Thursday, November 02, 2017

Some thoughts

I have been pretty busy lately and not into writing more than what I have to write for my profession and some magazine pieces that I had committed to. Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with everyone.  The next few months also look busy so I am not sure how often I'll be around here.  If you have something that's really good, shoot me a note or email.  As for this post, it is something that's been bothering me and I posted it on my Facebook page this morning and it got a lot of attention, so I thought I'd post it here, too.  I took the full moon photo with my iPhone in early October from Tybee Island.


What is truth? This morning’s “Wall Street Journal” has an article about the on-going hearings about Russia’s influence in American elections. It appears that such interference goes beyond trying to influence the election and is an attempt to divide us. It is especially disconcerting how they have incited racial fears (setting up their own “Black Matters” accounts and “Back the Badge” accounts) to raise tensions between police and African Americans. They even promoted an opening of an Islamic Center in Texas while setting up a counter site (Heart of Texas) to protest the center.
Be careful with what you “like” on Facebook and Twitter and other such media outlets. Are you just “liking” something because it confirms your own bias? I’m sure I have done so in the past. We need to learn how to evaluate the reliability of what we read. Our news sources may not be able to give us the truth (that’s a religious and philosophical topic) but they should be truthful. And, one final thing, be very careful of inflammatory headlines and people who feel they must yell over others! Just my two cents for today....

27 comments:

  1. Hey hey hey friend Sage, nice to finally see you again ... long time no see ... how have you been? ... Winter arrived here last night ... Time to put away the boat and get them skis/ snow shoes out ... as for fishing, there is always ice fishing ... smiles ... Anyway ... Love always, cat.

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  2. I don't have a Facebook account and decided a few months ago that Twitter was becoming too toxic for me. I've only recently started using it again... not to post, but to check on things like World's Series scores. :)

    Lovely, moody photo. I like it.

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  3. Lovely photo, Sage. It's been too long since I've seen the moon over the ocean --and the electric, magical path it makes on the water. I've never been on Facebook or Twitter, prefer the more complete thoughts on Blogger. Maybe it's just being older, but I do enjoy getting some sense of the writers' personalities, a sense of communicating with a good mind --like yours.

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  4. ...Russia’s influence in American elections.

    Maybe it's just me, but there is something darkly humorous that after the Soviets spent billions to try and defeat the United States during the Cold War, all it really took was tickling irrational American fears and long established prejudices.

    We truly are our own worst enemies.

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  5. Hi Sage - thankfully I don't do FB or Twitter ... and thus am careful when I get to any social media ... and those headlines are often completely irrelevant to the story - not always ... but often. Love the moon photo though - cheers Hilary

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  6. I'm getting the feeling that what we are hearing now is just the tip of the iceberg.

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  7. Great thoughts to ponder on indeed. Hope everything works out well with your busy schedule. Greetings and best wishes.

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  8. One reason why I am hard pressed to like posts that weren't created by one of my friends. Facebook was almost intolerable during the elections but fortunately things have settled down again.

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  9. Instead of living in the information age, we are living in the disinformation age. Critical thinking skills are even more necessary now, and few are being trained in it except by accident

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  10. Well said. I rarely use Facebook, and the people I follow on Twitter usually just talk about books. That helps me (mostly) avoid all the insanity.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. Excellent points. I wonder what if anything will come from this investigation. I have been dragging my feet for years about joining Facebook, mostly because I don’t have much free time for social media and blogging takes up all of it. I also haven’t gotten into “liking” things.

    I’ve been aware for years on how media can manipulate their readers, so I do keep that in mind. One thing to try is reading news of the US as reported by different countries (i.e. UK’s The Guardian) to get a wider perspective.

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  12. Wise words Sage, I have completely stopped reading anything on Facebook for reasons that you mentioned, if you like the wrong post or person then you can be deemed something that you aren't, and the news sources are iffy at best, I have a hard time listening to anyone who feels they need to shout to make their point. The truth is going to be shocking if it ever gets out.

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  13. These days when it comes to politics I only believe what I can confirm from multiple sources.

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  14. On social media, I avoid politics. That includes sharing, commenting, and even liking posts. I just don’t do it.

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  15. Also love the photo. I don’t do Facebook. I’ve been tempted but for me the negatives are far too great.

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  16. My writing and my politics are separate entities. I do not mix them. I'm active in my community and in my local groups. Those people know my stand on issues. That's very different than posting that kind of information on twitter or fb. I don't say others shouldn't use those platforms; I simply choose not to do so. Besides, I'm still in vacation mode...a bit. And I have WordPress to wrestle into submission. I have very important things to do outside of politics.

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  17. Great picture. Ya know I have a feeling there's a lot more of that going on than we actually know about.

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  18. Truth being objective reality, or truth as truth knows itself to be is hard to find in the best of times. I do not discount everything I read but I do back check everything I believe of what I read.

    Trump, Russians, Racial divides, all are seeds of confusion and only them willing to be confused work that farm.

    Good thoughts Jeff. We would all prefer to be at peace but I doubt many have known what it is like to live in in a unified peaceful society.

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  19. Divide and conquer. That seems to be the strategy of the times.

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  20. Liberals are making the error in thinking what they have to worry about is the conditions of Wiemar Germany. And the federal reserve, world bank and all the English speaking central banks have since the early 80s being fixated upon wage inflation, ignoring all other types. But it's not post WW1 Germany that fits the data patterns since 2000 or so, but Tsarist Russia. Those of us that knew tend to forget that between 1885 and 1914, even up to 1916, Russia was a very Liberal place, focused upon increasing manufacturing and trade and extending their rail network much like the Western expansion in the US. But what forgotten is that in the moves gigantic sections of society were left to fester. And you also had banks and financial houses playing silly beggers like before 2007/8 and they caused famines too.
    In truth Sage, I'm not so much annoyed with Trump and the Republicans that's just the scorpion doing what a scorpion does. It's the utter lack of ideas in the US and across the first world by those who define themselves to be thoughtful and aware. Sorry.

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  21. We are living in scary times. I get my news from snippets from the New York Times that are texted to me and from the NBC evening news (which I record, so I can FF past bombastic sound bytes.) :)

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  22. I don't do FB or Twitter !
    I do like the photograph/picture you've included in your post.

    Hope the next few months go well for you.

    All the best Jan

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  23. It is disturbing to see some of what passes for "news" these days. I tend to doubt a lot of what I see on Facebook anymore. It's hard to know who can be trusted. I like your moon photo.

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  24. Hey, Sage! I understand your being busy and having less time for blogging; it's something I've been struggling with. I love your photograph of the moon on the water, and I appreciate your reminder about the perils of being on-line. You have to be so careful these days! Wishing you productivity and energy as you navigate the next few months. Take care!

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  25. hello strange :) how are you doing , I missed you. Happy to know you are ok!

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  26. hello strange :) how are you doing , I missed you. Happy to know you are ok!

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  27. These days it seems like there are several variations about what truth is. I just don't get the inability of people to just scroll on by, if they don't agree with something they read these days.

    Scary and troubling days...

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