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- Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter
Democratic Massachusetts auditor sues her own party for refusing to comply with voter-approved audit
Our take: This story gives us hope and proves there are good people left in government positions. An auditor in Massachusetts, who happens to be a Democrat, is suing her Democratic colleagues in the state legislature for refusing to comply with an audit that voters approved with a whopping 72% of voters.
Diana DiZoglio is a state auditor. She was also previously a state representative and senator. When legislators on both sides of the aisle refused to comply with the audit that voters approved, she sued the current Massachusetts House Speaker and Senate President, both Democrats.
Good for DiZoglio trying to do the right thing here. She is getting pushback from both Republicans and Democrats on the audit she is trying to perform, which means she is onto something. We hope she prevails and uncovers whatever these dirtbags are trying to hide
COURTESY: MSN
Southwest’s change from open seating is off to a rocky start
Our take: We fly Southwest so frequently, my wife gets a free ticket to accompany me whenever I fly. I can personally speak to how far the airline has fallen. Once celebrated for their unique value proposition (2 free checked bags, no assigned seating, and no change fees for itinerary changes on all fares), Southwest has commoditized its service in the name of “shareholder value."
Southwest was created by Herb Kelleher (who once settled a dispute with a rival airline executive in an arm-wrestling match), who astutely looked at the airline industry and determined he could target people making 5–10-hour drives and pick up business by providing no-frills, low-cost, station-to-station flights between less-visited cities. Major airlines were all operating hub-and-spoke networks, where they herded travelers from all over the country to central cities like Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta so they could catch a connecting flight to their destination. Southwest grew to become a major player in the airline industry following this model.
Now, in the name of profit, they have become a “me-too” provider, with no differentiation between themselves and airlines like Delta, United, and American, largely despised by travelers. Congrats Southwest—you managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Your loyal customers are pissed, and new travelers have no reason other than price to try you out. Herb must be rolling over in his grave.
COURTESY: MSN
Agreements that allow local police to work with ICE skyrocket
Our take: It’s about time. The sanctuary city policies that created the lack of collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies are the single biggest contributor to the ridiculous riots in far-left cities and the performative and deadly charade we have seen from ICE in the past year. We are glad to see common sense come back into the equation and allow all law enforcement personnel to work with each other to safely enforce the law and protect the citizens of the country. This should help bring the temperature down and allow us to focus on other issues.
COURTESY: MSN
Tip of the day – How to think critically
Redefine the Way You See Things.
We live in a world, both personal and social, in which every situation is “defined,” that is, given a meaning. How a situation is defined determines not only how we feel about it, but also how we act in it, and what implications it has for us. However, virtually every situation can be defined in more than one way. This fact carries with it tremendous opportunities. In principle, it lies within your power and mine to make our lives happier and more fulfilling than they are. Many of the negative definitions that we give to situations in our lives could, in principle, be transformed into positive ones. We can be happy when otherwise we would have been sad.
We can be fulfilled when otherwise we would have been frustrated. In this strategy, we practice redefining the way we see things, turning negatives into positives, dead ends into new beginnings, and mistakes into opportunities to learn. To make this strategy practical, we should create some specific guidelines for ourselves. For example, we might make ourselves a list of five to ten recurrent negative contexts in which we feel frustrated, angry, unhappy, or worried. We could then identify the definition in each case that is at the root of the negative emotion. We would then choose a plausible alternative definition for each, and then plan for our new responses as well as new emotions. For example, if you tend to worry about all problems, both the ones you can do something about and those that you can’t, you can review the thinking in this nursery rhyme:
“For every problem under the sun, there is a solution, or there is none. If there be one, think til you find it. If there be none, then never mind it.”
Let’s look at another example. You do not have to define your initial approach to a member of the opposite sex in terms of the definition, “his/her response will determine whether or not I am an attractive person.” Alternatively, you could define it in terms of the definition “let me test to see if this person is initially drawn to me—given the way they perceive me.” With the first definition in mind, you feel personally put down if the person is not “interested” in you; with the second definition, you explicitly recognize that people respond not to the way a stranger is, but the way they look at them subjectively. You therefore do not take a failure to show interest in you (on the part of another) as a “defect” in you.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In life, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.” - John Spence