Also, apparently the "boldly go where no man has gone before" Star Trek intro was inspired by an actual phrase (it used the more inclusive "no one" ... as Star Trek eventually did) in a late 1950s pamphlet promoting federal space research. Yet another interesting federal publication linked by Secrecy News (hat tip to BTC News), which also supplies more serious fare as well.
One of my elementary school teachers sometimes went on tangents when giving spelling (I guess; maybe not) tests, saying something about the word she was covering. I liked that even then -- after all, I knew that one inch equaled 2.54 centimeters ... a bit more exact than 2.5, right? Trivia, detail, and trivial connections/details were of interest to me for some time. This works for serious and not so serious subjects.
For instance, I was looking at my state quarter board (a cardboard map to hold them) and noticed that I do not yet have the 2005 West Virginia quarter. Unfortunately, this has some significance today. My local paper are among those who have an "Alive!" headline, celebrating the fact that twelve of thirteen miners from that state was saved from a coal mine (how 19th Century). The mine -- here's how these things matter -- were subject to lots of violations of late, including late last year. The problem, and this is one of those "damn that's painful" moments, is that the report was premature. It turned out only one was saved ... currently in critical condition. The authorities had an inkling something was wrong within around twenty minutes, the families about three hours -- after press time.
This was suggested by the fact that the results of the Penn State/Florida game (aka old coach bowl or damn it man, kick it through the uprights!) was available in my paper, even though the game was over after 1 A.M. Strange game -- Penn had last played in mid-November, perhaps explaining why the team ranked 3 had so much trouble with one ranked 22 (though with a very good defense). It went down to a third OT, when the kicker on a third try finally made a pretty easy (a bit less for college ... under 30) field goal (the second was a bit harder, 38 yd). Penn barely won based on: a missed extra point, a quick TD near the end of the First Half, and a safety. They were heavily favored.
Anyway, as I caught the end (extended) of the game, reports came in that the miners were saved, though one died. I even saw someone interviewed, who appeared to be a miner (he looked the type) ... but obviously he was not one of them. As noted by this useful local account, the governor himself did not officially announce they were saved, though said something that was apparently misunderstood to mean that. [I am with him, I guess: pending investigation, it is too soon to say what clearly happened here. This includes the direct cause of the disaster.]
The papers, however, were sloppy, even if said account was in general forgiving. My paper's local story is particularly telling: we read about one miner (the sole survivor ... for now) being rushed to the hospital, but that's it. The others are just about to be taken out, ambulances driven up to the mine and such. This was timed at around midnight ... not quite press time, as suggested by that sports score. I think, reference to that Michael Keaton movie, the paper should have been a bit more careful with that headline. Broadcast coverage might be more open to such "immediate" information, but print should be a bit more restrained. It is (should be) one of the benefits of print media, which has more time to contemplate before they publish.
The true pain goes to the families. Such cruelty -- bells were chimed (again, how 19th century ... Little House on the Prairie) in celebration. We see the families' cries of happiness. Oh, so sorry. Your loved ones are actually dead. Miscommunication, you know. Don't worry though ... President Bush will say some words of sympathy later in the day. You know, the person who supported less regulation and such, thanking you for giving you precious electoral votes back in '00.
There is a connection ... still, more importantly, sigh ... there are many people dying tragically and cruelly every day, but sometimes the cruel nature of things comes to the forefront. This is why the twelve, a drop in the bucket in some neutral sense, are so striking ... they represent the whole.