It seems like it was just Monday and here it is again. Why isn’t it like that for Fridays? Chew on that as you browse the five favorites.
After I finish Midmorning this morning, I’ll be heading for Fargo, writing News Cut from high ground. There’ll be plenty of flood-related links coming your way, of course, but here’s one to get the “big picture.” The Fargo Flood homepage has great context, has the update on this latest round of flooding, and tons of links and resources about floods past.
If you’re in a location anywhere along the Red River, drop me a line so I can stop by and talk to you this week.
We’ve got an update from Nevis, Minnesota, where there’s been a crackdown on foul language at the municipal liquor store and bar. “I think it got blown out of proportion,” Nevis resident Russ Hensel tells the Worthington Daily Globe. “We might accidentally say something during a game of pool but I don’t go on a tirade and swear across the bar.” All heck is sure to break loose there.
It’s a sign of the times: The economy goes down, swearing goes up. MSNBC writes that it’s one of the few things we can control. And so we swear a blue streak which to me sounds more like someone losing control. But they’ve got the degrees.
Shoot. I missed International Talk Like William Shatner Day.
Twitter is Plain English. (Open Culture). Most troubling line: “Real life happens between blog posts and e-mails.”
The last word. Be careful what you write online. There, you live forever, and are defined by your last remaining words. Former ABC radio reporter George Weber was killed in in his New York City apartment over the weekend. I admit I’m a bit macabre, first going to his Web site, and then his blog, to see his last words. It’s a piece about his infestation of bed bugs.
Bob Collins