Gabrielle Giffords: In Which The News Cycle Takes Its Toll

Once we might not have known for days or weeks,
Once it might at least have been hours -- when
That was the case, we rarely heard such shreiks
Of ire at garbled facts. There might have been
Just one guy with a gun, or many; we
Don't know yet, but so many think we do.
How many wounded? Dead? When will there be
A true accounting of how, why and who
Must bear the blame? The narrative's compressed:
Schroedinger's Congresswoman's story shows
How truly things have changed; we're still distressed
From purest shock, yet many think they know
The truth already. Finger-pointing, blame --
Yet who among us knew, ere now, her name?

In Which I Rant A Little About A Stupid News Story

"Dude, listen to this; it will get you high!"
"What? I can't hear you; my drugs are too loud!"
"These beats make me like Lucy in the sky!"
Oh, crap like this just really makes me proud
That I was ever in the fourth estate,
With off'rings such as this still getting seen
And taken with such seriousness. It's great
To see how science education's been
Successful. Guys, e'en if it's proven true
That these binaural beats can change the waves
Of someone's brain, that's nothing. Pull on through
The water with a paddle: it behaves
Perhaps as though a boat traversed it, but
You didn't make a boat appear, you nut.