Thursday, February 14, 2013

a sense of perspective

Hi there

today started off with tragic news, sadly. to limit what has happened to only officially stated rather than the speculation floating around, earlier today Oscar Pistorius was arrested after apparently shooting dead his girlfriend in the early hours of the morning.  the first reports to come out suggested that his girlfriend was trying to sneak into his house via a window and, believing it to be an intruder, Pistorius shot the person he saw, leaving them dead. the police have since stated that they are "unaware" of this scenario, and confirmed that Pistorius will appear in court on Friday to face a charge of murder.

whatever actually happened, someone is dead that should not be and an athlete who was an inspiration to millions is tainted.




sadly,  as is the nature of the beast, the media outlets are not leaving it at this. wild speculation, stories and discussions - some informed, most wildly ill-informed, have been the order of the day. this has of course been the case on the self-important, sensationalist small radio station that believes itself to be the biggest and most important in the world.

i bring it up and post here because this time they have perhaps gone way too far with their sensationalist approach. the wretched, talent-free woman who hosts a show on that station on afternoons solicited a message saying that this unfortunate and tragic event was "like 9/11". she then went on to say how much she agreed with that statement.

i cannot be bothered to put pictures of her up here, so i have just selected images - entirely at random, of course - for your viewing pleasure. if you wish to see her and read her further insights, clcik here, but you do so at your own risk.



so, in the world of this woman, the shooting and death of a woman, whether accidental or planned, is "like" the single biggest attack on mainland America, and event that saw thousands killed and wars of vengeance be declared for the next ten years (and counting)?

i am really hoping that whoever sent the message in has a sinister and wicked sense of humour and didn't actually believe the comparison themselves.



i decided to play along a bit, of course, and sent in a message saying that this story of Oscar Pistorius was far worse than the events of 9/11, suggesting that instead it was like the Holocaust, a tsunami, Spanish flu (whatever that actually was or is) and the death of all dinosaurs rolled in to one. i have no idea if she read it out or paid attention, my tolerance level for listening to her was well and truly reached and so i wisely switched her off.

as for my message, well, in poor taste i will admit, but that was the point - to highlight the outlandish comparison made and underline the poor taste of her endorsement of it. if she wishes to be sensationalist, why not go the whole distance?

her insights did not end there, of course. always keen to indulge the world with just how (ahem) clever she is and what a grasp of language she commands, off she went to describe the sad news of today as being Shakespearean.



let me confess up front. i have only two degrees in literature and just a handful of things published around the world. i would not dream to compare myself to her astonishing use of language, and i certainly do not have ego-fluffing adverts about me that suggest i have an "intrinsic link" to books. i am struggling, however, in my understanding of the term Shakespearen to grasp how any of the news today either reminded me of anything in the life and times of William Shakespeare, and nor do any of the events feel like they have been conducted like one of his plays. if she had perhaps used the phrase "like a Shakespearean tragedy", well, it would have been to my mind still incorrect, but to use her ways with words, "much, very less incorrect" that the way spoken.

the media here, and in particular this little radio station and that particular woman, are no doubt going to milk this terrible event and turn it into a sensationalist soap opera for quite some time.

as for why i should bother highlighting the crass ways of this radio station in general and this woman in particular instead of turning them off, well, i probably should but they just invite comment such as this. they are rather in your face about being "the number one" radio station (via an interesting annual award ceremony where judges appear for the most part to have, um, 'links' to the station) and insist that they are the ones to "lead" the country morally. if that is the flag they want to wave that's fine, but if it looks like they are holding it the wrong way around then one has to question them.

i hope the victim is at peace and i trust that justice and the truth will be reached. due to the famous person it involves this story shall be all over the media around the world for quite some time, but i really doubt any more on it will feature here.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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