New views and old news

Hardly seems possible but I suppose in the age of instant information it's a fact we all have to accept: news ages like muons in the upper atmosphere. I wonder if relativity theory can be applied to news as well - can the life of a story appear to outlast its natural limits because of the speed at which it travels? Perhaps in some quantum reality 'out there' reports from the Vietnam war exist alongside reports out of Iraq. Well, actually, even in our own reality they do, but that's a subjective phenomenon, which is really what relativity is all about so in the end, it's all the same anyway. Confused? Yeah, me too.

What I mean to say is news exists in its own realm of physics. The forces acting on any event are relative to the properties of the event itself, and the perspective of the viewer. Take the U.S. congressional elections for example: one would think the properties of this event limit its force functionality to the geo-political zone called the United States of America. But from the perspective of the viewer (in this case, the world) the elections represent something far more pervasive. Hence, the properties of the event itself are altered and the forces acting on it become significantly more universal. A bomb in Iraq can affect the event; a child dying in Afghanistan can produce a ripple that shakes the very foundation of American polity. But then it's gone, like its cousin the muon, this tiny infomental particle disappears and the world goes on as it always did.

The elections are over and the democrats have won. This is old news. But in honour of that other reality, where the quantum existence of news outlives its natural life cycle, I would like to say a few words:

Nothing will change. Americans will go back to consuming (as will Canadians, who consume as much per capita as our southerly neighbours). Africa will starve. The Middle East will burn. The WWF report on the future of the world's ability to sustain humanity's attack on its resources is a sobering, albeit one in a long list of sobering assessments. The following graphic, showing the per capita consumption rates of nations, expressed in geographic size (courtesy WWF) is darkly humourous. North America is FAT, bloated, bursting. Africa is as emaciated as the pictures commonly seen of starving children in that tragic continent. China and India are pushing West, Europe East squeezing Central Asian nations like silly-puddy stuck between expanding balloons.




But even this report, as powerful and resonant as it is, will not outlast the forces of newsworthiness. An event becoming news is like a death-knell. It is the beginning of the end of that event.

But let's not think about that anymore. Too depressing. Let's turn instead to my new apartment. Some views:

Freak November snowstorm as seen from my livingroom

Same storm different view - from my bedroom

Sunset from my balcony


Before the storm

My first plant

Schoolyard below my bedroom

Sunset from my bedroom

Cleaning phase - living room

Cleaning phase - Kitchen and foyer

Temporary office during cleaning phase - Living room