Over at the Big Hominid, Kevin has a post with a video showing people actually talking through their political differences in a sane and civil manner. I mentioned in the comments that I recalled having similar conversations with a few liberal friends, usually over some beers. Minds weren’t necessarily changed, but we could usually find some common ground at least.

I don’t do politics here at LTG much anymore, and even less on social media like Facebook. But most mornings I will take a peek behind those doors at the political insanity that currently has America divided in the grips of uncivil war. It makes me glad to be here on the other side of the world. Obviously, we have always had differing views amongst the people and different ideas on how to change things for the better. I’m old enough to remember the Vietnam protests and cultural wars of the late 60s and early 70s, but somehow things seem worse these days. So, what’s changed and who is to blame? I honestly believe the problem has a lot to do with the biased news media.

Ignorance abounds, and maybe it always has. But when I see otherwise reasonably intelligent people regurgitating half-truths and outright lies they’ve read somewhere without questioning the source, it makes me worry for the future. I mean, we’ve got the whole damn internet available to fact check information and you want to rely on someone’s Tweet to make your case. That’s pretty damn scary.

Here’s but one example: Bloomberg News sent out a Tweet with a link to a story about the Vice President, stating: Pence tells U.S. food workers to “do your job” as some fall ill. Wow! What a cold-hearted bastard! Except when you go to the story and read that quote in context, it’s a whole other animal:

“You are vital,” he said during a press conference late Tuesday. “You are giving a great service to the people of the United States of America and we need you to continue, as a part of what we call critical infrastructure, to show up and do your job.” In return, Pence said, the government will “work tirelessly” to ensure their workplaces are safe.

Of course, people ran with the Tweet and that became the story. Truth doesn’t matter, it’s all about the narrative. Anyway, it made me write about politics and for that, I apologize. Let’s get back to the kind of stuff you come here for!

Like this:

Yesterday afternoon I was doing my usual thing at “Gomans” and this was my “interesting” view:

Oh yeah, I left out a part of the story from Wednesday’s hike waiting for Scott to post some pictures. As we were marching along, Scott pointed to a shack and said “Derek used to live here”. I don’t know Derek, but Scott told me he used to be a bar manager in Barretto and he has subsequently moved back to the States. As we rounded a corner on the trail I was struck by this view:

Turns out, that’s Derek’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his two children. She told me her name is “Gam Gam”. Apparently, she has some other family staying with her up here on the mountain. Like most folks, they are struggling to get through this difficult time. Well, she said Derek still sends her 10,000 pesos ($200) a month so she is doing better than a lot of folks I guess. Plus, her house is paid for, such as it is.

Maybe I was just feeling horny tired from the walk, but I enjoyed looking at chatting with her. I do admire these gals doing the best they can for their family and in our brief conversation, I gathered that was what she is all about. I was out of candy and cookies by this point in the hike, but I gave her 300 pesos which she seemed to appreciate. Maybe I’ll pass by again one of these days to check her out on how she is doing.

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something
Something I can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundry

You don’t really need to find out
What’s going on
You don’t really want to know
Just how far it’s gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_GLKaH4vM