#i also look up online on reliable sources to know if they’re telling the truth

[redheadbigshoes]

One of the people I hate the most are the ones who lie a character is canon bi just to make you feel bad/invalidate your headcanon of that character being a lesbian

[school-of-roses]

-:✧Finding Sources✧:-

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go." - Dr. Seuss. The internet is a very large place, and countless times you’ll hear people telling you to do your own research.  However, informational literacy is hard enough without even knowing what to look for in a source, let alone how to read it.

What to Look for in a Source

There are a few good things to look for in a credible and reputable source. As can be inferred from the meaning of credible and reputable, a credible source is going to come from someone or something that is worthy of confidence, and a reputable source is going to be one that has a good reputation.

Peer Review in Academia

Peer review is the review of a scientific study, academic paper, or similar article by other members of their field with similar or greater credentials. The paper clears several other people who are actively trying to dash the hopes and dreams of the author by finding flaws with their design and reasoning.  I mostly kid, but it is a rigorous process that results in the paper being as high a quality as it can be.

Journals

Academic Journals are periodical publications where the most recent scholarship on a subject are routinely published. Often these are shortened to just “journals” or otherwise known as “scholarly journals”, “scientific journals”, or “peer reviewed Journals”  These are peer reviewed before being included, and themselves often a good place to search for information. 

If a source you find has been published in a journal, you’re in incredibly safe territory for reliable sources! There might be competing information from other scholars to review on the subject, but not only do these publications often include more reading material on the subject cited within, they are often followed by links to others who have cited them in their own writing on the subject.

University Publications

University Publications are also very safe places to look for sources.  While not themselves always a research paper, they are often the culmination of the knowledge that the university has gathered and reflect the most recent scholarship on a topic; least they risk making the university look bad. These are sometimes found on a university’s website, in a professor's online class notes, a textbook, or similar writing linked to someone in the field.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are often the gold standard for knowledge on a subject, assuming you can find something that qualifies. However, these are often hard to untangle as they can be dense, old, difficult to read or understand (and compared to an academic paper that’s saying something!) assuming they’re even in a language the reader understands.

Where to Find Sources

There are a number of places to find good sources.  A quick search engine check can do wonders, however they can be a whole mess, and even knowing what you’re looking for, they can make it harder to find good quality in the sheer volume.

Research search engines and open source libraries can make this process much easier. Google Scholar and JSTOR are good options, and if you’re really in a pinch you can look at Wikipedia. Many will tell you up and down that Wikipedia isn’t a credible source, but while there is some truth to that, you can click the numbers on the information you want to see the sources at the bottom of a Wikipedia page.  You can check these sources individually to see how you feel about them.  Wikipedia also has a “Talk” section where the contributors discuss what should be on each page that sometimes has additional sources or information that was not included.

How to Get a Library Card

Please go to your local library!  Most likely the librarian will be able to help you. You can also check the website of your local library to see if you can sign up. Often libraries will either have books on the subjects that interest you, or may even be able to order them for their collection. Libraries have also started providing eBooks and other technological services. If this is an option for you, it is highly suggested!

University Library Access

Students at most universities are automatically enrolled into the university’s library system. These people can careen around a paywall like it’s a sliding glass door between you and your dreams, and they have the keycard.  Find them, ask them, it only takes like 2 minutes of their time to download and send you whatever file you can’t get, especially if you link it directly.

Non-Academic Sources If you’re at your wits end and the only options for sources are news articles, blogs, or websites this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If this is a personal account of someone’s experience this can be a good thing! Take extra care with these and see if you can’t find multiple sources saying the same thing.  If something is true, most likely you’re going to find multiple people saying the same thing in different ways. However, if you do find multiple sources, look to make sure they aren’t just citing or copying one another in a hellish circle of plagiarism.

[essayofthoughts]

There’s this thing I see a lot of today where people, especially larger blogs*, respond to something they don’t like not by blocking, deleting an ask, ignoring an ask, or even, if they have the spoons and patience, addressing the point of difference with understanding, but by making fun of it.

*I know tumblr doesn’t have a public follower count but you can absolutely tell which blogs are larger than others from the simple practice of asking “Does this username crop up on my dash on a regular basis from multiple sources?” It is uncannily reliable.

Some of this is just the modern, twitter-quippy style way of online media - twitter and tiktok reduce down the point of contact and allow people to make completely spurious, bad-faith arguments based on nonsense because they’re looking at a very narrow snapshot of what’s going on and forget to consider the whole of it and also that there’s a person on the other end of it.

Some of it is that some people are goddamn bullies, and like the thrill of responding, of dismissing others - especially people they can deem “haters” or “idiots” (regardless of the actual truth of that statement). There are people who want to feel superior and they gain that feeling by putting down others.

And some of it... well it comes back to that point about it often coming from larger blogs, because I’ve seen some blogs, starting out with a reasonable number of followers and then growing drastically, get worse in this specific way.

Because when you get more followers, you get an echo chamber. You see this more obviously on facebook, twitter, youtube, where the numbers are public, but it’s still true here. Blogs are followed by people who like a specific part of a blog’s output. They support that output and encourage it. When people come along and are - well, perhaps they’re haters, or perhaps they misunderstood something, or perhaps they’re legitimately ignorant because they never knew about it before - but they say something the blog doesn’t like.

The first few times, early on, before they blow up, these bloggers can -and indeed often do - respond with patience and kindness. It gets them a reputation - they’re nice, and thoughtful, and consider things, and it draws more people to them. It gives them a kind of social badge of “no, this one’s okay. this blog’s a Good Person”. Sometimes they might even wade in when replies from their followers get aggressive to try to defuse things - but you can’t do that forever, no one has the spoons, especially as their follower count rises. They might make a couple posts asking people not to be rude, they might disable replies - the good ones delete asks they can’t be bothered to deal with, block posts and people and phrases and move on with their lives - but some don’t

Instead with some blogs, at some nebulous point as their follower count rises it’s like a switch flips.

And they start being flippant. They start responding with quips or jokes. They start responding not with patience but in bad faith, with rudeness, even with insults. I’ve seen someone send a follow-up ask to one such blog clarifying their POV, their ignorance, that the jokes made were legitimately hurtful to them - and the blog and the followers just doubled down on their behaviour.

This is not helped by the followers - who usually make these kind of jokes as well, often before the blog does. It normalises it to the blogger, seeing all of these things in their activity feed, and it also means that when the blogger starts acting that way, few of their vocal followers will condemn them for it - there’s a kind of tacit support of this path. Even when challenged, once the flip is switched, few change back.

No one wants to think that perhaps they’re a bad person. No one wants to think that perhaps what they said was rude and uncalled for. That they didn’t have to respond to that ask, or that perhaps they could have explained why they made those jokes that could seem rude - especially when they get outside of their immediate circle which is ever more likely when you have a certain number of followers. They don’t want to consider that, or their effect - so they double down. It’s made worse. In many ways, it’s basically this meme:

[Image ID: The Simpsons Meme of Principle Skinner. The first panel has Skinner with his hand on his chin asking “Am I out of touch?”. In the second panel he’s straightened, staring ahead. The caption is “No, it’s the children who are wrong”.]

Except that in a terrible way, they’re not out of touch. They’re out of touch with what they originally presented - kindness, decency, being a Good Person - but they’re perfectly in touch with their vocal followers who don’t want to think about the feelings of others and the consequences of their actions, who want to joke and quip and even bully complete strangers without ever considering if they are actually doing the right thing, the good thing, the empathetic or educational thing.

And not everyone has the spoons to explain things! But when that’s the case - you can block a person. You can delete an ask. You can choose not reblog a post only to clown on it and then drag it up a week or so later to clown on it some more.

I’ve seen people like this tell others to curate their experiences, tell my friends and myself that we wouldn’t be so annoyed at things if we just curated our feeds, and often getting quite mad about what they’ve assumed about us - but the thing is, they’re not curating their experience. They’re responding to things in a way that, specifically, they have learned will get them a response and support from their followers. They’re doing it because it perpetuates the conflict algorithm that nets them followers and so increases the echo-chamber of their support - and further cements that flipped switch into place.

There are some bigger bloggers who don’t appear to have gone this path. Who do seem to think about things and consider and don’t unnecessarily reblog posts to clown on a smaller blogger, or respond an ask only to be mean and nasty rather than just deleting the ask and moving on with their life. But it’s few. It’s concerningly few.

I find it kind of depressing. There are blogs I legitimately enjoyed before I saw them go this path. There are blogs I’ve witnessed steamroll people, or deliberately bring back a post that had moved out of common circulation specifically to clown on the (reliably a smaller blog) OP.

It’s mean spirited. It’s unnecessary. It’s the kind of behaviour that when it’s twitter dogpiling I see some swaths of tumblr look down on as though somehow we’re better.

And yet, for some reason, when it happens on here, it’s suddenly okay.

I fucking hate it.

[vvitchella]

Avoiding scams in witchcraft

Not sure if someone has made a post like this or not, but I am seeing more and more obvious scams on my dash daily. As an experienced witch, let me tell you, I've come across my fair share of scams.

Here's how you can identify them:

"I have SECRETS that NO ONE ELSE has!! Also, NO ONE ELSE will teach you these secrets because they are MEAN and SECRETIVE. BUT I'M NOT. I will teach you. For a small fee for the 'risk'." You do not have to pay someone for "secrets" of any nature. Especially not as a beginner or even intermediate witch - you have so much information freely available to you. The most you might pay is the price of a book.

"I'm a psychic and I'm coming out of left field to tell you that you've been cursed, but no worries, I can lift it for you!! For a fee. :)" You would think this is obvious but verify, verify, verify. Also as a rule don't trust the spells of someone you don't know unless you know someone they've helped.

Be CAREFUL about magical services in general. People won't tell you this cause they want to make money, but SO MUCH is easy to fake. Jewelry with a companion in it? Bought that bulk for $1 a pop and scribbled in a .50 journal about it, sell for $35. No magic performed. Copy-pasted tarot, rune, and psychic readings. Sure, I cast that spell, send me $50. The thing is, unless you're talented enough to cast it yourself in the first place, you won't know when someone's conning you.

"This is DEFINITELY allnaturalorganicsupersafe scrub/balm/soap/lotion to apply to your *insert sensitive area* and yes it IS worth $85 I went to the rainforest myself to collect the ingredients." Just use some quick googling and your common sense, here. Certain herbs and essential oils are not meant for certain things. Just because they sell this stuff, doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.

Another good rule - if you're working with a vendor and they make an appeal to your guilt, your grief, your loneliness, etc.? Really good chance they're pressing that button to get you to spend. Some examples: "I see you are lonely let me cast a love spell $5 off for this thing you weren't going to get in the first place." "I can channel the spirit of your dead grandma via ouija. *disappears for three days* I was SHOOK her presence was SO powerful she said she loves you and she's happy, no I didn't ask her any identifying questions... $40 please."

"Ready to ADVANCE your CAREER as a WITCH??? WELL COME ON DOWN to LADY OF THE SILVER CHALICE DRAWN DOWN MOON DRAGON, ESQ.'s temple where I will PERSONALLY sign a $2 certificate saying you're a 3rd degree Ancient Knowing One after 3 sessions of 90 minutes of me ranting about how aliens built Egypt." Do some traditions observe degree systems? Yes. Make sure you're dealing with a reputable source before you fork over $300.

Cults. There are many good posts and online resources about this, but most cults are made to serve the creator in two ways: 1) Power/control. 2) Money. For me, it's not so easy to notice the power and control issues due to past trauma, but money? I sure as hell notice that. If they are pressuring you to make more, spend more, contribute more, and you can barely pay your bills? Get the fuck out of there.

If someone is giving you a service and they're asking for ANY method of payment that is not trackable, be wary. Now, it might be an old family friend and you hand cash over yourself, which is safer. But someone online asking to be paid through giftcards, or someone asking you to mail cash? Oof. Bad energy.

People can not so much "con" you but cost you extra money by playing the middle man for certain transactions. Sometimes it's worth it to have the middle-man; that can mean higher quality products and reliable delivery. But you could save yourself money if you know the item you're buying and go directly to the supplier. Often middle-men jack prices up considerably, sometimes more than they're worth, or even trade in worse quality products than they advertise. Consider your finances, look at who you're buying from, and look at the price tag.

Yes, it sucks to say, but some psychics really ARE just good cold readers (i.e., people who can read things off you with good questions and observing body language). Some may not even know it themselves. Any form of divination may suffer from this. Again, stick with those you trust, or at least consider that when you put down that money, it's a gamble.

"I can definitely make ALL your problems go away!!! except *insert small technicality I know won't make you say no*, with just 8 easy payments of $29.99!!" Big grandiose promises that ALMOST sound too good to be true are easier to let slide because they admitted there's a problem! They must be telling the truth! No, hon. They know exactly what they're doing. They're making big promises to get big money, and when you complain, they point to their terms of service and say "This was entertainment only." That exists there for a REASON, yes, and it does serve to protect legitamite practioners when, say, a tarot reading is slightly off because those readings are meant to guess at the future and that future can be changed. Some vendors abuse the hell out of it, though.

There ARE legitamite vendors and good reasons to spend cash in the community if you want to. But be careful out there.

[maverick-werewolf]

Folklore Fact - The Asrai

Here’s one that prooobably won’t be super popular, but hey, I find them super interesting, so I’m going to tell you about them!

So, there’s an entire unopened can of worms on this blog insofar as folklore as concerned, and that’s the fae. Faeries. Fairies. However you want to spell it (I generally go for fae and faeries). Pretty much the only time I’ve really mentioned faeries before on this blog was in this ask about elves.

Faerie folklore actually fascinates me and I research it a lot for Wulfgard, one of my primary fictional settings. Thing is, fae are extremely complex and researching them takes a lot of time and work and absolutely mountains of notes.

So I won’t get too into the whole fae thing in this post, seeing as how this post is about a particular member of the fae... the asrai, from English folklore.

Now, there’s a big question about the asrai: did people actually ever believe in them? That’s, of course, a question with a lot of folklore things. In the asrai’s case, firstly, we have no known etymology. Yeah, none at all. That’s a little troublesome. Though most sources also say they are also called “ashray.”

Secondly, we do know that - obviously - there are plenty of “water spirit” legends out there. Heck, asrai have some aspects in common with even things like mermaids and nix/nixie/etc in a lot of legends. It could very much be that “asrai” is just another term for any number of other legends of similar nature.

Possibly the first surviving record of the term “asrai” pops up is in 1872, in a poem by Robert Williams Buchanan. He also wrote a sequel to the poem called “A Changeling: A Legend of the Moonlight,” which connects back to their fae nature (changlings are associated with fae; more on that in another post sometime!). To Buchanan, they are spirits that love nature and die in the sunlight.

There is another record of the term asrai, used by a writer who may or may not have been citing accurate information, as the author was citing only stories told by word of mouth that were supposedly passed down through generations. The problem with citing “local stories” or “stories your grandma told you” is that it’s like playing the telephone game over multiple generations and literally hundreds and thousands of years, and some of those generations don’t even care about it, either. The stories get so distorted over time that they’re basically useless information and no one actually believed any of it. This is why reliable folklore sources come from recovered written works, not from word of mouth - because we can’t trust the collective generational memory (unfortunately), but writing does not change with people’s extrapolations and failing memories. As such, you won’t see any professional citing “local stories” that don’t have a written source, or things a relative told them. It’s kind of like asking a random American for some American history and then taking everything he says as the absolute truth, just because they’re an American. There are late night skits that make jokes about that.

Wow, that was a slight tangent. Anyway...

So we don’t know much about the actual folkloric sources of the asrai itself, but we do know it’s very similar to a lot of other legends and is almost certainly just another take on several other stories, like things about mermaids and other nature spirits. Or the name could’ve been entirely made up by Robert Williams Buchanan. We don’t really know - but he probably got it from somewhere. That being said--

What is an asrai, anyway? They cannot exist long in the sunlight. Does that mean they’re undead?

No, not at all. Many spirits and things couldn’t stand the sun, such as trolls in Norse myth. They are defined as “water spirits,” more often than not. They are described in a lot of different ways, but my favorite source I have on the subject describes them as women, tall and lithe, with translucent skin. Sometimes they are just water, sometimes they have actual bodies of some kind. Generally, they are hundreds of years old.

In Cheshire and Shropshire, there were almost identical stories of fishermen capturing asrai in their boats. The asrai beg to be released, but no one can understand their language. The fishermen in both stories put wet weeds on the asrai even as it groans in the bottom of the boat. By the time they reach the shore, however, there’s nothing left of the asrai but a puddle of water.

In one of the stories, the fisherman handling the asrai tries to tie her up, but touching her burns his hands and scars him for life.

And... that’s it, really! That’s pretty much all we have on asrai in particular... but definitely not on general water spirits and other such nature spirits and water beings. That’s a topic for another time, though. Same for the fae - there’s so much to say about fae I honestly barely know where to start!

As for pop culture: looking around on the internet out of curiosity, I found out that the wood elves in Warhammer are apparently called “asrai” sometimes. I find that weird and interesting, given I know next to nothing about them. Do they turn into water sometimes? Like, water spirits? I don’t even know. I do know they look quite cool and creepy. But hey, either way, that’s cool that they’d use the word.

So there you have it! Curious about what an asrai might be like in a story? Maybe you’re thinking they’d just be water elementals, like in a fantasy video game? I had a different thought. You can find an asrai in my upcoming novel Wulfgard: The Hunt Never Ends, available online on Amazon October 30! Be sure to check it out and keep an eye on this blog for the release post and order link! Here’s a preview:

Didn’t take long for his eyes to adjust, then to adapt, thanks to that potion. Faint moonlight spilling in let him see limestone walls slick with condensation and a violently gushing spring, churning the water on the far end of the cavern at the base of the wall. Spitting it out straight into the reservoir, the flow of it turning gentle by the time it left the cave.

Heavy mist hung in the air here, maybe kicked up by the water. But something didn’t seem right.

Then he realized why.

Fear washed down upon them like frigid rain – so much fear that, for half a second, it froze every muscle in Caiden’s body. His nerves pulled taut, ready to break and snap down on him like a whip, hard enough to leave a few more scars on his back. Hand shooting to his sword hilt in a white-knuckle grip, he drew in a sharp breath and fought the chill that ran fast up his spine and forced him to be afraid.

This wasn’t natural. Gwen, from the way she was suddenly fumbling with her gear, seemed to know it.

Asger, on the other hand, didn’t. He bellowed out a hoarse shout, nearly fell spinning around to face the exit, and ran for the cave mouth.

All around them, a shrill voice echoed, “Leave this place!”

It spoke the words very clearly – not the gibberish he’d been told about.

Everything happened at once. A rush of air ripped by him, trailing cold in its wake, like off the surface of the spring itself. Asger screamed, his heavy boots scuffing the stone as something made him stumble and fall. Caiden charged forward at a surging shadow, blade ready to swing.

And an arrow lodged itself in his upper arm with a hard lance of pain and a meaty thunk.

Caiden coughed out a grunt and staggered from the impact, the arrow locking up his sword arm and stopping him mid-strike. Whatever had come past him and attacked Asger seemed already gone, moving faster than he could even understand.

Gwen appeared beside him in an instant, hand on his uninjured left arm and sputtering apologies. “Caiden!? I – gods— I shouldn’t have tried to shoot it, it moved so fast—”

The cave around him was far from silent. Asger swore as he scrambled to his feet, Gwen kept on apologizing as she tried in vain to tug Caiden out of the cave until he, halfway in a stupor, finally staggered along after her.

Boots against stone. Grass under their feet, bright moonlight overhead. Plenty of pain in his right arm that twitched useless and limp at his side.

These sensations stayed, but something was missing...

Find more like this on Wulfgard.net - and be sure to keep an eye out for the release of The Hunt Never Ends on October 30.

(If you like my werewolf/folklore blog, be sure to check out my other stuff! And consider supporting me on Patreon. Every little bit helps and helps me run this blog, and you get goodies and a chance to vote on the topic of the next werewolf fact!

Patreon --- Werewolf Fact Masterlist --- Twitter --- Discord Server --- Ko-fi)

[my-sherlock221b]

Speak the Truth--not mine, sharing from the link

https://speakthetruthj2.weebly.com/intro--start-here.html

"What we’ll do for each other, how far we’ll go, they’re using that against us"Everything from this site has been taken from the wonderful Speak The Truth on Storify-- HERE

Do you know your J2 history? The story of Jensen and Jared is an epic one. It is at first deceptively simple. But with a wider view, this seemingly small story tells a much larger, more universal one. In that way, it's also an important one. It's one that spans a time of unique change in American culture as social media tools grew, TV became King, fandom ways were integrated into public lexicon, HW powerhouses rose and fell, and a new hope for true equality in Obama's America supplanted the country's long history of intolerance. It's one that showcases how the role of PR can build over time to consume all levels of actors lives, even two guys who first set out to avoid exactly that. It's one that reveals the widening sphere of PR with the advent of social media, celeb blogs, and online fandoms. Fans are no longer immune to being used by PR as tools in the role of creating an illusion and selling an image. Only together in one place do cracks in the veneer and patterns of PR tactics suddenly emerge as the larger picture focuses into sharp view. It's also a story that I hope one day can be told in full by the people who lived it instead of mere spectators who watched from the cheaper seats and speculated from afar. However, human interest pieces begin with a subject. So here it is. I've been a fan of this show for eight long years. As someone with a "librarian mind", I have saved and documented a lot throughout that time, as have others who have helped me along the way. Supernatural, the TV series, I believe, speaks for itself. 160+ episodes have been produced, aired, and immortalized on DVD. However the larger story that encompasses the show, the actors, the crew, the fans, the HW machine, and the subject of its time, remains hidden if not completely erased from documented fan history. Yet it is one that has enraptured many (even those who won't quite publicly admit it). I believe that counts for something. In other fandoms, I am indebted to other fans who came before me who archived events as they occurred for other fans like myself who came along later. As I leave Supernatural fandom for good, I worry that these details, as we observed them, may be lost. There will be other fans, of the show and of the Js, that will come after me. They should know how it went down all those years ago. This here is merely my small act of scrawling on the cave wall of the internet. As far as I know, there exists no complete record of what a J2 fan has experienced in all the years of the show. So what follows is a timeline summarizing the events of all eight years of Supernatural surrounding its two lead co-stars. It's meant to serve as an J2 archive or library, detailing each event with a date, info, pics, tweets, article, links, videos, and quotes. Most of the focus is on J2 and the players around them, but it will cover show changes and larger HW shakeups in later years as it becomes necessary. If a tiny splash of "Time Capsule" feel snuck in, it's because we all have our experiences and sometimes they feel worth telling. There has been an incredible erasure of fan/show history the last couple years, an act that is rather ironic in a fandom built on the concept of urban legends coming to life. In its wake are attempts to rewrite J2 history. There are some people that have worked very hard to make sure this story is as inaccessible as possible to others. They'd rather see it replaced by their own "revisionist" history that best serves their own interests. But this stuff happened. Records of it are out there. Fans experienced it. And in many cases, J2 or other people directly connected to them responded to it. Denying said part of J2 fan history is disingenuous. Believe what you want to believe in the space between, but events that happened have happened. I know some people will not be happy I have put this together. I struggled with the thought myself. Ultimately, I believe their story in between the lines and cracks of this cobbled together timeline is endlessly iconic. It's a story that shouldn't be lost in the dust of internet time. Because its not just them, even though their unique relationship is quite remarkable. It's that their story has something to tell us all. We all have something to learn in the space in between. You read through the cracks of eight years, follow along detail by detail, and it however small allows you to step in their shoes, no matter who you are, or what you originally thought. Just think, how scared does someone have to be, how many pressures must be put on someone from all angles, your advisers, your bosses, your family, your friends, to agree to these measures over time. When an erasure of a genuine human story happens, we all lose. We, ourselves, as a culture lose. Progress loses. (And what are we here for, if not for progress?) That erasure robs us of that example to learn and grow, improve and teach others. Because no one's life is just their own. We all have a part to play in each others' lives. We all have things we can teach and things we can learn. That's never been more true than the global age of the internet. Thus, as someone who has been in a unique position to watch a lot of these events unfold, I couldn't leave fandom in good conscience without leaving this footprint. They say history is written by the winners. Well, that was before the internet. So fair warning, I will use spn_g links in later years. It is impossible to do an exhaustive archive of J2 without it. Like it or not, it's part of J2 fan history and quite an archival resource when so many LJ links have since been deleted. Careful consideration has been given to the source. Priority is given to the most reliable information. Events (e.g. things we've seen with our own eyes pics, videos, quotes, tweets, etc) are all primary, and denoted by a header font and date. All anon ITK ("In-The-Know") info is considered secondary, and only becomes more or less probable depending on how it fits in with the overall timeline. Thus, some events with "more probable" secondhand information, are noted as an addendum by the phrase, "*rumorhasit:". Unsubstantiated gossip has been left out. This archive is done with the utmost respect for both parties. In a way, it is only in the details that the more real human context emerges. This is something lost in the day-to-day celeb gossip and fandom life. It's easier to make snap judgments about an image than about a fully fleshed out person. My hope is that in seeing the totality of their story, readers can find some form of compassion for the subjects at hand. I've taken great pains to make sure that the record that follows is all of public events only. If they've been released on the internet in a public place, and talked about by fans, they are included here. I've written this in a way that I hope can be a resource for all, both for J2 fans who lived it and those who have yet to make sense of the whole story. In the act of putting this together, even I have learned details that I had forgotten or missed. It's almost a decade of details, it's a lot to keep straight, but I hope that in this timeline format, the clearer picture emerges. If it's the first time you're reading this, just take it in stride. But if you're a fan who lived all of this once already, pay special attention to the timing of events and larger patterns. Watch how appearances and big personal news tend to go together with big professional news like movie casting and season renewals. Notice how players like publicists and managers fit into the story along side girlfriends and fiancees and wives. This is how this industry functions, even with a fledgling show on a netlet. It's in this industry that two guys who initially claimed privacy start indulging fans with stories of their personal life. It's in this climate that a TV show built on two actors' chemistry suddenly tampers said chemistry down to nothing in the middle of its seventh season. There are many threads that pop up here, partly why this story is such an important one. Some things are rarely as they appeared at first glance. Other things are exactly how they appeared at first glance. Decide on your own which ones are which. One can look at this as an archive with two distinct parts. The first four years are more a tribute to the little glimpse we got of two guys with an instant bond that captured us all. The next four years are more a testament to how despite an actor's best intentions, HW can still grab you by the shirt collar and suck you dry. Never forget where the real power of any show lies. Not with the people whose creative work you watch every week. It's those at the top. And they are not as "tolerant" or "liberal" as people might like you to believe. The story of J2 is an epic one, but that's not the only reason why it's important. They're also not the first or last to deal with these extreme machinations. As we proceed into 2013, we are reminded over and over again how much our culture has changed since 2005. Since 2008. Even since 2011. How much longer will it take for HW to catch up with the rest of us? I'm indebted to all the fans who helped me in amassing this record, adding their contributions, holding my hand, listening to my complaints, and overall sharing in the J2/Supernatural obsession for good times and bad. This has been simultaneously the easiest and hardest show to be a fan of. But it would have been impossible to follow for eight years if not for the community of amazing people that I shared it with. Some of them may not understand this, many of them will probably not even read this, but I hope that they still know my thanks and appreciation. Schmaultz aside, we've got 8 years of history to get to! So without further ado!

[lookitsnansee-blog]

Reading Laterally and Evaluating 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

Introduction:

The term “fake media” has been highly popularized over the recent years. It has gained more popularity and has been used as a loose term thanks to the internet, technology advancements, social media that popularize it. Though, the term has been subjected to a lot of ownership, skepticism and criticism throughout the recent years and has only been strayed away from its original definition. In this day and age, it is important now more than ever to analyze and make sure that we are spreading credible, factual and scholarly news sources and information that can be backed up with statistics, science and hard evidential truth. Given that the online news sites and social media channels such as Twitter provide us with our daily U.S. and World news, we have to make sure we are not being misled by the opinions of others but rather presented with the facts and truth. Imagine if...

Goals:

The goals for this blog is to dive deeper into analyzing the credibility of a news source such as social media outlets or online news sites. I will focus my attention on Twitter and use online sites to try to see if I am able to verify the source as being credible or not. Throughout this process, I will look into a given news topic and ask/answer these two questions:

1. How to establish a legitimate source?

2. How to read laterally throughout websites?

Terms/ Concepts to Know:

Let me fill you in on some very important key terms to know before we get started:

1. Infowar: The use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization; cyberwar and/or The use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization; cyberwar. (Oxford Dictionary)

2. Lateral reading: Analyzing the author’s qualifications or trustworthiness of sites by evaluating them through multiple and thorough research, using other sites and sources in order to search if that specific website is credible or not

3. Legitimacy: Ability to be defended with logic or justification; validity.

4. Sources: A place, person, or thing from which something originates or can be obtained.

Important Websites to Help You Fact-Check Your Sources:

I’m really trying to help ya’ll out here by making a list of credible websites. How do I know they’re credible? Because I’m always right (As some news outlets love to say).

Jk. But on some real, according to https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/chapter/basic-techniques-domain-searches-source-checks-whois/ , these are all credible domain search websites such as:

1. (insert full website name) -site:(insert full website name

2. https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=motherjones.com

3. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

Alex Jones, the content creator of Infowars, (what does he do)….In order to demystify infowars on 9/11, such as Alex Jones’ conspiracy theories on 9/11. First off, I want to define the word “infowars”. According to Oxford Dictionary, it is defined as “The use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization; cyberwar.” and “Propaganda war waged via electronic media.”

Reading Laterally and Fact checking  9/11 Conspiracy Theory:

Let me tell you guys what I did when I ran into one of Alex Jones’ videos on his 9/11 attack conspiracy theory:

So I ran into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Hk1-BpXO8

In this video Alex Jones is going off and on about the 9/11 terrorist attack and how it was staged by the government etc. First of all, I do not know who Alex Jones is and I don’t know what is real or not real about what he is saying. This is where lateral reading comes in.

Step 1:

So what I do when I see this is, I check the account and the profile of the person who posted the video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/911REICHSTAG/about

Go ahead and check it out. It seemed to me as he was trying to inform people about terrorism and how the government was linked to most of them. He also had other videos on 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Step 2:

So when I saw his page, I got a sense of what this person was about, no judgement, it’s all chill. So I go back to the original video that I was looking at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Hk1-BpXO8 and I decide to look at the description below the video.

I notice that it refers to the link https://www.prisonplanet.com/ and I decide to copy/paste it and check it out. Go on y'all take a look and explore the page for yourselves.

Step 3:

The first thing I see is the top part of the page which says “Alex Jones’ Prison Planet”. I’m going to pretend I don’t know who Alex Jones is and i’m going to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones

After I learn about who Alex Jones is, what he does and what he’s about, I decide to check out his “Notable work” section and click on where it says “infowars” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InfoWars

So i decide to google “Alex Jones infowars” and his website appears https://www.infowars.com/

Step 4:

So I don’t know about you guys but so far,  https://www.prisonplanet.com/  and https://www.infowars.com/ seem and look like any other news websites. So I google “New York Times and 9/11” and I get: https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=CmDHXIPKEcT3-gSi9LuIBQ&q=new+york+times+and+9%2F11&btnK=Google+Search&oq=new+york+times+and+9%2F11&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30l10.718.7995..8124...4.0..0.172.3050.12j16......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0j0i3j0i22i10i30.cI2-z7e8EEw

I click on the first link which is: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/9-11imagemap.html?pagewanted=all

Step 5:

I also go on twitter and on the search bar type in “Alex Jones 9/11” and click the “news” tab and I get: https://twitter.com/search?f=news&vertical=default&q=alex%20jones%209%2F11&src=typd

Step 6:

I click the first post which is from “The Hill” and then go to their Twitter page. I check to see that they have a blue check mark which means that they are “Twitter Legitimate”. I go to their website: https://thehill.com/ and take a look around. The website looks legit too!

Step 7:

Last but not least, I gather all of the websites that are linked to Alex Jones’ name and that are under his name and use https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ to see if they are credible and to see how biased they are. This is what I found:

1. The Hill: Left Center biased. It’s factual reporting is high, Overall, The Hill slightly Left-Center biased based on story selection that very slightly favors the left and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing.

2. PrisonPlanet: Conspiracy-pseudoscience. Conspiracy level is Tin Foil Hat and right wing biased. Pseudoscience level is moderate.

3. Infowars: Conspiracy-pseudoscience. Overall, InfoWars/Alex Jones is a crackpot, tin foil hat level conspiracy website that also strongly promotes pseudoscience. The amount of fake news and debunked conspiracy claims, as well as extreme right wing bias, renders InfoWars a non-credible source on any level.

4. New York Times: Left Center Biased. Overall, we rate the New York Times Left-Center biased based on word and history selection that moderately favors the left, but highly factual and considered one of the most reliable sources for information due to proper sourcing and well respected journalists/editors.

Step 8:

So now that we have seen what these news websites and sources are about and what their biased is. For the most part, the websites are all right wing biased and we can conclude that they are not credible news sources. The only two news websites that are credible sources are The Hill and New York Times. The link on The Hill was about a controversial blog that was posted by Joy Reid on Alex Jones’ movie “Loose Change 9/11”. The Hill describes the controversy and how it is not the first time she posts controversial content on her blog. The New York Times on the other hand, reported what happened during 9/11 and the fact that they were terrorist attacks. However there are scholarly articles that make sense of how it would be mistaken by some actions taken by other people in regards to correlations between the U.S and certain extremist groups.

Your Turn:

Try reading laterally by finding out the author, and the credibility of the authors/website that I’m posting, critically thinking and bringing forth facts as to U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern affairs.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=662cb0f1-e31b-4ae5-ab81-19eb7cc3b41d%40sessionmgr4006&vid=0&format=EK

[sisterofiris]

The Layperson’s Guide to Online Research

The Internet is full of badly researched and sometimes straight-up wrong information. Who would’ve guessed? From reinterpretations of ancient sources being taken at face value by history enthusiasts (like that infamous pre-patriarchal Persephone post) to well-intentioned but ahistorical writing spreading misinformation among modern polytheists (like the myth of Hestia abdicating in favour of Dionysos), it’s often hard to know what is trustworthy information and what is not. Unfortunately, this makes things difficult when you, a non-academic, want to research a topic.

My biggest recommendation will always be to turn to a local university library (often there are even lectures and conferences you can attend without being a student) or to subscribe to a digital library like JStor. On the other hand, I completely understand that for various reasons, not everyone can access these resources. This is why I’m here to help.

In this post, I will outline the steps you should take to check whether an online source is trustworthy and up-to-date. I will mainly focus on researching ancient history, but bear in mind that you can use the same (or similar) steps to research many different topics.

The vetting process below may seem like a lot to take in, but it all boils down to five questions:

where does this come from?

who is the author?

what are their sources?

when did they write this?

who else wrote about this?

Step One: Where does this come from?

The first thing you need to do is check the website where the information comes from. Trustworthy signs to look for are a .edu or .org web address, a university logo, or the description of the website as a professional resource. Very, very often, websites with flashy or sparkly designs are made by amateurs and are not trustworthy. Any web page that doesn’t tell you who wrote it or why is not trustworthy.

When you’re looking at books and articles uploaded online (such as Google Books), make sure they were published professionally by a publishing house or peer-reviewed journal. Mainstream news articles range from accurate (BBC) to completely unreliable (Daily Mail), but since even the best of them can be sensationalistic, I recommend digging further.

Another very important thing to look out for is ideology. Is the website devoted to a certain issue, like proving the Ancient Greeks were black, the Sumerians were contacted by aliens, or the Hittites worshipped a pre-patriarchal Mother Goddess? Congratulations, this information is biased. Some of it may be correct, but you should check steps two to five very carefully before believing it.

Generally, you should look for websites that are focused on your topic, not websites that use your topic to prove a point.

Here are two examples to illustrate the difference:

Not trustworthy: this page about Persephone as an archetype. The website focuses on the Enneagram, not on Greek mythology, and the web design is amateurish. Even though the page mentions mythology, its purpose is to establish Persephone’s personality type, not to discuss her role as a deity in Ancient Greece.

Trustworthy: this page about Ancient Egyptian women and religion. The website looks far more professional, and by clicking on the logo in the top left, you will get to the organisation’s page, The Stoa Consortium. On the right, there is an “About” section which explains that the website was set up by a Professor of Classics and is funded by various universities, as well as by the US Department of Education.

However, determining whether or not a website is any good is not always so easy. Theoi.com, for example, is an independent resource with no academic support, but it’s very well put together and reliable. Meanwhile, Academia.edu is a platform for scholars, but less reputable people can easily slip through and post their “translations” of haiku in Linear A. Experts can have informal blogs, and non-experts can write professional-looking news articles. It’s hard to know which ones of them to trust.

This is where Step Two comes in handy.

Step Two: Who is the author?

A trustworthy source will always identify its author. Some pages (like my own blog’s “About” section) will only tell you the person’s credentials, often for privacy reasons. This is a good start, but you should try to find out more - particularly whether this person actually is what they claim to be. (In my case, it’s fairly easy to tell, since I’ve posted pictures from university projects (x, x) and my identity can be deduced from various links and tidbits I’ve shared - but please be skeptical about what I say as well! Just because I’m an ancient civilisations student doesn’t mean I’m always right!)

Once you know who the author is, you need to check whether they are not only educated, but educated in the subject. This means a university degree (preferably a masters, and even more preferably a PhD) or other proof of expertise in the subject (like an experienced weaver sharing their perspective on ancient tapestries). Whatever the person’s qualifications, they need to be serious (i.e. not “one time in college I took a class on Greek mythology”) and directly related to the subject.

Here are some examples:

Not trustworthy: that pre-patriarchal Persephone post. Its author is a layperson who fell into the same trap I’m trying to prevent: they read a few web pages and decided they were the truth. Luckily, they seem to have somewhat learnt from their mistake.

Usually trustworthy, but not in this case: Gerda Lerner writing about the Hittites. While Gerda Lerner was very learned in women’s studies, she was not a Hittitologist - nor particularly familiar with ancient civilisations in general - and she did not have the nuanced understanding necessary to discuss women in the context of Hittite society.

Trustworthy and non-academic: Janet Stephens’ hairstyle reconstructions. Janet Stephens is not an archeologist, but she is a very experienced hairdresser. This makes her qualified to reconstruct and reproduce ancient hairstyles. (Note that this does NOT make her qualified to discuss, say, the religious implications of hair-binding in Ancient Greece. It makes her qualified to do what she does: style hair.)

Trustworthy and academic: Paul Schubert’s blog (in French) about Ancient Greece in the modern world. His “About” page has a link to his university page, which contains his biography and credentials. He writes about his expert subject, and stays well within its boundaries.

Step Three: What are their sources?

Next, you need to determine where they get their information from. For ancient history, the number one, most important source is ancient texts. Anything that cites ancient texts with their reference (Homer, Iliad, XΧII 389-390) is automatically more trustworthy than anything that doesn’t. If you want to research in-depth, I would recommend looking up these references to get an idea of what they say (Theoi.com and Perseus both have free text databases).

References to modern texts (especially books and articles) are good, but the author shouldn’t only cite these. This turns research into a game of broken telephone - so-and-so told me that so-and-so said that Plato wrote... What’s more, you need to make sure these sources are also trustworthy. Just because a page provide links doesn’t mean they’re relevant or well-researched - if so, then rickrolling would be the peak of academia.

Lastly, I shouldn’t need to say this, but information without sources is not information. That’s like me telling you I’m secretly the princess of Liechtenstein. It might be true, but you can’t know for sure without proof.

Again, some examples:

Not trustworthy: this quote by Plato and this one supposedly from a cuneiform tablet. Neither has a clear reference, nor context: the first is just attributed to Plato’s Symposium, and the second’s author varies from Naram-Sin to a Chaldean king to Cicero. (What’s more, both have strongly ahistorical content. Plato would never have written about “Greek mythology”, and the Mesopotamians had no concept of a “book”.)

Could be trustworthy, but you should check: Medievalpoc’s sources on Ancient Egyptian transatlantic voyages. Yes, a variety of links are provided, but are they any good? A few clicks will show that they lead to the Daily Mail, a paper written by two ideologically-motivated Mormons, and a bunch of articles about ancient people building boats (which nobody doubts, but which doesn’t prove they could sail across the Atlantic).

Trustworthy: Hittite Prayers to the Sun-God by Daniel Schwemer. This is a fully cited article with ancient sources.

Step Four: When did they write this?

The next important step is to find out when this information was written. This is because research is constantly evolving, and older interpretations may no longer be considered valid. This obviously includes views with underlying racism, sexism and homophobia, but it also applies to less obvious things, like the fact that the Sumerian word zag is now read za₃.

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, most information available online for free is a bit outdated. You should still aim for more recent publications if you can, and definitely avoid anything that’s fifty years old or more. The only exception is for translations of ancient texts, which stay pretty much the same apart from a few spots where their translators’ biases come through - and the exception to the exception is texts in Mesopotamian languages, in which case you should really, really try to find a translation that’s younger than fifty years.

Academic podcasts, blogs and newsletters come in very handy here, because they offer insights on modern research while often being written in accessible language.

Yet more examples:

Not trustworthy: Martin Nilsson’s The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology (1932). Though Martin Nilsson was a great scholar, modern research has evolved since this book was published (in 1932 in Germany - a context you can definitely sense while reading). What’s more, it was written before Mycenaean Greek was even deciphered.

Trustworthy: Eric Cline’s 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2015). Not only is the writing easily accessible to non-experts, this book is up-to-date and written by someone at the forefront of research in Late Bronze Age societies.

Step Five: Who else wrote about this?

This last step is basically fact-checking. Your author may have the best of credentials, they may have written their article on the most respectable of websites, but their theory could still be rejected by the majority of their peers. Look up the book or article’s title followed by “review”, which will hopefully generate other experts’ opinions on the matter - or just keep browsing different websites.

This step is not the most important and can often be skipped - you don’t need to fact-check every word you read. But if you want to research something in-depth, if a claim seems iffy, or if any of the above steps gave mixed results, you should always look for outside input. And no, you won’t always get definite answers on whether something is true. Such is our knowledge about history. But it will give you a more rounded understanding of the topic, and that’s always valuable.

A final note

If you’re not sure whether something is trustworthy, please don’t hesitate to ask! Historians and history students are your friends, and we want you to have accurate information. There’s a lot of us on Tumblr and elsewhere who are happy to help out with that. We can’t be there for everyone 24/7, but we’ll gladly point you in the direction you need!

[hillbillyoracle]

How To Tell If A Pagan Resource is Reliable (Kinda)

This was originally a script for a video I never got around to making. It’s very rough and not written with tumblr in mind but I wanted to put it up in case others would find it useful. 

Without further ado - “How to Determine if a Pagan Source is Reliable: Or At Least How I Do It”

So I was recently asked about reliable pagan resources and let me just say it’s…complicated.

I think that’s why there’s so many people who just put out lists of resources rather than actually teaching what makes a good one. Well that and I think a lot of people aren’t totally sure why they think a source is good, let alone why and how someone should go about looking for something similar. I’m definitely guilty of that.

So instead of giving answers – I want to give context. Why finding good non-fluffy sources is hard and my personal check list for evaluating sources.

Keep in Mind

First, I want to point a few things out.

When you go to start tracking down sources please keep these four things in mind:

1.      Not everything you read is going to be relevant, but that won’t stop it from being relevant in it’s own context – so don’t be that asshole on tumblr who rants about, I don’t know, the Triple Goddess motif without understanding that a) women’s life experiences and life cycles have historically been subordinated to and defined by men so the Triple Goddess motif can be really spiritually powerful and b) that not everyone’s out here trying to be a reconstructionist. If it bugs you, it’s probably the lack of self awareness people have for their practices but that’s a different video…

2.      Not everything you read is going to be true. Speaks for itself really. There’s room for differences of opinion, different methods and lens but something are going to be flat out wrong. There’s currently no strong archeological evidence for a matriarchal mother goddess worshiping culture in Europe for instance. Which brings me to –

3.      Older isn’t more right. Older isn’t inherently better. I care about facts but I’m also not interested in reconstructionism as a framework for my religion anymore. I find it’s usually pretty theologically incomplete and I prefer mine to be historically informed rather than reconstructed. Again, self awareness is more the issue here than “facts”.

4.      Not everything you read needs to added to your practice. I’m not totally sure why but there seems to be a lot of pressure that new pagans feel to try everything they can get their hands on rather than taking the time to see where they might fit in. It’s okay to start with “well I believe in multiple gods” or “I really want to venerate the earth and it’s cycles” and add the rest in later.

 Why Is It So Hard Though???

So now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about why finding good sources is so hard.

People tend to think that if it’s published in a book that the information is more reliable BUT -

Pagan books are not necessarily more reliable even if they’re put out by a big imprint. Pagan publishing is honestly a bit of a cash grab. New age and alternative spirituality topics have seen a big uptick in interest recently and even bigger mainstream publishers are looking to cash in what they can. There’s a push to publish more books, more quickly, and more varied. And given the decentralized nature of paganism the bar for expertise is…pretty damn low. You’ll see the same authors -cough- Silver Ravenwolf -cough- with a dozen or more books about wildly different topics – which is a very good indication that those books aren’t reliable because let’s be honest who in the world has the time to publish four books on four different topics in a year and research and practice those topics to the point of expertise? They don’t.

Some of the best content I’ve seen is being put out by practitioners who are developing resources they can point their students toward or who are documenting their process of developing their path – and most of that is being done online. Finding them is usually an organic process. You accidentally turn them up when you’re searching for something else, you notice someone on a forum whose posts you like has a blog, they show up on your tumblr dashboard out of nowhere – that’s why it’s honestly hard to go looking for them. You kind of have to commit to looking in general and hope you stumble onto something.

It’s incredibly time consuming but it’s the price you pay for not picking a religion with a Holy Book.

The world is your book now and much like the world not…all of it…is good.

(nerd pushing up glasses) But what about primary sources? Clearly if we’re interested in quality material we should –

I mean primary sources are fantastic and I’ll do a separate post at some point about how to track down those for people who don’t have access to academic libraries – but it’s also completely unnecessary for a lot of people. Primary sources do not a religion make and not everyone is trying to be a reconstructionist. I don’t personally aim to replicate a particular culture’s religion in my practice – and that is okay.

Reconstructionism and using primary sources are also way trickier than most people make it out to be. Do you really think someone writing about the beliefs around Athena in Athens in one century is going to be practicing the same way as someone writing about Athena in Sparta three centuries later? Just because they’re both Hellenic? That’s not really how Greek religions worked – but you have to know quite a bit of history in order to evaluate sources on that level and unless that’s really meaningful for you – it’s probably not worth it AND THAT IS OKAY.

When evaluating sources it really helps to know what role religion plays in your life. Is it your identity? Is it for comfort? Is it to feel connected or grounded? Some people get that from studying academic texts until they go cross eyed. Some people get that from dancing naked in a field. I get it from chilling on a porch and talking to the moon. There are lot of ways to get

Evaluating the source

Who is the author?

This tells you a lot right away. Some folks in the pagan community have a reputation and you’ll have to decide for yourself whether they’re you’re cup of tea.

But assuming they’re not a big name, look for what they say their religious path is and how it lines up with what they’re writing. If you see someone saying they’re a reconstructionist but they’re writings include a lot of wiccan theology and they don’t account for the discrepancy that’s kind of red flag.

How they describe themselves can also be a good thing to watch out for. If they’re putting a lot of emphasis on how they’re a such and such high priestess in a tradition you can’t verify and they keep redirecting you to an ebook you have to pay for – I would run away personally.

Also whether they list a credential as who they are or a credential they have. It’s a slight difference but it can speak volumes.

What are their credentials?

A lot of people rely on how long they’ve been practicing to convey expertise and it’s definitely something to keep in mind. Someone who’s been practicing for 10-20 years is going to have a very different perspective on practice than someone just starting out.

Academic background can play a role too. My partner for instance is super new to paganism but she’s got a Master’s in Germanic Studies so she’s much more knowledgeable on Nordic and Germanic paganism than many people who’ve been practicing for years. If you’re more recon oriented there’s a lot to be said for following people who have an academic background in the culture you’re looking into.

For wiccan folks, knowing whether they’re part of a coven and what training they received there is also helpful. Most organized Wiccan branches can tell you their lineage back pretty far; i.e. 50ish years, anyone saying they’re an ancient practice passed down in secret needs to be heavily fact checked.

Are they factual?

This one can be very tricky when you’re starting out but as you start reading quality sources you’ll be able to spot whether stuff is factual much easier.

Good things to watch out for are people talking about how “old” something is without citing sources, people who conflate personal experience with fact, and white people talking about cultures they don’t belong to.

You can always try to google facts you feel weird about and see how many reputable sources you can pull up to vouch for it.

Are they fluffy?

This one is really hard for me to define. But I suppose the way I’d put it is – are they telling you you can do anything you want or that there’s only one way to do x path and if you deviate you’re a terrible person? Most good writers know the truth is something in the middle – freedom within the bounds of truth. Respect is really a word that stands out to me here. Who do they respect? Do they respect their teachers, their sources, other people, other cultures?

Are they self aware?

This is really what makes or breaks a source for me. Do they own their flaws? Do they admit when they’ve gotten information wrong? Are they public about figuring things out or when their knowledge is incomplete?

Self awareness really is the most important thing to me. We’re all human and we’re better pagans for really owning that.

---

Hope this was somewhat helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!

As always, I do not profess to have the one true way so take what’s useful and leave the rest. <3

[interviewolderpersonessay311]

write my paper

About me

Write My Essay With Quality Academic Assistance Of Tutoriage

Write My Essay With Quality Academic Assistance Of Tutoriage We fastidiously verify every paper for plagiarism before submitting it to a shopper. Your head is spinning from the rising variety of written assignments at school, faculty, or uni? No worries, EssayHub essay assist service has obtained you coated. Yes, you need to comply with the rules in your task. If you’re wondering how we’ll write your essay, you must know that we're very meticulous. Nowhere else you will discover such a lucrative amalgamation of premium term paper providers and pocket-friendly costs. Want to know what kind of offers are you able to avail from our website? Write my Essay requests have turn into generally growing day-to-day and the need to cater the requests are, hence, elevated too. AGradeEssay better furnishes your educational wishes in probably the most efficient way that too past your expectations. Order our write my customized essay at A Grade Essay now. Revealing how efficient our providers are; A Grade Essay assures safe services with the convenience to order an essay that delivers hundreds of award-winning elements. Company might make out there a service via which you can receive messages on your wireless system by way of short message service (“SMS Service”). They might be more than pleased to inform you about our surprisingly low prices and low cost codes. My Instant Essay’s name instructions trust and reliability, but it also means getting a bang in your buck. Just after you place your order within the system, we immediately begin doing magic for you. The complete group strives to fulfill all potential targets along with your order strictly within the time specified. EssayHub is completely legal and offers instructional services complying with all applicable guidelines and standards. We always make sure our shoppers get assistance with an essay that's totally legit and up to the best requirements. EssayHub does not tolerate plagiarism of any kind. We can assist you with way too different duties. Customer Feedback on EssayHub Essay Writing Help Services. We solely work with native writers from the USA and the UK, and Australia. Most of our writers have a minimum of a Master's levels and some of our writers are retired college members from reputed universities. Here are several trusted customer reviews on our essay helper left by our verified clients and collected from impartial platforms corresponding to Trustpilot and Sitejabber. Our staff is able to work as soon as they get ‘help to put in writing an essay’ request from you. Honestly, all through most of high school and college, I was a mediocre essay author. The consultants at GetGoodGrade.com are very good at what they do, and to show that, all of them have a diploma that may attest to their talents. Backed up by Master’s and Ph.D. levels, they're loaded and ready to tackle any sort of essay you may throw at them. Aside from the truth that they've distinctive writing expertise, in addition they know tips on how to do proper research. They will look for the most credible sources in our database and will make your paper stand out by backing it up with facts. EssayHub has confirmed its dedication to serving students. It has accrued educational writing experience and expertise from 1000's of completed orders, striving to succeed in perfection on this subject. Our writers are strongly advised to not proceed with borrowed ideas and replica-pasted phrases until they are relevant and properly referenced. If you determine to take care of us, you should anticipate 100% unique content material. Every EssayHub’s online essay helper is ready to dig deep into any given matter and full assignments of any complexity level for you. If your trainer tells you to write down a five-paragraph essay, then write a five-paragraph essay! However, inside these tips, discover room to express something that's uniquely you. However, towards the end of my time as a scholar, I made a breakthrough. I figured out tips on how to not solely write a fantastic essay, I learned the way to have enjoyable whereas doing it. I know personally how boring writing an essay could be, and likewise, how onerous it may be to put in writing an excellent one.

[flockenmedia]

A LESSON IN MEDIA LITERACY

For this lesson we will look at this article: CLICK HERE

Not all articles are as transparent as this one so it works very well as a teaching/learning example to point out some of the major problems you have to watch out for as a media literate member of society.

This is a just a small crash course to media literacy and if you want something more in-depth to train yourself to be media literate you can check this article and many other resources online.

What is media literacy? Media literacy is the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages they're sending.

Okay, let’s deconstruct this article and find out what happened here.

First let’s identify the pieces which are important:

Headline: A headline's purpose is to quickly and briefly draw attention to the story. (source: Wikipedia)

Lede: The lede not only tells what the story is about, but it also invites the reader to read further. (Source: SP college) The lede further explains what the article is about and why you should keep reading.

Sources: In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or other record or document that gives timely information. (source: Wikipedia)

So we need to explore these elements to be media literate.

HEADLINE The headline states "Looters swipe $2.4M worth of watches from SoHo Rolex store: police sources”

So we can assume from this headline that the story is about the theft of $2.4M worth of Rolexes from a store in the SoHo neighbourhood in New York City.

You might notice (if you are media literate) that the headline says "police sources" - it is human nature to ignore this part. We read by taking the most valuable pieces of a sentence and forgetting the rest. Most people will read this headline and gloss over the “police sources” part. Our brain does a little bit of work for us and eliminates this piece of information. Now that you are reading my article you may even remember not noticing the “police sources” part of this headline. I even did this myself.

LEDE The lede of this story is: Looters broke into a Soho Rolex store during rioting and stole $2.4 million worth of watches, police sources said Monday.

This being the lead is very important to media literacy. The writers of this article are leading you to believe that if you continue reading you will read about the events that unfolded that ended when $2.4M worth of watches were stolen.

But if you continue reading the article you will find out that the information in the lede simply is not true. No watches were stolen.

In general, people believe (consciously or subconsciously) they do not need to click the link to the article, the headline is enough information on the subject to get a picture of the story. That is the point of headlines! Of those who do click-through to the article, many do not read past the lede. If you were to do this with the linked article, you would likely believe that 2.4 million dollars worth of watches were stolen from this store. When in reality $0 worth of watches were stolen from this store.

SOURCES I went through the article and found all the sources within it, let’s explore them. Source 1: a police source (unnamed) Source 2: the store’s spokesman (unnamed) Source 3: NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller

The headline tells us that this article is about stolen watches, so of these 3 sources, who is the most credible person to tell us about a stolen watch? Likely it would be the spokesman of the store in question, so let’s look at what he said: “no watches of any kind were stolen, as there weren’t any on display in the store. There were simply windows broken and some vitrines smashed.”

This is contradictory to the headline. This is contradictory to the lede.

Also examine who the source is: the store’s spokesman. Why are they an unnamed source?

The police sources get the starring role in this article. They are featured in both the headline and the lede. You must also examine what it means when they name “Police sources.” as a source of information for the article. Does it mean multiple police officers gave this information? Does it mean two guys from the mail room with no access to any crime information? How credible is this unnamed source of information?

And I don’t want to leave this without looking at the only named source in this article: Source 3: NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller

What does he say: outside “agitators” with ties to anarchist groups were using the George Floyd protests to loot and spark violence between cops and demonstrators.

He is not quoted. It simply states what he said. This is important. It likely means he did not comment directly to the NY Post. How did they get this information?

Why is NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller named, when the other sources are not named? This is to add a level of legitimacy to the article. Their story has no other named sources, which means it doesn't have any way for the average person to verify the facts presented in the article. They needed to add an official, named source to make you think "this is a story of value" - adding a named source to a faulty news article often adds the legitimacy it needs to pass as news for the media illiterate.

One more source which is not listed which I would like to examine and that source is: the NY Post If you check this AllSides graphic it has a list of most major media outlets and which side their news leans to - whether it’s left, right or centre political. This is helpful to know so you can try to figure out what exactly a news agency is trying to say with their story.

**Deconstructing this story is media literacy. **

To be media literate you must consider:

1- Is your article from a credible news agency, can you find this story on another news agency which is more credible or equally credible? NY Post does not have constantly reliable news - can I find any other major mainstream media source?

2- Identify the most important source within the article, is that information highlighted by the headline of the article, and the lede?

3- Is the most credible source in the article even a credible source at all? When an article identifies a source as "a police source" or "a protester" it is something to think critically about. If the news agency cannot name a reliable source - the article is likely not very reliable. Check the credibility of sources named and unnamed as well as their credentials. A story about climate change is unlikely to be very credible if their key source is a scientist who is a registered flat earther and got their degree from a cereal box.

4- Check snopes and google to try to help you identify the truth of any media but particularly news media, and especially during ongoing situations like #blacklivesmatter and #coronavirus. In the case of this article, there is no snopes post currently, however a quick google search of "$2.4M Rolex looted" comes up with many Reddit threads questioning the validity of the article, and no other valid news sources.

5- Look for keywords that point to problems within an article to make you suspicious of news articles, something that identifies where their bias is pointing. For me, in this article, the words "looters" "swipe" "rioting" "looted" the fact that “agitators” is in quotations and not the rest of the quote, all these words show bias and that bias is not in support of the protests. If it were the article would be very different - the headline and lede would not be so - but even if it was, they would use words like "protest" "protesting" and NYPD Police Commissioner John Miller would be quoted in full.

MEDIA LITERACY IS VERY IMPORTANT! MEDIA LITERACY IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT NOW! Misinformation is everywhere! We now call this “fake news” This article is not the exception to the rule of good journalism! Bias, false reporting and fact twisting is in every major news outlet around.

[profitablepractices]

How to Get an Affordable Receptionist, Assistant, Bookkeeper, and other Support Staff!

Are you just looking for a reliable receptionist to answer your phone on a "pay by the number of calls answered" basis?  Someone who will take messages, answer basic questions from callers about your practice fees, location, insurance, and other simple questions, and then coordinate a callback time so that you don't waste time with phone tag?  If yes, you may be better off using this service (click here) than going through the steps below, but totally up to you!  Feel free to experiment and find the right solution for your practice!

Many people have asked me how I source, hire, and retain such incredible support staff from the Philippines.  So many people have asked that I’ve finally decided to just put it all down into a blog so you can find my “crash course” here anytime you want!  You can find excellent receptionists, bookkeepers, personal assistants who can also do basic WordPress updates, general admins, and basically any other type of role you need.  Not only is the price low, but I find the culture to be incredible. As an entrepreneur, I have an innate sense of pride and ownership of all the work that happens under my umbrella.  I find that Filipinos are generally eager to share in that sense of dedication to working in a high quality, courteous, and reliable manner. Here are my to tips:

Where to find them?  There are several websites where you can hire people from the Philippines.  Personally, the one linked here is my favorite.  I actually purchased the lifetime membership package from this site, which includes lifetime ability to post as many jobs as you want, as well as tons of MP3 files and written literature on how to have a successful experience with your virtual assistant.   However, even if you don’t want to start off with that particular level, you can easily place a one-off ad for just a few dollars.

How to attract them? Show off!  You may not realize this, but you’re probably a very desirable employer.  Place an ad that indicates you’re seeking a full time, long term employee that you’re willing to train, groom, and respect.  You may not think you want a full time employee, but I encourage you to consider it because the best Filipino employees tend to want full time; if you hire them part time they’ll probably look elsewhere while they work for you.  So, place an ad with a subject line that conveys all this, like “New York City Entrepreneur Seeks Permanent Full Time Assistant” or “Busy USA Person Needs Permanent Support!”. If possible, be even more specific (“New York City Therapist Seeking Friendly and Capable Receptionist!” or “NYC Real Estate Agent Needs Reliable Exec Assistant!”  In the body of the ad, reiterate that you’re seeking someone who will stay for years. When you indicate pay, describe a starting salary and indicate how it will rise over a two year period (ie “Pay starts at __ per month, and rises to __ per month over a two year period”). Also mention that they can accrue paid sick time and paid holidays.  I have a chart that shows how this is accrued at my company over time; I show it to them during the interview process but I at least mention that they can accrue paid sick time and holidays in the body of my ad. Also mention that you pay the “13th month bonus”. This is the Philippine equivalent of a year-end bonus. It is equivalent to one month’s salary.  (Don’t worry! It can be prorated, so that if you hire someone in September you only need to pay a bonus of ⅓ of a month’s salary at year-end.)

How to screen them? You will likely get hundreds of applicants.  You’ll need an easy way to screen them. I suggest creating an ad that provides a lot of information about how to apply, and then disregard any applicant who doesn’t follow all of your directions.  This is a great starting point to rule out anyone who is unable or unwilling to be detail-oriented. Here are some ideas:

a. In the body of the ad, indicate that you’ll need them to work Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EDT (or whatever your desired schedule is).  Ask them to confirm in their application that they’re available for this schedule.

b. In the body of the ad, tell them to use a certain subject line when they apply (ie “FT Assistant for NYC Entrepreneur”).  

c. If you’d like someone who can speak English clearly as well as write, indicate it in your ad.  To screen for spoken English skills, do the following: In the body of the ad, ask that when they apply they include an MP3 of their own voice reading a sample sentence.  This will let you easily screen for how they sound on the phone. Many applicants are great in every way but they just can’t speak English clearly. You don’t want to waste everyone’s time by arranging a Skype interview just to discover this.  Listen to MP3s before attempting an interview.

d. Consider requiring applicants to take a short test as part of the application.  I use a company linked here that me the percentile ranks for the person’s scores in Math, Verbal, and Spatial domains.  It is an easy way to separate applicants. Someone’s verbal skills might seem fine on their application materials because they’ve spent lots of time on their application, and they might do fine in a 1:1 interview where the conversation is very structured, but how quickly can they keep pace with a ton of emails on a busy day?  How carefully can they read and track complex conversations? I rely on their Verbal percentile to give me a ballpark. The company also has skills tests for things like bookkeeping and other specialized areas. I’ve known several entrepreneurs who have found it to be a good investment.

e. Ask them to also include a screenshot of their results from a place like Speedtest.net.  You need someone who has a strong internet connection with a good speed.

f. Disregard any applicants who don’t follow all of your application directions.  

g. Make an alias within your email account like jobs@(your domain)  Set your filters so that anything coming to this address will skip your inbox and go into a folder for this (soon, your assistant can handle these types of tasks for you!).  This will let you easily review applications on your own schedule without getting pinged every time someone applies.

Related: Money, Honey: How to Get a Good Biller

Interview the applicants who catch your eye and pass your basic starting measures.  I use Skype for this. If they can’t show up on time to the Skype interview, I disqualify them.  If the interview goes well, I ask them to email me a summary of what we discussed. This helps me check their ability to pay attention, as well as to recognize, retain and convey important points.  I tell them at the start of the interview that I may be asking them to do this. I only do this if it’s important that the person has an ability to understand spoken English.

Once you’ve narrowed down to 2-3 really good applicants, tell them the truth: You’ve found 2-3 great applicants and you’re not sure which one to choose.  Tell them you feel that part of a good Filipino hire involves not only skills and attitude, but also the ability to show up for work every day in a reliable manner.  Many Filipinos live in areas where storms frequently disrupt their ability to be online by cutting off their internet or electricity. You don’t want to spend a week training someone only to find that they actually need to miss work about 2 of every 10 days due to issues like this.  So whatever your monthly pay equates in hourly pay (for a 40 hour week, multiply your monthly pay by 12 and then divide the total by 2080 to determine this), tell them you’re taking that hourly pay and adding a dollar to it during this final selection period to show that you appreciate the chance they’re taking by focusing on you for 40 hours per week without a promise of permanent employment.  

Give each person the same tasks during your trial period so you can see how they do in terms of speed, accuracy, attitude, and their ability to show up for work in a timely reliable manner.   We have several long “busywork” test tasks that can be mundane, but offer good ways to check someone’s ability and willingness to follow directions carefully. If you are trying to select a receptionist, provide them all with the same scripts and then do a conference call where you review the scripts as a group.  Record the call so you can have future applicants listen to it if for some reason none of your current applicants works out; or if you want to add an additional person. Next, do 1:1 calls to see who is really mastering the information best. Likewise, whatever tasks are most important for whatever role you’re seeking to fill, make sure you record as much of your training as possible so that it’s easily repeatable if needed in the future.  Ask the candidates to type “step by step” directions of whatever you teach them so that you can simultaneously check their learning while also building your training library.

How to structure the actual day to day work? Once you choose an applicant, congratulate them and give them a warm welcome.   Tell them that you know the first 30 days are the hardest, so you’ll give them a $100 training bonus when they complete their 30th day on the job, and a $250 Successful Hire Bonus at the 90 day mark.  This helps them to stay motivated during what is typically the most stressful period. Tell them to send a daily report of all they did that day, and to indicate which task was the hardest or most time consuming.  Also have them send an email of their workplan at the start of each day. I also have them send me a chat in Skype or g-chat at the start of each day, and I let them know that real time communication is essential so I expect an immediate response whenever I chat during working hours.  I tell them that if they need to step away from their computer for a moment during the day to please chat me when they leave and when they return; so that I”m not staring at the chat window waiting for a reply if they happen to be away from their desk for a moment.

I also have a checklist of things I want them to do every day (ie check my business Facebook page for any new Likes to posts and invite the liker to Like my page).  I make the checklist WAY too long for any one person to do every day; the idea is that I never want them asking me “what do I do now?” when I’m too busy to think of what would be helpful.  Do yourself and your assistant a favor by making a long checklist and explaining that you don’t expect it to all be done every day; but that you just want them to have lots of ideas of what to do.  Of course, you can highlight certain tasks that actually do need to be done every day.  I use Google Sheets and list all the tasks in Column A, and then have the assistant put the date in row 1, and then mark in each cell which tasks were done.  I have them indicate more than just an “X” to show it was done; I get specific info (ie “Indicate the number of new post Likers you invited to Like the FB page).  Making it specific lets you see how their workflow is moving, and gives them a chance to be recognized for all the work they’re doing. Also have them add a tab to their checklist doc called “Logins”.  Anytime they create a login, have them add it. Also have them list any logins there they may need from you. Also have them add a tab called “Docs” where they put links to any docs they are creating for you (ie powerpoint slides etc).  This lets you easily keep track of all the “balls in the air” as things get busy.

Another handy tool I have found is Jing, which is an excellent free screencast tool to show what I need done in certain situations that fall outside of a “daily checklist”.  Whenever I send a Jing, I always require the person responds with a summary of what my Jing said. This ensures we are “on the same page”, and it gives me a text-searchable way to find/view my original directions in my email if there’s ever a question about the project.

How to pay them?  When I’m working with them in the trial period, I just use Paypal or something .  Once I actually hire the person, I use this company.  There are lots of companies; this one is the best I’ve found in terms of fees and reliability; also a lot of Filipino people are familiar with them so it builds trust.  They may want to be paid daily during the trial period since many of them have been scammed by unscrupulous people; so be willing to do this while you’re building trust.  Obviously, never pay in advance since you don’t want to be scammed either.

Conclusion

I hope you have found the tips here to be helpful.  Just like when you do business with someone in the USA, be prepared that the relationship may not work out.  There’s no magical panacea that fixes every issue; but these tips have been helpful for me as well as the myriad people who have asked me over the years.  Feel free to let me know if you have other questions; I'm here to help!

[newsstricker-blog]

Five most common video types

A survey last year found that Americans' attention span when browsing online is on average just eight seconds. Are you still paying attention? There are a time and place for other advertising, but video works differently. An engaging video can keep your audience rapt from start to finish.  It can also help shorten your sales cycle by delivering better informed and more confident prospects to your point of sale.

But I don’t need to convince you. Let the data speak for itself. Now that you understand the impact of video, the next step is to determine which category of videos meets your company’s needs. Here are the five most common video types.

1. Brand Documentary

A Brand Documentary Video is the dramatic entrance you’ve always wanted. Your brand’s story, personality, and philosophy all get to be center stage. Even add employee and client testimonials for a more personal angle. The truth is that with all the information floating in the universe, everyone will have their own varied ideas about who you are. A Brand Documentary video is the best way to cut through all the assumptions and misconceptions and tell your own story yourself.

There are three things to remember in making a successful Brand Documentary Video:

1. Keep it personal.  Your brand is your personality and you want to connect intimately with your audience. Be personable and include meaningful stories.

2. Play to your strengths. Has your company been around 100 years?  Or are you shaking up your industry right now? Either way, decide what makes you great and reinforce that message throughout your video.

3. Be brief. You want to hook your audience in the first 10 seconds, and the whole video should be no more than one to two minutes.

When it all comes together, you’ll make the intended impression and crystallize your company’s story for the public as well as your own employees and shareholders. Below is an example from ServiceSource.

2. How-To (sometimes called an Explainer or Walk-Through)

Quite simply, How-To Videos show you “how to” use a product or service. You can go with a simple set of instructions, but a video is just much sexier.

A good question to ask:  Is your audience already excited about your product?

How-To Videos work best when the audience is curious and ready to learn. If you’re still trying to convince them why they should care, a How-To Video may be getting ahead of yourself.

A video can show in seconds what may be challenging to explain in words over many minutes. Focus on what’s essential to actually use your product. How-To Videos work best when using the product seems intuitive. Don’t get mired in the details and try to explain all the features. Start simple: state the goal, demonstrate how your product achieves that goal, and show the results.

Using screen capture software and a narration recorded with your iPhone can lead to a video that is less than inspiring, but a professional voiceover and a creative composition go a long way. With a little design help, you can have a How-To Video that stands out on YouTube and you will make your company proud.

3. Expert

With all the information available online, customers no longer seek out a salesperson until they already know what they want. According to CEB, buyers don’t even engage with vendors until they’re 57% of the way through the buying process. With an Expert Video, you can reach these customers and address their questions now, all the while differentiating yourself from your competitors.

When customers are still in the research stage, they have large appetites for information and longer attention spans. They want the full picture in order to determine the positives and negatives of your product or service. It’s important to get your message and the tone just right because if your Expert Video starts to feel more like a commercial than a reliable source of information, that attention will disappear quickly. An Expert Video is not promotional but is a way to build customer confidence and show how you stand out from the competition.

4. Promotional

Promotional Videos are a great way to generate additional interest in your company’s important announcements and promote upcoming events, press releases, and product launches. They go far beyond simple facts and figures. With insight, pertinent new information and the charm of a story, they are effectively capturing the curiosity of your audience and adding implicit credibility to your message. An effective Promotional Video gives a clear introduction to what you want to promote while also kindling your audience’s curiosity. Take a look at this Promo Video that Google created to get its employees excited for the annual NRF Conference.

5. Demo

Once the audience is turned on to your company and ready to use your products, it’s time for the Demo Video. This gives you the opportunity to showcase your product and its benefits.

You’re the expert. You know your product intimately. You have the depth of knowledge, but your challenge is explaining the product and its features to an audience that may have no prior knowledge whatsoever. You need them to not only understand what your product is and how it works but also walk away with an appreciation of its value and confidence in their own ability to use it. Video designers, with fresh eyes and ears, will be helpful here by gauging the complexity of your message and steering you in the direction of simplicity. It’s good to remember this is not an animated instruction manual—it’s not a How-To Video either—with a Demo Video, you are selling the whole experience. Take a look at what e-SignLive by Silanis created to tell people about its e-signature solutions

[liverpooltickets]

Premier League: Why Jurgen Klopp might not get a say in the next stage of Liverpool's development

The Reds' boss's own future, coupled with the squad's average age, might lead to some difficult decisions being made. Football supporters from around the world can buy Premier League Tickets online to enjoy its brilliant actions.

In the latest Analyzing Anfield podcast, Josh Williams and David Hughes enclosed a number of different topics, tactically breaking down Liverpool's 3-1 triumph against Manchester City, a broader analysis of the Reds' flying start to the League campaign, and also a discussion around Steven Gerrard as a potential future manager.

                        Within the discussion, a question was raised specifically about the Liverpool squad age, and what factors will be decided by Jürgen Klopp when it comes to squad overhaul and evolution.

You can listen to the full podcast here on Acasta, or watch the full video on the Blood Red YouTube channel.

 Here's what Josh and David both had to say:

David Hughes: A listener has asked this: Do you think the average age of the team will get higher in the next three years, if Klopp decides to go, which is looking likely? When his contract is up. Will he want to maximize everything from his players now, and leave the rebuild to whoever comes in?

Josh Williams: You can tell this has come from a regular listener!

DH: In truth, it's really hard to answer, because we don't really know. My theory is: say if Pep Lijnders was lined up for the job, or it was clear he was going to take over, which is something we've toyed with as an idea on the show talking about it, I think that could be something he would keep in mind in terms of laying a potential platform to build on at Liverpool.

Equally, I don't know, would it be so difficult to transition players out of this team now and reinvest it into other quality players? If you look at Philippe Coutinho, that was going to be a big blow to the starting 11, but the money was actually reinvested really well and Liverpool went on to be a better side. On one hand, he could potentially be thinking about the future, especially because it's clear he loves the club; but will he be looking at it and thinking 'it's not my problem'? Do you have any thoughts on that?

Josh Williams

My immediate thought is that it isn't up to Klopp. We have a sporting director, he's responsible for taking care of the long-term health of the squad. The whole purpose of a sporting director is so, regardless of how many managers you go through, the integrity of the squad and the style of football that squad is suited for remains intact. I think we'll just continue to build, continue to add year-on-year.

David Hughes

Obviously, they're going to have conversations, so how do you think that conversation would go? Because Klopp will be thinking about the short-term in terms of personnel, whereas the long-term will be different.

JW: You say that, but I don't think Klopp is a short-term manager at all.

DH: When I say short-term, I don't mean six months, but let's say until the end of his contract. He'll be thinking about trying to win as many trophies as he can with Liverpool, won't he?

JW: He will, but I think that's achievable regardless. I don't think Liverpool if it can be helped, will go through another year of transition. I think Liverpool's squad now will be carefully managed year-in, year-out, to ensure no transition periods are ever experienced again. There was a quote from Billy Beane, the guy behind Moneyball, on John Henry.

DH: It's a really good film that, and it's a book as well?

JW: It is a book. He said a couple of years ago that John Henry knows how to run his football clubs, he wants to win not just now, but for the next 100 years. Which is obviously encouraging for the Reds.

But I think now we've achieved what we've been trying to achieve for years, I do think there will be a case of carefully managing. If you look at the current squad, you have Adam Lallana, who is over 30, and his contract is coming towards the end and he'll be let go.

 David Hughes

DH: Lallana isn't the first team, though.

Josh Williams

No, but I think this is how we'll balance the squad with age. James Milner is getting on, but I think he may get another deal, just because of what he adds off the pitch. I think Jordan Henderson will get a new deal eventually, but with a view to becoming another Milner, another utility man filling in at left-back and right back, if needed.

Those deals will be on lower wages. Their gradual replacements will be introduced, I think they are probably Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain if it can be that way. I just think it will be a gradual contingency that we do year-in, year-out, to ensure there is no real major turnover. There won't be a major turnover now if it can help, ever. 

Football fans can get Liverpool Tickets through our reliable online ticketing marketplace. Ticket4football.com is the most consistent source to book Liverpool Football tickets.

[mentaldisordercartooncharac-blog]

The trickiest thing about tumblr is its level of anonymity, and the ability it gives a person to not be entirely truthful about who they are. You can be whoever you want to be! Nobody will know. You can roleplay anyone and no one can question you. In most cases, this is a good thing. Protecting one’s privacy is important, especially online. But in a lot of cases, it creates awkward situations where you might need to question the legitimacy of someone’s claim because they’re dropping red flags that they’re lying just to have an excuse to be abusive and avoid criticism, but in doing so you risk being labeled -phobic or -ist or a horrible person in general for daring to invalidate someone’s experience or abuse.

so when I see someone throwing a tantrum all over ship tags and equating shippers with pedophiles, while blatantly misusing that word in the same sentence as claiming to be CSA survivors themselves, that really makes me doubt that they’re being entirely truthful about their trauma, and that they’re likely just making up some story out of the mistaken assumption it will add some legitimacy to their false accusations. If you were really a victim of child sexual abuse, you wouldn’t belittle it so candidly just for a cheap attempt at policing strangers on the internet, you wouldn’t exploit it as a manipulation tactic, and you’d have a little more respect for the term (and actual survivors of it) and use it appropriately.

that goes for the transtrender thing too. Believe it or not, I dislike transphobes and terfs as much as the next guy, but when it seems like being a trans guy is the new iteration of last decade’s empty boast of “not like other girls”, and then seeing so many teenagers on here who have clearly never experienced dysphoria in their lives and are solely using that identity as a means to shit on girls for shipping the wrong ship and backing up their reasoning with “well AS A GAY MAN~~ I’M TELLING YOU HOW STUPID YOU ARE BECAUSE I’M TOTALLY A GAY MAN THEREFORE I’M THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY ON GAY MEN,” you’ll see why I’m so doubtful of a lot of people about who they claim to be. I doubt actual trans men would dedicate such a large portion of their leisure time to yelling at strangers on the internet over inane trivia, because I’m assuming they’d have bigger fish to fry, and actual real life problems to worry about. And probably also a considerable level of empathy on the subject of bullying and harassment, so…needless to say, that sort of behavior would likely be, erm…beneath them. Also, maybe let’s not appropriate that identity, because I imagine it’s demeaning to actual trans guys and the shit they’ve had to go through when all you’ve done is tapped off a hasty afterthought of pronouns in your bio and then assume to speak for them.

There’s also the implication it carries that it’s apparently a lot more beneficial on this site to be othergendered than it is to be female, that we’re still stuck in this shitty online culture where being female is still considered unfashionable and the Absolute Worst Possible Thing a person can be and that claiming to be anything but female is ideal, but that’s a conversation for another time. It’s just, illuminating, I suppose. 

Don’t think I don’t feel bad for pointing this out. I really don’t intend to invalidate anyone’s identity or past abuse, but when it seems like most of you are simply using those labels as weapons for the lone purpose of being huge steaming shitbags to people in fan spaces, you’ll understand why I can’t really take anyone seriously, and why my knee-jerk reaction on this site is to immediately disbelieve that anyone is really who they say they are and not just catfishing for catfishing’s sake. It’s a red flag that goes up whenever someone makes claims as to their identity or education or general worldly experience, when everything about their personality and claims suggest otherwise. Like CSA survivors misusing the word pedophilia, presumed law students making serious accusations of federal crimes with absolutely no evidence to corroborate it, trans people whose only motivation to be on this site is bullying and harassment. 

Pardon if I’m way off base here, I don’t mean to assume what might be considered “normal” behavior for any of these groups of people, but these traits seem a little out of character for those identities, so you’ll forgive me for my skepticism. I think a lot of people here are exaggerating a little about who they say they are. I know it must have been unpleasant, but accidentally stumbling across your parents’ porn stash doesn’t make you a CSA survivor. Occasionally attending a paralegal night class at your local community college for burnouts and recent divorcees doesn’t make you a law student. If you really want to make a convincing case for any of these things that you kids are impersonating, you need to start…well, playing the part a little more convincingly. You’re too obvious in your lie. 

So just a little litmus test the next time you find yourself arrogantly opening any rebuttal with “As a _______, I’m telling you with unassailable authority that you’re wrong/immoral/harmful for liking this thing”, perhaps delete that and try again with something a little more substantial. Because for any of you that haven’t yet made it to sophomore-level debate class, that is a fallacy called “Appeal to Authority,” and it fails from the start because it assumes an individual’s dubious claim on an identity/experience gives them justification to speak for all people in that group. 

This is flawed because it doesn’t rule out the imperfections of personal bias or intersectionality. Instead of using your identity to condescendingly explain why you’re right, try using factual evidence or actual statistics from reliable sources and studies rather than anecdotal evidence. We’re in a post-truth world now (in case any of you haven’t peeked out from under the tumblr-echo-chamber-induced rock you all obviously like to hide under and haven’t noticed), and you’d do best to not contribute to it if you want anyone to take you even remotely seriously when you claim to represent the rights of all those innocents and Others that make up the downtrodden minority of society. Just remember, anecdotal evidence cannot be proven, and it’s useless because literally anyone can just make up some bullshit and apply it to a situation to make themselves look right. 

You know who else does this? Donald Trump. Donald Trump and his lackeys. This little missive is directed mostly at fandom antis, but this can apply to anyone on here who claims to be of any left-leaning persuasion: maybe don’t do that, because you start looking like the very people you claim to oppose, and it weakens every argument you’ll ever make. And I have faith in all of you, that you’re better than that. That you’re smarter than that. Even if your anecdotal evidence is true, it’s inadmissible because it can’t be proven. And it shouldn’t be, for that matter, because you don’t owe that to anyone. All it’s going to do is result in some asshole at some point coming out with their own anecdotal data that’s made up or highly embellished for the sole purpose of belittling yours, and then you’re at an impasse because A) you just spilled your most painful, humiliating memories in vain and B) you either have to acknowledge both accounts or acknowledge neither, and everybody loses. You’ve achieved nothing.

So we’re not here to play oppression olympics or win edgiest blogger award. There’s this really gross thing about tumblr where people are pressured into exposing their traumatic histories and deeply personal information in order to validate enjoyment of their fucking hobbies, and in turn it inspires the children harassing them to “beat the score” or whatever, and that’s when you have them firing back with really dubious accounts of their own, more seriouser trauma that makes them totally righter than you!!! (and is in actuality just a regurgitation of a Law & Order episode they saw once, and very obviously never fucking happened). Fake Tumblr Stories are everywhere, we all know this, we’ve all encountered plenty, but you’re not allowed to question the veracity of any of them or you risk being labeled an abuse apologist or victim blamer or something.

That’s fucking psychotic. Someone shouldn’t have to bleed their darkest moments to some snot-nosed 16 year old brat just to keep from being harassed or falsely reported as a pedophile, and some asshole who arrogantly self-identifies as the fucking moral police shouldn’t be so obsessed with getting the last word on trivial nonsense that they feel obligated to play this woker-than-thou pissing contest with people who have experienced *actual* trauma. I mean, do you kids not see how completely unhinged this behavior is? You children need to be fucking sedated. You’re goddamn nuts. I fear for the day we have to rely on you assholes in the job market, because you’re just gunna fuck everything up. You’ll always be failures. You’ll make a trainwreck of everything.

For lack of a better word,

Yikes. 

Anyway, the point is just a reminder that your identity shouldn’t be relevant when you’re trying to prove a logical point or have any of your arguments taken seriously, if you really are right or justified in your stance. If your argument has any basis in sustainable fact, then your gender/orientation/mental illness/personal history will have no impact whatsoever. So lying about them really isn’t worth it and gains nothing. Just be yourself! I know at the tender ages of ~14-20 you’re desperate to be recognized for how unique you are and you’re struggling to be celebrated as a special individual when you’ve done absolutely nothing, but realistically…that’s a pretty tall order, there are like 7 billion people on the planet, so nothing you can make up about yourself will ever really be that impressive. Stop trying so hard and enjoy your fucking childhood.

And if you find you can’t make a stable argument without using a desperate appeal to authority like that, then maybe you should reassess your stance on things because chances are, it’s because you’re wrong. 

[scripttorture]

Would you be able to talk about alternatives to torture, for gathering information? Like, you've made it very clear that torture does NOT work for that, so what are some things writers could have their characters do instead, to provide an example for people making real-world decisions, that wouldn't involve human-rights violations? (If this isn't your field of knowledge, would you know of things to look up, as a starting point?)

I’m happyto try but the proviso is that almost everything I’ve come across to do withhow interrogations and investigations shouldactually be conducted has come up while researching torture. Which skews theinformation somewhat.

The mainthing that needs stressing is something almost all sources agree on INTERROGATIONS ARE A BAD WAY OF COLLECTINGINFORMATION.

A good investigation would rely primarilyon evidence gathering and informants. For evidence gathering I’dsuggest looking up books and blogs on forensics and perhaps ScriptHacker forcomputer-based evidence.

Informantsare a little trickier. In a best-case members of the public actively want to help with information gathering.A good real life example is the London Bombings in July 2005. Members of the public were essential in thecapture of the terrorists responsible.

Thesepeople included the parents andneighbours of the bombers. These people recognised the bombers from CCTVfootage of the attacks, contacted the police and gave them a lot of essentialinformation. This actually stoppedanother bomb from going off and saved lives.

Supportand help from the public is essential tothe success of any investigation. And having been in the UK at the time ofthose attacks I can also say that this sort of support is often also a sort ofpublic/civic pride. Part of how torture hampers investigations is by makingthis level of public trust and cooperation impossible.

In situationswhere the public doesn’t necessarilysupport the investigation, such as in repressive regimes, people are oftenpaid for information. The system doesn’t work as well but it still functionsreasonably. It’s hugely expensive and not always as reliable.

Insettings with informants it is highlylikely the public is aware of informants. There’s an atmosphere of fear andthe mistaken tendency to believe thatpeople picked up by the police/government musthave had some sort of information. The climate of fear may hamperinvestigations, making ordinary people hesitate to come forward for fear theymight be arrested or implicated.

It’s alsoworth pointing out that even in repressive regimes there are cases that will get widespread public support.It is perfectly reasonable for thedetermined gumshoe in your dystopia setting to get help and support from the public when he’s trying to solve achild’s murder even if the same people ignored him last week when he waslooking for political dissidents.

Which bringsus to the stuff I can actually talk a little about the least reliable method:interrogations.

Iwouldn’t consider myself an expert on interrogation and I’ve never conducted aninterrogation. Most of what I’m putting down here is based on experiments onhuman memory rather than interrogation per say. These techniques are focused ontrying to improve memory more then ‘catch’ lies, they spot inconsistencies theydon’t show whether theinconsistencies are accidental or on purpose.

Get them to tell their story backwards.

If thestory stays consistent when it’s told backwards as well as forwards then youcan be reasonably sure that it is genuinelywhat that person remembers. That isn’t quite the same as it being true. Forcing someone to focus on theirstory in this way sometimes help people to recall additional details. It alsomakes spotting inconsistencies easier. It is much harder to keep a lie consistent when telling the story backwards,so lies are easier to spot. But inconsistencies may also be down to trauma or normal flaws in human memory.

Separate the people involved

Thisdoesn’t just prevent suspects from coming up with a ‘cover story’, it also prevents witnesses from accidentally affecting each other’s memories.In group settings people often have agree with the consensus of the group. Thiscan powerful enough to trigger alterationsin people’s memories.

Build a repartee

Interrogators/interviewersshould try and build up a connection with the people they’re interviewing. Thistakes time and patience. Speaking the interviewee’s native language is usuallyessential as is treating them with respect.

Avoid leading questions or pressure tactics

Theselead to false confessions.

Andthat’s…..a pretty complete summary so far as I know.

The truthis that the backbone of investigations and information gathering is publicsupport. Dossiers are built on people voluntarily supplying information abouttheir neighbours, friends and family as well as strangers.

A closesecond is forensics and physical evidence, which given how much informationabout any one person is now digital, often includes a large amount of onlineand computer-based data.

Interrogationssuck. The human memory is unreliableand becomes more unreliable under stress. Which affects innocent people who arenervous because they’ve just been arrested as much as it affects guilty peoplewho are trying not to get caught.

If youwant to write real-world information gathering my advice is avoidinterrogations as far as possible. They just aren’t that useful.

Sources

S. O’Marain ‘Neuroscience and Interrogation: Why Torture Doesn’t Work’ covers a lot ofthe points on memory.

Rejali in‘Torture and Democracy’ covers how investigations are actually conducted in theabsence of torture with a focus on public cooperation and informants.

The NewScientist has published several articles relevant to human memory over theyears and one specifically on interrogation/interviewing.

Edit: You might want to alsocheck out this blog that takes questions on forensics and investigations.

Disclaimer