Did President Obama really sign an executive order banning the pledge of allegiance in schools nationwide? Must be real — you can read it in abcnews.com.co. Oh, wait — that’s a phony news site, set up to steal the reputation of the real ABC News and get you to believe fake stories. Just like nbc.com.co or foxnews.com.co or cbs.com.co — all fake sites set up by the News Examiner, which also publishes phony news. Because theses “shill” sites look, at first glance, like legit news organizations, their phony news gets picked up and spread, often over social media and sometimes even fooling real news organizations. Continue reading
Not really the news: Outright lies and hoaxes
Satire beyond The Onion
Fact, fiction, or satire?
Does Hilary Clinton wear the bullet that killed Osama bin Laden on a chain around her neck? Did marijuana overdoses kill 37 people in Colorado on the first day of legalization? Was a Black Lives Matter group sued for being racist, not allowing white members? Did a vacationing President Obama really dedicate an 18th hole birdie to Louisiana flood victims? Did Trump really put Ben Carson and Sarah Palin on his foreign policy advisory team? Or is Michele Bachmann going to be his foreign policy adviser?
In this election more, even more than in previous campaign seasons, it can be hard to tell truth from satire. Continue reading
Don’t believe everything you read: Phony news and how to spot it
Did you read about the world’s biggest baby, born in China, weighing 73 pounds? How about Pope Francis’s denunciation of Pokemon as the devil’s tool? Or about Donald Trump’s cousin leaving a statement for his obituary begging people not to vote for him? Or that Donald Trump says President Obama founded ISIS? Okay – the last one is unfortunately true, which shows how hard it can be to tell actual news from fiction and satire, this year more than ever.
I spend lots of time reading news, and I care passionately about sorting truth from lies. So I’m going to write a series of blog posts to share what I’ve learned over a lifetime of working at this Sisyphean task. Today: phony news sites. Next time: Satire beyond The Onion. After that: Outright lies and hoaxes. Finally: Not really science and not really health. Continue reading
Sky blue or scummy: The choice is ours and the time is now
If we really love Minnesota’s sky-blue lakes, if we really care about swimming and canoeing and fishing, we need to do a lot more to protect those waters. And we need to act quickly. Toxic algae blooms, fertilizer run-off, garbage, and mining sediment and run-off threaten Minnesota lakes and rivers and wetlands. Threaten? That’s actually an understatement. “Threaten” sounds like the damage is in the future. It’s not. Minnesota waterways have already been seriously damaged. Continue reading
Filed under agriculture, environment, food and farming
Cheering for the Olympic refugee team: They’re already winners
Yusra Mardini and her sister fled the war in Syria, two teenagers making their way through Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Central Europe to Germany. Crossing the Mediterranean in an overloaded rubber boat, they jumped in the water when the engine died and the boat started taking on water. Here’s how the New York Times tells her story:
“Of the 20 people on board, only the Mardini sisters and two young men knew how to swim, so the four of them jumped overboard. It was about 7 at night, and the turning tide had made the sea harsh and choppy. …
“Mardini and her sister swam for three and a half hours, helping the boat stay on course — even when the two male swimmers gave up and let the dinghy pull them along. It was cold, Mardini said. Her clothes dragged her down, and salt burned her eyes and skin.
“’I’m thinking, what? I’m a swimmer, and I’m going to die in the water in the end?’ she said.”
Filed under human rights, immigration
Farm activist Lou Anne Kling: From pastures to protests
In the 1980s, Lou Anne Kling advocated for farmers against abuses by the federal Farmers Home Administration (FmHA). In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Kling as the agency’s national administrator of farm loan programs. Now, at 77 years, Kling has retired from her job as farm transitions coach for the Land Stewardship Project, and remains active in her community, as health allows, keeping a sharp eye on government shenanigans that affect farmers.
Filed under agriculture, food and farming
Why you should vote on August 9
Unless you are in a contested legislative district, you might be tempted to skip the August 9 primary election. You shouldn’t. The primary will decide which Minnesota Supreme Court candidate will be on the ballot this November. That’s hugely important. While the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints U.S. Supreme Court justices, Minnesota voters elect Minnesota Supreme Court justices, and this year they should re-elect Justice Natalie Hudson. Continue reading
Raccoons vs. recycling: Twin Cities composting gets easier
Photo by Luke Hollins, published under Creative Commons license.
I’m a klutz at composting. Every time I’ve tried, the stuff just sits there. So I am happy to see that the Twin Cities are making composting easier, with curbside pick-up for organics in Minneapolis and easy organics drop-off sites in St. Paul. Big news: St. Paul now has 24/7 drop-off sites, so you can get rid of the accumulated food waste before the raccoons raid your collection bin. Continue reading
Filed under environment, St. Paul Notes
Hillary and chocolate chip cookies
Tonight I’ll watch Hillary Clinton accept the Democratic nomination for president. And while I watch, I’ll celebrate with some cookies, the Hillary chocolate chip cookies I baked this afternoon. I’ve been baking those cookies since 1992. They were (and are) my family’s favorites among all my cookie recipes. Hillary’s chocolate chip cookies went to school with my daughters, to the envy of their classmates. Sometimes they asked me to pack extra cookies for sharing. I mailed the cookies in care packages to college dorms. These cookies have gone to parties and potlucks and staff meetings. I’ve dropped off boxes of the cookies for telephone callers in the 2012 “Vote No” campaign for equal marriage rights and at the #JusticeforPhilando occupation this year. I’ll probably keep baking them forever. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
1968 to 2016: The whole world is (still) watching
Screen shot from 1968 LINCOLN PARK DEMONSTRATIONS DURING DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION 111-lc-53312 National Archives and Records Administration Lincoln Park Demonstrations During Democratic National Convention (8/25/1968) National Archives Identifier: 32123 Local Identifier: 111-LC-53312 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/32123
My most vivid memory of the 1986 Democratic National Convention is a tank, rolling down Michigan Avenue. And, besides the overwhelming number of police and soldiers — medics with Red Cross armbands. Those memories, even more than the tear gas and the terror, stay with me still.
We filled the streets and parks with protest and they responded with gas and guns and clubs. Police attacked protesters. And reporters. And Democratic National Convention delegates. Chicago Mayor Daley famously proclaimed, “The policeman isn’t there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder!” Well, yes. They did that well. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Mary Turck