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 The Truth of the Matter - Credibility by Shawn K. Inlow In last week’s article, we started by introducing the subject of “Sources” and the concept of attribution in critical thinking.  By using the fictitious story, below, we got as far as counting two possible sources for a typical news story; the police, and, indirectly, the defendant.” This is where we left the story last week. "Local authorities say they have solved a robbery that occurred last winter at the Altoona Quickie-Go. Police say Roberto Dominguez, 27, of Miami, Florida, appeared before local police and confessed to the crime which occurred during an overnight snow storm more than a year ago, last January 7th. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, police say Dominguez appeared on station driving a car reported stolen from Miami.  Dominguez said he'd hoped to reconnect with a former lover from Juniata, but that he had died of AIDS. Dominguez was arraigned and lodged in Blair County Prison ...
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 X+Y: The Truth of the Matter - Sources by Shawn K. Inlow "Local authorities say they have solved a robbery that occurred last winter at the Altoona Quickie-Go. Police say Roberto Dominguez, 27, of Miami, Florida, appeared before local police and confessed to the crime which occurred during an overnight snow storm more than a year ago, last January 7th. He was arraigned and lodged in Blair County Prison without bail on charges of robbery, recklessly endangering another person, and multiple counts of theft, receiving stolen property, theft of a motor vehicle and drug charges." This fictitious police story you might see in the newspaper, or hear on television or local radio, would seem to be true.  But today, I'm going to take you on a journey of critical thinking where you need to sharpen your wits and try to separate the truth from the fiction. You ready? One listener who hears this story might think nothing more about it and take it at face value.  Another reader, who is...
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  Fox News - The Crux of What Divides Us by Shawn K. Inlow Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News in 1996, but its beginnings wind all the way back to the 1970s and Watergate. In a world where worm-tongues surround the throne, the henchmen from the Nixon era never die.  They just sink into the shadows until their time is right.  With the news media tearing into the Nixon White House, aides like Roger Ailes dreamed of a way to get around the media and provide pro-administration coverage to the public. "People are lazy," the Nixon aides explained in a memo.   "With television you just sit - watch - listen.  The thinking is done for you." Nixon embraced the idea, saying he and his supporters needed "Our own news" from a network that would lead "A brutal, vicious attack on the opposition." That Nixon.  Man, people just don't remember how corrupt that guy was.  He had been turning the tools of the government against his political opponents, a kind of se...
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X+Y: MENTAL HYGIENE, INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER  AND THE BULLSHIT ARTIST by Shawn K. Inlow When Kellyanne Conway in 2017 uttered the phrase, "Alternative Facts," it set off a firestorm. Conway had been Donald Trump's campaign advisor, and when he won the White House, she was elevated to Senior Counselor to the President.  Conway coined the utterly new term to defend misleading information presented by White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, who said that the crowd gathered at the 2017 inauguration was, "The largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe." The alternative fact was easily disproved by photos showing Trump's inauguration crowd was - in fact - substantially smaller than Barak Obama's.  Still, the question remained why someone would lie about something so inconsequential and it remains a topic adjacent to our subject today. I watched Kellyanne and I suddenly found myself in the Ministry of Love, in...
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X+Y: Return of Voice of the Mountain

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X+Y: Return of Voice of the Mountain This is Coach Inlow when he was doing something he loved, but was at the end of his rope.     An old friend of mine from Boston... and, no, this is not turning into a limerick... Mario Moreira, once called me up and said I should be writing on a blog.  I had recently discovered "internet" and I was writing on The Zuckerberg Platform and "Mautty" - as his brother calls him - said I needed to be "blogging." That was a new thing.  A blog.  What was once a blog, I guess, is now a podcast.  But I can't do that either.  Mario would tell me, "Bullshit!  You can too.  Just go on and do it, dumb ass." That Mario.  Portugese people, man, whaddya do with 'em? So I started this blog, back then it was The Voice of the Mountain, on or around 2012.  And I wrote off and on to get out of my system what was bothering me.  Some people do likewise with exercise.  Some people meditate.  You go and you ...
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