Media Hyping Frenzy for the Baa Baa

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Media Hyping Frenzy for the Baa Baa
by April Shenandoah, Columnist

April 25, 2003

Columnist April Shenandoah Here we go again - or still! My antenna have become so sensitive to the trickery of news reporting that I can foretell it -- like a bad script, when you know what is coming next. Watching the news is something I do just to find out what isn't going on - and for a story. We should all be sickened by the way the media treats us like morons. But then again, the majority of Americans keep watching and believing what they are being told. I've heard foreigners say we are the most brainwashed people in the world. Our submissive pea-brains are what the government (media) relies on. How else could they get away with "designer news" that pumps fear into us 24 hours a day?

Recently, it was reported that there was a white powder found at a mail distribution center in Tacoma, WA. The reports were that it could be botulism or the plague. The tests returned negative! That same day, a suspicious powder was found at the Fort Myers Airport in FL. The tests came back negative! It was clear that there was no threat, yet the entire day was consumed with these reports. They continued to say, over and over, that there was "suspicious powder" found. And they repeatedly said that the workers at the airport and the mail center were not experiencing any symptoms. Dah! The tests were negative! Still, they continued to run video of the suspected-powder-sites making it appear as if "danger" was in the air.

Not long ago if a suspicious powder was found they called it Anthrax. This time I didn't hear the word Anthrax mentioned once. Biotoxin or Biohazard, the new watch words of the day, are specifically being used to escalate a biological scare. Perhaps harmless powder is being planted and/or people are panicking at the sight of any type of residue. Whatever the case, the news media (government) is using it to scare and intimidate.

And, we just had the SARS report from Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. During her briefing, there was a split screen showing children wearing masks, decontaminating their hands and having their temperature taken. On the wall behind the newscaster was the word SARS, in huge letters. Other video clips were of airport signs that said STOP/SARS ALERT. On the news ticker that runs at the bottom of the TV screen there was a bulletin that read - 'airport alerts will be used to help avoid the spread of the virus.' Most likely that will deter flying to China, especially Hong Kong, Hanoi and Singapore, where the virus originated and is most prevalent. This Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome sounds extremely serious and it very well may be. However, like everything else, it gets blown out of proportion.

MSNBC Analyst, Dr. Sue Bailey, emphasized that 95% of SARS patients recover. Instead of the news giving people hope with that information, they make it sound like everybody who comes in contact with the flu-like disease is going to die. MSNBC reported that there were 229 deaths worldwide from SARS, and in the next minute they flashed 2,909 deaths. The numbers were frequently vacillating so that it was not clear what the exact number was. At the same time, they flashed on the TV screen that there were 38 cases of SARS in the US, a few minutes later they changed it to 39 deaths - giving the impression that SARS cases were rising by the minute, in this country.

After 9/11, we could have became an even more patriotic safe haven of freedom and peace, if it weren't for the fact that the 'political powers' do not want it that way. With the ending of the Iraqi war, a calming affect seemed to permeate us for a little while. However, peace and calm is not in the political agenda, so some media "frenzy hyping" was probably ordered to keep the 'fear' pot stirred. Our rulers are using ciaos and fear tactics to get us to exchange our freedoms for safety. The truth is, the wool has been pulled over our eyes - safety has nothing to do with it.

Ba ba sleeping sheep, are you woolly-headed? Yes sir, yes sir, and we're getting what we dreaded! ***

(wool-ly-head-ed \ adj 2: marked by vague or confused perception or thinking) - Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

EDITOR'S NOTE: To date, there have been ZERO deaths in the United States attributed to SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome). ***

Photo of April Shenandoah courtesy of GOPUSA

April Shenandoah's Internet home is: http://www.politicsandreligion.tv