A Mirror Floating in Water

"Okay this is not going to be some philosophical, political or sociological essay." You deserve a medal!! Haha!! Never thought you could keep away... Sorry. Sick.

I agree, Danny-baby. Same problem I've always had. Things are slowly changing though. Verrryyy slowly though. Only it isn't likely to happy.

Money means you can do whatever. Well, mostly. Also, yea, pornographic stuff, but I'm not going to go into that.

I'm going to try not to get political, but when Arthur Phillip settled Australia, he'd be allowed to by England on the condition that there were no inhabitants or that they gave consent. The aboriginals didn't, for the most part because they didn't speak the same language. Of course, seeing as he was apparently a hero and there wasn't exactly anyone around to arrest him, he got off. Then again, they may have sort of given consent, but nobody can prove anything.

That isn't political is it? It can't be. Not from my perspective, seeing as I don't care and I like being settled, otherwise it would make life a little tricky.

You aren't the only one who thinks these things, and you are pretty much right.

I'm sorry, Daniel. Try not to pay attention. There are other worlds and people who are doing much more interesting things.

I haven't really noticed Paris much lately, which I have found to be a big relief. And reality T.V. isn't the hot trend it used to be, thank God. For awhile I feared it would never go away, and I really feared for our society, and the collective intelligence of our society.

He is despicable. There's an old saying, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. And Blagovitch will always be a sow's ear. Is that political?

I can sympathize, I was having a similar conversation today. Over here in Australia, we've had a lot of misbehaving sports stars who are just given slaps on the wrist. The latest one is a footballer that sexually assaulted a woman, he was fired from his club, but now clubs in my state are trying to hire him! There are serious problems in society, we need to work on our values.

"Why the hell is it that fame in our society is equvelent to importance?" -Dan

It's a perception. If you're gaging importance by how many times they get views on the internet, then you're using the wrong measurement. That's not importance, but curiosity or fascination. But certainly not importance.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree with Virgil. Fame has always been a draw Daniel, it's not a modern thing. Read any Jane Austen book and it's riddled with it, though it's a different kind of fame: aristocracy, fascination with the lives of the rich, it's always been there. But it's transient. Paris Hilton won't be remembered, her fame is temporary. Stephen Hawking will be remembered, Tim Berners-Lee will be remembered. It's muted, but everything that lasts a long time is. Except the sun of course, that's not very muted, but you know what I mean

I was thinking about this very topic
yesterday, Daniel, when I Page the daily (printed) newspaper.

The most prominent story on the top of Page One was the previous day's "press conference" by Tiger Woods and local reaction to his so-called apology. My reaction is why should any of us care what a extremely-highly paid golfer does? This story was so sensationalized that the media took it and ran with it, and it is "curiosity," especially of the prurient variety. that sells papers and gets ratings.
(Virgil and Fifth mentioned this in their comments above.)

But what bothered the **** out of me was the story printed directly below the Tiger Woods thing. Thesecond article was extremely important, but it was given lesser prominence. The story said that several state parks were slated to be closed because of state budget shortfall. What is maddening is that one of the parks is almost brand-new; it opened just a few short years ago after being built for millions of taxpayers' money (albeit well-spent.)

Keeping these parks open would cost a few thousands of dollars each year, a relative pittance compared to many items which the state budgets for,not to mention Tiger Woods's portfolio. Closing the parks will really hurt, especially people who can't afford to have second vacation homes or country club memberships because in one year they earn less than Tiger Woods makes in a couple of hours.

The point of this long (sorry!) diatribe is that the populace --and especially the media that is supposed to serve it -- has its priorities screwed up.

Haha, after that whole Tiger Woods thing happened I was watching the news one day and it was like "Stay tuned, at the end of tonight's news programing we bring you another update on Tiger Watch!" They were so dramatic about it, I got all excited because I hadn't heard the Woods thing yet and thought that some tigers had escaped from the zoo and were wreaking havok on the streets of San Francisco or something. Imagine my dissapointment.

Hahahaahhaha! Omg Juniper, that's hilarious!

Dan -- I think the news is this way because most people are stupid and shallow and greedy and egotistical and fragile and insecure and lonely (I know, I'm on of 'em). Some of this is their fault; some of it isn't.

But the news is simply a medium to carry advertisements -- nothing more. A lot of people want the people I just described to spend their money on a bunch of needless crap. And if Tiger's little public confession can sell more Budweiser, then, he's the headline.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by IJustMadeThatUp

I can sympathize, I was having a similar conversation today. Over here in Australia, we've had a lot of misbehaving sports stars who are just given slaps on the wrist. The latest one is a footballer that sexually assaulted a woman, he was fired from his club, but now clubs in my state are trying to hire him! There are serious problems in society, we need to work on our values.

Heard about that. The biggest priority of the news though is, rather than wondering if he'll go to jail, wondering if he'll keep his place in the football club.

Such is life...

All I can say is, I agree.