What a strange and frightening world we live in. We shed crocodile tears for "Cecil", the preserve lion of Zimbabwe who was killed by a sport hunter in a very unsportsmanlike way. It got the attention of all the media outlets, and we even had one late night comedian in tears for our friendly lion Cecil. Meanwhile not a whimper, care, or tear, for the little baby who was burned alive in his home as Israeli settlers set fire to his home this week. We all know Cecil's name, but no one knows the name of the dead baby. We shed not a tear for 135 civilians including 75 children of Palestine, killed in what Amnesty International called, "a day of carnage", after its investigation of the vicious Israeli attack on Gaza in 2014. Not one tear.
It was the great former War correspondent for the NY Times, Chris Hedges, who said: "I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport", as he described Israeli soldiers kill children. No tears. Not even worthy of mainstream media's attention.
Who cares about the mess the US has made in the Middle East by bombing everyone and killing well over one million people in Iraq. Who cries for the 650,000 innocent Iraqi children who died because of the brutally imposed US sanctions on Iraq? Certainly Madam Albright, the then Secretary of State, did not shed a tear when asked if the deaths of 650,000 children was worth it. She casually answered, with not even a trace of one tear, "Yes it is worth it". Any tears for the 194 Iraqis who were killed yesterday? Nah; not even worth media coverage, let alone tears. But Cecil's death is another thing.
Either we are a very strange people with very confused human emotions and priorities, or mainstream media focuses on superficial things to divert our attention from the real issues of the day. For the sake of mankind; I hope it is the latter.