Time to Think

 Jury Duty                                               #304 by Hank Silverberg                                              I am on jury duty standby for the entire month of October.  Serving on a jury is an important thing. Trial by jury is a basic right of all Americans, and getting a fair trial with judgement by your peers is one of the basic foundations of our Republic. It's in the U.S. Constitution. If you are registered to vote, then they have you on a list. They call a huge pool when they need a jury to make sure they get enough people. If you are called you have to check in every Friday for a month to see if there is a trial the next week, and whether they need jurors.    The last time it happened for me was more than ten years ago when I was still a full-time working reporter. I had to go to the courthouse, sit for several hours while they picked a jury of six people for a civil case, and then got dismissed.  I do beleive it's my civil duty to serve. But--reporters d

   The Right To Vote                                  #303  By Hank Silverberg Early voting started in Virginia on September 20th. I waited one week to make sure there were no snags, and along with my wife, we cast our votes this past Friday. My philsophy, why wait? We know what the candidates stand for by now. We had our "October surprise" this past summer when Joe Biden dropped out. The next five weeks will simply a repetition of the previous two months.  There has been some criticism of early voting, but I see no problem with it. We cast our votes on  machines, the kind that scan a paper ballot and won't be opened and counted until the polls close on November 5th. It also takes in the paper ballot as a backup.  Having said that, I am a bit miffed at the local Board of Elections in my home county, Spotsylvania, Virginia.  The  early voting site has been in three different locations in the past three elections, and each time they have been a bit harder to find. This year

"We The People"                                                                                         #302 By Hank Silverberg   Commentary Early voting started in some places across the country this week.  My wife and I decided to wait a week before heading out to vote, though here in Virginia the first few days of early voting actually produced lines at the polls in some places.  People are tired of all the nonsense, and I have yet to talk to anyone who has not made up their mind on who they are gong to vote for.  They are out there, and most likely those who are undecided now will determine the election, either by picking a candidate or by staying home.  What irks me the most about some of those on the right is their misunderstanding of some basic principals of our country, and use that to justify their often misinformed choice.  A brief discussion I had with some folks online this week is a good example.  I began with a meme of Vice President Harris talking about her pro

Fact vs. Fiction                                                                                              #301 By Hank Silverberg Commentary The mayor, city administrator and police department of Sprinfield, Ohio have all said there is no evidence of Haitian refugees or anyone else eating people's pets or the geese at the local parks. But this rumor persists because Donald Trump said it on the debate stage after JD Vance, who is from Ohio, heard from one consituent, who had heard it from another constituent, who made such an allegation that was never substantiated.   And that is how false information, or what is officially labeled "disinformation," spreads.  Disinformation is not something new. Andrew Jackson had to fend off false rumors about his second wife when he was running for office. John Kerry may have lost the 2004 presidential election because of disinformation about his Vietnam War record. (Remember the "Swift Boat" controversy?).   It gets worse,