There was a collection of odd and humorous news on the inside front page of the Edmonton Journal Sunday Reader this week. These were some of the good ones (almost all were from or about the US):

In a recent survey in the US, 1% of respondents named Jesus Christ as "the greatest American of all time."

"In honor of our fallen heroes... free medium fries!" (from a Burger King coupon in Virginia)

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." -Steven Wright

Columbia University professors compiled a list of poorly written headlines, including the following: "Astronaut takes blame for gas in spacecraft." "Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say." "Iraqi head seeks arms." "Stud tires out." "Prostitutes appeal to Pope." "Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over." "Squad helps dog bite victim." "Miners refuse to work after death." "How we feel about ourselves is the core of self esteem, says author." "No one killed in fatal crash." "Juvenile court to try shooting defendant." "Infertility unlikely to be passed on." "Two Soviet ships collide, one dies." "Cold wave linked to temperatures." "Study finds sex, pregnancy link." "Kids make nutritious snacks." "Red tape holds up new bridge." "Queen Mary to have bottom scraped." "Brittish left waffles on Falkland Islands." "War dims hopes for peace."

There's also a political cartoon in which the American politician is asking (50 years ago) "Are you a coommunist," and (today) "Were you born in the Middle East." The cartoon was titled "US Mass Hysteria." I thought it was a bit funny because when you apply for a security clearance, you still have to certify that you are not a communist or a homosexual, and have never used or sold illicit substances. The cartoon almost asserts a paradigm shift in US hysteria. In fact we don't have paradigm shifts, strictly speaking. We keep our old delusions while adding new ones, thus making US hysteria an additive phenomenon.