I think I have turned the Ch ch ch Chicken Pox corner. Still ugly. Still pox’ed. But I am pretty sure the worst is over. Doctor says, “You are half-way.” This malaise is NOT over, but the worst is, I think. What a fascinating two weeks.
But enough about my pus and horror….time to write about other things pus-y and horrible….
When we left the city to go walkabout, go feral, walk on the wild side, we pretty much stopped our old habit of following the daily news. Cold turkey. It was not a conscious decision, really. We simply had very diminished radio reception (none) and little to no time anyway. If we got ‘news’, it was by way of a comment-in-passing from a neighbour or maybe a newscast on the car radio when we went to town. We were simply ill-informed for the first few years.
Ignorance was bliss.
Of course, with time, we eventually upgraded our lifestyle conveniences. It was automatic to get the radio working again and, with the satellite, we got Google News as well. Oddly, the desire to be up-to-date was not a very strong one, but it eventually crept back into our lives. Sal would turn on the radio when cooking and she would often turn the volume up when the so-called news came on. I, too, would ask for more volume on some matters. We started to follow the news again.
As I write this, I noticed that, when I start my day, I first check e-mails, then I check Google News. It’s automatic.
It is also stupid.
The news is NOT truth. We know that. It is filtered through a number of editors and editor-like processes not the least of which is the need to entertain so as to generate an audience. And there is, of course, the even more dominant need to then sell product. There’s also editorial policy. Owner’ biases. Time constraints facing journalists, reporters, copy editors and hundreds of other forces also alter the facts and re-write the true news into the infotainment version. The news that is actually delivered is a cursory sound-bite at best, a means for marketing product all the time and lies and propaganda much of the time. If there is anything actually true about the news we get it is the fact that none of it is accurately true. It is all a distorted lie in aid for some other agenda other than the dissemination of truth. It is also overwhelmingly depressing.
Of course, their polished and packaged lie is not all pure fiction. It is simply and mostly just not accurately true. Fifty people were shot to death at the gay night club in Florida by a madman. That is likely true. But that simple fact of horror will be ‘milked’ and ‘packaged’ and ‘sold’ and ‘exploited’ for reasons economic and political. The ‘news’ machine will feed off it like a vulture. The information will not help mankind. But it will help some whose agenda feeds off of pus and horror.
The worst part is that we have come to know the news as 90% pus and horror, ten percent ‘celebrity’ and one hundred percent inaccurate. We have no idea what is really true anymore. None.
And get this: Kim Kardashian was interviewed about the nightclub shooting. And, of course, Trump was asked about it as well. Is that news? Or is that just pure, sensationalistic and opportunistic exploitation of the tragedy for some unknown but likely profit-making or political agenda?
Doesn’t matter. Not to me. Not anymore. I am going to try cutting the link again. The news is not good for me. It is not informative. It is not educational and it is not necessary to living my life. In fact, it is detrimental. It is unhealthy. It is the voluntary digestion of evil and lies in the form of packaged misinformation for purposes that serve the dark side more than my own illumination. Yeah, you can quote me on that.
I have other interests other than just living off the grid. I am interested in China. I like new inventions. I am intrigued with economics. I’d like to know more about those topics. The problem is that every time I read anything in the media I actually know something about, the content is wrong. And, where it is not obviously wrong, there is so little real content I learn little to nothing. Worse, I suspect I am reading lies even if there aren’t any. My cognitive filters are now so clogged with brainwashed media debris, I wouldn’t know an honest, accurate report if it bit me.
I am going to have to stick with books. In books, I have somewhat more faith.
Who would have thought that deepening cynicism would be a side effect of Shingles, eh?
Our Off the Grid Home 
I agree with you mostly. What passes as news is mostly banal. Who is up or who is down matters mostly to those that invest in such matters. The media as you point out does not deal in truth but in illusions. In a world that lacks certainty, logic, rationality these illusions are comforting to some. These illusions are aspirational at best and misleading mostly. The media mocks, belittles and demeans over trivial issues like $16.00 glasses of orange juice or whether the Prime Minister takes too many selfies. Many stories are written about opposing points of view on what violates ones personal freedom. Should the AR 15 continue to be a restricted weapon in Canada?
These trivial concerns appear daily as the media which rattles swords and targets countries that are not as democratic as Canada or have poor human rights as if Canada were on the moral high ground on these issues. Check into First Nations communities and drink the water or spend the night. The most damaging media whinning finds fault but offers no solutions. And screams that needed solutions will cost too much. I understand why the media moaning is grinding but self-serving.
LikeLike
Mostly? I’ll count the above as a ringing endorsement. But my point is less an indictment of the media (it having been found guilty decades ago) but more my desire to rid myself of the evil residue that clings like muck to the soul. What a waste of time is our news! They really HAVE to go.
LikeLike
Mostly because useful leaks appear from time to time but not for long and then are drowned out by spin or claims that the leaks were faked.
LikeLike
I too, agree with your views of the news. I am also at times interrupted with the intrusion. When someone has found and decided to describe an important event, it is then edited for reasons you discussed. I come away from these things with less. The longer my time away from headlines, the more natural I feel. I find I sometimes question my need of the Internet, and as no service zones are still wide in my parts, I find I enjoy the times before mass media. The internet does provide many convienances, but these are all influecences, nothing really necessary for a fulfilling life.
I sure do agree with your views of life, and still look forward to meeting you someday!
LikeLike
You agree with my views, eh? You sure? Have I told you about my football theory? Have I mentioned how men and women should be? Those two topics alone can alienate whole rooms. You should hear my parenting theories…..OMG!!!! Even my kids are shocked! My friend and sometimes comment provider, Sue D-H, on this blog has to bite her tongue almost every time she comments and it is only distance that has kept me safe. F & S are barely talking to me (but they are mature and insist on being tolerant). Be careful, Glen. Being in my camp comes with a bullseye painted on your forehead.
LikeLike
The “news” brought to you by “Goebble” TV at 6pm.
The partisan 6pm “news” is always pro Liberal. Pro Real estate sales.
Not surprising when one considers these two entities are their major advertisers ie Liberal Govt advertising (BC Hydro is good, Fracking is good, LNG is good, Healthcare is good, education is good, etc.etc.etc. millions of taxpayers dollars to convince taxpayers that …..its ALL good).
Then the Real Estate advertisement propaganda begins, ” You didnt use a REALTOR? Ewwww”
This creates a conflict of interest since the “News” dare not bite the last few hands that feed it.
And then we cut to Keith Baldrey sitting on his toadstool in Victoria pontificating from on high about the “goings on” in the Legislature. Nothing too controversial though. No tough questions asked or answered…..
Just eat your supper and nod your head.
And they wonder why their ratings are abysmal.
LikeLike
Assange needed the media to spread his wikileaks. ICIJ( International Consortuim of Investigative Journalism) handled the Panama Papers and selectively highlighted certain transactions for potential tax evasion but what about the rest of the content? Just a few corrupt world leaders, “these are not the droids you are looking for…drive on….”
Big story mostly dead now in the media. Since Twitter’s scoop of US Airways Flight 1549’s dead stick glide into the Hudson, Twitter has emerged as a leading source of news. One hundred and forty characters of ironically succinct analysis Trump style. The main function of the main stream media is protecting certain elites. Who are the Canadians named in the Panama Papers? Dig through one million pages of data and find out yourself. Out right lies are hard to conceal so obfuscate because memories are short and attention spans are too.
LikeLike
I agree. Mostly. The MSM is like the horse and buggy….never to go away but increasingly irrelevant. But it is NOT so much the nonsense, the irrelevancy and the shallowness. It is the soul destroying negativity of the news that erodes the joys in life. News is now 99% just a downer. A deep, dark, ugly, depressant that promotes – not just reveals – evil. You are what you eat, they say. And I would add, that you are also what you learn. And we are learning by way of the news ugly, ugly, ugly.
I dunno…….I think I am ugly enough. I don’t need more ugly. Gonna cut back.
LikeLike
Negative nit picking nails it. American style politics are creeping into Canada’s political ethos and in lock step the Canadian media followed. Nasty partisan politics day after day mocking, belittling and demeaning dog whistles to their base. It is sickening.
LikeLike
Great to have you back! And apparently Shingles doesn’t reduce one’s irascibility! I had visions of you swaddled in bedclothes, Sal mopping your fevered brow – enough that I made an appointment to get ‘the shot’. I should have known better. You were just harbouring your energies for another onslaught.
And I agree with you on the news. No radio (reception is so poor that even if the news wasn’t, it would still be a trial), no TV and no newspapers. I do have Internet and rely on Laila, Norm, Grant and sometimes Harvey so my news is filtered and has a certain bias which suits me fine.
The sun is up and so am I! Everything is going to be fine.
LikeLike
Nice to be half-back. Half being the operative word. Tho, don’t kiss me on the lips. Seems I am still contagious….which makes no sense….this is a retro-virus that I already had, fer gawd’s sake. Still, doc says that pox-virgins and pregnant women should avoid me. Mind you, most people avoid me as a general rule and that is especially true for virgins and preggies so there is little risk. Plus you need to have a death wish to make the effort to get here anyway. “The sun is up and so am I! Everything is going to be fine.”
So, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, exactly what dosage of happy pill you takin’?
LikeLike
So sorry to hear about the Shingles. The mother of our good friend John got them several years ago and was in misery. Wayne and I both got the vaccination after that. I had chicken pox twice (rare I hear) so I didn’t want to take a chance. So far, so good. We used to listen to the local news on the radio before getting up. That was before the station was bought out by a large media company. Now we are lucky to get one story about Powell River. The rest is recycled Vancouver Island news with a few national items thrown into the mix. The bad thing is they aren’t always clear about which location the story is about. Very confusing. – Margy
LikeLike