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03 Apr 2009 16:45

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U.S.: Many dead in scary, tense Binghamton, N.Y. shooting

  • 12+ people, including the gunman, were killed in the upstate N.Y. shooting rampage source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 10:01

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Tech, World: “Wii Fit” has the opposite effect for this guy who died

  • He was healthy. Very healthy, actually. He rode bikes, he played drums in a rock band, yet Tim Eves couldn’t handle the physical activity of the Nintendo Wii’s popular “Wii Fit.” The twentysomething Brit collapsed and died in front of his girlfriend and best friend. Yikes. :( source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2009 20:13

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U.S.: A lone gunman shoots up a nursing home in N.C.

  • 8 people died, 7 residents and a nurse. Three were wounded. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 10:54

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World: Pakistan’s on edge this morning after a suicide bombing attack

  • 51+ dead in an attack on a mosque in Pakistan source
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24 Mar 2009 22:34

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Offbeat: If you’re gonna die today, it might as well be by komodo dragon

It’s sad that someone died in Indonesia after a dragon attack. We get that. But they’re awesome! We’d totally let one kill us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2009 10:52

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Culture: It runs in the family, sadly: Sylvia Plath’s son commits suicide

  • He was a loving brother, a loyal friend to those who knew him and, despite the vagaries that life threw at him, he maintained an almost childlike innocence and enthusiasm for the next project or plan.
  • Frieda Hughes • Sister of Nicholas Hughes and daughter of Sylvia Plath, on Nicholas’ death by suicide in Alaska. Hughes followed in his mother’s infamous footsteps; she gassed herself to death 46 years ago, creating a literary legend in the process. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2009 10:48

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U.S.: Cop killer in Oakland didn’t want to go back to prison

  • “A strange one” Lovelle Mixon, who died in the shootout that killed four police officers (the fourth has now died; he is no longer brain-dead) was afraid of going back to jail – a claim which perplexes investigators. They claim he would have only spent six months in jail for violating his parole, at most – a punishment which does not reflect the nature of the outburst. source
  • “A strange one” Lovelle Mixon, who died in the shootout that killed four police officers (the fourth has now died; he is no longer brain-dead) was afraid of going back to jail – a claim which perplexes investigators. They claim he would have only spent six months in jail for violating his parole, at most – a punishment which does not reflect the nature of the outburst.
  • California’s worst in decades With the death of fourth officer John Hege, the shooting now takes its place as the deadliest attack on California law enforcement in nearly four decades. In the wake of the tragedy, family members came to Mixon’s defense. “I don’t want people to think he’s a monster,” said his sister, Enjoli Mixon. “He’s just not. He’s just not.” source
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22 Mar 2009 21:06

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Politics, U.S.: Note to the AP/Oakland P.D.: “Dead” ≠ “Brain-dead”

  • This is the danger of being too hasty to report facts. The police made a bad mistake and the AP reported it. Be careful! These are people we’re talking about. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2009 11:02

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Culture: Brit reality celeb Jade Goody loses her battle with cancer

  • A public life Goody first became a fixture in the British press – specifically the British tabloid press – after starring on the British version of “Big Brother” in 2002. Goody took advantage of her notoriety by marketing the heck out of her public image. She took a PR hit in 2007 after making racist remarks on the celebrity edition of “Big Brother” but managed to recover to some degree. source
  • A public life Goody first became a fixture in the British press – specifically the British tabloid press – after starring on the British version of “Big Brother” in 2002. Goody took advantage of her notoriety by marketing the heck out of her public image. She took a PR hit in 2007 after making racist remarks on the celebrity edition of “Big Brother” but managed to recover to some degree.
  • A public death After joining the Indian edition of “Big Brother” in 2008 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008. She found it was terminal weeks ago, and lived out the last few weeks of her life very publicly, including getting married in a big spectacle. She claimed she was doing it to raise money for her daughter. Goody died today in her sleep. She was 27. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

18 Mar 2009 23:13

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Politics: We’re late to the Clay Shirky newspapers bandwagon, but he’s right

  • He’s right, you know Shirky makes this argument that all the stuff that the newspaper industry is doing right now is essentially trying to prop up an unsustainable model ruined by the Internet. Well, yeah. It’s the nature of creative destruction, something I wrote about a couple of months ago. But despite this, the content itself is more popular than ever. We read it because we love it. Even when we bitch and moan about the bias, we secretly love it.
  • Nothing will work Shirky’s main point: Experiment like crazy. Fail. Lose your shirt. Because you might eventually come up with a new type of thread which is a lot better than the one that held together your crappy shirt. I’d like to think that I got his point without having to be told it bluntly. I think a lot of people I know didn’t really get his point until it hit them in the face so hard that they couldn’t stop staring and they felt stung. It’s creative destruction. Don’t fight it.
  • Everything might work My friends are getting laid off, event the ones outside the newspaper industry. Newspapers are getting closed. The media feels like a watchdog that’s running out of sweet, sweet kibble. And it’s not because kibble’s in short supply – it’s because it’s getting dumped into a different bowl and it has a slightly different taste. It’s not going back into the old bowl. And you’re going to starve to death eating stale kibble. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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