Interesting 2020 that in a western or "civilised" society that the killing of humans is more newsworthy or shocking than in an (for example) an African nation where life is considered, duh, less important.
Well, I think that you would find that if you went to an African news website [and I did, just to check], the shooting wasn't getting that much coverage itself. What's your point? People relate to things that are closer to home..
Wysiwyg, I understand what you're saying. I read a quote by someone a couple of weeks ago suggesting that Americans get over 9/11 - the people killed in that incident is approximately equal to the number of AIDS-related deaths every day!!! Or something like that. Not saying I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, but certainly food for thought.
Something that always makes me wonder is when someone famous dies, the focus is on their family etc....like Bindi and Bob Irwin being plastered across the media as being brave little soldiers in the face of tragedy....whilst in the same week, maybe 100's of other kids in Aus were also coming to groups with losing a parent unexpectedly. Or magazines full of Rove getting over Belinda. Very very tragic, but thousands of others are going through the same thing at any given time.
The saddest tragedy in the 90's I thought was that Mother Theresa passed away the same week as Princess Diana. Her passing was reduced to a few paragraphs!!
To sum things up it is in the connection/bond/tie we feel to others and the loss of that connection/bond/tie.The stronger the bond (supposedly )the greater the loss.And don`t the media play on it. Just as stoxclimber pointed out.
Oh and I can`t leave myself out....my comments are part of it too.(so maybe I just keep quiet and `let it be`)For tomorrow it will be another subject
Say, for instance, that I am told of some misfortune with which I am asked to sympathise: I understand what I am told; I admit in theory that the sufferers deserve my sympathy; I see that it is a case where it would be logical and just for me to respond with sympathy; I even offer my sympathy, but only with my mind; because, when all is said and done, I am obliged to admit that I feel absolutely nothing… [W]hat remains in me is the rather embarrassing awareness that, after all, THESE ARE PEOPLE I DO NOT KNOW – if one had to be touched by every human misfortune, life would not be possible; it would indeed be too short. The moment I think: After all, this is a case, No. 75,627 – it is no good, I can feel nothing[!]
'On the Ontological Mystery' from 'The Philosophy of Existence' (1933)
You're right Brujo, that is a classic example. I wonder if the reality is worse - that many missed it altogether?The saddest tragedy in the 90's I thought was that Mother Theresa passed away the same week as Princess Diana. Her passing was reduced to a few paragraphs!!
Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome during 1983, while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack in 1989, she received a pacemaker. In 1991, after a battle with pneumonia while in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems. She offered to resign her position as head of the Missionaries of Charity. However, the nuns of the order, in a secret ballot, voted for her to stay. Mother Teresa agreed to continue her work as head of the order.
In April 1996, Mother Teresa fell and broke her collar bone. In August of that year she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She underwent heart surgery, but it was clear that her health was declining. On March 13, 1997 she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity and died on September 5, 1997, nine days after her 87th birthday.etc
Wysiwyg, I understand what you're saying. I read a quote by someone a couple of weeks ago suggesting that Americans get over 9/11 - the people killed in that incident is approximately equal to the number of AIDS-related deaths every day!!! Or something like that. Not saying I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, but certainly food for thought.
Something that always makes me wonder is when someone famous dies, the focus is on their family etc....like Bindi and Bob Irwin being plastered across the media as being brave little soldiers in the face of tragedy....whilst in the same week, maybe 100's of other kids in Aus were also coming to groups with losing a parent unexpectedly. Or magazines full of Rove getting over Belinda. Very very tragic, but thousands of others are going through the same thing at any given time.
The saddest tragedy in the 90's I thought was that Mother Theresa passed away the same week as Princess Diana. Her passing was reduced to a few paragraphs!!
a. agreeda. You can't compare the event of 9/11 with AIDS,
b. the latter, in the main, is a self inflicted disease due to those engaging in unprotected sex with mutiple partners.
c. The deaths due to 9/11 (inspite of the anti-American sentiments on this site) were NOT self inflicted.
Now there is a American who calls it like it is (IMO), yet a self-styled "pro-USA" American, who maintains his right to free speech and all those things that America should stand for, used to stand for, - and can think beyond the spin doctored rhetoric that comes out of Washington."Ideological Quagmires" - had this interesting comment about the USA...(by an american obviously)
http://iq.mythicflow.com/
Quote:
Besides pride in or admiration of its principles, being pro-USA requires acknowledging and facing its shortcomings and its inconsistencies. Like the concomitance [concurrent coexistence] of pro & anti, America both has a democracy and it doesn't; its citizens vote but only for their favorite ad campaign.
The American dream also still endures, because it's being adapted as a fantasy in order to maintain its allure in today's dynamic reality.
Of course America was never invincible, it was a role it perfected in front of a mirror and performed it with the conviction of a method actor, so much so that it couldn't tell itself apart anymore from the character.
As for being unstable, that could never happen here, those who'd make trouble would be locked up in our flourishing, profitable prisons.
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.~Theodore Roosevelt
That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. ~Theodore Roosevelt
b. such an outdated attitude bel, sheesh,- but supposing you are right (and ignoring the millions of other aids victims) - are you prepared to acknowledge the contribution of the Vatican and GW Bush ? (all as per recent news article on ABC)
Californian pistols at Eureka? slightly topical?A member of the Independent Californian Rangers Revolver Brigade can be seen at right, firing his revolver at the troops swarming over the breastwork.
a. agreed
b. such an outdated attitude bel, sheesh,- but supposing you are right (and ignoring the millions of other aids victims) - are you prepared to acknowledge the contribution of the Vatican and GW Bush ? (all as per recent news article on ABC)
c. ( Y/N answer?) - I'd agree.
As for being anti-American, here's a quote from a website posted elsewhere.
Now there is a American who calls it like it is (IMO), yet a self-styled "pro-USA" American, who maintains his right to free speech and all those things that America should stand for, used to stand for, - and can think beyond the spin doctored rhetoric that comes out of Washington.
Note Theodore Roosevelt's take on what qualifies as "treasonable to the American public..."
bel, Are you saying that you think that (at least some) potential nuns and priests don't go there because they want a normal sexual life themselves , maybe marriage etc? If they left to pursue a normal life good on em. In being honest and avoiding suspected lulus in the church's teachings, they are well on the way to an honest life. And still leaves plenty of opportunities in World Vision etc where the aid is delivered without religious strings attached.I can't dispute your argument re the Vatican's attitutude towards sex. Its attitiude to sex is the prime reason it has lost so many of its priests and nuns and is failing to attract them in sufficient numbers, although, I suppose, this maybe comensurate with falling church attendances. I have known a number of ex priests and nuns who have suffered mental agony in attempting to reconcile their beliefs with their innermost feelings and subsequently left the Catholic Church.
More guns could have prevented US uni massacre: advocates
Gun advocates in the United States say last week's massacre at Virginia Tech university may not have happened if students were allowed to carry concealed guns on campus.
"This is a huge nail in the coffin of gun control," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the gun rights group Virginia Citizens Defence League.
"They had gun control on campus and it got all those people killed, because nobody could defend themselves," he told AFP.
TONY EASTLEY: Even with all the national soul searching over the Virginia Tech shootings, there seems little energy for a national gun debate, let alone a revision of America's gun laws.
There seems to be little moment for a blanket crackdown on any weapons, with one former high-profile politician claiming that Australian-style laws certainly didn't work.
However, some US politicians are considering some minor adjustments to the laws, which will prevent the mentally ill from obtaining weapons.
...As funerals for the massacre victims continue, debate is slowly turning to US gun laws.
Former House Speaker and possible Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, doesn't favour a widespread crackdown on weapons.
NEWT GINGRICH: In countries that have had absolute bans, Great Britain, Australia, gun violence has actually gone up because the criminals end up buying illegal guns, but the law-abiding honest citizen is in effect disarmed.
KIM LANDERS: And he maintains if any of gunman Cho Seung-Hui's victims had been armed, his killing spree may have been halted sooner. etc etc
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