Pushing the Buttons, by Betsy

One thing that pushes my buttons is deception
and dishonesty.
This is about pushing MY buttons when I am
pushing the buttons of my computer.
There is some excellent honest reporting and
investigative work done in the media. But all too often the words deception and
dishonesty bring to mind certain media sources and motives behind publishing
certain bits of information.
The internet is such a great source of instant
information.  Put in a search word and in
a nano-second you have more information than you ever needed.  Often more information than you know what to
do with. Sifting through it can be daunting. 
Can you trust that the information is true?  To separate the reliable from the suspicious,
I apply this criterion: what or who is the source and are they trying to sell
me something or promote a product or service. 
If the answer is “yes” I toss it out as untrustworthy.   The motive for putting the information out
there is to get me to buy something, not to disseminate information that could
be helpful or to help get to the truth, or to advance someone’s knowledge.
To report and promote the truth simply for the
sake of truth itself is a noble cause. 
Most people, organizations, and corporations have ulterior motives for
promoting their “truth.”   If this is the
case when I am searching the internet I cannot trust the information I am
reading.
We are all familiar with some of the books
promoting certain diets–often promoted as cure-alls for whatever ails
you.  For example, the vegan diet will
keep your heart healthy well into old-age. 
It can actually reverse heart disease and diabetes claim its
authors.  The Paleo diet of meat and
vegetables, no grains, no starch will keep you from ever getting any disease at
all.  I truly believe the authors of these
books are sincere and I know they are scientific in their research and
presentations of the facts they have determined to be true.  But I also know they cannot all be touting
the truth. The research they have done and they will continue to do is going to
be exclusively designed to support their truth, not destroy it.
I cannot say enough on the subject of the media
and its lack of trustworthiness.  Many
mainstream TV programs claim to be reporting the news.  But some are actually making political comments
at the expense of the truth.  The truth
all too often never gets out until it is too late.  Even if the true story is reported, we still
must be very suspicious as to whether it is accurate.
Consider the now known fact that the Iraq war
was based on a lie.  The people and the
news media were told that Saddam Hussein had WMD’s.  We had proof. 
Our government reported this information unequivocally knowing that it
was not true and the media passed it on. 
Yes, the media did report the lie accurately.  And then later reported accurately that it
all was a lie, but some Watergate-type investigative reporting might have been
very useful at that time.
So how do we know what to believe or not
believe.  People often select one belief
over another because they WANT to believe it. 
This turns out to be simply a case of self-deception.  Try changing the mind of a person who has
deceived himself into believing what he wants to believe.  I personally know very few people who behave
this way.  I suppose that’s because I
prefer to hang with people who value the truth and the ability to think, and
choose to use that ability when searching for the truth.
So when it comes to pushing the buttons on my
lap-top or getting my buttons pushed I try to evaluate as I am reading or
listening, I avoid Fox so-called news, and pick and choose the reporters I read
or listen to.
© 23 Jun 2014 
About the Author 
Betsy has been active in the GLBT
community including PFLAG, the Denver Women’s Chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians
Organizing for Change), and the GLBT Community Center. She has been retired
from the human services field for 20 years. Since her retirement, her major
activities have included tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a
volunteer instructor with the National Sports Center for the Disabled, reading,
writing, and learning. Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of marriage.
She has a close relationship with her three children and four grandchildren.
Betsy says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing her
life with her partner of 30 years, Gillian Edwards.

The Party, by Lewis

As I thought about the
topic for today, I realized that I have no particular “party experience” that
stands out as a highlight of my life.  As
an introvert and basically shy person, going to a party seemed unnatural.  Bill Cosby once described swimming as “staying
alive in the water”.  For me, party-going
was like keeping my own sense of self-worth from drowning in a sea of
pretense.  As I thought back on all the
“party scenes” from movies I have watched, it seems to me that the common theme
was related to disguise, deception, duplicity, and, yes, even death.  So, I came up with one brief declarative
sentence that seems best to sum up my feelings about parties–
Parties
are where authenticity goes to die.
© 7 Jan 2013 
About
the Author
 
I came to the beautiful state of Colorado out of my
native Kansas by way of Michigan, the state where I married and had two
children while working as an engineer for the Ford Motor Company. I was married
to a wonderful woman for 26 happy years and suddenly realized that life was
passing me by. I figured that I should make a change, as our offspring were
basically on their own and I wasn’t getting any younger. Luckily, a very
attractive and personable man just happened to be crossing my path at that
time, so the change-over was both fortuitous and smooth.
Soon after, I
retired and we moved to Denver, my husband’s home town. He passed away after 13
blissful years together in October of 2012. I am left to find a new path to
fulfillment. One possibility is through writing. Thank goodness, the SAGE
Creative Writing Group was there to light the way.