Monthly Archives: September 2011

Spotting BS

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Yesterday’s rant was on the need to check out facts before finalizing opinions. A great example of this is in today’s NY Times piece on last night’s debate – it simply states what the candidate said and what multiple sources say on the same subjects to back up or question what was said. Hopefully the paper and many others will continue to do this right through the election next year.
But what happens when you do try to verify facts and find that there are multiple, conflicting data points? Could it be because some of them are fake? Continue reading

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Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks

Yes, This Is Redundant

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We’ve had this chat before, folks.  Sometimes I make oblique political references as I make the point I’m about to repeat; sometimes I just throw it up there as a friendly reminder.  Today, I’d like to have your full attention because the more I think about it, this one issue is at the root of so much of what’s going on around us these days.

You ready?

I’m begging you: don’t believe everything you read or hear without doing some fact checking if the point being made is important to you.  Here’s another example of why. Continue reading

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Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks

Crossing The Line

A few of us were talking yesterday about a mutual friend who got sacked last week.  The guy was very good at his job and frequently exceeded both expectations and “reach” goals so performance wasn’t really the issue.  He is a genial sort of guy who can have an edge from time to time but then again, can’t we all?  On the surface it was a mystery to many of us as to why he was let go since there really weren’t any of the political problems one sometimes sees from new management or a shifting of responsibilities.

As it turned out, what did him in was crossing the line. Continue reading

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Filed under Reality checks