Author: deirdre

current news media distrust

There has never been totally unbiased news in the history of the world simply because we ALL have biases ... every single one of us. These biases can’t be totally avoided, even when we recognize them. 

To have so many people claiming they don’t trust any news sources and journalists today because they think they are all ‘too’ biased is sad, and likely dangerous. Yes, there are tabloid newspapers and news broadcasts that make little effort to verify information and/or are radically biased and should not be trusted. However, there are sources that strive to be unbiased and succeed to a good degree. The two newspapers I subscribe to that strive for this have well over 200 Pulitzers between them.

Disparaging all news media as untrustworthy leaves people uninformed and with their heads stuck in the sand. How can you make up your own mind if you don’t seek to allow new information about the world around you in?

lepidoptera

I have always thought that sighting a butterfly - or the more colorful of the moth genre - to be an especially lovely, unexpected treat to the soul and eyes. When one chooses to gift me with its brief, ethereal visit, I can't help but feel a lightness in my heart.

If you see happen to have a camera or camera phone on you when you spot one, you can submit the sighting and photo to The Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) project for identification and inclusion in their rich database - no experience or species knowledge is needed. 

You can also volunteer to be a photograph editor and add other users' verified photographs to their quite extensive image gallery. 

I am eagerly awaiting the confirmation of the species, below, left, that I recently submitted to them. It was a photo from my phone camera taken 2 years ago, possibly of a Red-spotted Purple Butterfly? 

The audio track used is the mystical The Song of the Butterfly, by Estas Tonne, Istvan Sky Kék Ég, Pablo Arellano, and Indrė Kuliešiūtė.