As you toggle through the TV channels have you noticed that the news on all stations seems to be the same. From international and national stories, most stations have the exact same information; sometimes, it is word-for-word. Even personal interest stories like the duck whose babies were stuck in the storm drain, are replayed for some period of time. In fact, even the video comes in "packages" and is played with a local introduction. There is a good reason for this and it is also a cause for concern.
All of the affiliate stations subscribe to a wire service and they all share the days news. The big services are the Associated Press, (AP), United Press International, (UPI), and Reuters. There are also specialty services foe business and weather. News gathering is fed to the wire services and then distributed to the stations. So, as your local affiliate goes to air, they have picked up the stories from the services and that's what you get. Homogenized news at it's best!
The local news is generally gathered locally if the station is large enough, or they get the local news from other stations for a price. But the number of people in the field gathering news is getting smaller, and the demand for TV and the Internet is becoming larger. The trend? Less real news and a lot more opinion from pundits with an agenda. Someone at these wire services decides what will sell and the decisions are questionable. For example, we have been in Libya for three months, Kadafi  is still in power, and we hear nothing. Did you hear about the baby ducks...

I saw the attached text on  a sign outside of a store locally: Lays Potato Chips, 10 OZ BOGO!  Without thinking, I was not sure if I wanted a BOGO, free or not. Of course with a little thought it was obvious that it is "Buy One Get One". But that's the point. I had to think about what it was. You may deduce from this process that I really don't text much. No, I don't text at all. Texting is not communicating, it is messaging, and I can use IM for that. I do use some abbreviations in emails but only a few. I really do not want to learn a new language and spend time trying to figure out what someone is saying to me. Too many shortcuts and misunderstood thought. It is easier to just delete the mail.
But texting is not new at all. It just never caught on. In an 1867 poem called "An Essay to Miss Catharine Jay" author unknown. In part, "I wrote to U B 4". The entire poem is in abbreviations and can be found with the translation here. The author of that post cites other writings even earlier.
But, when we have services like Twitter with the 140 character maximum, there is little choice but to write in shorthand. But even this is not new. In the 1880's when the telegraph was riding high, there was a 150 character limit or the price to send went up. The more things change...
But to me the trend is clear. If I want to know what is going on I will have to learn something new. Blah! I will stick to the dusty old English I know and like a lot. Just IMHO...

In 2007, Congress passed the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, and it was signed by President George W. Bush. Basically, the act was designed to phase out some, but not all incandescent light bulbs, beginning in 2012. The 100 watt bulbs would be first and followed later by other wattage's. The thought was that the CFL's, (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), and LED, (Light Emitting Diode) lighting, would save more energy than using 30% less efficient incandescents, which create as much heat as light. Incidentally, 2007 was the last year that GE made incandescents in this country.
But the Republicans now want to repeal the act, not based solely on technical issues or energy savings, but on freedom of choice! The right wing and TEA party say that it limits options and freedom to choose. But, this post is not about the overall issue but on the absurd nature of the time spent on the wrong issues.
Congress decided to work through the July recess to face the debt ceiling limit problem. I am not sure why they needed a vacation anyway, but that was the decision. So, while both parties continue to drive off of a cliff, they have to debate the repeal of the Bulb Act. With the future of the US economy at stake, they choose to not all participate on the most pressing problem that we face.
What is the trend you ask? I believe that Congress will continue to play around the edges of immigration, the economy, energy policy,entitlements, and all of the serious issues to focus on the Bulb Act and other absurd problems. By the way, the repeal will pass the House but the Democratic Senate will not pas it. I do hope that they have CFL's in both chambers. Clap on....

I ran across this advertisement in one of my very old periodicals, Ladies Home Companion, December 1, 1895. I have quite a few of what are now called ephemera, or, not meant to last. I like to read the ads that are politically incorrect and are generally a tutorial in the world of advertising. I photographed this one rather than scanning it as the resolution was better.
What I found interesting is the fact that I could not tell what the product was! They look happy and with a "merry heart", but what is Sapolio? After researching the sources I discovered that Sapolio was a brand of soap manufactured from 1869 until about 1918. But the most important fact was that this kind of advertisement led to the failure of the company. This company is cited in marketing texts for a major error in judgement. They believed that their product were so well known and loved that they could not be overtaken by any other company. So, they began this campaign with just an image and the name. We would call that a tagline now. Within a few years the company was gone. It was beat out by other companies using standard ad literature.
So, what will be the trend in the future for current advertisers? I believe that they will return to the tagline, but with a difference. Because of the high cost of TV advertising, there will be fewer full 60 second and 2 minute ads. But there will be many more 15 second taglines, like "SC Johnson, a family company", or "things go better with coke".  But they will all still be annoying! Zoom Zoom...