TGIF Blogcast: Biggest prime; Be skeptical; We're overconfident

Just One Thing: Be skeptical of political stories on social media

In these last days before the election, please be skeptical about information you see on social media that suggests something bad about a candidate you oppose. If you see a claim on social media that Tim Walz did something terrible or JD Vance did something terrible, for example, try to find corroboration on any major news outlet. Foreign governments, especially Russia, are trying to manipulate the election. At least two recent videos claiming really terrible things about Tim Walz were Russian hoaxes but seen by millions and probably believed by a million or more. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that anything bad that happens to your political opponents is OK. All these lies corrode the very foundation of our nation.

Russia is behind viral disinformation targeting Walz, intelligence official says | AP News

Viral attack on Tim Walz features fake former student making false claim - The Washington Post

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One More Thing: A political thought (by me)

Today's Guests

Mike Burg is founding partner/shareholder in the Burg Simpson law firm, one of the preeminent personal injury firms in the nation. We're going to discuss the current E. coli outbreak at McDonalds restaurants that appears to be due to contaminated onions. More on the story below, but I thought of talking with Mike about it because of this article and wondered if it's reasonable to assign blame to McDonalds: Lawsuit filed against McDonald's over deadly burger E.coli outbreak

Hunter Gehlbach is an education psychologist and Professor and Faculty Lead of the PhD program at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. He collaborated on a fascinating study about people being more confident than they should be in opinions based on incomplete information.

Why We’re Confident with Only Half the Story - Neuroscience News

Why people think they’re right, even when they are wrong

The illusion of information adequacy | PLOS ONE

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Other Stuff

No, don't "free" the elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: Reminds me of the slaughterhouse ban in Denver. Radical extremists trying to get one victory as a toe-hold to then try for their real goal.

An Update: Our Continued Fight on Behalf of our Beloved Elephants - CMZoo

Colo. justices skeptical of attempt to free zoo elephants | Courts | coloradopolitics.com


Speaking of big animals, who's the whale? Who Is Polymarket’s ‘Fredi9999’? What To Know About Whale With $28 Million On Trump

Boeing should move more production to right-to-work states: Boeing workers extend strike after voting to reject new contract - The Washington Post

Obviously cost of living is way way up and I don't object to workers trying to get raises, but holding out for a defined-benefit pension is something that should never be rewarded. There should never be defined-benefit pensions; those bankrupt companies and pension systems and would bankrupt states except that states can steal more from citizens to fund the pensions.

My kid actually wanted to buy a quarter-pounder Wednesday and we tried on the app, figuring that since they’re pretty sure it’s the onions they might just make them without those onions. But instead they weren’t available at all.

18 McDonald's E. coli cases started in Mesa County | Health | denvergazette.com

What to know about E. coli after McDonald's Quarter Pounder-linked outbreak

National recall prompts Colorado chain to pull onions from menu

There was a LOT of stuff I didn't get to yesterday because of the late addition of guests:

I agree with VDH: We Are in Need of Renaissance People | The Free Press

This is kinda funny and I think they're just trying to get some attention: Goldfish is making a shocking name change in appeal to Gen Z

Pizza #40 isn't for everyone: German police say pizza order No. 40 came with a side of cocaine - ABC News

First, why butter? Second, can you imagine a news report in the US describing the perps as having "brown skin" (even if it's accurate)? Two more large scale butter thefts at Guelph stores - Guelph News

Some other shorter topics that I was thinking about earlier in the week but didn't get to:

It's bad to put all the cost of government on fewer and fewer people. LOTS of bad incentives, such as for a majority of people to no longer care about the cost of government.

93 million Americans could be exempt from income taxes under Trump (pressrundown.com)

Two cheers (or maybe 1.5 cheers) for Mike Johnston (but that's better than zero cheers): Denver Mayor Johnston's administration reaches goal to shelter 2,000 people - Axios Denver

Denver mayor shifts responsibility of responding to illegal immigration to city's refugee division | Government | denvergazette.com

The brain collector. (This is a fascinating read!) The brain collector: the scientist unravelling the mysteries of grey matter | Archaeology | The Guardian

This is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if Russia's behavior would be different if we had a different president: Exclusive | Russia Provided Targeting Data for Houthi Assault on Global Shipping - WSJ

Et tu, Canada?: Canada will reduce immigration targets. Trudeau acknowledges his policy failed | AP News

Today's Videos

Let's Rob Lowe(s)

As Dragon put it, "this is so stupid"

Or, to put it another way, I'll end your week by wasting even more of your time


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