Thread: I...

However, I'm sure some, specifically the European members with how their local media is portraying this would get the assumption that this kind of thing happens a lot here and that this is an every day kind of situation somewhere in the country.

Not really. We have our own health care scandals over here, especially in psychiatric institutions.

Somehow the American mass news media has forgotten about a little concept called context. I don't trust any of them anymore for news. All they are concerned about is ratings which is a consequence of being on TV - negative news sells and personalities sell. That's why news media now is more like watching a show with entertainers than it is about what is actually happening in the world.

It's terrible misinformation but fortunately about 67% of the American population does not trust the media. Many, many people are tired of the constant barrage of negativity. After watching the news you don't want to drive, walk, eat, or even wake up and leave your house. It is utterly ridiculous.

• One year they focused on shark attacks (2003?) yet the overall statistics were that shark attacks were down 2 from the previous years and still below the average.
• Another year (2005?) they chose to focus on the murder rate and how it was spiraling out of control. The actual facts behind it were that the overall murder rate was going down and was far below the averages of previous years. But that type of factual information doesn't sell.
• During the OK city bombing they stated that other bombs were inside the building and had not gone off yet. This was so far from the truth as to be absurd. They broadcast what every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the street said without ever consulting someone who actually was in a position to know. Their sources were extremely questionable.
• I also like their panel of experts. During the shuttle Challenger incident they asked their 'expert' what happened. He said they obviously suffered some type of explosion. Really? Thanks for clearing up the matter of the huge giant red fireball with pieces shooting everywhere for me.
• During the Columbia disaster the 'expert' said the shuttle has suffered catastrophic failure. Thanks, Sherlock. Is that why there are pieces raining down from the sky from Arizona to Texas?
• CNN had an interview with someone who knew the 'unibomber' personally. Yet when asked how this person knew the 'unibomber' he said...."Oh I don't know him, but I've seen him walking down my street several times."
  Great interview from a great source. Did the reporter even check this person out or did they just throw them on camera b/c they had a good story at an opportune time for ratings?

On the same note the Weather Channel has jumped on the same bandwagon and focuses more on events that are not only very rare but nearly impossible just to hype the ratings. The other day I'm trying to see the local forecast because a thunderstorm was threating my area. Nope....It could happen tomorrow was on. We could have had a tornado and they would still be broadcasting their junk while a tornado devasted my area.
It's a shame too b/c the WC used to be outstanding. Maybe if they fired Heidi Cullen they could get back to actually talking about the weather.

In short: Mass media == bad_information


I will say the local news media for the most part broadcasts good factual news stories and is right on top of the weather before, during, and after it happens. We all used to call the local media the flunkies or thought they were somehow less informed and less professional than CNN, FOX, and MSNBC. Now I think the opposite is true. The local media has more factual information in 5 minutes of broadcast than the other three do in an hour.

It's more or less the same over here, with many complaints about journalism giving less importance to the good things happening around us, and overdosing on bad news... sometimes with misinformation.

Concerning TV stations, some are thankfully a little better than others. For instance, on the news that initiated this thread, and on the TV station I saw it, the next piece was about recent similar incidents over here in Portugal followed by a invited doctor who commented on why these things might happen.

Newspaper are, at least here, thankfully a much better media. The payed ones are, mind you. With just only a few exceptions. Nothing replaces my morning newspaper when it comes to catch up with the news.

Originally Posted by Bubba

That is.....if you believe this load of hooey they are serving up.

Well... that's where I show one of my weaknesses. It's not that I buy all the junk they throw me. After all, all I need is to take a good look around my neighborhood to know all is not bad around the world. And I also do make an effort to avoid the traps of selective memory.

But... I do tend towards the side which does place very little faith in mankind in general, and politics in particular, in their ability to construct a better world. As far as I'm concerned we keep going down and accelerating.

I do believe we need a new Bastille in order to reverse the direction we are taking, shorten the Gaps, deflate some of the big fortunes, cut a few heads (an unfortunate necessity), demand a better and more respected Declaration and basically return to the ideals of a free and just society in which Economics, while still playing a major role, are not the center stage player of every political decision...

Originally Posted by medievalelks

The ideals of a free and just society include cutting off heads and redistribution of wealth?

Yes and no...

On cutting heads off - It's a consequence of every major revolution the shed of blood. I think I made that apparent on my post. On the other hand, the cutting of heads in Paris (and many were cut as you well know, I'm sure) lead to the Declaration of Human Rights. So in the end the real answer is most probably, yes. You need to shed blood to regain order. It has been like so for countless years, not to mention it's how you gained your independence and how you fought for your liberties.

On redistribution of wealth - A definite Yes. Call me socialist but I despise the salaries of some activities (like those of actors, soccer an basketball players, singers, certain administrators and even models). In my view, we have to regain the focus. Why should a teacher battle to sustain his family when a guy running after a ball earns in one year what they will never make in their 40 year career? I don't think switching the sides entirely is the answer... but I do think we have already passed the threshold of what is just and fair.

> Why should a teacher battle to sustain his family when a guy running after a ball earns in one year what they will never make in their 40 year career?
Sounds like communism to me... And what if you worked your ass off to build a multi-billion dollar mining company? And the gov' want to take it away, because the teacher down the street is poor.

Pfft, rights should be equal but certainly not material possessions or money.

Yes, well. We differ.

Absolutely, the power of private initiative, and the personal gains from it derived, is one of the few things I would be willing to actively defend if one day they were to be threatened in my country. But capitalism is becoming too wild and giving rise to too many injustices that not only go unchecked, but are also accepted as perfectly normal these days. Which is only more scarier.

We need to evolve from ancient times once and for all, for pete's sake. We are living under the feudalism for far too long. In the brink of the 21st century, we are still mirroring the same ancient social gaps and widening them further.

Not democracy, neither capitalism, are really giving an answer to the same old problems. Socialism wasn't even close, having become the dark ages of modern times in many countries that tried it. (And modern capitalistic versions of socialism, like the one in China are complete aberrations that turn the individual as only a slight improved version of nuts and bolts).

I do feel we are rapidly approaching the threshold of... whatever it may be... when patience simply ends. When the differences are so big, the injustices so unacceptable, the difficulties so unsurmountable, that small cries of protest that we always hear will now start to shape crowds.

I cannot say I've had a difficult life so far. I have very little to complain when it comes to my own achievements or the opportunities I was either given or fought for. But I I have an hard time dealing with certain types of injustice, even when it has nothing to do with me or those I love. The woman that cleans my bookstore at the end of the day, goes to work at 5 am and only goes back home at 7 pm. Her day is passed doing cleaning on several places so that she can make enough money to survive. Feed herself, her 3 kids pay rent, taxes and bills. She's black, which only makes her life harder. In the end, she just doesn't ever make enough. At the age of 39 her life is FUBAR and she was never given a chance, neither she ever had a moment she could say "those were the days". In a country that currently rates as the 3rd poorest of the EU, her kids have little future either, since they are thrown into social and economical ghettos that refuse them proper education or a lifestyle capable of providing some hope.

And yet the 3rd poorest country in the EU, collects some of the highest taxes, builds fortunes on soccer, bank administration, stock market or... crime, slowly destroys the agriculture, industry and fishing, maintains a judicial system only truly accessible to the wealthy, supports an education and health system that is becoming increasingly socially stratified, wastes millions on doubtful long term investments that only serve that usually become simply money sinks that never had a real return...

As our democracies became bipartite and government terms became shorter and parties themselves became very efficient machines at doing complete facelifts, our leaders (and by our I mean, not only mine, but Our leaders) live days of bonanza in that all the crap they do today, all they ruin and the lifes they make miserable with their laws and irresponsible actions and money spending, have no real effect in their capacity to maintain power every 2 mandates at most. Your leader today, will be gone tomorow and his party will wash the hands of all the his ........ty decisions and actions.

Democracy and majority are no longer sharing hands. What majority? The majority battles hard everyday. The majority is not the middle class. That's the 80s. The majority is the poor, many of who don't even vote. Governments instead rule for a very specific minority; their rule for their own party interests, they rule for the economical interests and they sometimes throw us a bone.

Originally Posted by Mario F.

The woman that cleans my bookstore at the end of the day, goes to work at 5 am and only goes back home at 7 pm. Her day is passed doing cleaning on several places so that she can make enough money to survive. Feed herself, her 3 kids pay rent, taxes and bills. She's black, which only makes her life harder. In the end, she just doesn't ever make enough. At the age of 39 her life is FUBAR and she was never given a chance, neither she ever had a moment she could say "those were the days".

You paint a bleak anecdote, but without context on how she arrived in her current situation, it's somewhat pointless. Never given a chance? Did she have a chance not to have children she couldn't afford? A chance to do better in school? So that perhaps she could get a scholarship at a university and have a better life? Is there not financial aid that she could take advantage of now to learn a skill or trade?

The person most responsible for your current position in life is usually standing in the mirror. It's easy to blame the rich, the government, etc., but they won't get your out of your current situation faster than you can, nor could they have better prevented you from making poor life decisions.

Originally Posted by Mario F.

I do feel we are rapidly approaching the threshold of... whatever it may be... when patience simply ends. When the differences are so big, the injustices so unacceptable, the difficulties so unsurmountable, that small cries of protest that we always hear will now start to shape crowds.

Yes, what terrible injustices people suffer in America.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...10/ai_n9315538

But what is more remarkable is the story behind the Census figures: The actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor. For most Americans the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description.

While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. The bulk of the "poor" live in material conditions that would have been judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.

Microwaves and Stereos

The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:

* Forty-six per cent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one and a half baths, a garage and porch or patio.

* Seventy-six per cent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago only 36% of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

* Only 6% of poor households are overcrowded. More than two thirds have more than two rooms per person.

* The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other cities throughout Europe. (Note: These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries not to those classified as poor.)

* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30% own two or more cars.

* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television. Over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player. Sixty-two percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

* Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens; more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.


*** IS THE GOVERNMENT OR THE RICH TO BLAME FOR THIS? ***

Not having a dad around is another reliable pathway down into poverty. Nearly two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes. Each year an additional 1.3 million children are born out-of-wedlock. If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, almost three quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty.