I rarely open Facebook. At best, it’s boring and banal. At worst it’s ugly and dangerous. I don’t have a Twitter account. I’m too old to tweet. I’ll leave that to the birds – and bird brains like Donald Trump. It’s not that I don’t want to keep up with friends and family. But I […]
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Posts tagged with 'Twitter'
The Blight of the Bots
You might think social media is the salvation of democracy, but I think it’s a blight. As a former newspaper editor, I deplore the mob mentality I come across on web sites like Twitter and Facebook – and in those odious chat rooms Call me an elitist if it scratches your itch, but I […]
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Melania in Wonderland
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The vision of America reflected in the pledge of allegiance seems wistfully ironic today. It was doubly ironic when First Lady Melania Trump (photo) tweeted […]
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Buying up the News
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” And you know “the pen” is a metaphor for communication of all kinds – including, of course, television and the Internet (which weren’t around when English playwright Edward Bulwer Lytton coined the phrase back in 1839). I don’t think anyone uses “the […]
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Government by Tweets
The sheer silliness of a president issuing policy statements via Twitter must be making America a global laughing stock. I don’t ever go on Twitter. I delete the uninvited emails I get from Twitter. To me, Twitter is for kids and trolls, not me. You know who uses tweets to communicate with the public, don’t […]
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A Digital Protest? Really?
In another time, Americans might be marching on Washington today, massing in front of Congress to support the Democratic sit-in against gun violence. But I know of no plan to march. Instead I got an invitation – by email of course – to join a “digital protest.” So I won’t have to leave the […]
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Crazy Rants and Real News
If Donald Trump were some run-of-the-mill guy back in Queens, he would probably be committed to a mental health facility after the craziness he has been spouting. But, as the Republican Party’s flag bearer, he is taken seriously by the media. Every nutty remark he makes is amplified by the wide-eyed “journalists” who follow […]
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A World of Make Believe
More and more, this world of ours becomes a pantomime, a charade, a chiavari. Nothing is what it seems. Not even the “news.” You will read about the power of “social media” in the press, and the TV pundits will talk of Twitter and Facebook and the blogosphere as if they were the real “voice […]
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Wow! – Obama secret sauce revealed!
Can you be in church and take the Lord’s name in vain? Yes we can! I found myself in this predicament. It was after church, and we were socializing in the lobby. The conversation quickly turned to the state of the election. Two of my friends whipped out their IPHONES, fired up an application and […]
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