The World Is So Full Of It, The News Escaped Me Today, October 18, 2012

First Issue of Newsweek

Not earth shattering, inevitable, and possibly memorable, hopefully, to their credit, the first big-player publisher to give up on a printed edition is Newsweek as The Wall Street Journal video reports on the publication launched in 1933 by Thomas J.C. Martyn, a former foreign-news editor for TIME.  

Also CNN's Piers Morgan does a cute put down of Lance Armstrong billed as a 'disgraceful fraud,' that I, here earlier, labelled piling on self-righteousness. "Cheated us all," Mr. Morgan crows because he can, from his lofty perch, portraying himself as an at the top of his game competitor who rose to his job through his own unassisted Herculean effort, I doubt. According to Wikipedia - In 1994, aged 28, he was appointed editor of News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, becoming the youngest national newspaper editor in more than half a century. He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal. Morgan's autobiography The Insider states that he left the News of the World of his own choice and somewhat against owner Rupert Murdoch's wishes when he was offered the job of Editor at the Daily Mirror.\

Twisting image for American consumers is as well-honed a craft, as throwing stones from glass houses.

So, seems there's no noteworthy news today? Google stock dropped. Ho hum, as reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Silicon Valley Mercury News.com, Business Insider, YAHOO! FINANCE, ars technica, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Mail, etc.

At 3:54 in the afternoon, I have this general feeling, that I imagine is like rolling dice, hoping something comes up as at this point late in the day I'm hoping, but not expecting, a publication to hit the ground running with a story rather than wait till tomorrow's issue as could be done in the old print days. As The New York Times bailed me out yesterday. Boy Scout Files on Sex Abuse. No, for me, that would be piling on and I've already demonstrated disdain in this column for a celebrity enjoying that easy fix. No, as with sins in the Catholic Church, flaws in the culture at large when done in institutions accused of it being their specific problem, technically Society is irresponsibly passing the buck and crowing from their own pulpit making me cringe as cited above in the case of that photogenic television celebrity.

Another roll of the dice. Okay, I guess I didn't notice this relatively small story midst our trumped-up newsworthy-shaking news items. Yet it's as cringing as the news item three weeks back that there's tons of plastic in Antarctic waters.

The New York Times' Henry Fountain, under the headline Iron-Dumping Experiment in Pacific Alarms Marine Experts, reports -  An environmental entrepreneur whose plan to dump iron in a patch of the Pacific Ocean was shelved four years ago after a scientific outcry has gone ahead with a similar experiment without any academic or government oversight, startling and unnerving marine researchers. Causing - an investigation by Canadian environmental officials and in the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was misled into providing ocean-monitoring buoys for the project.

World Distribution of Plankton

The entrepreneur, Russ George hopes to fertilize the ocean to grow more plankton. So his motive is to be helpful, much different than the alarming catastrophe this is made out to be, except State Impact Texas, Alaska Dispatch, and The Washington Post citing The Guardian's story all consider this a rogue endeavor. 

And I guess till it's certain there's a profit, offended is how I should take this till I read otherwise. 

Continuing The Times states Mr. George's intent is - aiding the recovery of the salmon fishery for the native Haida people. 

The Times discusses the science of how it's hard to measure if dumping iron helps, helped or hurt, but as is pointed out it shouldn't have been done without proper oversight. Though whenever old, discarded New York subway cars are dumped in the ocean, the process doesn't seem to be publicly vetted and we're just told they are nice little reefs for ocean life to call home that wildlife never asked for either. I'm only half sure because I'm over my head when it comes to science. Whereas politics I read up enough on to criticize it as a joke. Global indifference however is inexcusably not funny.   

So one more pass with the dice and The New York Times reports forty innocents die in Syria as per usual in a world where power can purchase indifference, unless running for office, then it's a grand old party leading up to the overpriced victory celebration over close to half the country that's considered wrong for being votes short as was the iron dumper, I guess, considered by the scientific community to have taken the law into his own hands. 

And that is the world, as we know it, full of grandstanders such as the dynamically self-deceived  Lance Armstrong and Piers Morgan who know when the other shoe is on their feet the sympathy is deserved, unless it's ours and we're not known enough for anyone to have to care. 

There, have you noticed for such a cruel, cruel world, there's really a lot of fun to have? Sorry, I guess my frustration, over not finding a political issue to hose down, led me to pick on that poor chap, Piers Morgan. Larry King. Ba dump bump. Now there's a coincidence, two heads that appear to look unnaturally on steroids have and had the same job. Ted Turner gets branded a wacko-ish and, oh never mind.