a good way to waste a sunday

I sat down to read the news on cnn.com and realized that I am going to have to brew another pot of coffee to slurp down on my way through this muddy mess of goodness. The horror and destruction of the day is almost surreal, unreal, plasticized. Yet this is not unlike most days, and I, like most, am a bit too calloused to the ongoing woes of the world. In fact, I have found that I often view the news like one would a Sunday soccer match, internally or externally shouting at the reporters about the style or method in which they deliver the daily mayhem. Bad events are going to greet us every day, so why not at least make them more interesting than the re-runs of Seinfeld, That 70's Show, and the increasingly obnoxious regurgitation's of Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. So, with a fresh cup of joe and a glass full of my favorite green sludge health drink, I'm going to run through the new tidbits with the simple observations of a sportscaster. Who needs the details anyway?

Today a corporate jet pummeled into some rural homes in England. Some were evac'd out, and it wasn't said if any of the residents were killed in the process. It's a tragedy to be sure, one that I recognize more than most being a pilot. Very few headlines perk my interests like a plane or helicopter crash. It might sound deprived, but I am always enthralled by a good aeronautical incident. I even read NTSB accident reports for not only education, but entertainment. And just like ethnic slurs can be used by those particular groups for some reason, I can enjoy a plane or rotorcraft crash and nobody (except, perhaps, fellow pilots) can tell me otherwise. It's better them than me I say. We all find ways to deal with our mortality and our avocational hazards. Mine is to laugh at it, because the next time it might actually be me. I say this all with the utmost respect and sorrow for the people involved. So judge me if you must, but that's how I get by.

The next headline just made me laugh a bit. Tibet speaker: Dalai Lama not behind riots . I'm glad they established that one of the world's most prominent advocates for peace and the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, did not in fact encourage a violant riot against Chinese authorities. A+ for clearing that one up CNN.

I have decided to skip the war news, however North and South Korea are verbally throwing punches and threatening pre-emptive and reactionary strikes, nuclear and non nuclear, retaliations, and general obliteration of the opposing sides. A KNCA Military commenter was quoted saying "Everything will be in ashes, not just a sea of fire, if our advanced pre-emptive strike once begins". For those of us who remember little of the cold war, we now have another opportunity to experience the joys of fearing nuclear fallout. Lucky us.

Unfortunately I can't make sarcastic, tasteless, witless comments on the news piece about whether Chelsea Clinton, or the college student asking a question about a past Clinton family scandal and its effect on Hillary's current campaign, was out of line. Chelsea's reaction was on par with her mother's "Shame on you Barak Obama!" statement. I saw the question presented on television some time back, and quite frankly I am surprised to see it is still in the news. Regardless, the article is presented in video format for lazy people who dislike reading. And I haven't any speakers. In this instance, I get the feeling I was spared a delicately prepared dish of bullshit.

This all makes me think that the media could probably find more news to cover than the same soundbites over and over again. According to the the U.S. Census Bureau, world population as of 21:47 GMT today is 6,658,179,659. With that many human beings roaming this planet, it is almost unreasonable that CNN can't find better news to fill their less than 24 hours of coverage every day. Some of the better stories are glossed over while a panel of "The best political team on television" debates the Chelsea Clinton vs College Student incident.

Granted, I could have focused on the news report about the running of the sheep in Waikato, New Zealand, but it's hard to gripe about some 2,000 sheep mocking the running of the bulls. In fact, that story almost makes me as cheery as the headline Cheetahs attack woman at cat sanctuary does . Damnit, I'm starting to smile...