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The Media are the Goddam Problem

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raison de arizona
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#76

Post by raison de arizona »

Welcome to the We Hate Chuck Todd Anti-Fan Club y’all! We number.. well. Pretty much everyone I think.

He’s no Tucker Carlson, but he does feel the need to constantly shit all over any accomplishment a Democrat makes.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#77

Post by pipistrelle »

tek wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 5:49 am I'm not a fan of the "biden gets lucky" thread title.
It's doing what Fox News does.

After the first day I've been ignoring that thread.
I'm quite enjoying the "phuck your pheelings" vibe over any concerns over it, though. It makes me feel like I've joined The Peoples Truckers Real Americans Convoy here.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#78

Post by p0rtia »

pipistrelle wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:42 am
tek wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 5:49 am I'm not a fan of the "biden gets lucky" thread title.
It's doing what Fox News does.

After the first day I've been ignoring that thread.
I'm quite enjoying the "phuck your pheelings" vibe over any concerns over it, though. It makes me feel like I've joined The Peoples Truckers Real Americans Convoy here.
:winner:
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#79

Post by Dave from down under »

A though provoking article well worth reading IMO
(Especially if bits of it you don’t agree with :) )


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... el/629369/

The Atlantic
IDEAS
WHY THE PAST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE HAVE BEEN UNIQUELY STUPID

It’s not just a phase.
By Jonathan Haidt
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#80

Post by Phoenix520 »

I’m about halfway through it. I agree, thought provoking.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#81

Post by Slarti the White »

Dave from down under wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:36 pm A though provoking article well worth reading IMO
(Especially if bits of it you don’t agree with )


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... el/629369/

The Atlantic
IDEAS
WHY THE PAST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE HAVE BEEN UNIQUELY STUPID
Dave,

Thank you for posting this. I'm not sure if, like you said, the bits I don't agree with are more thought provoking as I couldn't find ANY bits like that. It is, in my opinion, a very thorough and insightful look at the problems we face and how we got here. Even if you disagree with the author's positions, it provides a non-partisan context to these issues and a foundation upon which a dialogue regarding how to address them can be built. While the media may be the goddam problem as the title of the thread suggests, any viable solution depends on an understanding of what went wrong and how such as the one the author presents. We can survive "the fall of the tower of Babel" -- and even thrive again -- if we can develop tools for managing complexity and communication that will allow us to bridge the divides that have rent our society and allow the "exhausted majority" to restore substantive dialogue to promote understanding between people will differing opinions and informed debate as to the situation, the goals of any intervention, and the way to accomplish that. Or at least that's what I think. But, more importantly, I'm interested in what everyone else thought about this article -- especially if you disagree with me. It is only thorough allowing our beliefs to be challenged and put to the test that we can extend our own knowledge.

:towel:
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#82

Post by p0rtia »

Dave from down under wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:36 pm A though provoking article well worth reading IMO
(Especially if bits of it you don’t agree with :) )


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... el/629369/

The Atlantic
IDEAS
WHY THE PAST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE HAVE BEEN UNIQUELY STUPID

It’s not just a phase.
By Jonathan Haidt
Hell's bells, this is a must read for anyone trying to wrap their head around the tectonic changes in modes of communication that are underway around the globe.

It doesn't matter that it doesn't cross all Ts/dot all Is; It frames the subject that seemingly none of our institutions of government or learning are able to admit exists.

Misinformation warfare explained.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#83

Post by Phoenix520 »

When the internets first came around, I was looking for the Mother of All Universities, so to speak, a well where all knowledge is available to all mankind. :roll: Pollyanna-ish. I believed it would be a boon.

But I wasn’t looking at it as the key to world domination, as the Russians and other malign world actors have been for a long time. I don’t believe I’m wrong to think that Alexandre Dugan saw the possibilities early on.

One of the things I saw come around on Facebook in the early days of the osg’s trampling the world stage was a stupid meme. “Research shows that people who drink their coffee black are psychopaths.” I noticed it particularly because the tone of the message seemed different, ominous, divisive. Watch out, it warned. Do you have friends who do? Beware their motives. And I happen to drink mine black. ;)

There were others like that. I’m trying to remember them all. Things about Hillz, of course. But also things to deepen the black/white divide, the North/South divide, and all the other things that keep us apart.

Can we even have nice thing anymore? Seems there will always be someone who deliberately screws it all up… just because.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#84

Post by p0rtia »

And if you thought the Atlantic article was trying to harsh your buzz.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/opin ... ticleShare
Trump Poses a Test Democracy Is Failing
April 22, 2022
By Thomas B. Edsall


Ordinary citizens play a critical role in maintaining democracy. They refuse to re-elect — at least in theory — politicians who abuse their power, break the rules and reject the outcome of elections they lose. How is it, then, that Donald Trump, who has defied these basic presumptions, stands a reasonable chance of winning a second term in 2024?

Milan W. Svolik, a political scientist at Yale, anticipated this question in his 2019 paper “Polarization versus Democracy”: “Voters in democracies have at their disposal an essential instrument of democratic self-defense: elections. They can stop politicians with authoritarian ambitions by simply voting them out of office.”

What might account for their failure to do so?

In sharply polarized electorates, even voters who value democracy will be willing to sacrifice fair democratic competition for the sake of electing politicians who champion their interests. When punishing a leader’s authoritarian tendencies requires voting for a platform, party, or person that his supporters detest, many will find this too high a price to pay.

In other words, exacerbated partisan competition “presents aspiring authoritarians with a structural opportunity: They can undermine democracy and get away with it.”

Svolik and Matthew H. Graham, a postdoctoral researcher at George Washington University, expand on Svolik’s argument and its applicability to the United States. Supporters of democracy, they contend in their 2020 paper “Democracy in America? Partisanship, Polarization, and the Robustness of Support for Democracy in the United States,” can no longer rely on voters to serve as a roadblock against authoritarianism:

We find the U.S. public’s viability as a democratic check to be strikingly limited: only a small fraction of Americans prioritize democratic principles in their electoral choices, and their tendency to do so is decreasing in several measures of polarization, including the strength of partisanship, policy extremism, and candidate platform divergence.

Graham and Svolik cite survey data demonstrating that “Americans have a solid understanding of what democracy is and what it is not” and can “correctly distinguish real-world undemocratic practices from those that are consistent with democratic principles.”

Despite this awareness, Graham and Svolik continue:

...only a small fraction of Americans prioritize democratic principles in their electoral choices when doing so goes against their partisan identification or favorite policies. We proposed that this is the consequence of two mechanisms: first, voters are willing to trade off democratic principles for partisan ends and second, voters employ a partisan ‘double standard’ when punishing candidates who violate democratic principles. These tendencies were exacerbated by several types of polarization, including intense partisanship, extreme policy preferences, and divergence in candidate platforms.

The authors have calculated that “only 3.5 percent of voters realistically punish violations of democratic principles in one of the world’s oldest democracies.
And here I thought it was becomes Dems were in disarray.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#85

Post by p0rtia »

Recently discovered this dude. Fun thread to read.

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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#86

Post by pipistrelle »

p0rtia wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:26 am Recently discovered this dude. Fun thread to read.

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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#87

Post by RTH10260 »

Joe Biden? I would have thought it's bad news for Hunter Biden, he just lost his laptop :twisted:
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#88

Post by raison de arizona »

The hard hitting kind of news we've come to expect from NY Times.
The New York Times @nytimes wrote: Friendly reminder: you can eat those stickers on fruit, if you really want to.
Does It Matter if I Eat the Sticker on Fruits and Vegetables?
They won't cause you any harm, but there are reasons to remove them before taking a bite.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/well ... ables.html
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#89

Post by Volkonski »



Which will raise food prices.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#90

Post by MN-Skeptic »

I'm not a fan of E15. Shoot, I'm not a fan of ethanol.

My nephew has a vehicle which can run on E15. Yes, the fuel is cheaper. But just comparing prices is deceptive. E15 is a lot less efficient. It doesn't get nearly the miles per gallon as regular gasoline. But you have to use energy to plant corn, to harvest corn, to dry corn, and to convert it to ethanol. Along with lots of ground water. :mad: Rant over.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#91

Post by RTH10260 »

Re rising food prices

I don't think ethanol will be responsible for a price hike for a couple of years. From what I take from a couple of US farmers I Follow on Youtube the crops for the 2022 season have already been defined by December of 2021 and seeds and fertilizers have been ordered / purchased. Too late to change for this year to jump on a ethanol bandwagon. What is making food cost rise is the cost of buying fertilizer. Price is three to four times what it used to be! One of the farmers did purchase only a minimal quantity of fertilizer and will use remaining stock of last year. He will run with low supplement and expects diminished harvest later this year. Apart that precipitation has been predicted to be below average for the year in his region.

Higher ethanol prices in the US may trigger changes how farmers produce worldwide. May also trigger further deforestation to feed the demand.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#92

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

MN- Thanks for the info about ethanol.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#93

Post by Suranis »

Here in Ireland Fertilizer prices are twice what they were this time last year. Literally. My mother and brother were discussing it in front of me a few weeks ago. So this is world wide.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#94

Post by AndyinPA »

I think most of the problems being pushed by the US media these days, including crime and inflation, are worldwide. It's a better sell here if it's just pushed as a US problem.

I don't think you have to be much of a forward thinker to figure out that "after" the pandemic, there would be a lot of turmoil. The pandemic is worldwide; so is the turmoil is likely to also be.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#95

Post by pipistrelle »

AndyinPA wrote: Mon Apr 18, 2022 12:33 pm I think most of the problems being pushed by the US media these days, including crime and inflation, are worldwide. It's a better sell here if it's just pushed as a US problem.

I don't think you have to be much of a forward thinker to figure out that "after" the pandemic, there would be a lot of turmoil. The pandemic is worldwide; so is the turmoil is likely to also be.
Not unlike the plague, which caused seismic changes worldwide. Too bad there’s just no way for us to learn about past events and use those learnings to mitigate future ones.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#96

Post by Phoenix520 »

Yeah. This is just the beginning of climate change-generated pandemics.
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#97

Post by raison de arizona »

fertilizer futures
Image
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#98

Post by raison de arizona »

They always put Wonkette in the wrong spot IMO, they just don't get the snark. Also, I question the reliability placement for NY Post, OAN, etc.
Image
BTW- not to toot my own horn, but according to this, the pinnacle of news is ABC15 Arizona!
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#99

Post by raison de arizona »

I've been seeing more and more reporters being targeted recently, it is chilling.
Michael Berry @MichaelBerrySho wrote: If a reporter seeks to “expose” you, hire a PI (i have a great ‘one!) to fight back. Tell where every relative lives. Give contact info. Fight them. Ruin them. I did it & a reporter begged me to to stop. Crush them. Don’t hide. Destroy.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: The Media are the Goddam Problem

#100

Post by pipistrelle »

Reported for harassment/encouragement.
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