"New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group"

Glad you tuned in today for our brand new episode. It is a back-to-work Monday and this one falls on May 18, 2015. I use that brand new moniker very loosely since much of what I write about tends to be a rerun of one sort or another. I like headlines. I really do. At times I enjoy the headlines a whole lot more than the story. I saw one last week that jumped out at me. It was from the electronic edition of the NY Times: 'China's Super Rich, The Bling Dynasty'. If you don't like that one, sorry, I may not be able to help you. Back in my formative years I did nearly 3-1/2 years as a federal civil service employee. That was long enough to gain me career status. No. It was not long enough to qualify me for re-education training when I left. At any rate, my last job was in the public affairs operation at Fort Polk, Louisiana. I was there for about 18 months. We were the press interface for the training post. The Vietnam conflict was still going hot and heavy. We had a newspaper and a radio station to staff. One of the PFC's had come to us via the draft from the Houston area. He had worked for the now defunct Houston Post. His job there? Headline writer. How neat is that? Sitting around all day thinking up pithy wordings that would cause someone to pause and check out the story, well, that sounds to me like a pretty decent way to spend a day at work.

Clever headline in Scottish paper about a devastating soccer loss.

Of course newspapers are for the most part an endangered species today. Back in the day, it was all about what was on the front page headline. It was the story that answered the paper boy's reason to shout, "Read all about it." If you were in Chicago on October 31, 1938, you could have given 2 cents to the paper peddler and purchased The Chicago Herald and Examiner. In huge bold letters it proclaimed, RADIO FAKE SCARES NATION. This headline reflected the panic and chaos surrounding the Orson Welles radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. The opening paragraph under the headline said this: "Hysteria among radio listeners throughout the nation and actual panicky evacuations from sections of New York and New Jersey resulted from a too-realistic radio broadcast last night, describing a fictitious visitation of strange men from Mars." I've listened to that broadcast myself a number of times. And, I can easily see how those who missed the disclaimers at the front would have thought it to be a live news broadcast.

Nowadays the main focus is on the electronic media. They still give out awards for best newspaper headlines but they have now added the on-line headlines as well. An online story about closing post offices had this winner: 'Facing the loss of a stamping ground' ~ Another winner was the headline on a story about worker fatigue and stress: 'The yawning of a new era' ~ An online technical journal won for it's title on a piece about the permanency of posting items on internet social media, 'What goes online, stays online' ~ There are many more but I'm pretty sure this entire subject is of little interest to many of you. Here's my final one for today. In an article about a devastating drought, this title brought the writer an award, 'Desperation is the only thing growing' ~ Now you know a little about what grabs my attention. What's that? You think that might mean I am wide but very shallow? I think you may have nailed it! Here's my own headline for you to consider, 'News Flash: God is still in control.' Read all about it in the Book He gave to us, The Holy Bible. Have a great rest of the day and may God add His blessings to us all. Amen.  ....More later.