I have today off after working last Saturday, so will keep this short...fine day for flute work, so will get to all that directly...
In reading the morning paper, several articles really caught my eye, especially a small column on the back corner of the front page section...
"20% of kids under 2 have TV in bedroom"
It goes on to add that 43% of 3-4 year olds have TVs in their bedrooms, all part of the findings in a new pediatrics medical journal article. I find that very disturbing, knowing how deep and ingraining an effect such mediums can have, especially in saturating the oh-so-formative young minds with such schlock. Yeah, I know it's a great baby sitter. Yeah, I know it may help quiet children down when they're upset. Yeah, I know it gives parents some breathing room so they can attend to other things instead of interacting with their kids. Doesn't make it any more acceptable.
Too many people use TV and videos for their kids as a cop-out from bona fide interaction and family time that could be significantly more meaningful and positive. If 20 million people believe in a bad idea, it's still a bad idea. I still shake my head when I hear people say TV is harmless and doesn't affect people as much as we say it does...oh yeah, I forgot. That's why millions of dollars are spent on a single 30-second TV commercial in the Super Bowl...
I was listening to CBS Evening News last night and they were discussing the monstrous Greensberg, KS tornado...there, on national TV, the anchor said (and graphic supported) that the tornado was most likely an F-5....starting last February, the National Weather Service dropped the former Fujita F-scale system for an amended and more accurate EF system that rates tornadoes by more detailed structural damage criteria...an old F-5 could potentially be an EF-4, or an old F-4 could possibly rate an EF-5. Point is, here is national level news making a noticeable mistake that nobody caught through all the filters and checks. Might be minor to you, but in my business it was a glaring error. But I can best that one...
Hate to tell you that early one morning a couple of weeks ago I just happened to be listening to my very own station there in the wee hours of the morning...just happened to hear the anchor use the phrase "most best" in a story...I immediately called my morning producer who confirmed that not only did he say it, it was written that way in the script. Somebody wrote it. Somebody then approved it. The anchor read it. The recording staff heard it. Not one person caught it and had it corrected. It simply should not have gotten through. It was a taped segment that could have been re-recorded in just a couple of minutes.
I know full well mistakes will happen...they always do. However, there is a certain degree of responsibility and professionalism, certainly within journalism/media, to make very sure you have the facts straight and can present them in grammatically correct fashion, lest you have viewers think less of your credibility. It's an on-going battle...having been a school teacher for 9 years, and working with school kids from time to time even today, the overall level of writing abilities are noticeably less than they were 20 years ago. I could argue use of the word 'deplorable' from some examples I've seen. And I don't know that we have academic programming in place that will turn that trend around, either.
Told you these were rambling thoughts...didn't begin this with the intent on picking out 'down' examples, but that's what was in my head this morning. Just telling it like it is, I suppose. It's gorgeous out, I have a follow-up visit with the knee doc this afternoon, and I think I'm gonna go create a great deal of dust now that it's warmed up (Chilly this morning, near 40!). Speaking of chilly, I will tip my hand on this week's travelogue Thursday...closest Thursday to a wonderful heavy snow in Rapid City, SD 2 years ago May 12, with a special video link you will definitely want to watch!!!
In reading the morning paper, several articles really caught my eye, especially a small column on the back corner of the front page section...
"20% of kids under 2 have TV in bedroom"
It goes on to add that 43% of 3-4 year olds have TVs in their bedrooms, all part of the findings in a new pediatrics medical journal article. I find that very disturbing, knowing how deep and ingraining an effect such mediums can have, especially in saturating the oh-so-formative young minds with such schlock. Yeah, I know it's a great baby sitter. Yeah, I know it may help quiet children down when they're upset. Yeah, I know it gives parents some breathing room so they can attend to other things instead of interacting with their kids. Doesn't make it any more acceptable.
Too many people use TV and videos for their kids as a cop-out from bona fide interaction and family time that could be significantly more meaningful and positive. If 20 million people believe in a bad idea, it's still a bad idea. I still shake my head when I hear people say TV is harmless and doesn't affect people as much as we say it does...oh yeah, I forgot. That's why millions of dollars are spent on a single 30-second TV commercial in the Super Bowl...
I was listening to CBS Evening News last night and they were discussing the monstrous Greensberg, KS tornado...there, on national TV, the anchor said (and graphic supported) that the tornado was most likely an F-5....starting last February, the National Weather Service dropped the former Fujita F-scale system for an amended and more accurate EF system that rates tornadoes by more detailed structural damage criteria...an old F-5 could potentially be an EF-4, or an old F-4 could possibly rate an EF-5. Point is, here is national level news making a noticeable mistake that nobody caught through all the filters and checks. Might be minor to you, but in my business it was a glaring error. But I can best that one...
Hate to tell you that early one morning a couple of weeks ago I just happened to be listening to my very own station there in the wee hours of the morning...just happened to hear the anchor use the phrase "most best" in a story...I immediately called my morning producer who confirmed that not only did he say it, it was written that way in the script. Somebody wrote it. Somebody then approved it. The anchor read it. The recording staff heard it. Not one person caught it and had it corrected. It simply should not have gotten through. It was a taped segment that could have been re-recorded in just a couple of minutes.
I know full well mistakes will happen...they always do. However, there is a certain degree of responsibility and professionalism, certainly within journalism/media, to make very sure you have the facts straight and can present them in grammatically correct fashion, lest you have viewers think less of your credibility. It's an on-going battle...having been a school teacher for 9 years, and working with school kids from time to time even today, the overall level of writing abilities are noticeably less than they were 20 years ago. I could argue use of the word 'deplorable' from some examples I've seen. And I don't know that we have academic programming in place that will turn that trend around, either.
Told you these were rambling thoughts...didn't begin this with the intent on picking out 'down' examples, but that's what was in my head this morning. Just telling it like it is, I suppose. It's gorgeous out, I have a follow-up visit with the knee doc this afternoon, and I think I'm gonna go create a great deal of dust now that it's warmed up (Chilly this morning, near 40!). Speaking of chilly, I will tip my hand on this week's travelogue Thursday...closest Thursday to a wonderful heavy snow in Rapid City, SD 2 years ago May 12, with a special video link you will definitely want to watch!!!
4 comments:
In tornadoes of this size and damage,It trivializes this event to call these tornadoes an F-5. There should be an F-6 rating for tornadoes one and one half miles wide or over and for those who's winds are documented at over 300 m.p.h. I know why there hasn't been an F-6 rating, but despite all I've been told, I still think there should be. lori
I would agree...however, in looking at some Greensburg pics, there was a grain elevator that was left standing...in a theoretical EF-6 (there is no scale, you are correct) I would imagine they would open it up to nothing at all left standing.
FYI, 5's oftentimes involve multiple funnels rotating in the same direction like a giant buzzsaw, creating a 1+ mile wide path of destruction...and no doubt Greensburg had such a funnel hit them. Given the scope, it is a miracle the death toll isn't significantly higher, even with the warnings...
Tried to post a comment earlier this a.m. and the software wouldn't let me ..... trying again .....
Anyway, I completely agree with you regarding "TV in toddlers' rooms" (why??!!) and the general "illiteracy" today in corporate America (whether a broadcast studio / newsroom, or commercial office). Not a day goes by where I don't have to re-write some work document, and it's quicker for me to actually do so, than to explain to my co-workers why it needs to be done.
And regarding tornado damage, as I look out the window toward the street here (1 mile long from the traffic intersection to the north and the next one to the south), I cannot comprehend in my mind a damage swath 1.7 miles wide, although that's what the NWS actually determined.
Yes, multiple vortices are often associated with (E)F5 damage (it's going to take me awhile to get used to the new scale). And from what I understand if the scale were to include an (E)F6 rating, there would be nothing left (complete obliteration) to prove the existence of such a tornado, except for a ground-swirl pattern somewhat "etched" into the earth along the debris path.
Regardless, even what happened in Greensburg KS is VERY hard to comprehend yet this morning.
Suzy
Welcome to the world of Blogger pain...just happens from time to time...glad you persevered!
Things change...our education system does not produce what it once did, and I'm not sure it's capable of it given the changing society, lack of funding, and in some respects lack of teacher support. We are reaping what we have sown, plain and simple.
Greensburg IS hard to comprehend. Yet, it will happen again, somewhere, sometime...that's why we need to make the most of each moment of each day, all of us...
Post a Comment