FULL OF HOT AIR

The world watched in disbelief (how ironic) as the a worried family (“yeah right”) expressed their concern their 6 year old son, who they believed to be inside the hot air balloon. Millions watched and a police department was on the hunt. Live coverage from all major news stations covered the event, live coverage as the tears flow from the parents of the six year old. After hours and hours of fear, tears and anxiety the boy was found (thank goodness! with mucho sarcasm). Authorities pulled the boy from the attic (hunh?) of his home, the same home the teary eyed parents resided in and the location they called the police from to claim that their kid is being friendly with the clouds in a hot air balloon. So the news anchors got quiet, the helicopters landed, and the police department assisted other callers. Why? Well the whole scenario was a hoax. Two parents with the knowledge with half a brain called the police and had hundreds of people worried about one boy who was at home the whole time. An interview on Larry King Live revealed the hoax, as the boy responded “you guys said we did this for a show” when his parents asked why he did not come out of “hiding” when they called his name.

                The parents are actors…like professional actors. They have appeared on a couple reality shows and did this in hopes of getting on another (and if they succeed…it is sad that I would not be surprised). What does this say about the present culture of television? To have a family go to the extremity of lying about their son to police not only speaks on the wackiness of the parents, but that they had hope in being successful at this shines light on the wackiness of aired television shows. The reality show phase is overstaying its welcome and inviting too many guests, as more and more people have one to the point that people are striving for a reality show as a career move. This is ludicrous.


photo credit: www.nbcbayarea.com 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Irony is the theme of this post-as news in the gay community had the spotlight this week. After 16 years in service, President Obama is to end the "don't ask don't tell" policy towards the United States armed services. Initiated by Bill Clinton, this policy was to serve as a solution when it came to the culture inlcuding homosexuals in the armed services. The White House was also sprinkled with some gay pride as thousands of people protested in Washington, D.C all in the name of rights for homosexuals. Pennsylvannia Avenue has never been hit with so much color, as rainbow flags, shirts, and memorabilia was abundant.
About 40 minutes ago www.cnn.com reported a story headlining a 49 year old man beaten because of [drumrollll] his preference of males over females sexually. Homosexuality. New York Police report a man was brutally beaten because of his sexual orientation outside of a Deli early Friday morning. A 26 year old man is in custody as a result of the hate crime. The police department on hate crimes in the city is now investigating further into the case.
[IRONY is what this blog post screams of. When will violence based on sexual orientation stop? Why did it start? When will the rights that the gays want to bad get put into action? What rights besides marriage are they speaking about? To be continued...]

A HEADLINE OVERDUE

OCT 4, 2009 a body of a boy who was 16 years in age was laid to rest. 12 feet under for a 16 year old, who should be in school today, keeping up his grades like the honors student he was. The place of the killing was outside of his high school, Fenger High, a school on the south side of Chicago. A teacher with one less student, a mother without a son, grandparents without a grandson and a community with one less honors student comes as a result of the vicious beating of Darrion Albert-[a fight that can now be called pre-meditated murder.]This beating landed four teens in jail-making it a total of five losses if the four teens in custody are founded guilty. Headline news all over the country reported this act of violence, an act recorded on tape from those standing and watching a murder. Teenagers,  just standing there…watching a murder. 

[A  question that comes to mind when hearing the countless news coverage on this event is how many deaths occurred before this violent culture in Chicago can get on the 5p.m news?] How many times must a college student from Chicago [me] go home and hear about someone who is no longer living? This misconstruction of headline fatalities for underlining issues in urban communities has resulted in countless deaths.  Darrion Albert was laid to rest in October 2009, a body that resembles countless others in the same city. [“Troubled teens” is not the correct terminology when thinking of those who could participate in such an act-. This incident is not a problem in the urban neighborhoods of Chicago, it is an epidemic that is around the nation-and it has been spreading for a long time.] The 2007 school year in Chicago lay to rest more than THIRTY students. Funerals occurred for THIRTY of young people that were in school- not including the deaths of those who are no longer concerned about their education. 120. 

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY 

is the number of young people in ONE housing project who have not returned to school in fear of losing their life. In May of this year Chicago Police found a FIFTEEN year old boy’s body burned beyond only after being shot in the head-Alex Arellano was a student of Chicago Public Schools as well. [The only news station that viewed continuous coverage on Alex was local news stations in Chicago-“hmmm”…lets compare that to how many show the Sunday football game coverage.] President Obama has recently sent Attorney General, Eric H. Holder, and Education Secretary, Arne Duncan to Chicago to investigate the case and come up with a solution. [I wonder if that will get news time]
photo source: wwwimages.cbs.com