News or Fluff... or Just Plain Stupid

As I do almost every morning, this morning I was perusing the Drudge Report , and it hit me, "What a lot of stupid so-called news!" Following down that path, I wonder why anyone thinks people care about most of this "fluff" masquerading as "news." In fact, I am somewhat at a loss to find much actual "news" in the news.

So, following is a brief run-through of what is posing as news today in America.

1. Clint Eastwood is directing a film about the ungrateful, America-hating, Nelson Mandela, who was saved from a lifetime in prison by American intervention. Not a film I will see anyway, and hardly "news."

2. The UAW is on a national strike against GM for the first time in 37 years. Seems like a stupid decision to me, but this actually is "news."

3. Ok. Here's a good one: Democracy in retreat around the world; Reports points to Russia and Iran. Right, Russia and Iran. Long considered bastions of democracy. Give me a break.

4. Clintons kill negative GQ story; threatened access to Bill. They could have just stopped at Clintons kill. Move along. No news here.

5. Feds crack China-U.S. Steriods connection. Actual news. Yea!

6. Missile base for sale. This is actually a real estate ad; not news, but pretty interesting.

7. Burma's generals set for showdown with monks. Let's see: military v. monks. I can predict how this will turn out. At that point it will be "news", but not before.

8. And now, its time to wrap this up with my personal fave example of non-news: Global Poll: Majority wants action on climate change. So, "polls" are news, and people think they can change the weather. That's not news. That's just stupid.