Alert: New Danger TBA

Driving today, I played a game of mental connect-the-dots. Somehow I ended up thinking about the issue of the elderly and driver's licenses. It's an old issue that was extensively covered 2 year ago. It was a hot topic being talked about in 24-hour cable debates, TV headlines, and internet articles. Then, it all died away. Was it that the elderly stopped getting into accidents? I find it hard to believe that there were tons of incidences involving seniors crashing into circus tents full of disabled children one week, and then the next week everything was safe and sound.

This brought to mind all the hullabaloo about contaminated Chinese products coming to America last summer. Though there is still a little discussion, the fad seems to have died away. It started out serious, with lead paint on children's toys. By the time the story began dying away, newscasters were pulling out anything they could get their hands on.

The media is like a class of cheating students back in school. There must be some smart journalist who is getting the new scoops, and all the other networks watch and change some of the answers so its not obvious they copied.

News stations don't currently seem to be clawing too hard for a new topic. The elections are keeping them busy. There are all kinds of scoops, from the candidates' favorite pastas to least favorite Michael Bolton songs. Piles and piles of useless news are just lying around, waiting for another dry spell.