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03 Jul 2010 23:00

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Music: One-word album reviews: Critics love the new 3OH!3 album

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03 Jul 2010 22:12

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Politics: Jeb Bush big ups help for immigrants; commenters miss the point

  • One important difference, however, that separates immigration then and now: We native-born Americans are doing less than our great-grandparents did to welcome immigrants.
  • Jeb Bush and Robert D. Putnam • Describing the issues facing legal (not illegal, big difference) immigration in the 21st century. Those coming from other countries bring essential skills, but the route they face is more difficult than ever – these two guys suggest stronger English education, investing more in public education and giving communities facing large influxes of immigrants some financial help. As you might assume, this article from the Washington Post attracted crazy commenters like light attracts moths. Our favorite was, “One of the stupidest articles printed in the history of the Washington Post.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 19:31

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Culture: Is the novel dead? Literary critic/jerk Lee Siegel says so

  • CRAP! We were going to write our novel starting next week! The New York Observer critic says that the novel, as an artform, has completely bypassed the American reading public, and novelists are better curators than writers. “For better or for worse, the greatest storytellers of our time are the non-fiction writers,” he writes, as numerous writers cry in their Earl Grey tea. Siegel thinks the overanalysis of the artform has turned into something readers can’t simply appreciate. Siegel’s critics argue that literary critics in general avoid more modern forms of literature, such as blogs and genre fiction. We argue that whether or not the novel is dead, idiotic posturing by people on ivory towers that has no effect on everyday life is alive and well. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 14:12

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U.S.: Thomas Jefferson’s eraser no match for modern technology

  • citizens How the Declaration of Independence refers to people who live in the United States of America. A pretty good description.
  • subjects What Jefferson originally wrote – something which he tried to erase but historians figured out earlier this year. Oops. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 13:43

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World: Report: Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Farinas could die

  • 129 number of days he’s been on a prolonged hunger strike
  • Why did he protest?Since Feburary 24, Farinas has been hunger striking to protest the imprisonment of numerous political activists, as well as the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner who died during his own hunger strike.
  • His current statusFarinas is currently at Arnaldo Milian Castro University Hospital in Santa Clara. His doctor says he’s being fed a little via intravenous feeding and has gained weight, but has a blood clot that could prevent blood from getting to his heart.
  • A surprising facetPerhaps the most interesting thing about the Farinas situation is that the source which reported on the opposition activist was Granma, a communist newspaper – and they played it very big, devoting two of their eight pages to him. source
  • » Programming note: This is based on an AP article, which as you might know, we try to avoid here at the ShortFormHQ. But this article seemed important enough that it was worth bypassing the picket line, at least today.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 11:37

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U.S.: Snaps: The Democratic Republic of Congo oil blast, underplayed?

  • We needed a new feature, and we think we have a pretty good one. Basically, we’re going to take a big story and see how it’s being covered on the front page of major news sites. Is it getting underplayed? Overplayed? This time around, We’re tackling the horrific oil tanker blast in Congo, which is new enough that a lot of people haven’t heard about it (it broke in the middle of the night in the U.S.). Otherwise, it’s a slow news day. On the downside, though, the story has no art, which might hurt its play. Let’s compare:
  • BBC: Top of the pageAs might be expected, considering the nature of the very deadly incident, BBC gave it top-of-the-front-page treatment.
  • CNN: Secondary lead storyWhile it was CNN’s top news story for a while (and worthy of an alert), it was replaced by a story about slain cops.

 

  • New York Times: BuriedThe New York Times, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to give it display play, instead putting it in their wire-stories-only slot.
  • Google News: right at the topGoogle News, which chooses its stories by computer algorithms, gave it much nicer coverage, just above Serena Williams.

 

  • MSNBC: Huge headlineMSNBC.com made the story their main news item with a huge headline, while giving Serena Williams art play off to the side.
  • Fox News: BuriedFox News buried the story even further than the New York Times did, preferring instead to lead with Joe Biden’s visit to Iraq.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 11:01

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World: Is Roza Otunbayeva Kyrgyzstan’s big shot at stability?

Otunbayeva, who was part of the coup a couple of months ago, was formally sworn in as president today. She’s the first female leader in the entire region. source
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03 Jul 2010 10:52

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Offbeat: Awesome kid + DIY + vacuum + walls = Spiderboy. (!!!)

  • His mom doesn’t like him doing this. It’s for completely irrational reasons. She thinks he’s going to tear down the walls and the ceiling. But let’s face it. This kid is brilliant. He’s a DIY Spiderman. And is sure to win over some of the laa-dies. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 10:39

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Biz: Warren Buffett: The rich-guy gift that keeps on giving

  • $37B the amount he donated to the Gates Foundation in 2006, the biggest ever donation; he plans to give 99 percent of his wealth away
  • $1.93B the amount he donated this year – he does yearly donations based on Berkshire Hathaway’s overall performance source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 10:23

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World: In the Congo, an awful tragedy involving an oil tanker and a cigarette

  • It started with a tipped-over oil tanker in the democratic republic of congo. As is common in the region, people tried to collect the spilled fuel from the tanker (around the tiny town of Sange, in South Kivu province), which can lead to explosions. And some dude was smoking a cigarette. And, worse, the explosion happened near a bar. During a World Cup game. … *shudder*. The result? Unspeakably awful. We’re talking bodies burned beyond recognition. Some quick numbers:
  • 230+ number of people killed in the blast
  • 190+ number of people injured by the tanker
  • no there aren’t photos of the incident yet source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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