Ornoth

Re synchronicity... I think there is a portion of the equation that's due to one being increasingly sensitive to a subject, particularly in a case like this, where I probably would not have investigated that particular article based on the headline alone.

I think another is just the fact that the global news media is increasingly drawn to short-term trends. One interesting research report might generate several article about it, as well as back-pointers to related studies and previous stories. It's all the zeitgeist/gestalt/other Germanic words.

I'm not a big believer that synchronicity happens due to anything but random chance, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth noting what it means when something like that happens. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...

Re empathy: agreed, wholeheartedly. But it's difficult to instill empathy until one achieves some degree of maturity, the ability to see and respect needs beyond mechanistically responding to one's own shortsighted ego.

Good luck with the client thing. Don't give him the power to make your life miserable.