The mainstream media's bullshit problem

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

When presenting his popular mid-morning talk show on one of Ireland's independent radio stations, Today FM, Ray D'Arcy would let it be known when an issue truly annoyed him.

'Have you got a problem with my faecal matter?'

'I'm sick of hearing this shit again.' 'This is all fucked up.'

Phrases to that effect. They'd invariably come with a pained silence, a deep sigh. You get the idea.

D'Arcy left that gig in December 2014, moving to an afternoon slot on Radio One at Ireland's state broadcaster, RTÉ. From what I gather, these days he rarely if ever utters expletives on what some describe as a more highbrow channel.

For curse's sake

When D'Arcy used to do it, it made me uncomfortable, even though I enjoyed the show for a time and was on it once. This discomfort wasn't due to the important issue he was discussing, it was because I felt awkward hearing him talk in such a way.

It almost always felt contrived, as in 'I'll use a few "fucks" here so that listeners will get a stronger sense of how I feel.' Maybe he was genuinely that angry and the words just came out. Yet, for such an experienced, skilled broadcaster that's unlikely. He could display his emotions without reverting to swear words. (An Irish politician memorably used the F-word in parliament — and it's obvious that he knew he was going to use 'unparliamentary language', as you can witness here.)

You see, in general, hearing hosts or guests swear on Irish radio is a rarity. Most station bosses would reprimand a presenter for doing so. I'm pretty sure I never did in my presenting days. Nor have I cursed on my podcasts, as far as I can recall anyway. (Yes, I have done so here and in other audio blogs, but they're part of the story! I don't utter expletives on the radio 'just because'.)

'Remember, out of bullshit can grow the greatest of crops.'

In my everyday life, I do fire off unsavoury verbal volleys from time to time but these are on the odd occasions when I'm angry. Sure I've few reasons to be angry in Colombia.

My mild aversion to hearing somebody swear in what I'll call a more formal setting is down to my upbringing, I figure. Do note, I'm not saying this is a superior outlook to those who are more relaxed about using what some call 'agricultural language'. I believe the devil is in the deed, and to some extent the delivery, rather than the words themselves.

With that last point in mind, I wouldn't freak out if a guest on a show I was presenting cursed. And I'd expect listeners to be equally blasé.

Offending Auntie Beeb

So it was with some amusement that I listened to the BBC World Service's Nuala McGovern get a little flustered when an American political analyst said some US voters were 'pissed'. ('Pissed' as in annoyed, he meant, not drunk. Although, some are no doubt regularly the latter.)

I wager the remark went unnoticed by most listeners. Unnoticed until McGovern jumped in to apologise for his use of the word. For those tuning in with a playback facility, some probably rewound the segment to hear the analyst's offensive word.

The episode is a microcosm of a bigger, more pernicious problem with much of the legacy media. Claiming to be the voice of the masses, they then try to portray themselves as totally prim and proper. Holier-than-thou defenders of how they consider an upstanding society should think and operate.

The thing is, many who work in such media are far removed from those who they believe they represent. And their idea of an upstanding society is at best unrealistic and unworkable, at worst a mix of the most alarming aspects of communism and fascism.

Wake up and smell the bullshit

Donald J. Trump's return as president of the USA should force these media monoliths into a bit of introspection. Although, one isn't too optimistic that this will happen considering little seemed to have been learned from the first coming of Trump.

In fact, in the way they currently operate, they are incapable of change. As Albert Einstein put it, 'We can't solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.'

And the legacy media don't appear to realise that how they conduct themselves is the problem.

One quick fix? Stop trying to be the moral guardians of the masses — as much as they feel this is their calling.

Remember, out of bullshit can grow the greatest of crops.

So rather than the legacy media's often embarrassing efforts of trying to distance themselves from the offensive bullshit, they should embrace it. Take a good look at it rather than turn away in disgust.

That way, they'll be better placed to see what's fertilising the furore of the masses they abhor.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Ready to do my bit for Ireland — as ambassador to the US

@wwaycorrigan

I couldn't let Donald J. Trump's return as US president pass without making a comment about it.

Below is a screenshot of the online version of my letter on that theme, published in the Sunday Independent of 10 November 2024. It can be found buried in this webpage, https://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/letters-john-boyne-takes-a-novel-approach-in-face-of-literary-pretension/a777243096.html.

Able ambassador

With Ireland currently in its own general election campaign — the country goes to the polls on 29 November — I don't expect to receive a call about my credentials to be the next Irish ambassador in Washington DC until a new taoiseach (prime minister) is in place. But I do expect a call nonetheless. 

Now, I would be willing to accept a more minor role as consul. It doesn't have to be the top gig immediately. I'm somewhat flexible.

Washington DC: The right way for Wrong Way.

San José del Guaviare: Colombia's best department capital?

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

Medellín, Bogotá, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cali, Bucaramanga. In roughly that descending order, these are the top cities for immigrants to Colombia.

San José del Guaviare: It's far from a dull backwater.

As populous, fairly well-connected, and relatively cosmopolitan urban centres, it's not surprising that they attract foreigners from near and far.

When it comes to smaller towns, the likes of tourist-heavy Salento, San Gil, and Villa de Leyva are to the fore.

Outside of the aforementioned, plus perhaps about another dozen places, if immigrants settle elsewhere, it would most likely be by accident rather than design. Or employment or a relationship brought them there against their better judgment.

The Guaviare grind

Now, while San José del Guaviare, like Colombia in general, has seen the number of foreign tourists grow in recent years, few seem to stick around. (I'm not including Venezuelans — they're not really foreigners in Colombia, being from a país hermano/brother country as they are.)

That tourism in the Guaviare department is on the up is understandable. There are some stunning sites to be seen around San José, some of which I wrote about after my first, brief visit in 2018, and the town is not difficult to get to from Bogotá.

Yet, it's also understandable that few visitors stay longer than needs be. The town itself isn't quite in the quaint cohort.

Revved-up motorbikes and the coming and going of cargo trucks in the river port area mix with loud music from a stream of competing bars to ensure there's plenty of noise around the centre from dawn to early morning. Add in the stifling heat — often in the high 30s degrees Celsius — in the heavy, dusty air and it's easy to see why many may find it a bit too much.

Yes, it's on the banks of a majestic river, the Guaviare, but its murky waters aren't the most inviting for a refreshing dip.

'The barefooted Indigenous kids who enter some establishments looking for free treats can get a little annoying after a while — 'Ah, not again lads!' — but they're not going to pull a knife for non-compliance.'

The pristine waters that run into the impressive natural wells, pozos naturales, do offer aqua relief. But located 10 km from the town, they're not exactly a comfortable walk away. And as they are inside a protected park, there's also a 10,000 COP entrance fee to access them. OK, there are a few swimming pools in the town but it's nice to have natural, cost-free options.

Thus, why would one stay in San José del Guaviare when Colombia has so many other more attractive alternatives?

Outside of my penchant for finding delights in the drab, relishing the rough and ready, the town has what can be described as more pleasant pull factors, as I discovered after over two months there.

Safety first

For starters, as department capitals in Colombia go, it's surely one of the safest. One can wander about the place at any time pretty much assured that nothing untoward will happen. It's virtually free of delinquents. Fair enough, the barefooted Indigenous kids who enter some establishments looking for free treats can get a little annoying after a while — 'Ah, not again lads!' — but they're not going to pull a knife for non-compliance. I don't think they would, anyway.

So while it's not unique in having friendly, helpful residents, this lack of petty crime (petty for those who don't suffer it, that is) gives it an advantage over many other big towns and cities. (The reason for such lack of in-your-face crime may be due to darker forces behind the scenes, as I explained in my Pacific Puerto Asís story.)

Also, as a single guy, I found its women to be refreshingly free of this insidious idea that the white foreigner comes with riches to raid.

What's more, that hustle and bustle of the centre and adjacent river port area is balanced out by far quieter neighbourhoods in most other parts of the town, such as the Bello Horizonte and La Paz barrios.

In terms of accommodation, it's on the cheaper end of the scale compared to the bigger department capitals. I've been told furnished studio apartments can be rented for around 600,000 COP per month (that's roughly 120 euros).

Speaking of value for money, more-than-satisfactory, standard two-course lunches cost between 6,000 and 9,000 COP. The equivalent in most of Bogotá these days is about 12,000 COP. (I must note here, in similar-sized, similar-vibe Granada in the Meta department, from where I write these lines, such lunches are available for 5,000 COP and monthly accommodation is equally if not more cheaply priced. But Granada is not a department capital — that may play a part in pricing.)

Tax and vax haven

Guaviare is, however, one of the five Vat-free departments of Colombia — the others are Amazonas, Guainía, Vichada, and Vaupés.

So with a range of everyday products tax-exempt, one might expect the cost of living to be notably cheaper. Yes, some things are less expensive than Bogotá but others, such as beer, are not. One explanation, given to me by a tienda owner, is that the Vat-free status is cancelled out by having to pay protection money — a vacuna/vaccine, as they call it — to the real power-brokers in the region, the guerillas, the darker forces I referred to earlier.

It's generally just property owners and business people who are forced to pay this vacuna. So the likes of tenants and employees should see some benefit from the tax-free status.

I noticed that motorbikes, the preferred transport option in San José, are in the Vat-free category. I assume it's the same for bicycles. For if I were to return for another prolonged period, I'd look into buying a bike. I figure cycling would be a great way to visit the likes of the natural wells and the town of El Retorno, 30 km to the south. There are many other places to pedal to as well. The topography is fairly flat, after all. Although the heat makes up for the absence of crippling climbs.

I suspect this is the mental trade-off for me in San José del Guaviare. Because, as I've proclaimed before, I am a fan of altitude. Yet, I do also like climates where one can dress light 24/7 — it complements my minimalist outlook.

Now, if you're of a more cosmopolitan composition, San José is unlikely to excite you. But a dull, insular backwater it is not. And since my first visit over six years ago, its population and urban area have grown, making it a livelier spot, for better and for worse (it's more the former, for now at least, I feel).

In fact, if for some reason I had to base myself in one of Colombia's department capitals, from all those I know, San José del Guaviare would top my list.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Kamala control: Letter to the editor

@wwaycorrigan

My riposte to a letter in the Irish Independent from Kamala Harris fan, Jessica Toal.

It can be found online at https://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/letters-doubling-of-penalty-for-unresponsive-jobseekers-is-a-courageous-move/a1873078418.html.

It's something I discussed in a more general sense in a previous blog story, Goodbye Nanny State! Hello Overbearing Mother Society.

Why live your own life when the government can live it for you?

 

The mild rover

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

'Oh, the wanderer is back.'

It's a remark often directed at me whenever I return to Ireland. You see, some people in my birth country think that I'm a full-time traveller.

This year Wrong Way has been more of a rover than before.

The main reason for this, I figure, is down to where I've been based: Crazy Colombia.

Irish emigrants in the more popular locations — Australia, Britain, Canada, the USA — live abroad but someone like me is a wild rover, to take from the eponymous song (although I'm unlikely to return with riches similar to those of the oft-remembered, unnamed Wild Rover).

'They think it's all rover'

Now, while at times I think I'd like to rover regularly, the reality is that I've been more fixed than floating when it comes to moving around. Constant changing of my abode within Bogotá over the years doesn't really make me a rover. Yes, mentally I may have never really settled in — and on — Bogotá but my physical time spent there betrays this.

Taking miles travelled as a guide, I wager many so-called settled folk in high-income nations have covered more ground than me since 2012, my first full year in Colombia. Or they've at least flown over more ground than me.

Only this year could I justifiably be called a rover, but perhaps more of a mild one than a wild one.

For starters, I've had no fixed abode in 2024. January was spent with family in Ireland. On my return to Bogotá in February, an acquaintance invited me to stay in his luxurious, spacious apartment. March and July also saw me in a salubrious setting in the Colombian capital, apartment-sitting for friends. In between, I had a total of a month, in two separate stints, working in Palomino in the La Guajira department on the Caribbean coast and when in Bogotá I stayed in the box room of an acquaintance's apartment — it was a way of recouping money he owed.

'This current wandering at least provides some relief in these wondering times.'

From February to July, outside of my travels to Palomino, I also visited San Juan de Rioseco, Moniquirá, and Chocontá, as well as double trips to both Pacho and San Luis de Gaceno.

Since early August I've been out of Bogotá, a largely unavoidable four-night return in the middle of that month aside. It started with ten days in Puerto Asís, followed by eight days in La Chorrera. I flew to the latter via San José del Guaviare, which has been my main base for over two months. From San José, I've taken in the nearby towns of El Retorno and Calamar.

I do have a banking matter to attend to in Bogotá before the end of October but I am not at all sure where I'll go after that.

Capital crime

While there are certain things I miss in the capital, when I have no solid reasons to be there, well I don't really want to be there, particularly when it means I have to house-share. (The cost of a private hotel room in the provinces is usually cheaper than getting a basic, unfurnished studio apartment in Bogotá, if one can be found, that is.)

All this time outside of Bogotá represents my longest stint away from the city while remaining in Colombian territory.

It's largely the result of, as one can probably guess, having no steady work mixed with much uncertainty as to my next move. And this is unlikely to change in the coming weeks.

On the whole, I'm largely relaxed about the situation — a bit too relaxed, some may argue. That not having access to a kitchen is one of my main concerns shows that I'm not exactly at breaking point. Being able to cook, to have greater control over what I eat, is important to me, all the same. It would also be nice to truly have my own place, but I will most likely never get to enjoy such a luxury in Colombia.

Whatever about not being able to cook these days, there's a cornucopia of food for thought simmering in my mind. If only I could get a peso for each thought, then I wouldn't have to worry about sourcing gainful employment.

My current wandering at least provides some relief in these wondering times. Being a mild rover has a cathartic side.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Cop on, Colombia, for biodiversity's sake

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

It shouldn't surprise those familiar with Colombia to be told that many of its citizens are proud, understandably so, of their land's rich biodiversity.

'No country is more beautiful than ours', is a common pronouncement. Some even proclaim they have no desire to leave the place because of its beauty, even though most of those who say this haven't physically seen much of the national territory. As good a reason as any not to leave, I guess: 'I have to explore Colombia first.' (One also needs some savings to travel.)

Can you spot the hero turtle in this litter-filled Colombian swamp?

Misplaced pride

This I-love-my-country banter has been backed up by a recent survey carried out on behalf of World Wildlife Fund Colombia. When residents were asked for their main feelings about the country's biodiversity, 44 per cent of respondents gave pride of place to um, pride, while 46 per cent said it worried them. Just nine per cent said they were indifferent to it.

Pride aside, it is true to state that few regions in the world can match the diversity of flora and fauna that makes up what we today call Colombia.

The range of landscapes and climates plays a big part in this, from glaciated peaks and Andean páramos all the way down to dense tropical jungle and a coastline that touches the globe's two largest oceans.

How much, though, the average Colombian does to help sustain this biodiversity is open to much debate. According to the World Population Review's Mismanaged Waste Index, the country is at best mediocre in dealing with its refuse.

Backing up the overall, national picture, is the easily observed individual mismanagement and apparent recklessness in waste disposal. It can bug those of us brought up to be angered by litter louts.

Plastic people

I addressed this topic, particularly the popularity of single-use plastics, in a 2018 piece titled The Disposable Republic of Colombia.

Since then, the state has introduced some measures aimed at reducing this reliance on plastic. For example, customers must pay — or are supposed to pay, at least — for each plastic bag used to package shopping in supermarkets and suchlike.

I'd like to see something similar for plastic cups. They're still overused in many standard cafés/panaderías and beer-serving tiendas. Why some Colombians prefer to have their hot coffee in a slowly melting plastic cup when a porcelain one is available is beyond me. And then there are the accompanying plastic straws for stirring one's brew; such wanton plastic pullulation. (Do note that in the World Wildlife Fund survey, 63 per cent of respondents said plastic pollution was a chief concern.)

'Colombia's rich biodiversity has little to do with the humans who inhabit the territory. Maintaining that richness, though, has a lot to do with us humans.'

Colombia's waste mismanagement should come under greater scrutiny in the coming weeks as the city of Cali gears up to host Cop16. If you, like me, are a bit confused, indifferent or even annoyed by all these talking-shop Cops, this one is the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (Cop16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). That makes more sense now, doesn't it?!

Words are easy to express. Acting on them is another matter.

Cop16 aside, it smacks of a lack of cop-on to regularly brag about the country's biodiversity and natural beauty but do next to nothing to keep things that way. Or worse, to actively, if apathetically, engage in practices that harm the environment.

Colombia's rich biodiversity, after all, has little to do with the humans who inhabit the territory. Maintaining that richness, though, has a lot to do with us humans.

Reducing material diversity

About the best way to manage potentially harmful waste is to keep it to a minimum in the first instance i.e. reduce consumption so that there's less of a need for both reusing and recycling. And on that front, overuse of disposables aside, Colombia appears to do better than some high-income nations. There can be upsides to not having much of a disposable income.

As for reusing, opting to repair damaged goods — be they clothing, footwear, electronics, etc. — is normal here.

In other Western countries, the default setting over the last few decades has been, 'If it's broken, bin it', rather than try to fix it first. This mentality finally seems to be changing but the repair industry isn't as established in the likes of Ireland and the UK as it is in Colombia.

What's more, while many high-income nations are seen to manage their waste well according to the aforementioned Mismanaged Waste Index, it's fair to ask what that management entails. Those who see it as little better than a cosmetic exercise that comes with high energy requirements and associated costs have a valid point at present.

OK, litter is unsightly but does it make a major difference if it's concentrated in one area away from the eyes of most or spread out all over the place?

As mentioned, aiming to reduce the amount of waste we generate should be the main goal. And many of us in the comfortable classes can do more to cut back on our use of non-essentials.

Doing so would give us something to be genuinely proud of, for those of us who truly care about the natural environment, that is: Less material diversity, more biodiversity.
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Fending off irrelevance in the Artificial Intelligence Age

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

'I read an article the other day that explained just how bad alcohol can be for one's health. So I've decided not to read any more.'

Hopes of a life largely free of AI and Big Tech may be impossible in the coming years.

Yes, it's an old one. And if it were to be taken seriously, it's a prime example of shooting the messenger — if one with such a fondness for booze could actually aim accurately, that is.

Anyone able to think straight these days knows that drinking to excess is unlikely to lead to a long and healthy life. Ignoring uncomfortable truths does not make them go away.

Ignoring is bliss

Yet, not all uncomfortable truths are of direct personal concern so ignoring them may, somewhat paradoxically, improve one's overall health.

For example, some studies have shown that regularly consuming the news can be damaging to one's well-being. So while terrible things are happening all over the world, it's not always in our best interests to be aware of them, particularly if there's little to nothing we can do to make them better.

The counterargument is that the world is so interconnected these days that even a small positive action on our part could help to resolve a complex issue in some distant place. For example, deciding not to buy products from a particular company that is believed to engage in questionable practices or is ethically reprehensible. Nonetheless, to do such a deed doesn't mean one has to be engrossed in the news all the time.

It is said, too, that to have a more positive outlook on life it's important to surround oneself with positive people and to think positively. Seeing as how the majority of the news fed to us is negative, dining on it daily can't be good for our state of mind.

With total abstinence practically impossible for many of us, moderation is the goal — like it is for imbibing and many other guilty pleasures.

Disillusioned

While I find myself getting angry with the narrative of certain news items — see Living with unsettled and unsettling questions for an idea of some of those — stories about the rise of artificial intelligence often leave me feeling disillusioned.

Yes, AI comes with opportunities as well as challenges, yet I find myself drawn to its negative side. In general, this is to do with the possibility that AI will make billions of us largely irrelevant: irrelevant in our usefulness to society in any case.

In an April 2024 post, More artificial intelligence, less human intelligence, I wrote about some of my concerns in this whole area. In the intervening period, having happened upon a copy of Yuval Noah Harari's book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, first published in 2018, my fears have only grown.

'Biotechnology will provide our sustenance far more economically, sufficiently, and environmentally friendly than antiquated agriculture. Rewild rurality, hack humanity.'

As I touched on in a February 2024 article, Merging a life vacation with a vocation, I often feel that studying Humanities at university and the subsequent career path I've followed have left me particularly vulnerable to the aforementioned irrelevance.

In less disillusioned moments, however, I do at least think about areas where AI and Big Tech are going to have a harder time dominating human life. Yet, the relief from such ruminating is only temporary.

Biochemical beings

Take sport and physical activity in general, for one. While sports, as it is for most sectors of life, already use a lot of tech, we still fall back on the raw emotions — the blood, sweat, and tears — that are triggered when humans compete. How can technology provide such real, raw thrills and thus satiate both the competitors and the spectators?

Well, if we are in essence nothing but biochemical beings ripe for manipulation by advanced algorithms, then real physical sport could become obsolete, replaced by virtual contests that push all the right emotional buttons, minus the bumps and bruises on the body. Or even just replaced by some pill that gives us those feelings.

But won't we need to at least exercise so we burn off the calories to stay in shape? Again, medical and technological advancements could see staying in shape become a simple process, with one's metabolism kept at an optimum rate to be physically healthy without having to do rigorous workouts. (We already have the fat-fighting drug semaglutide — sold under the brand names Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy — that is apparently working wonders for some heavier individuals.)

In that scenario, those of us who dream of returning to a simpler, self-sufficient life living off the land, may find that such a practice is deemed damaging to society as a whole. Biotechnology will provide our sustenance far more economically, sufficiently, and environmentally friendly than antiquated agriculture. Rewild rurality, hack humanity.

For the Luddites/Luddite lites amongst us, the need for some human toil in construction does look set to continue for a while longer. (Although, being based in Colombia and seeing manual labourers still doing a lot of heavy lifting, my thinking may be a bit skewed on this. In high-income nations, machines are doing more and more of these construction chores.)

Of course, it's impossible to predict to just what extent AI and technology will further take over our lives. The inexorable rise of the machines doesn't inevitably mean the downfall of most humans.

There is also the power issue at play: the machines don't run on fresh air alone. Not yet, anyway. So as long as they rely on human-controlled sources of energy — and data — to function, we shall still have a significant role to play (some of us, at least).

Whatever lies ahead, we should focus on fixing and improving things in our present lives, as much as we can, that is.

Future issues are unlikely to trouble us if we can't get a handle on today's problems. We can ignore the unsettling news all we want but this doesn't make it disappear. Merely wishing it away is sure to accelerate our own demise.
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