1. Anything from 9/11. Seriously... enough already. Let it rest.

2. John Kennedy getting shot. Do we really need to see his head implode from every angle? DO WE? The answer is a resounding: FUCK NO. He was one of the most influential leaders in 20th century American history. I would like to remember his living legacy, you know... the stuff he actually did as president, rather than the way he died. In fact, I'll broaden this by saying that we shouldn't be showing footage of ANYONE getting shot (Bobby Kennedy, Dr. King, Benazir Bhutto, for example). I really don't see the need to watch someone die in real life. There's an indignity in the way they show it... I just feel like watching it and showing it again and again somehow cheapens the life of that person. It doesn't add to anything, it's just macabre.

3. The Space Shuttle Challenger exploding. See, I remember when this happened. I was, like, ten. We had all been forced to keep up with this particular flight due to the fact that high school teacher Crista McAuliffe would be aboard the shuttle -- to teach classes from space. I don't particularly like watching it explode over and over and over again, because it reminds me of that day. I was in school. We'll just say it was pretty awful. And they kept showing it explode. Again and again and again and again. I was reminded of the news media's nearly orgasmic repetition of this footage during 9/11 -- which was ten times worse than watching the Challenger explode, and played far more often. Please stop.

4. Watching bloodied, terrified students flee from Columbine High School/Virgina Tech/any other school where this kind of thing has happened. Once is enough folks.

There might be more, but these are the four that come to mind. It's like every time a news show drags out the footage for any of these incidents, I feel a bit slimy watching it.

Another point I'd like to make: Britney Spears losing custody of her children. Not news by any stretch of the imagination. CNN should NOT be covering this, Entertainment Tonight should. The Enquirer should. NOT NBC, NOT CBS, NOT ABC, NOT FOX NEW-- wait, yeah, that sounds like something that actually belongs on Fox "News". The cult of celebrity has gone too far and I'm tired of it. I don't go to CNN.com to read about Britney Spears drunk ass. I go there to read about what's happening in the world. That is to say, the important things that happen that will affect us all, E.G.: Global warming, the US presidential election, what's going on in Kenya and the like. Actual important world events. I couldn't give two craps about Britney or Lindsey or Hannah fucking Montana and whatever fucking soccer mom that lied to get tickets -- which by the way is just sad. Really, I'm more disappointed she actually allows her daughter to watch that shit than her lying to get tickets to it (of course, that, in and of itself, is pretty damn sad).

Okay, diatribe over. I'm going to go to bed now... I've stayed up waaaaaaay too late, still being ill and all.

gah! I agree wholeheartedly.
» LostSoul13 on 2008-01-05 12:28:09

JFK was the most overrated president in the last 50 years. Fidel Castro did more for Civil Rights in America than that pretty boy.. but I do agree that I dun need to see him get his head shot off again.
» Dilated on 2008-01-05 12:56:01

1. Yeah... Seriously. Though every time I go to NJ, I'm amused by the flags on the bridges. I said to Dave one day "Wow, people sure are patriotic here, that's crazy!". Dave says "Well, we are an hour from NYC." "So?" "September 11...?" "oh."
I'm all for the "Never forget" business, but it's like people are rubbing salt in a wound just for fun. Same with VT.

2. I'm not sure how I feel about this one... though the business of replaying it over and over and over and ... does get obnoxious. Just like 9/11 and VT.

3. See 2.

4. As seeing that I am less one friend from April, I should be admonishing you with the "ZOMG NEVAR FERGIT!" Bs. Honestly, I am REALLY tired of it, and it annoys me whenever it is brought up. I've gotten into the habit of yelling at things and then ignoring them/turning them off/not buying them if they start to go on about "ZOMG VIRGINIA TECHHHH".

Additional point: Seriously, that mess is NOT news. If I want to know what color panties some strumpet is wearing, I don't want to see it on CNN.
» ikimashokie on 2008-01-05 01:34:55

What REALLY pissed me off one day, I was going to buy a paper. The paper was talking about VT, so I started to complain "ok, we get it, people died, shut up!"

My mom starts to go on about it, and in the middle of the damn store "SO HOW MANY PEOPLE DID YOU KNOW?!" Wtf. I'm bitching about it in the paper, WHY would I want to talk about it in the middle of a store? Especially if I didn't want to talk about it when it happened? Sheesh.
» ikimashokie on 2008-01-05 01:37:10

hmm.. well i think some news station didn't put up the real 'rosy' picture of reality because they are told not to. if they proceed, they would be fired.
» renaye on 2008-01-05 11:35:49

haha, I agree with di-di about JFK. Except for the Fidel Castro part. Fidel Castro was/is a crazy maniac. Not as crazy a maniac as el che, of course, but that just means that he won't give us enough of an excuse to take him out, which means his damage is even worse.

Anyway, that was a non-sequitor, what I really meant to say was that the images I hate most from 9/11 were the ones of the people jumping from the windows. They get such close-ups that you could practically say, "Hey, that's my wife!" and nobody wants to see that. It's like a snuff film.
» Zanzibar on 2008-01-12 09:56:24

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