Hot Button Topics (religion, politics, sports)

[Chocofreak13]

europe is scary.

also I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD

REPORT TO TOPICLESS FOR LIFE UPDATES NOW MASHTUR

[NejinOniwa]

Not as scary as the Middle-east, in terms of how likely you are to die at the whim of someone's plot to destabilize your country. And I wouldn't touch the US with a very long stick right now, with the amount of spooky shit going on.

But in all fairness, it doesn't matter where in the world you are. The world as a whole is more terrifying than it ever has been, and only part of that is because of the ever-present threat of world powers bombing our species to oblivion.

[Bella]

There's a guy in my database class who likes to go on long political rants about how Cold War II is upon us, most of the time I think he's full of it but sometimes I wonder...

[NejinOniwa]

If he offers to give you a basic rundown of what's going on in the various fronts - and on high level government level in various countries, as well - I'd urge you to listen to him. Ignorance is like a drug - you're happy, happy, happy until the day the stuff you didn't know kills you dead, or worse.

On that topic, I'd remind you not to listen to half a word of what mainstream media (or media in general) has to say, but I'm sure you're all well aware of how much shit they're full of by now. Their game has been painfully obvious this last year.

[Bella]

To be honest he's never gone into details about it, just that the "relationship between Russia and the US is worse than it ever was in the Cold War", which I suppose I can believe.

Then again he's also expressed Ron Paul style pseudolibertarian leanings and his belief that "the media" is "ruining the family", whatever the fuck that means, so... who knows really.

[NejinOniwa]

Those are the words of a man hiding his powerlevel. It'd be amusing to see how much he'd be willing to say, given the opportunity.

[Chocofreak13]

the anarchist group i'm in on FB tends to post some good politically-clear articles and we can have a decent discussion when people actually come around (it's been pretty quiet the past few months). otherwise i tend to get a lot of decent ones in my feeds. the Huffington Post is a newspaper i trust for the most part. :0

[Nichi]

It's often difficult for me to find a viable news source where I live; after all, Fox News is the default news channel in my area it seems, and the local newspaper skews toward the same demographic (Which feels like people in Palestine think something is a lie unless it's what they want to hear; explaining why most people accused me of lying when I was a kid, because I wasn't saying exactly what they wanted to hear me say).

So, I often resort to what manages to reach me through other means; typically by way of the internet, which to be honest, I've learned more from it than I ever did from 12 years of homeschool.

[Chocofreak13]

tbh i think most of us get our news from the internet these days due to the only accurate/in-depth world news/national political news being here.

for local stuff, i just watch the 10pm news every night. :0

[Bella]

I'm really gonna date myself as an old fart here, but I tend to get my news from the PBS News Hour. Their reporting seems fairly bias-free and has a pretty broad scope (national, international, hard news, some arts & entertainment stuff, occasional investigative pieces, etc.) Other than that, I gather news from a variety of sources, as long as it isn't on a site that's clearly bullshit or biased, contains proper sourcing and isn't ~opinion~, I'll humor it.

[Chocofreak13]

i tend to forget PBS even HAS news. i can see how they'd be bias-free, but part of the reason i watch local news at all is because it comes on after SVU, which i'd be watching anyway. it's convenient that way, since i rarely forget to see it (it's routine by now). that channel is also QUITE new to having its own news program, so it's kind of charming to see them have a hiccup or two in their broadcast--reminds me that they're human. ^^

[NejinOniwa]

Personally I tend to visit a number of different sites of explicitly differing political association, to get a clear view of what's going on by viewing all the sides in any possible conflict. News sites include liberal DN, conservative FriaTider, and lately RussiaToday's english edition mainly because their international stuff. Also, a clickbait-free environment is nice.

Television is today's equivalent of the circus part of that ancient roman doctrine. I don't watch TV, and I haven't for several years. It's pretty nice.

I can see how you guys would like to see your favorite newsrooms as bias-free, but let me be clear: there is no such thing. Any newsroom will have an agenda driving its reporting, and a bias in the issues they do report on. It's better to look things up and get a clear view of what their bias is, and how great it is; do some research on their past reporting on a number of issues (international and domestic, cultural and scientific, and so on) and compare it to some other source.

[Nichi]

In defense of PBS, I'd say if they do have a bias, they don't make it obvious; given that they're actually bound by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to be neutral, lest they lose funding (Hell, the CPB was formed because of accusations that a PBS, or rather, NET news report on the Vietnam war had a liberal bias; thus leading to an organization to make sure they stay neutral)

I mean, it's not a perfect system, but at least they have someone monitoring them :\

[Chocofreak13]

yeah, PBS tends to be the most neutral news on US tv these days. and i'm well aware my online sites are liberal-leaning, but it's mostly because they tend to be a bit more truthful on the issues i read about. most of the time i find international news tiring, however, due to my exasperation and utter despair of the world today. i still look, but it's exhausting.

as for the local stuff, it's hard to be biased when they're reporting on bomb threats at the local high school or the snow havoc. :\

[Chocofreak13]

http://imgur.com/gallery/9aVh2
http://imgur.com/gallery/l1LZL5H

both of these gallerys are excellent, but deal with some pretty heavy stuff. thoughts?