Today I caught up on all my news reading--reading news off all kinds of news sites--and got totally blown away by it all. This is what happens when you: a) get bogged down by life for whatever reason and don't really read the news on a daily basis and b) read too much news at once. I end up feeling like my brain got overloaded, my emotions got trampled, and I need to go searching on the web for some kind of kevlar armor to wear when reading the news. I need to find some way of approaching the news with distance...except if we all did that then bad things could happen more easily right? Don't we have to care? Aren't we supposed to care? Yet if you care at all, then you can get blown away. And nothing huge even happened this past week! I mean, not in any kind of catastrophic terrorist sense. There were, however, catastrophic events for some folks. So here are some of the things which made me either think harder, wonder about the state of the world, laugh, or just say "huh?" not in any particular order.
While reading about the arrest of the man whose DNA matches the murderer and rapist of Samantha Runnion, I found myself wondering how many other kids were kidnapped this month, this year, and never found, or who were found dead. There is a Newsweek article at MSNBC.com asking if the number of kidnappings are on the rise, but concludes that they aren't, that we still average about 200-300 a year--a number which is absolutely appalling--and that the reason there seem to be more of them is due to the media coverage. However, the article goes on to state that not all kidnappings get the same media coverage, that there were two other kidnappings of children in recent months that didn't get the same attention and that these children were both black as compared to the recent media blitz on the kidnappings of suburban white children. I don't find that surprising. What I do find surprising is that we can have 200-300 children missing each year and that we aren't up in arms over it. I cannot imagine the horror and sadness of the parents of all these missing and/or murdered children. And the Samantha Runnion case brings up lots of anger in me at how the suspect was acquitted previously of molesting two children who lived near the murdered girl. What is happening in the justice system that child molestors continue to be either let free due to crazy laws of evidence and testimony of children, or that they are never caught in the first place?? Our children are our most-prized national assets yet their rights in molestation cases are often, it seems to me, overlooked in favor of the rights of the defendants.
I found a new weblog that I like at MSNBC.com, from Michael Moran called World Agenda. Today he is talking about the ill-considered Department of Justice idea called "Operation Tips" which I believe got voted down Friday by a committee looking at Homeland Security options. The NYTimes Week in Review has a good article on all this called Citizen Snoops Wanted and brings up a lot of excellent points about how crazy this idea is, to use utility workers and fedex workers to spy on the homes of people they go in to for delivery of packages or fixing pipes. Yes, I do believe we all have to be more aware in this age of Al-Quaeda, but I think any terrorist worth his salt is not going to leave plans laying around out in the open, or bombs just sitting out on the table when a utility repair person comes to call. Plus, if we change our society so drastically to become one of suspicion and fear of our neighbors, then aren't we giving in to terrorism? For some laughs and a few chills, check out these two satires about TIPS at The Truth Laid Bear and All-The-Other-Names-Were-Taken.
I was again reminded of how much I don't know about the world-at-large when I ran across links today that eventually led me to an article at CNN on Suu Kyi, a dissident in Myanmar, previously known as Burma. Suu Kyi is a woman who led her party in fighting for a democratic government in Myanmar, ultimately resulting in elections in 1990 that gave her party, the NLD, an overwhelming win (80 percent majority) which was summarily rejected by the military regime. The military arrested thousands and placed Suu Kyi under house arrest, essentially for 12 years. She was released from house arrest in May of this year, and the article discusses her first visit to supporters. As I read this I wondered if those elections had been held today, instead of 1990, would the U.S. have simply let it go by, let the military go its own way against the obvious wishes of such a large majority? There are other links from the page of this article that are worth exploring, more about Suu Kyi who sounds like a very courageous lady, and other info on Myanmar. I was just astounded to discover that I knew essentially nothing about this country that borders India, Thailand, Laos and China. It may be a global village these days, but a lot of us villagers don't know all that much about our neighbors.
For all you diehard Star Wars fans, there is a cool article about Harrison Ford at the NYTimes. Nothing about Star Wars, but a nice profile of this excellent actor.
And for all of you who love Sex in the City, tonight is the premiere episode of the fifth season. NYTimes also has a very nice piece about the changes in the series since 9-11 and in the development of the characters. I am a total fan of this show.
In a bizarre story at CNN (actually the story isn't bizarre, the events are), I learned about a man who fired on a helicopter in Williamsburg, Va., saying that maybe he overreacted, but he felt this was "terrorism at its utmost" and that his was a "natural reaction" in the face of terrorism fears. Again, I think we have to be careful in the U.S. about inciting fears to the point of irrational actions by citizens, although this guy was clearly a bit over the top.
There was more news of course, there always is. But I find that just writing about this much of it is enough for me today. There's always tomorrow and its news after all.
Posted by pam at July 21, 2002 07:47 PM | Comments (0)