truth

Information/Misinformation Facebook Test

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I was never a Facebook (FB) user until The Calamities, struck, and even then, not until movies and online gambling lost their luster and some of my money. There is a FB account with my name, opened by me 8 or 9 years ago, but it was avoided for a long time after I got tired of (belatedly) apologizing to everyone wishing me Happy Birthday. FYI: I was advised to use the wrong birth date so scammers couldn’t steal my identity. Apologies, yet again, to those birthday wishers.

A year ago I returned to daily use, flush with time to waste and the excitement of tracking down old friends, and maybe making new ones. Those particular excitements met the same fate as my surgically removed, damaged hip bones when it became apparent Facebook is not what it promised to be. Most people I wanted to contact were probably already done with FB and moved on to other sites. Making new friends was impossible as others were too leery of scams and idiots to respond to “unwelcomed” or “uninvited” posts.

Now, I visit four times a week  for about 5 minutes to see if any of the “bait” sent out years ago ever gets a bite. Nancy, an old flame from 60 years ago, has a presence on FB but her bait hasn’t been taken, yet, and it was put out there from the very beginning. As an explanation of why Nancy might not have answered, my mom’s account is still there, 8 years after her death. (Typing this has reminded me to find out how to “decease” her from FB.)

In my visits, now, I am polite enough to scroll through the new comments and check all areas where FB might allow notifications of a possible happy, joyous, reunion.

While perusing, however, there is the occasional posting of bull$$$%, money scams, lunacy and other things that makes the human race so…diverse. While easily ignored, and blocked or hidden, the reposting of bull$$$%, money scams and lunacy irked the crap out of me this particular morning. It was a regurgitated re-post of an oft-debunked political story re-posted as gospel with all the attendant, politically correct adverbs, adjectives, snarkiness, and hubris marking it a biased piece of crap. I won’t identify its origin, but I will not stoop to the “everyone does it” surrender, either…next time. I had a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast, so it must have been the raging blizzard outside that inspired an ire so great I “replied” to the post. It was a logical, nonjudgmental reply remarking how re-posting on FB is a “human problem” we should all avoid until we have done our own research.

I regretted my remarks one second before I hit the send button. Unfortunately, my aged response time from thought to action is two seconds so…there it was, on FB: me, taking a stand.

The menu button called my name, begging me to block the person I’d posted to, but then,…, then I realized: FB should not be a monster terrorizing polite, sane contributors, it should be a place for free, open, and honest discussion. (I’ll pause while you giggle, laugh snort, or smack your forehead.)

Que sera, sera. I’ll check back next morning and exercise better judgement when all the replies start flowing. Hm. Maybe no one will notice? And for my own unease, I will comfort myself with the premise of a “test”, a purposeful attempt to see how bad FB (and social media) really is. (Are?)

And if you never hear from me again, check my FB account. There might be clues…

Christmas. Bah, humbug?

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The time of year, the day of the year, when we are supposed to love and care for someone other than ourselves has passed. A Facebook post (yes, I’m there once a week) says this is the time of year to not be wanting more, but be grateful for what we have.

Scrooge that.

A sad side effect of the Trump Era (oh, God, not him, again) is people have lost the ability to be grateful. As Mr. Trump points out almost every day, the modern world is a mess, America is a cesspool of crime and liberal degenerates, and almost any issue at any level of government or humanity, is worth his time and nuanced criticisms. Please, it is NOT Trump’s fault he is this way. It is his supporters who encourage him, making it so hard to enjoy even the most universally respected time of the year.

Letters to the editor (at least in my hometown) are being submitted by the tubful from writers of all stripes but it’s easy to identify MAGA authors: everything is wrong and we need to “FIGHT” for change. One of the key MAGA points, as headlined by the Modern Republican Party Grievance Machine (MRPGM), is the “flight”, the “exodus”, the abandonment of liberal cities and states. Rather than accept as fact this whine, I googled (US Census Bureau) population levels for each decade all the way back to 1970. Please google it to see for yourself, but population “transfer” has not only been cyclical, but racial. The entire Northeast Region has lost about 2 million residents per decade since 2000. But so has the Midwest Region. The South Region has gained the most, 26 million (Florida 6 million alone, with 4.5 million new residents identified as Latino). What do these figures mean?

Facts are no longer the currency in social conversation. Pronouncements are. I hate to pick on Trump but he makes it so easy. In a mid-December 2024 interview about his new presidency, Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill” for more oil and energy independence. He must not know America is already the leading supplier of crude oil to the world and the Oil People do not WANT to drill, baby drill, but keep supply–and profit/pricing–right where it is. In fact, Big Oils are merging with each other to take advantage of “super” profits. So who is “drill, baby, drill” meant for?

Trump is not the first (or only) politician (or news organization) to lead voters around by the nose, but his public and strident mis-truths have nurtured a whole generation of American Citizens who believe what the MRPGM says, without thinking or reasoning. I seldom meet a Trump supporter who, in debate, offers facts. They parrot the MRPGM.

The facts are ignored not only because they are so complex, but because segments of the American population now want to believe, want to trust, want to live with out question. Just tell me what to think.

The sad, complex, nuanced fact is all modern politicians are bad for us, bad for the average citizen. Politicians (rare exceptions who prove the rule excluded) are out for themselves. How else to explain a proposed pay raise for Congress in the latest “Government Shutdown Crisis” negotiations?

I’ve said many times, it isn’t that Trump or any politician is bad. We have to elect someone and we almost always have to choose the “least worst” candidate. But that doesn’t mean we should adore him or her, and believe every word out of their mouths.

The blind adoration for a politician was always a danger but it has reached new heights with Trump. Much like the McCarthy Era.

Let’s hope Trump doesn’t grab our country by the you-know-what (REf: Access Hollywood Tape), because that’s exactly what it looks like he’s intending to do.

Let’s start a third party, The Collectively Skeptical, and see what happens.