Bruce's Singing Cyclist Musings

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

I’ve been very serious minded for the past six years or so. It started with the arrival of an orange haired dude coming down an escalator and belittling hispanics.

But, there have been things, in fact many things, during that time that have made me happy. I think I’ll make a list. It’ll help brings things back into focus, especially the things that happened before yesterday:

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky sticking. his finger in the eye of the bully/tyrant, Vladimir Putin. Kick his frickin’ ass.
• The Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series title (and every game that they win).
• Singing Amazing Grace with my wife at Shiena’s Celebration of Life
• Singing in a live concert for the first time in 2 1/2 years with Peninsula Harmony Chorus
• Singing the Star Spangled Banner live at a minor league baseball game (three times)
• Singing for Anthony and family
• Singing virtually with my church choir
• Singing anywhere for that matter
• Substitute teaching at Cabrillo Middle School
• Backpacking in Yosemite with Kelvin
• Local walks with Meredy
• Donating platelets to the talented and hilarious staff of phlebotomists at the Stanford Blood Center
• Finishing my 100th Vote Forward letter encouraging Texans to vote in the current midterm elections.
• Volunteering on my church TechTeam
• Getting to know my neighbors over backyard wine
• Blogging to clear my head, refresh my mind and interact with a few of my readers
• Donating money, writing letters, contacting politicians trying to get Congress into Democrat(ic) hands. Those things not only make me happy, but they give me hope
• In an odd way, it makes me happy to further expose the continued influence of foreign governments to influence/subvert U.S. elections. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the Saudi-led decision for OPEC to cut oil production were both strategically timed to drive up the price of oil and fuel inflation (pun totally intended) just before aforementioned midterm elections. The goal being to blame the inflation on the sitting Democrat president and draw attention away from Republican incompetence in running a Constitutional democracy.
• Singing
• Bike rides
• Doonesbury ( sp)
• Finally figuring out how my top loading worm composting system works
• Middle schoolers interacting, learning and socializing in person together again.
• Alex Jones owing the Sandy Hook families a billion $$$.
• A Great Horned Owl hanging out in the backyard
• Good health
• Thinking about my parents and how I was raised
• Science
• That there are people out there that are more intelligent and rational than I am
• I’m alive right now and trying to make a positive contribution in a difficult time.
• Friends
• Family
• Elections
• People who where shirts with interesting messages on them
• Generosity
• Kirk Gibson’s 1988 Home run to win Game 1 of the World Series against the A’s
• Truth…the real stuff…the stuff with evidence and facts
• My cat Squeek rubbing against my foot and rolling around in the “Gorilla Hair.”
• Rachel Maddow
• My other cat Smokey laying on my chest nose-to-nose with me
• Singing while bike riding
• Memories of Mom and Dad
• Going to baseball games with friends
• Solving (or at least trying) puzzles of all kinds
• Taking notes and doing research
• Seeing the smiles on other people’s faces
• Disneyland
• Singing “The Hallelujah Chorus” in public
• Hope

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

Democracy

Boy, I think I bit off a bigger bite than I can effectively process here, but I feel the need to try. My thesis for this opinion is that Christianity can (and has) functioned under U.S.A. -style democracy but can democracy survive under a Christian state?

In a guest essay to the NewYork Times, Linda Greenhouse wrote “Alito’s Call to Arms to Secure Religious Liberty.”

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke at a University of Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Summit in Rome after the Dobbs. v. Jackson decision and made this analogy of a courtroom rule:

Attorney A wears a Packers green and gold cap;

Attorney B is an Orthodox Jew who wears a skullcap (yarmulke);

Attorney C is a Muslim Woman in a hijab or any other head covering

"If A can't wear his Packers hat, is it still possible to accomodate B and C? 

Alito answers his question by saying: “Well for me, the Constitution of the United States provides a clear answer. Some. of my colleagues are not so sure. But, for me, the text. tells the story. The Constitution protects the free exercise of religion. It does not protect the free exercise of support for the Packers.”

Try telling the football fans of Green Bay that the Packers aren’t a religion!

I have real concerns about this. Why is an active Supreme Court justice doing speaking out on religious liberty, in Rome no less, after overturning established law in the Dobbs case? When Justice Alito refers to the Constitution, I’m assuming that he is referring to the First Amendment to the Constitution, the one that reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of people to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Is this the part of the Constitution that Justice Alito is referring to?

I think it is, but I guess the First Amendment that I read only covers the Congress not making any laws regarding the free exercise of religion, speech, the Press and assembly and doesn’t apply to the Supreme Court’s ability to alter the law through judicial proceedings.

“The Cultural Revolution did its best to destroy religion, but it was not successful. It could not extinguish the religious impulse,” he said. “Our hearts are restless until we rest in God. And, therefore, the champions of religious liberty who go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves can expect to find hearts that are open to their message.”

By religion, Alito appears to be referring to this same First Amendment in making this statement. Congress is already forbidden by the Constitution to pass any law that would prohibit the free exercise of religion. But no such Constitutional constraints are placed on the nation’s highest court.

What is to keep the Supreme Court from passing or creating laws in the area of religious freedom? None, of course. Because under the Constitution the job of making laws is the job of the Legislative Branch aka Congress. Thomas Jefferson and the Constitutional Congress apparently did not anticipate that there would ever be such an egregious effort to sidestep the will of the American people by allowing the Judicial branch to actually make the law all by itself.

I digress a bit. I mean to address the thesis of whether or not Democracy can survive in a Christian state.

Religious freedom protection is already guaranteed by the Constitution. The only problem is that this protection doesn’t include a judicial branch that is functioning in an unconstitutional manner.

Those of us in religious communities don’t need to worry about our religious liberty under the Constitution as it is currently written. What we do need to worry about is our liberty period.

The Dobbs decision was only the start of the erosion of our liberty protection under the Constitution. When the courts bypass us and make the claim that they are acting to preserve the Constitution, be even more vigilant than usual. The people that are telling you that they are defending the flag and the Constitution are doing neither.

I’m trying to be as non-partisan as I can, so I am not going to call out any groups by name. But I will say that the same people who are talking about saving your religious liberty are the ones poised to take it away. Your religious liberty will erode away along your personal liberties if any religious group is allowed to directly insert itself in the political sphere. If that group gets political power, the religious liberties of other religious groups will fade and ultimately disappear.

If you value democracy and religious liberty, choose your votes wisely. Oh, and the answer to my thesis question is “No.” I think we’ve seen enough from states run by a single religion and it ‘aint pretty.

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

The U.S. and the Holocaust by Ken Burns.  If you watch this PBS mini series, it will save me a lot of words.

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

In these times when it is common to find some trying to sell you the idea that wrong is actually right, lies are truth and here isn’t really here, it’s over there, it’s hard to ask yourself the question “What is Real?” and come up with a reasonable answer for that question.

Let me take a stab at it.

When COVID hit and started shutting inside things down, the outdoors opened up. People saw the outdoors as a chance to break cabin fever and start living again. So it was for me. When I retired in July 2020 from a career as a Middle School Science teacher, it had been seven years since I last carried my food, shelter and clothing on my back into the wilderness. I didn’t think I’d ever do it again.

Thanks to my friend and former teaching /coaching colleague Kelvin, I re-entered the world of backpacking. The previous heyday of backpacking for me was when I was in college at Fresno State. My Dad taught me the basics and Dr. Don Morgan, one of my Geography professors at Fresno State, honed my knowledge and experience by leading three week long backpack trips to Mt. Whitney during my time as an active Bulldog student backpacker in a class called Mountain Environments.

Even with the best gear and the best attitude, there are times when you are hot, tired, thirsty and hungry. Sometimes at the same time.

The feeling of exhilaration (and relief) when you reach the top of a mountain pass. The feeling of sweat building on your forehead and sun reflecting off granite rock walls as you take slow and steady step at a time up a steep climb longing for the next switchback, the feeling of focused concentration going down a steep descent over irregular, pieces of granite scree knowing that the slightest misstep could mean a fall and moderate to severe injury.

The feeling of satisfaction when I arrived in camp for the evening. Thankfulness for having the energy to put up the tent, blow up the air mattress and lay out the down sleeping bag to get it fluffed up and ready for sleep. Gratefulness to Kelvin for his camp stove and fuel that provided us with hot meals and drink.

The indescribable sensation of the sound of silence. The brilliance of the pinkish. alpine glow reflecting off of shear, undisturbed granite rock faces. Feeling small, vulnerable and full of grace for the opportunity to be in this place.

Feeling of sensing the end of the hike back to the car. Almost there, but not quite.

These things are all real. Real to me. I experienced them. Are they real to you? Only if you trust me and believe that I am sincere and willing to tell you about my experiences with only the best of intentions of sharing my joy with you.

We can’t all have the same direct experiences. We can share in the experiences of each other. But first?

We have to trust each other.

In that spirit, here is a song that my church choir performed on Sunday, September 11, 2022.

___________________________________________________

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

“It’s the economy, stupid!” Bill Clinton used to say that this was the winning strategy in electoral politics. People vote based on how they are doing in the moment in regards to personal finances.

Historically that seems to be true. In presidential years, it is generally a referendum on how the economy is that determines whether or not a sitting president is reelected. In the middle of a president’s term members of Congress are elected or rejected based on how the economy is doing.

It’s the Economy, stupid seems to be a winning formula. Except when it isn’t. The midterm elections coming up in less than three months in November 2022 are not going to be about the economy. For the first time in my lifetime, members of Congress and governors will. be elected based on another factor.

It’s not climate change or women’s reproductive rights. It’s not the price of gas or the cost of pharmaceutical drugs. It’s not about whether the former president stole classified documents or tried to steal an election. It isn’t even about Blue and Red.

If its not one of those things, then what is this election about?

I say it is about race.

It really always has been about race and we as Americans have been unable to address the fact that every election since the 18th Century in this country has been based on race. That this is the case isn’t really a secret. It’s that we just don’t want to talk about it as a people, as individuals as liberals or conservatives, as Caucasians or as people of color. We simply don’t want to address the issue of race.

Why? One thought is that we … Let me stop here for a minute to define “we.” “We” are those of us of European ancestry that for reasons of wealth, power and birthright have taken the position that we are superior to people whose skin is a different color than ours.

Let me break it down a little further to “I.” “I” am one of the “we.” I, for reasons of wealth, power and birthright have been granted a position of unearned superiority in American life. “I” did not even know that I had been granted this position until starting about 12 years ago while sitting on my church Board of Directors, I took an inventory (questionnaire) about where I stood on race.

I believed that I was one of the good guys. I was accepting of people of color that I have since learned to identify as BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color). I was not one of those people that hated people based on the color of their skin. I was a good person.

This inventory found that I was not where I wanted to be regarding the issue of race. I was not a KuKluxKlan racist. I was good religious person. I met and taught children of many races in my career as a middle school teacher and worked with their parents.

But, I was missing something. Somewhere along the line someone had neglected to tell me that I had a certain privilege simply because my skin was pale. I had been granted an unspoken but institutionally enforced superiority or privilege based on the color of my skin. It is called “White Superiority.”

Those words were hard to assign to myself. White Superiority. It sounded harsh. I was fragile and didn’t know how to handle the label. Yet, as time has gone on, I have come to embrace the label. White Superiority is not the same as White Supremacist or White Nationalist or Racist. I have learned that those labels don’t belong to me.

But I have been a part of the White Superiority Culture for my entire life. I accept that label.

I started to address this label and lack of awareness and understanding through my church and through school trainings and experience. I have toughened my skin, so to speak, and have begun my work on leaving White Superiority Culture behind and working toward bringing it to an eventual end.

This upcoming election is about race. This is as clear as clear can get. The rest is smoke and mirrors. Address race in America and all the smoke gets cleared. All the secondary issues will be seen more clearly and the real healing can start.

Civil Rights Attorney Jeffrey Robinson addresses the issue of race in his hard hitting Netlix film “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.” Two hours of hard to watch reality that I highly recommend viewing before this next election. Robinson talks about the film in this YouTube clip.

Bill Clinton is probably right when he says “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” He’s right for every other election. Just not the election in 2022.

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

Yesterday was a big day in the world of baseball. It was Trade Deadline day (the last opportunity for moving players between teams), I went to a Dodger-Giant game in San Francisco and then there was the death of Vin Scully,

People are born and people die. Prophetic as that may seem, the death of Mr. Scully ranks up there for me along with the losses of JFK, MLK, RFK, my Mom and my Dad within my sphere of existence. Vin Scully was and will continue to be a person whose influence far transcends that of us mortals.

Ah shucks, that kind of talk was met by a quiet, unassuming humility that matched his one-of-a-kind talent. There will never, ever be another Vin Scully. Not in the temporal sense or the talent sense. Just ask any of his peers.

Vincent Edward Scully’s death yesterday at the age of 94 was marked in baseball circles with all due diligence and respect. That respect was greatly deserved. Scully was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, received the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award in 2014 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Scully started working for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1950. He remained employed by the team for 67 years. That’s a year longer than I’ve been alive. He was married to his second wife Sandi for 48 years.

I was there when Vin Scully worked his last game on October 2 at whatever the Giants called their ballpark in 2016. It was an honor to be there to celebrate this icon of the game.

“He was the voice of the Dodgers and so much more. He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and chronicling their glory from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw. Vin Scully was the heartbeat of the Dodgers–and in so many ways, the heartbeat of all of Los Angeles.”

Dodgers Team Statement

By now, if you didn’t already know, Vin Scully was a broadcaster of baseball games. But for generations of baseball fans, particularly Dodger fans, Scully did far more than tell his listeners what was happening in the game. Vin Scully was a storyteller. His medium was the microphone. His message was to connect the game of baseball into where it fit into America’s social fabric. He was the master weaver of baseball and how it fit into life.

I wasn’t around to hear his take on Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. I did hear his call of Henry Aaron’s 715th home run on April 8, 1974 as a high school Senior. At the time, I was totally clueless about race. Now that I have a clue about race, I understand Scully’s message in his call. There is a part of the broadcast in the aftermath of Mr. Aaron’s accomplishment where Scully is silent. You can hear his call down the page,

Vin Scully made baseball more than a pastime for me. At one point, I thought I’d like to be a sports broadcaster like he was. I called a few games with Tom Laub at Fresno State, but that was the extent of my sports broadcasting career. Vin taught me that everything was connected. Baseball was a part of life and life was a part of baseball.

I am indebted to Vin Scully for instilling in me my lifelong love of Baseball. Baseball IS our National Pastime and it will continue to be my National Pastime. It represents the best of America. Well, the big money that now dominates professional sports has not spared baseball. That particular thing doesn’t represent the best of America.

Vin Scully represents the best of America, the best of baseball and the best of humanity.

As Vin said before every game: “It’s time for Dodger baseball.”

________________________________________________________

There are many compilations of Vin Scully’s “Best Calls.” Here are a few that I think capture the essence of his body of work in baseball. Click on the link to watch and listen.

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

I watched a show called “Storm Stories” on The Weather Channel last night. It featured the efforts of a number of people to help their neighbors in need. One of the people was a Marine veteran that had been trained in water rescue. He used his boat to rescue a friend from a heavily flooded Houston neighborhood and then went on to rescue many more people trapped by the flood waters caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Greatness. What is it?

Goodness, kindness, justice, equality, fairness, humanity, disagreeing without being disagreeable, self sacrifice, giving, compassion, hope, faith, looking out for our neighbors, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, Democracy. Those words begin to get at what greatness is.

This word “greatness” that has made its way into prominence with one of our political parties has been turned into a code word for the return to the “good old days” when niggers* and women knew their places in society and everybody who was anybody was a Christian. Sound blunt? I think it’s that simple.

“Greatness,” like the flag and patriotism has been coopted for political reasons to mean something that it is not. It has been used to demarcate what works for the rich, the white and the men in the United States of America and what works for the majority of the rest of the United States of America. To get back to this “greatness,” the rich, the white, and the men have turned to creating an atmosphere of fear, loathing and hate to mobilize their followers in the effort to attain this “greatness.”

The Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels would be proud of how current Authoritarians and wannabe tyrants have used the word greatness (and flag and patriotism) to falsely identify a point of view designed to protect an indefensible anti-great, anti-flag, anti-patriotic movement that promotes disinformation, the destruction and undermining of the institutions of government such as the free press (which they call fake news), the Congress (by forcing it to not work and working to eliminate the right of people to vote), disempowering and stripping agencies of carrying out their missions and turning the proud and sacred top court in the land, The United States Supreme Court, into a partisan sham in yet another way of trying to show their followers that Democracy doesn’t work.

Indeed, Goebbels would be proud.

Let’s be clear. America has never been great. It has had great people, it has done a few great things and it has had what has been called “The Greatest Generation” of which my father was a part. But the United States of America has fallen considerably short of greatness.

What will make America truly great someday is what each and every American knows in their hearts. That goodness, kindness, justice, equality, fairness, humanity, disagreeing without being disagreeable, self sacrifice, giving, compassion, hope, faith, looking out for our neighbors, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, Democracy and tolerance all matter.

I like watching Storm Stories because I’m a weather/climate geek and the stories have a way of including the greatest human qualities embedded in the hardships associated with the storms. I see many of the qualities that I associate with greatness in these stories.

The heroic actions of the ex- Marine Houston real estate agent exemplify all that is great about this country. The actions of the “Greatest Generation” in helping save the world from Nazi tyranny should be examples to us all. Do we have that greatness in us? I would argue that we do. We just need to dig down to find it and then act on it.

What is left for us to do is to take that same spirit of goodness that this courageous man exhibited in helping save people from the flood waters of Hurricane Harvey. Take that spirit and apply it to saving our Democracy. If we are capable of greatness at the community level, surely we are capable of it at the national level in preserving the principles inherent in American democracy.

________________________________________

*not my word. It is used here to make a point.

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

Purity, Beauty

Everywhere there is love is

Patience, Goodwill, Hope

_______________

Fly the flag proudly

Ponder what it represents

Hope, Resilience, pride

BAH

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

It’s been over a year now that I have led my posts on Singing Cyclist Musings with the above summary of how to deal with disinformation. The story, “Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation,” Alexandra Witze presents five strategies for dealing with “bad” information.

So, let’s start with the word bad. My idea of “bad” might not be your idea of “bad.” Who gets to decide? Ultimately it is us, the individuals who get to make that decision. In an idyllic world where Democracy is the chosen political system, this would be the end of the story. Case closed, that’s all folks, let’s move on and that’s that.

There are primarily two reasons why the individual is not the gate keeper of good and bad. One is education. The best way to maintain a democratic system of government is by maintaining an educated and discerning population of people by offering free public education at all levels to teach us all how to think and not what to think. With the individual brain trained to identify bear scat from bullshit, misinformation/disinformation will fall on deaf ears.

Two happens when we have one. The individuals, TV networks, YouTube channels, Twitter feeds, email distribution lists and what all will not be able to spread their bullshit because there simply is no audience for it. By educating our fellow citizens, we don’t need number two.

So, there is one and only one way to determine good from bad, true from false and if I may be so bold, right from wrong. Get informed.

We don’t have time to wait for free public education for all, so you personally can start by looking at the five points in the first box up yonder. All five are important, but I suggest that the second point is the one to start with.

Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience rather than accomplishing your goal which is to share accurate information.

My wife and I were visiting with a friend while on an evening walk. Another neighbor was visiting along with her dog. The conversation was cordial and polite and remained so as the dog enjoyed her treats when the conversation went to why she and her family were moving to Texas. She said that they were moving to a state that was more supportive of parents rights and where the schools didn’t “sexualize” students.

My wife and I are both retired California public school teachers. Neither of us flinched or changed expression as my wife asked the follow-up question that led to the response.

It wasn’t the time or place to engage in a deeper conversation. But one thing that I noticed in my own mind as this interaction was happening and in its aftermath, was an instant and thankfully fleeting feeling of defensiveness followed by a feeling of wanting to share a different perspective on teaching. We did share that we were teachers and the conversation seamlessly went on to a different topic.

Once she left, we had a brief conversation with our friend and shared how unfortunate it is that this conversation will not be completed because a decision was made to go to your silo and not engage in the further conversation that might have some influence on your feelings about public school and teachers.

My long winded point is that we did not stigmatize this person for her beliefs. The training that I got from Mom and Dad reinforced by my education kicked in. This is so important in helping us “get to 100.”

Change can and will happen in this country when we listen to each other without judgement. Which is why I’ll end this with a song. Headphones or earbuds will dramatically improve your listening experience. It’s also ok without them.

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

Retirement hasn’t been quite what I expected it to be. I had expected to roughly divide my time up evenly between volunteering and service to the community , recreation, reading and writing. COVID messed up the division of time formula.

It also messed up how I was going to spend my volunteer and service time. I’ve spent considerably more time volunteering with my church basically because those opportunities didn’t go away with COVID and the church always needs volunteers. I have not done nearly as much work on outdoor and science education, although that is starting to change as we figure out how to live with COVID.

In case you hadn’t yet noticed, I am a radical. My radicalism can be tempered to simmer below the surface where it is essentially invisible. That’s where it has been for most of my life. That has been gradually changing over the past 15 years The radicalism is sort of like the Earth Science concept of vulcanism. Molten hot rock rises through the Earth and some of it eventually reaches the surface in the form of a volcanic eruption. Sometimes the eruptions are relatively calm and sometimes (ask the people of Pompeii) they are more explosive.

I’m still singing, bicycle riding, backpacking, golfing, hiking, reading and writing and stuff like that. But there is an element that figures to eat into a bigger chunk of my retirement time now.

Being a revolutionary.

Revolutionary in the model of former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Meredy decided that this evening would be a good time to revisit Justice Ginsburg’s documentary film “The Notorious RBG.” How appropriate to revisit the life and work of RBG.

Revolutionary in the spirit of our founding fathers almost 250 years ago. The same founding fathers that drafted the Constitution that the current Supreme Court has decided to re-write in it’s own image.

Just as the Bible and the great religious scriptures of the world are meant to be living, breathing documents that incorporate the timeless wisdom of their composers, so too is the Constitution of these great United States of America. It’s words, so carefully drafted, were meant to grow with this young nation. The words were not put to paper lightly.

This Supreme Court, for reasons that I do not know, has chosen to turn its back on Democracy and its vital institutions and precedents. It has turned its back on the Constitution. The time for us to speak up is now. Justice RBG was an outwardly quiet and reserved person for most of her life in the law as a lawyer and a judge. Toward the end of her life and career, she became outwardly vociferous in her dissents of Supreme Court rulings that she felt were wrong headed. In the spirit of the revolutionaries that founded this country, she fought for what she believed in. This week’s rulings on guns and women’s rights were appalling. Would would RBG have done?

I intend to do what I know she would be doing. I will follow in her example and speak up and take the actions that I believe to be right. I cannot sit idly by and watch my country be dismantled before my eyes. With my Dad’s 19 year old Army Air Corps eyes looking over my shoulder, I’m going to continue to do his work in making the United States of America a better place for all of our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and for all subsequent generations to come.

Fight like hell to preserve it. That is my retirement job…for now at least.