Sometimes the News Just Won't Cooperate

0 for 2. That's where the count stands on the two "Really Big Stories" of the week. After the first day, some saw the Karr wreck coming in the Jon Benet Ramsey story. Most didn't. Yah, some will say it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback on this story but where was the skepticism about this guy and his tale. I did my best to avoid the story on TV, radio and newspapers when I could but that proved almost impossible. Other than the fact that the guy was creepy looking, which so far isn't a crime in this country, red flags should have been going up everywhere. But this reminded me of the feeding frenzy of sharks that I've seen on the Nature Channels. The sharks get so caught up with the smell of blood, they may take a bite out of each other. Everybody covering this story was piddling on himself or herself trying to get this tidbit or that. We learned where Karr sat on the plane and what he ate and drank (champagne and prawns). I told my wife on the first day this story broke that if I was in Thailand and facing some sort of sex charges, I would start admitting I did something in the U-S too just so I could get the heck out of the Far East. It may not be as bad as a Turkish prison (as depicted in the movie "Midnight Express"), but hey, why take a chance. Now this guy got two of the things he really wanted which was worldwide attention and a free ticket back home. Yes, he's now off to California where he will face charges but he's already set the stage for some sort of insanity plea.
The second strike-out really wasn't the fault of anyone but Mother Nature. After the huge hurricane season last year, Ernesto couldn't get to the shores of the U-S fast enough for the various news operations. But Ernesto didn't deliver and that left the folks covering the "BIG" story filling a lot of time. I still feel story for the folks at the Weather Channel. At least those covering what passes for news can throw to other stories. At the Weather Channel, those guys are left to beating us over the head with last year's video and "what could happen tomorrow."
And speaking of hurricanes, the media horde also descended on the Gulf Coast on the anniversary of Katrina. Maybe it will help draw attention to the great distance that area still has to go before they can get back to anything resembling normal. Who knows, maybe this is the "new" normal and it will be like this for the next ten years.