Another thing I've been thinking about

Ok, so I seem to be going blog crazy lately, but there are a lot of things going on in the world recently that seem to be worth commenting on. I apolgize for the serious turn that my blog has taken recently, since I know that once upon a time this blog was kind of a humorous outlet for people. Hopefully soon I can return to my happy-go-lucky way of posting, but for now, you get to see the socially conscious opinionated side of me.

Now, to the topic at hand. It's interesting to me to see the difference between what's happening in Iraq and what's happening in the deep South in the past couple of days. 700 people just died in Iraq this week due to false rumors about a suicide bomber. I find it more than a little ironic that probably more people died due to a rumor and the resulting stampede than would have if there really was a suicide bomber in the area. Also, it seems to me that the media isn't fussing nearly as much about it as I'm sure would have happened if such a thing had happened on American soil.

I'm not entirely sure what that says really. There are several things that could be insinuated. Number one, it didn't happen on American soil, so naturally American media won't cover it nearly as extensively. Number two, we're dealing with a national crisis of our own and our own massive loss of life. Also, loss of life in Iraq seems to be more of a normal occurance anymore rather than something of note. At the same time though, 700 people is far more than the current death toll in the deep south, and Iraq is currently occupied by our forces. Does the lack of media coverage show a lack of caring? I don't think so. Does it imply a sort of bias in the media? Probably, but what media outlet isn't biased? (Granted, certain mega media outlets like the BBC are so huge that any biased is almost certain to be balanced by the alternate point of view).

It's also interesting to me to hear the situation in the south compared to certain areas in the Third World that have been ravaged by war and other such tragedies. I heard it said in one broadcast today that in Beruit, they would drop rations in from the air. People in New Orleans were wondering why they couldn't at least do the same for them.

I've heard New Orleans compared to a war zone, compared to Iraq, compared to many things. I'm not sure if making these comparisions is justified. I wonder if the people who are making these comparisons have ever been in a war zone? If they've ever been to Iraq? I see one great difference between what's happening in New Orleans and what a war zone might be like. In New Orleans, everyone is trying to acheive the same basic thing. Everyone is trying to either get out, or get people out, and being the rebuilding process. There's only one side. There aren't two groups of people who are duty-bound by their country to kill the other side. There aren't huge pieces of heavy artillary blasting through buildings and walls and people. Also, there is (hopefully) safety for these refugees within their own country. They won't be forced to move to a place where they don't know the language and the culture. In anycase, I feel like the New Orleans = war zone comparison is unfair and unnecessarily underestimates what a true war zone would be like.