Home > Blog: Currents & Futures > The Russian Meteor – And the American Media

Currents and Futures

 

 

 

 

The Cosmic Sucker Punch! Right Day, Wrong Meteor!

As many of you know, today was scheduled for a close fly-by of a large meteor… the closest and largest since they began keeping records.  The size of a football field…

So, while all the world’s cameras and radar were aimed in one direction, a big one actually LANDED in Russia!

Going to the Source for Information…

Skip the vapid and silly broadcast news… go straight to the source for your information. (I watched 5 minutes of CNN’s coverage — I feel mentally drained already!) In this day and age, we can CREATE our “media” as we need it.

Thanks to Russian Alexander Zaytsev, who thoughtfully compiled All the Meteorite Videos in One Place. (and, thanks to www.spaceweather.com for featuring Alexander).

He’s got a LOT of them! If you’ve got other things to do with your time, I suggest watching:

The first video… the best clear shot of the arch of the Big Rock.

The second video… The sound of the shock wave — sanitized out of the American coverage. (Check out the 3rd video, in case you didn’t believe #2!)

The 14th video… It is titled “The shock wave hitting people in the office”. You can see from this how hundreds of people had to go to the hospital…

The 15th video… Same…

The Russian Meteor and the American news…

Years ago, a Portland State University student in Conflict Resolution was in Russia with me, where she presented her findings about how the media skews how we think, especially about issues dealing with war and peace. She showed graphic examples of this skewing from World War II and the dropping of the nuclear weapons on Japan.

In the American news media, all of the pictures of the horrific event shown were from a distance, and none of them included the effects of these weapons on people. All of the American coverage showed BUILDINGS destroyed, not PEOPLE. The few images that involved people were of the “ghost images” (the outlines of people left on the walls and the ground from the blast – not bodies).

After the blast, Americans saw some images of the survivors — but almost always in hospitals, surrounded by people in white lab coats… clinical.

The Japanese media was the exact opposite. The news was saturated with images not of just the survivors, but of those headless, limbless torsos, piles of raw meat that were once men, women and children. It is safe to say that every Japanese person has seen the images that few Americans have ever seen.

If President Truman had seen the photos that everyone in Japan saw, would he have dropped the second bomb, on Nagasaki, five days later?

The Effect of Perspective-Shaping…

The American photos were NOT ‘lies’ – they were not fabricated or doctored. They just showed a “point of view” — one that did not include human beings.

Had we seen the true horror that we created, it would have created a POWERFUL anti-nuclear movement. The “pro-nukes” folks would have been placed in a permanent defensive position – trying to defend the indefensible. It would have given visceral energy to the moral argument that nuclear weapons are immoral.

The “pro-nuke” argument was that the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki actually shortened the war, therefore “saving lives”. By showing the human extent of the devastation, the response would have been “Are we the kind of people who do things like this?”

In this perspective-shifting, the media doesn’t REFLECT our society, the media DIRECTS it. And, if you don’t like the way that society is going, perhaps it’s because we need to pay attention differently.

An example of paying attention…

In the “Top News” feed from Google today, directly below the Russian meteor, is a headline: “Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend”. Now, I don’t know who or what a ‘Pistorius’ is, whether or not he had a girlfriend, whether or not he murdered her…

Is my life in any way diminished by not knowing about this “news”? Could I plan my life any better if I had up-to-date and accurate ‘Pistorius’ information? Was this the only murder taking place in America (or whatever country he’s in)? Would this help me to direct my compassion in a more meaningful way?

If the answers to these questions is “NO”… why is it “Top News”? And… why are you paying attention to it?

At the bottom line: It’s YOUR MIND and YOUR HEART. You are responsible only to yourself. If you allow yourself to be steered… don’t blame the ones doing the steering.

Now… For Some Commonway “News”!

“Shadow & Light” Program Successful!

The program “The Pain of the Shadow – The Joy of the Light” has been fully subscribed and going very well! This powerful program has been life-changing for the participants… and for me. [If you want more information about the program, click here: Shadow & Light Program.]

The February program has been fully subscribed. I intend to offer this again in April-May. Details are being worked out, and I anticipate that registration will open the first of March. Stay tuned!

Also… The Christ Path Seminar…

I look forward to joining my friends Matthew Fox, Andrew Harvey and Joanna Macy, as they launch the Christ Path Seminar. (We have not at present settled on a date for my participation.)

Also: please read Matt’s scathing response to the recent Papal resignation: Pope Benedict XVI’s Legacy (Remember: Matthew Fox was the guy who was ousted from the Catholic Church by this Pope (before he became Pope) for having the audacity to posit the “heretical” notion of Original Blessing.)

And… “Peace Through Service”…

On 20 April, I will be flying out to Kansas City, to be a keynote speaker at the Rotary “Peace Through Service” Forum. Rotary International is tackling the issue of world peace head-on! And, with a membership of 1.2 million and impeccable “mainstream” credentials, they are destined to become a powerful force for peace!  (More info on the April event coming later.)

Peace,

Sharif

[NOTE:  You are always free to re-post these articles.  Please let me know that you’ve done so!]

[NOTE:  While I welcome your comments, I do not post comments from “Anonymous”, or from bogus email addresses.  That is not the kind of society we should support.  The next society will be based on love and community, not snarkiness and anonymity.]

[On the other hand: there may be valid reasons why you don’t want your name used.  (For example: job-related issues.  It’s happened before.)  Send me an email and let’s discuss it.]

 

4 Comments, RSS

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*