Protecting our minds in a bad news world

It's always the same... one bad news story after another.

Here's the ABC World News lineup from this evening...
  • Wildfires force evacuations, destroy homes in Georgia and Florida
  • Red flag (critical fire weather conditions) warnings across the High Plains and Southwest
  • Iranian state TV airs video of masked gunmen boarding ship near Strait of Hormuz
  • Chemical leak in West Virginia kills at least 2, more than two dozen needing medical treatment
  • Home explosions just hours apart leave Texas community on edge
  • Urgent search underway for crew of U.S. cargo ship that overturned in typhoon
  • Airline cuts 20,000 flights due to jet fuel shortage from Iran war
  • Dave Mason, founding member of Traffic, dead at 79
And then after all that, David Muir smiles and tells us about a baby elephant in a swimming pool.
  • America Strong: Smithsonian's National Zoo debuts baby elephant on Earth Day
 
It's always the same... one bad news story after another.

Here's the ABC World News lineup from this evening...
  • Wildfires force evacuations, destroy homes in Georgia and Florida
  • Red flag (critical fire weather conditions) warnings across the High Plains and Southwest
  • Iranian state TV airs video of masked gunmen boarding ship near Strait of Hormuz
  • Chemical leak in West Virginia kills at least 2, more than two dozen needing medical treatment
  • Home explosions just hours apart leave Texas community on edge
  • Urgent search underway for crew of U.S. cargo ship that overturned in typhoon
  • Airline cuts 20,000 flights due to jet fuel shortage from Iran war
  • Dave Mason, founding member of Traffic, dead at 79
And then after all that, David Muir smiles and tells us about a baby elephant in a swimming pool.
  • America Strong: Smithsonian's National Zoo debuts baby elephant on Earth Day
Yesterday I looked at the online Newspaper. Trump prevented the execution of 8 Iranian women.
 
My dad always watched the News and read the Newspaper, also online and then he'd have some horrific story he read and told us and my mom said: sssh don't be so negative LOL.

My uncle, her brother. They interviewed him for tv, asking him which party he was gonna vote for. The Dutch reformed party. Why? Because my wife says it's good. He had no clue and he did not care and he was always happy and the life of the party. Always joking. He had been in a concentration camp in the war.
 
Information dissemination now can be a high-paying job. The more sensationalist the headline, the more reads it gets, the more money it makes. If it bleeds, it leads. I'm so done with it. One more headline with "(enter a number) ways to (whatever)" and I will scream. And different sources will change one or two items and say the same thing. And those women who do YT videos while they are putting on their makeup? Next, will it be someone using a toilet while filming?

Where's my soapbox?
 
I confess. A few months ago, I spent a LOT of time, sometimes all day, watching YT videos. Towards the end of the month, it was as if I woke up. Did I pay a certain bill? What about "this"? Did I do that? My brain was in a dense fog. I made a mistake on my tax return and had to file an amended return. It was stupid and it actually scared me. I backed off from screen time and guess what? Yeah, back in gear and getting it done.

No wonder our kids, our world is in such a mess. I learned my lesson.
 
One of the most salient posts I've seen recently in this forum. 👍

I'll only add that those same bots and algorithms are damaging young people's lives by steering them toward content that can be self-destructive. An example is this craze called "Looksmaxing" for young guys who think their only chance at success is to be more handsome than someone else. Or teenage girls who want to be thinner and are guided to sites featuring anorexia.

We all need to unplug occasionally, plain and simple.

Wow, I had no idea that was a thing. I can only hope that at some point in their youth they will realize that how a coffee cup looks on the outside isn't the real reason most people would want to keep drinking from it. Trying to look your best is one thing, but obsessing over it often indicates insecurities within that need to be addressed.
 
One of the most salient posts I've seen recently in this forum. 👍

I'll only add that those same bots and algorithms are damaging young people's lives by steering them toward content that can be self-destructive. An example is this craze called "Looksmaxing" for young guys who think their only chance at success is to be more handsome than someone else. Or teenage girls who want to be thinner and are guided to sites featuring anorexia.

We all need to unplug occasionally, plain and simple.

The sad thing is that some (young) men think that they need 'looksmaxxing' to be attractive to women. The same with young women who think they need enlarged breasts and a narrow waist to be attractive to men.
 
I confess. A few months ago, I spent a LOT of time, sometimes all day, watching YT videos. Towards the end of the month, it was as if I woke up. Did I pay a certain bill? What about "this"? Did I do that? My brain was in a dense fog. I made a mistake on my tax return and had to file an amended return. It was stupid and it actually scared me. I backed off from screen time and guess what? Yeah, back in gear and getting it done.

No wonder our kids, our world is in such a mess. I learned my lesson.
I once watched a crime video on youtube. Real crime, a documentary. It was interesting, but then youtube is like: oh you liked this? Here are 200 more of these horrific stories. Go away. I just block it. Not interested.
 
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