Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 92
May 26, 2013
Third Sunday Blog Carnival: Volume 1, No. 8
Reblogged from Third Sunday Blog Carnival:
Welcome to the August Third Sunday Blog Carnival! As always this post represents a wealth of talent, this month courtesy of 22 bloggers: 9 in the Poetry category, 3 in the Fiction category. and 10 in the Writing/The Writing Life category. Below, many of the participants have described their posts; I also share my thoughts on each one.
Which brings me to a question I would like to ask all of you: Do you find my comments here on the post to be helpful?
April 28, 2013
A modest proposal for denying terrorists the publicity they crave
I have a suggestion for dealing with terrorists and other crazies on the media loosely borrowed from an old science fiction short story whose name and author I simply cannot remember at the moment (please feel free to chime in if you do).
Rather than show us the faces of terrorists and endless footage of the carnage they wreak on the innocent repeatedly, endlessly, ad nauseam, ad infinitum, providing them and their “causes” with free publicity that money can’t buy and encouraging an endless stream of like-minded wingnuts to blaze their own trails to hell for the amusement of a voyeuristic public, I’d like to propose a caricature be developed that places terrorists in an appropriate context–say, a skinny, mangy, rabid dog foaming at the mouth. Whenever an act of terror is perpetrated, place ONLY this image on the screen along with whatever description of the act and brief video clip is relevant. Any time thereafter when a terror suspect or convicted/dead terrorist is named, put their name under the mangy, rabid dog as a stand-in for their picture. Use as many mangy, rabid dogs as needed to represent any number of these morons. We can even differentiate domestic and foreign terrorists by using, say, a mangy, rabid dog for a domestic terrorist and a mangy rabid jackal for a foreign terrorist (or hyena, or some other unattractive lesser animal–I’m nothing if not flexible).
I might even watch an entire newscast again if these standards were adopted without an aching thumb from changing channels on my remote any time a glorified punk is shown on TV again, again, again and yet AGAIN.
The media should show some restraint in terror coverage
In a society where the most dysfunctional behavior and/or sheer nastiness can get people (or entire families) reality shows and “celebrity status,” if the channel is changed to avoid the constant images of terrorists and suspected terrorists and their evil deeds, it is likely to be to look for a better angle–a close-up of the blood and gore, preferably in HD and slow-motion. The media panders to the lowest common denominator and, in turn, helps to bring the bar of what passes for news reporting ever lower. There is no sense of propriety, of editorial restraint, or of simple common decency evident in news reporting of tragedies.
Satiating the voyeuristic taste of the viewing public is not a journalist’s reason for being. Nor is desensitizing the masses from the horrific acts of misguided, demented, or evil people. Showing a burning building is news. Showing people throwing themselves from the rooftop in act of desperation driven by the simple desire to avoid burning to death is unnecessary and cruel. Following the bodies down with a camera until they hit the ground and the aftereffects in glorious 3D would be inexcusable (but such video would be shown were it available with an appropriate disclaimer that viewer discretion is advised). Continually showing the faces of the men responsible for the act for more than a decade at the drop of a hat is free advertising for terror groups, promotes terrorism, and is criminal behavior masquerading as news and hiding behind the 1st Amendment protection.
I’m fed up with seeing terrorists’ photos everywhere. Enough!
I can’t stand the media’s penchant for glorifying terrorists and other common criminals by endlessly plastering their photos on TV/newspapers/magazines/online, thus effectively feeding the egos and encouraging further heinous acts from every loser and evil moron all over the planet who wants to push an agenda or take the express lane to hell in a blaze of infamy. Do we need to see those still incredibly painful images from 9/11 any time someone utters the word “terror” on television? Do we need to see the stock footage of the 9/11 murderers along with those images as commentators remind us of their dastardly acts? Do we need to see the face of the surviving Boston terror suspect and hear his mother rail against the FBI over and over again?
I know that bad news sells newspapers and gathers eyeballs for news programs. But give me a break. Every pimply faced loser with delusions of adequacy can find instant celebrity by going to the mall and blowing up people–whether out of some misguided belief system or just for fun. (Here’s a clue, Sherlock: God does not tell people to kill women with long hair speaking through a dog and does not want you to go out and murder the innocent of any faith/color/sex/sexual orientation. The devil does. Get that through your thick, troglodyte’s skull. There is no devil you say? Perhaps you’re right, but look in the mirror for a rough approximation. If you had an I.Q. above that of salt, of course, you’d know that.)
The media needs to tone down the coverage. The Roman idea of pacifying the masses by offering bread and circus (the arena) is not something we want to emulate, but have. (Welfare and the gore-on-demand round the clock coverage of CNN/FOX/MSNBC. Everybody happy as the empire fall around us and the barbarians storm the gates? We don’t even have Hadrian’s wall to offer even the appearance of safety.
April 5, 2013
Sample reading from Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems
The following link will take you to a ten minute sample reading from my poetry collection through YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FXkhtOltEc
April 4, 2013
Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems audio excerpt
Please note that the book is not available as an audiobook at this time and these are just rough audio clips of a single read through as a sample. (The clips are approximately two minutes and ten minutes in length.)
December 19, 2012
A Christmas Wish for Our Men and Women in Uniform
As we bask in the glow of the holidays and busy ourselves with making preparations to spend time with family and friends, please take a moment to remember our men and women in uniform who will spend the holidays far from home, in both friendly and inhospitable places, paying with their sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy at home and the opportunity to enjoy our holidays in peace. Whatever your religion, please keep our troops in your prayers and if you are not a religious person, please keep them in your thoughts. Christmas and all high holy days whatever one’s religion are particularly difficult for those who serve far from home, and no less difficult for their families. Let us honor their mutual sacrifice by contributing to worthwhile charitable organizations that bring them comfort and assistance–think of it as one more gift for the holidays for friends and family.
We can debate the wisdom and politics that underlie having our armed forces spread around the world, and the relative merits of too many armed conflicts, current, recent and past. These are political decisions beyond the control of our troops in the field; please let us not have that debate in this thread. Our men and women in uniform who serve with honor provide an invaluable service for which we owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid–just as we do all veterans. God bless them all.
Victor D. Lopez
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