Sorry State of "Today".

[James Burke]

...and she says "Daddy, I gotta go reaaaaallll bad"...

Yep....

But I really do miss those days...and so will you.


JB

 

[equippaint]

People like being angry, its addicting. Social media and the internet in general are a great place for people to get their daily adrenaline fix and the fastest way to it is through manufactured hate and crisis. People chase the things that make them angry, it triggers a dopamine release just like other pleasurable activities. Looking for truth and ways to not be angry at something is the proverbial buzz kill. Politics is the enabler and anger is the addiction.
Blame the media or whoever but they are simply delivering what we want and it shows in their ratings.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Yep....

But I really do miss those days...and so will you.


JB

Oh I know it.. She's growing up at a break-neck speed.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

People like being angry, its addicting. Social media and the internet in general are a great place for people to get their daily adrenaline fix and the fastest way to it is through manufactured hate and crisis. People chase the things that make them angry, it triggers a dopamine release just like other pleasurable activities. Looking for truth and ways to not be angry at something is the proverbial buzz kill. Politics is the enabler and anger is the addiction.
Blame the media or whoever but they are simply delivering what we want and it shows in their ratings.

Makes sense

 

[Gino]

Yes, there are many people feeling offended these days, but like Fred mentioned, there have been worse times and for lesser reasons. However, I do believe today with almost everyone getting carried away with the "Squeaky Wheel gets Oiled" syndrome, it has gotten outta control. What used to be held close to your heart and almost sacred, most people are p!ssing their comments away regardless of how worthwhile they are or how worthless they are, but still wanna be recognized. I could care less, if someone comes here to beat me over the head with their views..... political or just in general. I'll either agree or disagree, but that still doesn't mean I like or dislike you. It simply means I don't agree. When the other party takes offense and lunges for the jugular, I will retaliate. Half the time, it's in fun, except with a certain few around here.

When someone takes the time to appreciate someone else's situation due to problems basically outta their control, they're always gonna befriend you, except this place. So, be kind to your neighbor and don't look for anything in return, simply because you are putting your best foot forward, for the right reasons and not for gain.

 

[GAC05]

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

View attachment 140152

I agree, must be the pacific islander in us.

 

[GAC05]

I agree, must be the pacific islander in us.

I have a short drive to work each day and when I look around I see people hunched over their steering wheels - not looking around - scowling at nothing as far as I can see.
Then I catch myself doing the same thing, thinking about rent & payday coming up with things being real tight. I don't want to be that guy and try to think of something to get a little smile going - like what Gino, Texas or Tim has posted........

 

[Signs101Admin]

Trump brought to light the hypocrisy and how truly liberal our country has become. It the left and Democrats that will stop at nothing to destroy our country. Trump also brought to light how much the media controls and shapes everyone thinking. Polarization was always there is took electing the first black president to monopolize on it and us the old Cloward–Piven strategy. just my to cents.....

 

[Jburns]

The issue is the media - I blame them the entire national media spectrum. There are more ways and outlets to get news. Now its 24 hours seven days a week. And then we simply follow / listen to the voices that we like.

So pretend you are a news outlet--you have 100 competitors. You have to go hard left or hard right to get the eyeballs. You have to keep the adrenaline, the dopamine running in your viewers. I think we are all burnt-out!

The market is RIPE for a news outlet that reports: Who what where when...no opinion. And just talk about laws, or proposed laws, who brought them up etc.

I don't think it's healthy to watch/ listen/ read for hours per day to national one-sided voices ( I can be guilty of it)

Think about this --If you just focused on family, your job and hobbies next week, and turned off all National news - would you really be "un-informed" "Missing Out"? Nope. you can catch up on national news once per week in my opinion.
Now to see if I can do it LOL

 

[James Burke]

--If you just focused on family, your job and hobbies next week, and turned off all National news - would you really be "un-informed" "Missing Out"? Nope. you can catch up on national news once per week in my opinion.Now to see if I can do it LOL

It's easier than you think. I've been doing just that for about 6 months now. Our local radio station's website reports the local news, obituaries, and the weather....all without any drama. Occasionally, state and national issues make it into their news feed.

In all honesty, my most edifying moments of "news consumption" come from reading the obituary section. Whether I knew them or not, I read every obituary, regardless.

It seems too bad we have to wait until we're dead to tell our life story. And even at that, how can you reduce a lifetime to few paragraphs and do it any justice?


JB

 

[Fred Weiss]

I agree on the media being the biggest part of the problem. Certainly the very fact that virtually all are now governed by making a profit ... which was not always the case. Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley et al used to work for networks that supported broadcasting the news as a public service. The best of them now insert their agendas into the evening news.

For example, and I will say up front that I am a global climate change believer, we've noticed that the ABC Evening News has for several months now inserted an every night report on the worst of the U.S. weather. Not a night goes by that we don't get five to seven minutes of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires. The agenda is quite obvious no matter where you stand on the issue of climate change. What is wrong, however, is that it is an adopted decision to call attention to an issue through story selection without coming out and saying so in an effort to sway opinion instead of just reporting the news.

There used to be journalistic rules. Among other things, a news organization used to be compelled to separate news from editorial opinion. These rules were intended to inspire credibility and trust. That has largely fallen by the wayside whether for better profits, secretly affecting opinion or other motivations and I see it as a major threat to the quality of life of most of us as well as the welfare of our democratic republic.

The media used to be comprised of journalists who understood their first amendment rights as well as their responsibilities. Somehow, we citizens need to find a way to bring them back to their former standards.

 

[Fred Weiss]

It's bad but it isn't anywhere close to the Vietnam era.

I see that a respected member rated my post as "0 Informative". So I'll add a list of informative items off the top of my head to illustrate how bad things were for the many who either don't remember, don't read history or weren't yet born.

1. In an effort to contain communist expansion after the fall of French IndoChina (now Vietnam) in 1954, major commitments of funds, weapons, and U.S. military troops were made by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
2. Secrecy and deception such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident were used to cover these commitments.
3. We lost more than 50,000 U.S. soldiers in Vietnam along with 100s of 1,000s of casualties. The Vietnamese lost a much higher number.
   
4. The civil rights movement was at its peak.
5. The women's liberation movement began coincidentally with the release and legalization of the birth control pill.
6. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Malcolm X were all assassinated.
7. Major protest riots took place in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic Convention.
8. Riots with looting and arson took place in many major U.S. cities.
9. The universal draft was used to supply most new military inductees. Many protesters burned their draft cards. Many privileged "rich kids" got exemptions while less fortunate young men were inducted.
   
10. As a people, we became highly divided in Hawk and Dove camps as war protests increased.
11. Returning U.S. military from Vietnam were spat upon.
    
12. Richard M. Nixon was elected to the Presidency in 1968 largely on the promise to get us out of Vietnam. He never did.
    
13. In 1970, four students were killed and nine other wounded when the Ohio National Guard fired on protesting students at Kent State University.
14. After Kent State, the Doves became the apparent majority with regards to Vietnam.
15. In 1970, President Nixon authorized expansion of the Vietnam War into neighboring Cambodia. Protests followed.
16. In 1971, The New York Times and the Washington Post published The Pentagon Papers ... A secret government study of how we got involved in Vietnam. It exposed and detailed the many lies and deceptions committed by our leaders.
    
17. In 1972, President Nixon reopened diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.
    
18. In 1972, the White House Plumbers were arrested while burglarizing the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Office Building.
    
19. In 1972, Richard M. Nixon was reelected by the largest margin of voters in U.S. history.
20. In 1973 and 1974, the Nixon administration attempted to coverup its involvement in the Watergate break in while the U.S. Senate and House held hearings which ultimately resulted in the imminent impeachment of President Nixon.
21. In August 1974, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency of the United States.
22. In September 1974, President Gerald Ford granted a full pardon to Richard M. Nixon.
23. On August 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam ending the Vietnam War and the North and South were reunified.

Was this informative enough? So tell me how things are worse today than during the Vietnam Era.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I see that a respected member rated my post as "0 Informative". So I'll add a list of informative items off the top of my head to illustrate how bad things were for the many who either don't remember, don't read history or weren't yet born.

1. In an effort to contain communist expansion after the fall of French IndoChina (now Vietnam) in 1954, major commitments of funds, weapons, and U.S. military troops were made by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
2. Secrecy and deception such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident were used to cover these commitments.
3. We lost more than 50,000 U.S. soldiers in Vietnam along with 100s of 1,000s of casualties. The Vietnamese lost a much higher number.
   
4. The civil rights movement was at its peak.
5. The women's liberation movement began coincidentally with the release and legalization of the birth control pill.
6. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Malcolm X were all assassinated.
7. Major protest riots took place in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic Convention.
8. Riots with looting and arson took place in many major U.S. cities.
9. The universal draft was used to supply most new military inductees. Many protesters burned their draft cards. Many privileged "rich kids" got exemptions while less fortunate young men were inducted.
   
10. As a people, we became highly divided in Hawk and Dove camps as war protests increased.
11. Returning U.S. military from Vietnam were spat upon.
    
12. Richard M. Nixon was elected to the Presidency in 1968 largely on the promise to get us out of Vietnam. He never did.
    
13. In 1970, four students were killed and nine other wounded when the Ohio National Guard fired on protesting students at Kent State University.
14. After Kent State, the Doves became the apparent majority with regards to Vietnam.
15. In 1970, President Nixon authorized expansion of the Vietnam War into neighboring Cambodia. Protests followed.
16. In 1971, The New York Times and the Washington Post published The Pentagon Papers ... A secret government study of how we got involved in Vietnam. It exposed and detailed the many lies and deceptions committed by our leaders.
    
17. In 1972, President Nixon reopened diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.
    
18. In 1972, the White House Plumbers were arrested while burglarizing the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Office Building.
    
19. In 1972, Richard M. Nixon was reelected by the largest margin of voters in U.S. history.
20. In 1973 and 1974, the Nixon administration attempted to coverup its involvement in the Watergate break in while the U.S. Senate and House held hearings which ultimately resulted in the imminent impeachment of President Nixon.
21. In August 1974, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency of the United States.
22. In September 1974, President Gerald Ford granted a full pardon to Richard M. Nixon.
23. On August 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam ending the Vietnam War and the North and South were reunified.

Was this informative enough? So tell me how things are worse today than during the Vietnam Era.

Huh...I heard of all that stuff happening as separate events here and there, but never knew it happened all together like that. Sounds like those times were much worse. After hearing all that, why are people thinking it's the end of the world and the fall of America now?

Local news is still largely political free (except talk radio). For national news, CNBC is mostly free of slant...not always.

 

[Gino]

Yeah, that's how it happened, but ya know..... we live in a world where everyone says..... ya know, in my day, we had this, this or that, but today, ya only have this little thing to worry about. It always seems worse, when you lived through it. All things tend to get resolved, you just need to learn from your mistakes, which all we seem to be doing by learning..... is how to get sneakier and less transparent.

In the last 10 years or so, there have been things in this country alone, which have completely stumped me, from our government targeting it's own people to political cover ups which go completely unanswered for the dumbest reasons.

 

[Johnny Best]

I was 17 in 1965, getting ready to get drafted as soon as I graduated from high school, but I was happy. Smoking weed, dropping acid and free love was starting to happen. Never got drafted, my father would have been proud to make a rubbing of my name off the Vietnam memorial in the capitol years later. Had friend's names on there but thats another story. Watched the news when those people were killed that Fred mentioned, watched news when Nikon resigned, listened to great music being written, and I was happy. Married in the meantime, had kids, worked everyday, coached baseball, wife took care of 4 children
and I was happy. Rap music, MTV, Star Wars, women being exploited to the fullest in Playboy and I am still happy. Now have 7 grandchildren and going to a restaurant with their parents and all of them with ages from 1 to 17 years old and picking up the tab is a happy adventure. My wife says I have Peter Pan syndrome.
But you know what really makes me happy, reading an article Toad posted about World happiness written by two guys with economics degrees and one guy who runs a sustainable development program and it basically says that governments do affect happiness. One chart showed Mexicans were happy when they got free cell calls. Sure, that business model is popular with drug dealers, give them free stuff to get them hooked.
And as far as hypophysis on people being angry, of course, you realize a lot of people are happy being angry, soldiers in battle, wives, people driving in traffic, women in general.
AS far as politics, for 8 years when Clinton and Obama were presidents, I was happy, better than Johnson and Nikon. I am happier with Trump because the guy knows how to make people angry and happy and nobody is calling me "folks" anymore.

 

[TimToad]

The issue is the media - I blame them the entire national media spectrum. There are more ways and outlets to get news. Now its 24 hours seven days a week. And then we simply follow / listen to the voices that we like.

So pretend you are a news outlet--you have 100 competitors. You have to go hard left or hard right to get the eyeballs. You have to keep the adrenaline, the dopamine running in your viewers. I think we are all burnt-out!

The market is RIPE for a news outlet that reports: Who what where when...no opinion. And just talk about laws, or proposed laws, who brought them up etc.

I don't think it's healthy to watch/ listen/ read for hours per day to national one-sided voices ( I can be guilty of it)

Think about this --If you just focused on family, your job and hobbies next week, and turned off all National news - would you really be "un-informed" "Missing Out"? Nope. you can catch up on national news once per week in my opinion.
Now to see if I can do it LOL

Turning our country into a bunch of Know Nothings 2.0 who through their own self imposed denial of what is being done in their name is exactly what the demagogues in charge want.

Bombard and overwhelm us with media overload until we cry uncle and turn inward so thry can do their dirty deeds without resistance of any kind. Authoritarianism demands a compliant, disempowered public who quietly and diligently go about their business never demanded that ethics, integrity and the law be upheld.

It's an old book, but if you're interested in how this phenomenon was created, I 'd recommend Friendly Fascism by Bertram Gross.

 

[TimToad]

I agree on the media being the biggest part of the problem. Certainly the very fact that virtually all are now governed by making a profit ... which was not always the case. Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley et al used to work for networks that supported broadcasting the news as a public service. The best of them now insert their agendas into the evening news.

For example, and I will say up front that I am a global climate change believer, we've noticed that the ABC Evening News has for several months now inserted an every night report on the worst of the U.S. weather. Not a night goes by that we don't get five to seven minutes of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires. The agenda is quite obvious no matter where you stand on the issue of climate change. What is wrong, however, is that it is an adopted decision to call attention to an issue through story selection without coming out and saying so in an effort to sway opinion instead of just reporting the news.

There used to be journalistic rules. Among other things, a news organization used to be compelled to separate news from editorial opinion. These rules were intended to inspire credibility and trust. That has largely fallen by the wayside whether for better profits, secretly affecting opinion or other motivations and I see it as a major threat to the quality of life of most of us as well as the welfare of our democratic republic.

The media used to be comprised of journalists who understood their first amendment rights as well as their responsibilities. Somehow, we citizens need to find a way to bring them back to their former standards.

Sorry, you'll have to explain how the reporting of ACTUAL unprecedented weather and climate related events where billions of people are affected is NOT important news. Or how the broadcasting of how those events are and will affect our economy, safety, future policy, food supply, etc. Is some sinister plot to steer public opinion. If my car is stalled on some railroad tracks, I'd much rather know that a freight train is coming than bury my head in the dashboard and "pray" that I'll be fine if I just ignore the blare of the bullhorn.

 

[StarSign]

That, my friend, is an absolute privilege...and adventure.

I'm sure any that any parent of a cancer patient at St. Judes Children's Hospital would gladly trade places with you.


JB

I'm that cancer dad. 4 years ago my son finished treatment and 4 years ago I realized that busting my hump 50-55 a week was not how I should be treating my family regardless of the monetary return. I don't want to trade places because it made me a better person, however, I wouldn't wish it on anyone! I find it completely amazing how so many in this country now play the blame game for everything that happens to them. I am glad I'm here and I have my family a good job and a roof over my head, living life to the fullest.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Sorry, you'll have to explain how the reporting of ACTUAL unprecedented weather and climate related events where billions of people are affected is NOT important news. Or how the broadcasting of how those events are and will affect our economy, safety, future policy, food supply, etc. Is some sinister plot to steer public opinion. If my car is stalled on some railroad tracks, I'd much rather know that a freight train is coming than bury my head in the dashboard and "pray" that I'll be fine if I just ignore the blare of the bullhorn.

Not to incite a political battle, but, reporting of those things are fine and dandy... It's when 99% of the time the reporters are modern activists inserting their political agenda to the report, and no longer acting as unbiased, that becomes and is the problem.