EPA warns on floodwaters

SF Chronicle: Bacteria, Lead Taint Water in New Orleans

Used to be, when I took the newspapers, I would read the lead paragraphs then skip to the end to try to find the elusive 'WHY', as taught in the journo schools back in the quaint old days... 'WHY' being 'background' issues or notes of interest concerning the event or incident.

Well, THAT 'WHY' started to disappear in every daily newsprint pub somewhere in the 60's. Some blame this on the success of the USAToday format, but believe me.. it started LONG before that.
There is ONE exception and that is the Wall Street Journal- which explains for you, if you hadnt figured it out, why it is so enjoyable to read.

NOW when you read the rags... you have to skip down to find out what the item REALLY means. Or the true significance of it, you might say.

I read the above in a linear manner.. did not skip because i knew what my comment would be before hand.

Sure enough... there it was, in the next to last para.. the antidote to all the alarm in the piece lead:

Sky is falling:

It's the Perseids:

- DUH!!!!
summary: Dont drink the street water.

But onna them meteors COULD still hit you:

- Uh, yeAH.. that's why you WOULD sluice the sediment waste away and process it through the sanitation system, once you get it running.. which should be done ASAP, innit?

OTOH, One HAS to be thankful that apparently the reporter was smart enough to include all the pertinent facts in this ... could have been a CNN plank wrote it.
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Follow-on
I tried to track down the source of the above article, because I prefer to quote the original. While doing so, I noticed another chicken-little headline.

I didnt read it or even click on it, because I dont have to. You can find it and read it for yourself by searching google or yahoo news with the words:
fallout teeth

When you read the article it will mention the long half-life of Strontium 90 and the affinity of that isotope for the calcium in cows milk. Calcium is what builds teeth. Ergo we are rehashing old news for those who fell asleep during classes in high school or college.

Now, for those who consider me obnoxious and overbearing in my views, perhaps the fact that I KNOW all that and remember it from the same time as I was spending every night in the bar, chasing babes, and supporting the big Detroit brewery... would help explain it.

At the same time, I was big fan of Motown and R&B but NOW I cannot recall details of what was big when and who recorded it.
Because, in the larger scheme of things, that s#$$ doesnt matter.

- So there!