How Ukraine Might Affect the Russian People's Opinion

 Now that Ukraine is sending drones deep into Russian territory, instead of  armaments some drones could drop millions of small cards over populated areas with the simple message:

THE WAR WILL END AS SOON AS YOUR TROOPS LEAVE OUR COUNTRY

The USPS

 The USPS continues to run at a loss.

I have to ask:  why do we need 6 days a week mail delivery? (Particularly for residential mail.)  I check my mail service box twice a week or so - that keeps me sufficiently up to date with the few things that still come in the mail, while matters that need immediate attention come through email, text, or phone.

I would suggest changing to twice a week mail delivery for home delivery: say Monday and Wednesday to half the addresses covered by a sorting station, and Tuesday and Thursday delivery for the other half.  Perhaps businesses could have mail three times a week - MWF and TuThS.

By alternating delivery routes, it should be possible to cut the number of mail carriers down by half, if not more, saving the USPS a bundle on labor costs.

Another Democratic Party messaging failure

 Glenn Youngkin's victory in VA was largely due to his bogus claim that Critical Race Theory was being taught in VA schools.

Dems were so dumb playing defense on CRT.

Why not go on offense. and put Youngkin on the defensive?

"Glenn Youngkin doesn't want students to learn about slavery and Jim Crow." "What Glenn Youngkin calls Critical Race Theory, the rest of us call History."

Another Press Fail

This is typical of the press's reaction to McEnany's comments on schools reopening:

This taking a quote out of context is the kind of thing that bolsters DJT's bogus claim that the press is "fake news".

After saying "the science should not stand in the way", McEnany went on to refer to a pediatric study to support her claim that "the science is on our side here.”  

Even though the study she quoted is of dubious validity in the context of the spread of COVID-19 - nevertheless, she was not saying science should be disregarded - she was just cherry picking what science she wanted regarded.  

Or, to summarize, she was saying:  "the science should not stand in the way of school re-opening, because the science supports reopening."

But the press is just jumping on just one part of her full statement.

The study McEneny referenced purported to show that infected kids had a mild response to COVID-19, comparable to everyday flu.

A smart follow up question would have been:  "Maybe, but how does that affect the concern that kids could take the infection home to more vulnerable adults?"

Let's hope follow up articles are on the lines of "Here's the study the Trump administration is relying on to support its policy", along with an analysis of the quality of the study, whether later events called it into question, and so whether the administration is justified in basing policy on it. i.e. responsible journalism.  

Update 7/17/2020

The New Yorker piles on.

Facebook hosts a tennis match with no referees

Facebook’s Nick Clegg defends FB’s allowing outright lies in political ads by comparing FB to a tennis court.

“Our job is to make sure the court is ready — the surface is flat, the lines painted, the net at the correct height,” Clegg said. “But we don’t pick up a racket and start playing. How the players play the game is up to them, not us.”

Er — no.  How the players play the game is up to the referees, who ensure that the rules are followed and that the game is played fairly.

It’s okay for FB to make the tennis court analogy.  They only need to complete it by supplying the needed impartial referees.

The Press Fails Again

From the NYT:

Not only did the president ask a foreign government to intervene in a presidential election by digging up dirt on a political opponent, .............Mr. Trump appears to have used hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to pressure a foreign leader to act as the head of his opposition-research unit.

Note the expression "digging up dirt".  This same expression has been used multiple times by multiple news outlets.  The implication is that there is "dirt" to be found, and the constant repetition can only condition readers and viewers - i.e. voters - to believe that somehow Joe Biden is guilty of some unnamed corruption.  This mindless spreading of a false trope is, I'm afraid, rather typical of our uncritical press.

How should the NYT and others described the request from DJT to Zelensky?  How about something along these lines:

Not only did the president ask a foreign government to intervene in a presidential election by looking into alleged corruption by Mr. Joe Biden and his son Mr. Hunter Biden (allegations that have long been debunked) ...................Mr. Trump appears to have used hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to pressure a foreign leader to act as the head of his opposition-research unit.

 See how easy it is to provide good information to readers, rather than mindlessly spreading Trump's propaganda?

Where's the Sense of Urgency?

Our press is (once again) falling down on the job - in this case failing to warn the public of how imminent the tipping point for runaway global warning is.

One idea for keeping the subject in the public eye:
A prominently displayed daily update on the current CO2 ppm count, the ppm count expected to cause 1.5⁰ warming, and estimated time to reach that level given present rate of increase.  Along with a reminder of predicted effects of 1.5⁰ warming.

A black box with this info on page 1 of daily newspapers, and a few seconds in every TV news broadcast, would be the minimum the press should be doing.

Update December 20, 2019:

The Guardian is doing its bit.