"President Trump stands as a singular figure in American history for his willingness to entertain conspiracy theories from the Oval Office, and none has been more damaging or far reaching than his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him. One out of every three Americans believes that there was widespread fraud in the last presidential election, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, despite no evidence to support that view. Two in three Republicans believe so.The social conditions that brought so many people to believe the falsehoods Trump has told about the election and a litany of other issues took root decades before he became a political figure and will extend far beyond the four years of his administration, according to scholars of disinformation and conspiratorial thinking.“What’s unique about Donald Trump is that he took advantage of this widespread distrust of government and media to say everyone is lying to you except for me. We have never had a president so devoted to spreading disinformation and trying to overturn an election,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California at Davis. “The people who stormed the Capitol are absolutely convinced that the election was stolen. They’re not being opportunistic; they really believe this. And all of the social science shows that if someone really believes a conspiracy theory, it is just about impossible to change their minds.”
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
"all of the social science shows that if someone really believes a conspiracy theory, it is just about impossible to change their minds”
Compost service coming to Franklin, sign up for a plan to begin Jan 25
- Franklin - Monday, January 25th
- Cohasset - Thursday, January 21st
- Norfolk - Monday, January 25th"
"Compost, Grow, Eat...Repeat. Our mission is to collect food waste, process it into nutrient rich compost, and return it to the community. There it will re-enter the growth cycle in your backyard garden or at a local farm, creating zero waste."
This is not a Town of Franklin service, it is provided by the Black Earth Compost company
New York Times: Fox settles lawsuit over it's lies
"On Oct. 12, 2020, Fox News agreed to pay millions of dollars to the family of a murdered Democratic National Committee staff member, implicitly acknowledging what saner minds knew long ago: that the network had repeatedly hyped a false claim that the young staff member, Seth Rich, was involved in leaking D.N.C. emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Russian intelligence officers, in fact, had hacked and leaked the emails.)Fox’s decision to settle with the Rich family came just before its marquee hosts, Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity, were set to be questioned under oath in the case, a potentially embarrassing moment. And Fox paid so much that the network didn’t have to apologize for the May 2017 story on FoxNews.com.But there was one curious provision that Fox insisted on: The settlement had to be kept secret for a month — until after the Nov. 3 election. The exhausted plaintiffs agreed."
NO Trash Delay This Week
NO Trash Delay This Week
Monday, January 18, 2021
FM #438 SchComm Davis Thayer FA Mtg - 01/14/21 (audio)
FM #438 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 438 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee Davis Thayer Facility Analysis meeting held on Thursday, Jan 14, 2021.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: some of the School Committee and Central Office personnel were in the Municipal Building, the remainder of the Committee was remote via conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to my notes.
Let’s listen to this segment of the Davis Thayer Facility Analysis meeting of Jan 14, 2021
Audio file = https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-438-schcomm-davis-thayer-fa-mtg-01-14-21
--------------
Agenda doc
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/davis-thayer-facilities-analysis.html
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/school-committee-davisthayer-facility.html
-------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
- If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The
music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the
group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c.
Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You
can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or
your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
![]() |
FM #438 SchComm Davis Thayer FA Mtg - 01/14/21 (audio) |
FM #437 SchComm Budget SubComm Mtg - 01/14/21 (audio)
FM #437 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 437 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee Budget Subcommittee
meeting held on Thursday, Jan 14, 2021.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: some of the School Committee and Central Office personnel were in the Municipal Building, the remainder of the Committee was remote via conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to my notes.
Let’s listen to this segment of the Budget Subcommittee meeting of Jan 14, 2021
Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/H6bbvfFS
--------------
Agenda doc
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/school-committee-budget-sub-committee.html
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/school-committee-budget-subcommmittee.html
-------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
- If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The
music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the
group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c.
Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You
can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or
your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Franklin TV: Building Back Better Than Ever!
A year ago at this time we began worrying about this new virus cum pandemic. Eleven months ago we shut down. Our studios remain closed. They will likely remain closed well into Spring – perhaps longer. Our TV and radio studios are dark. Painful, but necessary.
Along the way we have had to pivot – shift gears – call it what you will, but this new normal that is still defining itself has forced us to revisit everything that we do. Our technical facilities and operations had to be reworked from the ground up – quickly.
First up – Get the radio station reworked to enable remote operations from homes. Franklin Public Radio relies on volunteers to create our weekly programming heard on wfpr.fm. Since last year our volunteers have risen from 17 to 30, almost double. Their programming has expanded from four days to span the entire week.
Town Chambers required a significant facility redesign to incorporate live remote interaction between residents and meeting officials via Zoom. This was done with permanence in mind, providing greatly valued, very convenient access for all. There are more planned improvements pending through Spring. We have also upgraded our website, adding live streaming in HD for all three of our channels as well as video-on-demand service for our programs and government meetings.
More recently, we have also added live high school sports coverage for parents who can’t attend our Panther games. We are continuing to refine and expand this effort. We are working with neighboring towns to carry the ‘away’ games as well. Like our radio and government efforts, this also is a permanent change for the better.
Change happens. Each and every day we make choices – to have that change affect us as it will, or to drive that change toward a direction of our choosing; converting the daunting challenges of unexpected change into newfound opportunities for growth. Given all that has happened to us in 2020 – and all that we have made happen - and all that we will continue to make happen in 2021 – I am enthused – and grateful. IMHO, 2021 and beyond will be nothing short of amazing – for all of us.
And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm.
And, thank you for watching.