Ever Been Overshadowed...?

With so many things to be reported on now days, it's almost easy to see how some stories get lost in the shuffle.

Some of the news stories that got lost were big, but the attention of the public was focused elsewhere. That's a shame, really. Who knows how the media determines what's important and what isn't?

Queen Isabella Causeway Disasters

The Queen Isabella Causeway is a seemingly innocuous 3-kilometer (2 mi) stretch of road connecting the island of South Padre to the Texas mainland. During its brief 40-year existence, it was the scene for two unfortunate tragedies that went largely unnoticed by the media.

First, on August 13, 1996, a small Cessna airplane crashed into the bridge, killing the pilot and his passenger. As tragic as that might be, more important stuff was happening in the world. On that same day, the Galileo space probe indicated the then-shocking idea that Jupiter’s moon Europa might have liquid water. On the political front, two days later, Bob Dole was announced as a nominee for the presidency. And on an international front, the world finally saw a happy ending to the 1995 Airstan incident when a crew of Russian pilots made a successful escape after being held captive by the Taliban for over a year.

A more serious event took place in 2001 when a barge crashed into the causeway, causing entire sections of the bridge to collapse. Eight people died because they were unable to escape their cars, which fell into the water. However, this tragedy occurred on September 15, 2001, and from the date alone, it becomes pretty obvious what world-changing event took place just four days prior.

The focus of the media is often more concerned with ratings that with news affecting a large number of the population, in my opinion. I guess the rest of us will often have to keep up with the lesser news stories as best we can.

At least we can keep up with political scandals and the latest from the whacko world of the "stars". Certainly wouldn't want to miss that!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Just a tad chilly and wet outside!