Trifles and truffles

"The last time I looked something up I got a part of it dead wrong, and I wonder if anybody noticed that in the comments section."

The Old Dog has gotten into the habit of checking for comments and this did not escape his notice.  But I think corrections should be included in a later post or have a short post of their own; my 2 cents.  Mistakes are inevitable, but they shouldn't be buried like a disclaimer in the lamestream media.

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Lamestream media.  I don't even know what that means anymore, except to disparage any news source that disagrees with a particular point of view.  Killing the messenger has become a spectator sport but, unfortunately, there are a lot of disreputable news sources and I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of social media.

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and the story of "Chicken Little" were supposed to have taught us valuable lessons, but now we have thousands, if not millions of each, clamoring for our attention.  It's a wonder we don't all go nuts trying to figure out what's going on, but maybe we are and don't know it yet.

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Another new expression I've read is Observational Equivalence, first seen by me in an article titled "Weak and Incompetent Leaders act like Strong Leaders," an interesting piece that also references the article about the coup trial balloon.

Speaking of which, is Uncle Ken asking about the Russian oil deal?  Yes, nearly 20 percent of an oil company does sound a bit fishy but not out of character for the players involved.

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Speaking of fishy, something that has slipped through the cracks of the congressional approval noise is the relationship between the nominee for Secretary of Education and Blackwater, the notorious mercenary firm favored by Bush the Younger and his good pal Dick Cheney.  Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, is her brother.

Matter of fact, I've read that Prince has already been an unofficial consultant to #45 but it has escaped noticed or not thought of as a big deal.  Makes sense; Putin has the KGB, Trump has Blackwater (since sold and renamed).  This, along with the fact that Trump prefers his own private security to that of the Secret Service makes for some interesting possible scenarios, but I'm not going to speculate.

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That's enough of that kind of crap for now.  Uncle Ken asks how the Old Dog finds stuff; well, he follows his nose.  Through the miracle of links, one thing leads to another and before you know it you find a truffle.  Or a simple Google search using two names or ideas can bring up a lot, especially if you limit the search to the last week.  For laughs, Uncle Ken should search for "Trump Rosneft."

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Astute viewers of television will be pleased to learn that "The Good Place" has been renewed for a second season.