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| My lunch with the Tribune |
I
enjoy reading my daily newspaper to find out what’s going on locally and in the
world. Of course, a lot of the news beyond the local, I’ve already heard on the
radio. I always read the obituaries to see if by any chance I’m in there –
that’s an old joke my father used to say a lot. The only news I don’t follow is
the sports page and not much of the celebrity news, either. I love the comics
and save them for last – sort of a dessert, as you will, after all the tragedies
going on in the world.
One
feature I really like is the human interest ones. A little over a week ago,
there was an article about American pediatrician Alan Jamison who was treating
patients with Ebola. His medical missionary group pulled him out early as a
precaution, but the 69 year old retiree plans to return. “This is where the
need is,” Jamison explains, “This is my calling.”
Hospital
volunteer Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly were already in Liberia when the
outbreak began and they decided to stay at the charity run ELVA hospital in
Monrovia to help. Richard Sacra, a 15-year ELWA veteran, immediately
volunteered to leave his family in suburban Boston and return to the hospital
when Writebol and Brantly got sick. Jamison also worked there. Rendi Murphree,
an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will
soon be leaving for Monrovia, Liberia, to work at the airport screening
outbound passengers for the Ebola virus. These are just a few of the many
volunteers who are fighting this dreaded disease for no financial reward only a
strong desire to help where help is needed.
Another
article in the Tribune also caught my
eye. It got a lot of hype. It seems that women celebrities have had their nude
photos hacked. Poor women. Yes, hacking is wrong, but I have to wonder why they
had nude pictures on the web when everyone knows hacking is a reality. Also, I
guess I also wondered if they didn’t want people looking at them in the nude,
then why did they have the pictures taken at all. Okay, I guess I’m a bit of a
prude, but it’s hard for me to feel sorry for them when ISIS is brutally
murdering people, people throughout the Middle East are losing their homes,
lives and families, and many people in Africa are dying from Ebola or from the
fighting going on throughout many areas of Africa. The Ukraine is suffering
from an invasion, and wildfires are a serious problem in the west. And then
there is Central America, neighbors of ours who live in fear from the crime
cartels.
I’m
retired on a fixed income, but I do give to some charities. Unfortunately, I
think I’m on the mailing list of almost every charity in the country and much
as I would like to, I can’t donate to very many of them. Of course, some I send
a donation once a year, but then that means I get begging letters from them
every month. One of the charities, I do
donate to more than once a year is Doctors Without Borders. I think these brave
and caring doctors, nurses and others who risk their lives to help others
deserve all the help they can get.
Back
to the daily newspaper; in addition to news and ideas for blogs, it’s a
wonderful place to find characters and plot ideas.
Do
you read a daily newspaper?
How
do you get your news?
