Breaking News

     This just in. We are getting reports. Let us go now to the scene. Sparks were flying. Bullets were flying. Insults were flying. Stay with us.

     The shock value of breaking news dissipates considerably when news is constantly breaking. I have come to view the daily updates more as honks and sirens blazing faintly outside my window as opposed to a fire alarm inside my apartment. The danger is out there. My living room furniture remains unchanged.

     Amidst the chaos of modern communication, the deterioration of integrity has become one of the few constants. The majority of national discourse now mirrors the dignity of a live feed of the happenings at the Port Authority. More urine found in the corner. The investigation is ongoing.

     What is shocking now?

     Breaking News: A mother who never admitted her faults decides in quiet moment on long car ride to admit to her daughter that she was wrong.

     If nights staring at my bedroom ceiling feel most like the truth, the broadcasting of human tragedy feels like some brand of violation. So much of it amounts to little more than shreds of scrap meat thrown to my inner hyena named Fear. Why can't I stop eating?

     The most compelling detail is that everything is happening at the same time.

     The most shocking news of all would be that everything is here.