New York Times Reading Log - Monday 26th-Wednesday 28th

Monday, September 26^th: 

Today’s business section caught my eye with some nice graphics and an interesting article called “Tablet Wars Flare.”  It was interesting as a student living in the current tech bubble to think about why some products (i.e. Apple’s iPad) are so successful, and why others (basically every other competitor Apple has), flop instantly.  I know very few people that have tablet computers that are not iPads.  I suppose it is Apple’s complete star power and it’s consistent ability to do everything first that separate itself from its lagging competition. 

The Times seems to be naming Amazon as the biggest possible competitor with Apple, and states that this is because of their opposite marketing strategies.  Says the Times, “Apple sells books, movies and music in order to sell devices.  Amazon sells devices in order to sell books, movies and music.”  Weirdly this makes sense.  Amazon is a competitor instead of a copier, which is what most other technology companies are when compared to Apple. 

The piece of news on the front page that I’m most drawn to is the story about Saudi women gaining the right to vote and run for office.  I’m shocked and so happy to hear this amazing story.  The Arab Spring is producing amazing results in many medieval countries.  It’s very heartening.

Tuesday, September 27^th:

The photo on the front cover of the New York Times is very direct and more than slightly chilling.  It’s the one of the small girl from Yemen, wearing a headband that reads, “We will win for the blood of our martyrs.”  The image is so many things: inspiring, riveting, scary.  When such momentous occasions like revolutions are shown through the eyes of children, it always makes things more sobering.

I found the article on wasted natural gas being burned instead of captured and used for energy purposes both fascinating and completely frustrating.  The stubborn incompetence of the energy industry is astounding.  This quote in particular was dumbfounding:  “Every day, more than 100 million cubic feel of natural gas is flared this way – enough energy to heat half a million homes for a year.”  The gas being a high pollutant is worrisome enough, but with a potential energy crisis looming, it makes absolutely no sense, in any way, to keep wasting energy resources so carelessly.

The article “Fighting Cancer with Vinegar and Ingenuity” was a very well written article on a very interesting and heartening subject.  I really enjoyed reading about such a sensible, cheap, and practical fix for a problem like cervical cancer.

Wednesday, September 28^th:

Today, the story in the paper that grabbed my attention the most was the one about spouses of now disabled army veterans.  I think that by focusing on a group of people that are largely forgotten by the public, but who have the very important and tragic job of caring for the continued causalities of war, the article was extremely powerful. 

The article was able to sustain my attention the whole way through, especially because it focused on two families and two caretakers in particular.  One was April Marcum, the wife of Tom Marcum, a soldier who suffered traumatic brain injuries.  The other was Rosie Babin, the mother of Alan Babin, who suffered severe trauma when he was shot in the stomach.  By focusing on these two different families, the Times was able to highlight both families affected by members with physical and emotional injuries, and was also able to show the pronounced affect that caring for an injured family member has to the emotional health of the caregivers. 

It is really important that important publications like the Times focus on issues that many might not give thought to.  In times of war, or after a conflict, the focus largely remains on the soldiers and doesn’t often cover a soldier’s family.  This story highlights the overall tragedy of war.