Saturday Newsbreak: 8/25

Here are a few observations from the past week:

--The overwhelming attention paid by the media to Hurricane Dean, in comparison to the torrential floods in Ohio, the parching drought in northern Alabama, and the searing heat wave affecting much of the country (including Gainesville), makes me wonder: what’s in a name? It seems that the mere bestowing of a name on something, even if it is completely inanimate, gives it a legitimacy and importance that is often more than it merits, especially in comparison with other concerns. Maybe they should also come up with names for floods, heat waves, droughts, fires, and blizzards!

--Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida, has swollen up with an unprecedented student population in the past few days. The traffic around here is much worse than any I experienced in South Florida earlier this month. It looks like they’re going to have to open up a few new Starbucks to accommodate the increase!

--Speaking of coffee shops, I’m dismayed to have to report the closing of Corner Cup, a locally-owned quality coffee shop (and small restaurant) which had the best tasting coffee in town. It had different owners from time to time, but this time, the new owner is switching the store’s format more in the direction of fabrics, something that I’ve never been able to get interested in!

--Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards, for some unknown reason, is waging a war of sorts against the Fox News Channel. Any reasonable person would acknowledge the pro-right bias of Fox, but it is nevertheless a very popular forum that is open for guests of all political persuasions with nationwide exposure. And those liberals who have appeared on Fox, such as Joseph Biden and Charles Rangel, have come off quite well. I’m convinced that one big factor leading to John Kerry’s defeat was his refusal to be interviewed on Fox when the offer was extended both to him and President Bush (who accepted, appeared, and won) just before the election. And Edwards shouldn’t have even brought up the name of pathetic Ann Coulter, who, if she just is let free to speak her mind openly, can do more for the Democrats than they could themselves.

--It’s getting to be the time in the major league baseball season when teams in close races either begin to surge or fade. The two teams I’m following seem to be going in opposite directions: the New York Yankees seem to be peaking at the right time, while the Atlanta Braves seem tired and ready to fall back in their division.

--Google is reportedly now offering a view of space from the computer screen as a companion service to their GoogleEarth. One supposedly will be able to use material taken from the Hubble Space Telescope to see galaxies and other phenomena in deep space.