https://newslit.org/ Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link). How to Debunk: 1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories. 2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information. 3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help. 4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers. 5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.
"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news. "Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive." "Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda." Sander van der Linden Social Psychologist University of Cambridge Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021
Don’t get too excited. Today was a pretty routine, quiet, stress free day. At least after 4:00 p.m. when our luggage arrived from American Airlines. If you missed the beginning of this story, yesterday I told you about our baggage having a little personal time without us as it decided to party hardy in lively Miami.
I knew (?) that they would meet up with us in Argentina because American sent me an email that the bags had been unloaded in Buenos Aires at 7:45 a.m. this morning. So, where were they. The Concierge told us that when this happens, the airlines gather up as much lonely baggage as they can before delivering it to the many hotels that dot the downtown skyline.
After lunch (a delicious veggie taco on a blue corn shell, it was pretty, but don’t look for photos. I’m not one to take. pictures of food) I told our tour operator of our issue with the rebellious luggage and they said that they would pursue the little deviants.
About 90 minutes later, guess who appeared at the door of Room 805 at the Alvear Art Hotel in downtown Buenos Aires? Our three little juvenile delinquents. They were unusually quiet. Actually, they haven’t made a beep since they were returned to us. I guess it scared them a little. A little like Home Alone.
But our luggage story was topped by one of our table-mates in our 10 person travel pod (more about that tomorrow). We are known as the “Gentoos. Our table-mate and tour Ornithologist, Lisa, told us that the Gentoo penguin is a humorous creature. That seems to match our table group. Let’s see, there is Andrew, Laura, Lisa, Bob, Peter and I’ll introduce you to the other five when I get a chance to seed their name tags again.
Tomorrow will be a little more eventful. We begin boarding the four buses for the airport starting at 6:00 and are scheduled to leave at 6:15 and be at the airport by 7:30 a.m. to catch our charter flight to Ushuaia. I hope we have 130+ early sunrise worshippers.
We are scheduled to land at 12:30 in Ushuaia and get back on busses to get the the dock to meet our home for the next three weeks, the Seaventure. We’ll have lunch on the boat and are scheduled to set sail (well, maybe not exactly setting sail at 6:00 p.m. We were reminded this evening to start any sea sickness prevention measures tomorrow morning which means that I need to dig back into my suitcase to get out the Dramamine.
At least we had luggage to dig into!
What an adventure!
It’s fun for us armchair travelers to follow your misadventures. Don’t forget to bring me back a walrus photo, if you happen to see one!
Three weeks, you might as well Winter-over. oh yea. Its Summer down there.
Yeah it is Summer, but it is not warm! Although we’re told that the weather and ocean conditions are extraordinarily calm for this time of year.
Bruce
Very excited to be following your travels. Be careful in Buenos Aires. I’ve traveled all over and that’s the one place that I was pickpocketed and relieved of my wallet. I can’t wait to follow the rest of your adventure.
Thanks. I didn’t go out at night and it was too hot during the day, so I stayed in the hotel for most of the 36 hours that I was there. Have a nice few days off!
Bruce