Smoke Screens

Somtimes important news is ignored or drowned out by more “popular” news.  I say “popular” because the public is more receptive to it. 

For example, is the public going to take more interest in the runners-up of American Idol or a boring Congressional bill?  How about an actor’s sex scandal versus corporate tax evasion?  The proof is apparent when you consider that more people vote on American Idol than for a presidential election.

Sometimes more important news seems to be ignored or drowned out on purpose.  Take the “Runaway Bride” case of 2005.  While the media went cuckoo over this story, another story was being ignored that was more important.  See if you can find it online…

Other stories get placed on a ticker tape at the bottom of a news channel or printed on page A6 of a major newspaper – under the fold, towards the bottom.

Other stories don’t get ignored or drowned out.  They get censored altogether.  It took the British media to print Greg Palast’s report on the George W. Bush campaign’s voter-purge in Florida in 2000.  That should have been front-page headlines of a major newspaper here in America – above the fold, right smack in your face.

Or how about the case of Jane Akre and Fox News?  She wanted to report on hormones in our milk – something we would all want to know about.  Fox News canned the story because of a threatened lawsuit.

The only way to find out about these kinds of stories is to search the internet for blogs or other trusted websites.  Also, keep an eye on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show or Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report – they are funny and entertaining, but they do have a knack for keeping up with what’s important in a world full of distractions.

Finally, there is Project Censored, a website and annual publication of news you just aren’t hearing about.  As a concerned citizen, it is up to you to find sources for news that you can count on and consistently question everything you read.  Pay attention to the smoke that issues out of the popular media channels and dig for the stories that you deem most important, not what they think you need to hear.

Pssst…watch for the day before Thanksgiving every year.  Congress loves to pass unpopular bills through while no one is watching. 

Finding LOST – No Spoilers

“In this world of change, nothing which comes stays, and nothing which goes is lost.”

I have to say that the best television show of the past decade has definitely been LOST.

As the show winds up its sixth and final season on ABC, it is one of those rare treats that makes you wish it would never end.  Methodically created and designed by gifted writers and producers, it has inspired and awed many viewers, despite the repeated hiccups of writers’ strikes and television politics.

What makes it so great?  Although some have been confused by the piecemeal plot lines and time changes, it is this design that has made the show such a pleasure to watch.  Every character has their own back story that helps explain behaviors and motives throughout the show.  Each one is flawed and remarkable in their own right.

There is James Sawyer, who is an ex-con-artist with a viciously sarcastic sense of humor who happens to be into literature.  There are the characters of Jack Shepard and John  Locke, who represent science and faith respectively in their leadership roles.  There is also Benjamin Linus, who is a manipulative, murderous, envious man who you can almost like at times.  How about Richard Alpert, who never seems to age and seems to exist permanently on the island?

The plot is ingenious in its own right.  By the sixth season, you should have realized that every character is connected somehow to another character, whether they even realize it.  Subplots come and go, while some remain unanswered still.  The references to literature, science, philosophy, and religion are so numerous that fans have created their own wiki pages to help decipher all of the little details that the casual viewer may have missed.  But that’s what great about the show, every detail is pretty much there for a reason.

It will be sad to see such a great show finish its final season in May, but as the British know, sometimes a show needs to end before it has the chance to “jump the shark.”  We can only hope for more quality in television in the future, but that is usually few and far between, unfortunately.

Scott Dee

Sarah Palin’s Pity Party

Sarah Palin needs to go away.

She adds nothing to the national conversation except drama worthy of a reality television show.

Her latest tirade has been over Seth McFarlane’s hilariously unpolitically-correct show, Family Guy.  The show, which lampoons just about anything and everything in pop culture, recently aired an episode where the son, Chris, dates a girl with Down Syndrome.  At dinner, she tells Chris that she is the daughter of an ex-governor of Alaska.  Who could that be?

Palin went nuts.  A week after Rahm Emmanuel used the word ‘retards’ (referring to Democrats) in a meeting at the White House, Palin had more fodder for her me-machine.  Every month it seems she has something to say about something that makes Fox News giddy with enjoyment.

It’s nice that she picks and chooses the things she gripes about, though.  She has the time to criticize Emmanuel (probably because he works for the Democrats) and McFarlane (who is a liberal), but she won’t criticize Rush Limbaugh for using the word ‘retard’ or herself for her daughter’s underage, unwedded pregnancy.  Not that I care, but she clearly has double standards that are reminiscent of Bill O’ Reilly and Ann Coulter.

When asked about Limbaugh, she said it’s okay because he’s a satirist.  Excuse me, Limbaugh is far from a satirist.  As far as I know, he is considered a radio talk show host.  He does lie and make stuff up a lot, but that is not satirizing.  It’s called lying!  His loud Oxycontin-laden mouth speaks whatever he feels like spouting.  If anything, McFarlane is a satirist that would have amused past satirists, like Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, or Voltaire.

Despite the fact that the actress who portrayed the girl, who really has Down Syndrome, said that Palin needs to get a sense of humor, Palin will continue to whine about whatever issue makes her look good and gives her attention.  After all, she needs to remain relevant to the public until 2012, when she obviously thinks she has a bat’s chance in hell of getting nominated by Republicans for president.  Her resume won’t do it – she couldn’t even finish one term as governor.  Her lack of intelligence won’t do it – she still believes in burning witches and thinks Africa is a country.  Even the Republicans view her as a liability.

So let’s all weep for Sarah Palin.  Her poor family needs it after she used them as political meat.  And she needs the attention for at least two more years.

Scott Dee

The Death of the Hero

Ever since the dawn of time, people have had heroes or someone to look up to, whether it was a mere mortal who dared to steal fire from the gods, or a demi-god that fought off beasts with nine heads, or just someone who helped you with a flat tire.

People need someone to look up to, to be inspired by, the hero with a thousand faces that is omnipresent to every walk of life.  Unfortunately, not even Joseph Campbell could predict the state of the hero made in our present time.  The hero will be a thing of the past soon enough.

Prometheus's Punishment

Cynical?  Not really.  Our presidents let us down.  Our athletes let us down.  Our mentors let us down.  There’s not a single person we can look up to that won’t eventually let us down by our contemporary standards.  Look at all the celebrities who have overdosed on prescription cocktails over the past few years.  Look at Tiger Woods and his harem of mistresses.  Even spiritual leaders have let their flocks down.

Who can we look up to?  Maybe we just need to reevaluate our definitions of hero.  As our world becomes more connected than Orwell could have ever imagined, we are going to be bombarded by every possible negative action public figures can manage.

We shouldn’t be surprised when our heroes make mistakes.  Too often we forget that the people we look up to are only human, just like we are.  We all have out own dirty little secrets

that we need to tend to.  I think the only reason people become obsessed with the errs of celebrities is to remind themselves that others can be torn down instead of themselves.

Maybe that’s what celebrities are for nowadays, but it will be increasingly difficult as time goes on to hold these heroes of ours up on these pedestals we have created.  As we learn through Twitter updates and the TMZ paparazzi what Brad Pitt has for breakfast and what bathroom habits the latest moron from Jersey Shore may have, we have closed the gap that separates them from ourselves.

That may not be a bad thing for some so-called heroes, but we will need to reevaluate what it means to be inspired and how to look up to people as this continues.

Scott Dee