The News These Days
This past week on Bluesky someone posted what seemed like a genuine newspaper photo of Donald Trump and his mother taken, circa 1980’s. The caption quoted Mary Trump as saying “I hope he never gets into politics. It would be a disaster.” I thought it was funny and I shared it to my Facebook page.
Nix. The image was immediately greyed out and I received notification that this information had been previously disproven. I was suspicious. Was this suppressed because it was unflattering to Trump? How do I fact check something like that?
I entered the image into an AI program. It confirmed that although the photo was genuine, the caption was not. I deleted the post. I replaced it with the insert below, taken directly from Tina Brown’s Vanity Fair diaries. Equally unflattering to Trump, but verified.
This experience highlights for me how easy it is to spread something false. The news is alarming these days to say the least. I find it challenging to sift through the abundance of articles, facts, opinions, and genuine outrage in order to separate the bluster from the threat. I like to know what is going on, but I don’t want to drown in hyperbole.
To my great relief, an American friend pointed me toward Heather Cox Richardson who publishes her factual and thoughtful blog on Substack. Her daily summaries cover the most impactful news of the day, without rancour, sarcasm or a slanted opinion. She includes backstory and historical events to give context and meaning to what is occurring today. Somehow after reading her, I feel encouraged–not so disheartened seeing decades of positive infrastructure be so abruptly and carelessly dismantled.
News is always there for us to catch up on. In the meantime, there are muffins to bake and good books to read. I am remembering how very therapeutic puttering about can be. And, note the photo I chose to go with this post; the planets still align, the sun came up this morning.
Keep your joy.
Anne Milne is an every Sunday blogger, unless it’s a holiday weekend. Or summertime.
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I had a political cartoon removed from FB — unflattering to Drump, of course — because it went against their “policies”.
It’s a trend we all need to be aware of. As I said last week, Facebook was built one account at a time. The reverse can also be true.
Thanks for commenting,
A.
I love the term “ therapeutic puttering “. It’s an apt description for self management during these uncertain times. I do wonder, however, just how many muffins we can consume in 4 years. Perhaps I will resort to punching bread dough!
Well that made me laugh. I was a consistent therapeutic putterer throughout the covid years. I have the painted furniture to prove it. Punching bread dough sounds like a great idea. Also, gingerbread men with orange icing maybe.
Thank you Jeanette, your comments are always appreciated.
A.