Why the News is so Exhilarating

I’ve figured out why I’m so addicted to the news these days and it’s for the same reason people like to work on Rubik’s Cube or solve crossword puzzles or watch a TV detective series. The human brain loves to solve mysteries and puzzles. 

And the reason the news is so interesting now is the dominant media rarely tells the truth so it’s constantly fascinating to try to figure out what the real story is.  To try to figure out from half-truths and outright lies what’s really going on.  

It’s like we’re living in this geopolitical/scientific detective series. From the Epstein case, to the Russia hoax, to Ray Epps, to the covid source, to vaccine reactions, to Ukraine funding, to the pipeline explosion it’s all upon the shoulders of Citizen Jones to figure out the real story. 

And so it was very helpful puzzle piece to read Matt Taibbi’s recent substack on the backstory on Ukraine.  Hie thee to read it, but the highly simplified version: Russia wanted Ukraine for years but couldn’t touch it because needed route through there to deliver oil to Europe. Built Nordstream to deliver oil far more cheaply, which made Ukraine expendable (i.e. invade-able). USA very unhappy about it because we want to be European gas-suppler and we don’t want Europe dependent on Russia.

I wonder if part of it is we have this odd relationship with Europe where we are not only a major trade partner but also their military protector. We own them as far as providing for their security. So when they went rogue by doing a trade deal without our sanction we were mad not only about the lost market revenue but the ramifications militarily.

Regardless, I think we get a glimmer of what it was like in the Soviet Union when Pravda was the only news in town. You had to read the Kremlin tealeaves, every citizen trying to ferret info. 

Seems like the main problem for dominant media is they became state media before the state took dictatorial powers (ie locking down internet completely). Feels like they maybe got ahead of themselves? There's still ways to semi-easily get information from alternative news sources. 

The funniest thing of late is how the climate activists aren’t raising a big stink about 700 million cubic meters of methane from the pipeline blast.  But look out for the local farmer's cow! Hypocrisy is the new black.