Political lenses

I find it helpful to remind myself occasionally that my conservative friends and our president live in a separate, parallel universe seen through the FOX/R Limbaugh/Drudge lenses. They sincerely believe that the “objective facts” they hear and see on FOX, or don’t see on FOX are true and clear. They also assume that what I see and hear on every other network is correspondingly false and distorted. It is obvious that when the two viewpoints diverge the most that one or both do not reflect actual TRUTH. 
The search for that truth endures. It is not easy, but it is important.

Internet advertisements

I may have previously complained about this. Don't remember for sure. There is a group of advertisements that find their way onto the margins of my Facebook site as well as my Twitter page and even my Yahoo search engine which I noe pretty much refuse to read. Sometimes the purported topic is of potential interest to me. Upon reading the headline I feel like I would like to learn the secret for this or that health cure. But I am prohibited from having access to the silver bullet answer because I refuse to jump through the hoops they require to be allowed to see it. The hoops invariably come in the form of having to watch a ten to twenty minute video in which the narrator agonizingly walks me through all his examples of why a problem exists, his myriad testimonials of how his solution solves the problem, and excruciatingly minute details of why his solution overcomes all the known prior problems and issues people have ever faced. It also typically includes somewhere in the spiel the insight that his solution is opposed by unnamed status quo power brokers. It is “what the drug makers don't want you to know”. In fact that “they don't want you to know” line has caused me to cease reading or listening to more commercials than probably any other meme.

My main reaction to these commercials is anger that they don't trust me. They can't tell me what the magic solution is and what the solution costs prior to pounding me into submission. Afraid I'll not hang around and ask all the questions they are dying to answer. Afraid I won't trust that they have already dealt with my objections. I can't possibly come up with a valid reason not to buy their product other than stupidity or stinginess.

I hold out little hope that this trend will wane or cease altogether. Which is why I treat almost all advertisements and unsolicited commercials on the internet like they are merely part of the wallpaper. When I want to research a healthcare breakthrough I will take the initiative. Don't call me; I'll call you.