“The man who reads nothing at
all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” –Thomas Jefferson
Friends,
As both a science afficionado and a news junkie, the thought
of a 24 hour news cycle conjures memories of the water, carbon and nitrogen
cycles. Of course, once that notion was planted in my head, I was compelled to
draw it out (a picture is worth a thousand words).
The process begins and ends with the commentator who anchors
(pun intended) two distinct sub-cycles which are established based on the
relative distance of reported events from your home: local (i.e. near) and
global (i.e. far). The local cycle is tailored to your surroundings and while
you might be forgiven for assuming it’s relevant to your daily life, the
reality is it is mostly comprised of fluff, fleeting information and is full of
itself. Then there’s the global cycle –granted this is a generous label –you’ll
notice the U.S.A. is bigger than the rest of the world (i.e. “scary places”)
put together. This larger cycle has spin as the dominant natural force and its
direction –clockwise or counter-clockwise—will depend on the media outlet’s politcal
leanings and agenda. The global cycle exposes us to the highly entertaining
political circus, things to geek-out about (my favorite), the media’s pet
topics, a reason de jour to be terrified of the rest of the world and some
mumbo-jumbo about gravity’s effect on the Dow, Nikkei or Footsie. Come to think
of it, the news hasn’t changed all that much since Mssr. Jefferson made his
observation.
Unfortunately, donuts were reportedly invented after our
nation’s 3rd president’s passing, so there are no clever
Jeffersonian quotes we can use for the call to action today. Instead, I have
breaking news. The Donut Bar has closed it’s doors forever, so I took a detour
to a new place for today’s dozen: P F Donut Shop (a hole in the wall in five
points). Give them a try and let me know what you think. Finally, I bid you
adieu with one of my favorite quotes about donuts.
“The optimist sees the donut.
The pessimsit sees the hole.” –Oscar Wilde
Happy Friday and… stay classy, Denver!
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