Is there any good news out there!?!?

If you are a news junkie, the world looks down right depressing lately. We have oil spills, killer floods, massive deficits and debt, a roller coaster stock market, our own wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,  drug cartel wars in Mexico, ethnic cleansing in Kyrgyzstan and general mayhem around the world.

Iran is ratcheting up the conflict in Gaza with Israel, God only knows what’s going on in North Korea and the African continent continues to be sea of despair, famine and bloody conflict.

Down right depressing.

Helen Thomas opens mouth and inserts an anti-Semitic foot, something called a Lady Gaga flips off an entire stadium of Mets fans, the Big Twelve might be the Little Nine by tomorrow, the Tiny Five by week’s end and you can’t watch World Cup matches without feeling like you just stepped into the world’s largest bee hive due to the vuvuzela horns.

Down right depressing, I’m telling you.

Right here in the good old U.S. of A., the partisan divide grows by the  day and our politicians make you long for the good old days when pols settled their differences like Hamilton and Burr.

Are you depressed yet?

In China, a man and boy walk into an unsecured tiger enclosure and Dad gets munched. In Florida, a teacher is fired for having premarital sex with her now husband. And right here in this little burg that most of us call home, the assassins delivered their victim to the hospital before shooting him.

And just when you have truly had enough, something catches your eye that restores your faith in this world we live in……………

“AUSTRALIAN “ANGEL” SAVES LIVES AT SUICIDE SPOT”

“SYDNEY – In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. “Why don’t you come and have a cup of tea?” the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37670329/ns/world_news/

Do you have some good news to share with those of us that are getting a mite depressed?

(The thread photo is of the cliff mentioned in the story, the Gap, in Sydney Harbour, Sydney,  Australia. Presumably, the man’s house is on the far right.)

William Stephenson Clark

Goodnight, Walter Cronkite. . .

 

Walter Cronkite died at age 92.  See here for his obit.

INFOTAINMENT SOCIETY: JUNK FOOD NEWS – 2008/2009 by Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff

Does my ass look big?

The late New York University media scholar Neil Postman once said about America, “We are the best entertained least informed society in the world.” From Jessica Simpson’s weight and Brangelina’s escapades, to Britney Spears’ sister and the Obamas’ First Puppy, Americans are fed a steady “news” diet of useless information laden with personal anecdotes, scandals, and gossip. 

Since the middle of the 1980’s, Project Censored at Sonoma State University has annually researched this phenomenon. We have found that topics and in-depth reports that matter little to anyone in any meaningful way are given massive amounts of media coverage in the corporate media. In recent years, this has only become more obvious. 

For instance, CNN’s coverage of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith’s untimely death in early 2007 is arguably one of the most egregious examples of an over abused news story. The magnitude of corporate media attention paid to the event were clearly out of synch with the coverage the story deserved, which was at most a simple passing mention. Instead, CNN broadcast “breaking” stories of the event uninterrupted, without commercials, for almost two hours, with commentary by lead anchors and journalists. This marked among the longest uninterrupted “news” broadcasts at CNN since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Anna Nicole Smith and 9/11 are now strange bedfellows, milestone bookends of corporate news culture. 

Sarah, Limbaugh and the Republican Listening Tour

Behaving in an even more ridiculous way than we’ve grown to expect, Rush Limbaugh has declared that Former Governors Jeb Bush (FL) and Mitt Romney (MA) are embarrassed by Sarah Palin.  He went on to say Bush and Romney “hate” and “despise” the Alaska Governor and former running-mate of John McCain.

Limbaugh defended Palin and heralded her as the “most prominent and articulate voice” for conservatism.

Yep, he said she is articulate.

So have the drugs finally destroyed his last brain cell?  Is he being paid by the Democratic National Committee as an ambassador for the Democratic Party?  Is it possible he can’t see ridiculing his own party and leaders make the party and himself look even worse?  Does he simply say whatever may create the greatest controversy and gain the most listeners?  If that is so, then we must consider the mentality of those people who hold him in awe.

fnord

Tuesday, 05/05/09 Public Square

Blogging is totally acceptable!  What do you want to talk about?

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Monday, 05/04/09 Public Square

Have some extra time?  Wrap the blog in colorful conversations.

Thursday, 04/30/09 Public Square

Here’s a pleasant place for a visit.  Pull up a chair and let us know what you’re thinking of, what you’d like to discuss.

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Wednesday, 04/22/09 Public Square

Riled up about something? Just want to get something off your chest?  Or would you just like to talk?  This is the place, you name the subject!

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Tuesday, 04/21/09 Public Square

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Monday, 04/20/09 Public Square

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04/19/09 Public Square

What were you thinking, doing, listening to when the thought, “I will blog that!” popped into your mind?  What would you like to share, ask, learn about?  I hear sometimes while blogging you can haz cheezeburger!

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04/18/09 Public Square

Step up close, speak into the microphone, the stage is yours.

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04/17/09 Public Square

This is your communication city. Whatever topic you wish to discuss, this is the place! The “in” place!

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