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Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)


Banshee

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Sorry to reply to my own post.

But in the cool light of day:  I was far too kind last night.

News sites should not post lies.

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17 hours ago, besleybean said:

Click bait is vile.

True. But is also effective. It's just a means to generate views to increase advertising revenues. Of course it doesn't help when tech giants are studying your every move on the internet so they can tailor that crap just for you. It's one of the reasons I've stopped using Google.

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3 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

real news requires real journalists and real effort. Who has time for that any more?

Apparently not certain "news" sources.  I've seen articles (posted online by certain tabloids) where the "reporter" had very clearly not even been on the scene, but was merely making up captions to fit the (very nice) photographs.  Apparently they couldn't even be bothered to ask the photographer what had really happened.

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10 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Apparently not certain "news" sources.  I've seen articles (posted online by certain tabloids) where the "reporter" had very clearly not even been on the scene, but was merely making up captions to fit the (very nice) photographs.  Apparently they couldn't even be bothered to ask the photographer what had really happened.

I've always thought that as long as most of us are educated enough to know the difference, the tabloid-type "reporting" doesn't do much harm. I admit, however, to losing faith in the general public's ability to distinguish between tabloidism and serious journalism.... :unsure: 

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38 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I admit, however, to losing faith in the general public's ability to distinguish between tabloidism and serious journalism.... :unsure: 

I think a good bit of the current problem is due to people reading isolated articles that pop up on the internet.  Depending on where the readers are from, they may not be aware of a certain "newspaper's" tabloid status, whereas if you see a physical copy at the checkout line, it's pretty obvious what sort of "news" they cover.

Well, that and the recent tendency of "respectable" news outlets to sensationalize their stories.

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4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I admit, however, to losing faith in the general public's ability to distinguish between tabloidism and serious journalism....

Sometimes it's the lack of ability to distinguish between "possible" and "complete BS". This is really scary.

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I agree and I suppose on volumes of scale...that maybe is the most concerning factor.

But it would be nice if tthe media didn't publish unnecessarily hurtful stories...

I am pleased to report the line seemed to have been fairly quickly dropped.

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8 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I admit, however, to losing faith in the general public's ability to distinguish between tabloidism and serious journalism.... :unsure: 

1

It used to be much easier when news was actually printed. At least the format of the paper was a good indication of how 'accurate' the news was. It doesn't help that most news outlets are now owned by a very few groups with no interest other than making a profit. And even if they get something right, if someone doesn't like it they can just take to social media and drown it out in rhetoric and vitriol.

When I was at school we were required to read the news, from several sources, and then discuss the events. You could always tell who read just the red tops and who read the broadsheets. 

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6 hours ago, J.P. said:

Sometimes it's the lack of ability to distinguish between "possible" and "complete BS". This is really scary.

Yeah, that's more what I meant … some things, a "sensible" person should simply know is garbage. But some people seem willfully ignorant, if you ask me. ("The ONLY reason Mexicans want to come to the States is so they can get on welfare", for instance. That, my friends, is demonstrably BS, but a lot of people seem to believe it. :( )

2 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

It used to be much easier when news was actually printed. At least the format of the paper was a good indication of how 'accurate' the news was. It doesn't help that most news outlets are now owned by a very few groups with no interest other than making a profit. And even if they get something right, if someone doesn't like it they can just take to social media and drown it out in rhetoric and vitriol.

To some extent I agree … yet at the same time, as Carol points out, you can find drivel and hyperbole in the print media too. Yet I firmly believe that if you care enough to see the difference between "real" news and garbage, it's fairly easy to distinguish the difference. But it seems increasingly to me that people simply prefer the garbage. Or prefer to believe it's all garbage, and therefore ignore all of it. Which is in some ways even more scary...… 

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11 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

It used to be much easier when news was actually printed. At least the format of the paper was a good indication of how 'accurate' the news was....

 

8 hours ago, Arcadia said:

To some extent I agree … yet at the same time, as Carol points out, you can find drivel and hyperbole in the print media too. 

I believe Sheerluck said pretty much the same thing -- basically that some papers (especially the tabloids, which is what I assume he meant by "the format") print basically nothing but sensationalized nonsense.  So you gotta look for a legitimate paper if you want anything resembling real news.  (Though I might add, even then you gotta be careful.)

Quote

"The ONLY reason Mexicans want to come to the States is so they can get on welfare", for instance. That, my friends, is demonstrably BS, but a lot of people seem to believe it.

That's odd.  I know several Mexican families, and they're all here to improve their situation in life by studying and working.  And I've never actually heard anyone express the "Mexicans only want welfare" concept -- I've heard people say that people say it, but that's just hearsay.  Maybe depends on where you live.

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As soon as any group is all labelled the same, the antenna should start twitiching...unless the cited belief is direct form their holy book, of course...

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13 hours ago, besleybean said:

As soon as any group is all labelled the same, the antenna should start twitiching...unless the cited belief is direct form their holy book, of course....

Not necessarily even then.  For one thing, just about any quote from any holy book is subject to interpretation.  And there are devout people who nevertheless diverge from their religion in one particular or another.

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22 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:
Quote

"The ONLY reason Mexicans want to come to the States is so they can get on welfare", for instance. That, my friends, is demonstrably BS, but a lot of people seem to believe it.

That's odd.  I know several Mexican families, and they're all here to improve their situation in life by studying and working.  And I've never actually heard anyone express the "Mexicans only want welfare" concept -- I've heard people say that people say it, but that's just hearsay.  Maybe depends on where you live.

Perhaps. The South has often been accused of being more racist than the rest of the country. Not without reason....

Irony: the person who said this to me is herself an immigrant, and her son is on welfare. They are not "persons of color," however, which I presume justifies her attitude. (Yes, I'm being facetious.) 

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Washing dishes with left hand was still quite okay, but not when I had to scrub pots. I can write with my left hand too, although it looks like kid's handwriting. And I'm soooo glad you slammed the car door on your face as well, Arcadia! Bahahaha, I only have capacity to sympathise with people who have exactly the same misfortune with me, but since you had it worse... bahahahaha *point*

On 5/17/2019 at 9:56 PM, Sheerluck said:

No they shouldn't, but real news requires real journalists and real effort. Who has time for that any more?

I know right. Especially when they can get all the 'news' from social media. The appalling thing is they actually have the audacity to quote 'fact' from social media, and spread it. It must be weird being born in the modern world where internet is like oxygen.

On 5/18/2019 at 7:47 PM, Sheerluck said:

When I was at school we were required to read the news, from several sources, and then discuss the events. You could always tell who read just the red tops and who read the broadsheets. 

Several sources is one of the keys.

On 5/19/2019 at 2:23 PM, besleybean said:

As soon as any group is all labelled the same, the antenna should start twitiching...

Yes. But I have concluded that stereotyping will never die.

Everyone does it to certain extend, although some are more sensible and keep it to themselves. Still, sadly, it will never die. As long as we are 'different'.

 

Is this quality journalism you guys are talking about?

Smart-Select-20190428-132819-Chrome.jpg

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Rant, my day hasn't been good.

Yesterday morning during our beach walk we found a puppy; hidden between motorcycle's wheels, very smart looking but she/he was weak. I knew something was not right but didn't know what to do. Then (let's say she) started to stand up, thought maybe she was just sleepy and wanted to play now but no, she had bloody liquid stool in amount that is ridiculous for her size, she still had the energy to move to other area nearby and rested on the ground again, while looking at me. Can't explain her look, very thoughtful and patient look. It's like she didn't ask for anything, she almost looked happy with weak tail wagging. Although I was't sure what to do, couldn't leave her like that and decided to bring her to vet, with my dog along. We were both dirty and sandy from our walk. 

Too bad she tested positive for Parvo, an incurable disease (can be prevented with vaccination) with less than 20% survival. They could only give her secondary treatment for diarrhoea and dehydration. She didn't even have a name. All she had with her was a plastic rope on her neck (not for torture, mostly as improper collar). Vet adviced euthanasia, for she was malnourished as well because her treatment would be long, expensive and mostly unfruitful. I would not, ever, want to be in situation where I had to make that decision. It's frightening, I didn't know what to do. Seeing my confusion, the vet, she was actually very kind, offered the option to keep her for a day and monitored how well she coped. As you might have guessed, she didn't make it. She looked quite okay when she was with me and in the waiting room, but by the time we left the treatment room she was already whimpering and when I had my final look in isolation cage she wasn't responsive.

She lasted until last night, but I only had confirmation this morning (they updated me, but the language was a bit vague between she had passed or the doctor had given up and decided there was no hope).

I'm so pissed that pet owner could just leave their dog outside just like that for her to suffer alone.

Look how sweet is the little fellow.

 

Zombo-Droid-20052019191024.jpg

I'm so pissed that pet owner could just leave their dog outside just like that, for her to suffer alone.

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VBS, you gave that poor little doggie some love, and you arranged for her to have a safe place where she could die in peace, which are the most helpful things you could have done for her.

From your account, this disease came on pretty fast, so the owner may not have been aware that she was ill.  Or the dog may have wandered away from home some time ago, and become infected after that.  So it wasn't necessarily a case of neglect.   Sometimes bad things just happen.

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Poor little thing. At least you made it so she was safe and warm when she passed. That's worth a lot.

 

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22 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Smart-Select-20190428-132819-Chrome.jpg

:rofl: 

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21 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

From your account, this disease came on pretty fast, so the owner may not have been aware that she was ill.  Or the dog may have wandered away from home some time ago, and become infected after that.  So it wasn't necessarily a case of neglect.   Sometimes bad things just happen.

I'd like to believe that, but sadly, circumstances points otherwise. One of it being this is the regular stretch of beach that me and many others go, we'd know if there is a new abandoned dog pretty soon (and sadly, it's really not uncommon). At least two of the acquaintances go there twice daily, walking the same path, and they would do something for the puppy as they always do (the things they do for strays restore my faith in goodness a lot). The puppy was barely able to walk, it's unlikely it's a run away.

Again, sadly (!) most people in places that I live know the concept of pet as fun, cute companion. They 'forget' that they get sick, they grow up, they could have unwanted behaviour and they could be expensive. I get that there is a possibility that the owner couldn't afford the treatment, but pet is family. You'd expected to do everything you could in your power when you decide to have one. Even for the last resort, at least be there for them. We have seen so many examples of bad owners before, so it'd cloud my judgement, yes. I guess when I said  there are people who restore my faith, there are many more who destroy it. Most time, not this one, I'm unable to do something to help and it's terrifying. 

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Yeah, heaven knows there are enough people who will abandon a pet when they're no fun anymore (I'm sure glad I'm not their grandma).  :(

But there are also a lot of people who, when their pet does something that inconveniences them, assume that the pet is merely "being naughty."  If the dog poops on the carpet, it never occurs to them that it might be ill, they just scold it and put it outside.  And if it's not used to being outside or being alone, it may wander off, maybe looking for other dogs.

Then there are the people who simply fail to think things through.  Like when their pet goes missing, even one they're very fond of, they'll say oh, when he gets hungry, he'll come home.  And it never occurs to them go looking for their pet, or put up notices, or phone the local animal shelter (if there is one) to see if it has been turned in, or check the "Found" ads in the newspaper, or anything.  I don't see this as cruel or even neglectful, mostly just ignorant (and probably the way they were brought up).  Still very sad situation for their pet, though.

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