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The News Make People Stupid

solid7

solid7

I am currently living in Seattle, just outside the CHAZ/CHOP, whatever it's currently called.  Literally, I live so close, I could smell the flash bangs.  I've been down there almost every single day since the police packed up.
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I really haven't read or watched news (intentionally) for over 7 years.  I pride myself on being ignorant to current events, given an experience that i had some years back.  Basically, the conclusion that I reached, was that I could turn off the news for 10 years, and when I turned it back on, the only thing that would be different, would be names and faces.  Well, that would have been true, except 2020 came along.  I guess they just ran out of old shit to rehash.
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Back to the point.  Since I live here, I consider myself fairly well informed about what's going on.  Since I have a local perspective, it was hard for me to understand what all of this nonsense was, that I was hearing about "armed terrorists", and "ID checkpoints", and whatnot. My friends were calling me, and concernedly asking me if I was alright. (which caught me completely off guard)  So I decided to see what the news was saying, that has everyone head so filled with crap.
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I'm not political, and will not make any political statements.  Nevertheless, I admit that what I'm about to say, may not make some folks happy.  It's just an honest statement, with no motive, but to disseminate some truth. Especially for those of you who might have friends or relatives here, and actually care about something besides chasing imaginary bad guys. Literally the only news that was even close to the truth about what's going on down here was CNN.  Then, I watched Fox News.  All I can say is, how that company doesn't get sued for false advertising, is beyond me, because what they're pushing isn't news. What a load of trip they're pumping out.  If you watch that station, please - for the love of God - turn it off now.  That company is going to make you an angry, bitter fool.
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This all made me realize that my decision to turn off the news, was not wrong.  And if you don't think that you're being lied to, then you're not interested in searching for the truth.  The steaming heap of propaganda being broadcast, is staggering.  It's easy to accept what is coming through the tube as well researched, and authoritative.  But we aren't living in the 1960's anymore, and Walter Cronkite is dead.  Let's all wake up, folks.  America is nearing Idiocracy.
 
 
rickster said:
you must work for cnn. lol.  all cable news is opinion pieces. not real news, just what fits their narrative.
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After living down here, and having taken part in NONE of it, I'm just telling you what I've seen.  I didn't say to switch to CNN.  I said that the news is enabling the mass stupidity that we live every single day. 
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And yes, it's all slanted.  It's just amazing how you'll never see that, until you're close to some events, so that you can see it for yourself.  It's not even subtle.
 
DWB said:
We don't have cable so we don't watch either of those. We watch PBS news. I believe that's the most independent and impartial.
 
I agree, close to Idiocracy. We have watched that movie.
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I don't have cable, either.  The only times I ever see news anymore, is when I stay at a hotel somewhere.
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Living in Florida, I always had to laugh when hurricane coverage came on.  Usually, I'd just chalk it up to vain, narcissistic news anchors, who were more interested in the sexiest carnage clips, than actually informing people.  But it seems that you can extrapolate that thinking across every subject.  These new people are actually entertainers.  And the public gets off on the news. 
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panem et circenses.  (that's also quite a real possibility)
 
Ashen said:
The news doesn't make people stupid.
It is an educational system that focuses on having people regurgitate information, instead of learning to think critically, that is the biggest problem.
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Agreed on the second part.  But my argument to that, is that if you keep a system of critical thinking from working properly for long enough, you cause regression.  Entropy.  Stupidity.  Whatever you like.
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But that's just semantics.  You get it.
 
Ashen said:
The news doesn't make people stupid.
It is an educational system that focuses on having people regurgitate information, instead of learning to think critically, that is the biggest problem.
Click to expand...
 
I absolutely agree, Ashen. I have seen it in the real world. I watched my kids go through the complete absurd nightmare that was the same schools I went to. In the 40+ years between my graduation and theirs, the entirety of rational thought has been stripped from curriculum. We had Civics class, and an American History curriculum that emphasized the Founding, the Founders and the stewards of that Founding. My kids brought home the Soviet revision of all of it. We couldn't home-school, so we after-schooled. My kids know the US Constitution in the context in which those documents were written. I doubt that one in over 500 American parents can say that. Or even care...
 
PaulG said:
+1 DW. I watch PBS for the real news,
Brooks and Shields for commentary.
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Those two rock. I've been terribly entertained these last few years by conservative Brooks as he struggles with his ever-increasing disdain for the current administration. And then I watch Washington Week. My Friday night routine for a very long time.
 
solid7 said:
 
Agreed on the second part.  But my argument to that, is that if you keep a system of critical thinking from working properly for long enough, you cause regression.  Entropy.  Stupidity.  Whatever you like.
.
But that's just semantics.  You get it.
Click to expand...
 
"Ignorance" is the word you want to use, I believe. Stupidity is the result of genetic predetermination, while ignorance is a social condition. The former is fate, but the latter can be changed. 
 
solid7 said:
 
After living down here, and having taken part in NONE of it, I'm just telling you what I've seen.  I didn't say to switch to CNN.  I said that the news is enabling the mass stupidity that we live every single day. 
.
And yes, it's all slanted.  It's just amazing how you'll never see that, until you're close to some events, so that you can see it for yourself.  It's not even subtle.
Click to expand...
you say "I'm just telling you what I've seen." but you didn`t tell us what you saw. what did you see? on the news i saw a homemade cardboard sign hung up that was asking for donations of about 25 different things ranging from sleeping bags and tents to clothing, food and water, flashlights and batteries and the list went on and on. doesn`t look like they did much planning.  :lol:  now they are looking for handouts. i see what`s on the news and i`m not swayed by ANY of it. but i`m curious to know what you see at ground zero.!?!?
 
solid7 said:
I am currently living in Seattle, just outside the CHAZ/CHOP, whatever it's currently called.  Literally, I live so close, I could smell the flash bangs.  I've been down there almost every single day since the police packed up.
.
I really haven't read or watched news (intentionally) for over 7 years.  I pride myself on being ignorant to current events, given an experience that i had some years back.  Basically, the conclusion that I reached, was that I could turn off the news for 10 years, and when I turned it back on, the only thing that would be different, would be names and faces.  Well, that would have been true, except 2020 came along.  I guess they just ran out of old shit to rehash.
.
Back to the point.  Since I live here, I consider myself fairly well informed about what's going on.  Since I have a local perspective, it was hard for me to understand what all of this nonsense was, that I was hearing about "armed terrorists", and "ID checkpoints", and whatnot. My friends were calling me, and concernedly asking me if I was alright. (which caught me completely off guard)  So I decided to see what the news was saying, that has everyone head so filled with crap.
.
I'm not political, and will not make any political statements.  Nevertheless, I admit that what I'm about to say, may not make some folks happy.  It's just an honest statement, with no motive, but to disseminate some truth. Especially for those of you who might have friends or relatives here, and actually care about something besides chasing imaginary bad guys. Literally the only news that was even close to the truth about what's going on down here was CNN.  Then, I watched Fox News.  All I can say is, how that company doesn't get sued for false advertising, is beyond me, because what they're pushing isn't news. What a load of trip they're pumping out.  If you watch that station, please - for the love of God - turn it off now.  That company is going to make you an angry, bitter fool.
.
This all made me realize that my decision to turn off the news, was not wrong.  And if you don't think that you're being lied to, then you're not interested in searching for the truth.  The steaming heap of propaganda being broadcast, is staggering.  It's easy to accept what is coming through the tube as well researched, and authoritative.  But we aren't living in the 1960's anymore, and Walter Cronkite is dead.  Let's all wake up, folks.  America is nearing Idiocracy.
 
Click to expand...
 
People are taking over your town.
 
Your neighborhood.
 
With riots.
 
Looting.
 
Vandalism.
 
Anti police.
 
And you're bitching about the media.
 
 
I swear.
 
You can't live with these people.
 
ahayastani said:
 
"Ignorance" is the word you want to use, I believe. Stupidity is the result of genetic predetermination, while ignorance is a social condition. The former is fate, but the latter can be changed. 
Click to expand...
 
So, are we effectively ruling out "use it or lose it"?
 
I'm hypothesizing that the brain, like any other body part, when left unused for long enough, trends towards becoming vestigial.  And we entrench ourselves in patterns that, at some point, leave us well past any hope of return.
 
It also doesn't help that we have a myriad of natural and chemical helpers to aid the process.
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
you say "I'm just telling you what I've seen." but you didn`t tell us what you saw. what did you see? on the news i saw a homemade cardboard sign hung up that was asking for donations of about 25 different things ranging from sleeping bags and tents to clothing, food and water, flashlights and batteries and the list went on and on. doesn`t look like they did much planning.  :lol:  now they are looking for handouts. i see what`s on the news and i`m not swayed by ANY of it. but i`m curious to know what you see at ground zero.!?!?
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, of course there's that.  It is, after all, a protest.  Somebody has to fund it, while people are either not working their jobs, or... continuing down their path of life (whatever that may be).  All of those things are in play.  I don't think anybody who has ever organized a protest, will deny that they need to be funded.
 
If you have some specific questions, just ask.  I'm not gonna lie.  I'm just an observer in this weirdness.
 
texas blues said:
 
People are taking over your town.
 
Your neighborhood.
 
With riots.
 
Looting.
 
Vandalism.
 
Anti police.
 
And you're bitching about the media.
 
 
I swear.
 
You can't live with these people.
Click to expand...
 
Well...  I'm not going to say there weren't riots.  There were.  Just not anywhere near "the CHAZ", nor in the timeframe that any of this happened.  I'm not going to say there wasn't vandalism.  Seattle struggles with that constantly.
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This city doesn't enforce the laws they have, with the force they have.  If your property is vandalized, stolen, or anything short of a murder occurs, they won't show up.  Black, white, or other. (yes, I know this for a fact)  So it's a little shocking when you see a group of people get bombs and gas thrown at them, for pushing a pink umbrella over the fence, to cover the face of a guy who was speaking, as the cops were drawing canisters.  Makes me wonder why they can't take down the brute who broke into my apartment building.  Same mayor, same city council in charge of the same force that shut down some pesky protesters.
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It makes you wonder why they are better equipped than God, when they don't put it to use for a good reason.  And when people show up to complain about brutality, and you oblige them - it just doesn't look too good.  Especially when your department was already the subject of a federal probe, just a few years prior.
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So yeah, I'm not thrilled with the police.  I'm not thrilled with the City Council.  I'm not thrilled with the media.  And I'm not thrilled with the CHAZ.  Did I forget to bitch about anything in there?
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The gripe with the media is that if what you say is true, you shouldn't have to spin it.  I mean, people are going to believe what they want anyway, right?  Why spin it?  I think that's a pretty fair question.
 
stettoman said:
 
We couldn't home-school, so we after-schooled. 
Click to expand...
 
That's another problem.  The news is one thing, but the mealy public school system, is yet another.  We took our little one out of the public school, just because she was becoming everything we taught her not to be.  Kids are impressionable.  It's easy to follow the path of least resistance.  And when you do the math, it's not hard to figure out that the teachers and kids, get your child's time far more than you do, once school starts.  Therefore, it's THEIR influence that is the most lasting.  Long story short, we took her out of public school, and started traveling with her, while she home schooled.  WHAT A DIFFERENCE.  She's a sophomore in high school now, still home schooling, while I work jobs all over the US/World. It's amazing the contempt that she views her peers with now.  And I didn't tell her she had to.  Because let's be honest... if you actually try to tell your kids what to say/think/do, you're gonna lose that battle every single time.
 
its a good thing you took your kid out of school. the teachers unions have a political leftist agenda which is healthy for no child. this has been going on for a couple of decades. i see this seattle thing as a breakdown of society. yes there a couple of bad apples in police departments everywhere but if people want dismantled police departments and court systems then the people with the most bullets and who are the best shots are the winners. it happened last night in their little "hamlet" where a 19 year  was shot and killed and another critical. this a country of laws and the constitution and when you want to change that you are asking for trouble. peaceful
protesting is fine and welcomed. anything else will cause huge problems. i hope the liberal politicians have the protesters camping out at their front door.
 
Last night was ugly.  They denied the police access to the crime scene.  This is a BLM protest, and that was a black man that died.  I can't imagine how that investigation can ever be conducted.  It seems that the murder is just going to be swept under the rug, because without the only credible investigators that we have to do the job, it can't be prosecuted.  No court is going to accept anything less than professional investigators and forensic experts.  They are mum on any and all questions pertaining to this.
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I really didn't have a lot of problem with the idea of people protesting.  Still don't.  Have no problem with the massive defunding of militarized police.  But what I have a problem with now, is that the area is just becoming a blight.  The politicians knew that they'd just have to wait them out, to turn public opinion against.  Heck, a couple of them probably will swoop in when the property values drop, because of this.  This is a containment tactic, pure and simple.  Everyone knows they aren't going to overthrow the government.  They aren't gong to rewrite history.  And they used every miscreant who was half-aligned to their cause, to swell their numbers.  However, those roosters have and will, come home to roost.
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What has happened, however, as a result of the biased reporting, is that now there are very dangerous people being attracted to the area. (whereas the most dangerous people we normally see, are petty thieves) We're starting to see a much more visible presence of people from the opposite extreme of the spectrum.  That's not a regurgitation, that's a fact.  I have seen the agitators and the provocateurs.  Make no mistake - I've never been on board with the occupation.  As the title states, however, I have that problem with the news.  That isn't helpful.  They all seem to be hell bent on whooping people into a feverish frenzy, for one side, or the other.
 
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