January 06, 2010

More of this and that

Snow hasn't melted at all on our street and garden. The main roads are ok and driveable here which is more than can be said for most of the country. I suspect we have got off rather lightly this time.

It did get me thinking though.

Not that many years ago if there was snow we would have cleared our drives and the path in front of our own houses. Everyone did it,it was the norm. We would salt and shovel to keep the paths clear.
We had linesmen but that isn't the correct word? Road sweeping men who kept their area clear, they did the roads around the estates and villages, they cut hedges. I knew our local ones by name.
Now if we do this and someone slips we can be sued, health and safety rears it's ugly head once more. We are more likely to have injuries and accidents on the roads and paths by not clearing.

And yes I know I slipped but that was on our step and due to rain turning to ice and my lack of mobility.

The country seems to go to pieces with adverse weather conditions, how about the fact that ambulance men are only going to life and death situations yet call out the mountain rescue volunteers? Why should volunteers do what paid staff don't? What is the difference?

While I'm having a little rant;)
Does anyone else think we are receiving too much information?
It is all very well having the Internet and constant tv news, but what do they show or tell us? Is it the truth? I feel that most of what we see, read is edited sensationally in lots of cases. We always see the dark side of things. Is it to numb us , make us less inclined to follow current events?

Yes it is good to be able to access information we need but what does it do for us when it is atrocities? Does it make us think that tv news is similar to video games? Not really there and you can press the restart button?
Does anyone feel confidence in our so called leaders? Or like me do you find they are all tarred with the same brush?
Are you as cynical as I am when there is a crisis and then something else is shown as a diversionary tactic?
I am not really sure where I'm going with this I just feel uneasy.
Do you believe any politician, any religious leader? Do you think they are unbiased and have our best interests at heart?
I don't:(

5 comments:

Sea said...

Having studied some media as part of my degree ....we were shown how to analyse it. It's made me cynical, cos most reporters have and "angle" to report from. The bare facts wouldn't take up as much room, or air time. So they tell us what they want us to know, and what they think we want to know
...sorry got me going now.
I suspect we are being fed quite a lot of misinformation, disguised as news.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

*shakes fist at world in solidarity with Ambermoggie*

Blue Witch said...

The answers to all your questions are no.

Except for the ones that are yes.

I thought I knew all about the psychology of communication until Mr BW moved into a role of managing PR and marketing, albeit within a highly technical context. My eyes are now much more widely open. Trouble is, almost no-one I know believes what I tell them about the manipulation that is going on in the western world.

I've largely learnt to laugh at it and poke fun at it in public at every opportunity though: the alternative is too scary to think about.

Start counting Brown's 'Goldfishes' every time you see him. That should amuse you for a while...

More snow than we've ever had in the 15 years we've been here. It's not exciting any more.

Lynn said...

Move over on that "soap-box", sister. Between politicians, religious leaders, media speakers, and lawyers, I'm not sure who would get the award for least honest. The legal profession used to be so respected, mothers always wanted a son or son-in-law to be a doctor or a lawyer. Now when I hear that someone is an attorney, I just cringe and assume they are dishonest, money-grabbing and speak with no sense of truth. And as to the snow-thing, I live in Utah and while the area that I live in is a low snow area, the Northern part of the state has lots of snow, EVERY year. (Think winter olympics) and yet there are hundreds of accidents, slide-offs and even fatalities with each snow. What are people thinking?!?

Vicky said...

No I don't trust many of them and I believe the media are resposible for manipulating our emotions and thoughts in the way they decide how they want us to think or feel. Politicians have been shown to be dishonest lately with their expenses claims, or at best, greedy.

On the brighter side, I work with students and see how many of them are very concerned about the planet and become very informed, wanting to live their lives to help in a positive and sustainable way. This gives me hope.

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