From Gary in the comments: "...we've heard your criticism, what's your prescription?" (to correct the bias in MSM news)
This may come across as a backhanded compliment, but my prescription is to do what Gary is doing.
Based on Gary's comments, it is reasonable to assume that Gary is a defender of "curated and vetted", corporate news. The point is that he is still out there reading sources like my blog even though it sometimes makes him uncomfortable/angry.
To generalize, my prescription is that if you are a large consumer of "curated and vetted" corporate news:
Suggestion One
That you also add one or two sources of contrasting viewpoints. Frankly, I don't think my blog is one of the better ones for that. The content is not very focused and much of the content is not of global interest.
Al Jazeera is recommended by a surprisingly wide spectrum of hard-core political wanks for perspective.
New York Post is among the first to break stories that challenge the Deep State. They have been running stories on the fraudulent daycares in Minnesota for a week and, until 9 hours ago, crickets from MSM except for Fox.
Daily Mail is a pretty good source if you skip over the celebrity news gack. I was worried that Mrs ERJ would object to my reading it because they post dozens of pictures of scantily clad, female "celebrities" in every issue. Still a good source of breaking news in the US.
ZeroHedge or Epoch Times push back against the Deep State
Burning Platform isn't a newspaper. It is a blog that posts two or three essays a day from various contributors.
Commenters, please add to this list. I am sure that I am missing MANY good sources of information to counterbalance the inherent bias in "curated, vetted, corporate" news (Henceforth to be called CVC news)
Suggestion Two
Read books. If "Wisdom is knowledge that does not come with a "best-by" date", then books are high signal-to-noise sources of wisdom. That is because books are more permanent than the words coming out of Rachel Maddow's or Whoopie Goldberg's mouth on any given CVC news segment. The author of the book knows that his words will face critical scrutiny for decades.
Yes, books can represent a big time commitment...but just starting a book can make you a hellova lot smarter than you were. Not every book is like a mystery where you have to finish it to get a grasp of how it goes together.
Or you can cherry-pick chapters out of a book. You don't have to read the entire Bible to get value out of it. Some books/chapters stand alone better than others. Sirach, Proverbs, Wisdom, Timothy 1 & 2, James are examples of where you won't feel like you stepped into the middle of a story.
A few authors to consider:
- Friedrich Hayek
- Eric Hoffer
- Charles Hugh Smith
- James Howard Kunstler
Commenters, please add to this list, particularly any good history books.
RE: Books - Brain Improvement
ReplyDeleteAnything by:
Thomas Sowell
Michael Walsh
Victor Davis Hanson
Joseph Alton, MD
Jeff Cooper
William L. Shirer
James Burke
David Kahn (warning-math-heavy crypto & comms)
Charles Krauthammer
John Keegan
Richard B. Frank
And for Brain Candy -
Matt Bracken
Stieg Larsson (Dragon Tattoo trilogy)
Tom Clancy (early, when he was writing his own books)
Neal Stephenson (esp Cryptonomicon, but crypto-heavy)
Joseph Heller
Ayn Rand
Kuntsler , yeah I like him , I can always get two sentences in to his writings and know it is him from his quick wit on serious subjects . ZH is a morning stop on my morning 30 minute lap around the web , and of course here too to see what you'ze up to . I run all news through my mental bullshhtt sieve and go on about my business.
ReplyDeleteFor news aggregators it's tough to beat Kane at Citizen Free Press, the spiritual successor to what Drudge was before he sold out. I also have a subscription to Epoch Times, which seems to be backed by anti-communists Chinese.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice. I second the reading of books. I would add read history, but rather than relying on someone's modern interpretation of history, seek out source documents and works by people who are actually living in the time period and experiencing the event. It is often stunning how different their world view can be compared to our modern, politically slanted world views.
ReplyDeleteTo your list of news sources, I would suggest Jeff Childers' daily substack commentary - https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/. He's always optimistic and has an interesting way of connecting the dots.
I like Citizen Free press also, and Liberty Free Daily. Also I like https://normalamerican.com/, click on News at the top, takes you to a large menu of news and bloggers.
ReplyDeleteAny of the "Real Clear" websites
ReplyDeleteKeynes; what he really said not the misinterpretation that is used today. That was a eye opener decades back when I read it. Also read an essay by Fitzgerald ( the great gatsby) about the Marx brothers at one of his party's that if anyone can find it would go very well here.
ReplyDeleteLove this blog topic even though I’m more of a “stick my head in the sand” type person. I do like to view alternative sources, but need to be better informed on national and world news. Husband is the news junkie and keeps me posted. We started a “joint chiefs” news briefing every morning at breakfast. My contributions are mainly from blogs like ERJ. He really likes a lot of the video/audio content from Real America’s Voice. He doesn’t utilize their written content so can’t give an opinion on that.
ReplyDeleteI recommend https://www.powerlineblog.com/. They are my Minnesota conservative source and have been reporting on Minnesota issues for years...
ReplyDeleteFor economics, I find Wolfstreet.com incredibly useful. Wolf breaks down complex economic issues into things even I can understand (including graphs). He is 100% data driven.
ReplyDeleteI third the use of books - in my case, the Classics as human nature has changed not at all in the 4000 years or more we have of recorded history. Some of the most readable include The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (showing war, politics, and diplomacy have not change in 2300 years, The Annals of Imperial Rome and The Histories by Tacitus (showing how the tendency of humans is towards centralized government and the results of that government no matter how bad the government) - but almost any Classical History and some of the Classical works of speakers (Demosthenes, Isocrates, Cicero) have something to inform the human condition. I would also recommend almost any of the Icelandic Sagas for how humans deal with each other in a free society - and what happens when things get beyond the law.
Also, the current series by Paul Rahe (now at 6 books I believe) on the Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta is well worth reading, as it chronicles how an very different and inherently conservative society made its way in the world, tried to adapt, and ultimately failed.
All books are an investment in time, and older books especially for some. I would argue that is a feature, not a bug. It makes one slow down and digest the information.
F. Bastiat. "The Law".
ReplyDeleteVery in tune with today's situations.
I submit that not having time to read a book evidences a lacking in organizational skills and/or is overly involved with the mindless chatter of interpretations of current events. Time is precious, use time wisely.
ReplyDeleteIndulging in a broader context, not of varied opinions, but of time, i.e. history, will develop a better understanding of current events and one's place in the world. In the least, one will realize that they do not live in a (unprecedented!) bubble as promulgated by the varied commentors in media and others.
Exposure to a broad palette of varied opinions of today is good; better is developing an understanding of current events through the study of human history. A primary truth of the matter is that the opinions, whatever their position, expressed by current commentors is that they live in this modern world. The study of history affords an outside perspective, one untainted by current thoughts and trends.
The common theme is to ascertain as many opinions as available. While seemingly advantages, this may very well lead to a condition akin to apostle Paul in Athens confronting the people who squandered their time in consideration of every thought and opinion.
Yes, that seems extreme, yet consider the confusion of thought and opinion in today's society.
Got kids in suburban Chicagoland, so I occasionally listen to an 'urban' chicago radio station. Calling it OPFOR research. They don't like me. Simple truth ...
ReplyDeleteA little East of Paris
I would add: don't just read books. Build a library. There's never been a better time in history for the average person to afford a spectacular home library.
ReplyDeleteWe know how important food/water/shelter/clothing/fuel/guns and ammo/medicine etc are. But if the time comes when you have to switch from being Grey Man to Gone Dark Man, you'll wish you had a forever library. It will keep you sane.