Would you trust this man with your life?

As the end of the year 2018 draws near I keep wondering why people are willing to put their lives in the hands of a man who is incapable of closing an umbrella. But suppose he can handle an umbrella but simply choose not to put in the effort to close it and just expected someone else to clean up after him...who thinks a man who doesn't care about an umbrella really cares about education for poor children, healthcare for elderly citizens or any other subject he can't personally profit from?



His daughter recently bought the right to build voting computers (in China!), shared secret government information through her private e-mail address and still sells clothes that are not made in America.

Is the Trump family really that popular under the American population or is their popularity fake news?



Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K4007NG

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories have been around for a long time. 'Fake news' is nothing new, athough easier to spread than ever thanks to social media. https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-the-woman-who-was-alex-jones-before-alex-jones-existed?via=twitter_page

'What do scientists know? My gutfeeling (re: my favourite media-channel) knows better! On top of that: a friend of my neighbour wrote on Facebook something that made me question those people who studied on the matter for years and my neighbours friend stated he once wrote an article contradicting those so called scientists.'

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K4007NG

Forever (a short story)

The man stood leaning against the wall in such a way that it was unclear if the wall was supporting him or vice versa.

If contact was broken one of them would topple. That much seemed certain.

While he stood there his gaze rested on a face in the crowd. Hers.

The moment he had seen her he had fallen for her, although he wasn't in the habit of falling for just any woman.

But he knew: if he fell now he would keep falling.
Forever.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K4007NG

Rosie the Riveter and the Woozle effect

We have all seen this picture of 'Rosie the Riveter', the strong woman who supports the soldiers fighting for God, country and democracy while she works herself in a sweat providing bullets to kill the evil Germans and Japanese. Right?

For years people knew who she was in real life. But they were wrong. Here's the story on that.

People believing they knew who the real Rosie the Riveter was were victims of the 'Woozle effect': believing something is true for the sole reason you heard and read it often. The effect is named after the imaginary creature by the same name in a Winnie the Pooh story: he believes the creature is real because his friend does and vice versa.

The Woozle effect is very real on social media where it's even possible to quote a non-existing research paper as 'evidence' for an non-proven theory, leading people to believe anything. You probably know of a few examples. Here's one:

Many people believe Al Gore was wrong when he stated humans are in large parts responsible for climate change. More than a few point to a quote that was widely spread through social media. For a large part by fake accounts that all quoted the same snippet from a conservative source. Why do people believe these 'facts'? Because they are reported not only just often but often by people who hold the same believes as they do. Here's the full story: https://www.skepticalscience.com/comeback-strategies-al-gore.html


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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K4007NG