What I wish the media would remind people of

[VikingWarlord]

I'm not sure how many around here are into comedians or are overly familiar with Patton Oswalt. His response to the attacks in Boston is one of the most poignant things possible and contains an incredibly strong message, one that really needs to be remembered.

Boston. ****ing horrible.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."

 

[87iroc]

Good Read

The Mr Rogers picture floating around Facebook yesterday was similar.

The gyst of it was...

When something horrible happens...his mom told him to look for the people going to help. There is the good. There is always good willing to run and help.

I was at the Sugarland concert when it collapsed. We were way up in the stands and my instinct in the chaos was to get my wife and daughter to safety. I would like to think that if I had been down on the ground I would have turned to help after I knew they were safe. I remember seeing masses running away...then almost immediately after the stage settled....people turned and started trying to lift and pull people to safety.

Nature or terrorism...people want to help.

 

[VikingWarlord]

Thinking about this, I wrote a letter to the editors at the Indy Star, whose front page headline today was "It can happen anytime, anyplace".

I wanted to express my dissatisfaction with the front page headline of the April 16th edition of the Indianapolis Star.

The biggest problem with modern reporting is that it relies heavily on the fallacy of misleading vividness. Who can scare the public the most? Not a single front page mention of those who ran toward the blast site or the runners who finished the race and immediately went to the hospital to donate blood for the relief effort. It's all death, destruction, hate, and violence. Even the language used.

Killed. Injured. Hurt. Blasts. Strike. Deadly. Explosions.

Yes, everyone is aware by this point that there was a monstrous act perpetuated by broken psychopaths. However, times like this are when a reaffirmation of what is good about humanity really need to be reinforced so as not to continue sowing seeds of misanthropy and distrust of our fellow man. Instead, the media continues to give us what amounts to misery porn.

While it is true that anything can happen anywhere at any time, you're more likely to be killed in a car accident than a terrorist attack. Since every day could, very realistically, be your last, is living in sadness and fear really how anyone would prefer to live?

There is a world of difference between acknowledging the reality and marinating in all the negative the world has to offer.

I doubt it will get published but I hope someone actually reads it. I know I'm not the only person who is tired of this nonsense.

 

[cobber]

Thinking about this, I wrote a letter to the editors at the Indy Star, whose front page headline today was "It can happen anytime, anyplace".



I doubt it will get published but I hope someone actually reads it. I know I'm not the only person who is tired of this nonsense.

This is even more true of the media coverage of "gun violence".

There is evil, but there is far more good. More laws won't convert the evil ones to the side of light.