Six Takeaways: Trump, aliens and beer

1. In heaven there is no beer -- Still not getting on board with the climate change? I guess everyone has to have their take. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt we need to be thinking about doing something to mitigate the dangers. Until now I was willing to let you all have it your way. That’s because this week it was brought to my attention that it’s going to mess with my beer. And, let’s face it, wine and booze, too.
2. Yet another institution on the brink -- If, like me, you had Sears outlasting JC Penney, you’d be wrong. The retail giant, has been on the ropes for a long time. Last week, it declared bankruptcy. Years of beatings from Target and Walmart, then Amazon, all building a better mousetrap, finally took their toll. Inability to adapt. And now, a business synonymous with America may fade by the wayside. Remember waiting for that Christmas catalog to arrive as a kid? Memories. More on Sears…
3. Fermi Paradox -- “IF ALIENS are so likely, why have we never seen any?” If you have any interest in beings from another planet, someone has probably thrown that argument in your face. Turns out, all the searching we have done so far, according to a trio of astronomers from Penn State, is like skimming the water in your bathtub. Chin up, that’s better than the previous estimate, which was an ocean. Seems we just need to try a little harder. ​
4. Trump this interview -- If you are a reporter, you dream about the perfect interview falling into your lap. If it ever does, what do you do with it? That’s the scenario Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York Magazine, faced last week when she was stopped on the way out of the White House and invited to an impromptu, rambling interview with the President. Read what she did with it in My Private Oval Office Press Conference With Donald Trump, Mike Pence, John Kelly, and Mike Pompeo (spoiler, she done good).
5. Are op-eds sacred? -- Good question. If a Trump lies in the forest, does anyone hear? When the lie becomes fact, print the lie? USA Today came under fire last week for printing an op-ed officially by the president that fact checkers found to be seriously lacking in truthiness. Other nationally read newspapers took a pass. If the president has something to say, should outlets feel obligated to print it, even if they know it is wrong? I’ll admit, I struggle with this as an editor, I believe everyone should be able to voice an opinion, no matter how wrong. I say it is all in how it’s handled. I believe you need a counterpoint. But, you make the call. Something to consider: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” — Joseph Goebbels
6. What a way to go -- You may not have heard, but an international man of mystery passed last week. Well, that’s how I see it. Read the obit here. And read it to the end.