Catastrophic infernos and drowning deluges

Calamitous Deluge!

Today in a major incident in downtown city, a catastrophically sudden deluge of water rose to well in excess of 3 1/2 centimetres. Tragically, an elderly woman almost drowned when her runabout capsized as the motor caught in mud and she was forced to stand up and scramble to safety...

That's how I feel when I tune into the news these days; deflated. Not by the news itself but by the fact that it's not really news or not the news I expected from the introduction or heading. That sounds as though I relish the fact of death and mayhem, but I don't, I assure you. Although one can't discount that a bit of death and mayhem (someone else's of course) does give one something to discuss with the checkout chick at the local as she processes your weekly supply of Mars bars and Twixts.

My 94 year old father who comes for dinner each night, sits in front of the telly rivetted to one of the local commercial stations and frankly I can't bear it- the news not my pa- (although the having to shout everything 3 times and the flatulance is wearing thin).

These channels spuriously refer to their 'news hour' but they really aren't, they're more an exercise in drawing in audiences by the promise of titillation or murder and havoc. I mean the hyperbole is extremely appalling and horrific. One is left traumatised and shocked by the near death experience of the 5 o'clock news. If you see what I mean.

Really? Let's get some perspective into it; some days are slow news days and it's okay to put in a fireman rescues stranded cat story... a bit of bicep and strong-jaw-lined hero delivering a small, defenceless kitty from a tree is always appreciated by the public. But do we really have to put up with, bear, tolerate or abide such blatant exaggeration being attached to well, dross really?

Pompei was a catastrophe. Not for the herdsmen in upper Mongolia or the village woman in Mbepetopo in mid Swaziland of course, but for Pompei itself and for the thousands of family members and friends throughout the rest of Itally, it was pretty devastating to lose the whole lot of them in one fell swoop.

The Holocaust was an unspeakable abomination.

The slaughter of the indigenous Native Americans was a tragedy.

A house fire is not a catastrophic inferno threatening an entire state. It is miserable for the house owner and a bit of a heart starter for the neighbours.