On interfering with elections

The U.S. has accused Russia of interfering with the recent U.S. Presidential election. That accusation needs to be viewed in context:

The U.S. has a long history of attempting to influence presidential elections in other countries – it’s done so as many as 81 times between 1946 and 2000, according to a database amassed by political scientist Dov Levin of Carnegie Mellon University. That number doesn’t include military coups and regime change efforts following the election of candidates the U.S. didn’t like, notably those in Iran, Guatemala and Chile. Nor does it include general assistance with the electoral process, such as election monitoring.
This  information is from a detailed article in the LA Times, with many specifics. For instance, the U.S. tried to interfere with the election of the Russian leader in 1996. According to the same article, Russia attempted to interfere with "36 foreign elections from the end of World War II to the turn of the century."

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The cost of interruptions

When I'm trying to write, I really get frustrated with interruptions. That's why I try to write at times when interruptions will be limited, and I turn off my phone and close my email while I write. Today I discovered that the effects of interruptions have been measured. This stunning conclusion is complements of Gloria Mark, Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine:

How long does it take people to get back on task? We found about 82 percent of all interrupted work is resumed on the same day. But here’s the bad news — it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task.
The article offers that not all interruptions are the same, and in fact, some interruptions are beneficial. However, the author of this article echoes my own general frustration:
Are we becoming more superficial thinkers? I argue that when people are switching contexts every 10 and half minutes they can’t possibly be thinking deeply. There’s no way people can achieve flow. When I write a research article, it takes me a couple of hours before I can even begin to think creatively. If I was switching every 10 and half minutes, there’s just no way I’d be able to think deeply about what I’m doing. This is really bad for innovation. When you’re on the treadmill like this, it’s just not possible to achieve flow.

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Career shift in the works . . .

In addition to my career as a lawyer, I've been blogging for years, but I'm going to turn more toward investigative reporting in coming years. I haven't determined the details yet, but this idea energizes me and encompasses much of my training in the legal field, as well as my interests in photography and creating videos. Over the years I've attended national conferences of Free Press, which instilled the idea that high quality journalism is valuable, whether it be created by a big organization or by a citizen journalist. In the meantime, Bill Moyers offers this list of organizations that do high quality investigative reporting. I'm familiar with most of these, but I just made sure that I'm signed up to receive email newsletters from each of these organizations. I'll continue sharing links to selected articles on FB and on this website, Dangerous Intersection. Moyers' List includes: 1. ProPublica  2. The Center for Public Integrity (CPI)   3. The Center For Investigative Reporting (CIR) — 4. Frontline  5. Mother Jones  6. The Intercept  7. Real Clear Investigations  8. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)  9. Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)  10. BuzzFeed 

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Insanity in every corner in these times of needless war

We have reached unprecedented levels of dysfunction on both the political right and the political left. I agree with each of these conclusions by Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept:

1. New wars will always strengthen Trump: as they do for every leader. 2. Democrats’ jingoistic rhetoric has left them no ability – or desire – to oppose Trump’s wars. 3. In wartime, US television instantly converts into state media. 4. Trump’s bombing is illegal, but presidents are now omnipotent. 5. How can those who view Trump as an Inept Fascist now trust him to wage war? 6. Like all good conspiracy theories, no evidence can kill the Kremlin-controls-Trump tale. 7. The fraud of humanitarianism works every time for (and on) American elites. 8. Support for Trump’s Bombing Shows Two Toxic U.S. Conceits: “Do Something” and “Look Strong” 9. Obama’s refusal to bomb Assad hovers over everything. 10. None of this disproves, obviously, that Hillary Clinton was also a dangerous hawk.

Continue ReadingInsanity in every corner in these times of needless war