Quantum Jonesing and NEWS OF THE WORLD … By Whitney Farmer – Un Pop Culture

July 13, 2011 Whitney Farmer 3 Comments

Whitney runs a rock music venue on the beach in L.A.. She has an M.B.A, and is drug-free.

British publication NEWS OF THE WORLD closed within days of a scandal that is expected to result in criminal charges for a number of their key personnel. Actor Hugh Grant apparently played a key crusader’s role, wearing a wiretap that captured NOTW reporters describing how they would unlawfully hack into private voice mails and records of even private citizens in order to get newsworthy scoops. The most despicable of these acts involved the voice mail of a missing girl – perhaps affecting an investigation that could have led to capturing her murderer – and fallen Afghan War British soldiers.  The most politically suicidal violations included medical records of the disabled son of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and documents via bribery of Scotland Yard investigators. Within days, formerly bullet-proof media mogul Rupert Murdoch had closed the news agency’s doors in preparation of indefensible attacks that are certain to follow.

Murdoch who is expected to undergo scrutiny due to an alleged sexual relationship with News International CEO Rebekah Brooks that provided his implied consent over the unlawful practices committed under her watch. Murdoch has made his billions on – in his own words – manipulating the media to advance his own agendas. This has been accomplished by mixing conservative political bias with a crack pipe full of gossip and original programming that ironically pushes the boundaries of broadcasting codes for language, content, and nudity.  This addictive mix is served up via his outlets throughout the globe, including Fox News.

Now, Murdoch’s sword has turned on himself.  Calculating the damages caused by NOTW will require calculus, and criminal prosecutions that would have been off-set because of political connections are now nearly assured because the offenses have touched the highest in elected offices. There is the potential that the practices of what has been termed journalism will even be subjected to new regulations. Like all vices that have infected civilization, governments step in when it becomes evident that the addiction is established but the damage has become intolerable. The business of gossip might be outed for what it is and forced to relinquish its mantle of authority and trust. The breaking news of the day to Murdoch shouldn’t have been new information. Long ago, it was said, “Whatever is sown will be reaped.”

On a sub-atomic level, light and sound become indistinguishable. They become just energy on a spectrum that shifts from red on the lower level to violet on the upper. One unit of violet energy – measured in quantums — has twice as much power as red – and scientific visionaries can measure the sounds released by distant stars to see how significant they are, or whether they are moving closer or farther away from our blue world.

The light from stars makes a sound, and that sound has a color.  Because of this, I’ve wondered what is the color of the sound of a voice, of my voice?  Does it change with truth or lies, love or hate?  If violet quantums are twice as strong as red quantums, I suspect that my sound is colored based on the strength of my voice.  But the good and evil in it might also change its color on the spectrum.

Gossip’s reputation has improved in modern times, changing it from a vice due to the virtue of its ability to generate money. Like other vices connected to economics such as liquor, gambling, smoking, and drugs, it seems to generate increased consumer demand with increased consumption. The more you have, the more you want. Tabloid journalism has supplanted mainstream journalism in the minds of the public like crack cocaine aggressively supplants neurotransmitters in a human body, making it unsatisfied by anything else. The fall of NOTW is an opportunity for a cultural intervention.

“Hi. My name is America, and I have watched Fox News.”

“Hi America.”

The Red Tab Press has had too much authority and access to affect the beliefs of our culture. In ancient times, royalty was clothed in violet.  Now is the time to put on that mantle and put pretenders and offenders in their proper place: Off the throne, bottom of the food chain, end of the spectrum, and sometimes behind bars.

Quote of the Blog, from Steiner in “La Dolce Vita”, which led to the coining of the term ‘paparazzi’: “We must get beyond passions.”