Where are we headed?

Last night a story popped up on the internet about an American journalist who was beheaded in the middle east. There was a video of the beheading and a message from both the victim and the murdered in the video. I happened to see the video early, before the unedited version was taken down, so I witnessed the entire thing from the victim’s message to his actual beheading. 

All I can say about the actual video is that it wasn’t like what we are used to on TV or in the movies. It was heartbreaking to listen to the victim speaking, obviously saying things that were written for him or that he was brainwashed into saying. 

It was confusing to listen to the murderer explaining that the US bombing of Iraq was the rational for the beheading. I guess it made sense to him and his friends. 

2014 has been very violent with war in the middle east, renewed military action by the US in Iraq, Russia doing whatever it’s doing in Ukraine, and suddenly the riots and violence out west surrounding the shooting of a black teenager by a while police office. 

I imagine humans have been killing each other since they first figured out how. Despite people calling for peace and love and getting along, it seems like there’s less of that than ever. 

Watching that video last night I was left wondering how a human hates another so much that they can saw that persons head off and casually set it there without hesitation. How can a human be so far from humane?

Even here in Rochester we see killings on the news on a weekly basis. Most appear to be meaningless, senseless, and otherwise without any reason except that someone decided to kill someone. 

Death has become tiresome. I know it won’t end in my lifetime, and perhaps not until humanity completely destroys itself. 

Watching such senseless brutality has left me wondering where we are headed. To be honest I’m not sure I really want to have that question answered. 

It’s all about ratings and eyeballs

Over the weekend NASCAR driver Tony Stewart was involved in an on track incident in a race at a track in Canandaigua NY. I happened to be driving by that track right around the time the incident took place, so when I got home and saw the headline on the news I immediately freaked out.

The headline said “Tony Stewart kills drive at local track”. Obviously the headline was misleading, and I’m guessing on purpose. That headline is much more sensational that “Tony Stewart involved in on track accident” or something similar. 

Tony is a notorious bad boy on the racing circuit known for his temper and from what I’ve seen it looks like many news outlets decided to capitalize on his reputation, or at the very least his fame. 

Online there were some people complaining about the headline, that it was misleading and sensational and was using a tragedy to promote a new item. 

A 20 year old kid died. Only Tony and the deceased boy know for sure what happened. It makes me sick to see a few irresponsible people try to get extra ratings with misleading headlines. 

I guess that’s the internet age, the age if instant information. Sometimes news is reported incorrectly in the rush to be first. While that’s still no good, that’s better than proclaiming someone a killer in a grab for eyeballs. 

Eventually everything will be settled with Tony, and this week the 20 year old boy will be buried by his family. I wish the media would learn a lesson about responsible headlines, but I suspect that won’t happen. 

To be honest I feel guilty and dirty for rushing to read the article after reading the headline. I should have known better.