News
« Previous EntriesThree-and-a-Half Hours on Sunday
Friday, February 5th, 2010In anticipation of Super Bowl XLIV, National Public Radio yesterday aired an interview with former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick. Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies opened the interview with the following observation.
“It’s hard to think of another job where you work seven days a week… 80, 90, 100 hours a week… sleep in your office… […]
‘Premature Birth’
Friday, November 6th, 2009National Public Radio broadcast a news story the other day on the impact of premature births on the U.S. infant death rate. A related Associated Press article at npr.org notes that “about 1 in 8 U.S. births are premature” and “the U.S. […]
Ahoy!
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 The world’s largest cruise ship, recently completed at STX Finland shipyard, sailed for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sunday. Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas is due to begin service Nov. 20.
Oasis, built for $1.5 billion, is five times larger than the Titanic. […]
Words
Thursday, October 8th, 2009It’s the age-old question — which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or, as I’ve been wondering, do the media negatively influence our culture’s use of language or does a degenerating culture create the foul-mouthed media it consumes?
Last night I was watching a documentary on dams and hydroelectricity when an ad popped on for […]
Second Life
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009Scanning CNN.com today, I ran across a group of stories about Second Life, an online environment that now attracts several million visitors from around the world. Users create avatars, or alternate computer-generated personalities. These avatars interact in countless ways that mimic life. They meet socially, pursue career-related and entertainment activities, organize group events, even marry […]
He Paid My Debt
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Bryan Darrell, a longtime friend, e-mailed me a few observations about the national debt.
“Current and future government obligations now total nearly $60 trillion (Social Security, Medicare, current interest payments on debt to foreign governments, government bailouts, and the current administration’s new budget proposals). … Can we repay all the debt? It’s possible, but it will […]
No Harmony for eHarmony
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008Breaking news today is eHarmony’s announcement it will launch a new Web site that caters to same-sex singles. The online dating company believes it needs to take this step to avoid future litigation after finding itself having to pay New Jersey $50,000 and a state resident who filed suit $5,000.
That might seem like small change […]
Safe Haven
Friday, November 14th, 2008Nebraska lawmakers are scrambling to rewrite details of a safe haven law they passed in July. As currently worded, the law guarantees, “No person shall be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child in the custody of an employee on duty at a hospital licensed by the State of […]
And Now a Word From Our Sponsor …
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008In his USA Today article, “TSA Allows Ads in Bins Across U.S.,” Thomas Frank reported yesterday the Transportation Security Administration will allow airports nationwide to begin selling ads in the plastic bins used to move your shoes, cell phones and jackets through those trusty scanners.
That’s just great … another tiny corner of your life has been hijacked […]
Rock of the Aged, Redux
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008I groaned and moaned in one of my earliest Out There posts over a 2007 kidney stone attack Christmas week. If you want the details, you can read them here. But yesterday’s article in the New York Times, “A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children,” had me pondering not only my vulnerability […]
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