EXAGERATION?

WHY DOES THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA

TRY SO HARD TO SCARE THE HELL OUT OF US ??


I do believe that we are suffering through some difficult times. I am not denying there are problems in this country. Unemployment...a financial crises brought on by too many mistakes made in government and in business. Selfishness and a mentality that says "me first" and I don't care about the next person...



Outlining the causes of our current state of malaise is not my intent here.Rather, why is it so greatly exaggerated by the mainstream media?

Does it sell newspapers? Probably...Does it keep listeners coming back to the same stations on Radio and TV? YES...YOU BETCHA!


But that is an over-simplification that we have heard many times.


Is there something else going on?? I think most of us will agree that the media as a group are very liberal in their views. In their reporting, in the main, they mostly come from the left They use adjectives that scream like HUGE...DEPRESSED...DISASTER LOOMS...

An example...the SunSentinel keeps reporting on " the depressed state of the economy...people out of work....nobody has or will spend any money...In large, scary black banners...they look like the NY scandal sheets rather than a family newspaper.

NBC national news, Brian Williams night after night reports heavily on the jobless rate,people out of work and any other negative news they can find on the news wire.

I went shopping with my wife yesterday.The roads were jammed!!!Where were the people getting the money to buy gas at prices that weren't cheap.
The parking lots for the stores we went to, Walmart, Bed-Bath and Beyond, and the others...were jammed!!!

...and the stores....loaded with shoppers, lines at the registers (which were ringing up sales at rapid rate.)

So who is blowing things out of proportion? The media...WHY?
Business....WHY?...So their numbers look worse...TO GET A LARGER SHARE OF THE BAILOUT MONEY???

Yes, I do believe we have problems. Being out of work and trying to support a family is a terrible thing, but...
Are things as bad as they are being painted? Why isn't the media being forced to show where they are getting their numbers from. Not just report numbers in bold, black typeface but show where they are getting these numbers from!!!

I believe reported stories and numbers should be factual...not some editor's liberal point of view. Then maybe we can slow down the snowball running downhill gathering force and making things worse than they are.

Please send me an e-mail at bli355@bellsouth.net or leave a note in the comment box at the end of this Post telling me what you think.....

























I am not seeing the world unrealistically

EMBARRASSED!

It was the 1980's and as the person responsible for licensing our names, Fruit of the Loom and BVD in the Far East, I found myself attending a meeting with the top management of each of our licensees in Japan.

We sat in a semi-circle in a rather large, ornate room
in the offices of one of the licensees. The conversation was entirely in Japanese, however I did have an interpreter. Unluckily for me, instead of seating him next to me. they sat him far across the room from me
Which did me no good whatsoever.
... I did, however, have the good fortune of understanding some Japanese.

The meeting droned on and really was quite boring. Suddenly I became aware that my kidneys were signaling me..."Hey Robert-San, time to visit the urinal." I thought if I ignored it, it might go away.

It didn't. It got worse. I began to frantically look around the room for a bathroom door...None to be seen!! I furtively glanced at the man next to me, At some point I would have to ask him.

He was a very dignified, conservative looking man, "not one" I thought," to joke around with." Probably the President of his company, one of our licensees. I had to be very careful how I spoke to him. Japanese are especially sensitive to perceived insults.

My need for the bathroom grew more acute by the minute, I considered my options.

My interpreter sat too far away to be useful. I needed to speak to "Mr. Dignified, the President". I took a deep breath, turned to my right and spoke.

er..ah...benjo nay? with what I hoped was a pleading look. "Where is the bathroom?" The pres. looked at me startled. His face at first voiced displeasure then slowly..he began to smile, then broke into a loud guffaw, laughing so hard tears came into his eyes.

Where you learn that word "Benjo"? he asked me earnestly, between loud bursts of laughter. The other men in the room began to question the man next to me. WHY WAS HE LAUGHING SO HARD.? When he explained,
including the word "Benjo"...They, began to laugh loudly.

Then the man next to me finally repeated his question.."Where you learn that word?

I explained that years ago when I was in the Navy, my ship was based in Japan and we often went out for beers when off duty.
A light went on in my friend's eyes. "OH HO" he almost screamed, " YOU LEARN FROM BARTENDER!!...BENJO MEAN SHITHOUSE.. SLANG TERM...CORRECT WORD IS OTA ARI

My face turned a bright pink, I ran for the ...ota ari and finally was able to overcome the embarrassment of the moment. The President & I became good friends and we went to dinner every time I visited Japan. His company also became one of our largest licensees...socks, I think.