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02 Nov 2011 11:51

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Offbeat: Protip for Safeway: PR debacles regarding shoplifting cost more than $5

  • cause Two parents, including a pregnant woman, were arrested last week when they ate cheap sandwiches at a Safeway in Honolulu, and forgot to pay for them. They bought roughly $50 worth of items, but were nicked for the $5 sandwiches. The store wouldn’t let them pay. In the process, their child was taken away. Wait, what?
  • reaction Nearly a week later, as the story gained national attention, the company personally apologized for its employees’ handling of the situation, and dropped the charges. Meanwhile, Marcin and Nicole Leszczynski still faced criticism from some for eating food before paying. To which we say, umm … it was an accident. source
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19 Jan 2011 10:31

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U.S.: Gabrielle Giffords improving significantly, could move to rehab facility

  • Everyday Gabby improves and shows higher levels of comprehension and complex actions.
  • Gabrielle Giffords’ mother, Gloria • Revealing that she could be let out of the hospital by Friday and moved to a rehabilitation facility in Houston. Which, if true, would be a miraculous recovery for Giffords, who nearly died after being shot in the head a week and a half ago. She’s been using her husband Mark Kelly’s iPhone and sitting upright. She also gave him a 20-minute neckrub. Hopefully this report isn’t too optimistic.  source
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13 Jan 2011 20:17

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U.S.: Posted without comment: 9/11 flag raised for Christina Green

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11 Jan 2011 23:33

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U.S.: Gabrielle Giffords’ surgeon: Things going as well as they could be

  • No one that shouldn’t have died, died.
  • University Medical Center Trauma Unit chief Peter Rhee • Sounding cautiously optimistic about the results his surgery crew has had with the Gabrielle Giffords shooting last week. Rhee sounds like the right guy to be handling a shooting like this unfortunate mess – he has loads of experience with these sorts of incidents. “I was in the Navy for 24 years and I trained for nothing but battlefield casualties,” he said. . “We can take anything they throw at us from a civilian standpoint.” Giffords, by the way, remains in critical condition. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jan 2011 22:34

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Politics: Max Headroom: Sheriff Clarence Dupnik takes on “vitriolic rhetoric”

  • To simply the current societal argument going on right now: Some are arguing that the current anger and rage in our country’s politics have influenced events like the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy in Tucson on Saturday. Pima County, Az. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has perhaps been the leading voice for this kind of opinion. Many conservatives have been of the other opinion on this whole issue. This piece on Fox News, led by Megyn Kelly narrows the two points into one convenient video. Dupnik has some valid points, but Kelly arguably wins – she sticks to her guns and keeps asking for hard evidence, not speculation. She never gets it.
  • Olbermann’s repudiation hunt “If all of these are not responsible for what happened in Tucson, they must now be responsible for doing everything they can to make sure Tucson does not happen again.” It takes a few minutes for Olbermann’s main point to become clear, but when it does, it shines. The reason why it shines? Because he criticizes himself and his own side in the clip. That’s why it sticks to your bones.
  • The most heart-wrenching Story “I just assumed they got into a car accident.” When Christina Taylor Green went to witness Gabrielle Giffords speak on Saturday, she went with the kind of ambition that most nine-year-olds don’t have. And that’s what hurts the most about this incident. Gabrielle Giffords is still holding on and may make it. But her potential successor did not. You could feel it from the way her mom talks. Our heart breaks for her.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jan 2011 09:51

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U.S.: Posted without comment: Today’s Arizona Daily Star front page

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08 Jan 2011 22:20

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U.S.: To recap: Here’s what happened to Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson

  • one bullet went straight through Gifford’s brain – she’s currently getting heavy medical care
  • six number of deaths in the attack, including a judge; 13 more (beyond Gifford) were injured
  • nine the age of the youngest victim, an innocent bystander caught in the middle source
  • » A second suspect? Authorities are currently looking for a 50-year-old man who reportedly helped main suspect Jared Lee Loughner with the crime. He hasn’t been caught yet.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Jan 2011 22:00

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Politics: On Gabrielle Giffords, Sarah Palin, tonal problems, etc.

  • Probably the most interesting take we’ve seen on this whole incident comes from James Fallows. “It is legitimate,” Fallows writes, “to discuss whether there is a connection between that tone and actual outbursts of violence, whatever the motivations of this killer turn out to be.” The suspect – we don’t know what was going through his head, and who knows if we will. But a generally vitriolic political environment can have an unwieldy, uncontrollable result in the wrong hands. The reason why things like Sarah Palin’s “Take Back the 20” or her congressional opponent’s gun-shooting event worry us have nothing to do with Palin having a direct role in the shooting, but with the way that general anger and rage has played an influential role in our political climate. You have to be careful with this kind of imagery. A good comparison Fallows makes is the JFK assassination, where he offers a suggestion that Lee Harvey Oswald’s motives may have been influenced by the general anger and discontent in Dallas at the time of Kennedy’s visit. Arizona has a lot going on right now. It’s fair to draw comparisons, even if on the surface, they aren’t so clear. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jan 2011 17:24

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U.S.: Why Gabrielle Giffords got into politics, in her words

  • I first got involved with politics because I was frustrated when I was opening up my newspaper every single morning and seeing my great state of Arizona continuing to be at the bottom, whether it be poor-people funding, or mental health funding, or making sure that we could preserve our beautiful open spaces and in life you can either complain about something or you can try to fix it so I decided to run for political office.
  • Rep. Gabrielle Giffords • Explaining why she chose to get into politics. This is probably how a lot of people feel. Whatever happened to the congresswoman is a significant moment, one that really makes us sad for our country at large. Look … whatever happened with Jared Loughner, whatever his motives, whatever, elected leaders should not be put into situations like this. Giffords comes from a good place. Remember that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jan 2011 17:05

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U.S.: Jan Brewer speaks on Gabrielle Giffords shooting

  • “Gabby’s more than just a colleague. She’s been a friend.” Jan Brewer sounds very emotional in talking about Giffords. “She never really played partisan politics,” she said. “She is a very gracious elected servant.” (Live from CNN) source
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