Good grief! I stopped watching the news several years ago on account of the fact that the last thing I need in my life are more lies, deception, and negativity. Last week I had occasion to catch the TV news a few times and I was downright horrified, but also it was so surreal it kind of made me laugh.
Apparently Americans are trapped beneath a giant heat dome crushing down upon us with suffocating weight. Cut to a heavy-set woman having an asthma attack at the edge of a fountain. “I just literally can’t breath,” she gasps, “the heat is overwhelming.” She is puffing on an inhaler and it is probably about 70 degrees out judging from the light sweaters and jackets being worn by those walking by in the background.
Which brings us to rip currents. If the heat does not kill you outright, any attempts to cool off will surely kill you. Man eating rip currents are coming for you. You can’t see them, you can’t hear them, but they are the silent killers. But wait, we now present some shocking footage of a shark….. swimming in the ocean. Nobody knows how many people will die, but experts predict it could be in the thousands.
Of course, of you avoid the beach, this being America you could always just get shot. Two people were just shot in Arkansas. Yep, Arkansas! Apparently nobody realizes how huge the US really is. My condolences regarding whatever happened in Arkansas, but if you want some real crime statistics, I think Chicago just had about 120 shootings this past weekend. Not sure why nobody ever cares about Chicago. I had no sooner had that very thought, when we suddenly cut back to the shark footage….
Even the commercials during the news where downright miserable! Do you have cancer? Bladder control issues? Mental health problems? Costly auto repairs? Has your spouse abandoned you? Is your home being foreclosed? Are you estranged from your children? Do you have a drinking problem? If not, why not??!
I mean, wowsers! After two minutes of those dreary, doom and gloom commercials, I was eager to get back to the joy of shark attacks. I should clarify here, nobody was actually attacked by a shark in the US, at least not this week, as least as far as I can tell. Judging from all the shark footage you would think that was what you were hearing about, but no, they were addressing potential, future, possible shark attacks!
They were flat out future tripping. Exploiting our negativity bias. Using prophetic vain imaginings to frighten us. Dropping random shark footage to instill fear so our critical thinking skills are diverted.
I remember a time in America when we actually welcomed summer. It was about camping trips and swimming, picnics and ice cream trucks. Vacations, good weather, spending time with family. As unpleasant as hot weather can sometimes be, it is simply called “summer.” It is a seasonal event, not a natural disaster.
Avoid the news. Seriously, there are plenty of really scary things going on in the world that are real. You are NOT going to hear about any of them on the news. And if you try to talk to people about any them, most likely they’ll just dismiss it all as a conspiracy theory anyway.
Doug said:
While people are generally free to take in life at their own preferred rate.. or not… using whatever senses they choose… or not… I have found often enough that some folks with the more avid opinions of society are the one’s who shut out television… which is THE main communication device of our society. Given television, in all its absurdity, entertainment, distractions…. is a reflection of our society. Even commercials are a method of reflecting changing and evolving communications, social mores, fads, fantasies, etc. As much as it is a source of great information (from which you can argue is fact or fantasy) can also be a theater of the absurd… or a danger to those vulnerable or susceptible to its seductions. So to me, when someone says they ignore television (save for popping in a recorded movie from the past) I’m assuming the opinions they have, have been formed without the main attachment to society most of us indulge in… or they are simply too disinterested to bother to filter what they see/hear when necessary. Shunning a portion is a wall to protect ones self. At the same time, your recent happenchance gaze at the news informing you of a heat dome traversing the country has been in fact “a thing” for a couple weeks now…. or sharks on the verge of nibbling at your toes having been a “thing” for years now… rather takes you out of one of society’s inclusionary loops.
But… that’s just my interpretation… which pretty much means nothing. It does nothing to change the fact we are all human in the end.
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Citizen Tom said:
Doug, the mass media does several things at least.
Contemplate the fact that most of the mass media is owned by about five or six massive corporations. Then there is Big Tech with Internet media. The owners of all these information sources have shared political agendas, and they have their differences. So, we have to filter out the propaganda and try to figure out what is really going on. The question is how.
We cannot watch or listen to all of the mass media or the social media. Not possible. Therefore, we have to choose where we get our information. Before we criticize insanitybytes22, don’t you think we ought to find out where she gets her news?
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Doug said:
News is not the entire point. TV is a reflection of our universal culture, like it or not. What’s on it influence who we are as a society.. good, bad, ugly. To deny that is to shut off a part of society…. and if you need that isolation then fine. Otherwise the lack thereof might question your particular biases.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
We all need isolation from sewers of misinformation.
We become what we think about, where we allow our minds to dwell.
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Doug said:
Why do I follow in here and your blog (and others), Tom? I find MAGA Conservatives pretty much misguided and languishing in a cultish sea of someone else’s behavioral dysfunction, criminal behavior, and immoral (to my view of Christianity) behavior. I could easily just dismiss it all and sit around in some anti-Trump echo chamber blog and ignore nearly half the country (and I am sure most on this blog wish I did anyway), but I don’t keep up with concepts and current thought that way. But to the greater point, the other half of the country following the cult are fellow Americans. These folks are a mix of those “just plain hating Biden” in general, but mostly they are Americans full of angst and anger and disgruntled faith in our institutions seeming to favor only the “elites” of the country… for having been an unheard minority since the country has been founded. I suppose if I am going to blather my opinion across an uncaring land I’d much rather try and have some faith beyond just sources but in my own ability to understand both sides. Seriously… the country is going to experience some real nasty stuff in the coming months, regardless who wins or loses.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
You find βMAGA Conservatives pretty much misguided and languishing in a cultish sea of someone elseβs behavioral dysfunction, criminal behavior, and immoral (to my view of Christianity) behavior,β but, oddly, you can never explain how that is so. You donβt even try. You just say it is so. Specifics you donβt have.
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Doug said:
And you have proved my point, Tom. You isolate yourself on the Right Wing gibberish so much you apparently have NO idea what anti-Trumpers are all about. Oh.. and by anti-Trumpers I do not mean “Biden-lovers”.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
You make personal. Yet you know little about me. You donβt know where I get my news and entertainment. Yet I have proven your point.
What are anti-Trumpers all about? Considering that anti-Trumpism consumes 90 percent of the news media it is almost impossible not to know. The problem is the lies.
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Doug said:
I gotta admit, Tom.. you’ve gotta be one of his most devoted followers… all the way back to his descending from the heavens.. oops.. I mean, down the escalator.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
I supported one of Trumpβs opponents back then, Senator Ted Cruz. I initially considered Trump a showboat. Did not support Trump until he got the nomination. Then I supported him because the alternative was Crooked Hillary and because I believed the news media had conspired to give Trump the nomination because they thought he was a weak candidate.
After Trump was elected, I was relieved he actually tried to do a good job and did fairly well. More than I had expected.
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Doug said:
We should always celebrate human diversity.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
So we are supposed to celebrate evil people, dumb people, sick people, poor people, enslaved peopleβ¦..
When we celebrate something, we really need to give the matter some thought first. Otherwise, we will find ourselves wasting government funds to transgender children just because some greedy, sick conmen think it profitable.
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Doug said:
You’re going off on tangents again, Tom.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
Would you like to provide the Liberal Democratic Party’s definition of diversity? Does it actually allow for a diversity of opinions?
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Doug said:
Why you asking me what motivates Liberals? I’m a former Reagan Republican, man without a party.
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Citizen Tom said:
@Doug
If you are going to adopt the language of Liberal Democrats, then you had better understand the terms.
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seekingdivineperspective said:
Citizen Tom, I used to have a small home-made sign on top of our TV with that very verse (4:8). It’s a good guideline for viewing, and for thinking in general.
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Citizen Tom said:
@seekingdivineperspective
I heartily agree.
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Anna Waldherr said:
:)))))
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Texans Jack & Dodie said:
I am one of those people who does not watch any TV, news or otherwise, (except when in a hotel traveling, if the Andy Griffith Show is on) and my opinions are formed without the “main attachment.” I actually go out & interview people. This includes the off the street common man, sources in government, science, military, law enforcement, entertainment, etc. Most of which I have developed & can trust after over 45 years of reporting.
YOU ARE RIGHT ON! THANK YOU AGAIN!
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insanitybytes22 said:
Really good point about, “go out and interview people.” Do you own research, become your own journalist! I live in a small town and it’s a bit funny how surprised people are when I suggest, “let’s just go ask them.” It’s certainly not Andy Griffith’s neighborhood in these parts, but you can walk across the street and go right to the source.
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The Night Wind said:
June is ‘Pride Month’ now, though. One can escape the heat, sharks, and gunfire by going to one of the many taxpayer-funded Pride Events. Nothing bad ever happens at those things (at least we never hear any negative media coverage about them if they do).
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alphaandomega21 said:
Why does nobody care about Chicago? Because their are a lot of criminals there who don’t want attention. These are not the obvious ones committing the obvious murders though.
Chicago has a history of crime going way back. Even in the UK it had an infamous reputation.
It is currently in Democratic control under Jay Pritzker. Being a large man he tips the elections in the Democrats favour.
Hillary Clinton was born and raised there, Barack Obama lived there for a while and was elected president whilst there.
I see Chicago is to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
And as I said before, Chicago has a history of crime even up to the present day.
You mentioned sharks and Chicago in the same paragraph…
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Doug said:
I was born and raised there, and raised my kids there there. Yep.. and the state has had a series of governors who ended up convicted on one thing or another. Go back to the Democratic convention in 1968… the grossest misuse of police in the U.S. and they are going to try and not repeat it this time. We had Al Capone, too. Thanks to Desilu Studios we exported that around the world.
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Jack Curtis said:
To be fair, the government and media still seem quite reliable when reporting current weather ///
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seekingdivineperspective said:
“If not, why not??!” Ha!
I walked into Sunday school yesterday and was greeted with “How come you always look happy? Are you ALWAYS happy?!”
I was a bit taken aback and said, “I tried being grumpy. It wasn’t helpful.” I turned to the 90-year-old man next to me and asked how he was. He said, “I got out of bed this morning. That’s something to be thankful for.” That’s the spirit! ππ (I’ll take Sunday school over the news any day.)
P.S. Was it Rush that called the Sunday morning news program “Meet the Depressed”?
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Doug said:
Interesting. As i was returning to my seat following partaking in Holy Communion yesterday a fellow member grabbed my hand in acknowledgement.. and I remarked, “How are you doing today.” He replied with a joyful grin, “I got up, and made it to the bathroom!” I smiled and said, “Excellent! Now, what are you gonna do with that?”
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Re-Farmer said:
There have been a few times where I was directly involved or witness to things reported in the news. I’ve even been interviewed on the street at events and been in some news clips over the years. I remember seeing how things were reported on – or how I was edited into a report – and wondering if they were even talking about the same event I was at, they so badly twisted what happened. Worse, they got even the most basic background facts wrong. The reporters on the street are often pretty good. It’s when the story gets through the editors that they go downhill. One reporter that interviewed me while covering a story, contacted me later. He was so angry with what the editors did, he came back with a camera man, did a new report and edited it himself to reflect the situation accurately. They actually broadcast his 2 minute report, but it was completely buried in all the other versions that fed the narrative.
Things have only gotten much worse since then.
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Texans Jack & Dodie said:
Totally believe you. I’m wondering what the emphasis on ethics & truth in journalism school is like today?
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Re-Farmer said:
Journalism schools are run by the same neo-Marxists that indoctrinate our future teachers. Ethics and truth are whatever they say they are.
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Citizen Tom said:
When we let the politicians run our education system, the results should have been predicable. Unfortunately, books and schools for the general public are a relatively new phenomena. So, it seems we had to find out how government-run education works the hard way.
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pkadams said:
Your last sentence is the best . π
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SLIMJIM said:
Break from the news is good for the soul
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insanitybytes22 said:
Amen, Slim! π
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SLIMJIM said:
And amen
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