New Technology Detects Sex of Fetus as Earky as the 7th Week of Pregnancy.

Tips for Helping Kids Settle into a New Home.

Healthy Lunch and Breakfast Helps Keep Students Alert.

Back to School Safety Tips for Students and Drivers.

The Value of an Ivy League Education.

Who decides what stories news sources focus on? Is it the media or is it the public who decides? Or perhaps both?

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Are Charlie Sheen’s rants that fascinating that we must watch them around the clock for days on end? Is Kate Middleton’s royal wedding dress so captivating that we must listen to debates and speculation over what designer is designing it and what it might look like, day after day? And do we need to hear the explicit details of the Northwestern University Professor’s after hours sex demonstration?

I’m all for a variety of news stories, but it’s obvious that we, as Americans, are getting less interested in what’s important and more obsessed with what is not. Charlie Sheen can drum up 1 million Twitter followers in 24 hours – not because he is an amazing person – but just because he is a train wreck people are fascinated to watch. Young, soldiers die in the war every day, or are gravely injured, but the media barely covers that. Where are the stories about these brave men and women and their families? It seems as though they are forgotten. Aren’t they more worthy of a feature story than a privileged, delusional drug-addict who is an actor only because his father is an actor?

Where are the stories about every day people who do great things? Where are the Americans who want to know more about global warming, geography, travel, alternative health care, outstanding citizens and other important issues?

So who does decide  what the stories will be in the headline news? We all do. And until we decide we don’t want to focus primarily on drugs, sex, rock n’ roll and celebrity, that’s what we’ll be hearing and reading about day after day.

Doctors at several health centers in MA are giving child patients from low income families coupons to farmer’s markets for free veggies and fruits in an effort to encourage healthier eating and fight childhood obesity.

18-year-old raised over $1,00,000 for The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

Bone marrow stem cells are used to repair skin of pediatric patients with a rare, life threatening skin disorder.

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News – Forbes ranks Miami the Sixth Worst City to Live in the USA.

Rebuttal – I sit outside working on my sunny patio all winter long, (unlike clinically depressed family members who live up north and complain about the bitter temps and grey skies!) grow unbelievable organic tomatoes in my yard, eat the freshest citrus fruits in the world, leave my windows open for fresh air, run and walk daily outside, never wear a coat, go to the beach often and take advantage of all the cultural events in Miami year round and much more. I’m not suffering.

News – Tiger Woods apologizes for affairs and demands that the press leave his wife and kids alone.

Rebuttal – I’m all for apologies, and he did do that quite thoroughly and methodically. As far as being disgusted by the press hounding his family, he can blame ONLY himself (and what he refers to as his “behavior” as if that were his sidekick rather than his actions) for that.

News – Stowaway who climbs into the wheel of a cargo plane falls to his death after after plane takes off.

Rebuttal – This man should be the Grand Prize Winner of the Darwin Awards, and hopefully he did not reproduce before doing this. The apple doesn’t usually fall far from the tree, pun intended.

News – Accused killer, Alabama Professor Ann Bishop’s defense lawyer states he is sorry he called his client a “wacko.”

Rebuttal – No he’s not. Because she is.

News – After losing the gold to US skater Evan Lysacek, angry Silver medalist Plushenko comments that his sport is supposed to be “men’s figure skating, not ice dancing.”

Rebuttal – This is an arrogant sore loser talking, without grace and humility. His words are what make him a loser, not his performance on the ice.

My alma mater, Florida State University, listed The Travel Adventures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa Rica on their Seminole ByLines page. This page features all kinds of books published by FSU graduates and faculty. There are so many books published by grads that it took over 1 year for my listing to show up!