In Case You Missed This Little Nugget From Edward Snowden This Week...

[struggle4progress]

64. Unless you read a lot of news accounts, pick out the statements closest to verifiable facts,

and fit them together, you generally won't have a clear idea what's actually happened: you'll merely have some story based on some rather abstract statements reflecting various opinions

Here's an exercise for you. Get multiple versions of what the Portuguese said, what the Spanish said, what the Italians said, what the French said, and what the Austrians said. Get versions of the actual air traffic control conversations. Get versions of what the Spanish ambassador to Austria said. Get versions of what the Bolivian president said and what various people actually on his plane said. Try to get multiple independent sources, where possible, and you should avoid axe-grinding state media like PressTV. You don't have to take any statements at face value, but, so far as you can, you should avoid evaluating statements on the basis of any preconceived notions. Then try to construct the simplest story, avoiding conspiracy-type thinking whenever you cannot provide clear evidence supporting such analysis

But here's what often happens instead: people echo whatever supports their biases and filter out anything that doesn't fit into the story matching their favorite worldview -- that's a great way to feed one's emotional self-righteousness, but it's a lousy way to learn how to think clearly and accurately about events