and I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The final day of August 2005 brings with it quite a day in world news. As I look out over a gloomy Ontario forecast complete with annoying rain and despite lack of sun rather humid weather, I soak in the daily BBC headlines to what has been one of hell of a pisspoor global news day.

As southern state russian mothers quickly rename their first born daughters Katie, CNN is consumed with the happenings of that which hurricane Katrina brought about over the past day. A few hundred dead, New Orleans is the next lost city of Atlantis and the American people are finally up for their turn as mother natures whipping boy as over 20,000 people are currently stuffed in the local NFL stadium sitting amongst the fecal matter of their closest neighbours anticipating a group convoy to Houston only to set up home in another major league sporting complex, the Astrodome. What a day for the dirty south, maybe Nelly will come out with a clever Nike ad to raise money for the victims of this superstorm: "Y'all be Drowning in my Air Force Ones".

Yet another reason to hate American news broadcasting surfaced for me this morning, waking up wanting to hear about what this horrible storm had done last night, I sat through twenty minutes of correspondence telling how the levy's weren't running dry, and that if from Louisiana you should be saying bye bye to your American pie. Again, after twenty minutes, I get a story from Baghdad discussing the over ONE THOUSAND people that died in man made chaos over the threat of a suicide bomber being yelled out on a bridge that created a devasting human stampede during a Shia ceremony, in which the ensuing chaos threw mainly women and children over the bridge killing ONE THOUSAND people. Just when I thought mother nature was going to take the "watch out for me" headline for the day, man is somehow able to overshadow a storm that wipes out entire cities.

If the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah ever re-invents itself its going to have to get fairly creative, because Im pretty sure man can out shock and awe fire and brimstone from the heavens on random Tuesdays in the new millennium. I mean a thousand people over a false bomb threat...eek for us...eek for us!!

So after re-establishing my hate for CNN's priorities I start surfing more news, and find out that Burundi (a nation which has seen 300,000 die in a civil war driven by similar motives between Tutsi and Hutu citizens as you may have seen in a movie like Hotel Rwanda or any of the stories to have surfaced from that nation) has secured a new parliament balancing a representative body of both Tutsi, Hutu, men, and woman representatives. A positive political sign ending an epoch of death on a day where death stinks up the news.

Its awkwardly funny though, it seems as though everyday, news of American affiliated global or local efforts are always incredibly negative revolving around loss of life, destruction of environment and culture, or plain and simple material ignorance. While in the past month or so, nations untouched by American involvement are making huge historically charged changes to horror that has run for years. I am talking mainly here about the IRA laying down their guns, and the Burundi discussion held above.

Its too bad the global media scope is how it is, because I wonder if the dominant forces of the planet had nothing to do with the states that the global mindset of the people would be a little less scared of the future of their own shadows and realize some of the positive moves lesser recognized nations are making towards peace and understanding.

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Wednesday, August 31, 2005