What the News Media dosen't report

I watch the news almost every night. To me, it is fascinating to watch what they don't report.

Last night, they had a report on skin cancer. The bit said that young people, early 20's and teens, were developing skin cancer at a higher rate than ever and then went on to lament the fact that these 'darn' kids just aren't spreading on the sun protection lotions and wearing covering clothing.

Now that's an intriguing thought, have you ever tried to get a young teenage girl to wear a burka outdoors? At the beach? I don't think that is going to work. Bikini's and shorts, and halter tops are the standards there.

The report stated that younger people are not using the SPF (skin protection factor) lotion high enough to block the sun. Therefore, they are developing cancer.

As I watched this I was amazed at the story they weren't telling. Such as: Human beings have been hanging around the sun for our entire existence. As a species we have spent our share of time in the noon day sun and have seemed to cope quite successfully with it. Although skin cancer has always been present, it has usually been negligble in terms of a high incident rate.

What has changed? Why is it that just within the past 30 years or so have we been warned to wear protective clothing, slather on skin cream, and stay out of the sun during peak sun hours?

Why, I bet it has something to do with the fact that the human caused pollution has so damaged the earth's protective ozone layers that the ultraviolet rays now penetrate all the way to the surface and therefore are endangering human life...and the lives of other creatures as well.

Why keep this quiet? Well, if humanity was made aware that our industrial pollutants are making us extremely susceptible to ultraviolet rays that can kill us, we might demand that these pollutants be eliminated and restore the ozone to its pristine levels. But this would cut back on profits. That we cannot tolerate. Our corporate masters would rather we die early, rather than diminish their personal profits.

Sure, we have been warned about the ozone layer losses. But these have been 'science stories'. And these have been stories about the Antarctic, a far far away place. Besides these warnings are almost never discussed now.

Instead, the corporate news media will focus on blaming us for our foolish failure to wear sun screen. We are told to focus on protecting ourselves. As if the obliteration of the ozone layer were just a natural fact and nothing can be done about it.

The story they won't tell is why the ozone has disappeared. The story they won't tell is why the noon day sun is now so much more dangerous then it was 30 years ago. The story they won't tell us is that it would diminish the profits of the wealthy if ozone depletion were halted. The story they won't tell you is that the death of thousands from this ozone depletion is acceptible as long as the profits keep coming.

Profits for the few, over the health of the many.