For me, sorting through the news and choosing which stories to blend is a process much like cooking a meal. There's chopped onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, maybe there's a bit of cut cilantro for the end, there's powdered ginger, turmeric, and either butter or olive oil. Heat it slowly, sauté everything gently.
Luckily I have tasters who help me when I actually cook food. They are small so I bend over with the sauce in a spoon and blow on it so they don't burn their mouths. If it's good they give me a thumb's up.
With the news, there are no testers. How much on any given topic can people stand? Normal people are not news junkies so they don't mainline the ingredients like I do.
So yes, aggregating news is a bit like cooking meals. You do it every day and no two days are ever quite the same unless you use recipes.
I don't use recipes.
But this is where the analogy ends, because unlike most meals, the news is bad, very bad, day after day. No surprise many people don’t want anything to do with it.
Here in the U.S., we've seen how powerfully destructive fake news spread by conspiracy theorists can elect a president like Trump who tells his followers that people like me are the "enemies of the people."
So who are we, these so-called enemies? Journalists work hard to gather and document what is factual as opposed to the fantasies. We are the people who report, among other things, if the available evidence indicates an election was fair or stolen.
And we do that whether it's Democrats or Republicans who win. We don't make very good partisans, because we can’t afford to be. Our job is to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences.
We operate on the assumption that truth matters; that our society is stronger and safer when decisions are based in facts rather than when based on lies and fantasies.
By doing so, we hope that we are in fact the friends of the people.
But we are not the ones who decide that. You do.
(This is an excerpt from an essay I published in 2021, soon after the Jan. 6th insurrection.)
HEADLINES:
Trump’s crushing fraud trial defeat is a microcosm of a life defined by breaking all the rules (CNN)
Hefty fines, penalties will rock Trump family’s business and fortune (WP)
Alexei Navalny’s Death Marks End of Political Dissent in Russia (WSJ)
Navalny's death leaves Russian opposition with no figurehead (Reuters)
GOP suffers ‘most spectacular embarrassment imaginable’ in anti-Biden case (MSNBC)
Retired FBI Special Agent in Charge Sentenced for Concealing Information from the FBI (DoJ)
Fani Willis' testimony evokes long-standing frustrations for Black women leaders (ABC)
The White House plan for the Mayorkas impeachment: Ignore the drama, outsource the fight (Politico)
Ukrainian troops withdraw from Avdiivka, military faces ammunition shortage (Reuters)
A Resilient Ukraine Faces Defeat if U.S. Aid Falters (Council on Foreign Relations)
Gaza's biggest functioning hospital comes under siege (Reuters)
Taliban decrees on clothing and male guardians leave Afghan women scared to go out alone, says UN (AP)
James, Durant and Curry continue to defy what’s expected of players their age (WP)
Berlin Debates AI Threat to Hollywood Jobs: “Fear the Person Who Uses These Tools” (Hollywood Reporter)
OpenAI’s Sora Challenges The Art Of Medicine (Forbes)
Area Man Loses All Control Of Face While Thinking (The Onion)
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