Things just don't seem to change

[Guest muddy]

Hey Fellas: I have been listening to what a lot of stuff people talk about today, some of the issues that show up here to. The 5th estate>the press ain't what it used to be. The search for the truth is almost impossible in electronic and print media. From the far left print of The NY Times, to the far right electronic propaganda of Fox, it all is so slanted and tainted. I am not trying to be political here, just venting my frustration of not being able to trust anything I see or hear :-/

Then all that reality crap,COPS,Chase videos and that Weasel Greco anf his Cheaters Crap. I was thinking about something Frank Zappa wrote in the late 60's during the Watts riots and his take on where TV news was headed here is the song. Some 40 years later, not only was he right but it got worse not better

CAN't Stop That Trouble Comin Every Day

Freak Out! Version

Well I'm about to get sick

From watchin' my TV

Been checkin' out the news

Until my eyeballs fail to see

I mean to say that every day

Is just another rotten mess

And when it's gonna change, my friend

Is anybody's guess

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'

Hopin' for the best

Even think I'll go to prayin'

Every time I hear 'em sayin'

That there's no way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

No way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

Wednesday I watched the riot . . .

Seen the cops out on the street

Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff

And chokin' in the heat

Listened to reports

About the whisky passin' 'round

Seen the smoke and fire

And the market burnin' down

Watched while everybody

On his street would take a turn

To stomp and smash and bash and crash

And slash and bust and burn

And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'

Hopin' for the best

Even think I'll go to prayin'

Every time I hear 'em sayin'

That there's no way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

No way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

Well, you can cool it,

You can heat it . . .

'Cause, baby, I don't need it . . .

Take your TV tube and eat it

'N all that phony stuff on sports

'N all the unconfirmed reports

You know I watched that rotten box

Until my head begin to hurt

From checkin' out the way

The newsman say they get the dirt

Before the guys on channel so-and-so

And further they assert

That any show they'll interrupt

To bring you news if it comes up

They say that if the place blows up

They will be the first to tell,

Because the boys they got downtown

Are workin' hard and doin' swell,

And if anybody gets the news

Before it hits the street,

They say that no one blabs it faster

Their coverage can't be beat

And if another woman driver

Gets machine-gunned from her seat

They'll send some joker with a brownie

And you'll see it all complete

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'

Hopin' for the best

Even think I'll go to prayin'

Every time I hear 'em sayin'

That there's no way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

No way to delay

That trouble comin' every day

Hey, you know something people?

I'm not black

But there's a whole lots a times

I wish I could say I'm not white

Well, I seen the fires burnin'

And the local people turnin'

On the merchants and the shops

Who used to sell their brooms and mops

And every other household item

Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em

And they say it served 'em right

Because a few of them are white,

And it's the same across the nation

Black and white discrimination

Yellin' "You can't understand me!"

'N all that other jazz they hand me

In the papers and TV and

All that mass stupidity

That seems to grow more every day

Each time you hear some nitwit say

He wants to go and do you in

Because the color of your skin

Just don't appeal to him

(No matter if it's black or white)

Because he's out for blood tonight

[skillet]

 The old line "The more things change, the more they stay the same"...

                                                As Ever,

                                                 skillet

[Catt]

These days' people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.  

[Bassn Blvd]

What's so misunderstood with COPS?

[Marty]

Hey Fellas: I have been listening to what a lot of stuff people talk about today, some of the issues that show up here to. The 5th estate>the press ain't what it used to be. The search for the truth is almost impossible in electronic and print media. From the far left print of The NY Times, to the far right electronic propaganda of Fox, it all is so slanted and tainted. I am not trying to be political here, just venting my frustration of not being able to trust anything I see or hear

I don't think it's as bad as you describe. There are media and reporters who try to be objective and not propagandize. If you read/listen to a variety of outlets, you'll discover that some can be trusted more than others and with a variety of sources you should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[Guest muddy]

Hey Fellas: I have been listening to what a lot of stuff people talk about today, some of the issues that show up here to. The 5th estate>the press ain't what it used to be. The search for the truth is almost impossible in electronic and print media. From the far left print of The NY Times, to the far right electronic propaganda of Fox, it all is so slanted and tainted. I am not trying to be political here, just venting my frustration of not being able to trust anything I see or hear

I don't think it's as bad as you describe. There are media and reporters who try to be objective and not propagandize. If you read/listen to a variety of outlets, you'll discover that some can be trusted more than others and with a variety of sources you should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Your right on with that observation Marty! A little bit of laziness on my part and since I have been back to school the last couple of years and researching papers it has been an eye opener to say the least. I am thankful for the sources that have peer reviewed material, at least you know it has been somewhat scrutinized

[Long Mike]

Dom, you are watching the wrong channels.  95% of my viewing time is spent on the History, Discovery or Science channel.  This eliminates  a WHOLE lot of BS.

[Guest muddy]

Dom, you are watching the wrong channels. 95% of my viewing time is spent on the History, Discovery or Science channel. This eliminates a WHOLE lot of BS.

10-4  MIKE

[Catt]

Beware of professors they can be very good at spreading propaganda  

[BucketmouthAngler13]

The only show I ever watch is an hour of the Three Stooges every sunday mourning before church.

[Hookemdown.]

Dom, you are watching the wrong channels.  95% of my viewing time is spent on the History, Discovery or Science channel.  This eliminates  a WHOLE lot of BS.

AMEN to that!

[Panamoka_Bassin]

To hades with all the "main stream" media; one pundit is as bad as another, no matter what "news" you watch.  For me, I tend to get my politcal info from 3 great sources: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and my favorite, Real Time with Bill Maher.  Although there's lots of jokes with these outlets, they still "report" the news in a way that is entertaining as well as informative.  Specifically speaking on Real Time, I find that not only is Bill Maher well read and intelligent, he also has the insight to have people of opposing views on his panel.  Recently I saw an interview with Garry Kasparov (the chess guy) who is running against Putin in Russia.  Until I saw this program, I had no idea as to how badly things had gotten over there.  Russia is a great big politcal mess right now, and it seems its not far away from the ways of Stalin and KGB like activities.  Perhaps the "reporting" on this show is a wee bit suspect, but it did alert me to world events in a way that made me go and find more information from several different sources so I could get an objective view of all that's going on.  CNN and MSNBC have never made me want to go and find out more, they usually make me change the channel to ESPN or something...

[Zel]

Muddy, you are correct, we don't seem to get real reporting were we make our own decisions based upon the facts.  We seem to get opinions in the guise of reporting.  

Steven Brill (founder of the American lawyer magazine as well as cable's COURT TV) put it best when he said, "When it comes to arrogance, power and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good."

I guess it is our responsibility to determine facts from friction in the reporting, and figure out what's the truth.

And yes, I agree with you that we are in for inflation and a recession, maybe a really bad one.  I think we might see the DOW drop 25% before its over.  If I were advising people, I'd tell them to save, and move some stocks into short-term treasuries.  It's going to get a lot worse, before it gets better.  

[Guest muddy]

Hey Zel and Marty: Yea if I am looking for infoprmation I can help m,e understqand something I am interested, I have to go to more than one source and try to make my mind up.

 It is very difficult to tell hand fed stuff from true stuff. Even the slant that an interviewer uses and how a taped show is spliced can give you an untrue version of what someone has said.

It is mnost imprtant to me when I am trying to figure out who to vote for, Politicians are the master of deciet! You have them distoritng everything to do with numbers, no clear sense of stand on an issue, some even use religious texts as factual sources for everything to do with droughts , global warming and the end of the world.  remeber a political figure trying to convince the US that 2000 meant the coming of the end, according to his beliefs, when in fact all we had to do was reprogram and update some electronic calander devices :

[Zel]

Muddy, Here are two sites I view when trying to get (as best I can) non-partisan views of things:

POLITICS: http://www.smartvoter.org/ (a section of League of Women Voters:  non-partisan reporting, but they do try to influence policy through advocacy)

TAXES: http://www.taxfoundation.org/

[Guest muddy]

Thanks Zel, yet another source to try 8-)

[Long Mike]

Steven Brill (founder of the American lawyer magazine as well as cable's COURT TV) put it best when he said, "When it comes to arrogance, power and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good."

That's one I haven't heard before. Steven Brill could become the next Aristotle.

[KYbass1276]

All the info you will ever need is on the Andy Griffith show,  why watch anything else.  

[PaparockArk]

With today's world wide availability of news and instant access to research history and facts it is not hard to check things out for one's self. Independent thought and logic is even more important today than ever before due to the flood half truths and outright lies passed off as truth in modern society. News coverage is slanted hard left over the vast majority of the media with little of the other side's view offered as a balance. While I do not accept anything I see on any network including FOX (that does have a right bias), I must say however they are far more balanced than any other major network, yet everything must be taken with a truck load of salt. All have their own views and these views are colored by a set of filters that are constructed over time by their nurture, environment, education, societal, psychological, and spiritual outlook and experiences. Today too many people depend on information supplied by others as factual rather than filtering them for deliberate bias, deletion, addition, in order to alter the factual content or its perceived content. Independent study often shows a completely different set of facts upon extensive examination of any subject. Since we as free moral agents are responsible for the choices we make, it is our responsibility to do the work that will allow us to make informed decisions, no one said it was going to be easy.

[Replica.]

If you want to hear policy positions from the source you could watch C-SPAN.  I actually think it is easy to tell fact from opinion while watching cable news.  For one I almost never watch cable news after 7 p.m. central time, 90% of what you hear is going to be opinion.  Secondly, use as many sources as possible, even if you do not like FOX, MSNBC, NPR, etc listen to thier position and make up your own opinion.

[Guest avid]

TV news is a joke.

It's all entertainment and ratings.  

Shameful that a federally licensed entity can call Lindsay Lohan entering rehab "news"

But there is one great becon for the truth.

It's called the internet and it is the most democratic form of communication the world has ever known.

The simple fact that oppressive regimes from China to Iran have criminalized "unauthorized" use, vividly demonstrates this fact.

In area's under seige, or military rule etc There are countless examples of bloggers literally risking their lives to tell the world the truth.

              Ma Joad: Rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't no good an' they die out. But we keep a'comin'.

              We're the people that live.

              They can't wipe us out; they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people.

From the "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.  One of great American novels.

If your not a reader, rent the dvd.  The movie is brilliant as the book.

[Guest muddy]

Henry Fonda's single best performance 8-)

I found Woddy Guthrie from reading that book

[Zel]

I found Woddy Guthrie from reading that book

I didn't know he was lost.  

[Guest muddy]

I found Woddy Guthrie from reading that book

I didn't know he was lost.

No but my brain frequently is