War is catastrophic -- but not the coming of the apoclaypse
Column: Gimme Some Grammar appeared in Fort McMurray Today August 4, 2006
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
With the seemingly cataclysmic battle between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon (and Israel itself) playing out in news media these days, another issue has surfaced.
Yes, it's bigger than the daily killing by both sides.
It's the constant references to the coming apocalypse.
These references are biblical in nature. While I read the book, and am no expert on it, and I'm not going to claim that I have any special insight, I'm a bit concerned.
There are several dozen pastors and ministers in Fort McMurray who could take any words I might share here and turn me inside out, so I'll choose them carefully.
Normally, the Good Book gets used as a citation in church services on a regular basis. From the pulpit. In the hands of an expert.
Yet in recent days, there have been print stories, features on TV and even radio broadcasts that make a connection between the Mideast conflict and the end of days. The second coming of Jesus Christ (or the first, if you're a Jew).
All linked to a secular event, a war between two opposing sides.
Again, I emphasize that I'm no expert of the Bible or even the Mideast situation. But these increasing references to the apocalypse are disquieting.
Some may say the stories themselves are part of the indications of the end.
I think the reporters are making links that are not there.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that despite some of the dismal news that you read in these pages and elsewhere, we live in mankind's golden era. It's better now than ever.
I don't believe things will end, they'll get better.
* * *
Some may take the following as another indication that mankind has played itself out, but I just gasp in bewilderment. I really have no explanation.
According to an interview I came across with socialite and sex video star Paris Hilton, the heiress to the hotel fortune doesn't know who Tony Blair is. You, of course, are familiar with the British prime minister, yes?
Well, yes?
OK, sure you are.
Hilton apparently goes on to brag that she pulls in $200 million a year, for a "job" that involves personal appearances at $500,000 a crack.
Here's a quote from GQ Magazine, the article claims: "Only this week I met a family at the airport who wanted me to drop into their daughter's 16th birthday party for $100,000. Because I'm her idol. So I will. I'll take her a present, though."
It's hard to make any sense of that. I fully believe there are parents rich and foolish enough to pay Hilton to attend their daughter's birthday party.
Heck, if someone wants me to show up at a teen's birthday party, I'll do it for a lot less. And clean all the spyware off the kid's computer to boot. It was probably installed while he or she was watching Hilton's sex video anyway.
* * *
Then there's Mel Gibson. No, on second thought, I won't go there. He's too messed up.
* * *
Fort McMurray Today is an intensely local newspaper. The stories our reporters write are about people or companies in this region. Yet we include Canada and world news, too.
Why? It's important. We must look outwards, not just inwards. What happens worldwide (especially the price of oil) directly affects what happens here, too.
There are so many people here from across the world. They want to know what is going on where they come from.
I've heard the complaint that so much of the world news we and everyone else reports is negative.
That's right. There are few stories with the headline: "Train arrives on time without crashing." Or "Volcano doesn't erupt: Villagers go about their business."
The converse of those headlines are what we see instead.
No, this is not another sign that we're headed for the Big One. It's the reality that the lack of conflict or tragedy is not newsworthy.
* * *
Finally, an echo of my column last week on crudity.
Charlotte, N.C., TV station WCNC, recently lost sports director Chuck Howard. The 11-year broadcaster quit after an incorrect videotape was aired. According to the story in the Charlotte Observer, he "decided to redo the segment. 'Let's retake that,' he said, prefacing the statement with the word s---."
That's how the newspaper reported it: s with three dashes.
The station apologized after that short clip was aired.
I e-mailed the reporter. I asked him if the word was shit. He replied in the affirmative.
Someone loses a job over this everyday word? And the newspaper reports a story without reporting the word at the focus of the story?
I shake my head.
And I've run through my quota for that word in 2006.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
With the seemingly cataclysmic battle between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon (and Israel itself) playing out in news media these days, another issue has surfaced.
Yes, it's bigger than the daily killing by both sides.
It's the constant references to the coming apocalypse.
These references are biblical in nature. While I read the book, and am no expert on it, and I'm not going to claim that I have any special insight, I'm a bit concerned.
There are several dozen pastors and ministers in Fort McMurray who could take any words I might share here and turn me inside out, so I'll choose them carefully.
Normally, the Good Book gets used as a citation in church services on a regular basis. From the pulpit. In the hands of an expert.
Yet in recent days, there have been print stories, features on TV and even radio broadcasts that make a connection between the Mideast conflict and the end of days. The second coming of Jesus Christ (or the first, if you're a Jew).
All linked to a secular event, a war between two opposing sides.
Again, I emphasize that I'm no expert of the Bible or even the Mideast situation. But these increasing references to the apocalypse are disquieting.
Some may say the stories themselves are part of the indications of the end.
I think the reporters are making links that are not there.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that despite some of the dismal news that you read in these pages and elsewhere, we live in mankind's golden era. It's better now than ever.
I don't believe things will end, they'll get better.
* * *
Some may take the following as another indication that mankind has played itself out, but I just gasp in bewilderment. I really have no explanation.
According to an interview I came across with socialite and sex video star Paris Hilton, the heiress to the hotel fortune doesn't know who Tony Blair is. You, of course, are familiar with the British prime minister, yes?
Well, yes?
OK, sure you are.
Hilton apparently goes on to brag that she pulls in $200 million a year, for a "job" that involves personal appearances at $500,000 a crack.
Here's a quote from GQ Magazine, the article claims: "Only this week I met a family at the airport who wanted me to drop into their daughter's 16th birthday party for $100,000. Because I'm her idol. So I will. I'll take her a present, though."
It's hard to make any sense of that. I fully believe there are parents rich and foolish enough to pay Hilton to attend their daughter's birthday party.
Heck, if someone wants me to show up at a teen's birthday party, I'll do it for a lot less. And clean all the spyware off the kid's computer to boot. It was probably installed while he or she was watching Hilton's sex video anyway.
* * *
Then there's Mel Gibson. No, on second thought, I won't go there. He's too messed up.
* * *
Fort McMurray Today is an intensely local newspaper. The stories our reporters write are about people or companies in this region. Yet we include Canada and world news, too.
Why? It's important. We must look outwards, not just inwards. What happens worldwide (especially the price of oil) directly affects what happens here, too.
There are so many people here from across the world. They want to know what is going on where they come from.
I've heard the complaint that so much of the world news we and everyone else reports is negative.
That's right. There are few stories with the headline: "Train arrives on time without crashing." Or "Volcano doesn't erupt: Villagers go about their business."
The converse of those headlines are what we see instead.
No, this is not another sign that we're headed for the Big One. It's the reality that the lack of conflict or tragedy is not newsworthy.
* * *
Finally, an echo of my column last week on crudity.
Charlotte, N.C., TV station WCNC, recently lost sports director Chuck Howard. The 11-year broadcaster quit after an incorrect videotape was aired. According to the story in the Charlotte Observer, he "decided to redo the segment. 'Let's retake that,' he said, prefacing the statement with the word s---."
That's how the newspaper reported it: s with three dashes.
The station apologized after that short clip was aired.
I e-mailed the reporter. I asked him if the word was shit. He replied in the affirmative.
Someone loses a job over this everyday word? And the newspaper reports a story without reporting the word at the focus of the story?
I shake my head.
And I've run through my quota for that word in 2006.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
1 Comments:
Hello all,
Hope this is not too off topic for you.
At the core of the deceptions used to manipulate humanity is the concept of religion. Without it, Bush, the Neo-Cons, and their cohorts could never have gained and retained political power by manipulating an already deluded and susceptible constituency. Likewise, their thinly veiled partners in crime, Bin Laden and his ilk, could never have succeeded in their roles in this centuries-old Vatican-led grand deception.
We are all stuck in a web of interlocking deception formed by money, religion, and politics. The great evils that bedevil us all will never cease until humanity finally awakens, shakes off these strong delusions, and forges a new path to the future
Understanding the Fatal Flaws in Judeo-Christian-Islamic Prophecy
As certain world leaders strive to instigate a fabricated "battle of Armageddon," it is vital to understand and spread the truth about these ancient texts to help bring about an end to such abominable evil.
You can never expect philosophies based on lies and great error to lead to peace and harmony. How many more millennia of terrible proof is necessary before humanity finally gets a clue that most have been utterly deceived by the very concept of religion.
Pay close attention, profundity knocks at the door, listen for the key. Be Aware! Scoffing causes blindness...
Read the article here...
Peace...
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