Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

16 Feb 2012 13:48

tags

Politics: Two state legislatures working on same-sex marriage today

  • New JerseyA bill legalizing same-sex marriage has already passed the state Senate, and is widely expected to pass the House as well. Republican Governor Chris Christie, however, has promised to veto – taking the political risk of being the lone man who thwarted tens of thousands of people’s personal happiness.
  • Maryland A less certain, but potentially rosier picture for marriage equality in Maryland; should a same-sex marriage bill pass the House, it will go to a Senate that passed such a bill last year, and is supported by Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley. Such a bill failed last year due to Democratic defections. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Aug 2011 10:11

tags

U.S.: Video: Three dozen dudes loot a 7-Eleven en masse, steal tons of stuff

  • It’s not a “flash mob,” but: Our friends at Gawker got caught up in the phrasing used to describe this mass robbery of a store that doesn’t usually close, but let’s make no mistake — dozens of kids running into a 7-Eleven and stealing crap without care is generally not a common occurrence. And for this one store in Germantown, Md., it’s a pain they know too well. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 14:22

tags

U.S.: Newspaper publishes lesbian couple story, then publisher backtracks

  • good On Mother’s Day, The Capital Newspaper, an Annapolis, Md. daily paper, ran a story about a lesbian couple raising children. A progressive move for the paper.
  • bad Unfortunately for them, the comments were scathing. “You are not disenfranchised, except by virtue of your own insistent anomaly,” one comment read.
  • worse Stunned by the reaction, the editor/publisher tried to apologize for the story (saying it didn’t reflect the community), only to have his staff kill his column. Wow. source
  • » To put this simply: A good newspaper doesn’t back down from criticism when the reasons for publishing something are valid, even when the community has pitchforks out, ready to stab whomever it doesn’t like. That the editor tried to back off due to the reaction to the column is a bad sign. You need to respect your community by sometimes telling them things they aren’t always ready to hear. That couple is part of the community too. They deserve their story told just as much as anyone else who lives near Annapolis — no matter the comments. Shameful.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jan 2011 20:31

tags

U.S.: Some jerk sending mail bombs in D.C., Maryland

The latest one, which never got to the intended recipient, Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, exploded inside of a D.C. mail facility. Two others were sent yesterday in Maryland. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2010 20:07

tags

Culture: A sad story of childbirth and death, told through Facebook

  • A heartbreaking tale, told in a postmodern way. Shana Swers of Gaithersburg, Md. wanted to reveal the joy of her childbirth to the world, but the medical complications that followed meant that she would never be able to live to enjoy the motherhood that came along with it. Beyond the story itself, what’s fascinating is the way that The Washington post presents it – as a Facebook stream. This is one of the best story layouts we’ve seen the Post do online. It’s a shame that it had to come with a story so heartbreaking. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 21:27

tags

U.S.: The FBI lets another guy ruin his life by making up terror threat

So, this place almost got blowed up because the FBI decided to make some idiot think he was blowing up a bomb. This wasn’t a thwarted terror threat; this was theater. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Sep 2010 23:54

tags

U.S.: Discovery Building gunman James Lee spent time in jail

  • 18 monthsthe amount of time he was sentenced in 2003 for smuggling an illegal immigrant in California
  • 11 monthsthe amount of time James Jae Lee, a self-described “loner,” actually spent in jail for the incident source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Sep 2010 19:25

tags

U.S.: Three fun facts about the Discovery Building gunman incident

  • one NBC News actually got on the phone WITH the gunman DURING the incident. They didn’t report it until after the incident was over.
  • two James J. Lee claimed that his turning point in focusing on the environment was watching Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”
  • three During a 2008 Discovery Channel protest that he heavily promoted, he threw thousands of dollars onto city streets for some reason. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Sep 2010 15:33

tags

U.S.: What’s up with the hostage situation at the Discovery Channel?

  • A HOSTAGE HAs been taken Details are sketchy, but police say a man named James Lee has taken at least one hostage at the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, Maryland (1:31 pm).
  • he may have a bomb The local fire department confirms that he has “at least one package with him,” but won’t confirm what it is. The bomb squad was seen arriving at 2:18 pm.
  • he doesn’t like discoveryLee is an environmentalist who has criticized Discovery Channel in the past. Police say he has “concerns” with the channel, and is currently making demands. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Aug 2010 22:09

tags

Culture: Dear Shark Week fans: We present to you SharkBuilding.

  • The Discovery Channel sure knows how to pull out all the stops. For our friends not currently in the D.C. area, here’s what the Discovery Channel building in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland looks like. Why does this shark look so cute? It should look like it’s about to chew apart your entrails (or at least tear off your arm)! Shark Week is like Hanukkah for nature fans, except instead of presents you get more shark-related reality television. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>