Know News... or No News?

Thought for the day: To look at the paper is to raise a seashell to one's ear and to be overwhelmed by the roar of humanity.  [Alain de Botton]

[wikipedia]

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a newspaper junkie. Matter of fact, it still bugs me a teensy bit that I had the darned measles when my elementary school class took a field trip to the massive Baltimore News Post building. While my classmates were watching and hearing that huge press in action, I was stuck at home, scratching like a monkey with fleas. Oh well. The newspaper folks made a nifty metal press of each of our names, and I still have that memento, anyway.

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Ever since I was a young girl, I've devoured newspapers, and somewhere along the line, I developed the habit of tearing out articles that pique my curiosity, something I continue to do to this day. In recent years, journalism has changed, almost to the point where I'm beginning to fear Mark Twain was right when he said, If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed. 

Still, it's a lifelong habit I'm not likely to change. Today, I'm gonna share four stories I've saved from the past year or so.

For most folks, no news is good news. For the press, good news is not news.  [Gloria Borger]

Not true. Some news is good. Or at least, it's entertaining...

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** Eating with a degree of dignity can be very difficult for people who suffer with severe tremors. The constant shaking makes self-feeding a challenge at home, and pretty much out of the question in public.

Until now.

Google... yes, THAT Google!... has developed a special spoon that can steady those tremors. Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? But it isn't; it's technology at its finest. The technology used in Liftware spoons senses how a hand is shaking, and makes instant adjustments to keep the spoon balanced. Shaking is reduced by an amazing 76%.

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** Amsterdam has a rather unusual government-sponsored program aimed at alcoholics. The logic behind this program is to offer alcoholics a better option than sitting on a park bench drinking all day, so they're offered a job cleaning litter from the streets. And paid... in beer. Typically, their mornings start with two beers... then two more at lunchtime, and another one or two later in the day. Oh, they don't just get paid in booze. They also get half a packet of rolling tobacco, free lunch, and ten euros a day. (About $13.50) The program is so popular, there's a long waiting list of chronic alcoholics who are eager to join the beer-fueled cleaning teams. So what do you think? Is this is good idea?

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** In God we trust. Those words are proudly printed on our paper currency, and on some of our state's license tags and/or flags. So it should come as no surprise that the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida decided to have those words printed on their new carpet. A fine carpet it was, too. Forest green, with the sheriff's yellow badge on it, along with those sacred words. 'Cept for one thing. After being in place for a couple months, a sharp-eyed deputy (or at least sharper-eyed than the rest of the folks around there) noticed a slight misspelling. The rug said In Dog we trust. (Oops!)

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** Isn't the monarch butterfly gorgeous? Its wings remind me of delicate stained glass. Did you know their population has experienced an astounding 90% decline in recent years? Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't placed it on the endangered species list yet, the federal government has pledged 3.2 million dollars in an attempt to save this iconic North American beauty.  Some of the money will be spent on the restoration of natural habitats, including more than 750 schoolyard habitats and pollinator, and gardens, and the rest will go into a conservation fund that will provide grants to farmers and other landowners to conserve additional habitat.

Yeah, I'm pretty enamored with butterflies, especially since this one paused to poop on my head at the butterfly festival we attended last year. (Not really... he just stopped by to say hello.) 

But here's the thing. I learned at the butterfly festival there's something each of us in North America can do to help these beautiful creatures right in our own back yards. (Or front yards; I'm not picky.) Plant milkweed. Really. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed plants, which provide the nourishment developing larvae need. Because of development, and the widespread use of pesticides, milkweeds and other nectar sources are becoming increasingly scarce throughout North America. Less milkweed equals less monarchs. The simple act of planting milkweed can transform your yard into your very own monarch habitat and way station. (A fantastic project for kids and grandkids!) You can even get it certified, although I must admit, there's no guarantee that an official sign beside your garden will draw a larger number of butterflies. (shhhh... they can't READ!) However, it MIGHT inspire others to follow suit. Wanta make a difference? Here's your chance. For more information, please see this site and later, how about posting a picture of yourself with a monarch butterfly sitting atop YOUR head? (If they DO poop, it's so small, you'll hardly notice... and besides, it probably smells like flowers... )

Time to flutter off! The eye doctor awaits. Have a super weekend, y'all.

How about some other newspaper stuff to keep you entertained while I'm gone?

                           
                                      Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

P.S. Are any of you having a problem posting Youtube videos? Up until a few weeks ago, I could do it easy-peasy, but now? Not. The video will embed on the draft, but NOT on the preview or published post. It just POOF! disappears. Any ideas? Thanks. Ciao!

Pssst... Need a News Fix?

Thought for the day:  If Thomas Edison invented electric light today, the news would report it as "candle-making industry threatened."  [Newt Gringrich]

Hi. My name is Susan. I am an information junkie and newspaper addict. How about you?

As anyone who reads a lot of newspapers can attest, headlines are sometimes written with some mighty questionable word choices. (I mean, come on! Do they even read what they write?) Sure, sometimes the wording might be an intentional play on words, like the headline a friend sent me recently. It's  from a June 14, 1996 Toronto newspaper, and reads, Marijuana issue sent to joint committee.

No argument... that'd be a rather appropriate place to send it, dontcha think? But was the wording intentional... or an inadvertent funny? I dunno. You decide.

It's been quite a while since we took a look at some newspaper headlines that tickle my funnybone, so we're gonna do that today. But first, let's take a quick look at some blogosphere news, shall we?

Remember the False Start Friday idea that Suze came up with last November? Participants got to resurrect a dead snippet of their old writing, dust it off, and then give it a new lease on live by posting it on their blog. Well, it's baaaaack. Only two dates slated for it this time, though: this coming Friday, and the last Friday in February. Wanta get in on the fun? It's probably too late to sign up for this week, but you could always give it a shot. (Might help if you can squeeze out a virtual tear or two while begging Suze to let you in.) If not this week, then how about next month? I promise: no one will throw stones at your baby. And you might be surprised... it just might turn out that you decide to keep that baby in the land of the living and do some more work on it. Who knows? It could happen. Um, I'm not sure why this particular picture is associated with False Starts,  but it doesn't mean you have to write sci-fi. Anything goes.

                                         [Don't trust atoms. They make everything up.]

Coming up next Monday is a blogfest sponsored by a fabulous (and international) foursome: Stephen Tremp, Mark Koopmans, Elise Fallson, and Carolyn Brown. The idea for that one is, obviously, to briefly introduce yourself to a bunch of bloggers who don't know much of anything about you (Maybe 100 words or so.) No telling what you might have in common with some of the other people you might meet through this fest. Kinda like speed-meeting. You can sign up on any of those four blog links.

[Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name? Jim Morrison ]

This last blogfest I wanta tell you about isn't gonna take place until March, but telling you now gives you the opportunity to give it some thought. What it, you ask? Suppose you answer your front door one morning and find a box addressed to you... from you. More precisely, from a you ten years in the future. What do you suppose might be in that box? This fest has three super-cool hostesses: Suze... Nicki Elson ... and Mary Pax. Sound like fun? If you wanta take a fun trip back from the future, click on the badge in the sidebar, and register today... or tomorrow... or yesterday. Whatever. Just do it.

[Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out.  Stephen Hawking]

Okay, that's all the bloggie news for now. Ready for some interesting headlines?

Oh, yeah. Just one more thing. Today's thought for the day reminded me of something else. In 1845, Frenchmen Frederic Bastiat wrote a satirical letter to the French Parliament, expressing his tongue-in-cheek concerns regarding the candle-making industry. He wrote: We are suffering from the ruinous competition of a rival who apparently works under conditions so far superior to our own for the production of light that he is flooding the domestic market with it at an incredibly low cost... This rival, which is none other than the sun, is waging war on us... We ask you to be so good as to pass a law requiring the closing of all windows, dormers, skylights...    

                             Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.