181 Chinese miners are missing and feared dead in a flooded mine, but on Comcast's rolling, roiling list of headline news, it was deemed more important to let us know that.
Leona Helmsley has died. I guess if I'd given this any thought, I'd have thought she was dead. But hearing of Lady H's demise brought to mind a business trip I took many years ago to NYC with my friend Michele. Our hotel reservations got screwed up, it was close to Christmas, and the only inn where there was any room was a really seedy, fleabag hotel populated, for the most part, by old men in residence who traveled the creaking elevators in robes and slippers. It was also pouring rain out, and we were pretty bedraggled looking when we decided to reward ourselves - and put off going back to our crappy hotel - by stopping in the Helmsley Palace for a drink. Leona swooped down on us and asked us what we were doing in her hotel. Despite - or because of - her warm welcome, we stayed for two glasses of wine. (And to think that, in her day, Leona was one of the most well known business-women in the country.)
Some extras were injured on a Tom Cruise movie set. Although none was seriously hurt, and Tom was nowhere near the accident, this was termed a "disaster" by Comcast. In a later spinthrough, it was elevated to a "tragedy." Of course, this incident gave reporters yet another opportunity to point out that the Germans don't want Tom Cruise playing Claus Von Stauffenberg because they consider Scientology a weird cult. Well, I'm not much of a Tom Cruise fan, but he certainly does resemble Von Stauffenberg.
Michael Vick cops a plea. Dog fighting is certainly a disgusting practice - vicious, cruel, irredeemably terrible. But isn't there something slightly disproportionate in the amount of attention this crime is getting.
University of West Virginia is the nation's top party school. Aren't you relieved your not driving your 17 year old kid there this week? Oh, you are driving your 17 year old there this week. Party on!
Obama doesn't like Obama Girl. Or his little girl doesn't like it. Then there's something about Dog the Bounty Hunter (now there's a job for you). Obesity may be caused by a virus. (I knew it all along.) Kevin Federline lands TV job. So much for talent will always out.
You could argue, of course, that the Chinese miners are yesterday's news. But isn't the Tom Cruise movie set yesterday's news, too?
Meanwhile, I heard on NPR that there are an average of 13 deaths per day in Chinese mines.
Just another indicator of the growing pains that China is going through as it builds its economy. And the lack of health and safety checks - no OSHA, there, I'm guessing.
I don't think we import any coal from China, but we do import a lot of other "stuff" - some shoddily made, dangerous even. Much produced under conditions that would not be tolerated here - legally or morally.
We hear a lot of complaints about "regulations" strangling our economy, but regulations prevent Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fires. They prevent lead-painted toys. They prevent mine disasters of the magnitude regularly experienced in China.
As we well know, we have mining disasters of our own. But, as heartbreaking as they are for the families and towns where they occur, mine accidents are relatively rare in this country.
Maybe it has something to do with our regulations.
And maybe because of those regulations, we can focus on trivial events like the minor accident (or should I say tragedy) that involved Tom Cruise's crew. Rather than spend one iota of our news-watch time thinking about the 181 flooded out miners in China.
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