Information Station...

Here are some random pieces of information that I have scribbled down from TV or Internet news, each ranked according to "Holy Cows"...

One Holy Cow!...

1. Sodium bisulfite that makes up 50 percent of some toilet bowl cleaners is also found in wine, potato chips, and pet food. (Hey, was it a very good year for that toilet bowl cleaner...I mean...wine?)
2. According to reports, 80 percent of 2009 graduates moved back in with their parents.
3. One in three Americans are obese.
4. Thomas Edison had 1,093 patents.

Two Holy Cows!...

1. For a lesson in journalism, CBS newsman Walter Cronkite had one-half hour of broadcast news printed on a newspaper page and it only covered three columns on one newspaper page. (Actually, I already knew TV news would equal that small proportion of a newspaper. All newspaper journalists, like Cronkite who worked in the newspaper business first, know that.)
2. There are only 30,000 lions left in Africa. Thousands of lions have been killed or poisoned.
3. Some sunscreen ointments have an ingredient that, when it washes off, kills the coral reef.

Three Holy Cows!...

1. Texting while driving is 23 percent more dangerous than just driving. (Here's what I am wondering. I will probably be the last person on earth to have a cell phone. So, since I don't text or use cellphones or play chess and with other toys while driving, shouldn't my car insurance rates go down, while people with texting devices have increased rates?)
2. An estimated $1.3 million from insurance companies is being put into lobbying against health care reform EVERY DAY. (Wow, that industry has money and I know where they got it--from all of us with or without costly health insurance.)
3. Rush Limbaugh makes $54 million per year. (No way! I would think that media companies could surely find someone just as irritating, rude, and obnoxious at half that cost for a tremendous budget savings.)

Four Holy Cows!...

1. It was reported that the Taliban in Afghanistan pay $10 per day to keep some men as combat recruits. Per day, not even per hour. (Huh! You mean to tell me that we are paying millions and billions for two endless wars, with much of the billions going to greedy, awful companies like Blackwater and Halliburton, and the Pentagon could be offering a higher but still small price to pay, like $20 per day, to keep some Afghans from being insurgents. Seems like we're not using our finances wisely, but what else is new when it comes to military and war spending.)