We may never know the true depths of fake information on the internet.  For years people have warned that 40+ percent of the stuff posted on the internet was clearly false and more misleading.  Clearly it is likely more when you add social media.  The internet, for all its good points, is also the place where everyone who wants to create trouble can connect with others who create trouble.  There is no need to fact check or to provide sources on the internet – just get “likes” and “follows.”  You can say almost anything and post almost anything without many limits – the crazier the more people seem to pay attention.  So much reality TV on the web.

So trying to get the message to people about important items is a challenge for water utilities.  The internet can help, and hurt  Even legitimate news can go both ways.  Now think about people deliberately sabotaging you.  And it happens, as we saw throughout the recent election.  How do we combat this?  How to ordinary people sift through the fake stuff and find the facts as most of us want to convey? Way too many people think everything on the internet is real.  But it is not….

I thought this was an interesting take anyway on the depths of the problem.  I see that twitter and Facebook are going to try to address the most egregious stuff, but…..

Obama is worried about fake news on social media – and we should be too — The Guardian

Here is the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2016 Anthology with my coyote story in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Found-Stories-Mountain-Fiction-Writers/dp/0976022559/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478003313&sr=8-1&keywords=found+rmfw

It is Wednesday November 9.  The election day is over. FINALLY!  You get your internet, TV, phone, text messages, cable, radio and other devices back from the slog that have been the election season.  Record amounts of nastiness, hate, divisiveness, demagoguery.  Record amounts of money were spent on this election.  Billions of dollars spent.  Think about it.  Billions just for ad and  spin-doctors.  Couldn’t those billions be spent on something more productive?  Anything?  Please?  Like infrastructure?  Maybe all contributions to elections should be matched with contributions to fix the nation’s infrastructure?

As South Park enters its 18th season, I can’t help but think back on all the laughable and teachable moments that it has provided us. While some may think that it is simply a show that tries to be fair by taking equal shots at everyone (there is some truth to that), the greater point…

via The Wit and Wisdom of the Best South Park Quotes — Inspirational Quotes | Motivational Blog | Images | Pictures

Southeast Florida was lucky – little damage, little impact.  Farther up the coast the little eastward wobble on Friday helped folks in Melbourne, but the path of destruction picked up going north.  People were still on the bridges and the beaches in St. Augustine after they were told to evacuate.  Not smart.  The death toll is 21 at the moment – we were lucky it was not worse like in Haiti where it will exceed 500.  Fortunately we have better infrastructure to respond and better warning systems.

Homes on the beach in Palm Coast has sand inside, but the Carolinas got the brunt of it, much like in 1999 with Hurricane Floyd.  Then they had cows and pigs on roofs of barns to stay dry.  My friends in eastern North Carolina, living in the land of hard red clay and  limited topography, have a situation that will make drainage more difficult, and therefore more costly and disruptive.  Millions are without power.  Some without water.   The situation in Lumberton shows what can happen when vital services like water are not available even for short periods.   The news does not tell us when that system will be back up, but you can see the breakdown occurring in the community as people struggle with basic needs. Our thoughts for quick recovery and safety are with them.

And those of us who were not impacted by this storm despite being being in its path – be really really thankful!!  Talking about us, south Florida!!

From Reuters:

We are currently waiting on Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 hurricane that will be skirting the Florida coast for the next 2 days.  We could get some really big winds out of this.  And lots of power outages and possible water and sewer outages.  The good news, our Florida WARN system is a system where utilities work together to pool assets to help each other.  It is a model system modeled by many others. Tree create the biggest challenge to water viability since most of us have generators.  Sewer is much more dependent on localized power, which is why the FLAWarn system to share generators is a model.  It helps those who are stressed.  The hope is not too many people will be stressed.  Matthew is offshore, a slight eastward movement.  We will see how this affects us.    Meanwhile the models show a loop.  A second Florida hit.  That would be a first.  Let’s hope it doesn’t create more a problem.  Stay Safe out there!!