It's all a matter of self-perception

"Probably the least racist person on Earth."
—Donald Trump on himself

Let's accept the statement at face value. We still have his statements regarding Mexicans coming across the border being rapists, drug dealers, etc. Recent numbers have shown that more Mexicans are leaving the country than coming in, which will have some interesting results. We also have the fact that he hasn't said a word about a Black Lives Matter protester being assaulted beaten up at one of his rallies.

While he might not consider himself a racist, the fact that he says these things and doesn't condemn acts of violence, I'd have to give the statement a Pants On Fire rating.

At least he doesn't have binders full of women. :-)

I don't say that I'm not a racist: perhaps, to steal a phrase, I should say that I'm a recovering racist. I don't think we have a post-racial society, that's quite evident. I do what I can to fight against the mind sets of the environment and era that I grew up in. I'm not saying my parents were massive racists, but they grew up in the 1930s in the rural Southwest where overt and more subtle racism was not uncommon, and it'll rub off on you.

Do your best to do better, not react negatively and not to spread racial stereotyping and maybe the world will improve. But I don't think The Donald is going to be the role model for that.

How to beat ISIS with a hoax, by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame

It's an interesting concept that I think might be viable, which means no one will do it. He outlines 7 steps:

1. We will design the rumor to be unbelievable (to make it believable)
2. The hoax will quickly be detected, but it won’t matter.
3. Focus attention where we want it.
4. Over time, truth becomes whatever people hear the most.
5. 20% of any large group believes just about any damned thing.
6. Appeal to ego and emotion, not logic.
7. Visual imagery that you can’t get out of your head.

The hoax would take the form of a fake video of a meeting involving high-level ISIS leaders. I assume ISIS fighters do not know what the leaders of other units look like. And the video would not name the ISIS fighting unit, so it would be hard to verify its authenticity in a war zone.

The video would appear to be taken on a smartphone by one of the other ISIS leaders in a war-battered room somewhere in Syria. In the fake video, actors pretend to be ISIS leaders bragging about how they take advantage of the young, stupid recruits. The conversation might include various leaders saying such things as…

And you're just going to have to take a look at his blog to see the next steps. It just might work.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/133795496921/how-to-beat-isis-with-a-hoax