5 Thoughts for January 8, 2017

1. Russia Hacking Report: I pored through it -- it wasn't very long at all -- and IDK, all of these "revelations" were things that we already knew about. Contrary to popular belief, we knew by summer that Putin was involved, but we also learned nearly a month ago the USINT had made the determination that Putin had ordered the campaign against the US (to support The Emperor and to destroy Hillary). We've known for a very long time that conservative media has been seizing on fake news coming out of the propaganda outlets of RT and Sputnik. But what I've learned through this whole process is that cognitive bias is difficult to break through, especially for those who cannot admit when they are wrong. The dissonance between truth and reality forces these people to construct implausible explanations with incoherent or ambiguous reasoning, often relying on the citation of fake stories themselves, as if the attribution itself provides credence to their ideas.
2. The Wall, Jobs Exportation, and Tariffs: This is an oversimplification (nonetheless, useful I hope). Jobs are exported because of lower labor costs abroad. People illegally immigrate to the US because the US has higher paying jobs, even at the bottom. According to The Emperor's Simplified Rules of Sovereignty, you build The Wall which is supposed to block all human traffic. You now have downward pressure on labor prices across the border and upward pressure on labor prices domestically, leading to the faster exportation of jobs. The Emperor's Simplified Rules of Economics dictates that the US will have a large import tariff to stop the exportation of jobs. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Now you've raised prices across the board and inflation will explode. By experience, wages lag prices aka sticky wages. With prices going up, people buy less if their wages aren't keeping up. You have...Stagflation?
3. This Seems About Right: Mark Hamill as the Joker, reading The Emperor's tweets.
   
   
   
4. Portland's Citywide Ice Rink: There wasn't much snow or ice, but even a little ice makes life screwy when you try to drive around. This was early in the morning. It's a lot worse right now with freezing rain coming down.
   
   
   
5. Seattle Seahawks: For the first time this season the running game looked right and that's mostly attributable to Thomas Rawls being completely healthy. The offensive line can run block fairly good but remains terrible in pass protection -- when Haloti Ngata just blows past you, with a swipe of the arm, you really don't have your technique down. Other than that, the difference between Seattle and Detroit was that the Seahawks playmakers made plays while Detroit's playmakers fell flat on their faces. Next up is Atlanta on Saturday, and while Atlanta is a 3.5~4 point favorite, this one has that feel of a Super Bowl run. The key to Seattle's success, whether on offense or defense, is to establish their running game, otherwise, the offense goes through a pathetic run of 3-and-out series and the defense looks bad. The good news is that they beat Atlanta at Centurylink Field back when Russell Wilson was hobbled by a bad knee and ankle.