instant breaking news

the Web Editors 4-26-2012

A Hearing And Rallies Over A Law In Arizona — Other States Watch For Arizona Immigration Ruling — As Poverty Shrinks, Should We Worry About Inequality? — Can You Be Honest With Me? — Religion A Key Factor In Determining Support For Obama Vs. Romney — Pat Robertson: Christians Bullying LGBT Kids In School Is Wrong — Franklin Graham Calls For U.S. Airstrikes On Sudan — Europe’s Austerity Recession — Nuns Gone Wild — Exxon Makes $104 Million In Profit Per Day So Far In 2012, While Americans Are Stuck With A Higher Gas Bill — A Farewell To Superpowers.

Duane Shank 8-18-2011

The avalanche of information available via the Internet is both a blessing and a curse. Used judiciously, it is an invaluable tool for research -- making what used to take hours in a library now just a few clicks away. Any piece of information, no matter how obscure, is at our fingertips.

The proliferation of blogs and listservs mean an amount of information that is simply impossible to keep up with. We have news summaries several times a day and instant breaking news headlines as they happen. And then there is the rise of a new social media. Facebook has enabled us to connect with friends and family, so we know immediately the latest cute thing their toddler did, what they're cooking for dinner, and the most recent book they read. On Twitter, we share thoughts and activities in 140-word tweets.

All of this means we know more than ever, but never have time to think about it. Neal Gabler, a senior fellow at the Annenberg Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California, lamented in a piece in The New York Times Sunday Review: