Gary Gnu We Need You!

News stories that I have seen this week that make me question the very idea of news….

Story # 1: Critics complain about the actions of Sanjay Gupta and others in Haiti: This one drives me insane. The argument is this: Sanjay Gupta is hired by CNN to act as a reporter but by his actions to work in a hospital after Belgian doctors left due to security concerns he loses his credibility as a reporter by losing his objectivity. While he might lose some of that credibility what he gains by being an outstanding human being so outweighs it that this entire argument is ludicrous. This is not a reporter openly campaigning for a candidate on the air, which is happening much too regularly on both sides. This is someone reporting from a humanitarian crisis who when faced with a situation in which they can provide immediate aid vacates their reporting duties and performs heroic action. Anderson Cooper moving an injured child away from an angry mob is in a similar vein. The fact that anyone can criticize these sorts of actions by claiming that it is some sort of media bias really sickens me.

Story # 2: Cruise ships continue to dock in Haiti: This is one of those cases in which a good intention has gone terribly wrong. One of the major cruise lines (I forget which one and don’t want to blame one needlessly) regularly visits a Haitian port city that was relatively unaffected by the earthquake. They have decided to continue to stop there where they drop off needed supplies as well as have the passengers disembark and spend money, supporting the local economy. All of that is very well and good except for the fact that you therefore have tourists lounging around in hammocks enjoying drinks with colorful umbrellas while a hundred miles away over 100,000 people have died and the rest are homeless and would kill for a bottle of water. If you want to help support the local economy make a large donation to that city but don’t create a tourist trap in the middle of a catastrophe.

Story # 3: Massachusetts senatorial candidate calls Curt Schilling a Yankees fan: Sigh. For a moment there I was able to say that I was proud to be a supporter of the Democratic party. I mean, typically it is something that you say under your breath when in polite company but a year ago it was the cool thing to be. Now the party seems to be a spinning mess of disaster focused on a health care plan that does nothing other than increase the debt while making the health care system even less efficient than it already is. Even in the simplest of races the Democrats screw up. How could you lose the Kennedy’s seat? I can’t even blame the people who voted based on the Schilling comment. I wouldn’t vote for someone who had no idea who one of the most famous athletes in my state was. If you can’t read the sports pages how the hell are you going to be able to read a bill.

Story # 4: Tiger Woods is in a sex rehab clinic in Mississippi: I completely understand the sex rehab thing. After seeing the women he hooked up with and who he left in the process the guy seriously needs help. It’s the whole Mississippi thing that confuses me. I really don’t want to know what sex rehab entails in that state or what you would need to do to merit it. I assume farm animals are involved in both respects.

3rd Best Album of the Decade: Sufjan Stevens “Illinois” (2005): As I’ve mentioned a few times in this countdown one of the things that I have loved about this decade is that I have found a number of artists who have done things so differently that it changes the way I view music. Sufjan Stevens is one of those people. An album that consists solely of songs about the state of Illinois. Every instrument in the world being used. A song about John Wayne Gacy that makes your heart stop. It took me about three hours to listen to this album the first time because I kept hitting replay after every song because I just had to hear it again. Seriously, I have never in my life heard an album quite like this.