My letter to the editor about conspiracy theories was also published by The Free Lance-Star. You can find it right here.
The Free Lance-Star is a leading regional news source with more than 65,000 weekday readers. I’m always especially pleased to see something I’ve written appear here, because Fredericksburg, Virginia is my college town. 🙂
Thanks yet again to the newspaper’s editorial staff for allowing me to share through this important source of news and commentary in northeast Virginia.
An old pal of mine was cleaning out her closets and happened across this t-shirt from Ridge Elementary School in New York. I am actually still friends with a bunch of the people listed here. New Yorkers stick together. 🙂
Was the Roadrunner our unofficial school mascot or something? I honestly do not remember. Thirty-eight years is a long time.
I’m happy today to see that The Roanoke Times published my letter to the editor about relying too heavily on “open mindedness” in considering conspiracy theories. You can read it online right here.
Thanks, as always, to the editorial department of The Roanoke Times for allowing me to share my opinion in this leading regional Virginia newspaper.
Gonna buy me a milkshake. 🙂
Which might actually attract more followers, given its proven efficacy at bringing boys to the yard.
I’m honored today to see The Piker Press publish my “Quiet White Dog Short Poem.” You can read it right here.
Thanks once again to Managing Editor Sand Pilarski for allowing me to be a part of the fun and engaging creative community surrounding The Piker Press!
The spooky season is here again. As during every October, I am trying to get into the spirit of things.
I started with the quite decent vampire comedy, Netflix’ new “Day Shift” (not to be confused with the unrelated but fabulous 2014 vampire comic series, “Day Men.”) It was a fun watch. The humor and drama were frequently pretty clunky, but the vamps were scary and the fight choreography was so good it reminded me of the “Blade” trilogy.
I also caught episode 1 of AMC’s new Anne Rice adaptation, “Interview With The Vampire.” It was stylish, detailed and thoughtful and it was brutal at the end — this looks like the start of a great horror series.
Next on the list, of course, will be the resumption of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
By the way … . this is what I look like when I haunt your house at night.
I’m so happy tonight to see that the New River Valley News published my latest letter to the editor — about the overreliance on “open-mindedness” in evaluating conspiracy theories. You can read it online right here.
Thanks once again to Editor and Web Developer Rose Bowen for allowing me to share my opinion with my neighbors in Southwest Virginia.
The former President of the United States appeared to call yesterday for the death of Mitch McConnell, the highest-ranking member of his own political party. Although Donald Trump’s reasons were characteristically confusing and poorly articulated, observers note that the apparent threat followed McConnell voicing support for reforming the Electoral Count Act.
The tweet below is from Trump’s Truth Social account.
It’s been confirmed here: https://www.salon.com/2022/10/01/says-mitch-mcconnell-has-a-wish_partner/;
and here, among other places: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/01/politics/trump-mcconnell-death-wish-democrat-bills/index.html.
Just for a little added madness, Trump took a swipe at McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao. I’ve read on Twitter that the term he used is a racial slur — though I’ve never heard it before. Elaine Chao was Trump’s own Secretary of Transportation. (She resigned immediately after the January 6th attack on the Capitol.)
Donald Trump is a barely comprehensible psychopath who is inciting violence against the lawful United States government. Have a nice day.
I’m quite happy tonight to share here that The Roanoke Star printed my latest letter to the editor — about the overreliance on “open-mindedness” in validating popular conspiracy theories. You can find it right here.
Thanks once again to Publisher Stuart Revercomb for allowing me to share my opinion through this first-rate resource for news and commentary in Roanoke, Virginia!
Yes, it is good to be open-minded. But being open-minded doesn’t automatically confer veracity onto the claim you are examining. And that’s useful to remember in an age in which we’re confronted with seemingly endless conspiracy theories – about elections, vaccines, the media … and even cell phone towers, fluoride toothpaste or space aliens.
Here’s an example. Suppose we are watching a video online that says space aliens have infiltrated NASA.
You are (admirably) an open-minded person if you are willing to consider the point of view being presented. Good on you.
But that doesn’t mean the conclusions presented are real or true. (They do not become factual simply because of your state of mind.)
It doesn’t even mean that they are more likely to be true. (They should not be considered more plausible because of your open-mindedness alone.)
We should EVALUATE claims and beliefs to determine whether they should be taken as true. If this isn’t easy to do conclusively, then we should evaluate the LIKELIHOOD that they are true. (And a guy like me would suggest that we try to use the best available evidence to determine that.)
Open-mindedness alone isn’t the decisive mental talent that you think it is, people. It definitely shouldn’t lead us to believe that aliens have invaded NASA, without a lot more rigorous investigation and thought. Chill with it.
