an update (?) on Brianna Denison

The tragic rape and murder of Brianna Denison is back in the news. CNN picked up on it , the others followed.
Here's the thing (or the non-thing): there's no new news - not really. The headline is "Serial Rapist Suspected in Student's Slaying". Um, they've suspected that for a while. Since the media only reports what is current and won't touch a story that is a week old, I was re-reading the story over and over again trying to figure out where the "news" was.
CNN says that the police have been able to link a sample of blood taken from her pillow to another case in the area from December. The Post Chronicle states that they are looking for a 45 year old man and that they have surveillance video of his truck. According to the Reno Police Department he was a "person of interest, not a suspect". Since the media coverage does not mention "new" evidence, I'm confused why they didn't bring him in before. There must be new evidence as they didn't just stumble upon the DNA match.
It infuriates me when the media leaves gaping holes in their reporting. I can't find anything new in this story - if I cut and pasted the past year of media coverage, it would be this article.
I would like to recycle some old news of my own: the city turned down supporting (and threatened to shut down) a safety seminar produced by safety experts in Reno who put their sweat, tears and money into organizing a conference to give their community information, inspiration and some piece of mind. The local papers also turned down a national anti-sexual assault organizations's attempts to help Reno as well. Oops, the college turned me down too. Since then, two other assaults have occurred. That's all.

The Latest Craze From Cruise

Photo courtesy of the fabulous GalleryoftheAbsurd.com

I'm sure thousands of bloggers are weighing in on Tom Cruise's interview discussing his er, relationship with Scientology. I've heard enough first hand stories of friends being lured into the house of Scientology under the guise of "acting classes" to make me shudder every time I pass the "Celebrity" Scientology Centre. Any religion that forces you to stay in a "class" or "get tested" against your will ain't good. As an Angeleno who doesn't even drive that much, I still see accidents happen every day. When was the last time you heard of Tommy, or any celebrity Scientologist for that matter, helping a victim of a car accident, or even a kitten from a palm tree? According to TC, they are the only ones who "truly can help and have the knowledge, because in an instant, they know what to do" (I'm paraphrasing here--I can't bare to go back and watch it again).
I could go on with all the inconsistencies in that interview, but what irked me is that celebrities know that they are emulated by adults and children alike, and despite the cameras (oh spare me), they lead a very charmed life. For many, and I speak from extremely personal experience, it wasn't easy to "arrive". When I worked in the music industry, we used to laugh when our artists were proclaimed "The Best New Musician" in Rolling Stone or the like. There was nothing new about them except that people other than their 500+ fans, including friends and family, were listening to them now. Money talks, and people drink the Kool-Aid.

Until Scientologists show some substantial proof that they can heal the world, celeb scientologists have a social responsibility to tame the crazy. We get it: people are listening to you. Do you get it? It's part of your job, as is dressing in designer clothing, going to premiere parties and telling us what brand of toothpaste we should buy. Jessica Alba just got paid a whole lotta dough to tell me that if I like her shade of Revlon foundation, not to ask for it, because it's hers. Okaaay.
To say that one can't "pretend to know Scientology; you better know it!" from a group that is a closed religion that largely hides their secret sauce is elitist and just, well, wrong. As a survivor, I am sensitive to the fact that non-survivors may not understand how it really feels to be a survivor. Hence why I am here and I do what I do. I don't hold people up to the same ethics that I have for myself as that would be to say that mine are the best, the only way one should live their life. Wow.
As a public survivor, it is my responsibility to give accurate information, to provide help and guidance. Oh, and to bring attention to fact that we've got a much bigger problem going on here in the US of A that we should be healing and paying attention to before we give aid to all the countries that are not like us. Because we are so progressive? I know I have more rights than most women in the world, but that doesn't mean that the scales are balanced. Read a few posts and let me know if you think we're really all that savvy. Or let me remind you that 1 in 4 college students will be assaulted by the time they graduate. That, and a diploma is what your parents paid for, or you are still paying students debts off for. There's a lot that can be done, without having to bow down to my "stringent code of ethics" or wear Nike track pants in eight different colors the way I do.
I'm sorry but social responsibility is no laughing matter. Let me edit that: I am not sorry at all.