Either abroad or goose stepping through American city streets.

That’s true. My cynicism is pretty personal. I’ve worked for a corrupt nonprofit in the past.

I suppose I still don’t trust the not-for-profit outlets either. Non-profit status, at least in the US, is a matter of taxes rather than one of morals.

And, yes, I do end up relying on people around me to hear about things for the first time, but I can and do look into things further from there.

There are pros and cons for this, of course, but I feel a lot calmer without the constant stream of doom in my life.

I have all major news sources and US politics tags blocked on Mastodon. I also continually block subs focused on US news here on Lemmy.

Frankly, I don’t trust news media or any kind. The purpose of those publications is to make sure they’re distributed as widely as possible to sell ads. So I don’t look at them unless I have to.

I do, however, follow some local chatter for my city, as the relevant news is there.

Personally I feel I manage to still stay informed, since anything of real importance will break through my block list anyway.

Oh yeah, I could smash an Italian beef just about any day.

And Malort. I mean, it’s awful, but I never say no when offered a shot. I kinda love that our local drink comes with language of “this is will taste terrible, but you have to try it.”

Chicago Illinois USA here:

The two foods that scream “This is Chicago” to me are deep dish pizza and a Chicago style hotdog (poppy seed bun and a dog with mustard, chopped onions, tomato wedges, sweet relish, a pickle spear, and peppers, then sprinkled with celery salt).

As to which is my favorite, deep dish is definitely more unique and probably the better answer here, but man can I do love when the dogs are just right.