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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 16, 2005 Unplug from news and figure it out for yourself What if you couldn't wake up from a dream you thought was real? How would you know the real world from the dream world? It's a Matrix metaphor, I admit. But it describes people who are "plugged in" to the reality that our news media creates for them. Those of us who are unplugged do not necessarily reject the media's version of reality; we just see it as incomplete. It's not that they straight out lie to us. But there are three forms of communication that are just as destructive and irresponsible as lying. The first is to use mostly accurate statistics and plausible logic to reach inaccurate and illogical conclusions (e.g., poor people get tax returns which are equal to, or exceed, the amount of taxes they paid that year, so they don't get to complain about taxes being too high). Hence, the term "disinformation." The second is to simply not report important information (such as the failure to report on the effects of the Mining Act of 1872 and the Telecom-munications Giveaway in 1996). The third is when the media allows their guests to lie (or disinform) without holding them accountable (like on September 11th when Bush told us: "These people hate us because we are free.") If you are plugged in to the Matrix, you are being psychologically herded like sheep to: vote for someone, to purchase someone's product, or worse, to spread someone's disinforming opinions into the general population. Please!! Unplug from the Matrix and learn to evaluate for yourself. Cross-reference the factoids you hear on TV. Go to the CBO's Web site. Go to the Census Bureau's Web site. When Michael Moore or Joe Scarborough say something you can't believe or that someone else says is false, go and check it out! If you don't make the effort to cross-reference, learn opposing perspectives, or cite independent and credible sources, your arguments will continue to be inherently weak and your opinions shallow. Cris Kelly Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams