Wednesday November 19, 2025
Today I am thankful for alternative sources of information. The world is changing. What used to be trustworthy sources of news and facts are no longer guaranteed to be such. Things are chosen to be presented, only part of a story is told, or in some cases outright lies.
Either way, consumption of news is no longer a simple thing. Large grains of salt are required.
I am thankful that I am not "on the front lines", so to speak, and can sit between my two furry companions, in a house with heat, with hot water, with refrigeration and cooking means for food, with stocked shelves in a nearby grocery and the ability to purchase it.
I worry when I sit amid this bounty that my gratitude may slop over into the Pharisee's prayer from the gospels, where the self-righteous one is thankful he is not "as other men". It's tempting to believe we are deserving of all the good in our lives.
I am indeed blessed, but with blessing comes responsibility, to do what we can to help others. "Noblesse oblige" in a society of supposed equals applies to us all.
So true, I too, have heard the actual words spoken and then the news person say something completely different from what the person was talking about. I don't believe news sources very often. I take all of it with a huge grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteIt may have always been so, but I was raised by a dad who was educated as a journalist. They were trained to write only the facts, not to opine or interpret.
DeleteAnything that was opinion or commentary was so labeled. Dad wrote a column called "Ken's Komments" I think it was once a week, in a small-town newspaper, besides his regular duties as photographer and reporter. Only now do I wish I might find the archives of what was written back then, in the 1950's!
It is VERY hard to listen to news because it's delivery is fashioned to manipulate us to think the way THEY are presenting it when that may be a 1/2 truth or not true @ all. Definitely need that bag of salt when deciphering the news.
ReplyDeleteAnd for sure, w/having what we need and want comes responsibility. There are soooo many right now who do NOT have what they need, let alone what they want.
hugs and blessings
barb
1cd
News reporting should not be persuasive writing. It should be expository writing. Guess I'm old fashioned that way!
DeleteAnd totally agree with helping others in a worse situation when we can!
PHOENIX1949
ReplyDeleteYou might be able to locate your Dad's column in one or two places. The Library of the newspaper location it was in and/or your State Archives records.
For a few years, I spent multiple Sunday afternoons at our Main Public Library - Historical City Records and State Archives, reading miles of microfische. These places were a goldmine of genealogy information (helped that my immigrant ancestors settled here in Austin in the early 1860's & Texas since 1845). Something that amused me when I was searching for obituaries of ancestors is that the were not in a dedicated area for obituaries. Actually, most items were plugged into wherever there was space (sort of like when spouse puts groceries in the pantry).
After exhausting my information resources for family in Texas, I spent a lot of time in libraries and courthouses in North and South Carolina.
Warning: searches of this type can become very addictive !!
We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow for our drought-stricken area. Leaves just beginning to fall and daytime temps in mid-80's these days.
Susan
I will have to ask my genealogically inclined older sister if she ever did this. She, too, would remember dad in his reporter role.
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