Adventures in Australia

London

I wanted to do a post about London getting the 2012 Olympics, however, I was really tired and decided to go to bed. I awoke to a note from my parents: "Patrick - Terrorist attacks on Trains and Busses in London, here's 20 dollars, please take a cab instead of the normal public transportation you take. Love, Mom and Dad"

What a way to start the day. I then immediatly turned on the television and logged onto CNN. I wanted to write something, but I didn't know what. I then looked at the clock, and had to run out the door to get to work on time.

My class tonight was canceled because of the attacks - students had friends in London for the summer, and the instructor canceled tonight's section.

I really don't know what to say ....

The US is a bubble!

One thing I have learned, or really observed, over the past few years is that the US is in a bubble when it comes to the news and news media. The simple fact is, I cannot get any news on what is happening in the world. I can turn on the "idiot box" and get fed information on whats happening within the US, but its all for ratings, so you loose the journalism behind it.

For example, I turned on CNN one night just to catch up on what happened that day. Instead, I got a live feed of the front of a prision waiting to get a shot of Martha Stewart leaving jail. Now, I must admit that I kept it on for 43 minutes waiting to see her, and to this day I do not know why!

But in the US I cannot find out what is going on in the world. There is hardly any news at all on the AIDS epidemic of Africa. I have not heard a thing about the Schapelle Corby trial, not once. The only time the news coverage is decent is during a tragedy, when CNN cuts to their London branch, followed by their Hong Kong branch. The only good thing on TV here is the BBC, which is only on for an hour a day anyways. I've heard and read a lot about how US news gets published throughout the rest of the world, but it leaves me to wonder why it doesn't happen the other way without having to go to page A9 of the paper?