November 27, 2006

• Good News

  If you have been with me for very long, you may recall that I’m trying
  to transcend dualistic judgments such as “good” versus “bad” or
  “evil”.  So why, you may ask, would I use “good news” as a title
  for this entry?  Let me assure you that it’s not an assessment of
  the events chronicled in the news.  I don’t think we are — any of
  us — sufficiently foresighted to judge whether a given bit of news
  tells a story that will end up, somewhere down the timeline, being to
  the advantage or disadvantage of the planet or its people.

  My title is an expression of my approval of and appreciation for a certain news source, The New Standard.  I have had a link to their site for a couple of years, and the daily New Standard Dispatches emails are the only news source I read regularly.  I also get news from NPR, and second-hand through Greyfox from ADN. 
  Often, when a particular story catches my attention and leaves me
  wanting independent corroboration or more detail, I’ll go to Google
  News and search out several sources.  Out of all the available
  outlets, The New Standard is the one that I think does the best job of
  focusing on important issues, and doesn’t just serve as PR flacks for
  government and big business.

  
  Today’s dispatch is what motivated me to write this post.  It
  contained several interesting stories including one on the protests in
  Turkey over the Pope’s visit there.  This photo grabbed me. 
  I must admit it wasn’t the photo’s theme that provoked my
  imagination.  It was that figure with covered mouth at upper
  left.  Amidst all those women, that one with the prominent brow
  ridge and heavy hand, looks like a young man.  Hmmm….

  Another story today, on expanded reporting by the FBI
  of minor criminal histories to prospective employers, interested
  me.  I see that one as having some unpleasant unintended
  consequences later on.  As it becomes more difficult for minor
  criminals to find legitimate employment, more of them will become major
  criminals.  Families of those who don’t resort to crime will live
  in poverty, be dependent on charity, and those children then become
  more likely to resort to crime and/or drugs.  If the planners
  behind that move on the part of the FBI had in mind some form of social
  darwinism, I’m guessing it is going to come back and bite them in the
  butt.

  ---

  FFXII update:
  I defeated the Vyrall yesterday and received my bounty plus a dragon
  scale, a KEY ITEM whose usefulness I have not yet discovered. 
  Until I finish up my hunts for all the Rank V marks now available, the
  story line is left hanging this side of Giruvegan.  There was a
  time a few years ago, when I would have fallen for the characters’
  sense of urgency to get on with their story.  Doug and Seph taught
  me that the story line won’t go on without me, the train (in FFVII)
  won’t leave the station until I’m on it, and the side-quests are
  sometimes more fun than the mainstream playline.

   
   

  • 2:39 pm
  • 5 Comments