The local news—from some sprawl-based NN affiliate, I assume jars me, makes me realize how out of touch I am. NewsNet has a better rep for sticking to the facts than any competing organization, including the Catholic Church. According to this report there’s some kind of nasty viral infection cutting a swath through the underclass of the Seattle metroplex. Sure, this is NN, but the network’s still concerned with ratings, so cut back the level of hype and hysteria by a factor of ten. If the announcer’s on the money, then this is something a little more disturbing than the latest outbreak of Shanghai P super-flu. I slow down and punch up the volume.