dealing with ridicule

 

[VIDEO] O'Reilly is right, ridicule is a means for someone to diminish you in some way and it definitely a hateful act. You can respond with severe anger as he will admit he would, or you could hit someone which could open you up to charges. Although to be fair if someone got punched in the jaw for their ridicule it's earned because who likes that and who wants to allow their acts to escalate to that point.

In any event two responses short of anger or assault. Ask that person are they OK? Or just simply look at that person, walk away, and never deal with them again.

I'd say life is too short to deal with people who doesn't respect you. Anger will only cause those who ridicule you to feed off your energy, it's crazy but then that says a lot about them.

Anyway today's inspirational message as we're now in May.

Timcast IRL: Harvard Offers Course To Learn About LGBTQ Infants, Sparking Outrage

 

[VIDEO] From the cultural war, how can infants be LGBTQ? And a further discussion with the cast from Timcast IRL podcast. The ongoing issue by the fringe to further sexualize and "transition" young people. When watching this discussion please use discretion, some of this will sound very uncomfortable. And for those going through it, it should be uncomfortable anyway! 

Tucker: This should be a crime

 

[VIDEO] What Tucker discusses on his program on Friday is a discussion I've seen in a number of right wing forums. I know far more about this than I even wanted to.

An intriguing look at the relationship between Presidents and the wars they wage

 Via Science Alert, very interesting:

Based on an analysis of the 19 presidents who served between 1897 and 2009 (from William McKinley to George W. Bush), the degree to which a commander in chief exhibited grandiose narcissistic personality traits is correlated with the duration of any wars they presided over.

With conflicts continuing to rage across the world today, the findings could be useful for politicians, analysts and military commanders in understanding how wars might play out. Before now, how the personalities of leaders influence war hasn't been fully explored.

"More narcissistic presidents tend to only exit wars if they can say they won, and they will extend wars to find a way to declare some kind of victory," says political scientist John P. Harden, from The Ohio State University.

"They want to look heroic and strong and competent – even if it means fighting the war beyond what is reasonable."

...

Harden used data pulled from the Correlates of War database, which tracks conflicts involving at least 1,000 deaths in battle within a one-year period – so 11 operations for the US during the study period.

This was cross-referenced with previous research that analyzed the characters of US presidents, in part through their biographers. High levels of assertiveness and excitement-seeking, and low levels of modesty, compliance and straightforwardness were used to measure narcissistic tendencies.

US chiefs who scored lower on narcissism, including McKinley and Eisenhower, tended to put the interests of the state first. Wars were pursued only as a last resort, and were ended as quickly as possible – see Eisenhower's quick exit from the Korean War, for example.

Those presidents who ranked higher for narcissism, such as Roosevelt and Nixon, were less likely to separate personal and state interests, carrying on conflicts for longer. For example, Nixon inherited the Vietnam War, and continued it for another four years.

Who do you want as your leader, someone who can't look past their own prestige or someone who does the right thing. In this case, they don't do what's best for them instead they do what's best for the state.

h/t Instapundit 

Grooming

 We've been hearing about grooming a lot lately. It's a disturbing psychological practice convincing someone or otherwise establishing a connection with someone for a nefarious purpose.

In Florida, a law was enacted to empower parents and certainly to prevent grooming by education officials towards any sexual identity. Of course beyond that grooming goes on in the context of child sexual abuse.

When I thought about the implications of this R. Kelly came to mind. He chose to abuse very young girls not yet of legal age. Almost got caught doing it as it was recorded on video and it seems he never slowed down. He probably groomed his victims knowing that many were attracted to his fame to start.

And then this story from CapFax a GOP candidate for an IL state legislative seat is forced to drop out due to allegations of grooming. It involved a bottle of alcohol and the juvenile's parents reported this to police.

In this context when I wrote my post about R. Kelly a few months ago children are certainly vulnerable and teens although vulnerable are able to take care of themselves for the most part. Whether you have young children or teens I hope this idea of grooming disturbs you.

Joe Rogan Experience: Mass formation psychosis

 

[VIDEO] Joe Rogan is discussing this with Dr. Robert Malone a virologist/immunologist discussing society's response to the pandemic. From Dr. Malone's substack article:

As many of you know, I have spent time researching and speaking about mass psychosis theory. Most of what I have learned has come from Dr. Mattias Desmet, who realized that this form of mass hypnosis, of the madness of crowds, can account for the strange phenomenon of about 20-30% of the population in the western world becoming entranced with the Noble Lies and dominant narrative concerning the safety and effectiveness of the genetic vaccines, and both propagated and enforced by politicians, science bureaucrats, pharmaceutical companies and legacy media.

What one observes with the mass hypnosis is that a large fraction of the population is completely unable to process new scientific data and facts demonstrating that they have been misled about the effectiveness and adverse impacts of mandatory mask use, lockdowns, and genetic vaccines that cause people’s bodies to make large amounts of biologically active coronavirus Spike protein.

These hypnotized by this process are unable to recognize the lies and misrepresentations they are being bombarded with on a daily basis, and actively attack anyone who has the temerity to share information with them which contradicts the propaganda that they have come to embrace. And for those whose families and social networks have been torn apart by this process, and who find that close relatives and friends have ghosted them because they question the officially endorsed “truth” and are actually following the scientific literature, this can be a source of deep anguish, sorrow and psychological pain.

h/t Instapundit 

Spirited Man: We Are In A "FOURTH TURNING," What Does That Mean?

 

[VIDEO] Van Neistat is the brother of one Casey Neistat. Before I ever discovered Casey, there was a documentary show called The Neistat Brothers which aired for one season on HBO. Basically they were doing YouTube videos on premium cable long before Casey made a name for himself on YouTube. Casey and Van are longtime filmmakers and both have taken the YouTube plunge.

Van is a more recent phenomenon and I should've shared this video with you when it was first posted. Van was talking about this book which is called The Fourth Turning. Basically it asserts that what we're experience or have experienced occurs in 80 year cycles. We go through calm periods and then suddenly we're in periods of conflict. And it seems we're in a period of conflict right now.

I really like the idea of Gen X being the nomad generation of fixers. The other descriptions of younger generations as artists or heroes could also be apt for those generations. Time will tell if they will live up to that, right now we need the fixers and of course as time goes on the hero and artist generation will hopefully leave a more peaceful society.

Regardless I need to do more of what Van - The Spirited Man - does which is read. This book seems up my alley for sure. 

Enjoy.

BTW, I haven't posted a lot because life happens. Often when I go to my job I carry a laptop for my own personal use and unfortunately it's been acting up on me. Goal is to get it fixed and get back onto my irregular schedule for this blog.

"Silence is violence"

 Something I found on Instapundit just last night, something to consider

As a professor for over 35 years, I thought I had seen it all. I was wrong. Who would have thought that the first words of our Miranda rights, rights enjoyed even by suspected criminals, would no longer be something ordinary people could expect to enjoy from members of their own community?

Now it seems that a desire to keep one’s thoughts to oneself can be regarded as immoral because “Silence is Violence.” Increasingly, people who are minding their own business are being pressured to make politically correct proclamations while in public, at work, and, incredibly, even at school. This includes colleges and universities, where free speech and free thought are supposed to be cherished. These are very dangerous developments for any free society because they are inconsistent with freedom.

For many years there were calls against politically incorrect speech, things you were not supposed to say because they were deemed politically repugnant by some group.

Over time, especially on college campuses, this flipped into a duty to be politically correct. This is a much more onerous and destructive requirement that forces thought and speech. Too often, it also has the effect of shutting down independent thinking far more than a mere insistence against politically incorrect utterances.

Our society is now running in reverse, demanding conformity from adults that was once demanded only of children. Small wonder, then, why increasing political correctness has increasingly infantilized adults. What’s the point in thinking for yourself if it can only get you into trouble?

One of our greatest freedoms is the right to remain silent — to mind our own business. But today, some activists threaten shaming and even violence against those who don’t take the initiative to endorse what they deem to be politically correct.

Using fear to create some form of thought control. You don't hold a view that agrees with us, then you're immoral and should be cast out! 

We're seeing how destructive that thinking can become. 

If wife outearns husband, she downplays it and he exaggerates!

Check out this CNN article. Conventional wisdom seems to be women lose respect for a man when he makes less money than her. Also the man might be jealous of this fact, my dad was honestly. Also consider most women have a tough time considering a man who makes more money than her.

The study, co-authored by Marta Murray-Close and Misty Heggeness, found that husbands who earn less than their wives reported their income to be 2.9% higher than what was on their tax returns. However, researchers found that wives inflated their husband's earnings even more than the husband did.

When it comes to reporting the wife's income, the opposite was true. While both spouses downplayed the wife's salary in census surveys -- reporting her income to be 1.5% lower than what she actually earned -- they found husbands tended to underestimate their wife's income more than she did.

Of the couples the authors analyzed, almost 1 in 4 were in marriages where the wife was the primary breadwinner.

We live in times where women want to go to school and go to work. Indeed it seems - if I believe the media - women look down on other women who want to be stay-at-home wives and mothers. Regardless men are still expected to be the breadwinners whether or not they're wives work a better job. Some norms in our society hasn't changed yet.

Which reminds me and that the next post...and I'll just keep you all in suspense.

h/t Newsalert

Dr. Helen: Should Your Child Attend an Ivy League?

If you want know my answer, no one parent nor student should put a whole lot of stock in attending an Ivy League university. If you get admitted great, but realize that it's not the end of the world if you choose another university. It's also not the end of the world if you decided that trying to get in proves to be too rigorous and you need a break.

Now that you know my opinion read this by Dr. Helen who just so happens to be the wife of the Instapundit! Though Instapundit is actually Glenn Reynolds not Ed Driscoll who actually wrote the post I just linked.

It's time for "The Trump Effect"

[VIDEO] The Trump Effect : Deprogramming the American Mind is something I had put on the back burner since late last month posting it at "The Moleskine". Basically it's an hour of author/filmmaker Lawrence Jarvik (@LaurenceJarvik) talking about President Trump and how he's going to crack through the political correctness prevalent in this nation.

What I responded to most was the President's background. Trump is already independently wealthy, he comes from a construction business background, he also largely comes from a wealthy family and doesn't have to worry about where he's going to live because he's mostly lived in Trump properties. Jarvik sees these as positives in deprogramming the American mind. He was able to live his life individualistically without being restrained by having to please bosses.

Everything else, I had trouble grasping and it's possible that I need to be deprogrammed. Jarvik cites 9/11 as the start of this PC culture or at least it got far more intense, but as illustrated as you go through this vid political correctness has been around for years. Even worse it was probably found in other totalitarian regimes whether the Nazis or certainly in Communist regimes.

Another idea of note, Trump approaches issues and policies - not from an ideological approach - he approaches them from a realistic approach. That makes sense he is in real estate and you have to solve real problems of construction or maintenance so thus you realistically can solve the problem of structure or perhaps an hvac unit.

Perhaps in American politics the realistic approach is what is missing. With this in mind although I never voted for Trump last November, I can appreciate his unorthodox approach to the Presidency. Yeah he's certainly had plenty of rough bumps since taking office in January, however, some aspects of getting through the noise of the mainstream media (well "fake news") I certainly understand why he takes to twitter to send out his messages.

Great video, perhaps some of you will take something from this. BTW, Trump could be the inspiration for many in a variety of ways, perhaps many of us can start our own business empires and get wealthy, perhaps we can be more outspoken on some issues that we care about, perhaps we can seek out more of the truth on our own, or conversely discredit those who often tell lies. One thing we want to be careful about is that so far Trump can be Trump.

Trump can weather these attacks as far as his business dealings or even any allegations of sexual assault towards women. So far it doesn't matter, however, not all of us are made of kevlar or teflon. Bottom line if you do your own thing expect people to want to attack you because it's not what they would do!

Forbes: 7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors That Keep Children From Growing Into Leaders

Well I'm not yet a parent, but for those of you who are this has to be great advice or perhaps it isn't who knows. Either way let's hope we don't find ways to stifle our children and they become the successes we want them to be. It all starts at home, yes?

A generation's narcissism and value of a college degree

I recently tweeted this article and while it's a lot more deeper that what I'm presenting here it's definitely a bit disheartening:

Millennials do have to face some issues that previous generations did not. A college degree is now the career equivalent of what a high school degree used to be. This increases the pressure on kids to go to college and makes the process more competitive. The sluggish economy no longer yields a wealth of jobs upon graduation.

Wow! My Morehouse College degree is the equivalent of a high school diploma. Well Morehouse isn't the only university out there, but this is what the expectation gets you. The goal must be college, except college isn't for everybody. I'm starting to learn that.

I could just focus on the degree, but this paragraph also got me thinking:

The big problem is not that [millennials] think too highly of themselves. Their bigger challenge is conflict negotiation, and they often are unable to think for themselves. The overinvolvement of helicopter parents prevents children from learning how to grapple with disappointments on their own. If parents are navigating every minor situation for their kids, kids never learn to deal with conflict on their own. Helicopter parenting has caused these kids to crash land.

You know amongst some I'm sure there is a problem with the involvement of parents. There are some who feel like there is a problem between two people and they must get someone else involved. If it's not parents it's others.

Well, there's a lot to be digested from this article.

Via Instapundit!

College students don't have empathy?

Hmmm, that would be unfortunately leaving the academic setting only to face reality when they do finally have to make it into the "real world":

Today's college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and '90s, a University of Michigan study shows.


The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.

"We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000," said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research. "College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait."

Konrath conducted the meta-analysis, combining the results of 72 different studies of American college students conducted between 1979 and 2009, with U-M graduate student Edward O'Brien and undergraduate student Courtney Hsing.

Compared to college students of the late 1970s, the study found, college students today are less likely to agree with statements such as "I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective" and "I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me."
...
The recent rise of social media may also play a role in the drop in empathy, suggests O'Brien.

"The ease of having 'friends' online might make people more likely to just tune out when they don't feel like responding to others' problems, a behavior that could carry over offline," he said.

Add in the hypercompetitive atmosphere and inflated expectations of success, borne of celebrity "reality shows," and you have a social environment that works against slowing down and listening to someone who needs a bit of sympathy, he says.

"College students today may be so busy worrying about themselves and their own issues that they don't have time to spend empathizing with others, or at least perceive such time to be limited," O'Brien said.

So online activity and every man for himself causes a lowering of empathy?

Via Newsalert!