Silence is upon us. Let us properly call that "selective silence".
Why? With the media frenzy that usually accompanies major events such as the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, one might expect to see some expression of continued in the plight of Japan, but no. The same strange abandonment of other man-made and natural disasters seems to disappear with with the same finesse from the media. Is it too much to ask to be informed? Radiation from Fukushima has already crossed North America, but officialdom, like the media, keeps it hushed. Are we "to glow before we know" what is happening? Is there a "the greater the event, the less we hear" edict hidden somewhere in government files?
Germany is intelligently closing down ALL nuclear plants by 2020. North America is strangely " silent" about it instead, no such plans HERE.
We don't have to wonder why. The invoking of common sense itself would be an earth-shattering event that would have to be silenced.
Does wild game in North America have to become "polluted and unfit for human consumption" with Fukushima radiation like the wild boars ARE ALREADY today in Germany--from 900 miles away, --the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago--before it becomes a "news story" again?
The Haiti earthquake disaster may as well have occurred a hundred years ago; the "live" victims may be healed, but they still live in tent cities, the city, reduced to rubble is NOT yet rebuilt, the aid "disappearing" into the strangling, secret pockets of the bureaucracy. Has that story, too, been "worn out" by the media, no longer worth contaminating a news page or computer screen?
Strange silence is emerging over the Iraq war, --"winding down", is it? Or is it in fact really just another very expensive military failure that will be glossed over, the new government just as corrupt as Saddam himself, with all the facts hidden from the public?
Never mind that war, we have NEW ones. We line them up, one after the other.
We had Afghanistan to play with, Canada has been fully involved in combat, but NATO says it will be "wound down" in 2014, so now it's Libya. The strange silence is already oozing out of Libya and into the media hard drives, plugging up the works.
Gaddafi still reins. Another military failure which Canadians happened to "get involved in" without hesitation.
Keep the media quiet and move on....is that what happens?
The Gulf Oil disaster story too, is in "limbo". The spill has "gone away" just as magically, according to BP, "dispersed into never-never-land" using millions of gallons of poisonous cancer-causing chemical dispersants that are meant to be applied on small, critically-sensitive 200-gallon spills --NOT to be sprayed or dumped thoughtlessly by fools into an out-of-control crude oil gusher that uncontrolled for months, pouring millions of barrels of crude oil into the environment.
---but apparently it's NO problem, according to the media and officialdom. Shshhhhh.... the public has forgotten all about it, they don't know, and we're not telling them. Supposedly. Another deathly disaster caused by DIRTY OIL a la Exxon Valdez, covered up successfully by the Petroleum Greedy. The seafood in the gulf is unfit to eat, the fish are getting lesions---but no problem, there's no NEWS story.
There are many examples of the "silence" that can be dredged up.
The "Greater the Event, the Less we Hear" ? Does that concept apply to everyday life too? It seems the price of gasoline at $6.25 a gallon is no longer in the news either.
Go figure. Who is paying for that silence? Greedy CEO's getting their big bonuses are not going to tell. That's not a NEWS story, that's OLD news
Is our modern, one-line news-bite attention span that short, or does officialdom and the media believe that "what they don't know can't hurt them?' Maybe it less to do with the media, demographics, the aging population or global warming, --and more to do with the devious ?
The politicos in Ottawa are dredging up the "Quebec separation" red herring yet again courtesy of Jack Layton. How silly. Doesn't anyone know that news story will evaporate into never-never land too, just like the Bloc Quebecois did?
The "governing" deal-makers, power-mongers and political gurus must have persuaded or fooled the media into thinking we are all too busy shopping, deaf AND stupid too. Surprise.....
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
looks like the noise makers have ramped up the din to too many decibels in the case of nuclear meltdown, oil leaks and every other natural disaster...the public covers its ears and walks away from active conscience..scarred, scared and oblivious to the music of the spheres.
ReplyDeletelet us be news whisperers and touch someone.
Of course. Greater event will definitely have a graceful charm to enhance the people.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it really is information overload? The uncontrollable factor in our lives that we must ignore, wax over, to survive?
ReplyDelete"A graceful charm to enhance the people" is a curious statement also. Do we rebound equally into civility and peace of mind and acceptance when dealt a vicious blow one can not respond to to otherwise?
so thick the skin, that the smallest, sharpest needle may penetrate the modern hide...to pierce the protective coat which is pelted daily by confusing media..
ReplyDeleteI was just commenting the other day that the news was just hours of debate over "Weinergate". Though I think the lout should be exposed, let's do it in proportion to the offense and please get back to reporting the news. I agree--what is happening in Fukishima, the Gulf, etc. Who is to blame for the silence--the media or the gov't?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm wondering, Julie, at times it sure does look like vital news is suppressed with vigor. Perhaps in some circumstances, ie. Fukushima, officialdom recognizes a situation is out of their control, that the event has FAR more than serious implications, and therefore instructs the media to keep it quiet...who knows?
ReplyDeleteMeantime, "Weinergate" and other so-called "news" contaminates the airwaves. There's nothing like a "scandal" or red herring to distract the troops from what is really happening. Similarly, there's nothing like another good old-fashioned war (Libya) to take people's minds off of the obvious and critically important issues.
"Get back to reporting the news" is key--and who is subverting the process IS the question.
I've always said, silence is deadly. It's easy to tune into what everyone is saying. It's a lot more difficult to digest what isn't being said.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, Raymond, but sometimes, it's pretty difficult to read. Too many ordinary citizens (on a global scale) are powerless to do anything about the circumstances they are required (by human dignity and integrity) to address. Trouble is brewing, and when the pot finally boils over, the real fallout will be undeniable.