Reading Sunday News York Times!

Haven't been reading newspapers so ardently for a while for many reasons. One was my delayed cataract procedure which made it difficult to read small print. Then it was the News Paper format, distracting with too many pictures. Then the news itself was depressing, mostly on politicians and politics, their scams and other short comings. I stopped reading sports news, not much on golf and other sports bored me. Society gossip was a total waste of time! I did not know most who were on page three! Movies reviews were not exciting. We have stopped going to the theatre since long! Watching TV was easier!

Nandini gets NYT on Sundays, sold at $6, which I planned to read but being busy otherwise let it go till today.  Any way, I thought who  wants to read US news and its politics. With no plans to go out, I picked up the paper today and here is what I found!

The main news was: "Disappearance of fertile land fuels 'looming crisis' in Africa". That was cause for concern and it impressed me that it pushed Trump news to one corner, though its fonts were bolder. Let us forget him for the moment. The other interesting news was 'Tesla delivers a mass-market car. Can it upend an industry?'. Interesting question, but history has it that the powerful conventional car-makers have killed innovations earlier. But may be it is their time give in. Then there was news that  to counter North Korea , South Korea seeks to bolster arms. Good news for American armament industry. I will not bore you with details, but Trump asking Police not to be too nice is handling (immigrant) criminal suspects was, to use the favorite American word, 'Very inappropriate'  but he has been that for a while but got elected. There are many more articles which interest. A lot more world news than expected.  I found the pages 'In memoriam: celebrate a life' very appealing and touching. So many nice memories of nice people. May their genes continue! Only this sentence was confusing .'.... Shiva held  July 30 to Aug1st....". Heartening to see Liz Smith, 94  featured in 'Lions of New York', recovering from stroke and wanting to continue to work as Gossip Columnist.

Went on Travel pages. We are told and we know, why airlines say sorry when they goof up, misbehave with customers. They are not sorry but try to avoid legal implications. They do not improve but offer sops to those who are affected, loss of luggage, delays and so on. Recently we were delayed by 9 hours and the airline which flew us should have given us a hotel accommodation, but denied saying that we were using mileage from another airline!  Nandini booked us in a hotel anyhow and paid. A case of divided loyalty, but it was a code share flight! Interesting news, if you are in US, you can take a culinary journey to India, for 12 days, price begins at $7895 . Better hurry if interested!

Sunday business pages spoke of Spain bouncing back. Why health care policy is so hard. "The magic of the free market sometimes fails, as do the laws of supply and demand. I will leave it at that. Health insurance is generally anti-age and screwed up as we all know. The article 'Vulnerable older adults and abusive guardians' was more serious, aged treated as a burden is age old reminding me of Mahabharata where the Dhritharashtra  decided to live in the forest as he could not  bear the taunts of Bheema.

Sports pages were different dealing with sports in Finland. They play swamp soccer, compete in wife carrying world championships, mobile phone throwing, berry picking and Mosquito killing. And the money spinner; a game of soccer between Real Madrid and Barcelona in Miami tickets $500 and up.

There are Arts & Leisure pages which I skipped. Sunday review was depressing as the analysis of Trump presidency declared,  'The diplomats  can't save us' and 'The generals can't either'. We Indians appreciate the power of Karma and destiny. The country and perhaps the world will soon have to pay for their past sins! The opinion of the science writer Peter Brannen says, 'we're are doing to the air today what volcanoes did 250 million years ago.'  and continues with many dire warnings ending with 'we are imposing that change 10 times faster that the worst events in earth's history'. How does one or who is to react to these predictions is quite confusing. Serious stuff.

There was an article 'Voters love lesbians' I skipped. An article 'White economic privilege is alive and well' comparing white and black population is similar to our situation between the rich and the poor. Our elite have managed very well thank you!

Sunday Style pages were interesting. A book by Jenny Allen who was divorced after being married to Jules Feiffer and her coping is reviewed. A Short story (?)  on modern love is all about gay love! A few other articles I skipped as the pages on 'Vows' caught my attention. Finding love at Starbucks, through 84-year-old cupids! A long story!

I was fascinated by weddings inserts! One couple met through the dating app Hinge, another via OkCupid. Others met thru friends, or studying together. One met on a blind date arranged thru a mutual friend. One met in a bar, and later reconnected on FB, another in a birthday party. This was sweet as they met in a bagel shop. In one case the mother arranged a meeting. (Thank god! They are still relevant!) .  Some met as colleagues, in a conference and later reconnected at a wine  auction! One groom was a descendant from the Mayflower immigrants! This one is a bit intriguing 'The couple met when the bride pitched a story about a client of her to the groom'! Meeting at friends is quite often. One gay marriage is also announced, both are 67 years. One wedding where the bride is 60 and groom is 82 and they met in 1992 and reconnected in 2011. The age range is mostly around 30 . There are detailed information about parents. Not sure whether it was their first  wedding, there is no 'He for the first time and she...etc.,

There is an article about the dilemma of  what to wear and so on by an invitee attending the wedding. Luckily for me I have only one suit and have decided I will attend weddings till it fits or lasts. After that it is all WhatsApp messages for me.

The best of the Sunday paper was  a well made Magazine and a Book Review. But I will stop at this point











  

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