Don't Believe the Hype
Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:26PM There are many reasons not to believe anything you hear on TV or in the mass media.
For one, just like in our "Those Who Can, Do. Those Who Can't, Teach." article, reporters aren't generally experts in any particular field. If they were, they'd be working in that field and not reporting. A good reporter is one who can scope out the real story and find and get access to the best sources of information from which to present the fairest argument for both sides. Suffice it to say, if you want fair and balanced, Fox News isn't a place you should go anywhere near.
Secondly, reporters for the most part just follow the crowds. It's rare when a reporter or news agency is ahead of the pack. They generally follow along behind it and then try to sensationalize it as best they can. That is fine, by the way, as long as you, as a viewer/reader, realize that. As example, as an investor, one of the last things you ever want to do is watch your nightly news and hear about "this" or "that" greatest new thing or investment idea and then invest in it. If Katie Couric is telling you about it, you are already way too late.
And finally, and most importantly, the vast majority of media outlets are spin doctors. George Soros didn't just donate $1 million to Media Matter of America in his quest to put out the fairest news stories. He just wants to get out his warped, deluded ideas on world control and big government.
Anyone who has ever been "written up" by the media usually knows just how badly they warp nearly every story. I've had things written about me that should be the stuff of spy novels where they have stated that I am involved with people I've never even heard of.
SAVED BY THE EL SALVADORIAN NAVY
But one of the best media anecdotes I have was when I sank my sailboat off of the coast of El Salvador in 2005. To make a long story short, my boat was sinking and at the behest of my poor female companion who was scared to death, I called 911 on my mobile phone. I should point out that right before I dialed 911 I laughed at her and told her, "I'm sure they don't have 911 in El Salvador!"
My laughter stopped when a woman answered, "Nueve-Uno-Uno, Digame?";)
Canadian Media Coverage - Click to Enlarge
Wow, they did have 911 in El Salvador. Now if I only knew Spanish! I speak Spanish now after living in Mexico for the last three years, but in 2005 in the midst of being shipwrecked in a fierce tropical storm, my repertoire of "uno mas cerveza, por favor" wasn't going to cut it.
Somehow, however, I managed to communicate I was in a boat and mere minutes away from being completely submerged. She forwarded my call to the Captain of the Navy! And he spoke English! Hope returned!
"You're where?" he asked, clearly having been woken up at 3 in the morning and not in the best of moods.
"I'm in Bahia de Jiquilisco," I said, "these are my GPS coordinates."
"Jiquilisco," he sighed, "I dunno. First, we don't have any boats."
"Oh, great," I whimpered.
"And even if I can get a boat, we can't be there until tomorrow."
I pleaded with him to maybe think of something that could be done but he seemed highly disinterested and didn't really appear to want to help any more than was absolutely necessary.
By that point I was up to my neck in water and so I thanked him for his help, flipped the phone into the ocean and began to abandon ship.
A few hours later and we had been saved by some fellow yachtsmen who had heard our mayday call and had came out in a panga (small speedboat) the 10 miles from the nearest marina.
Needless to say, I was quite happy to be on dry ground again and the next day myself and my travel companion were celebrities in El Salvador. "Canadian Adventurers" they called us in the press. Everywhere we went in El Salvador in the subsequent week we were signing autographs.
The media asked me a bunch of questions like who saved us and how and I told them exactly what happened.
I found it strange that many of the local Navy officials came to "talk" with me and tell me that I had to pose for a photo with them, all smiles. But, I thought, maybe they were just happy I was ok.
It wasn't until using an online translator on some of the local stories a few weeks later that I realized what the El Salvador media said about what happened. According to all the local press it was the Navy who heroically saved me!
The first time I saw ANYONE from the Navy, by the way, was around 4pm on the day after I was saved when they all arrived for the photo shoot. But, apparently, many men got promoted for the fine job they did in saving the two daring Canadian adventurers who washed ashore in El Salvador!
OUT OF CONTROL MEXICAN DRUG WARS
This rant about the media had its beginnings this morning when a friend forwarded me a "news" article entitled, "Mexico's Drug War Leaves 30,196 Dead in Four Years".
The point of the article, obviously, is to attempt to draw attention to how horrible this particular "war" has become in Mexico. But this conclusion is far from reality on the ground in Mexico where I own a company (AcaCondos.com) that is doing brisk business selling beautiful beachfront condos (for under $70,000 by the way) in Acapulco and a hotel (LTGPS.com).
It is headlines like the one above that make many Americans wary of coming to Mexico - the freest and safest place in North America.
So, let's take a look at this headline. First, it isn't Mexico's Drug War. Did you know that all drugs are legal in Mexico for personal use? This is America's War, more aptly named, the War on Freedom.
And secondly, of course whenever you try to restrict the free market and forcibly stop people from getting what they want it always causes major problems. Case in point: when America, the land of the free but where everything is illegal, made alcohol illegal in the 1930s. Prior to alcohol prohibition the murder rate in the US ranged between 5 and 6 per 100,000. During alcohol prohibition the murder rate leaped higher, and continued to climb, until alcohol prohibition was repealed in 1933, reaching a rate of almost 10 murders per 100,000 population.
But let's just look at the numbers. 30,196 dead over 4 years in Mexico is 7,549 per year. With a Mexican population of over 100 million, that murder rate works out to 7.5 per 100,000 per year which is less than there was during alcohol prohibition and less than it currently is in the US. It is also far less than cities like Washington DC (31.4), Philadelphia (23.0) and Chicago (18.0) - Mexico City, by the way, has a murder rate of 8.1 per 100,000.
So, given that information and data what should be the headline of this story?
"America's War on Freedom Raises Mexican Murder Rate up Close to American Levels."
And what are the chances of seeing that slant (the truth) anytime soon in American mass media? 0%.
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Reader Comments (6)
You are a light in the darkness TDV. Thank you for all your elite information.
While you say you were with a scared female companion, the article says you were with your friend, Woo, a male. Any explanation?
Elsie Woo. Female.
Not that there's anything wrong with that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZPcGapl2dM
Oh, you are correct, thank you. Congrats on your accomplishments! RBF
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