heath ledger?

Why do we care about heath ledgers death? as far as i see the tabloid media is an extension of high school. actually lets admit it life in general. gossip never stops. we all realize that a fair amount of us get off on knowing what others are doing. the numbers of us willing to admit that we hold this interest, doesn't add up to how much attention is generated. but honestly even if the Hollywood rumor mill is ridiculously out of control it doesn't make a difference to me. every time some one i vaguely know enters rehab, dies, overdoses or losses control, gets knocked up, or, in some way crosses that invisible wavering line of acceptable behavior. the information of the slip up it goes from mouth to mouth and i end up hearing it. the more surprising it is the more unlikely of the person the more buzz is created. people take mental notes and file it away letting it manifest in their sub conscience.
sure high school gossip sucks but i doubt it ever goes away. I've sat around with my grandma and heard her gossip about old ladies, parents gossip about kids, co-workers gossip everyone does it. gossip is just simple a matter of communicating hard to live by and unwritten social rules. it reminds us why we just don't do what we want independent of others opinions. obviously for some mere gossip isn't enough of a consequence to not partake. to some its one inconvenient part of life to others its a validation of there persona. we need to know whats acceptable and passing on information about another person lets us gauge others responses. we are simply just testing the water for when we fall in.
frankly i think we care more about heath ledgers death than Iraqi citizens because yr more likely to know a troubled young man w/ a drug problem sometime in yr life than yu are the victim of a suicide bombing. Americans CANNOT relate to that situation at all we aren't living in a civil war battle ground. heath ledger is much easily personified in a friend brother cousin husband than any Iraqi citizen could be to the average American. this death made us stop and think" well at least so and so's not dead" or "I'm glad i raised my kids right".
seeing those in high up places fall secures our faith in mediocrity. Its sickly comforting that not everyone who has everything is perfect. we see big flaws drug addictions, mental illnesses and say well at least i don't have that problem. Really its selfish of us to say that because its not your choice you didn't end up the same way because everyone is wired differently and life is mostly situational. at least you can be proud that you had one thing over heath ledger even if your not glamorous. you accomplished something you didn't over dose on sleeping pills yesterday night. you have gotten one thing right that heath ledger and Marilyn Monroe could not and that makes all the difference.
Humans have always had an appetite for the tabloids and its going to effect others. celebrities and common folk alike are tortured over it. maybe people well lose interest in one subject but gossip never stops and we have to move on with our lives and go on to the next big thing. purging all gossip thats unlikely because there are those who like to watch and those who want to be watched. it happens on every platform of visibility.

Research and linking

Feministing.com

Feministing is a blog written by a group of feminists mostly in their late twenties. the founder of the blog is Jessica Valenti who has written two books on feminist issues and continues to write for various publications.
the message of the blog is to illustrates how and why feminism is still relevant in todays culutre. posts often high light young activist and teaching feminism to younger generations by making it relevant. the highlighting of media issues like the recent article by Cosmo on "gray rape" was rebutted on feministing with the rebuttal being that if there is no consent, there is rape. in reply to this posting you saw many people sharing thier experience w/ what Cosmo was calling "gray rape" and the hole in Cosmo's argument for a gray area in relationship to forced sexual encounters. the highlighting of false and misleading information in the press is very important for young females because we are bombarded by them all day long.

there is also an abundance of political coverage on feminsting .This blog is a great way to find out what the current administration and political groups in America are doing for and against female equality. The writers of the blog regularly encourage letter writing ,phone calling and emailing campaigns to various political and private entities. activisms is also encouraged by posts about local protests and other opportunities to become involved appearing regularly.

when visiting this blog most often you can expect to come upon educated discussion of the issues at hand. there are few derogatory and useless comments. some thing that contributes to that is this blog has a pretty specific target audience catering to the tastes of most leftist politics and feminist issues. so although i wouldn't suggest this blog to a pro-life , pro-abstinence , conservative, for someone that appreciates feminist issues. its a great resource that i would recommend to find out about issues you may have interest in.