My previous post touched upon how information and comment on the Internet can be manipulated to obscure the truth and still end up looking legitimate to those who never question the information they find on the net. For the past 5 years I have setup and operated a news bot that searches the Internet regularly and reports back to me on those items that I have an interest in. I have included all the major international press services, online newspapers, online magazines, blogs, and forums of all types. I have also primed my bot with a list of keywords to narrow and correlate the information returned. I find it interesting to compare how current world events are being portrayed around the world and note the differences and similarities in how the information is being reported. What I have discovered is that the major global news networks (CNN,BBC,Fox, Speigel DE,Guardian,Independent UK, Asia Times, Pravda, Al Jazerra, NY Times, Washington Post, Brussels Journal, Jerusalem Times, Asia Times, India Times, and a few others) all get the basic facts correct however the editorial stances and reader feed back can vary by a wide margin. I am still puzzled WHY news organizations, whose job used to be to report the news, needs an editorial position. I always thought their job was to present the factual information and let their readers and viewers formulate their own opinions. It seems that all the news outlets spend more time talking to the supposed experts on the topic in their round tables that usually devolve into nothing but glorified circle jerks.
The one consistent and unfortunate fact that does show up everywhere is the world wide belief that no matter what the problem or issue is it is usually the fault of the United States. This is dangerous because I believe it gives the leadership and citizens of other countries and international organizations a built in excuse for all the problems in their own societies. This also creates harsh divisions within the American society making it harder to unite the people in order to solve our common problems that should be non-partisian. Unfortunately the animosity and hostility generated on other confrontational issues is spilling over and making it harder for any compromise to be reached on any issue. In today's political environment do you think the US government or it's citizens could create a Bill of Rights like the one that exists? Can you imagine how long and bitter the arguments would be? How the original Constitution and Bill of Rights were actually created is beyond me. Maybe common sense was more prevalent in the earlier days of the country. And the real funny thing about the US Constitution is that it was created by the wealthy and white land owners. I can think of several modern political groups who would have a hard time accepting this fact with good humour.
The leaders in the Middle East frequently make use of the "blame the US" tactic for all of their internal problems on a regular basis. However, with the recent release of the diplomatic cables the world is getting a little peek at what is really going on in the world of international relations. Both Saudi Arabia and Yemen have been outed for doing one thing and telling their citizens and the world at large something entirely different. It's also been shown that the US governments public statement's regarding the Iranian nuclear issues are actually pretty tame compared to some of Iran's neighboring countries (and I am not talking about Israel). On the subject of the released diplomatic correspondence and other documents I have mixed feelings. I do not believe the military operational data gathered in Iraq or Afghanistan should have been released. Any competent military analyst can use this data to profile and predict the US military responses, weapons, and unit tactics given certain situations. I also found the "Apache" footage showed nothing but what happens in war. The Iraqi fighters do not wear any uniforms or identifying insignia on the battlefield, there were armed people in the group fired upon, there were no identifying marks on any vehicles that denoted ambulance vehicles. The diplomatic cables are actually turning out to be more damaging to the other countries involved than the US. There are probably some cables that should not be released but it's too late to worry too much about that now and we should probably just move on. I do feel sorry for the soldier who released the information. So far I have not seen anything that would justify a 22 year old spending much of the rest of his life in jail.
This trend to always blame the US use to upset me but now I find it amusing and am able to get beyond the disgust. While the US has caused some problems it is by no means responsible for everything bad in the world and it has actually did some good throughout it's short and eventful history.
A rational and analytical person should be able to recognize and admit publicly that the US cannot and is not the cause of every single problem in the world but you would never know it by studying the forums and blogs that weigh in on the problems of the day. Most of the blog and forums turn into "echo chambers" where each post or comment does nothing but feed on the opinion of the previous poster without thought or question. These types of "echo chamber" responses fill the Internet and people use them to justify their bias on the issue and re-enforce their sense of rightness and their contempt on those who disagree with them. This type of behavior applies to all sides in every discussion. Every once in a while I run across an online discussion that actually contains comments and opinions from both sides of the argument but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule and that is what worries me. I have run across online discussions with hundreds of comments that are based on nothing but lies and misinterpretations of the underlying facts of the issue. People have a tendency to ignore and cherry pick their own version of the facts to support their opinion and trash the opinions of those they see as their "opponents". I usually try to dismiss this type of behavior because it really scares me when I see how people can distort the truth just to win an argument. And winning the argument rarely solves the problem being debated. To retain some sanity I can usually can tell what type of person is making a certain type of comment. Their are some people who like to post the most outlandish nonsense on any subject just to see what type of response they can elicit (Your typical Troll) . However, the ones who really worry me are those who are obviously educated on the subject but still mangle the facts to achieve their ideological goals. As I mentioned before this type of behavior is common on all sides of every issue and debate but there are some who stand out with neon lights flashing and horns blowing. In my opinion the US and world in general has allowed the extremist on each side to control the debate. Through the use of the Internet even the most vile fringe groups can dominate the online debates. People no longer need to actually man the barricades or march on the capital to bring attention to their cause. All you need to do is manage the information flow and in today's world that means strategic use of the Internet as a force multiplier. I'm still trying to think how this situation can be handled but so far I am coming up empty.
Test post to see if setup is OK
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