I think it was Marko Rubio. You remember "Little Marko" don't you. Don't ask me how he knew cause I have no idea. ..... Coot

Canon has their SX60HS (refurbished) on sale for $350! It has a long zoom, will shoot raw and is very versatile. From what you have said about your cousin I think the SX60 would be a good fit. Don't be put off by refurbished, they probably go through more testing than new cameras. ....... Coot

A long time friend from DC tells me there's a new item on the lunch menu.

Trump Sandwich

White Bread
Full of Baloney
w/ Russian Dressing
and a small Pickle

........ Coot

mikenolan, Thanks, I'll look it up. ..... Coot

I hope you can remember what the issue was, I'd like to take a look at it. ...... Coot

SteveR, I agree that just about all of the news media seems to be biased one way or the other. MSNBC is liberal, Fox is just as biased to the conservative side. But that's really not what I'm talking about here. Very frequently when I read something, sometimes from a friend, or perhaps something posted here on the hog that just doesn't sound right to me, I will check it out on Snopes and write a rebuttal if I find it's not true. I usually include the web address so others can see it for themselves. Almost every time I do this someone fires back at me that Snopes is a liberal swamp that can't be relied on, is financed by George Soros, etc. None of this is true! I usually point out that I've been using Snopes for well over ten years and while considering the amount of research they do one might expect a mistake here and there, I have never come across one. I challenge them to present one, just one issue where Snopes was wrong. I've done this numerous times and no one has ever been able to do it! They just don't respond and drop out of the conversation. I suspect they still refuse to accept what Snopes had to say because it doesn't fit their preconceived notion. How can you carry on a constructive debate with someone that refuses to accept facts that are presented along with credible sources? ........ Coot

This is an editorial printed in the Tuesday Nov 8th Gainesville Sun. It was originally printed in the Sun's sister newspaper in Daytona Beach. I think the author is spot on. The refusal to accept even well documented facts that conflict with our preconceived opinions has destroyed our ability to carry on anything that resembles productive rational political discussion. It is really discouraging and I have no idea how to fix it. Do I hear any suggestions? ........ Gray



More and more people are willing to ignore objective truths that challenge their political beliefs or are inconvenient to their campaigns.

We’re not talking about confirmation bias or cherry-picking facts that support your cause; those have been part and parcel of politics for a long, long time. What’s relatively new is the surge and intensity in the number of people believing falsehoods despite all evidence to the contrary. The problem has grown alarmingly in recent years, and dramatically escalated this election cycle.

A few years ago, political satirist Stephen Colbert coined the term “truthiness” to describe how people accept gut feelings and opinions as truth without regard to logic or facts. It’s the “truth we want to exist,” he said.
The rise of social media has enabled these ideas to circulate widely within people’s political bubbles. Recently, an analysis by Buzzfeed News of more than 1,000 posts on six “hyperpartisan” political Facebook pages and websites from the right and left concluded they are consistently feeding their millions of followers false or misleading information. The review found that the least accurate pages generated some of the highest numbers of shares, reactions and comments on Facebook — far more than the three large mainstream political news pages analyzed for comparison.

Misinformation is allowed to flourish because fewer people accept a final arbiter of truth.

In August, Wisconsin conservative radio talk show host Charlie Sykes gained national attention when he said that talk radio’s attacks on mainstream-media bias has backfired because its listeners, including his show's, now dismiss legitimate media fact-checking as untrustworthy.

“We’ve basically eliminated any of the referees, the gatekeepers,” he told Business Insider. He says when he informs a listener that a claim is false, the person will reply, “But I saw it on a Facebook page.” And when he tells them the New York Times did a fact check on it, they will say, “Oh, that’s The New York Times. That’s (a lie).”

If people refuse to believe the truth, candidates are empowered to lie with impunity.

It’s appropriate to be skeptical of reporting — indeed, an old saw of journalism is that if your own mother tells you she loves you, check it out. But it’s unhealthy for a democracy to become so insular as to refuse to do even the basic tasks of listening, comparing and deciding. Closed ears and eyes produce closed minds.


And it’s not just the tuning out, it’s the open hostility. Crowds at Donald Trump rallies have hurled profane insults at members of the media covering the event, often egged on by the candidate himself. Veteran journalists who have covered many campaigns have said they’ve seen nothing like it, with some saying they feared for their safety.

The problem isn’t limited to Trump or conservatives. Reporting of, say, Hillary Clinton’s email issues is also likely to invite charges of media “lies” and retreats to the partisan echo chamber. Neither are the media blameless in this decline in trust (read a recent critique from the former CEO of National Public Radio in Vanity Fair at http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/the-right-wing-media-isnt-crazy).

Having so much information readily available is both a blessing and a challenge. To thrive, democracy always has required an informed citizenry. In the digital age, now more than ever, it also requires citizens who not only are capable of discerning fact from falsity, but also willing to. After today’s elections, repairing that breach is essential to closing the partisan divide that poisons our politics.

Carolina, That tree is spectacular! What is it and where is it??? ....... Coot

minniev, I think you are quite correct, and if this was a studio shot I probably would have tried to do what you have suggested. however, this was just a catch as catch can opportunity, shot with a Cool-Pix s9900 point and shoot. ........ Coot

Thanks Linda. I think you are probably right, but his head was right at the top of the frame right out of the camera, so I didn't have any room to play with there. If i were going to crop it again I would crop off some off of the left side to position him off center with some room to look into on the right side of the frame. It was early evening, under a huge oak tree, he was sitting on an orange lawn chair and would not sit still. I took several shots (with my Nikon Coolpix s9900 a decent point&shoot with a few bells and whistles that I carry with me most of the time). The light was so bad I wasn't able to get anything without motion blur, so I decided to see what I could do with the pop-up flash and this shot was the result. By the way, His owner is a ninety-year-old widow with artificial joints in both knees. The dog is diabetic and requires a shot of Insulin every morning after she get's a urine sample to test so she knows how much Insulin to give him. When I go out to get the paper in the morning She is usually out there, in her pajamas with a plastic cup, trying to get him to pee!!! I've been trying to get a picture of that for a long time but no luck so far. ....... Coot

There are twenty-two homes on our street and twenty-five pets so I have been taking quite a few dog or cat pictures lately. I thought this one of my next door neighbor's dog came out quite well. ........ Coot

(Download)

Each year the Penguin swims thousands of miles to visit the fisherman that saved his life. Go to: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/brazilian-fisherman-pengiun-pal-reunite-year-article-1.2560060 . ........ Coot

Many thanks to all of you for your kind words and comments. I forgot to mention I took this shot with a Nikon Coolpix s9900 (just a point and shoot with a few bells and whistles). I carry it in a belt pouch whenever I leave the house. Before I bought it I only took my SX50, or before that the SX40, with me when I knew I was going out to take some photos. However, at other times,I was constantly running into occasions when something interesting would crop up and my camera was at home on the shelf. Since I bought the Nikon, I have ended up taking more pictures with it than I do with the SX50. I end up deleting most of them, but perhaps five percent of them turn out to be worth a little work in post and become solid keepers. If I take the time to pay a little attention to what I'm doing the image quality is quite acceptable. Thanks again. ...... Coot

Travelwp, Here's a link for you. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html?_r=0 ....... Coot

Angler, I think you would enjoy reading both the book and watching the movie. ....... Coot

Ring of Bright Water is a 1969 British feature film starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna. It is a story about a Londoner and his pet otter living on the Scottish ...
‎Plot · ‎Cast and characters · ‎Filming · ‎Reception and critical response
Ring of Bright Water - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Bright_Water
Wikipedia

Ring of Bright Water is an autobiographical book by Gavin Maxwell. A fictionalised film of the same name was made from it in 1969.
Gavin Maxwell - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Maxwell
Wikipedia
Gavin Maxwell FRSL, FIAL, FZS (Sc.), FRGS (15 July 1914 – 7 September 1969) was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his nonfiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water (1960) about how he brought an otter ...