(no subject)
Well, as I could have guessed, I couldn't get an ounce of actual news out of any source aside from the paper. And even then, ehh. The two whole seconds I was able to get anything worthwhile out of CNN, it wasn't without getting garbage jammed down my throat before and after.
I'm starting to wonder if there's anything even remotely redeeming about the news media anymore. I DO remember a time when CNN could provide a fair amount of pertinent, relatively unbiased information. I'm wondering if that's still the case. I mean, if anyone relies on cable networks to get the news - well, I'm sorry. But when I'm eating my Kashi and I want a five-minute summary of what the world is up to this morning, I don't need to be told I can get a real-time original news cast of 9/11/01 on cnn.com. Who gives that much of a fuck at this point? Yes, people died. Yes, it is an awful situation. Yes, people still suffer. Nevermind that the U.S. has been weaving a web of allies and enemies for 40 years. Nevermind that 9 million of many Americans' ancestors were victims of the Holocaust. We need to fight Islamo-facists. Nevermind that American troops are raping teenagers and murdering their families in Iraq. Nevermind that nobody in the mainstream news media has the balls to question what's happening in our country. Obviously, America's journalists need to do their part in preserving freedom by not rocking the boat. It sickens me to think that my generations young brothers and sisters and, eventually, my generation's children are going to grow up being fed so much bullshit every single day from the news media, their parents, their peers. The world is in a state of disarray, but apparantly five fucking years after the fact it's wrong to cover global warming, rising oil prices, conflict in and around Israel, Congo, and everywhere else in the world. Instead we'll just have to be forced another story of some 18 year old who signed up to fight for a cause that isn't his. One he can't possibly understand because there isn't a rational cause in the first place. And that 18 year old got himself killed for a faceless, heartless, greedy government. And to top it off, he'll be called a hero. Foor what? Maybe being dumb enough to believe that there is a cause to fight for in Iraq. Maybe he's just naive. Either way he turned out to be a statistic for a cause that hasn't been clearly defined. Remember when Saddam Hussein was somehow responsible for terrorist attacks in the U.S.? Or when Iraq supposedly held an arsenal of WMDs? Where are these bullshit excuses now? God knows the media won't cover it. And if any news entity is bold enough to (ala New York Times or the Washington Post), they'll be threatened with sanctions by the government or their advertisers. Is nothing sacred or important? Is there no such thing as bettering the human condition? Converting nations to democracy isn't bettering the human conditioner, it's only creating a more tumultuous world. Bettering the human condition also does not include hiding or distorting truth to give 300 million people a rosier view of their country throwing its weight around across the globe.
On one more media note, Nancy Grace is an inauthentic, talentless whore. Tonight among dodging tangible, important issues she was able to squeeze in a (relatively) unimportant news story about a missing toddler AND a "moving tribute" to 9/11. Crocodile tears and contrived emotional remarks really get you somewhere in the world I guess.
Some of you: grow the fuck up, start thinking, start acting. Make a difference. Because from a media and governing perspective, there really isn't much hope for anyone under the age of 16 at this point. Develop your own thoughts and opinions and act on them. Don't spend your life in front of some TV spitting "freedom" this and "freedom" that at you any longer. Spreading democracy doesn't create freedom. Independent thought does.
I'm starting to wonder if there's anything even remotely redeeming about the news media anymore. I DO remember a time when CNN could provide a fair amount of pertinent, relatively unbiased information. I'm wondering if that's still the case. I mean, if anyone relies on cable networks to get the news - well, I'm sorry. But when I'm eating my Kashi and I want a five-minute summary of what the world is up to this morning, I don't need to be told I can get a real-time original news cast of 9/11/01 on cnn.com. Who gives that much of a fuck at this point? Yes, people died. Yes, it is an awful situation. Yes, people still suffer. Nevermind that the U.S. has been weaving a web of allies and enemies for 40 years. Nevermind that 9 million of many Americans' ancestors were victims of the Holocaust. We need to fight Islamo-facists. Nevermind that American troops are raping teenagers and murdering their families in Iraq. Nevermind that nobody in the mainstream news media has the balls to question what's happening in our country. Obviously, America's journalists need to do their part in preserving freedom by not rocking the boat. It sickens me to think that my generations young brothers and sisters and, eventually, my generation's children are going to grow up being fed so much bullshit every single day from the news media, their parents, their peers. The world is in a state of disarray, but apparantly five fucking years after the fact it's wrong to cover global warming, rising oil prices, conflict in and around Israel, Congo, and everywhere else in the world. Instead we'll just have to be forced another story of some 18 year old who signed up to fight for a cause that isn't his. One he can't possibly understand because there isn't a rational cause in the first place. And that 18 year old got himself killed for a faceless, heartless, greedy government. And to top it off, he'll be called a hero. Foor what? Maybe being dumb enough to believe that there is a cause to fight for in Iraq. Maybe he's just naive. Either way he turned out to be a statistic for a cause that hasn't been clearly defined. Remember when Saddam Hussein was somehow responsible for terrorist attacks in the U.S.? Or when Iraq supposedly held an arsenal of WMDs? Where are these bullshit excuses now? God knows the media won't cover it. And if any news entity is bold enough to (ala New York Times or the Washington Post), they'll be threatened with sanctions by the government or their advertisers. Is nothing sacred or important? Is there no such thing as bettering the human condition? Converting nations to democracy isn't bettering the human conditioner, it's only creating a more tumultuous world. Bettering the human condition also does not include hiding or distorting truth to give 300 million people a rosier view of their country throwing its weight around across the globe.
On one more media note, Nancy Grace is an inauthentic, talentless whore. Tonight among dodging tangible, important issues she was able to squeeze in a (relatively) unimportant news story about a missing toddler AND a "moving tribute" to 9/11. Crocodile tears and contrived emotional remarks really get you somewhere in the world I guess.
Some of you: grow the fuck up, start thinking, start acting. Make a difference. Because from a media and governing perspective, there really isn't much hope for anyone under the age of 16 at this point. Develop your own thoughts and opinions and act on them. Don't spend your life in front of some TV spitting "freedom" this and "freedom" that at you any longer. Spreading democracy doesn't create freedom. Independent thought does.