And this post coming from a dude whose screen name is Optimistic

Let me give you an example of the value of human life: A former World bank director knows Zambia bought $30 million in heavy equipment from Romania and when the Copper market collapses, can't pay. Rumania asks for $4 million to settle debt. this guy pays them $4million for the debt, demands the $30 million from Zambia. $15 million to him and $15 million in around about bribes. Where did the money come from when Zambia is broke? Zambia happens to have 25% of its population with HIV, so the International aid is diverted to pay the guy and their bribes and the population goes without medicine. Now tell me the value of human life?

I sometimes have to deal in reality

If this is about the Obama Stevens media coverage and pushing an agenda, yours, for Obama's re-election then you have answered your own question.....It seems "we" decide how "we" rank the value of a persons life according to what works best for our own individual needs or wants at any given time and for any reason ....The value of every human life, in and of itself, is equal...This does not mean that people place the same value on the loss of human life...

You have it backwards in your OP...Society does not revere certain lives once they are lost, it tries to reconcile or come to terms with the reason(s) for the loss...I think your OP is nothing more than another lame attempt at semantic distortion designed to paint Obama as a president who is deserving of a second term.....

certainly, the question was prompted by a thread on the topic of the loss of life in Libya,, but so what

the loss of life in Libya isnt the ONLY lives that have been lost, thats just fact

and I dont see the same outrage and finger pointing about some deaths that I do in others

drive bys are less sensational than school killings

politicians and policemens loss of life is more sensational than that of those around them who may have also have lost their life

Libya brought it to my mind, but it is by no means the only reason for my post,, as much is my honest observation of how different we tend to react over death of some people compared to how we react to death of others

I have distorted nothing, I Asked a simple question

thanx for contributing your opinion,,,

Allow me to answer your question . . . the question that you seem to be really asking.

The murder of a U.S. ambassador by terrorists on the anniversary of 9/11 is a big deal.

The death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens isn't front-page news because he was revered. It is front-page news because he was murdered by terrorists, and the executive branch of the U.S. government had the ability to prevent his murder. It is front-page news because the U.S. public wasn't told the truth about the Ambassador's death after U.S. officials knew the truth. It took the work of the U.S. media for the truth to come out.

I guess thats the best I will get,,,so lets address it

so, does stevens loved ones suffer less because his killers were 'terrorists' than those theater patrons families have suffered at the hands of a mentally ill man who was able to order his armory on line?

or the 9/11 survivors who lost 1000 times as many because of something that could have been prevented much more easily with the intelligence provided than this attack could have with the mere 4 or 5 extra agents that were requested by those in the compound prior to?


his death is tragic, as is the deaths of anyone as far as their loved ones are concerned

and so , on to the broader issue, why do you suppose people are automatically killed when they take , say, a police officers life as opposed to anyone elses

or why do you think the drive by shootings dont get the same response as far as resources , counselors,, etc,, that high school shootings do

or why do you think 'pretty' kids get so much more media attention when they are abducted than more 'ordinary' kids?

how does the media decide which deaths are newsworthy and 'tragic' as opposed to just another death?

Are you serious!!!!....What makes you think the media decides

umm, because they are the ones to report it to the public,,,

And why are they doing that Harmony.....Because the PUBLIC deems it newsworthy...You have heard of ratings haven't you....

alright, so that brings me back to my FIRST question

why does the PUBLIC deem some deaths so newsworthy and tragic and not others,,?

msharmony,

In your OP, you give the impression that you are complaining about the current publicity being given to the Stevens controversy. That controversy may be enough to cause President Obama to be voted out of office, which is something that you don't want to happen.

I answered your question as it pertains to Ambassador Stevens. The controversy surrounding his death is indeed newsworthy, and I explained why.

As for your last question - "how does the media decide which deaths are newsworthy and 'tragic' as opposed to just another death?"- that's a question that only news editors can answer.

Im sorry if it appears as if I am complaining. As I have said now several times, I have my own loved ones in dangers way.

My point is not to complain about the publicity as it is to ponder just what I asked


whose lives are 'worth' publicity and inquiry and outrage and whose are not and why , who decides which lives get up on that public outrage pedestal?

thank you for contributing your opinion

Is it just my imagination or do you just keep asking the same question over and over and over until someone gives you the answer that YOU deem newsworthy?

nope, I asked a question in a forum,

I just wonder if and why people rank the importance of others lives?

some are re stating my question on their own terms, and thats fine

I am repeating the question I actually asked to stay on topic

all minglers are welcome to contribute as I have already thanked those who already have,,,,

Actually, I have asked the question that you are asking on several occasions.

Why was the death JonBenét Ramsey considered worthy of national attention and not the deaths of other children?

Why didn't the disappearance and murder of two teenage girls in rural Oklahoma merit national attention, too?

Why is it that members of the national media are more willing to talk about missing children who are racially Caucasian than children who are racially Negro? Why did it become necessary for someone to start the Black & Missing Foundation?

Such unequal treatment of missing and murdered children disgusts me.

I don't think all life is valuable as I don't think mine is. I place no value on my life; I just exist. When I joined the military; I knew there would be a chance that I could lose my life and faced it head on. I just feel for those who didn't chose a dangerous occupation or just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I almost feel it should have been me and not them.

this is what my loved one says too, that he basically goes in full aware of the risk and paid to take it,, he refused to own a hero label

We are taught as early as 17 that we are expendable so I have never thought of myself not being that way. We go into these situations knowing the risks and take them regardless. I never thought of myself a hero either; just doing my job. I think much of the firefighters and police officers that put their lives on the line knowing full well that today could be my last day. Guess this is why I can relate to this guys so well.