Searching for Signs of Intelligent Lifein the Universe

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Catching up on news of the day online—“Whose news?” is a relevant question—can be like traipsing through a mall: so much busyness graphically casting for eyeballs, be it a leading site (e.g., The New York Times) or partisan streetlife (e.g., The Huffington Post, from which I stay away)—isn’t it mindboggling?

I cope by relying on Google News’s sense of “Top Stories.”

Here, this blog, is a quiet place, a “green world.”

I confess, though, that the dynamics of it all (inasmuch as I can make good sense of it) can be addictive; so, I have to retreat willfully.

One of my favorite features of the daily mall is the political theatric of opposing something via true statements that are irrelevant to the issue at hand. Syria opposes sanctions against Iran because nations (in general, apparently) have a right to develop nuclear energy resources, though the issue is the compelling evidence (according to those with access to relevant information) that Iran is not doing that. In the U.S., Republican Senator Mitch McConnell opposes Obama health care reform because the bills in consideration don’t include Republican proposals, though the Party Of No has offered none, rather only opposing Obama’s efforts at bipartisan work.

The woman truly missing from my life might be Jane Wagner.

But Gail Collins, you are enough.

I read; I retreat. I read again. I retreat again.

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