What is the most intense feeling of sadness that a person could have?

What is the most intense feeling of anger that a person could have?

What is the most intense feeling of fear that a person could have?

What is the most intense feeling of happiness a person could have?

All of these questions were asked in a National Geographic survey on facial expressions, questions for which my own answers surprised me. More specifically, my answers were invariably "big picture" subjects like torture, war, famine, knowing you could do something about it but didn't and working to see their end.

Tonight, while waiting for water to boil, I turned on the TV for fear I'd wander too far, find a book, forget the pasta and be brought back to reality by the smoke alarms. Found a news station. I always find a news station. Ten minutes of this "runaway bride" story. And it occurs to me now that none of the things I consider truly important are ever dealt with in the news.

Ever.

Wouldn't it be great if "sanctity of human life" had ...some kind of meaning? As if preserving it and respecting it as as intrinsic to our existance as breathing, or our need to communicate? That someone being murdered anywhere in the world generated as much public social disdain as ...I don't know, farting in an elevator?