Last Canadian steel company, Stelco, bought over by, drumroll please, the Americans, i.e., US Steel.. What else is new?

And (shock of shocks?), Detroit may lose its American automakers as they threaten to move to South America or Asia… What else is new there? A great irony but nothing funny about it… It’s all about money – for the shareholders, no less -, all the workers and way of living in that community be d*mned… what a lovely legacy this so called ‘pursuit of the American dream’ has left all of us with…

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLSU00926082007-1.htm

U. S. Steel Agrees to Acquire Stelco

 August 26, 2007: 11:43 PM EST

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I was just browsing the news and as is often the case, one article led me to another and to another, and yes, completely off topic from the original news item/subject I had clicked on….

Anyway, this one made me remember how I wanted to be a teacher (something I did and loved as part of my duties as a Law Librarian but which I never became, i.e., fullfledged , and now that I know better that I have nothing to teach, well, commonsense has set in and  let me know that I should do nothing of the sort although the memory of the desire lingers still… and, hey, we all teach and learn informally anyway, yes?… and that is still a fascinating aspect of the human experience and interactions for me – for all of us -  to observe … ah, but I do digress…)  I also wanted to be a nun (Missionary in Africa but not to teach religion), an architect, a singer, a journalist in addition to teacher, which I think is the noblest of all vocations…

ah,… (pause) … (some thought)… (some more thought, private revery)… but to continue… 

I really was serious about being a journalist as it would combine my need to be an artist (I draw, paint, model, sculpt (well try to) and write as a matter of course, although my writing was silenced, it would appear permanently (well, except for this crappy aimless drivel and I’m thinking of shutting it all down anyway since I started it on a dare and thought, ‘why not if I might have a chance at reigniting what had died within me in May 2005’ – I was hoping I was just asleep but the more time passes, the more I can see that the fire within me, the desire, the curiosity of all and everything and everyone around, is, well, is probably dead – hey, maybe it’s all this perimenopausal stuff and I am in one very very long dark mood.. I don’t know… we’ll just have to see…)

So, I wanted to be a journalist (the second noblest of all vocations, something of a modern day courtjester  (i.e., the only one who got away with telling the truth) and towncryer combined, as it were, I would think, yes?) because it combined my artistic side, my techy side (i.e., the balance between the seeming disorder and beautiful along with my almost-OCD ordered technical side), and my desire to learn about the world and bring the news other than Britney Spears latest drinking binge to where it might not have otherwise been noticed… Like any good artist, I would record what I felt by what I saw but couch it in a neutral observation and let others who happened upon my work decide… of course, there is always the research aspect, but as a Librarian, particularly on important topics (some of which I have touched on in this blog but little of which I have seriously addressed) that is second nature for me and goes (should go) without saying…

but, says I with a chuckle, a rueful chuckle, I realized that I cannot write very well in English… that I do not use the side of my brain which facilitates the expression of one’s feelings or thoughts or observations as well within the strict confines of 2D words and still make an actual communication and often too far ahead of the curve from the intuitive side to make the desired connection or to arouse the curiosity – or ire, as it were – of readers to do their own researching… While it is true that it is not so much what we say but what the other person hears (or understands), which to me is our particular H*ll on earth in that how on earth do you know what the accumulation of life experiences mixed in with education and/or knowledge of the other person PLUS his mood will have him interpret in what you say, even if you use the exact words in the extact order  and rhythm and tone that you actually would wish (like music composition)… ?  No, anyway that is fodder rich and rife for another blog or two..

The point is, I always wanted to be a journalist but I do not have the talent and my personal torture is to see things very clearly and to be unable to express it , like seeing a trainwreck about to happen but being unable to reach the person on the tracks in time; or, no, there is plenty of time, but I just can’t make myself understood that the person should stop what he is doing and turn around and have a look so he can get out of the way or, at least, not fight me if I just try to push him out of the way  and he can see the push but he does not realize the why factor in my wanting to push him – which is why he resists thereby even putting me in danger as well…

argh…

So then, change subject; this one is too emotionally charged for me and I only got on to leave this following article anyway… so, and what are bloggers, journalists-lite ((c) 2007) ?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-rosen22aug22,0,4771551.story?coll=la-opinion-center

Opinion

Blowback

The journalism that bloggers actually do

A New York University professor critiques Michael Skube’s recent Times Op-Ed questioning the journalistic value of blogs.

By Jay Rosen

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