‘SELFITIS,’ ‘CYBERESPIONAGE,’ ‘PROTOPLANET’ NEWEST WORDS IN OXFORD DICTIONARIES

imageLondon, Great Britain – Oxford University has just announced the newest additions to the world’s largest dictionary in English.

Technology and the Interet are as popular as ever in providing new words, from lock screen and headcam to cyberespionage. Cyberespionage came about as a result of recently-revealed practices by the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) to spy on phone conversations and Internet communications among governments and private citizens.

Astrology’s newest word contribution is protoplanet, defined as a small celestial object that is the size of a moon or a bit bigger.  Astronomers believe that these objects form during the creation of a solar system.

Food coma, another addition to the Oxford Dictionaries, is the feeling of listlessness, bordering on sleep, that one feels after eating a large meal, often caused by a rush of blood to the stomach and intestines during food digestion.

But the most popular yet controversial word addition is ‘selfitis,’ the obsessive-compulsive urge to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media.  Earlier this month, The Adobo Chronicles broke the story regarding the American Psychiatric Association officially classifying selfie-taking as a mental disorder.

Last year, Oxford Dictionaries named ‘selfie’ as their 2013 word of the year.  Will ‘selfitis’ be the word for 2014?

ABC ANNOUNCES NEW HOSTS FOR ‘THE VIEW’

 

From top, clockwise: Whitman, Hasselbeck, Bachmann, Brewer, Palin
From top, clockwise: Whitman, Hasselbeck, Bachmann, Brewer, Palin

New York, New York – ABC Television Network has announced the hosts of the 18th season of the daytime television talk show ‘The View,’ and only Elisabeth Hasselbeck is staying on.

The announcement came as the show’s producer Barbara Walters prepares to retire on May 16. Part of the farewell week is the appearance on May 15 of all the 11 current and past co-hosts of the show.

“No one can really fill the shoes of Ms. Walters but we believe that we have assembled a powercast of some of the most intelligent, eloquent and knowledgeable women in this country,” said Paul Lee, ABC Network Entertainment Group president.

Hasselbeck will provide some continuity to the popular talk show, the ABC announcement said.

The new co-hosts are former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Representative Michele Bachmann, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

Ellen DeGeneres was being tapped to be the 6th co-host but she ‘respectfully declined.’

SECESSION UP FOR VOTE IN ALL 50 STATES THIS NOVEMBER

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Graphic: Comstock

Washington, D.C. – Time and again, at meetings of the National Governors’ Association (NGA), there is one recurring issue that’s always on its agenda: the continuing gridlock in Washington, D.C. and the ineffectiveness of the U.S.  federal government to meet the needs of the 50 states of the union.

“Americans — Democrats and Republicans alike — are fed up, and are now ready to turn their backs on the Washington government,” according to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin (R), chair of the NGA.  In a hastily-called press conference today, the NGA revealed that all 50 states will have a ballot initiative during the mid-term elections this November that would authorize the governors to officially secede from the United States.  If voters pass each and every one of the ballot initiatives, the federal government will, in effect, be abolished, along with all federal laws including those on immigration, taxation and defense. While the states will still be collectively identified as the United States, the state governments will have full control and authority over all affairs.

According to a poll conducted by Gallup, and released during the NGA press conference, there are at least 10 states in which the secession initiative has a majority of voter support.  These include Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan and Kentucky.  Only two states seem to be against the initiative — Utah and California.  The initiative is a toss-up in all the remaining states.

Hawaii Governor Abercrombie
Hawaii Governor Abercrombie

Meanwhile, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie (D) said that the Aloha state has a second ballot initiative that would make Hawaii a totally independent Pacific Island nation.