tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post5910748655861785360..comments2023-10-24T11:07:41.296-04:00Comments on Paul Epstein Muse: This IS Who We Are (at least some of us)Paul Epsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17390699064480659124noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-87829332166923702152021-01-12T23:31:48.513-05:002021-01-12T23:31:48.513-05:00Great essay Paul. My New Year's resolution is...Great essay Paul. My New Year's resolution is to break out of my own echo chamber and, hopefully, help a few open minded folks to do the same. You identified a huge problem about "facts." If we don't agree on the facts, we'll never agree on opinions. But there are so many lies and conspiracies floating around, none of us can individually distinguish truth from falsehood. We need to rely on professionals to do that. I discovered MediaBiasFactCheck.com to help me do so. It rates news organizations. Put in your favorites and see how they rank. Bottom line, I'm now starting my day at low-bias, high-quality news sites: APNews.com and Reuters.com. When I see a questionable post on facebook or twitter, I check it at LeadStories.com, PolitiFact.com and FactCheck.org. I've bookmarked these 6 sites and can now confidently talk with anyone about the difference between verified news and conspiracy tale. Hope that is useful to you and some of your readers! Cheers!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18224537590979518368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-74419140235648383402021-01-10T18:47:54.939-05:002021-01-10T18:47:54.939-05:00You always had a good sense of humor, Dick. Glad y...You always had a good sense of humor, Dick. Glad you still do. I live in my own little bubble of liberal/progressive friends in the heart of the Bible belt, though, and would like to at least help effect some change around the edges.Paul Epsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17390699064480659124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-41384792395617392662021-01-10T18:45:19.145-05:002021-01-10T18:45:19.145-05:00Thanks, Howard. I look forward to the possibility ...Thanks, Howard. I look forward to the possibility we might put together a group of goodwill ambassadors to something to bring WVians closer together.Paul Epsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17390699064480659124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-64195653822987382572021-01-10T15:29:20.795-05:002021-01-10T15:29:20.795-05:00I tend to fall back on the poet, Charles Bukowski,...I tend to fall back on the poet, Charles Bukowski, who proclaimed (he addressed police, but I misquote him intentionally) I don’t hate them, I just feel better when they’re not around. They’re always in existence. I prefer the prayer offered up by the Rabbi in Fiddler when asked if there is a prayer for the Czar. May god bless and keep the Czar—far away from us. dick neponhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12694305390710425613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-88674432281629749642021-01-10T15:24:37.946-05:002021-01-10T15:24:37.946-05:00Listening to the people? People who believe rhetor...Listening to the people? People who believe rhetoric and conspiracies based on someone’s word? There is a psychology to what has happened to so many people. Repeating the rhetoric over and over again implants it in the minds of the masses. Where they heard and from who it was said matters very little. The heard i hear is I’m afraid of losing mine and i don’t give a crap if it harms you. That’s the quality of humans following trump. Period. lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12402805117297230802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-69298384330690691372021-01-10T15:20:15.517-05:002021-01-10T15:20:15.517-05:00Yes Paul. It is who we are. 75 million Americans o...Yes Paul. It is who we are. 75 million Americans own this truth. The ability to believe different tells us this this is true. Sadly a large number of people suffer with the inability to change. Fear of the unknown, fear of change all part of the bigger picture. This is about systemic racism, misogyny, religious hubris. We have to meet this attitude with a strong response. There must be serious consequences for violating the laws of our democracy. It’s very existence depends on it. lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12402805117297230802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-76445364826490204682021-01-10T14:12:42.852-05:002021-01-10T14:12:42.852-05:00One guiding principle I learned in my profession i...One guiding principle I learned in my profession is this: listen to people, because that is what most people want, but do not get. Feeling ignored is toxic, resulting in anger, misunderstandings, difficulty between people and groups. Community leaders must communicate with the disaffected before radicalization becomes their only option. I disagree wholeheartedly with white supremacy and right wingers and racists. These citizens must be brought back into the fold of civil life through education, town meetings, job training opportunities, free college offered for community work after graduation, and whatever else it takes to make people feel that they are a valued part of this country. The quote "one nation, one destiny" applies.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05555230283041727723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5441841111736068346.post-58656284037112044172021-01-10T11:54:14.486-05:002021-01-10T11:54:14.486-05:00Count me in. I had the privilege of growing up in...Count me in. I had the privilege of growing up in an integrated neighborhood with people of many faiths and believe that once people come to know each other personally they'll realize we are all children of the universe and, for people of faith that didn't enjoy the same privilege, children of God. HowardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com