I was struck by something I heard the other day on one of the 24-hour cable news channels during a report about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The reporter stated that most TV stations in that part of the world show the results of war and other violence to their viewers, complete with all the blood and guts. They do not edit news footage the way it's done in the western world.

I wonder if the kind of sterile news footage we have become accustomed to seeing on our TV screens every night is really in our best interest. Wouldn't we would be better served by sometimes having to be confronted with the unedited footage of horrific events? Not that I have a great desire to see gratuitous gore on the six o'clock news, but sometimes we need to be reminded as to just how bad some things really are. Otherwise, we tend to minimize their seriousness and take them for granted. Yes, we would risk having our sensibilities offended every now and then, but we would also better understand the true cost of things like war, carelessness on our roadways, and violent crime.

Right now, all we get are verbal and written descriptions of such things, along with a cleaned up scene. That's not nearly enough to make much of an impression on some people, especially those who are young and feel invincible. A genuine dose of reality could be just what the doctor ordered by to make us a little more hesitant to go to war, get behind the wheel of car in an impaired state, or use violence in attempts to resolve our problems.

Terry Mitchell

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, blogger, and amateur political analyst from Hopewell, VA. He's been in the software development/engineering line of work for over 24 years.

He blogs and writes about various subjects such as current events, politics, cultural and social issues, health and well-being, personal finance, religion, technology, media issues, law, government, sports, humor, and trivia.

Through the BlogBurst network, his blog entries are often carried on the Website of the Houston Chronicle, one of the top newspapers in America. In addition, his columns and essays regularly appear on American Chronicle's network of 21 online magazines. They have also appeared online on American Daily, Media Monitors International, Opinion Editorials, The Washington Dispatch, Arrivenet, and hundreds of additional websites.

Terry never misses an opportunity to assail political correctness and take pot shots at the conventional foolishness. He's not a bandwagon jumper - he writes stuff that others should be writing, but are not. He thinks of himself as a kind of modern American philosopher. His blog offers commentary from a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Terry would love to have his blog picked up and syndicated by a major news or web organization. He also plans to write a book based on his blog. But, for now, he mainly writes for free as a hobby and enjoys having his aritcles posted on as many websites, ezines, news letters, newspapers, and magazines as possible.

Blog URL:	http://commenterry.blogs.com
Personal URL:	http://www.commenterry.com
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