Random musings and activities of a 30 something mom, potential sprint triathlete, vegetarian, dog and cat owner, and a evolving urban homesteader just trying to do the right thing in life for my daughter and the world around us. If the blog seems random, it's because life is and hits us all at 100mph.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

PostHeaderIcon Act of Insanity? Act of Protest? A Wasted Act?

Also, along the lines of : if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear the sound, does it make a noise?

Suicide 99.9% of the time is an act of mental illness, not a political statement (one exception is the Buddhist Monk who lit himself on fire in 1963 to protest the Vietnam War).

Earlier this month, a Chicago man, Malachi Ritscher, also tried to make an anti-war statement by burning himself alive on a busy Chicago highway.

No one stopped.

It was not immediately apparent why.

People were more annoyed with the traffic-delay than the reality of the man burning alive by the road.

None of the mainstream media outlets carried the story.

His family has not been on Larry King or Bill O'Reily.

In case you hadn't seen this story, you can check it out:
The Baltimore Sun ran an article.
The Chicago Sun Times called his death as a "waste".
I prefer Yahoo's slightly different take on the incident.

I may not agree with his choice of how he decided to protest the war, but I think that the fact that it went unnoticed in the media is an indication of a bigger problem in our society.

More people vote for American Idol than the American President.

I wonder if there are more subscribers to People Magazine than the NYTimes (or name your fav national newspaper).

More people watched the finale of Dancing with the Stars than voted in the November elections.

Ritscher's suicide is one of only nine reported incidents of self-immolation performed as an act of protest in American history.

He video-taped himself, but since it was not "network worthy", is it really news? I mean, after all, TomKat might be pregnant again, Madonna wants another baby, and Brad and Angelina might also be showing "the bump". Fantasy football stats need to be updated. Dancing with the Stars was still running and Jerry Springer still in the running. Also, let's not also forget, Kid Rock and Pam Anderson are getting divorced.

With all of that going on..... we really don't have time for a story such a Rischer's, do we?

Malachi Ritscher wanted to make a statement. But what good is a statement, if no one stops to listen?

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Quotes as I come across them......

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, an hour, a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it last forever.” ~~~Lance Armstrong

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~~~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain----and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." ~~~Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Famer. (Will-Weber's "Voices From the Midpack" chapter.)

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.~~~Denis Watley

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. ~~~Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)

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