One of the pleasures of being retired is the gift of time to read morning newspapers. The real ones: done with newsprint that sometimes makes my hands dirty and which must be recycled and with stories that I would never see if I only looked at online versions, although I do read some of them as well.
So most mornings, I sit down with a pot of steaming English breakfast tea, a piece of toast made from organic ancient grains (I have to buy it online and have it shipped here, but have discovered that my otherwise gluten-free body can tolerate grains that have not been genetically modified and that are grown without massive applications of glyphosate) and see what reporters around the world have to offer the world that still prefers to get news in this old-fashioned and leisurely manner.
Just for fun, I thought I’d share a few of the things I learned today;
- People can make idols out of anything, even a bony, tasteless common food fish, now selling for as much as $300,000 per fish. AND, cosmetic surgeons are making a killing giving these fish eyelifts and chin jobs.
- Russia has one of the world’s worst fire safety records. Rampant corruption means that many contractors construct their buildings with little or no attention to proper safety measures but with much money offered as bribes to various inspectors. (From the print version of the March 28, 2018, New York Times in an article titled, “Putin is Facing Fury of Public Over Mall Fire.” A related story can be found here.)
- A basic series of events done in this order can almost always ensure reasonable prosperity: education to at least a high school diploma, work, marriage, children. Putting one of these out of sequence, particularly having children before finishing education, becomes a pretty sure formula for enduring poverty. For some reason, a lot of people, especially in the US, are not getting that message.
- Essentially no one dares to confront rich and powerful men who routinely abuse and sexually harass their employees. Steve Wynn got away with it for years and set the pattern that many followed.
- My parenting style, which I laughingly called “benign neglect” and which resulted in three highly competent sons who have the capabilities to tackle just about anything, is apparently now illegal in any state but Utah. That state has just passed a law permitting “free range parenting.” Darn good thing I’m out of the parenting business these days.
Have a great day!
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