Strange things in the news

Drudge has a lot of links about the Hollywood kerfuffle, and how the guy used the press to keep the scandal quiet. 
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In the meanwhile, Project Veritas has undercover film of an editor of the NYTimes essentially saying yes they were slanting the news deliberately.

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both stories are only news because everyone knew this stuff, but no one had a "smoking gun" for proof, so you were ridiculed as "fake news" if you said it.

Heh:

http://drudgereport.com

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In the meanwhile, the Las Vegas massacre story gets stranger and stranger, as it seems not one but two men reported the shooter before he started shooting. WTF?

This is how you get conspiracy theories, guys.

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But my favorite story: Newsweek actually notices the "mindfulness" fad in medicine is scientific nonsense.

A new study by a multidisciplinary group of researchers at several universities calls out the "misinformation and propagation of poor research methodology" that pervade much of the evidence behind the benefits of mindfulness. They focus in particular on the problem of defining the word mindfulness and on how the effects of the practice are studied. 

“Mindfulness has become an extremely influential practice for a sizable subset of the general public, constituting part of Google’s business practices, available as a standard psychotherapy via the National Health Service in the United Kingdom and, most recently, part of standard education for approximately 6,000 school children in London,” the authors write in their paper, published Tuesday in Perspectives on Psychological Science.

"Mindfulness" is essentially hypnosis and placebo effect. It is related to Trascendental meditation, the Jesus prayer, faith healing, etc. It is neither good nor bad: and is related to "deep concentration" (e.g. what happens when you play music, read a book, etc).

Different people have neurological wiring for different levels of this, and most of the studies don't take this into consideration.

Those who are easily hypnotized can be persuaded to believe anything when they are in this state.

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and I have noted this awhile back when I discussed India's plan to go cashless:

via Instapundit:
YOU’D BETTER PRAY FOR THIS REGARDLESS: In a Cashless World, You’d Better Pray the Power Never Goes Out.

it's not just when the power goes out: We have had a hack on our ATM's here in the Philippines so last weekend I was shut out of the ATM machine until they could replace my card on Monday morning.

Luckily I keep a small stash in Lolo's safe.

Yes, I have two ATM cards, but the other one is being replaced too and is "in the mail".

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We lost one of our waterbuffalo: it ate a nail and then got sick, so they killed it so they could eat the meat.

Remind me not to eat any "beef" in the next few days.

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California has some bad wild fires.

In our prayers. I lived through the year NewMexico burnt down, but our area's fires didn't make the news because it didn't reach our city, but Los Alamos was partly destroyed up north.

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also via Instapundit:

SINGLE PAYER, SINGLE DECIDER: VA conceals shoddy care and health workers’ mistakes.

fellas, I hate to tell you: the IHS is worse.

from the Billings Gazette (9-6-2016) article:

The Indian Health Service formed in 1955, taking over health care from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose task had been to prevent disease and assimilate tribal members. From its start, the agency has faced frequent criticism and undergone numerous changes.

Early scandals included the secret sterilization of women at some hospitals, medical studies without clear patient consent and the placement of some disinterested doctors in IHS hospitals so they would not have to go to Vietnam.

More recently, the top leadership has been in flux at agency headquarters and several regional offices as federal officials investigate long wait times and problem physicians.

the article is part of a series....

maybe Jennifer Lawrence and the other celebrities who used the ND pipeline protest to get virtue points will get publicity for this system of free government care.