I read some piece today....where people seem to state that they are 'professional' fact-checkers. I sat there for about ten minutes.....trying to imagine this status, and how you got to this position.
Is there some college-degree for fact-checking? No.
Is there some paid job with IBM or the NFL, for fact-checking? Well.....no.
Is there some job with the CIA for fact-checking? I've never heard of them employing folks to be fact-checkers.
So I looked it up...for qualifications. What folks say is that you need a degree in library-science, or possibly journalism. Then they say that you ought to have had several years (hint: a decade) in some field of information. Some folks even said if your degree was in English-language....you'd be Ok.
Then you'd get hired by someone, and that's all you do....fact-check.
Is there much work in this? That's the part that bothers me. I can find no real commentary that you'd be hard at work for forty hours a week. You'd just get handed some news piece, and someone from the head-office would ask....is this a fact? And then you'd go and read for several hours, and come to some balanced decision that yes, it is, or no, it's not. Beyond that, you might be sitting there a good bit each day.
I worked in a job once (for three years) where I basically came in....did about an hour's worth of work, and then sat there for five hours a day just reading newspapers, or trying to just act busy. I get the impression that these fact-checkers kinda fall into that category.
An occupation that you could spend thirty years in? NO, I just don't see that much value.
What bothers me is that you also now have....fact-checkers to the fact-checkers....meaning that the first crew might be lying a bit or just not capable of fact-checking. And if there is a group of fact-checkers checking fact-checkers.....you can assume that there is also a group of fact-checkers who countering the fact-checkers, who are checking the fact-checkers.
Way too much facts, if you ask me.
Wednesday, 4 July 2018
Pondering Upon Meddling
"Findings by the intelligence community that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump win were "accurate and on point," according to an unclassified report and accompanying statement by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released Tuesday."
-- Fox News, 3 July 2018
The one and only question to ask....what if they (the Russians) did meddle in 2016, and then you went back to find that yes.....they also meddled in 2012, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996, and even 1992?
What if Barack Obama was the result of Russian meddling?
What if Bush was the result of Russian meddling?
What if the Russians meddle in the mid-term elections, and have helped John McCain win all of these Senate elections?
Man, when you reach this stage of meddling.....you might even be able to arrange for Roseanne to get doped up, say something stupid, getting her removed from the TV show, and then rearrange for her to appear six months later in a totally different show, and get fantastic ratings.
Heck, you might even arrange the NCAA football business enough to allow the University of Alabama to continually appear as 'champions'.
The Right-Wing Bernie
There was a piece out there yesterday, which kinda led me in circles. There's some accusation that Bernie Sanders (you remember him from the 2016 campaign) while awful socialist in nature (he likes to admit it and grin while in agreement).....has been said by the new socialists appearing in public now.....to be too right-wing for them. Yes, as left as you or I might observe Bernie.....they say he's too right-wing.
My brother notes that Bernie is civil in his discourse, and he thinks that where Bernie fails the left-wing socialist 'test'. This led me to pondering process.
Is it possible that even today....Karl Marx (the guy who wrote the book on socialism and communism) would fail the test, and be called a right-wing guy? It's possible.
Would Lenin fail the socialist test, and be called right-wing? It's hard to say.
The general test?
Well, first you have to believe anything capitalist is evil....so you need to at least desire to live under a bridge and condemn capitalism daily.
Second, you need to believe that everyone that has money.....needs to be taxed to the extent that they are flat-broke like you, and that money is shared out with you and your fellow socialists.
Third, you need to believe that unions can only serve the greater good of mankind. The fact that they might be corrupt? Discount that real quick.
Fourth, you need to believe that the world would be a better place without the police. Police just get into the middle of everything and make it all worse.
Fifth, the answer to all problems always goes back to more government.
Sixth, you believe in open discussions as long as everyone talks about your subject, in the correct way, and agrees. If they can't agree with you.....you need to end the discussion.
Seventh, you compare everyone you meet on some Hitler-scale, and disagreeable folks generally rate near a '8' on this scale.
Eighth, generally.....you are always pro-marijuana. You'd like to see it legalized, but not taxed.
Ninth, you generally enjoy periods of unemployment....the longer, the more entertaining it can be.
Tenth, you like the color black when picking clothing for public appearances.
Eleventh, you enjoy showing just a hint of violent character....up until the point where you end up at some protest with ex-Marines.
Twelfth, you always cite that such-and-such European country is real socialist, and then always get shocked when you see a fair amount of wealth existing in that country. You always get a bit embarrassed when admitting that you've never been to Europe, and the most socialist place you've ever been was San Francisco. Course, then you admit you were awful doped up when walking around San Francisco, and you might have just dreamed a bunch of stuff up.
Thirteenth, you live in constant fear of turning right-wing. It's bad enough that you often visit a mental health guy and talk over this stress in your life. All he can suggest is to smoke more marijuana, and keep capitalist people out of your life. Your doctor even hints that he might be capitalist because he drives a BMW. You attend meetings in your early 30's to talk over your feelings and learn that other socialists are suffering the same stress.
Fourteenth, you keep citing that western democracy has failed, but you never seem to talk about the Greeks, Plato, Aristotle, or that nutcase Socrates. You generally admit that you never studied philosophy, or sat in a true history class.
Fifteenth, your day is consumed thinking of a large number of folks as being 'lesser' in terms of comparison to you. It starts out with coffee, and then continues on through the morning. By noon, you have to do a double-joint to continue your line of thinking. You always see happy people as a threat, because they just aren't wise enough to see the terrible world up close and personal.
Finally, you get to some peak and collapse....when dad or mom cut off the $500 a month that they've been sending you to support your 'life-under-the-bridge' routine. Then you have to resort to capitalism, and deliver pizzas.
My brother notes that Bernie is civil in his discourse, and he thinks that where Bernie fails the left-wing socialist 'test'. This led me to pondering process.
Is it possible that even today....Karl Marx (the guy who wrote the book on socialism and communism) would fail the test, and be called a right-wing guy? It's possible.
Would Lenin fail the socialist test, and be called right-wing? It's hard to say.
The general test?
Well, first you have to believe anything capitalist is evil....so you need to at least desire to live under a bridge and condemn capitalism daily.
Second, you need to believe that everyone that has money.....needs to be taxed to the extent that they are flat-broke like you, and that money is shared out with you and your fellow socialists.
Third, you need to believe that unions can only serve the greater good of mankind. The fact that they might be corrupt? Discount that real quick.
Fourth, you need to believe that the world would be a better place without the police. Police just get into the middle of everything and make it all worse.
Fifth, the answer to all problems always goes back to more government.
Sixth, you believe in open discussions as long as everyone talks about your subject, in the correct way, and agrees. If they can't agree with you.....you need to end the discussion.
Seventh, you compare everyone you meet on some Hitler-scale, and disagreeable folks generally rate near a '8' on this scale.
Eighth, generally.....you are always pro-marijuana. You'd like to see it legalized, but not taxed.
Ninth, you generally enjoy periods of unemployment....the longer, the more entertaining it can be.
Tenth, you like the color black when picking clothing for public appearances.
Eleventh, you enjoy showing just a hint of violent character....up until the point where you end up at some protest with ex-Marines.
Twelfth, you always cite that such-and-such European country is real socialist, and then always get shocked when you see a fair amount of wealth existing in that country. You always get a bit embarrassed when admitting that you've never been to Europe, and the most socialist place you've ever been was San Francisco. Course, then you admit you were awful doped up when walking around San Francisco, and you might have just dreamed a bunch of stuff up.
Thirteenth, you live in constant fear of turning right-wing. It's bad enough that you often visit a mental health guy and talk over this stress in your life. All he can suggest is to smoke more marijuana, and keep capitalist people out of your life. Your doctor even hints that he might be capitalist because he drives a BMW. You attend meetings in your early 30's to talk over your feelings and learn that other socialists are suffering the same stress.
Fourteenth, you keep citing that western democracy has failed, but you never seem to talk about the Greeks, Plato, Aristotle, or that nutcase Socrates. You generally admit that you never studied philosophy, or sat in a true history class.
Fifteenth, your day is consumed thinking of a large number of folks as being 'lesser' in terms of comparison to you. It starts out with coffee, and then continues on through the morning. By noon, you have to do a double-joint to continue your line of thinking. You always see happy people as a threat, because they just aren't wise enough to see the terrible world up close and personal.
Finally, you get to some peak and collapse....when dad or mom cut off the $500 a month that they've been sending you to support your 'life-under-the-bridge' routine. Then you have to resort to capitalism, and deliver pizzas.
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