I have a request.
On a day such as today when we have:
– 35 dead children in Baghdad
– the continuing horror in Darfur
– a volcano about to blow
– a war going on
– and various and sundry other big news items …
I do not need a “CNN BREAKING NEWS” email that Tony Blair has a heart flutter and is getting surgery. I am concerned, yes, and I hope everything is fine, yes, and thank you very much for letting me know …
but PLEASE. Just so you know where a little small citizen like myself is coming from?? I feel like the world is on the edge of complete and utter disaster. At any moment, the apocalypse could shriek down upon us. We’ve got floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, Vioxx, suicide bombs, we’ve got huge scary puppets in Times Square as we speak …
PLEASE save the emails for emergencies.
There is a history to my annoyance. The last “CNN Breaking News” email I got was to inform me that Rick James had passed away.
I don’t need an emergency email to tell me that. I will get the news in my own way, reading the headlines, etc. But if Mt. St. Helens blows?? (Knock wood) THEN you can feel free to shoot me an alarming email.
Thank you very much.
Hey, it beats headlines about Scott Peterson.
Gol dang it, YES!
I don’t have an e-mail news dump but I hate it when they do “breaking news” on any of the news stations and it’s something flat idiotic.
I’ve seen “breaking news” about celebs getting married in a “secret ceremony.” Please. My blood pressure fluctuates enough as it is.
(And please God, don’t let them go to color-coded news alerts, where they have “Breaking News – Yellow!” and “Breaking News- Orange!”)
Yeah, I got a couple of “Breaking News” emails about Scott Peterson and literally rolled my eyes at my desk.
Emily: damn straight.
My dad is a FOX news junkie, and when I visited him last (over the summer) there had to be a “Breaking News” like every 15 minutes on there related to the Peterson trial. (Or, sadly, to the Hacking case – they were actually doing “Breaking News: Lori Hacking is Still Missing!,” I swear to God.)
Hey, wait, “Breaking News: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is STILL Dead!” ;-)
Off Topic: Holy crap, you are prolific. Thanks for giving me something to read this weekend!
Try to rest easy about Mt. St. Helens and any impending eruption–it is most likely to be extremely small compared to May 1980. It’s unlikely anyone will get hurt unless they’ve disregarded the posted warnings and go into the off-limits areas right close to the mountain.
For all the latest, the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory has a web page at http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/
A little hunting around in there and you can get recent photos and seismographs.
I have pretty much a front row seat of the mountain from the office I work in here in Portland. I hope to report on a small eruption, in line with the USGS predictions.
I came home tonight and signed on to three top stories on AOL News (which I am pretty convinced has the same overweening media bias as all the rest) :
Bush-Kerry Debate.
Scott Petersen.
‘Shark Tale’
that’s infotainment.
As ol’ Pogo would say, well, moomph.
I still need to defend my Pepe the King Prawn choice too… later today, maybe.
Dano – a bunch of other people also mentioned Pepe the King Prawn in the comments … you were not the only one.
Todd:
Prolific or Completely Manic? You decide.
Thanks, though. :)
….huge Scary Puppets in Times Square?
I guess I know what you mean. 2 of my friends are violently against clowns.
But those people need to get the hell away from Mt. St. Helens I for one believe it’s gonna pop.
It explains all of the quakes over there…if that’s why.