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---------------- - 1993 - Surviving Fake News and saving Democracy
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- Pope Francis shocks the world and endorses Donald Trump for President. This is just one of hundreds of fake news you were given prior to the election. It is still rampant. What to believe? Where to find the truth? The answer lies between your ears.
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- A recent study found the 20 fake news stories on the internet actually triggered more clicks than the top 20 real news stories. 44% of U.S. adults get their news from “facebook”, including me.
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- Identifying the truth is complicated. Why do you think we have a jury of 12 of your peers, two lawyers, and a judge to direct your thinking in order to get there.
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- Actually, it is extremely unlikely that fake news, hoaxes, actually changed the outcome of the 2016 election. But, I am sure it changed some votes. They probably averaged out to a net little effect.
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- Even today we are receiving “ custom news pages” on the internet with stories sorted to the ones you may “like“. You are missing the ones that get sorted out. Same happens with newspapers or TV that you prefer. Which channel do you watch? Which do you avoid??
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- Facebook has “ friends”, Twitter has “ followers”. You are the one selecting “like-minded people”.
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. You are building your own “ echo chamber“.
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- There is a parallel universe you are missing. There are two sides to the hyper-partisan divide. Two sides to every story and you are only getting one of them. CNN and FOX for example have totally different biases.
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- The answer is for you to be more critical. Become a critical thinker. I have a “ how to become a critical thinker’ Review #1954. It was the best course I took in college, by far. The Review is available upon request. I enjoy using it myself to make decisions. It is a 10 step process that can surprise you how often it changes your thinking. Or, it re-confirms your thinking with added conviction.
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- We live in a highly polarized political arena. You can get labeled a conservative or a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican. I refuse, I call myself an Independent and, as a reward, I am not allowed to vote in the California Primaries. If you are a conservative, you get labeled as a climate change skeptic. Global warming becomes part of God, guns, gays, abortion, and lower taxes ideology. Liberals get labeled the opposite.
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- To change their ideology thinking you need to approach it as a “ marketing problem”. Both groups need to stay above the political quagmire. No riots, no confrontations where people get hurt. Let’s make the Earth great again. And, let’s make political discourse great again at the same time. Start with what you agree on, “debate” what you don’t.
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- Are our elections secure? Are the peoples’ votes really something we can count on? The FBI, NSA, and CIA say that the Russians tried to influence the 2016 election results. The Russians hacked into candidates, election headquarters files, they leaked documents, they may even got into some computerized voting machines. And, it was not just the Russians, it was U.S. teenagers.
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- How do we know if election results are true when they defy the majority of pre-election polling? Jill Stein, the Green Party, secured a recount in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania , and Michigan with just such suspicions. Donald Trump was not expected to win those states. Half the country, 55%, still has a problem with electoral versus populous results.
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- If elections lose credibility democracy will suffer disintegration.
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- Simple technology can help solve this problem of guaranteeing election results. Audit- computers can randomly select paper ballots and compare statistically with machine results. Use only voter-verified paper ballots and do a recount if results are not confirmed.
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- Get your representative in government to insist on these simple paper ballot audit procedures. Citizens need confidence in election results. Citizens will not support something they think is election fraud. There is no reason these simple corrections could not be implemented in the next election. This is not rocket science. It is simple procedural discipline. Get this done before the hackers with keyboards take over our democracy.
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- Fake news, internet bias, fraudulent elections, just a few challenges to keep you on your toes. Critical thinking happens between your ears. Don’t trust government, don’t trust news. This is why our money says in “ God we Trust“. Nobody else. He designed you to know better. Yesterday did not work, we will not repeat it.
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- Note : Request any of the Reviews by number to learn more.
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- #1951 - Critical thinking about US Intelligence.
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- #1945 - Encryption is for everyone.
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- #1943 - Supercomputers in the hands of engineers.
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- #1655 - Government the way it was intended.
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- # 1468 - The decline of moral management.
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- #1640 - The state of the state of California. None of these democrats took math in college.
- #1639 - We are growing too complicated too fast.
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- #1564 - The big fat liar, which president do you think that was? Fiscal Insanity.
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- #1730 - Collaborative government.
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- #1541 - Saving the American dream.
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- #1539 - The fiscal cliff.
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- #1530 - How our divided government works.
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- #1520 - Teaching the government the powers of ten.
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- #1440 - The top government priorities and how they are funded.
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- #1408 - California debt.
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- #1101 - Your representative is wasting your money. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
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- #1034 - Wikileak the economy
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- #970 - What voters need to do
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- #889 - Follow the government money.
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- #760 - Where taxes go.
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--- Some reviews are at: -------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
-- email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
- to: ------- jamesdetrick@comcast.net ------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
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----- 707-536-3272 ---------------- January 2, 2018 -----
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