October 5, 2001

9:57 AM

Where are you getting your information from lately? Try getting it from places where the views may be very different from yours. It's getting very scary.
posted by chainring (29 comments total)

Can you link to something scary, then, instead of the front pages?

I clicked a few links on each, and this article at electronicintifada.net seems pretty sensitive.

This ArabNews review of a Cuban restaurant in Jeddah isn't too scary.

And I don't know what scared you at Israel Insider, but it can't have been their very nicely designed home page — I wish Salon or Slate looked that good.
posted by nicwolff at 10:35 AM on October 5, 2001

I thought this article was pretty good, too. From the front page post, I was expecting something much more frightening. Electronic Intifada seems to be a good read.
posted by Loudmax at 10:49 AM on October 5, 2001

I didn't see anything scary. Although this whole incident is pretty scary. Not to mention I live in North Carolina. It's scary thinking that that 63 yr old man mmight have got the Anthrax virus from here. My fiance works in Raliegh and that man was in Duhram. It's just very scary.

Since when did wanting to get married and grow old with someone seem like a dream now?
posted by graytopia at 11:00 AM on October 5, 2001

If you want scary, the Yahoo message boards are an eye-opening (and often depressing) survey of current public opinion.

In most online communities, the trolls/flamers are a small but vocal segment of the population. On Yahoo, it seems like one out of five posts are just plain mean, and most of the rest are stupid. Posts like these are among the more subdued trolls. It only takes a couple clicks to find some seriously hateful bile, in any given thread.
posted by waxpancake at 11:05 AM on October 5, 2001

The post is more a question of where are you getting your news from other than the usual places. I don't think I need to list them but since there are some nitpickers here: CNN, New York Times, BBC. Click around on the follwoing stories and read them to find out what I think is scary. You may find that the U.S. government may be behind the plane that crashed or that some fear that this is the beginning of an apocalyptic war. You may even learn what the Infitada is if you smart guys don't already know.

So I ask again - where are you getting your information?
posted by chainring at 11:17 AM on October 5, 2001

Okay that took me awhile to read each one fairly well. I enjoyed each one, scary, no, not in my opinion. Thought provoking, yes, in my opinion. I think the Electronic Intifada had some advise that could apply to anyone reading articles from any source.

If you find an article that you don't like, don't just sit there: write a letter to the editor. Links to other collections of coverage and wire service reports can be found after the following articles.
posted by bjgeiger at 11:51 AM on October 5, 2001

How did this turn into what one person thinks is scary or not? You people are so arrogant. Only waxpancake mentioned where he likes to get information and he mentioned messageboards. I suppose you visit the sites I linked all the time.

This post was supposed to about getting views from around the world and seeing things from points of view other than the American media machine or misinformed and opinionated American citizens.

Once again I ask: where are you getting your information?
A lack of responses will show that you're not looking elsewhere.
posted by chainring at 12:04 PM on October 5, 2001

i tend to read metafilter and then i carve certain posts into stone tablets and set them around my office, Carved in stone truth is the way to go.

and apart from metafilter, i read an astonishing array of global news sources, local papers, crackpot webzines, independent media sources, and independent journalists--letting my crap detector find the middle ground where some truth might be. Big evil sites like CNN and BBC are usually tainted somewhat--sure--but usually not by as much religious muck as any christian, jewish or muslim publication. I can read between the lines of politics and big money, it makes sense to me...someone writing from a point of view of god-wants-this-or-that or the bible/koran/torah/dianeticsbook /book of mormon says this or that loses ALL credibility for me.

And put the 'you are arrogant' stick away before you poke your eye out. I can't speak for anyone else here, but fuck yeah, i'm an arrogant elitist atheist secular humanistic skeptic, and lack of response to your question doesn't mean anything. I link surf. I travel far and wide thru shitty writing, propaganda and the occasional jewel.

So post some more links of places you feel i might like, i'd appreciate it, truly.
posted by th3ph17 at 12:14 PM on October 5, 2001

I thought it was interesting that the political cartoon on arabnews.com for Sept 12, 2001 is missing. Presumably it dealt with the bombings, but we'll never know what it was.
posted by crunchland at 12:16 PM on October 5, 2001

Chainring, calm down, Take a deep breath. Only a couple hours have elapsed since you posted the link. It takes a while for a thread to take off sometimes. Sometimes it never does. It's nothing you can control. It's definitely not something you can help by flaming everyone who responds in a way that you don't like. Chill.
posted by rodii at 12:17 PM on October 5, 2001

A lack of responses will show that you're not looking elsewhere.

There you have it in a nutshell, I have however added those links to my media folder and will be revisiting them.

You people are so arrogant.

No, not in my opinion, just uninformed. Until the last year or so I did not really use the internet as one of my news sources. Finding MetaFilter has changed that. I appreciate being shown new ones all the time here. Thank you for the links.
posted by bjgeiger at 12:22 PM on October 5, 2001

getting back to the original point of this thread... For some reason I check the Sydney Morning Herald nearly every day, but I also often click through the newspapers/magazines/etc. linked off of Arts & Letters Daily, which is currently running some good links to Arab news sources.
posted by arco at 12:27 PM on October 5, 2001

Thanks for three new links ...duly added to the usual suspects plus,

Debka....from Jerusalem courtesy NY Observer

Terrorism News...may have found this one first on Mefi

EFE ...Spain's version of Associated Press

ANSA ....Italy's version of Associated Press

Front Page Daily News ....timesaver
posted by Voyageman at 1:32 PM on October 5, 2001

There seems to be good stuff on the Central Asia section of the Asia Times, out of Hong Kong.

Also, Dave Winer at Scripting News published a list of English language news sites in Central Asia.
posted by anewc2 at 1:39 PM on October 5, 2001

Besides the established media I always make sure to check Ethel the Blog for some unbiased analysis. In fact completely different from the propaganda the media tries to make us swallow.
posted by human0id at 3:05 PM on October 5, 2001

The Guardian is a great way to get a non-nationalistic view of Bush from England.
posted by phoenix enflamed at 3:26 PM on October 5, 2001

Does Osama cut his checks out directly to the Guardian or does he launder it a couple times?
posted by owillis at 3:53 PM on October 5, 2001

Beats me... does Bush cut his checks directly to Blair or does he launder them a couple times?
posted by drywall at 5:19 PM on October 5, 2001

Dunno...do Bush's friends cut their checks directly to him or etc.
posted by asok at 5:31 PM on October 5, 2001

MeFi is my primary place for news. I'm too lazy to look for my own.
Other news related sites I occasionally visit when MeFi is slow :
Need to Know or NTK *the* weekly high-tech sarcastic update for the UK
Ars Technica The PC Enthusiast Resource
The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT
The Inquirer Their Mission is their Statement
I may start check Front Page Daily News and see how I like them, thanks for that link Voyageman
I also subscribe to Bizarre News and News of the Wierd via email.
posted by Nauip at 5:38 PM on October 5, 2001

I have only been on metafilter a short time, and I think I know what chainring is mad about. There do seem to be a lot of people (although it's not as bad as many message boards, especially Yahoo) who get ahold of one fact that they happen to agree with and extrapolate on it ad infinitum, until the meaning is so twisted it's unrecognizable.

But then, isn't that one of the main purposes of this whole mess? To hear opinions of others and respond to those that intrigue you? We are, after all, given links to the articles. Read for yourself!

Finally, let me get on my personal soapbox. I don't like to post individual articles, because I invariably get flame from people who think that article represents my entire position. I read the NY Times, the Washington Post,CNN, BBC, MSNBC, as well as the Oregonian, my local newspaper. Ignorant, no. Arrogant, maybe. But so are a lot of people, and that's why we're here.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 6:39 PM on October 5, 2001

I have only been on metafilter a short time, and I think I know what chainring is mad about. There do seem to be a lot of people (although it's not as bad as many message boards, especially Yahoo) who get ahold of one fact that they happen to agree with and extrapolate on it ad infinitum, until the meaning is so twisted it's unrecognizable.

But then, isn't that one of the main purposes of this whole mess? To hear opinions of others and respond to those that intrigue you? We are, after all, given links to the articles. Read for yourself!

Finally, let me get on my personal soapbox. I don't like to post individual articles, because I invariably get flame from people who think that article represents my entire position. I read the NY Times, the Washington Post,CNN, BBC, MSNBC, as well as the Oregonian, my local newspaper. Ignorant, no. Arrogant, maybe. But so are a lot of people, and that's why we're here.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 6:39 PM on October 5, 2001

whoops, posted twice. Sorry
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 6:39 PM on October 5, 2001

I get all my news straight from the horse's mouth. But if, unlike I, you fancy some variety and have adequet knowledge of foreign languages, you might check out the three amigos and their live feed: 1/2/3. [The live feeds require Real/Windows media players and knowledge of foreign languages.]

Then there is always The McLaughlin Group, FARK and Pravda.
posted by tamim at 7:09 PM on October 5, 2001

I've found that the International Herald Tribune is usually well-balanced and informative. It's co-owned by the NY Times and Washington Post and combines the best of both, in addition to having an excellent, clear design.
posted by brism at 8:22 PM on October 5, 2001

Once again I ask: where are you getting your information?
A lack of responses will show that you're not looking elsewhere.

What is this, a test? I make up my own news in order to sow confusion and discord, thus perpetuating my master plan for global domination and better beer. Got a problem with that?

...does Bush cut his checks directly to Blair ...

Insert obligatory reference to cutting lines of coke....
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:02 PM on October 5, 2001

Once again I ask: where are you getting your information?

Don't have time to keep going back to the same news sites, so I don't have any regular sources.

I usually use places like MeFi or plastic (as well as any number of blogs) to keep my eye on the buzz, then jump off from aggregators like moreover, worldnews, FT, etc, to get in depth articles from as many different viewpoints as possible.

The facts usually lie somewhere in between all the bias.
posted by walrus at 5:29 AM on October 8, 2001

English language news sources from Pakistan, India, Turkey, Greece, Greece again, Romania, Germany, and Iran (suggested reading).

Many more can be found at online newspapers, a great resource.
posted by talos at 6:25 AM on October 8, 2001

... and of course Afghanistan.
posted by talos at 7:01 AM on October 8, 2001