Lovely world we live in

the top 10 most viewed stories on CNN.com right now

1 Witness: Man beheads bus seat mate
2 Preacher killed wife, police say
3 Troop sex assault 'jaw-dropping'
4 Missouri man guilty in videotaped...
5 Execution halted after confession
6 Street fight or ugly ethnic clash?
7 8 killed in Minn. plane crash
8 McCain camp says race card played
9 L.A. chief: Fewer photog issues
10 Elizabeth Taylor hospitalized

Methinks part of reason for that list is the "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality of our modern media, part of it is society's thirst for scandal and trainwrecks to watch. Part of it is we live in a time when the evil among us are more easily identified.

I also think it's a shame we don't give as much attention and interest to the truly good things going on around us -- of which there is an abundance.

 

Psh, "hyperlocal."

 

Elizabeth Taylor is still alive?

 

No. 9 sounds kind of boring.

 

The guy getting his head sawed off by some stranger on a bus is just unbelievable.

 

Idaho's just pissed that the Tour De France has never cracked the Top 1000.

 

What's even more disturbing is the use of tracking net traffic to determine what is "news." You see this on the entertainment shows that check out which items are being searched the most to determine what to "cover." Maybe McCain introducing Paris and Brittney into the campaign wasn't as dumb as we firet thought.

Also found this on the CNN website:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new poll out Thursday indicates that fewer than a quarter of Americans think things are going well in the country.
A new poll says 30 percent of Americans approve of President Bush's job performance.

A new poll says 30 percent of Americans approve of President Bush's job performance.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. Poll showed that 24 percent have a positive outlook for the country, while 76 percent say things are on the wrong track.

It is the lowest number on record since 1980 and the third time in four decades that the number has dropped so low.

 

Remember this the next time idiots complain about the negative media, or about how they don't give a crap about celebrities. Really? I guess that's why the top 10 stories at CNN.com are overwhelmingly negative, why those celeb magazines are all over the place and why TMZ is a booming brand.

Complaining about the negative media = easier than looking in the mirror.

 

And yes, there's a lot of depressing shit happening around the world.

 

Not a new phenomena.

 

Modern media? It's been the mentality forever, because it sells.

 

11. Chef mutilates himself