I am going to make this into a video short for YouTube. I want your feedback!
1- We admitted that we were corporate Newsaholics and that our bias had become unmanageable.
2- Came to believe that a power greater than bias - called critical thinking - could restore us to sanity.
3- Made a decision to turn over our intentional blatant propaganda and less obvious lazy echo chambers to the care of critical thinking.
4- Made a searching and fearless inventory of the fake news we've produced.
5- Admitted to Twitter, to ourselves, and to Joe Rogan the exact nature of our disinformation, a word we commonly save for those questioning establishment narratives but rarely use for ourselves.
6- Were entirely ready to release our defects of news judgment which include but aren't limited to the following: group think, hubris, moral crusading, identitarianism, lack of time and resources, fear of independent journalism, post-Trump derangement syndrome, character defamation of outsiders, unquestioning trust of bureaucratic sources, regurgitating wires, and basic unresearched stupidity.
7- Humbly returned to a teleprompter, website or social media platform to see where we've removed our shortcomings without alerting anyone so as to paint an illusion that we are trustworthy when in fact we regularly make mistakes.
8- Made a list of persons, issues, and freedoms we've harmed - and became willing to make amends to them all.
9- Made direct amends to such people, issues and freedoms - especially those we've mislabeled conspiracy theorist, misinformation, or extremist in an effort to use our corporate power to silence others.
10- Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted that we repeat the false presumptions of our peers because it's safer than getting kicked off YouTube for telling the truth.
11- Sought through critical thinking to improve our capacity for truth wherever it may lead, seeking knowledge and the fearlessness to report it, even if that means questioning our archetypal public health patriarch, Dr Fauci.
12- Having had an awakening as the result of critical thinking encouraged by historic public distrust in our industry, we tried to carry this message to other corporate TV Newsaholics, and to practice these principles even if the New York Times writes a smear piece.
The cold weather here in Florida annihilated our tomato plants before the tomatoes could ripen. We were overrun with green tomatoes, so we tried making fried green tomatoes for the first time. Honestly I had never fried anything before this! We did not really follow a recipe other than making sure we had the three staple items. You have one bowl of flour and corn meal mixed, a bowl of eggs and milk mixed together, and a bowl of breadcrumbs. When we try it again, I will add some kind of seasoning to the flour and cornmeal mix, maybe garlic and salt. First dip the tomato slice into the cornmeal/flour, then the egg/milk, then breadcrumbs. Then you just put oil in your pan, we used olive oil, and fry them up! Only takes a couple minutes. It was super easy and the kids loved it. I have heard that there are some good dipping sauces out there. We are simple people so we just used ketchup and mustard. I highly recommend trying this - it’s impossible to fail!
The decade I spent out in Washington state changed my life in such incredible ways. I remember moving from Tampa to Seattle as a TV reporter in November 2013, leaving behind warm sun and arriving to seemingly relentless cold rain. Other than finding the mountains, a highlight during that winter was watching the Seahawks rise to Super Bowl champions. I was not a football fan, but the story of that year‘s team was captivating. I soon found myself watching games and cheering on a football team for the first time in my life. Both kids were born out in the Pacific Northwest, so they’ve mastered the cheers of the 12th Man and we will be rooting our Hawks from afar in Florida tonight. Oh - and about the angel wings in the video - my mom got them for Lily and Jack over Christmas. They wanted to wear the wings to church today and we stopped at the store after. Obviously it’s a sign God is a 12. 😜 Go Hawks!
I see women all the time with fancy nails and have recently asked a couple what they pay. It’s usually $75 to $100 every other week! A man once told me I have hands like his - a former hockey player. I don’t think he meant it as a compliment but I worked hard for these hands! Years of horseback riding and now farming, often lugging my own camera gear when working as a reporter in TV news, my dirty nails and knobby knuckles tell the tale of a journey I wouldn’t trade for a lifetime of free acrylics.
