Do you think there will be a 3rd world war?

@MarineBob True...if it is hard to take, shut the world off and enjoy life!!

@MarineBob Best advice yet. TV is little more than a distraction at best and a propaganda arm of the deep state at worst. Nothing worth watching on it.

@MarineBob @hippyjoe1955 1000% agree. One of the best decisions I made in the last 10 years was cancelling my cable, and subscriptions to periodicals like Newsweek or Entertainment Weekly.

I am calmer, happier, more relaxed and have fewer problems because I am no longer being worked over by the propagandists on the idiot box.

@SumKindaMunster It is often better to be uninformed than misinformed. Uninformed allows you to seek information should you need it. Misinformed taints your point of view.

@hippyjoe1955 Well put! 👍

@MarmeeMarch Agreed. I then suggest they just use a news aggregate like Reuters to get their news and try to avoid pundits and talk show hosts who tell you what to think and believe about the news.

@SumKindaMunster Don't look now but Reuters is fake news.

@hippyjoe1955 Meh, I mean what are you supposed to do for international news? Gotta assume at least the broad strokes are correct.

@SumKindaMunster If you believe Reuters you believe the Green Helmet Guy was real. Reuters has a provable track record of not telling the truth.

@hippyjoe1955 I dunno man. My beliefs don't work that way. It sounds more like you meant to say I support Reuters which I guess is true.

Does Reuters have a worse reputation for accuracy than any other news organization in your opinion?

@SumKindaMunster I don't trust any of the legacy media. It gets its news of the day from an email that is sent out early in the morning. Ever wonder why all the news agencies use the same words in almost the same word order and all cover exactly the same 'newsworthy' articles? Very strange coincidence.

@hippyjoe1955 I'm aware of coordination in the media and the use of repeated terms for mass psychological effect.

Question for you though. How do you keep tabs as to what is going on in the world? You must consume some sort of news media for you continually have opinions on the issues du jour.

@SumKindaMunster I graze. I look for alternate news sources instead of relying on the legacy media. There are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs and other websites offering different opinions. Not that they are to be believed but many of them have factual information the legacy media doesn't carry. Just for example I found an hour long video of Putin explaining his side of the conflict in Ukraine. Good information. Do I believe every word he said? Of course not. But at least I have an insight that I would never have if I simply followed legacy media. The legacy media is bought and paid for. Its content is mandated from the boss as to what will be covered and what won't be covered.

@hippyjoe1955 So the vast majority of these alternate websites and blogs get their information from the same legacy media you deride here. You are just going through an extra layer of presentation and interpretation.

You clearly state that you don't believe everything you see and read on these sites.

Is it difficult to believe that I can read things on legacy media sites and also decide what I believe and what I choose to disregard as fake or propaganda?

@SumKindaMunster Some do some don't. The fact is is if you want to know what is going on you have to go a lot farther than the legacy media. Look of tidbits of information. Don't expect any one of them to tell you the absolute truth. Just for example. The legacy media was trumpeting the line from the WHO that the covid death rate was 3.4%. Alternate media was saying the covid death rate was less than 1%. Guess what with 20 20 hindsight we see the covid death rate was 0.7%. IOW the 'experts' at the WHO were either lying or severely mistaken. I suspect lying. The same computer modeler that came up with the covid death rate also came up with the climate change models and none of his projections have been shown to be accurate.

@hippyjoe1955 Well you didn't really answer my question, so I will just tell you that I am able to read and consider ideas, thoughts, concepts, etc without agreeing with them or believing them. I'm not particularly worried about accuracy when I read the news, rather I want to understand the message they are conveying and why they want this message disseminated and accepted as truth.

@SumKindaMunster What answer were you looking for? I can't tell you a source since I really don't have a source. There is no specific website I go to to get my daily dose of information. I graze. I find interesting tidbits of information and try to make a plausible scenario out of what is obvious and what others are saying about the obvious.

@hippyjoe1955 The question I asked was this:


My point being, you seem to believe you are able to see and hear the truth in a pack of lies. Why would you believe I am different?

@SumKindaMunster The very fact that you continue to consume/defend the legacy media tells me all I need to know about you and your understanding of current events information.

@hippyjoe1955 Ok Joe. Well I learned a thing or two about you as well.

I'm struck by your black/white thinking on this and would say this sort of binary reaction is exactly the kind of thing I usually see you rail against.

I'll keep this conversation in mind for any future interactions.

@SumKindaMunster What are you even talking about? Black and white? I am always looking for shades of grey. You are the one dealing in black and white by following the legacy media. Remember Walter Cronkite's famous "And that's the way it was". No doubt allowed. No grey areas here. The legacy media is telling you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

@hippyjoe1955 This is a very binary statement, in your world, ANY sort of consumption of legacy media earns your derision and scorn.


It's a condescending statement, and an insult.

You would be well served to work on the concept of "empathy"

You don't need to agree with someone to have empathy, you just need to be able to see their viewpoint.

I can do that, and based on how this conversation has gone, I am not sure you can.

@SumKindaMunster If the legacy media is telling the truth is it by accident. Every once in a while you will hear them being more honest than they intend but that serves only to show how dishonest they usually are.

@SumKindaMunster That's what my counselor tells me but I can't. I need to know. I need to be informed. News to me is addictive and that is something I told her. I'll do everything else but not the news..LOL