News media and silence, impossible!

“It is a great thing to know the season for speech and the season for silence”.

Seneca

 

We are in the season of hyperbole otherwise known as speech. My fear is that there will be no thoughtful silences in our future.  It seems considerate silence may become extinct.  Not the silence that allows injustice to take place by not speaking up, but rather, “silence is golden when you don’t have a good answer”. Thank you Mohammad Ali for a mantra that should be uttered silently by all of us.

The 24-hour news cycle reached a deafening roar last week as the Romney video hit the airwaves.  Network talking heads have become annoying neighbors.  The couple we smile at in passing, occasionally taking in a paper but nothing more.  No direct proof but suspicions of oddness start to waft from across the fence.

 Holding a baseball hat lined in aluminum foil, a gift from your neighbor, to block out alien thought waves, confirms craziness lives next door.  Part of the intrusive neighbor syndrome is benign conversation that begins innocently and shifts to conversion. “Yes, I am saved, no, I don’t think the world will end in 2012, and I don’t care if the government is or is not hiding anything in New Mexico resembling a space craft”.  You nod; you smile and double lock your doors.

Last week I let the media talking heads into my home, from both sides of the political fence.  In massive doses you recognize that there is a huge repeat loop, again and again.  The same media neighbors keep popping up on different shows.  I started to recognize special guest analysts and realize, like holiday fruitcake, there have been a finite number created.  

Most fruitcakes (other than yours, dear readers) have been re-gifted for a century. The majority of guest gurus are on almost every news channel, as a specialist or someone to be mocked. Content equaled 25 minutes, and then dragged on for most of the day, on continuous repeat.

"With silence favor me"  Favete Linguis

In a world where we vociferously pronounce, “there are no stupid questions”, we need to face reality there are mostly stupid questions! Lately rather than ask smart, topical probing questions of the candidates, we have become a nation that specializes in senseless question and puffy responses.  It seems news folk and audiences have signed a conspiratorial agreement to live with aerated answers.

Such an indictment smacks of outrageous exaggeration and even prevarication.  Sweeping statements qualify me to become a guest media analyst. I could listen to the sound of my voice on 24 channels – 24 hours a day. Call me; let’s talk nonstop and eat fruitcake. Any questions, anyone, don’t be shy; we all know there are no stupid questions, don’t we?  

Along with silence I crave humor and have created a humor collection of cards.  Moved by all the bad news levity seemed the balance needed.  

My collection can be seen on my website.

Smart phone evolution

Recently I tuned into a late night BBC interview-taking place among five young business leaders. The burning topic was the real or imagined importance of smart phones in one’s professional life.  As a result I found myself asking, “Self, are we abdicating our power to smart phones?”

The first question was “do you need smart phones to be successful in your business?” A rapid-fire reply from all was an unequivocal “yes!”  The next responses were variations on the word “connectivity.”   The third level involved various functions required for life; an address book, games and apps.  All the discussed vital functions ranked in importance right up there with air and water. Gaming and breathing, now are one and the same.

More intense confessions of use revolved around measureable words like “sexy” and “being cool”. The last part of the interview tried to extract from the panel ways that their businesses were made more competitive or outcomes were changed. Other than connectivity, and the fact that the smart phone train has left the station, no hard convincible data was supplied.

I love my smart tablet and phone.  Doctors, designers, developers, business people, teachers and parents all love their smart toys for managing information and learning. I am aware of the many uses and wonders of both.  I have a better understanding of how truly smart these devices are - they are able to record private speeches at presidential fundraisers without being noticed.

Apparently a very stealthy smart phone was able to navigate wearing Harry Potter’s invisible cloak and show up unnoticed to a recent fund-raising party.  I expect we shall see more of these party crashing smart phones at major events while their owners stay home thus blurring the definitions of face time.

As we are jumping onto the latest smart devices, I can’t help but wonder about our own smartness.  While pondering this question I recognize reading too much Science Fiction could be altering my view of the smart future.  Look for my next invention – hidden smart phone detection.

“I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to.”

 

 We are now uncomfortably seated in the theater of the absurd, the name of the play, election year 2012.  I have been pondering phrases that need to be dumped somewhere off planet earth. I am suddenly allergic to all the irritating and trite phrases that need to be retired due to overuse. Below is my list of maddening utterances.

“It doesn’t have to be fact if it is true.”

There have been so many reiterations of fact vs. reality. Many of our earthling brethren are residing where intention and fantasy outweigh truth.   Perception is now reality.  I want something to be true and therefore it is. Yippee, narcissism and pathological lying have become the new normal.  The dog really did eat my homework. 

“That never happens…well once or twice.”

That never happens and yet it has happened to you or someone you know.  Your new car door comes off in your hand, “that never happens says the dealer.” Upon investigation you find “yes” it has happened before, just rarely reported.  You seek help by moving up the ladder of “sorry we can’t help you” customer service responders. “That never happens” has become the new hello and “sorry we can’t help you” the new goodbye.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this!”

In a miniscule poll taken during the wee hours of the morning, the above phrase was voted a crowd favorite.  Upon hearing the words my poll participants narrowed it down to the following, “then don’t and why continue”?

“You not going to want to hear this.” 

My response is two fold, either lead with the information, kill the headline and get on with the story.  In conclusion, if the information doesn’t affect my life, please, no sharing. Please newscasters stop telling me this.

“Realistically speaking.”

“Realistically speaking” has become a favorite with media folk and leads me to ask the question.  What would the information be if it were given to me “unrealistically speaking?”  Would that involve prevarication or speaking in Klingon?

“Am I crazy or…”

You are now standing on the proverbial slippery slope. No matter how you answer, there is a crazy person somewhere in the question, we all know that, stop asking me.

“Are you serious, do you mean it”?

I just wish someone would say, “No, I am lying, yet again.”

No worries it’s all good

See my blog from July 3, “No worries, let me decide.”

I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to and because it isn’t about facts, I can, realistically speaking. I shouldn’t be telling you this, am I crazy, but really, honestly no worries, it ‘s all good and I mean every word, seriously, trust me.