The power of the internet versus the mainstream media

So convicted drunk driver, amateur porn star, and racist Paris Hilton was all set to cash in on being a criminal by getting $1 million dollars for a Today show interview. Where she would pretend to be religious and change her ways and even probably fake cry. And since she'd be in New York City, go hit some clubs and snort coke off of naked men.

Then there was a hitch. Someone at NBC who has a soul, decided to leak to TMZ.com about the $1 million dollar offer and the interwebs exploded. NBC of course denied the deal and said they would never pay for an interview. BUT they would pay for exclusive home video and photos of Paris. Wow what a big difference there is NBC.

Once it got out online and people began writing posts kind of like this one and Mother's Against Drunk Driving issued a statement wondering why a media company would reward someone for being a convicted drunk driver.

NBC backtracked quicker then when a cat sees a dog and pulled the plug on the interview. NBC claims the deal wasn't in place, but TMZ has said they have several sources that camera crews were chosen and the time of the interview was already set up.

NBC shouldn't be commended for dropping the interview, they should be raked over the coals for agreeing to do it in the first place. The people who signed off on this, should take a look around and see where their self respect is. TV has never been the bastion of purity and innocence, but they should have at least some standards.

The Katyn Massacre

I was doing some research for a story I was working on about World War II and I found out about this event that happen in World War II that I am amazed I hadn't heard about.



Above is a photo of the memorial at Katyn Forrest to mark the deaths of potentially 20,000 Polish citizens and soldiers at the hands of the Russian army. These people were murdered for being soldiers in the Polish army or for being intellectuals, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and journalists were some of the people who were gunned down.

Beyond the horror of the event is an the fact that the powers in the West, England and America, knew that the executions were going on, yet did nothing to prevent their ally at the time, The Soviet Union, from caring out the murders. If Churchill and Roosevelt pressed the Soviets too hard they could potentially lose their help in trying to defeat the Nazis.

Both the brutality of the murders and the reaction by America and England, show how ugly war really is. Once you start a war, you lose your moral base the longer the war goes on.

As Americans when we think of World War II, we rightly remember and honor our soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy, died in the oceans of the Pacific, and battled in the German countryside. But it's important to look at the lives lost in a war due to outright cruelty and how a nation loses a part of it's soul when it ignores or participates in that cruelty.

Isn't there something else to talk about?

Tiger Woods and his wife had their first baby this week, just a day after he placed 2nd in the U.S. Open. The sports talk radio and tv shows announced the birth and then immediately started talking about how the baby would affect his golf game. HUH?

I realized it's hard to fill airtime during the summer when all you can talk about is umm well baseball which won't even be over for another four months, but why on earth is this brought up? Do a bunch of failed newspaper writers really have the ability to judge how a baby will affect Tiger Woods?

The worst came from my favorite two sports guys in the world Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on PTI, they actually had a segment that debated if Tiger should treat his child like his father treated him. Being tough on him and driving him to be what he become. To his credit Tony first said he wouldn't tell someone else how to raise their child.

The entire incident is really just a symbol of how the 24/7 media coverage of the world causes us to focus on issues that don't need to be focused on. In some ways it's some sort of dark fear that sports journalists have about their beloved Tiger leaving them by adding another member to his family. Perhaps they were scared they wouldn't get to spend as much time with him.

Analyzing Song Lyrics.

The White Stripes
I'm Finding it Hard to be a Gentlemen

This song is about a man who's a bit tired of dealing with a high maintenance woman. His frustration is evident right from the title. He's being a good guy, he's bending over backwards for her and it's just no longer working. It could be a story about how as a relationship loses it's magic over the time and how the little things no longer make anyone happy.

Well I'm finding it harder
to be a gentleman every day
all the manners that I've been taught
have slowly died away
but if I held the door open for you
It wouldn't make your day

He was raised to be a good guy, to be respectful and polite. But even simple acts of kindness don't seem to get a response from her

You think that I care
about me and only me
when every single girl needs help
climbing up a tree
well I know it don't take much
to satisfy me

These seem to be quotes from a fight they had or have often. The opening line is a response back to this imaginary person. It kind of seems like it's a fight they are having in his own head. The line "when every single girl needs help climbing up a tree" makes we think that their fight arises from him trying to help her and she doesn't think she needs help.

Maybe it's whatever's in my head
that's distracting me
but if i could find emotion
to stimulate devotion
well then you'd see

This stanza makes it seem like he no longer has the energy to even try anymore. His emotional state is shot and he can't even muster up the energy to help anymore.

Well I'm finding it hard to say
that I need you twenty times a day
I feel comfortable so baby why
don't you feel the same?
have a doctor come and visit us
and tell us which one is sane

Here is where the strongest argument comes that this is about being in a relationship with someone who is insecure. He must keep reassuring her so much that he can't take it anymore. At this point in the song he is screaming the last line and then his guitar rips out the rest of his frustration.

Well I never said I wouldn't
Throw my jacket in the mud for you
but my father gave it to me so
maybe I should carry you
then you said
"You almost dropped me"
so then I did
and I got mud on my shoes

This is my favorite part of the song. The metaphors just build off one another in a great way and end with the dropping of her. Even when he carries over the mud, she still complains that she was almost dropped. So he does drop her (in the mud and out of his life) but when he drops her and his shoes (and his mood) but get muddy.

I like this song because I cam come at from both sides. I have been the person who has to constantly reassure someone and I have been the person who needs that reassurance. I think the song captures how draining it is to one side of that relationship.

Jack White is the man.

Is the need to lie that strong?

An article in this morning's Free Press revealed the report about Eastern Michigan's response to the tragic murder of Laura Dickenson. This entire incident shows what happens when people just worry about covering their own butts instead of doing the right thing.

How on earth Vice President for Student Affairs James Vick and Director of Public Safety Cindy Hall both still have jobs this morning is amazing to me. For some odd reason Vick shredded the report claiming Hall told him too, which Hall denies saying. Well it's pretty simple people either Hall told him too and should be fired or she didn't and shouldn't be fired. Why not be grown ups and be honest do what's best for the University and tell the truth.

Eastern seems to be mounting the defense scheme started by Nixon, honed by Reagan, and perfected by Bush inc. Deny. Deny. Deny. It's sad to see people put their own interests before that of the community at large.

What on earth was the reasoning for not being honest about the tragedy from the start? Not wanting to cause a panic? I doubt it. Not wanting to look bad in the press? Probably. And now the press continues showing the cover up and coldness of the university towards it's students.

Instead of protecting it's students it appears that Eastern was more interested in protecting their image. I hope the University steps up to the plate and deals with this situation in an aggressive manor instead of sitting on their hands and waiting for things to sort themselves out.

If you were a parent and your child was going to be a freshman in the dorms on campus would you trust Eastern with all the talk of shredding police reports and not being honest with the public?

We will all be ruled by Skunks

I got to my cottage on Saturday around 5ish. The weather was finally nice enough to sit on the porch swing, read, and not do much else. It was absolutely perfect porch weather and no neighbors were around mowing or making noise. All I could hear was the wind through the trees and the sounds of Lake Erie crashing down on the shore.

I was pretty much in heaven. Ask anyone who knows me about where I most like to be and they will say, "On the porch of his cottage."

After about an hour, as I was really starting to enjoy my new book, I began to smell a horrible odor. A skunk had sprayed something nearby.

I have an oddly high tolerance for smells, but this was just wrong. It's also not the first skunk I smell I have been exposed too, but this skunk had mastered that evil odor. The skunk must have been close by because the smell was so bad it caused my eyes to water. I had to escape back into the cottage.

But that wasn't even enough. I had to shut all the windows and doors to keep the smell away. But because my cottage doesn't have any interior walls (the outside walls are the only walls) the odor seeped through and into my living room.

I was forced to go into town and do some shopping until the smell died down. Lucky for me the next day was perfect and no skunks were around.

I love uber nerds

Google Streetview was introduced this week and it allows you to actually look at a physical picture of the street to allow you to become familiar with how the street looks before you drive down it. Amazing 21st century stuff and it shows why Google is the leader of the pack.

The images are made by a Google van driving down the street and taking pictures as it drives. It has made for some unique and strange photos and the uber nerds have searched through google maps and found them.

The website Mashable.com collected the best 15 and posted them. The #1 photo is the best.

http://mashable.com/2007/05/31/top-15-google-street-view-sightings/