A mini timeline on getting the news, also to do with growing up.

In my teens and 20’s, I used to read the New York Times and felt that I was “reading up” and being well informed. At least one can hopefully learn about propaganda by reading it, though in my teens, I think I mostly took it at face value. Now I see it as the sickest shit in the world.

I liked my shortwave radio.

Late 70’s, I found Mother Jones when it was starting out. It was pretty good for awhile. I dropped it in the late 90’s when all they could write about was Newt Gingrich for four years solid. By 2016, it was the most status quo clickbait factory in the world and Kevin Drum can go to hell.

I liked Democracy Now! for a long time, but now it’s blown away into la-la land for me.

These days I have to put it together by reading lots of small outlets. I tend to follow journalists by name rather than by organizations. There are a few websites that aggregate well and can sometimes pay for original work.

It’s a piece of work.

I’ve seen a few projects go this way, especially at Burning Man, but other places, too.

A group gets together to do a creative “thing” to make themselves happy and maybe add little something to the world.

The “thing” goes quite well, so well that it attracts others, which is ok up to a point.

The group keeps growing, and inevitably it attracts some corporate workaholic people because they like this good thing, too.

The corporate workaholics are eager to throw their expertise and the resources of their companies behind the thing to make it really great. “We have an advertising department ready to roll.” “Our graphic designers are helping.” “We got the Jumbotron in Times Square!”

It escalates until of them says “my company has a rocket launcher they’re not using and we can put the ‘thing’ on the moon!”

Everybody meant well, but the fun drained right out of it, even though it was wonderful teamwork.

Meanwhile, the original group freaked out, ran away, and started a new “thing” vowing the keep it more under their hats.

Yeeoww.