Scenes from modern life
Published 3:47 pm Friday, July 17, 2009
As the world turns, more spin:
— “China bans electro-shock therapy for Internet addicts.” The Ministry of Health took the action after media reports about Dr. Yang Yongxin’s “treatment” of nearly 3,000 teenagers.
What spurred the media? The Wall Street Journal reports: “In what might be an indication of the clinic’s effectiveness, its practices came to light when former patients went online to complain.”
Indeed. Those kids have blogging material for a lifetime. They described restrictive living conditions — including being allowed to talk only about their addiction and being forced to kneel in front of their parents in obedience. Perhaps “Uncle Yang” will try exorcism next.
Chinese psychologists say symptoms of “Internet addiction” include being online more than six hours a day — playing games and looking at pornography rather than working or studying — and getting angry when unable to get online. Uh, oh. An “addict” or an American?
— “Magazine ranks Seattle No. 1 in U.S. to find single men.” The August 2009 issue of Marie Claire magazine ranks Seattle as the “top city for single gals on the prowl.”
On the prowl? Does that mean Seattle is the best city in which to be a stalker? Or a cougar?
It turns out the magazine was being quite literal. About where to find single men. Not about where is best for “single gals on the prowl.” The rankings were determined by male-to-female ratio, overall male fitness, “ubiquity” of coffee shops and movie theaters, accessibility to mass transit, and time of last call. This fine criteria led Marie Claire to rank San Francisco as the No. 6 best city to find single men. Ahem.
Single they may be, but we detect a slight flaw in the logic.
— “Starbucks tests new names for stores.” New Coke, anyone? The coffee giant is having a mid-life crisis. When further global expansion has been put on hold, what do you do? Rename some stores, leaving off the “Starbucks.” The Seattle Times reported that Starbucks’ 15th Avenue East store on Capitol Hill, a shop that was slated to close at one point last year, is being remodeled in Starbucks’ new rustic, eco-friendly style. It will be called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, which no one will call it. The store will seek to be a more authentic, neighborhood cafe. Kind of what like Starbucks used to be. But only a corporation of Starbuck’s stature could afford a remodel of a modern store to make it “rustic and eco-friendly.” Someone alert the Marie Claire editors about the “ubiquity” of coffee shops on Capitol Hill.
