From a newsletter on Azerbajian written by a guy who has visited over 100 countries:
Doug Casey: It’s a huge mistake to believe almost anything that you hear or read in the media. A lot of the news is pure propaganda. It’s devoid of any critical thinking or historical background. Media types create “factoids”—an idiotic CNN-created neologism that most people think means something like “a fun little fact”. It doesn’t. A “factoid” relates to a “fact” the way an “android” does to a human, or an “asteroid” does to a star—deceptively similar, but quite different. The subtle manipulation of words is the best way to lie to intelligent people. Sorry for the tangent… but I mostly listen to the news not to find out what’s supposedly happening, but to see what other people are supposed to be thinking.