Sorry to keep you at the edge of your seats (not)

Between frantically searching for decent employment, getting my car back to working order, and fending off my parents' harsh criticism of my "laziness" I sort of forgot about this whole deal. Never fear, I have returned to wow and amaze you. I take no responsibility for your disappointment as you should know by now that I have no capacity to impress anyone but myself. One thing I have had a lot of time to do lately is listen to talk radio, ingest a variety of news casts (some good, some bad), and browse some very fine print publications. I felt it was my responsibility as a citizen to find out what is actually happening out there. I'm sick of media conglomerates attempting to hide the truth, fabricating blatant lies, and denying any wrong doing. My basic journalism training taught me that the media is supposed to report facts and exclude bias whenever possible, but we all know what really goes on. Truthfully I think it occurs at both ends of the political spectrum, producing news that is polarized and in the end anything but informative.

I've been exposed to it all, from Katie Couric's intolerance of anyone who is not a communist and Michael Savage's extremist libertarian rants. I'm sure that the truth is somewhere, you just have to take the time to find it and it's unfortunate that so many Americans don't. If anything, exposure to both sides of the spectrum allows you to evaluate what differentiates both parties and to understand the fundamental arguments. Having all the information tends to make the decision process more productive and fruitful. What I find most amazing is that certain newspapers print only certain stories and exclude many others. An example of what I am referring to can be found in the May 27th issue of the Wall Street Journal. A portion from the Review and Outlook section provides particularly damning evidence for a concrete connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. But you won't find such stories in the New York Times or even the Washington Post. Go ahead, try a search.

Additionally the evidence of the use of Sarin gas in a roadside bomb in Iraq is only mentioned in an Op-ed piece in the NY Times. Instead our media tends to focus on the prison scandal, in which a handful of US soldiers have misrepresented our country and the entire Armed Forces. Funny how people are more critical of our soldiers than the Islamic Fundalmentalists terrorizing the world. The brutal slaughter of Nick Berg, though terrible, takes precedent over topics which seem much more critical. If I hear another sound bite of his father directly blaming President Bush for his death, I might take the time to right a letter recommending his father be given a reality check. His son's presence and function in Iraq is something that should be questioned. Besides, what about the countless soldiers that have lost their lives? I don't intend to undermine the trauma that Berg's death has caused and I don't deny the fact that it was horrible in every way. I do believe that his family should be quicker to blame those who actually took their son's life.