07 September 2006

A place called deception lane

See it here.

Today's minimalist effort examines the impact of the 24-hour cable news industry's maximalism on the ability of the average person to digest information and draw rational conclusions.

The scourge of the red-state/blue-state pundit class who spout an endless parade of talking points with no relation to or arbiter of the truth is represented by the pair of birds, clearly different species, facing off over a morsel of food.

The style of "all-fear-all-the-time" reporting is represented by the large glossy tabloid with an ad for anti-bird flu medicine.

And the endless mountain-out-of-a-molehill sensationalism of the latest "white woman gone missing" story is represented by the binoculars through which Burl is viewing something which is just feet away from himself.

In a world where access to information is virtually limitless, but all information is distorted through a lens which warps it for commercial, political, or purely dishonest reasons, is it any wonder that Burl draws the 100% wrong conclusion?

No, Burl. When viewed through that end of the binoculars, those birds are actually smaller than they appear.

This is marginalia:

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