Fox News Is A Great Tool For Judging My Buddhist Practice

[garro]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

[JSixpack]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

[garro]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

Yes, I have heard that world geography isn't usually a strong point for Fox Fans and wouldn't be surprised if many believed that Baghdad was in Britain.

I actually meant my comments in a lighthearted way and hope my comments didn't offend.

[uptou]

Hey Garro,i believe you're from Ireland.Could you be related to the O'Reily clan??? Blood brothers so to speak.

I also find myself strangely drawn to Fox news.

[garro]

On my bad days I like to imagine that O'Reily's forefathers would have jumped overboard if they knew what they would eventually spawn in the new world. Fair and balanced and looking out for you he is not.

[mizzi39]

On my bad days I like to imagine that O'Reily's forefathers would have jumped overboard if they knew what they would eventually spawn in the new world. Fair and balanced and looking out for you he is not.

Watching Fox news (dumbing down of America) is a good way to practice mindfulness. taking into consideration all of the mindless <deleted> they report I find watching fox news to be a good exercise.

[EvilDrSomkid]

I cannot stand watching FN. I cannot articulate what it is that pisses me off so much about this channel. I am Norwegian.

Fair and Balanced? My dtuut! That old fart B. O'R is a severe test of panyaa...

During the week I stay at this hotel in SriRacha. In the beginning the staff in the restaurant would ALWAYS switch to FN whenever they saw me even glance at the TV.

I repeatedly politely asked them not to do that. Everytime a little more forcefully. Mai ao khap. Then, when that did not work, I just grabbed the remote and switched it to anything but FN.

They got the message now...

I have a hard time practicing mindfulness. Mee jai rawn. I ask my thirak to tell me about Dhamma all the time.

[camerata]

I find that many TV shows do a great job of illustrating the pitfalls of allowing the mind/ego to run one's life. CSI is particularly good because they come up with ever more bizarre motives for murder - and all have to do with getting more for oneself and satisfying the ego. In last night's episode of CSI New York, for instance, a woman was mocked for being fat so she spent 2 years slimming down and having plastic surgery so she could become a cheerleader and poison the guy who mocked her. So she ended up looking great but would spend the rest of her life in jail. On CSI, people will kill just to win a videogame or beat a sports rival.

Las Vegas (a dumb show, unlike CSI) is also good for cultivating disenchantment with the sense pleasures. It's chock full of shallow people who worship money and status. Last week we had a girl who was willing to be screwed only if she could ride in an Aston Martin. Knowing this, one of the casino staff actually borrows his boss's car.

[Groongthep]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

Believe me there are plenty of Americans who grind their teeth at the Fox "News" too. It is owned by Australian (now naturalized American) billionare media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation which also owns and runs the tabloids The News of the World and the Sun in Britain and The Daily Telegragh in Australia. They are all geared to those who tend to enjoy and believe conservative, sensationalist and scandal related reporting. The "fair and balanced" mantra of Fox News is simply a marketing gimmick intendeded to infuriate those who can clearly see that it is neither and encourages those who are gullible enough to actually believe that it is. You have to give Murdoch credit though, his keen sense of what sells newspapers and draws TV veiwers has made him one of the richest men in the world. Interestingly enough, Fox News routinely lashes out at what they describe as the "liberal" mainstream press in the US, in spite of the fact that the Fox News has a larger viewership than NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN which makes Fox the mainstream not the older networks. It is only fair to note that NBC, CBS and ABC do have a liberal bent but are nowhere near as liberal as Fox is conservative. Besides, NBC, ABC and CBS only air news a few times a day while Fox News bombards the viewer with right wing rhetoric 24 hours a day. They even go as far as condemning CNN's domestic broadcast as left wing even though CNN airs very popular shows by ultra conservatives like Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs. Go figure.

Edited October 15, 2008 by Groongthep

[garro]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

Believe me there are plenty of Americans who grind their teeth at the Fox "News" too. It is owned by Australian (now naturalized American) billionare media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation which also owns and runs the tabloids The News of the World and the Sun in Britain and The Daily Telegragh in Australia. They are all geared to those who tend to enjoy and believe conservative, sensationalist and scandal related reporting. The "fair and balanced" mantra of Fox News is simply a marketing gimmick intendeded to infuriate those who can clearly see that it is neither and encourages those who are gullible enough to actually believe that it is. You have to give Murdoch credit though, his keen sense of what sells newspapers and draws TV veiwers has made him one of the richest men in the world. Interestingly enough, Fox News routinely lashes out at what they describe as the "liberal" mainstream press in the US, in spite of the fact that the Fox News has a larger viewership than NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN which makes Fox the mainstream not the older networks. It is only fair to note that NBC, CBS and ABC do have a liberal bent but are nowhere near as liberal as Fox is conservative. Besides, NBC, ABC and CBS only air news a few times a day while Fox News bombards the viewer with right wing rhetoric 24 hours a day. They even go as far as condemning CNN's domestic broadcast as left wing even though CNN airs very popular shows by ultra conservatives like Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs. Go figure.

I think the difference between the Sun and Fox news is that most Sun readers know that it is dumbed down news. The problem is that most Fox news fans seem oblivious to the fact that they are being fed complete brainless tripe which should be obvious to anyone with half a brain.

You can't fault their business plan though and they have amazed the world so much that everyone is trying to copy them. I think this is a sad comment on the the popular culture in the states though and the liberal media are not much better. I think that it is bad for America that this 'news' station is now broadcast around the world as it paints a very dim picture of them; I know that this is not the full story though and that it doesn't represent all of America - it is just a pity that this is the main view now sent to the world.

[uptou]

It has to be said though that Fox news has the best pen pointing & waving on tv.Bill O'Really,& Hannity are masters & wave them around like theres no tomorrow.

I like the BBC because its actually NEWS without having to be fed any bs brain washing.I even like the slightly frumpy girls on there .They look like sincere news people,rather than people who failed to get into the movies. 

[endure]

The only time I've ever seen Fox News was when I arrived in Bangkok on the day of the tsunami in 2004. The hotel I stayed in had it as one of their channels. What I found both remarkable and despicable was that while all the other channels (BBC, CNN, German and Japanese channels) were reporting on the tsunami itself and the desperation it had caused Fox spent most of the time it devoted to the tsunami reporting on how great the American people were because of all the money they were donating. It was as though this great disaster was simply simply another way to prove America's greatness. It was truly disgusting.

[Groongthep]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

Believe me there are plenty of Americans who grind their teeth at the Fox "News" too. It is owned by Australian (now naturalized American) billionare media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation which also owns and runs the tabloids The News of the World and the Sun in Britain and The Daily Telegragh in Australia. They are all geared to those who tend to enjoy and believe conservative, sensationalist and scandal related reporting. The "fair and balanced" mantra of Fox News is simply a marketing gimmick intendeded to infuriate those who can clearly see that it is neither and encourages those who are gullible enough to actually believe that it is. You have to give Murdoch credit though, his keen sense of what sells newspapers and draws TV veiwers has made him one of the richest men in the world. Interestingly enough, Fox News routinely lashes out at what they describe as the "liberal" mainstream press in the US, in spite of the fact that the Fox News has a larger viewership than NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN which makes Fox the mainstream not the older networks. It is only fair to note that NBC, CBS and ABC do have a liberal bent but are nowhere near as liberal as Fox is conservative. Besides, NBC, ABC and CBS only air news a few times a day while Fox News bombards the viewer with right wing rhetoric 24 hours a day. They even go as far as condemning CNN's domestic broadcast as left wing even though CNN airs very popular shows by ultra conservatives like Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs. Go figure.

I think the difference between the Sun and Fox news is that most Sun readers know that it is dumbed down news. The problem is that most Fox news fans seem oblivious to the fact that they are being fed complete brainless tripe which should be obvious to anyone with half a brain.

You can't fault their business plan though and they have amazed the world so much that everyone is trying to copy them. I think this is a sad comment on the the popular culture in the states though and the liberal media are not much better. I think that it is bad for America that this 'news' station is now broadcast around the world as it paints a very dim picture of them; I know that this is not the full story though and that it doesn't represent all of America - it is just a pity that this is the main view now sent to the world.

Completely agree. As an American the first time I saw Fox News broadcast outside of the US I cringed in embarrassment. I still do. I had hoped that most non -Americans viewing it would not pay much attention to it, but as you can see from the responses of some of the above posts it has intrigued many, sort of like the Thais being enamored with American WWF wrestling and the appeal of Jerry Lewis and Michael Jackson to quite a few Europeans, all of whom are generally joked about and not at all taken seriously by the general American public. The problems with Fox are twofold, first, the fact that a large number of Americans can't see (or don't care) that it is slanted and secondly, the enormous damage it does to the perception of Americans and the US when it is broadcast overseas.

In any nation that has freedom of the press it is perfectly acceptable and even the duty of the press to give different points of view, but if you are going to give an editorial statement, call it what it is. To print or broadcast blatantly one sided stories and then call it "fair and balanced" is irresponsible and an abuse of the public trust. Most of the American media is guilty of this to some extent no matter which side of the conservative/liberal coin it may be on. Fox, however seems to be the worst of the offenders.

As to whether or not watching Fox can be used as a tool to judge ones Buddhist practice, I guess it may be comparable to the forest monks who meditate on impermanece by sitting with corpses in morgues, but my personal feeling is that your meditation practice would be better enhanced by simply turning off the television altogether.

[JimsKnight]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

I find that the most vocal posters on TV tend to have this tendancy alas. Posts like this are a breath of fresh air

For me the channel is pretty bright and breezy, the newscasters aren't shackled to the rigid doctrine and socialistic left-wing mentality of others like CNN and the Beeb. Instead they can think on their feet and can speak their mind, giving it a more understandable quality. Showing emotion seems to be a dirty word to most other news channels alas.

BTW I'm from Britain and we don't all hate FOX news

Instead we have Sky News (UKs answer to FOX )

[garro]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

Sorry, it's just not clear from your post why you "despise" this uniquely fair and balanced news channel w/ all those beautiful, brainy news babes.

Perhaps you're merely a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and need counseling. Yet Fox is an unabashedly American channel, so anyone hailing from anywhere near the region of Britain will almost surely grind his bad teeth over it on mere principle.

Eschew the masochism. You do have the BBC (Baghdad Broadcasting Corp) w/ the frumpy, stuffy nanny look and viewpoint--don't you?

I find that the most vocal posters on TV tend to have this tendancy alas. Posts like this are a breath of fresh air

For me the channel is pretty bright and breezy, the newscasters aren't shackled to the rigid doctrine and socialistic left-wing mentality of others like CNN and the Beeb. Instead they can think on their feet and can speak their mind, giving it a more understandable quality. Showing emotion seems to be a dirty word to most other news channels alas.

BTW I'm from Britain and we don't all hate FOX news

Instead we have Sky News (UKs answer to FOX )

I have no doubt that there are many in your country who love Fox news; mean-spirited, sensational, and ignorant news will always have mass appeal. Reality is far too complicated for most people to even begin or want to consider as they are too busy with their own lives - a news channel that offers black and white answers to complex topics is an easy option. Not that I am saying that other news channels are much better; all are biased and none tell the whole truth, but Fox is particularly severe in the cynical way it manipulates people - especially as many of these people don't have the capacity to see how they are being manipulated. Research has actually shown that watching Fox news makes people less informed about the world.

As a Buddhist practitioner I think that it is important to be aware of how media affects our minds and drags us further into samsara.

[maccaroni man]

It has to be said though that Fox news has the best pen pointing & waving on tv.Bill O'Really,& Hannity are masters & wave them around like theres no tomorrow.

I like the BBC because its actually NEWS without having to be fed any bs brain washing.I even like the slightly frumpy girls on there .They look like sincere news people,rather than people who failed to get into the movies.

over the last few years I have notice the BBC becoming much more liberal in it's point of view to which I now preferr Aljazier over the BBC for a balanced take on the USA

[jayceenik]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

And what is your other English channel? If it's Aljazeera then you're indeed on a wild ride surfing from one to the other, and courting high blood pressure and a smashed TV in the process. I used to watch a lot of FOX for political entertainment but it's too infuriating too often for my mental peace. A pity, FOX has a good format and some very talented hosts (no, not BOR!). Anyway, it's sad that so many Americans swear only by FOX News (like Dick Cheney!) for their information. They end up hating not only the terminally evil Democrats but also the whole world (except Israel and whatever the currently approved lapdog country is).

[garro]

I only have two English channels from my cable provider and one of them is Fox 'news'. Although I despise this channel I find myself drawn to it. I found that it is a great way of grading my mindfulness and progress along the path. On a bad day I feel like screaming at the television, but on my good days I just find it funny. It is my wish to one day look at Fox without any emotion; that would be real progress.

And what is your other English channel? If it's Aljazeera then you're indeed on a wild ride surfing from one to the other, and courting high blood pressure and a smashed TV in the process. I used to watch a lot of FOX for political entertainment but it's too infuriating too often for my mental peace. A pity, FOX has a good format and some very talented hosts (no, not BOR!). Anyway, it's sad that so many Americans swear only by FOX News (like Dick Cheney!) for their information. They end up hating not only the terminally evil Democrats but also the whole world (except Israel and whatever the currently approved lapdog country is).

The other English speaking channel on my cable provider is the Australian one, but I always forget that it's there.

Opps, how could I forget? I also have the fashion channel. Does anybody watch this channel?

The thing I find really fascinating about Fox is the fact that the manipulation of its viewers is so obvious yet nobody seems to see this. I know all media outlets are involved in manipulation to some extent, but never to the extent of Fox; I am amazed that they can legally get away with it.

[sabaijai]

Reminds me of Thailand's NBT, to bring this back to a Thailand focus Now if we could return to our regularly scheduled programme, 'Buddhism'?

[nidhogg]

The thing I find really fascinating about Fox is the fact that the manipulation of its viewers is so obvious yet nobody seems to see this.

Brilliant isn't it? I have two cable systems, a cheap one (40 or so Thai chanels, plus two english chanels) which sound the same one you have, plus UBC (don't get me started!). The cheap one is for the missus, and UBC for me mostly. Great fun is comparing the coverage between CNN and Fox. The last presidentail debate was scored something like 60-40 to barak on CNN and 88 to 12 to mccain on Fox.

The "fair and impartial" on fox really cracks me up. "Tonight we will compare the health policies of the anti-american, terrorist loving barrack hussein obama with those of the patriotic war hero McCain. Stay tuned".

LOL