One variation on a pithy observation that’s been attributed to several people, including Mark Twain, Jonathan Swift, Thomas Jefferson, and others, goes like this: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That old adage takes on added significance when information is moving all over the globe at the speed of light, which, I’m told, is rather fast. In our age of mass communications, with hundreds of TV channels, radio, satellite radio, the Internet, Usenet, cell phones, etc., etc., one must be ever vigilant for untruth. Regardless of whether it’s deliberate lies or innocent mistakes, untruth is sent around the world at warp speed. It is then quoted, replicated, copied, and sent on its merry way again, and again, and in no time folks are in possession of “false information.” The problem of false information is compounded when so many people blog, tweet on Twitter, opine in Comments areas, and...(Read Full Article)