The present mid east conflict touches my life because I live and work in areas under fire. My dog Georges gets upset when, with a mighty boom,  Iron Dome intercepts missiles headed our way.

One of the more unfortunate aspects of this conflict is my exposure to mass media. In order to know when to go the shelter, I am forced to keep on the TV. Curiosity gets the better of me and I watch Gaza TV as well as Israeli TV.

Mass media plays a pivotal role perpetuating mutually exclusive narratives that “enable” the mid east conflict. The media dumbs the audience via creating tribal camaraderie by “servicing” the narrative.

Gazan media is Der Stumer in style as well as being radical religious crap. On the other hand,  the Israeli media is misleading and self righteous ad absurdum, apparently taking marching orders from patriotism more than journalism.

While one of the enemy  missile may kill me if my luck does not continue, the media makes me ill. Every news update that I hear brings my IQ one notch downward.

I feel like a software engineer being pressed to work weekends for a year to release buggy software that customers will hate, while on the walls around me are posters telling me to love my customer, and ensuring me that I work for a people company.

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