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.
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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, of course. Hitler's rise to power was enhanced by disinformation spread by his propaganda ministor, Joseph Goebels.
Today, the rise of social media has enabled your average Joe to become a propaganda maker, a disinformation provider who can sway first his friends and then their freinds, and so on until people start beleiving whatever rumor they are trying to spread.
We saw this almost every day during the pandemic, from politicians and the public. We are seeing it again now with the war in Gaza.
Journalists and others try to "fact check" all these rumors and fake information, but it sometimes becomes impossible because of the sheer volume.
And now, when AI can put words in people's mouths, words they have never said, disinformation is becoming a plague.
How do you wade through it to find the truth? It's not easy. But the key may be how thick your skin is. Be skepitcal of everything. Ask questions from people who make these outragious claimes, whether they be a presidential candidate, your neighbor, or an acquaintance on social media.
I always tell people to rely on mainstream media with long track records for the truth. But some of the so-called "mainstream" media have blurred the lines even there by reporting some of these rumors without vetting them first.
What's the "best practice" in this instance?
Don't spread things around until they can be confirmed, be suspect of anything that sounds out of the ordinary (like people eating cats and dogs), and don't make any rash decisions based on sketchy information.
Good luck.
News You Can Use
Avoid Election Scams!
Early voting starts in some states at the end of this week, and all candidates both national and local are looking for ways to get your support and your money. But with that also comes scammers.
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So the AARP is warning of a few things you should be aware of as we get closer to the elction.
*If you want to donate to a canidate, go to their certified election site. Don't respond to any phone calls asking for money or click on any links in an email or text. Caller I-D is not reliable here because the number may be "spoofed" and not the candidates real campaign.
*Be careful when you answer polls online or on the phone. They will ask for some personal information you really should not give out, like your income, social security number, address, phone number, etc.
*Don't accept offers to download a voter registration app onto your phone. The cybercriminals are also after your personal information, not your vote.
*If someone claims you are not registered to vote in a phone call, hang up. You can not register by phone, email or text in any of the 50 states or D.C.
And watch out for those voter registration tables at festivals and fairs. If they have a form for you to fille out, don't do it there where it will sit out on a table for people to see. Take it home and mail it in to the Board of Elections.
*Beware of robocalls. They will sometimes sound like the candidate who might be urging you to vote on the wrong date or in the wrong place. It's most likely an AI-generated voice with the wrong information.
*Beware of any robocall that asks you to confirm whether your information is accurate or inform you of a new polling places. Chances are that's someone trying to supress or even steal your vote.
Those are just a few of the scams. Here's a link with more details.
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2024/election-season-scams.html
News You May Have Missed
This story did get a lot of play, but it may have gotten lost in talk of cats, dogs and Haitians.
Snail mail is a real thing, and it's getting worse.
It's all because of Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy's efforts to streamline the USPS. DeJoy's cost cutting efforts have severely slowed down the mail. DeJoy was appointed to the job by Donald Trump when Trump was President.
A letter from two groups that represent election officials in all 50 states say mail delivery has not gotten any better since the primary season when some ballots postmarked on time, were not received by them until days after the deadline for the ballots to be counted.
The letter says the problems were widepread and “not one-off mistakes or a problem with specific facilities. Instead, it demonstrates a pervasive lack of understanding and enforcement of USPS policies among its employees.”
Those state officials asked for tangible changes right away. The Post Office claims that most mail is currently delivered in an average of 2.7 days, but at the same time they are urging voters not to procrastinate on sending in mail-in ballots.
This is a crucial issue for this election. The Pew Resarch Center says in 2020, a record number of people (46%) voted by absentee or mail-in ballots. The percentage was as high as 64% among Democrats.
Dumbest Quotes of The Week!
The dumbest quote was obviously Donald J. Trump with that nonsense about Haitian refugeees eating the dogs and cats of Springfield, Ohio. But you have already heard a lot about that. So here is the second dumbest quote of the week. It comes from Republican vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, who said on CNN, "if I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the sufferening of the American people then that's what I am going to do."
He complained that the American media wasn't covering the Haitian migrant story until he made up the "eating pets" story, and then said he heard about it from "a constituent".
So which is it, Mr. Vance?
(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)
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