Figuring Out the Angles

 

September 14, 2020

 

I posted about the man who was stranded in a lake and was saved by a group of priests floating by on a tiki bar.

Naturally, the image of priests on a floating tiki bar tickled people’s funnybones. But I looked at a few different sources for the story, and was fascinated at how the details each story offered depended on the writer’s point of view.

Here are some of the ways the story was presented:

 

The first story, by Fox News, mentioned that the man was hanging onto his kayak, his life jacket, and his new $1,400 cell phone. Naturally, you wonder, “If he’d dropped his cell phone, would it have helped him fight through?” I wondered why that detail had been included. The story says that the priests helped Tiki Tours staff help the kayaker.

 

NBC News in Washington didn’t mention the cell phone. It reported that the priests were on a break from a religious retreat, which the Fox News story had left out (giving the impression that the priests were partying down). NBC didn’t mention the staff of Tiki Tours performing the rescue, leaving the impression that the priests had hauled the man in by themselves.

 

The Catholic News Agency said that the man had been taking pictures on his cell phone, but didn’t mention the price, or that he was hanging onto it for dear life. CNA also noted that the priests were on a break from the retreat, and that they had assisted the Tiki Tours staff in the rescue, not performed it all by themselves. That story mentioned that the kayaker had drifted far from shore, but before he overturned, he waved on several boats that stopped to offer help.* CNA dealt with the tiki bar angle by writing that the priests were on a boat rented from Tiki Tours, giving the impression that the tiki bar was not the reason the priests were on that particular craft.

 

NBC and CNA both mentioned that the rescued man had been sober for 7 years, and that he thought that it was ironic that he’d been rescued by a tiki bar.

All the stories said that the participants in the drama credited divine intervention.

Nobody mentioned whether the priests had been imbibing.

 

My point, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that you should always check more than one source before you repeat a story. You never know what you might be missing, depending on what point of view the author is trying to present.

 

Try to get all the angles. And to figure out the angle of the person who’s writing the story.

 

 

 

*I am irresistibly reminded of the joke about the man stranded on the roof of his house during a flood. A rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter, at different times, all stop to offer assistance, and the man waves them on, saying each time, “The Lord will provide.” Eventually the man drowns, and when he gets to heaven he says, “Lord, I was counting on you to provide a rescue. Why didn’t you?” And the Lord says, “I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?” 

 (Luckily, our real-life kayaker eventually accepted help.)

 

Lies, Not Lives, Matter to Some People

 

September 14, 2020

 

Intriguing Headlines I Haven’t Seen (Yet)

 

Trump Supporters Claim that Bob Woodward was Trying to Get Rid of Them

“He knew we supported the President, and didn’t believe the scientists. So we didn’t take precautions. Now we’re sick, and it’s Bob Woodward’s fault, for not telling us that the President was lying. I think he did it on purpose.”

The President received no blame from his supporters for not telling them that the coronavirus was real.

 

Bob Woodward Says He Didn’t Reveal that Trump Lied about Coronavirus because, “Anybody with any Sense Already Knew About It. Besides, I Didn’t Want to Ruin My Book Sales.”

They Don't Just Save Souls

 

September 14, 2020

A man stranded with an overturned kayak in a choppy lake prayed for help—and it came.

The man was rescued by a group of priests who were on a floating tiki bar.

“We’re missionaries,” said a seminarian. “For us, that day, that was our mission to be present and help someone in need.”

 

Nice work, fellas.

 

Check Those Stress Levels

 

September 9, 2020

 

COVID-19 seems to be pretty random about whom it affects. It isn’t, of course—we just haven’t figured out the common denominator that makes some people susceptible to a gamut of issues, while other people can get infected and have not even minimal discomfort.

At first it was deemed to strike mostly the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. But then I read that even people who live healthy lifestyles, i.e. go running, etc., are getting struck down. And I started wondering if anybody’s considered stress levels as an indicator of susceptibility. I always imagine that athletes are pretty high-stress in other aspects of their lives, although I don’t know any runners or other athletic sorts to check this theory with. Maybe some stress-related effect on the body makes people more vulnerable.

On the face of it, since the elderly in nursing homes are getting clobbered in droves, it doesn’t seem likely that stress is a factor; but who knows what their personal stress levels are? (Nursing home life, contrary to what you might expect, is not always a piece of cake. Read the papers.) And then, of course, there are those underlying conditions.

So if you’re going nuts trying to live one of those over-scheduled lifestyles that involves working late, or running the kids to and from activities on top of trying to work full-time and still maintain the family home and do Zumba or hit the gym, you might want to dial it back.

 

Or at least take up meditation for a few minutes a day. Even if I’m wrong about the COVID connection, it can’t hurt.

January 25, 2021

I saw an article on Yahoo! today, originally published on Insider that recommends that people with COVID avoid exercise, even if they're asymptomatic. The article says that anything more than a brisk walk could make the infection worse, “as higher-intensity exercise can temporarily reduce immune function.”

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/people-covid-19-avoid-exercise-215546507.html

Thanks for Sharing

 

September 8, 2020

Like a lot of people, I’ve found myself with some time on my hands the past few weeks. So decided to travel to some places I have always wanted to visit, but never got to. I traveled down the Danube, and stopped in Budapest to see some beautiful architecture; I traveled by boat through Alaska—different boats, even; and I traveled down the Amazon River and got a glimpse into the rainforest.

I did it all because other people were adventurous enough to take journeys, and generous enough to post their vlogs on YouTube. They weren’t cruise-ship ads, or National Geographic specials; they were videos taken by (extra)ordinary people and shared with the rest of us.

If you want to see the world but can’t afford the expense or don’t want the discomfort of going in person, check out these videos of other people’s adventures.

Thank you, vloggers. I appreciate your generosity.

No Respect for the Law

 

September 6, 2020

 

Police in some areas have been having run-ins with scofflaws lately.

A Georgia policewoman had her patrol car invaded by a goat, who proceeded to chow down on some paperwork before finally being evicted from the car.

Police in Park Forest, Illinois tried to round up three stray pigs, who were much faster than the humans. The pigs ignored a laughing policewoman’s cry of “Stop! Police!” and, as of press time, had not been captured. 

Police are not planning to file any charges.

 

 

Your Surgical Team Will Thank You

September 2, 2020

If you don’t believe that masks really help prevent the spread of disease; and if you’re against wearing them because they make you too hot,

Then, if you ever have to have a multi-hour operation, be sure to tell your surgical team, “Oh, don’t bother about wearing a mask; it’ll just make you too hot.”

I’m sure they’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness.