An airline that makes flying fun

Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Check out their new livery! And get a kick out of the comments at the end of the photos. Notice the labeling on the plane.

Pretty funny. It was sent to me by friend Tom Chenowith. Read all the way to the end. Enjoy and then pass it along to someone who needs cheering up!

Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Check out their new livery! And get a kick out of the comments at the end of the photos. Notice the labeling on the plane.

Chartrand…

In the beginning . . .

David Chartrand

I tell my journalism students that all good writing begins the same way.

Three cups of strong coffee, sometimes four.

The next step is writing a strong opening line, a gripping, tension-building sentence that compels the reader to keep reading. Journalists refer to the first sentence of a story as the “lede.” Publishers use the more technical term, “first sentence.” Still others prefer, “The sentence you write after four cups of coffee.”

No matter what it’s called, a great opening line is critical. It guarantees the reader will move on to Sentence #2, which then will compel the reading of Sentence #3, and then Sentence #4, and so on. The exception to this rule are readers who prefer to skip Sentence #1 and wait for the movie version. Such people suffer attention deficit disorder caused by excessive consumption of coffee.

A book need not be interesting or even readable in order to be considered a classic or important work of literature. Sometimes the author need only a catchy first word. This worked for James Joyce, whose opening line in “Ulysses” starts with the word “Stately.” The fact that everything after “stately” appears to be gibberish is beside the point. I remind my students that it took Joyce four years to write “Ulysses” and it takes most readers five years to reach Sentence #17.

Opinion: KanCare bully beats up disabled

For-profit, managed-care smackdown puts Rocky on the ropes

By FINN M. BULLERS
Freelance writer/editor

Remember the final minutes of Rocky II?

It’s post Bicentennial America. And the country still is in search of patriotic themes and underdog dreams. Actors Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers deliver in the second of six feel-good boxing thrillers that altogether grossed more than $1 billion.

In the end, both Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed pummel each other in 15 rounds of bone-crushing, sweat-flying body blows until both fall to the mat in utter exhaustion.

Flash forward: It’s 2014 Topeka, Kansas, home of the KanCare political boxing championship. Two equally matched contenders have squared off in the first of what appears to be a long-running series of equally bloody bouts.

In one corner wearing patriotic satin trunks is underdog disability civil rights advocate Rocky Nichols with the Big Tent Coalition, an alliance of dozens of advocacy groups and home- and community-based service providers.