As always, a finely written article by Heather Havrilesky.

The very ubiquity of this celebrity news is part of what is so annoying about it. One finds oneself knowing the lives of these celebrities without ever clicking on Gawker or Perez Hilton or any of the other sites devoted to the uncovering of the celebrity lifestyle. I have almost no knowledge of the actual work produced by most of these celebrities and yet I know much more than I care to about the personal wreckage of their lives.

Meanwhile one can search in vain for meaningful dialogue about the suspension of Habeas Corpus or find a person who knows it even happened and what it means to their rights as citizens.

It seems like such a close analogy to the fall of the Romans with the amphitheater and the Roman Circus serenading the masses with more and more debased entertainments while they were all collectively flailing into oblivion. The cacophony does make it difficult to concentrate on what is important and vital for our society to move forward in a positive and informed manner.

I bet you it's a space issue. You can't house women with men, it's a bad idea, and even though the number of female offenders are probably higher now than ever, they probably haven't increased the size of the jail. Where I live, there aren't enough facilities for females in the city jail. They sleep on palletts on the floor, that's how bad it is. The crowding has gotten so ridiculous, but they haven't done anything to fix it.

At least that's my opinion. It could be an unfairness in sentencing, but I'm guessing they keep most of the room for violent offenders, drug charges, things like that.

That's just my two cents.

most female DUI probation violators get sent to home detention.

What happens to the male DUI probation violators, and if it's different, why isn't that a story too?

It is in the best interests of a capitalist society to keep the gaze away from the shenanigans of industries and right wing politics to a huge preoccupation with celebrity culture.

Is it any wonder that we now have to pay for drinking water, live in massively polluted cities, live on the mercies of the American Medical Association and the Pharmaceuticals, that the rich, lazy media should be investigating for the good of the citizenry in the first place.

It is completely disgusting that an untalented, bratty, self destructive socialite like Paris Hilton (what really is her claim to fame?) makes headline news around the world while close to half a million Iraqi women, men and children have lost their lives in the US occupation, or how about unnecessary deaths of Americans due to lack of health care. The travails of a visibly troubled Britney Spears takes up more news time than the daily killings of Palestinians by US interests, or if that is a hard pill to swallow, then how really the US sabotages voter turn outs that would make this society more equitable.

Bring on the Kool-aid because the media is never going to raise the bar for a well informed society. Dumbing down of America has become a guilt free pasttime.

But, whatever you do... LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!! *sob*

As a veteran of four formative years in Catholic school, to which I flash back as if it were 'Nam, I don't believe scrawling "Fuck You" all over the stalls of the girls' bathroom -- even in red Magic Marker -- constitutes sociopathy.

Seems like a pretty reasoned response to me.

Great piece, HH.

Echoing what others have said here about celebrity noise taking the place of actual journalism, if you don’t know about it, you might check out projectcensored.org.

Top 25 censored news stories of 2007

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media

#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger

#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US

#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo

#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq

#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians

#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed

#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines

#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup

#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US

#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner

#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court

#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda

#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story

#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever

#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem

#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers

#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed

#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe

#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year

#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

About Project Censored:

Project Censored is a media research group out of Sonoma State University which tracks the news published in independent journals and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles an annual list of 25 news stories of social significance that have been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country's major national news media.

Between 700 and 1000 stories are submitted to Project Censored each year from journalists, scholars, librarians, and concerned citizens around the world. With the help of more than 200 Sonoma State University faculty, students, and community members, Project Censored reviews the story submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and national significance. The university community selects 25 stories to submit to the Project Censored panel of judges who then rank them in order of importance. Current or previous national judges include: Noam Chomsky, Susan Faludi, George Gerbner, Sut Jhally , Frances Moore Lappe, Norman Solomon, Michael Parenti, Herbert I. Schiller, Barbara Seaman, Erna Smith, Mike Wallace and Howard Zinn. All 25 stories are featured in the yearbook, Censored: The News That Didn't Make the News.

Watchu say?

It took the LA Times staff several days to get access to the jail records and parse the raw data into evidence that would tell us whether or not Paris Hilton was really getting special treatment by being released so early.

But it only took an hour or two for the tide of white hot rage over her assumed special treatment to build up on the Internet.

And the Hillary campaign hostage situation -- I could see the white hot tide of political outrage building up within minutes before it was finally defused by a factual determination of the lunatic and his mental condition and motivation.

Why can't people just chill and wait for the facts to come out?

I guess it's the Internet. It speeds up the scandal reaction time but it doesn't really speed up the scandal investigation time.

That's not a good thing.