8.03.2007

Workin' Hard



I've been thinkin'.


An' it ain't easy.


Lot's o' folks jes' emote and think they's a thinkin'.

They ain't.




Thinkin' is hard work.


I had ter rock in mah chair half the mornin'
thinkin' on thinkin.'



It ain't feelings. Thinkin' ain't opinions. Thinkin' ain't reactions.

To what is thinkin' aimed? To find a solution to a puzzle? To discover truth?



Here is an example:

What is the opposite of factual? (As distinct from rational)

......Nope...try again....

Negative....think harder.....

See what I mean ? T'ain't easy ter think--it's work, I tell ya'.




Opposite of factual is not a mistake, or an error in judgment.

Opposite of factual is a deliberate lie.


So, thinkin' this way, I see's how it is that facts is used ter communicate a deliberate misunderstandin' of thangs. In other words--to lie. (yeah--ya' oughta gasp)

Example from AP:

"Labor costs rise."

Well, I reckon they did rise.

But the message was meant to be a negative, fear-mongerin' headline.

The fine print (that dern few read) is that wages rose.

Fine print: "The Labor Department reported Tuesday that compensation costs — including wage, salaries and benefits — rose by 0.9 percent in the April-to-June quarter. That was up a bit from the first quarter's 0.8 percent rise.A solid employment climate has made it easier for some workers to command higher wages and benefits."


Yep, folks is gettin' more dough fer their labors so --sure, "labor" costs rose. But it were GOOD news that the newswires wanted to obscure....why is that? Why didn't the headline read,
"Wages Advance, Employment Strong" ?

Why is it that the news thugs wanna engage in that deception? What is their goal?

Well, one thang fer shure--that news headline weren't meant fer us'uns to think about facts or truth. It were meant to be sure we didn't think on what was true about the condition of labor in this last quarter.

23 comments:

sparringK9 said...

to break spirits. and to impose a world view that facilitates their goals. grr

boneman said...

actually, I get in trouble a whol;e lot when I say the one phrase I'll use again here, but, just don't take it personal, ok?

We all of us lie.
Every danged one of us lie....
Sometimes with malice and fore thought, sometimes out'a ignorance, but dang! We just can't really help from doing it.

So, factual?
What we don't say much
would be my answer...

boneman said...

oh, and not everyone's wages improved this past quarter, this past year, or even this passed decade.

I still get the same for my pictures now as I got in 1995.

Dang!

Aunty Belle said...

Yep, She...yep.

Boney,
I'se grieved that ya' doan make more --ya dern shure oughta.

But I'se able to truthfully report that the folks in the Pork Rind factory is makin' a heap more'n last year. Not EVERYbody got a fatter paycheck, but many did.

I'se jes' askin': Does ya'll feel used by the media?

Does ya'll get even a hint that the media might care iffin' this nation eats itself alive wif' class warfare or race warfare or lib vs conservative warfare?

Anonymous said...

whatever my wages are means zero when i look way down the road.

darkfoam said...

i'm always amazed how words can be used to convey different messages about the same issue.
yours is a fine example. media throughout the world seem to be the same. we are lucky to live in a country where we can get different versions of the same fact though.
scary to imagine just one slanted version of a fact.

Aunty Belle said...

Yep Foamy, as ya'say "different messages about the same issue. "

So then, the thinkin' comes in,right? I mean that we folks then have to do the HARD work of thinkin' about info we take in--thinkin what it really means.

So now we have two pieces of info:
1) wages are up, employment is healthy
2) the media doan want ya to know that: they deliberately buries the truth of this good news from the reading public

AND, from THEIR readers--meaning, they have some relationship with their readers, some obligation to treat their readers with respect that --at the least--ought be not ter deceive them.

What does it mean to you Foamy, (Boney Man, She-pup) that the media
is leading ya' to think one way, and not the factual way?

See, what makes Aunty wanna jerk knots in media bosses is that they's all countin' on us to EMOTE, not to think...they think we's idiots, and all we's a'gonna do is to emoter, mewl and whine over the spin they fed us--they ain't even worried we might think it through.

Aunty Belle said...

Anon--think I knows what ya mean...but help me a bit. What road is ya' lookin' down?

Anonymous said...

Ms. Belle,
in the all-the-rage play WICKED the Wizard tells the witch Elphaba,

"Where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it - "history."

Aunty Belle said...

ANON, Ah, the Wizard...so youse sayin' it is the Yellow Brick Road youse lookin' down?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, "what is truth?"
As in the flower farmer "exporting poppies to the West". (from your other porch blog)

CU,
WD

X. Dell said...

Well, there's another piece of necessary information still missing in what you posted: namely, the comparison of wage earnings to inflation. It also doesn't include information about who received the wage increases. If, for example, there were a surge in managemnet and executive salaries (including bonuses) that could have accounted for the numerical bump that's reported here, without having much bearing on the rank and file.

So, if you see deception in this article, let me add the above to it.

I can't say that I've given a lot of thought about what constitutes the opposite of fact, but I would rule out a deliberate lie immediately. A fact is simply a datum without empirical connotations. Soif someone knowlingly gives you false information, they're still giving you facts, just not very helpful ones.

Aunty Belle said...

X.Dell...youse confusin' me--if some one knowingly gives you false information, they ain't nuthin' that says it is still factual. Why does ya think it is still factual? It might be factual, but used in the wrong way to give leave you with an untrue context... but it also could be NOT factual.

A fact is accurate information, accurate reflection of reality. A deliberate lie is meant to deprive you of an accurate reflection of reality.

boneman said...

Garanteed fact the medias use the dickens out'a us. And I hate it!

Even worse is when a news organization (that's what THEY call it, but, I'de have to go to the back porch t'tell ya what I call it) (gosh, in fact, I believe there's a picture of it at m'place...only, NOT holy.)
where was I?
oh yeah, even worse is when news organizations fill the air with nothin but lies even without doing the simple work of investigation.

Burns m'biscuits, it does.

X. Dell said...

(smiles)

I understand where you are coming from in that you define a fact as such because of its veracity. That's a popular connotation of the word, as when Joe Friday says, "Just the facts, ma'am."

But at its basic sense, a fact is simply a piece of info that remains a piece of information whether or not it has veracity: quoting Google's online dictionary (because it was available--any dictionary, however, should have this definition, or something like it), "a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred."

People give us facts all the time that have little or no veracity to them, yet we recognize them as facts.

Say that we (everyone here) accept your definition of the word 'fact,' and only your definition of it. It still has qualities that are similar to the non-fact. Both serve as data to support a narrative or point of view. Since their functions are the same, to persuade, then I really would rule them out as antonyms.

Aunty Belle said...

(big ole grin) Well...X-man Dell, Aunty has ter admit, I ain't too much in ter "narrative" whar' that is a story tha gives a very selective "context" fer certain points of view. I cain't git on board with the "yore truth" , "my truth", thang.

A pet peeve round heah is sappy phrases like "telling our stories". Looky , any "story" (not countin' fairy tales which have truth embedded, but the "context" is story-fied) is only worth whatever points it shares with OBJECTIVE reality...what is objective? That which is verified, and not in need of a "story".

See, Aunty notes that whar' folks is uncomfortable wif a bald-headed truth they try ter put some hair on it, comb it fer presentation, etc.

'Course, the above is not meant about opinions--folks is welcome to all manner of opinions and viewpoints-- shure!

I'se jes' keen on keepin' the two thangs distinct: Truth doan need no story. Opinions and viewpoints might.

We can always find plenty of room fer yakkin' about what the *import* of any truth is--an' thas' whar' opinons enter in--then let it rip! Get a good jaw goin'......but let's not fear bald truth.

Infinitesimal said...

well, so minimum wage went up from $5.15 to what? $5.65-$5.85 per hour...

I can tell you this, gas costs twice as much as it did the last time minimum wage was raised from $4.85 to $5.15. I can tell you that the cost of bus fare doubled in that time. I can also assure you that those individuals who worked for years to earn raises in income in 10 and 15 cent increments did NOT in fact have their wage increased as well. If they were making $5.85 (working for years to get it up that high from $4.85) they just were told that they now made the minimum wage along with the person that was just hired and they were now in charge of training.

Additionally, this wage, if it is in fact $5.85.... will garner after federal state and local taxes, approx $650-$700 per month. And this is for working a 40 hour week, if one works overtime, they are then taxed an additional %15 percent, which basically equals out to working for free during the overtime hours.... "But you get it back at the end of the year" is what upper management tells them, as they return home to eat ramen noodles and kool aid agin for supper because it is 3 days before payday, there is no food in the house at all and they had to go to the dentist last month and are still paying for that visit out of every check.

It always deeply saddens me to realize how little the middle class or wealthy understand the serious nature of low-income jobs.

There also is the added element of prejudice to add to the mix. Mexicans and Black Americans are expected to wash our cars, flip our burgers and clean our public restrooms.... they are offered only minimum wage jobs in many southern states.

A person of color must outshine any other applicant and be twice as impressive to even be considered, and don't talk to me about affirmative action, because that is a whole nother can o' worms Bellsie.

Now I do not claim that my figures are absolute fact, I am not sure how much the new minimum wage is, and I do not know to what greater percent exactly that the overtime is taxed, but I do tell the truth, and one last thing that I ask for you to consider is this: Full time employment is 32-40 hours, many supervisors play favorites by giving some people 32 and others 40 hour work weeks... at 32 hours of $5.85 per hour, take home pay is: $528.00 after taxes.

My rent is $675 per month, my heat and electric/gas bill is $180 in the winter and gas is about 3 dollars a gallon, it costs $1.50m to ride the bus one way.

I think that working wage is not as up as one who is comfortable might assume. I do not know if that was the point of your post or not....

Hey, you should rent this movie called "Conversations With God."
I think you would like it.

Little Lamb said...

Employment is not all that healthy for me. I did get a raise after begging and begging for it. And then do you know what happened? I got my hours cut back. Go figure.

It wasn't just because I begged for a raise. It was because I work in a thrift store and they haven't made budget the way they're supposed to. So some people lost their jobs (they were laid off) and others got their hours cut back.

Right now, I don't mind, I can relax more. I get to go home an hour early every day.

Also there's lessons to learn through this, like living below your means.

I'll get through this with the good Lord's help. He has always provided. And always will.

Aunty Belle said...

Hey Infini, and LAmby--so pleased to see you.

Yep. wages still too low in many many cases---I hears ya!

The thang is, I did not mean to imply wages were good. I meant to indicate that fer pete's sake, the "news" was given as "labor costs rise" rather than phrasing it in the more truthful positive way--increased wages.

My irritation is the spin them news monger put on thangs--

Fini, I will get you movie. I'se discovered netflix. But it took me forever to get Heny V--but it were SO SO Awesome.

Infinitesimal said...

Neat, I will geet Henry V then myself...

I have stopped watching the news because it is all garbage, and fluff, and ignoring of the true issues at hand.

What blonde chick who is rich has an eating disorder/flashed her shaved hoo-hoo/went to jail/went to rehab/got a traffic violation

is all the news thats fit to print nowadays... and i tuned into CNN for a spell this week, and thought I was watching the Jerry Springer show.

Ceptin' that Anderson Cooper, I would not kick him outta bed fer eatin' crackers... and even though he was originally the host of the TV show "The Mole" I can still take him seriously. And it would seem that he has at least 1/2 to 3/4 of a brain.

Labor costs are up... I wonder if they's jawing 'bout them there "outsourced" fer-in jobs what done gone up from $1.20 per day to a buck fiddy.

I been thinking lately about the number 4,400 by the way...

I hope you enjoy that movie, it's a bit slow at first, but it picks up, and is a true story. I'll be interested to hear your take on it.

Aunty Belle said...

Contessa, , yep--CNN and all hem "news" shows is pablum fer American two yea-olds-- I mean, the networks thinks we's incapable of handling actgual news so we git the garbage ya jes' outlined.

Yore COnversations will be my next order--I'se got She-Pup's suggestion of Frankenstein up fer this weekend.

Anderson Cooper, huh?

Aunty Belle said...

Fini, wait...what does ya mean--thinkin' on 4400? Does ya mean 144000?

Infinitesimal said...

YEAH, 14,400

thanks....