Environmentally. Politically. Socially. We move forward together. We must do this in a well thought out way with decisive care if we want to be effective in reaching out to others so as to build, construct, and grow though present forces at work in the world seem hell bent on demolition, destruction, and death.
We cannot let despair or complacency insinuate themselves into our attitudes and actions even though they seem to have become ever-present companions in this Huxlean brave new world in which we find ourselves.
The Future
The future is female, or at least it incorporates and represents women and the female point of view. This statue is called The Future and is located the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Request Sources
When encountering mis- or disinformation, request the source of the information. This alone can disarm a person who has stated something without having the information to prove it. It does not have to be done in a confrontational or hostile fashion. A simple, “I would love it if you would share the source of that with me,” puts the ball back in the hands of the person with the questionable info.
Check Sources
The New York Public Library recommends the following verification sources to check the facts of behind questionable information. These are still great sources.
Snopes: One of the oldest, most reliable fact-checking sites on the web. Updated throughout the day to debunk fake news, hoaxes, and misinformation.
Politifact: A fact-checking initiative from the Poynter Institute
ProPublica: An independent journalism non-profit
— NYPL
Collect Easily Accessible Sources
Storage and tagging are the keys to successfully have information you can share at your fingertips. When you find information rich, verifiable source material, note where and what.
Primary sources are most effective in “proving” a point. It can be tempting to use an easy access and all encompassing tool like Wikipedia for fact checking, however primary sources or respected, well-established sources like encyclopedias are far better. Wikis can be a first stop but should not be your main or only source of information source.
A bit of an anglophile, and an info nerd, I really enjoy using the The Encyclopedia Britannica. It has been around since 1768, and is well-respected. One of the easiest and least expensive ways to access a reputable, up-to-date encyclopedia is through your local library as an electronic resource.
Save articles or resources you find that are information rich in topics you discuss with others. Read it later, or call it up again, or send it to someone, by using an app that does more than just create a bookmark and can be accessed from any of your devices. Many of these apps can save the entire article for you. Do be sure to use tags to describe the main points or subject of the article so you can easily retrieve them from where you stored them in your cloud. I use Evernote® for this purpose as well as for general note taking. I have far too many categories and tags. But the system still works.
What If I Can’t Access the Internet?
Well then dearies, you are f***ed. I have access to the interwebs in at least two different ways. Phone connects one way, computers another. And I store all my best stuff on a desktop backup drive. I should have print backup too, but I just can’t kill the thousands of trees that would take. What do the people who do not have highspeed internet do? It isn’t fair. The post office should offer free high speed wifi in rural areas. I think freedom of communication, maybe with a small tax like a stamp, is written into the constitution.
Yep. I’m sure of it.
– When the Constitution was ratified in 1789, the Postal Clause in Article I, Section 8 gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” and “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for executing this task. Aug 17, 2020
Article 1 Section 8 – U.S. Constitution
Literacy
There is another whole level to fact checking that many people miss and that is reading or listening to the real left wing progressive media. You inadvertently get Fox even if you try to avoid it, and sometimes MSNBC and CNN are indistinguishable. But is isn’t easy to get the stream of progressives without digging a bit if you do not already know where to go. So pop in to some of these sources occasionally. It is part of literacy. I used these all the time back in my CodePink days (pre-2010.). 2010 is when I went to a CP thing in DC and didn’t know anyone in the ranks except the leaders and their interns, so I realized I wasn’t in the IN group cause I didn’t get invited to any of the after-parties. I wasn’t a high enough roller I guess, at least not if you want to hang out with Alice Walker. That and one of the founders boyfriends dissed a jewish radical lesbian friend of mine who had kept the grassroots tour going on her own for a couple of years (with a tiny bit of help from me.) Screw people who don’t know how to say thank you. I paid for the pink house cable to get c-span for over a year. Yes. I have a file.
So what is holding you back? Get out and do something
Research, believe the scientific findings, until the next results emerge.
How are you supposed to do that?
Science News
I find that Science News is a great source for science news. Really. Been reading it since the 1970s.
Access
So, I also inadvertently watch the Lone Star Channel (via my husband who watches in the background to get back at me for watching Josh Gates) to stay up on Mid-20th Century propaganda techniques to wipe out nationalistic tendencies here at home in the Good Ol’ USA. This is particularly in response to Hands Across the Border followed closely by an older film that also has Roy Rogers and Sons of the Pioneers in it. I think I first saw these with my brothers (born 1939 to 1946 and died 1998 to 2014) before they tossed me out of the tv watching room. Anyway…. know your sources and share them freely. And if you don’t have highspeed internet. Insist on access.
Later Gator.