Quote of the Day (Peggy Noonan, on the “New Obliviousness”)

“A lot of people seem here but not here. They’re pecking away on a piece of plastic; they’re withdrawn from the immediate reality around them and set up temporary camp in a reality that exists in their heads. It involves their own music, their own conversation, whether written or oral. This contributes to the new obliviousness, to the young woman who steps off the curb unaware that the police car with blaring siren is barreling down the street.”—Peggy Noonan, “Information Overload is Nothing New,” The Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2010