northsider

Foaming At The Mouth
Everything Old Is New Again

I watch the network news (usually NBC) on a daily basis. It's something I was more or less raised to do; we watched the evening news during dinnertime. I found it very agreeable because I've always been interested in what's going on in the world and it meant I could avoid talking to my parents. Anyway, it's a habit I've maintained over the years so I know what the networks are keeping us abreast of. Imagine my surprise when I found the following story on Der Spiegel's English-language portal: 8 Indian men attacked in street by far right-wing extremists. It, and some accompanying articles, go on to say that neo-Nazi and neo-Nazi-style attacks have been recurring with greater frequency these days, and the extremist political organizations that represent them have gained a toehold in elective office. Now to my mind, this would fall into the general category of Major News, yet I can't recall any American news outlets making even brief mention of the story.

To be fair, there's been a hell of a lot of domestic news going on lately: Mine cave-ins, bridge collapses, turmoil in the stock markets, killer storms, horrors galore in the middle East, and that nursing home cat that can predict death. And let it be known right now that I think Germans have gotten a bad rap, but a lot of people would find the idea of right-wing Germans with a thing for racial purity rather alarming. Certainly noteworthy and sensational enough to warrant a few minutes on the evening news.

This isn't to say I go looking for things to worry about, I just have a knack for finding them. Check in with me regularly so if you're sleeping soundly at night, I'll find some reason to put a stop to that.