The
Portrait of Dotard Orange
About 21 years ago I was adopted by
a little black kitten who turned out
to be the best goddamn cat in the known
universe and no one will convince me
otherwise. But I was a bad cat daddy.
I didn't raise her in the most optimal
fashion because I had almost zero experience
in feline ownership. This led to behavioral
and dietary problems, as she matured,
that I did not anticipate. She lived
for fifteen years, which is about average
for a cat, but I now know that I could
have tended more adequately to a critter
of her species and she might have lived
longer.
This story is almost the same for my
marriage. I had no manual for being
a good husband so I didn't feed, water
or nurture it properly. So natually
I played it by ear and yatta-yatta-yatta
critter species, etc.
What I could have used in both cases
was good, solid information, filled
with salient advice. You know, books
on the subject of cat husbandry and,
well, husbandry. But you know what?
I didn't bother because I already knew
everything.
Right? What could possibly
go wrong?
Long after the inevitable divorce,
and long before kitty sunk her claws
into
my heart,
the
internet arrived with the promise of
all the knowledge of this world available
at one's fingertips. Even before Google
arrived the 'net offered almost infinite
array of delectible surprises but I
didn't rush to avail myself of any
resource
to
polish my numerous flaws. I just wanted
pictures of naked women.
Don't judge.
Then George W. Bush was awarded the
Presidency in 2000 by the Supreme Court
and it suddenly became clear to me
that the internet had lost its innocence
(I make joke) and was quickly becoming
a rocky and partisan landscape, with
Fox News leading the polarized charge.
It was a difficult lesson to learn.
What was the difference, after all,
between The Washington Post and The
Washington Times? Plenty, as it turned
out. Then there were new names like
RT and Breitbart and Little Green Footballs
vying for attention alongside what
I came to know as legitimate news sources
such as CNN, MSNBC, and the Beeb, among
others. But I eventually sorted out
where honest information was to be
found and where the conservative landmines
were sown.
(Pauses rant to walk outside to yell
at clouds. Takes deep breath and then
returns.)
Which was okay for me, I suppose,
but it's clear that too many people
in
today's fractious times still haven't,
in fact, learned that important difference
between legitimate news sources and
firehoses of swill. The teats of
misinformation today are neon-lit,
fat, seductive
and pervasive, designed specifically
to attract the gaping maws of just
plain folks hungry for sweet, addictive
and easily digestible comfort food
instead of informative comestibles
packed with vitamins and fiber, or
just the thing one needs to flush
out the
hydras of hype and propaganda if
given a chance.
What I'm getting at is that I'm
throughly disgusted by these anti-vaxxer
click-baiters
yelling "FIRE!" in the
crowded theater of the absurd known
as the
World Wide Web (if such sobriquets
are still used). Social media,
Facebook specifically, needs to
take a double-zero-tolerance
policy towards anyone spreading
misinformation of any sort but
especially about the
various covid-19 vaccines. I'm
sure none of the larger social
entities
support this hateful agitprop but
they have only so many resources
and AI
can't do it alone so it's up to
each of us to raise a huge stink
and report
it to the respective Contact Us
address whenever we confront it.
Excelsior!
=Lefty=
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