The people have a right to know. The press declares its freedom and gives us what we want. What they think we want. What we must want, since their goal is to draw the most eyeballs, generate ratings, ad sales, revenue. Anything that doesn’t interest us quickly disappears for lack of ratings, so we must want to see death, destruction, tragedy.

But do we have a right not just to know, but also to see? To be shocked, horrified, exhilarated, entertained by the death of someone’s son, husband, father, brother, friend? When they switch on the TV, they see him, too – is that fair? Is it right? There are far more of us – the hungry public – than there are of them – the grieving loved ones – so majority rules, right?

Is that it? Is the world run like a playground?

I felt the same way about the photos from Abu Ghraib. These human beings were humiliated and degraded. Not only that, it was captured on film (or bits – whatever). Let’s compound their misery and this horrible mistake by showing the pictures to the whole world. Great idea!

A friend suggested that the media must show these things, or we would cry cover up. Fine. Let the journalists look. Let them be our eyes, our witness. And let them report. That’s their job, isn’t it? Let them tell us what they saw, share their shock and horror, and we’ll forgo our more prurient tendencies. Maybe that will help us to be a little more human.

You may have noticed a billboard for Coca-Cola with the tag line, “Enough for your meal.” It is touting the new twin pack of 50 ounce bottles of Coke, implying that previous packages have been inadequate. That’s right, those old 2-liter bottles do not hold enough for a single meal. When feeding your family, you need a full 100 ounces of Coca-Cola to be sure you don’t run out. Really?

Now, I don’t even like soda, so this concept is completely alien to me, but EEW. How many people are at this “meal” for which 100 ounces is “enough”? Are we feeding octo-mom’s brood? God forbid someone should have to drink water, and whatever you do, don’t give those children milk. (Sorry, octo-mom, I’m sure you don’t pour cola down their gullets.)

As of the 2000 census, the average family had 3.14 members – up about a half point from the previous decade – so let’s say that families have grown slightly faster and presume that today the average family has 4 members. That’s 25 ounces, or just over 3 servings, of Coke for each person. The billboard shows two bottles of regular Coke, so we’ll use that in our example… According to Coca-Cola’s Website, that’s nearly 300 calories and 90 grams of carbs – presumably all from sugar.

I know I’m not the only person flabbergasted by this campaign. I know this because I’ve marveled with my friends and seen others marveling, too. One woman even posted a picture to Flickr. So, I guess the only question left is, “How do we stop it?”