Toddlers take over Internet
Published 5:56 pm Sunday, October 10, 2010
In this season of overlapping sports (which really is all the time except for a few weeks in July), let’s step up to the plate and take some practice swings:
•“Study finds 92 percent of U.S. kids have an online presence by age 2”: They’re the ones with those really intriguing ToddlerBook status updates such as: Drooly. Stinky. Too cute for words. Likes: Clean diapers. Naps. Big Bird’s Blog. Friends: Fuzzy the Bear.
“Scandal-rocked city council lacks quorum after member fails to make bail”: The first city council meeting scheduled in Bell, Calif., since everyone was arrested had to be canceled Oct. 5 for lack of a quorum because one member had resigned and another failed to make bail, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In addition, Mayor Oscar Hernandez and Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo both called in sick.
The only member not charged with a crime was present.
These are the officials charged with misappropriating more than $5.5 million in taxpayer money, including unapproved loans to themselves.
Naturally, as is the American way, Mayor Hernandez has no plans to resign, and Bell’s “city manager who earned $1.5 million may sue California for not paying him more,” Business Insider reported.
Maybe that one city council member not charged with a crime will pass a resolution to change the city name to “Gall.”
•“Frito-Lay sends noisy, ‘green’ SunChips bag to the dump”: If the bag is actually noisier than someone munching on the chips, well, that is indeed loud.
“Single farmers in Vermont give ‘weed dating’ a whack”: (No, not marijuana farmers.) Young, rural people are tweaking the “speed dating” concept, usually found in bars, and taking it to the fields to see if prospective romance can bloom while performing farm chores together. When it becomes commercialized they can call it “Fields of Compatibility” or “Seeds of Romance.”
It’s a brilliant concept that other demographic groups can adopt and adapt: “Green dating,” “mean dating,” “clumsy dating,” “no chores whatsoever dating,” “Tweet dating,” “cheap dating,” etc.
•“Imprisoned Chinese dissident wins Nobel Peace Prize”: State media blacked out the news and Chinese government censors blocked Nobel Prize reports, which highlighted Liu Xiaobo’s calls for peaceful political change, from websites.
Several countries, including the U.S., called for his release. The Nobel Foundation praised Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle” and highlighted its belief in a “close connection between human rights and peace.” Naturally, China doesn’t want its citizens exposed to such crazy talk.
•“On John Lennon’s 70th birthday, how to honor his memory”: Uh, give peace a chance? Give Liu’s release a chance?
