Fact Checker Nazis

 

I generally find most of the various Fact Checker sites pretty informative, but one recent situation left me wondering if one "Fact Checker" outfit was using not-very-intelligent AI to flag posts or if they were just using people with no social awareness and possibly no sense of humour.

It went like this.  I saw, and posted, this meme, along with the caption "Welcome to Texas - Home of the American Taliban".

Most people I know will recognize the literary reference to The Handmaid's Tale.  If you don't get it, best to stop reading this now, get a copy of Margaret Atwood's book and learn about it.

In any case, within hours, the Fact Checker vigilanties had flagged the meme as "False", stating that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders had, in fact, NOT changed uniforms.  Well, Duh... was my response.

Full rationalization here....

Definition of a meme:  an amusing or interesting item, often humorous, not necessarily factual.  

As for Texas (soon to be followed by Florida, according to some)....Do a Google search for "Texas the American Taliban".  I did, and immediately (thanks Google) received dozens of articles saying exactly the same thing.  A selection:

With Texas' Abortion Ban, Who are We to Judge the Taliban?

Texas Abortion Ban Prompts Taliban Comparisons

And in the pages of Salon, Texas Lawmaker Mocked for Odd Comparison.

Even Amazon had an appropriately designed mug.

I only wish the pseudo-boffins at Fact Check were even half as vigilant about flagging false information about the supposed dangers of vaccines, how COVID is no worse than the flu, that climate change is a hoax....  Flagging those posts would perhaps give them something useful to do.

Counting the Lies - Just for the Record

 

One of the more notable features of Donald Trump's presidency were the egregious lies that he told, and repeated, again and again.

The Washington Post kept track.

For the record, here it is:

In 4 years, President Trump made 30,573 False or Misleading Claims.

I guess we can call them "Alternate Facts"....

Book Review - Climate Wars

 

Climate Wars

By Gwynne Dyer

Gwynne Dyer is a long-time analyst of the geopolitical world.  Here he turns his attention to what some have described as human-kind's existential crisis, climate change.

Mr Dyer writes of a time in the near future as climate change ushers in world conditions that challenge our very survival.  

The book was written in 2009, which makes reading it now all the more timely.  We've had 14 years to solve this problem.  How have we done?

Presidential Review

 

As with most parts of history, a complete perspective on the Donald Trump presidency will take years to fully develop.  In fact, if polls are to be believed, and if enough Americans remain sufficiently deluded to vote for Trump again, this part of history might not be over yet.

However, the Pew Research Center published a study based on their research during Trump's presidency.  It was published at the end of January 2021, and it only recently came to my attention.  

How America Changed During the Donald Trump Presidency

It's a pretty reasonable accounting, based on survey data conducted by Pew, and covers such topics as 

• Partisan divides
• Dearth of shared facts and information
• Concerns over Democracy
• Racial Inequality
• The Public Health and Economic Crisis

Worth a serious read.  To varying extents, these issues have appeared elsewhere.  Useful to compare with the American experience.  My partisan opinion goes more in this direction when summarizing Trump's time in office: