The other day I was "forced" to watch a commercial television news broadcast. I decided to go with it as I fantasised that the lead story would be,

“Jessica Watson taken into state care.
Parents charged with child endangerment.”

Now don’t get me wrong, Jess’ sailing solo around the world is an incredibly gutsy achievement but I still can’t comprehend how any parent could gamble with the life of their child no matter how big the payoff. This was not only mind bogglingly reckless, it’s stuffed it for every other potential solo global circumnavigator. From now on we’ll at least subconsciously conclude, “well how hard can it be if a 16 year old girl can do it!?”

Anyway the lead story turned out to be about some NSW state minister who was filmed leaving a gay sauna. Wow... The most newsworthy item that today’s so-called journalists could uncover was that some politician that most of us had never heard of enjoyed a bit of steamed snag after work! It’s fast approaching the stage where we can no longer poke fun at American judgemental moral hypocrisy as we’re almost as frivolous. (I don’t think we’re there quite yet as I still believe that if John Howard emulated Bill Clinton’s infamy instead of George Bush’s stupidity he’d still be Prime Minister.)

Being typical of the crap that commercial TV networks try to pass off as news I wasn’t really that surprised until around two thirds through the broadcast when they casually announced that scientists had created artificial life, sort of a microscopic Frankenstein if you like.

I must have looked like Linda Lovelace meets the invisible man, I couldn’t believe it! This would have to be one of the most amazing discoveries of all time with the potential of totally changing the world and commercial television buries it between a story on a kitten stuck in a wall and a piece on Shane Warne reportedly wearing a murkin.

(Full article at http://www.mocs.com.au)

...and spam gets through.

The guy is a lying, cheating, deceitful individual, with no moral fibre whatsoever.

An all-time low to cheat on your cancer suffering wife with cute gay guys, that wouldn't look at you twice if you didn't pay them good dollars.

I don't feel sorry for him one bit, I feel sorry for his family and the poor dude/dudes? at the gay bar that had to service him.

The important issues are NOT what interest the general population. It's no good blaming the bringers of the news, it's the readers who are to blame. News that panders to gossip and our prejudices is what sells; it's what people want to read the most.

Why just look at this forum right now - - - - someone posted a topic about gay footballers showering and so far it gets 19 pages of lengthy discussion, while another person posted a topic about what's probably the most significant scientific advance of all time (engineering new life) and so far it gets 2 or 3 responses. That says it all.

I am finding it very tedious lately, the whole youngest/fattest/thinnest/gayest/blackest/fastest/slowest/most disabled etc.

Tensing Norgay was most likely the first, closely followed by Edmund Hillary. Well done, chaps.
Now every man and his dog has climbed it, there's a huge piles of rubbish and oxygen tanks strewn about the place. I saw on telly, now the youngest has climbed it. All you have to do is work out something unique about yourself, and you're the "first". A lot of the "firsts" have been claimed already so it might pay to think outside the square.