Expletive Deleted

One of the features in Opera that I like is the customizable sidebar/panel. It's easy to set-up new panel content providers, unlike in other browsers where you may need to install add-ons, and loads faster. With small screen rendering, you can basically add most sites to your panel. It is a nice complement to the built-in RSS reader for staying informed about the news.

My preferred news provider is BBC News, which is less sensationalist than my second news source, CNN. Today I noticed on my CNN panel on their coverage of the wildfires in California. On the Beeb it's a major story, but just one story, and they also tackle other major (and minor) stories from around the world. CNN, though, has pretty much become Wildfires News Network, with virtually all content in the panel center around it (click the image on the right). I know CNN is a US-based company, but I am using the International Edition, and I'd like to read more world events. It reminds me of the bridge that toppled in Minnesota a few months back. Too much coverage for a minor news story. I can see why people have tuned out of (cue scare quotes) "The Mainstream Media."

The events happening in California is a tragedy, but it's one among many in our troubled world. Let's keep things in perspective. While the fires rages on in Cali, killing two people and burning 1,200 homes and threatening more, more people are dying in global hotspots in the Middle East and Africa. We've had an explosion in a local shopping center here in Manila a few days back, killing about eleven people. I am reminded of the Katrina debacle, when after the devastation someone opined that Americans don't deserve to live in squalid conditions. I submit that no one, not just Americans, deserves it.