TheWiseOldFart

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Inciting anger, hatred, and violence. Dividing a nation’s people. Brainwashing the uninformed. Ending intelligent conversation. Winning elections based on lies and misinformation. Foreign nations deciding the outcome of elections. The former situations are used every day around the world. Misnamed “social media:” Facebook,” “Twitter,” now known as “X,” and the most misleading of all, “Truth Social,’ are some of the tools used by desperate politicians and other despicable groups to control the minds and therefore the actions of subscribers. ALL GREAT INVENTIONS/CREATIONS ARE EVENTUALLY ABUSED AND MISUSED The telephone, the automobile, television, wireless phones, computers, the internet: these are a few of the greatest inventions of the 20 th century. However, all of them have been abused and misused. Each is a tool used every day for unintended and negative use more often than for the reasons they were created for the masses. One undeniable fact is that t...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Gossip. When I was a teenager attending high school, the world was a far, far different place. My freshman and sophomore years were spent in a Catholic high school. Boys and girls were separated by the primary entrance to the school. We could only communicate with members of the opposite sex before and after school, or at rallies for the football team. The only time we saw each other was when we passed each other on the lobby stairway. Notes were passed and hidden, to be read later. Some of the notes contained “gossip” about other students and the teachers. When I left St. Bernard High School, I attended Venice High School. Public schools were far different. Dress codes were very lenient, and with the exception of gym classes, everything was co-ed. We didn’t need to pass notes, and the amount of gossip was plentiful. My brother and I were raised by a single mother and her parents. Many of the principles and beliefs I have today came from them. My grandmother was...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Not knowing something does not make you stupid. No one knows everything, although Trump lies and tells you he does. Ignorance is not normal: it’s a choice. When information is available, but you choose to believe lies and half-truths, you choose to be ignorant. But the facts cannot be denied. In America, watching television news is ignorant. The fourth estate ceased to exist once and for all on January 20, 2025. Half-truths are more dangerous than blatant lies. A story, which contains a small amount of truth, is easy for the uninformed to accept as fact. Television news is a large factor in the dumbing down of America. Only one “information source” is worse: social media. If you spend any time on social media, you will soon become a moron. 99 percent of everything on Facebook, “X” and other fake news outlets is misleading and most often completely untrue. Currently, one issue is revealing the low level of intelligence of most Americans in the 21 st century. Thi...

  I recently read a report about a growing problem in America. The study revealed that the majority of younger Americans feel ‘out of touch’ with others, the largest percentage being young men whose most frequent concern was that ‘no one really knew them.’ I understand how this is possible, and all that was required was to observe people in public areas. Personal interaction is disappearing, and along with it honest discussion and the expression of diversity in the form of new and different ideas. The truth is, I know what caused this problem and how it can be cured. In the late 1970’s, my wife and I received our first cellular phones m AT&T. We didn’t ask for them. We had 25 total minutes per month, free of charge. They were bulky, about the size of thermos of coffee. We decided to use them only in an emergency. We had two over the first month. We were born in 1946 and 1950 and remember the annoyance of waiting for phone calls from doctors, auto mechani...

A free press is protected by the First Amendment. Now that the mainstream media is controlled by some of America’s wealthiest men and women, there is no longer a ‘free press,’ formerly known as the ‘Fourth Estate.’ What your read or see on television is closely censored by the men and women who own our nation’s largest newspapers and broadcast television networks. Donald Trump uses the term ‘fake news’ incessantly. He is referring to the only national news services who were not afraid to ask the tough questions, questions Trump and his cronies refuse to answer. He was not including the original fake news, Fox News, or the newest right-wing propaganda machines including Newsmax, The Old-Time Gospel Hour , One America News Network, Real America's Voice, and others which seem to appear from nowhere every week. Our billionaires/oligarchs are busy spending their money on misinformation. I know what you are thinking: “if what I am saying is the truth, where can I find ‘real news,’ storie...

I abhor all forms of social media. They have become outlets for conspiracy theorists, and an unrestricted platform for extremists who would destroy democracy. Truth is rare and lies are common. The worst of the worst has been Facebook/Meta, closely followed by Twitter/”X.” Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, has become one of Trump’s tools. Recently he donated one-million dollars to Trump’s inauguration, and fired all of his fact checkers. “On Friday, Meta announced that it will be ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, effective immediately. This is the second drastic change the company has announced ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.” Zuckerberg is now one of our nation’s biggest enemies, moving farther to the extreme right in support of a fascist regime. Personally, my hatred for lies and liars is extreme. My principles forced me to make two decisions on November 9, 2016, the day after Trump received a victory from the Electoral ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart A fact no one can dispute and no one will talk about. Our founding fathers guaranteed protection for the free press with a single purpose in mind: to force government transparency and prevent corruption. It has been known as the “Fourth Estate” for 248 years. However, the facts prove that it has not existed for more than two decades. America and American businesses have become inextricably linked. The United States is about money, not the welfare of its people. Look at the last two years. Campaigning for the presidency began early in 2023 as Trump increased the number of his hate rallies. When the election is over, billions of dollars will have been spent to secure a position which pays $400,000 per year with an additional expense account of $50,000 annually. The 2024 campaign season is expected to cost 15.9 billion dollars, exceeding the old record in 2020 of 15.1 billion. The media’s share of this ridiculous sum is estimated at 12.32 billion dollars. Understan...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart For those of us who follow politics in Washington closely, it is clear that some politicians are just plain stupid. They understand nothing about human nature or how certain actions which failed decades in the past continue to resurface with the same results. One of these mistakes is an attempt to censor information, whether it be factual or nothing more than lies or conspiracy theories. In today’s world, if anyone seeks information about any subject it is not difficult to find, regardless of the efforts of some governments to hide the truth. BOTH AMERICA’S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND PARENTS MUST DO THE WORK There is no need for discussion about how critical the development of children between their preteen and teenage years into adulthood has become in the 21 st century. Although it has always been critical, in the age of unlimited information, based on fact or based on falsehood, what our children read or watch on television is confusing and all too often dangero...

Op-ed By TheWiseOldFart Facebook, Twitter, now known as “X,” and all social media is for sale, and Vladimir Putin is purchasing time at an alarming rate. His purpose is to protect and further Trump’s ambitions which are aligned perfectly with his own. In 2016 Russia bought millions of American votes. This was the first year the presidency was for sale, but it won’t be the last. Since November 9, 2016, I have boycotted television news and all social media. Each are equally bad; refusing to offer their supporters the whole truth. However, in the 21 st century Facebook and other unrestricted media reach more people, people who refuse to search the internet for the truth. It’s not unexpected that my country has experienced great changes over my 77 years. However, the last nine years moved America backwards, away from the growth our predecessors fought and died for. Everything around me has been built on lies. Reality, facts, and the truth have no place in American life today. Opinions are...