This is news?

Today's big headlines:

"Clay is Gay: Aiken comes out of the closet"

"Miley takes boyfriend to Pussycat Dolls concert"

"Lindsay Lohan confirms she's dating a woman"

Aren't there more important things going on in the world? Does anyone really need to know what a few popular, although relatively insignificant entertainers are doing in their personal lives?

Sure there have been other headlines about McCain calling for a pause in the campaign to focus on the financial crisis and Obama taking a larger lead in a few states, but I'm growing extremely tired of politics after a two year campaign and the obscene amount of money that's been wasted in the process. Then there's the article about actor Michael Douglas fielding questions about the financial crisis on Wall Street at the UN. Really? I know he was in the movie "Wall Street" - he even won an Oscar for the role -  but does that make him an authority on the crisis happening in the US Financial District? Why would a reporter even ask a stupid question like that? It's bad enough that he was really there to talk about a nuclear test ban treaty, like he's an expert on that subject, too.

In the meantime, the residents of Galveston are being allowed to return home for the first time since Hurricane Ike struck two weeks ago. Sure, it's in the news, but it's not getting as much attention. The CDC is really concerned about this season's flu season. Apparently there are three new strains lurking out there waiting to prey on infants and the elderly. Buried.

Is this a sign of the direction our culture is headed? If the love lives of celebrities can trump real world, life threatening, significant news so easily I'm afraid for what's to come. Do we need to be so sheltered and insulated from what's going on in our world? Wouldn't it be better to know what life changing events are happening around us so we can get our fat butts out of our lazy-boys and give someone a hand?

That's it, isn't it. We've become such isolationists that we really don't want to know what's going on around us. It's "too painful," or it "really doesn't affect me that much." "I'm tired of hearing about other people's problems."

May God have mercy on us all.