Interesting. Who'd have thought that the doping problem in cycling is actually a mental health issue?

Nope. Can't be. These guys are jsut weak minded, unchristian, dopers that deserve Guantanamo detention just like the gays, the Muslims, those damn brown people. Hell, they've just gotta be iberal too. Just say no!

The irony here is too rich to ignore.

Nick Ut, the AP photographer who has become famous for taking this:

Is also the AP photographer who became famous for taking this:

Compare these two images of distraught young women that galvinized a nation to action in the service of righteousness.

I honestly can't say anything about this that British graffiti artist Banksy didn't say better here:

"Screaming Paris Hilton Sent Back to Jail"

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't pee on Paris if she was on fire, but this is ridiculous. Although I know this because of my personal obsession with the news, I also know that Alberto Gonzales will face a vote of no confidence in the congress on Monday, that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs has resigned (suddenly), and that the Iraqi parliment has voted to allow the Iraqi government to reject continued UN mandated troop presence in that country. I doubt that most of the passive receptors of what passes for news in this country are similarly aware.

Today though, my rant is not necessarily about the fact that the various news media is overly concerned with tabloid bullshit instead of real news. Instead, I find it utterly terrifying that Paris Hilton's ordeal has more to do with the coverage by CNN and MSNBC than with justice, the law or the merits of her case.

This works both ways of course. Paris gets the cavity search her Kharma might warrant, but her criminal behavior probably doesn't, yet pederast congressmen and pastors are excused when they check in to rehab.

First she's in jail. Then she's out. Now she's in again. As I mentioned, I don't care, and that's my point. The criminal justice system (which shouldn't care either) seems completely unable to function objectively with this kind of media focus.