Shorts

The non-partisan group, Politifact, which monitors all the political talking heads, recently named their pick for the biggest political lie of the year and for the second year in a row it was Republicans telling big whoppers about healthcare. Last year it was Sarah Palin's "death panels". This year it was "government takeover" of healthcare. (Although, the government-run healthcare program known as MediCare sure is popular.) Apparently, a well-known conservative consultant named Frank Luntz came up with the phrase as an obvious scare tactic. It worked very well. Of course, Democrats told some whoppers too. Incidentally, while all politicians lie (and whose fault is that?) I've thought for some time that Democrats just can't lie as well or effectively as Republicans. Republicans just tell bigger, better, scarier lies that make better sound bites and push the right emotional buttons.

Maybe we need another political party in the middle to keep the right and left honest. Or some source of information that is perceived as above the fray. Probably wouldn't solve the problem, though. Even facts can be "spun" and pigs can apparently have enough lipstick applied to look pretty good while squinting from a distance. Sure would help if people learned critical thinking skills and applied them to seeing things the way they were rather than how they wanted them to be.
              
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I read that a couple of economists, Ethan Harris of BofA Merrill Lynch and Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial, predicted a year ago that the 2010 unemployment rate would end the year at 9.8% and got it exactly right. I have wondered for some time while listening to the political back-and-forth about how to improve the economy between Republicans (tax cuts!) and Democrats (stimulus!) why we didn't assemble a group of economists with impressive credentials to put together a plan and follow it. Surely it's better to solicit advice from experts in a given field and follow it than to figure we could do better on our own. I couldn't believe how so many people who weren't economists were certain bailouts and stimulus were terrible ideas and were glad to tell anyone who would listen just how terrible. My thought was, "I don't know and neither do you"! And our politicians and talk show hosts also aren't economists.

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Newsweek reports that 51% of Americans think it is more likely that scientists will clone dinosaurs in their lifetime than it is that Congress will fix Social Security. How hard can it be? I suspect politics is getting in the way of the math.

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Science magazine named the discovery of the quantum machine as the most significant breakthrough of the year. It's a tiny metal paddle of semiconductor that was supercooled and coaxed into being in two different states at the same time, something only possible (as far as we know) with quantum phenomenon. They were able to get it to vibrate both a little and lot at the same time. Impossible! you say. But you might want to pause and consider that quantum mechanics is the most successful theory ever devised. It has been tested thousands of times for years and the basic principles have never been found in error.