Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Never be afraid to give voice to your political views

Posted: June 30, 2022 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , ,

It is obvious to everyone that we live in a dangerously polarized political climate.  The left side of the political spectrum has demonstrated a remarkable hostility to anyone expressing political views that conflict with their Marxist ideologies.  All too often progressives. and other leftists, greet individuals espousing different political beliefs with anger, verbal abuse, and even threats of violence.

I have experienced this personally far too many times.  About ten years ago I came out of the closet politically as a Libertarian to my best friend of over twenty years, who is an ultra-liberal, in a public place.  My friend had no problem at that time with my confession.  Another person who overheard our conversation did take extreme offense.  After my friend left, that other person got in my face and berated me about my political views, going as far as to threaten me with violence.  My friendship with my best friend came crashing down several years later, months after we became Facebook friends, because he could not handle me posting my beliefs on social media.  He turned every post I made into an all-out war, full of ugly personal attacks. I never returned the favor because I had no problem with him sharing his political beliefs.

Since then, I have lost many close friends for the same reasons.  A startling number of friendships never got off the ground because they could not tolerate my right-wing beliefs.  This led me to be cautious when I comes to sharing my political beliefs, until I discern that that individual is a fellow right winger.  I have now realized that that was a major mistake.  I let these intolerant liberals intimidate me into silence.

Over the past weekend I was in the middle of a large group of individuals, with mixed political views, when the person behind started bad mouthing Biden.  Thus began a very boisterous political discussion between two outspoken right wingers.  I shared my Libertarian views with my new political comrade.  He agreed with my views because it turns out that he is a fellow Libertarian. 

A woman I knew to be a staunch progressive, who was sitting quite a distance away, approached me with a great many questions.  She really liked what I had said.  It had caused her to reexamine her political belief system.  It may take many more conversations, but she may end up becoming a fellow Libertarian.

I will never hesitate again when it comes to sharing my political beliefs with anyone.

How the NeverTrump Left See Themselves

Posted: June 30, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

Yesterday as I was pointing out the collapse of the Jan 6th committee latest tall tale I had an exchange online with a fanatical NeverTrumper who was insisting Trump had been the worst president in history and that had brought the nation to chaos and how ashamed I should be for still backing him.

Now there are plenty of people who make a living pushing this drivel but there are also a lot of people who desperately want and need to believe this, as I put it yesterday:

the people who fancied themselves as the “Resistance” during the Trump Years who will shortly be facing rolling blackouts, who can’t find basic items that were once common, who can’t pay for gas and whose retirement savings have gone away so want this to be true, in fact they need it to be true because the alternative is to acknowledge that they did this to themselves

I suddenly thought of the Classic Movie Stagecoach which launched John Wayne as a Superstar, namely the scene when the passengers run out of ammunition and Hatfield (John Carradine) who joined the stage to offer his protection to Mrs. Mallory (Louise Pratt) realizes he has only one shot left

The left sees itself as Hatfield, willing to pull the trigger on America, willing to justify all of the troubles that the Biden Administration has brought upon us to save the country from the ravages of Trump.

But it goes farther than that. The left lived though the Trump years and their primary complaints during that time were first world problems of being embarrassed by Trump mannerisms and blunt speech. Even the COVID stuff, the real problem came not from Trump but from his mistake of trusting Fauci who used his position to put the country through hell and empower the left while deifying himself.

In short imagine if the attacking apaches in the scene above where in fact just kids playing cowboys outside with cap guns but Hatfield in a panic kills Mrs. Mallory anyway.

That’s where the left is and that is why they will clutch at any straw, any word and statement, no matter how outrageous, no matter how fanciful, no matter how unbelievable about Donald Trump. That’s why there is no public outcry over the imprisonment of Americans held over a year without trial over a trespassing charge.

The moment they drop their pretense of Trump being a monster is the moment they have to acknowledge the reality of what they have done, to the country, to the norms of justice and to themselves. That is the moment that they have to see themselves in the light of truth.

I suspect that for tens of thousands on the left, that sight is simply too much for them and they will pay any price to delay that moment for even one more day.

Pintastic NE Day 3 Early Mornings and Friends

Posted: June 28, 2022 by datechguy in fun, pinball, special events, Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

Day three of Pintastic 2020 started early for me with a trip to the extra ball lounge

A night’s sleep means a morning of pinball with little wait but once the vendor room opened the line for some games kicked in like the Weird Al Game

It’s an interesting combo of virtual and physical with of course Weird Al himself providing voice and music.

Day three continued the tournament that is a big part of Pintastic

These are the games to be played

The games that an individual plays are randomly determined.

Of course the vendors were still there with plenty of interesting stuff like this from pinovators

and the return of an old friend

You might recall I had interviewed the Pinbox 3000 crew who hinted at a big reveal and when they said “big” they weren’t kidding:

Alas there is only one of these but I suspect there will be enough demand for the big guy to be produced.

There was also a new face, Todd Tuckey’s daughter who was up to give him a hand:

My friends Hanna and Jake were doing their first Pintastic.

You’ll note them in the Pinovators video (Janna had showed up three years ago in the final hour) They had a grand time. They were not the only ones having a great time at the first Pintastic

Carline, Hanna and Jake all had a chance to play the new Toy Story 4 game despite the long lines.

That image of the three of them playing together and having fun is the essence of Pintastic.

For those who want a closer look at the game here is a bit of gameplay when I had a chance to play it in the Extra Ball lounge.

But the game I spent the most time playing, other than Arabian Knights was Doctor Who in the free play room.. Here is the person who brought it:

The free play room was hopping particularly since as soon as the vendor room was closed folks were packing up but before that happened I had a shot to speak to Anthony from Maine Home Recreation

Why were they in such a hurry to pack up? That story is for the final day of Pintastic.

A reality check for journalists

Posted: June 28, 2022 by chrisharper in media, Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

By Christopher Harper

Journalists have no idea how little their readers and viewers trust the media.

That’s readily apparent from a new analysis from the Pew Foundation, which found that “overall, journalists give themselves relatively high marks on performing several of the core functions of journalism. The public, however, does not see it the same way.” See https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2022/06/14/journalists-and-the-public-differ-on-how-journalists-are-doing-how-connected-they-are/

The survey should be required reading for the media!

Sixty-five percent of journalists surveyed think news organizations reported news accurately. That compares with only 35 percent of the public.

A significant majority—83 percent—of journalists think their audience trusts the news organization they work for. Another 13% said their audience has some trust, while just 3% said their audience has “a little” or no trust at all.

Here, journalists are entirely out of touch with reality. Only 29 percent of the public said they trust the media, while 27 percent say they have some trust. A plurality—44 percent—reported that they have “a little” or no trust.

Some of the other findings include the following:

–Fifty-two percent of journalists think they do a good job playing the watchdog over government. Only 29 percent of the public agreed.

–Forty-six percent of journalists think they give voice to the underrepresented. The public provides a rating of 24 percent. 

–Forty-three percent of the media think the industry does a good job of correcting misinformation. The public puts that figure at 25 percent. 

Another disparity between journalists and the public is how much reporters think they are “connected” to their audiences, while readers and viewers disagree.

Among journalists, close to half—46 percent–said they feel extremely or very connected to their audience, while another 37 percent said they feel somewhat connected. Far fewer—16 percent—said they feel little or no connection.

Underlining how out of touch journalists really are, the public sentiment is almost exactly the opposite.

Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they are extremely or very connected to news organizations, far lower than the 46 percent of journalists who feel extremely or very connected to their audiences. 

Another 37 percent said they feel somewhat connected to their primary news sources, while 36 percent feel little to no connection.

In many cases, the media have become part of the American elite rather than remained part of the body politic. Reporters often look down on their readers and viewers and have increasingly little contact with real people.

Whatever the case, I think the media can’t regain the public’s confidence. After nearly 50 years as a reporter and a journalism professor, these development makes me both angry and sad. 

Older Entries
Newer Entries