But the internet is also a Great Distraction when the day is bad and the brain is in turmoil.
You can pick a topic like Jim Jones or the theory of relativity and just lose yourself in link after link after link. Here's the three stories that most distracted me today:
* Kony 2012 - My dad mentioned it a couple times, but I didn't read a thing on it til today. It's a movement to encourage the US govt to stay in Uganda, to help their government catch the leader of the Lords Resistance Army--famous for using child soldiers. There are so many things wrong with this bunch, I won't enumerate them here--Uganda's PM has criticized them, as has former child soldier Ishmael Beah. If you haven't read the criticisms you could start here or here.
* Trayvon Martin - The young man who went to the corner store for Skittles and iced tea, and was shot to death by an overzealous-and-stupid-and-armed?!! neighborhood watch guy. And the decision by Florida's police to accept the killer's word that it was in self-defense even though there's massive evidence to the contrary. They barely even investigated. Outrageous.
* Ashley Treatments - Choosing to medically stop the growth of a child who is severely brain damaged (Eg. six month old mind that will never progress). The idea is that once such a child gets to adult size, they usually have to be institutionalized because they're too big (and dangerous) to care for at home. By keeping the person at a child's size, they can remain with their parents.
So that occupied my brain. Does anyone else do this? Spend hours obsessing over random topics or news items?
