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Two news stories from last week made me feel as if I am living in Bizzaro-world:

1.    According to this story in the Independent, which has few details, over 1500 of our fellow world citizens–Indian farmers–committed mass suicide recently in the war-torn and severely impoverished Indian state of Chhattisgarh.  For 12 years, farmers have been committing suicide over their inability to repay loans of relatively small sums of money that are collected at usurious rates.  This story has not yet been commented on in the NY Times, and, in fact, most of the world’s news sources have treated it to little or no attention.  Surely, either the Independent has made a major news blunder or the story should be on the front page of every newspaper in the world.  Either way, it’s news.  I’d say this is further testament to the failure of mainstream journalism.  It’s like these people just don’t exist.

2.    Carried as a minor item in the Times “City Room” column, a study completed by a highly-respected economist, on behalf of the Restaurant Opportunity Center here in NYC, has demonstrated that in high-end NYC restaurants that hold the most coveted wait-staff positions, racial discrimination is boldly practiced.  Among many findings, the study demonstrated managers, when encountering applicants with non-Caucasian skin, become much more scrupulous, doubtful of credentials, and much less inclined to hire.  Non-White applicants with the same level of credentials as White applicants only got the job half as often as Whites, and they were less likely to get the interview in the first place.  Again, front-page material was hardly noticed by the mainstream media.  

Or maybe this is Bizzaro-world, and these stories belong buried or not covered at all, and Madonna’s effort to adopt is much more vital to our lives.

I really need to watch more tee-vee.