Belgium

[JimC]

The question is whether it will rise to the level of actual violence...

[pErvinalia]

I don't know what you expect to happen?

I'm not expecting anything to happen. I'm just saying the journos love it.

[piscator]

The Belgae have been feminized for millennia. They'll show their displeasure (if they have any) by posting even cleverer lolcatz than normal.


When I was a kid and Son of Sam and the Hillside Strangler were running around loose, I don't remember the other 75% of the nightly news being devoted to how many other people died from other causes, or how these killers actually were predominately peaceful between killings.

I guess it was just a more barbaric time, mired in ignorance, but there was always a major effort to stop the fuckers and round them up before they had another one of their hyper-rare "less than peaceful" moments.

[JimC]

I don't know what you expect to happen?

I'm not expecting anything to happen. I'm just saying the journos love it.

That's true, but I don't see it as a major problem.

[JimC]

The Belgae have been feminized for millennia. They'll show their displeasure (if they have any) by posting even cleverer lolcatz than normal.


When I was a kid and Son of Sam and the Hillside Strangler were running around loose, I don't remember the other 75% of the nightly news being devoted to how many other people died from other causes, or how these killers actually were predominately peaceful between killings.

I guess it was just a more barbaric time, mired in ignorance, but there was always a major effort to stop the fuckers and round them up before they had another one of their hyper-rare "less than peaceful" moments.

Not really a good comparison.

[pErvinalia]

I don't know what you expect to happen?

I'm not expecting anything to happen. I'm just saying the journos love it.

That's true, but I don't see it as a major problem.

I do. We get these idiotic musical interludes and theatrical productions. I was just listening to the news and there was a report on Belgium from some UK news organisation. It started with a report on a minute's silence in Brussels at a memorial. "Silence spoke far louder than words in Brussels.... (ten seconds of silent footage, with the reporter being silent).... it screamed!". FFS.

The real problem is that they totally blow it all out of proportion and just serve to make everyone more fearful than they need to be. The media should report facts, not make hollywood trailers.

[JimC]

A matter of personal taste, then...

[pErvinalia]

It's that, but more. The fear peddling is real and undermines our democracy.

[piscator]

Outside of England and China, news is broadcasted by private companies at their sole risk, in order to make money. Some more liberal nations allow news companies to peddle whatever they want, within the bounds of public safety and a loose approximation of "fair play".

I like that. Fuck government news. Fuck prior restraint.

[JimC]

I also get irritated by overblown news reports, but it's way down my list of things that seriously worry me...

[pErvinalia]

The problem is that the media is an integral part of democracy, and it's been in serious decline since 911.

[JimC]

Depends on which media outlet you are talking about. I agree many have become somewhat more trivial and sensationalised, but you can still find serious print and visual journalism if you look for it.

[devogue]

It's that, but more. The fear peddling is real and undermines our democracy.

I disagree, least of all because there is no democracy.

We're like a crowd of rubbernecking wildebeest having a gander at the latest poor bastard to get snuffed by a lion. We're even chewing grass while we watch, forever consuming, forever sating our empty guts and filling our empty minds.

Soon we will forget while we potter about our fertile savannah, then another lion will attack, then another. But we'll just rubberneck and forget, rubberneck and forget.

[pErvinalia]

I agree (even though I said "our democracy") but we need a robust and rigorous press for a proper functioning democracy.

[devogue]

I agree (even though I said "our democracy") but we need a robust and rigorous press for a proper functioning democracy.

The media is a pathetic reflection of society at large. It is soft-focused, falsely reassuring, simpering, constantly trying to paint a picture with a million words. It's full of bland cunts who have spent three years churning out journo-marketing assignments to get on a right-thinking minds treadmill. This self-perpetuating school of pissantery now sets the agenda more than any political group. They crush democracy if it doesn't follow their train of thought. "Reporting" is skewered with opinion, often in laughably subtle ways (see how a BBC newsreader will open her hands and gently shake her head from side to side in mild disbelief while reporting on something like opposition to gay marriage or some other controversial issue).