Non Sequitur

So, I logged on to CNN.com today, to get my daily (monthly) news fix.

I casually glanced to see today's "Most Viewed" stories - and I lost faith in mankind. Here is the list:

1. Mom accused of buying boy's rifle
2. Writer suspect of dismembering... (sic) (and sick...)
3. Gore, IPCC share Nobel Peace Prize
4. Turkey 'accepts invasion fallout'
5. Drew Carey engaged
6. Snoop Dogg to pick up trash
7. Study charts global abortion trend
8. Putin warns US in missile talks

Okay, do I even need to go on?

Let's start with the fact that #5 is more popular than #8.

Maybe it's because we've all seen too many Tom Clancy movies and have become desensitized, maybe it's because we don't take Russia seriously anymore, and maybe it's because we've all seen this commercial and couldn't believe that this guy is not only taking over the single most popular game show of all time (sorry, Jeopardy, but, more people know that rice-a-roni costs $1.49 a package than know that Putin is the president of Russia) but actually found someone to marry him.

Don't get me wrong. I have love for Drew Carey for 3 reasons: (a) his stand-up comedy before he made it big was hilarious, (b) we're both chunky jocular funny guys, and (c) we're in the same fraternity.

But, I think that it's probably a bigger deal that Russia is threatening us during missle talks than some fat guy getting married to a cook (even though she's probably hot.) That's not newsworthy, that's macroeconomics - supply and demand.

The next item up for bid...

I may do an entire post on this concept, but, I'll leave it at this: Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. This is proof that Europeans hate Americans.

Where to next?

Snoop Dogg picks up trash for carrying illegal firearms, while a mother's name is dragged through the trash for purchasing them for her son. I think there is a link here. Mom is probably a huge fan of Death Row records and was influenced by Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. (who goes through life named Cordozar and thinks that it's a legacy that he should pass on to his son?) I think that the punishment for both the mom and the Dogg is that they should have to marry each other.

What else is disturbing is that someone actually stated that Mr. Broadus, Jr. is "glad to make a contribution to Orange County." referring to his punishment of picking up trash. I don't think anyone can consider anything done as restitution or the result of censure a "contribution."

I think I'll go steal a car, and then when I give it back, I'll write off the full value of the car as a "contribution" to Washington County.

This doesn't surprize me, however... the concept of "newsworthy" is necessarily a market-driven one. The culture that drives the market, however, is shaped by conscious choices portrayed by the higher classes (see any Cultural Anthro 101 textbook). People will argue that Mtv is showing programs that are abhorrent because that's what people want to watch... that might be half true. However, Mtv and other mass entertainment conglomerates are also creating and spreading norms with their programming.

This leads me to some tangential thoughts:

When will our society realize that the pushing of "hip hop culture" is just contemporary Amos and Andy?

Is Eminem the Al Jolson of our day?

Also, what's the deal with the current fascination with white trash?