Life being the sweet bowel of cherries that it is over in this country I often find myself staggered and saddened by what is going on over seas. Sure I make it a point not to believe everything I read, and when it comes to the daily free rag newspaper frequently seen on the train, you can almost be certain that the “journalistic integrity” is not going to be fervent. However seeing as it is every where and every day I thought it would make the perfect topic for this rant. Ironically the “Vent Your Spleen” section in the paper Iabcdm referring to only allocates enough room for a casual tweet.
First of all it needs to be said I like that there is a paper out once a day, with the inevitable decline of print media theyabcdre doing surprisingly well, and second, who doesnabcdt love the sublime convenience of burying oneabcds face in some idle gossip to avoid eye contact on a sardine packed carriage of exhausted commuters?
Thereabcds the usual clap trap about celebrities, a few random trivial facts that neither insult nor really help your intelligence, tourism, food and sport with the big story of the day glossed over somewhat in favour of room for a bit of extra fluff. But what I really mean to get to is a section called DOOM & GLOOM!
…uhh excuse me?
I can understand not wanting to be exactly subtle when describing the nastiness behind the human condition but DAMN!
I naturally find myself drawn to this section it offers some valuable heart palpitations and stress for my crowded ride home, the miniature horror story captions in this make the obituaries for the 9/11 victims read like the wrapper of a fantail. Taking into account the bias of the media producing this I get the impression after reading it on and off for the last 3 years or so, it should really be named “LOOK WHAT THE TERRORISTS DID NOW!” with not a week that goes by without something going wrong.
Of course thatabcds all just perception but the older I get I begin to find myself shedding the knee jerk idealism this was driven home yesterday when shortly after the humanitarian ships were boarded by Israeli commandos I witnessed a big protest march through the CBD, as I munched on my burger watching Lebanese and Turkish flags go by I knew, this issue is not going to go away and now it has come to us.