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07 Jul 2011 20:37

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U.S.: To our friends and family in Grand Rapids, Mich.: Be safe tonight

  • This shooting literally hits close to home for us. Grand Rapids, Mich. is not a town known for large spates of violent crime. The city had a relatively low nine murders in 2010, although the overall crime rate went up. But tonight, at least seven have been killed, including two children, in a rampage started by a single person who was in a domestic dispute. The suspect, 34-year-old Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, has not been captured. “This is a rare occurrence anywhere,” the city’s mayor, George Heartwell said. “A homicide like this is exceedingly rare. It’s an awful situation and he’s still at large.” As some of you might know, I’m from Michigan, and most of my family lives in Grand Rapids. So this is scary to hear. Everybody be on your P’s and Q’s tonight in Michigan. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 14:03

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World: Recovering Yemeni President Saleh shows up on television

  • President Ali Abdullah Saleh showed up on Yemeni television in a prerecorded speech about his health. He was wounded and severely burned in a bomb blast at his palace earlier this month, and has gone through 8 surgeries since then. He’s making the speech to ensure the people of Yemen that he is recovering, but it’s unclear how true that is — he hasn’t been seen in public since the incident last month. (Photo via Aljazeera) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 13:48

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U.S.: Elizabeth Smart is joining ABC News — as a contributor

  • She’s going to comment on missing persons cases to give people the perspective from the family. This is pretty good, because this is a unique perspective that she can do well — and it’s one that is often overlooked. What’s better is that she’s willing to do this, despite what happened to her in the past. But one has to wonder if this gives into the tabloidy nature some of these stories fall into. That said, it will certainly be interesting to see what she has to say, and hopefully adding her voice to those kinds of stories will help people see the bigger picture. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 13:28

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World: News of the World shut down because it’s the easy way out

  • So what to do? Cut your losses. Fold the paper. Wash your hands of the whole ordeal. You can expect News Corp’s rhetoric about ‘moving on’ to start today. And that’s how you get out of a scandal with all the top executives’ jobs intact.
  • Hamilton Nolan, editor at Gawker • speaking brilliantly about the end of the News of the World. Basically, they were going downhill fast because of their hacking scandal. Instead of actually working through it, it seems like Rupert Murdoch’s son, the owner of the paper, took the easy way out and just shut the paper down. That way, they don’t have to worry about advertising, or damage control, or anything else that goes on with a scandal like this. Ultimately, News Corp. is a business that focuses on making money on top of its journalism. And it didn’t look like NOTW would be making any money for a long, long time. So they picked their best option. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 10:29

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Tech: More on “App Store” suit: Why Apple has nothing to worry about

  • 15 billion freaking downloads from the App Store; no mistaking it source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 10:05

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Politics: Bachmann retakes Waterloo for purposes of presidential campaign

  • Credit to Bachmann: By naming her first campaign clip “Waterloo,” she certainly is going far to retake the word away from that battle Napoleon lost. And the chiming guitars do give her talk of not raising the debt ceiling the warmth that few thought the topic had. Though if we were to do this again, we might focus less on the wasteful spending and more on the economy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 02:02

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World: Over one-third of human beings aren’t free

  • The tree-hugging hippies over at Freedom House have released their “Worst of the Worst” report, detailing the world’s most egregious violators of human rights, political expression, and other basic freedoms. The usual suspects are all there: North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, Libya, Burma (Myanmar), and Tibet top the list, with China, Cuba, and several others not far behind. The organization concluded that 35% of the world’s population lives in “Not Free” states, while 45% of countries can be considered “Free,” a 14% increase from thirty years ago. The full report is well-worth the read. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Jul 2011 00:46

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U.S.: Rebel leaders in Libya face possibly-irrelevant treason charges

  • 21 Libyan rebels to be charged with national security crimes source
  • » It’s worth noting that these rebel leaders are being tried in absentia, as they’re currently busy doing rebel stuff. Additionally, if and when Gaddafi’s government falls, the outcome of these trials will likely be inconsequential. Nevertheless, it’s an indication of the regime’s confidence in its ability to triumph that they’re proceeding with the trials anyway. Whether this portrayal of confidence is genuine or tactical remains to be seen.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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