NEWS ON FIRE

My Kindle Fire offers a page of links to news items. I tend to avoid taking more than cursory look -- I already know the horror show the world has become, and I'm trying to escape it.

It took a long time, but now Kindle seems to understand my dilemma, having offered to help me choose other kinds of stories I might prefer. Judging by the list it provided (to the left), the Kindle hasn't been paying attention to my browsing habits. Is Finn Balor an Irish folk singer? Is A417 Road the best way out of town if Iran drops a nuke on my neighborhood? 

Look at the rest. Do you remember (or care about) a lockdown in 2013 or know where the East Midlands Airport is? And is "jersey" the clothing item, state, or bovine?

But the real eye-opener comes at the very end: nazi concentration camps. 

Nazi concentration what the hell? Who or what is programming this list? This wasn't a weird one-off event -- this same list has appeared every day this week, and will likely continue ad infinitum. 

Compare that list to Microsoft's "Trending" news. Everything here is currently newsworthy in one way or another. Everyone wants to know the Mega Million numbers; yet another explorer claims to have solved the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance; Alyssa Milano is "clapping back" at the haters; drug lord Griselda Blanco is the subject of a new hit Netflix series; Chita Rivera has gone to that big West Side Story in the sky; I don't have to explain Travis Kelce; and the Baltimore Orioles have been sold to the Carlyle Group. The reason that's news is they paid almost two billion dollars for a team that's won the World Series three times in 123 years. 

But Nazi Goddamn Concentration Camps?  If this is what Kindle considers newsworthy, I might have to switch to an iPad. Apple is known to have its consumers best interests at heart, right?

By the way, two can play at this "news you might like" stuff. Here's a link to my latest piece at Next Avenue; it's the only time you'll ever read a piece by me offering health advice: With Cholesterol, It's a Numbers Game | Next Avenue

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