Coverage in a Time of Conflict

I was listening to developments in Libya, I heard coverage of Qaddafi's comments about the no fly zone enforcement being "terrorism". It struck me as incongruous that we are seeing the conflict from both sides. Today, conflicts are carried out in the media, including the Internet, as much as on the ground. But coverage on the Internet is international and seen from both sides. So as much as it might encourage one side, it convinces the other that there point-of-view is spot on.

Why do you follow (friend, favorite, . . . ) me?

Although we all tend to think that the words we commit to our blogs are golden, I have been wondering why people follow those of us who are not the opinion leaders in a particular topic. I have done some looking and found that, generally, these are people who are hoping I will follow THEM in the hopes of selling me something.

I suspect that they search for tags, keywords which relate to the product/service they are pushing and friend/follow a user in the hope that they will, in turn, follow them and purchase their goods and services. Oh well, there goes what little hope I had that someone actually cared what I think!

Celebrities as News?

On NPR recently, they had an entire piece on Charlie Sheen's meltdown. Why is this news? Is every news outlet becoming a tabloid newspaper in the search for profits, even non-profit organizations like NPR? OK, I can see some value in this story. After all, he is the star of the most popular sit-com on US television and that property means scads of cash for the company which produces it and the network that airs it, not to mention the other places where it is in syndication. So, maybe that part part belongs on the business page detailing how these organizations are loosing (making?) money from Charlie's antics. But do I really have to sit an listen to a 4-5 minute piece on NPR like it was on the same level as the activity in the Arab world? Of course not, I can change radio stations or choose another form of news like podcasts or such. I am really tired of the cult of celebrities which the world seems to have fallen into where people make news just because they are rich or famous or something . . . Come on world, more about what really matters and less about the rich and famous.

OK, now I'll stop mentioning celebrities just because . . .