Mass Media, disseminating misinformation, is in deep mess, but still up and running. As a result, the whole world has lost contact with environment and turned into a cat without whiskers.
If we roughly divide the world into two halves, we get a saber rattling hemisphere, Crossed Swords, and a Greek-Latin-Nordic hemisphere, Crossed Pistols. The gap between these two is narrowing fast.
Saber rattlers need no media, because they have nothing to share. Crossed Pistols, despite their belief in a 'jealous God' apparently followed Plato's advice: "…men are by nature acquisitive, jealous, combative and erotic…Perhaps music will solve our problem: through music the soul learns harmony and rhythm."
Saber rattlers have no music except battle cries, and need no feed back whatsoever; they instantly extinguish any dissent. Period! However, Crossed Pistols, while somewhat wary of sharing, find the saber rattlers method much handier.
Why bother with freedom of whatchamacallit? Mob is a stupid pig head. We decide what's best for the mob not vise versa. They know nothing about 'Balance of Payments'. We can not teach them pigs economics. However, if we tell them not travel to Spain, Italy or Greece this summer, they do not comply. Dammit, wish we did not need their votes. But, leave it to me, volunteers a paid specialist.
Therefore, every summer, he develops a travel crisis: ground-crew strikes, liquid bombs, foot and mouth, planting bombs in subways etc. If the trick is discovered, then he comes up with another trick.
Pig heads know nothing about 'seeding clouds; silver iodide' or 'lightning'. So, this summer, we give flood to point 'A' and fire to point B. Thus we stop the 'cash flow'. We are benevolent rulers. Anyway, since there is no way to rely on the imbedded reporters, we have only one solution: watch the Mass Messy Media carefully. Ask: why is this green cloaked former Unocal employee visiting USA? Then wait for a couple of days and you'll find the answer. 21 hostages? Wait and see. Bottom line: connect the dots and discover the plots. It is belated but accurate.