Declassified 1945 Airplane Gun Camera Footage from Japan
I'm a history buff of WWII and I found this footage extremely interesting. The video puts you in the pilot seat of the aircraft, and for a moment you can almost imagine yourself in the plane, which is a very scary thought. A very moving video.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes
200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes by Professor Hans Rosling
This is an amazingly interesting video. Hans Rosling, a superstar of statistics and mathematics in England sheds light on the past and future of our world in the eye of human beings. He takes the viewer through a ride over 200 years of human population from 200 countries.
This is an amazingly interesting video. Hans Rosling, a superstar of statistics and mathematics in England sheds light on the past and future of our world in the eye of human beings. He takes the viewer through a ride over 200 years of human population from 200 countries.
Bibi Aisha's Tormentor Captured by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
One of Bibi Aisha's Tormentors Captured
-The Daily Beast
One of the most repulsive crimes I have ever heard of is one step closer to bringing the culprits to justice. "Afghan police in the Chora district of Uruzgan province recently arrested the young woman’s father-in-law, Sulaiman, on charges stemming from his involvement in Aisha’s maiming last summer."
I recently read a book by Hirsi Ali called Infidel, and after reading it I don't find this atrocity that surprising. To most middle-east families and to all orthodox Muslims family honor is of utmost importance, their values and upbringing are taught to the children in a way that preaches hatred of Western culture. They are not subtle about their hatred and the women are especially caught in an abusive and oppressive society in which they have no power to get out of. Knowing this I can say I am not surprised.
-The Daily Beast
One of the most repulsive crimes I have ever heard of is one step closer to bringing the culprits to justice. "Afghan police in the Chora district of Uruzgan province recently arrested the young woman’s father-in-law, Sulaiman, on charges stemming from his involvement in Aisha’s maiming last summer."
I recently read a book by Hirsi Ali called Infidel, and after reading it I don't find this atrocity that surprising. To most middle-east families and to all orthodox Muslims family honor is of utmost importance, their values and upbringing are taught to the children in a way that preaches hatred of Western culture. They are not subtle about their hatred and the women are especially caught in an abusive and oppressive society in which they have no power to get out of. Knowing this I can say I am not surprised.
U.S.: Accused teen hit man in Mexico is an American citizen
Teen hit man slays four people is an American citizen
by the CNN staff
A truly outrageous story. A 14-year-old boy was caught and accused of slaying four members of a Mexican drug cartel in New Mexico city. The video in the link shows what seems to be a calm child being removed from the scene by special law enforcement and being flooded with questions by the media. The way he answers them is what shocked me the most, he was so casual. Watch the video!
by the CNN staff
A truly outrageous story. A 14-year-old boy was caught and accused of slaying four members of a Mexican drug cartel in New Mexico city. The video in the link shows what seems to be a calm child being removed from the scene by special law enforcement and being flooded with questions by the media. The way he answers them is what shocked me the most, he was so casual. Watch the video!
Nigeria's Hunt for Dick Cheney by Pratap Chatterjee
Nigeria's Hunt for Dick Cheney - The Daily Beast
"Cheney is going to JAIL! Finally...oh wait, no...shit.", that was my reaction to reading this article.
When I first started reading I was enthralled, overjoyed even. However as I read on it occurred to me that he is not going to be the man who serves time for any crimes committed, and by the end of the article Chatterjee confirmed it. The man is too powerful to go to prison for something like bribery.
"Cheney is going to JAIL! Finally...oh wait, no...shit.", that was my reaction to reading this article.
When I first started reading I was enthralled, overjoyed even. However as I read on it occurred to me that he is not going to be the man who serves time for any crimes committed, and by the end of the article Chatterjee confirmed it. The man is too powerful to go to prison for something like bribery.
Punching Back at WikiLeaks by Howard Kurtz
Punching Back at WikiLeaks by Howard Kurtz
The WikiLeaks scandal is continually escalating, but it seems for now Julian Assange is safe. The article explains a lot so you should definitely read it, but the main points I got from it are this:
Whatever the different Governments would like to do to Assange whether it be assassinate him, put him in jail, execute him, or have WikiLeaks shut down, they will not be able to because of our right to freedom of press. It is clearly going to be a hard case to argue. The author Howard Kurtz says, "...the Justice Department will be hard pressed to prosecute Assange without posing a chilling threat to press freedom." Meanwhile Assange "...dismissed the idea that he was jeopardizing lives as 'nonsense.'"
The WikiLeaks scandal is continually escalating, but it seems for now Julian Assange is safe. The article explains a lot so you should definitely read it, but the main points I got from it are this:
Whatever the different Governments would like to do to Assange whether it be assassinate him, put him in jail, execute him, or have WikiLeaks shut down, they will not be able to because of our right to freedom of press. It is clearly going to be a hard case to argue. The author Howard Kurtz says, "...the Justice Department will be hard pressed to prosecute Assange without posing a chilling threat to press freedom." Meanwhile Assange "...dismissed the idea that he was jeopardizing lives as 'nonsense.'"
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange on TED
Julian Assange on TED
*Maybe a few spoilers below*
Julian Assange talks on TED about why the world needs Wikileaks. I won't spoil the video for you, however I'll extend a quote. During the interview the panelist shows a leaked video of soldiers mowing down over 11 innocent people in their Black Hawk helicopter in a barrage of bullets, you can hear the soldiers laughing about it seconds after everyone is dead. The interviewer then asks Julian how he would respond to the many parents of soldiers who say their children are not like that, and that showing the video wrongly depicts the attitudes of US soldiers in Iraq, he said that, "...the people in Baghdad, the people in Iraq, the people in Afghanistan, that they don't need to see the video, they see it everyday, so it's not going to change their opinion it's not going to change their perception, that's what they see every day, it will change the perception and opinion of the people that are paying for it all. And that's our hope." I noticed also the crowd was mostly against Julian, many thought of him as a "trouble-maker". Enjoy!
*Maybe a few spoilers below*
Julian Assange talks on TED about why the world needs Wikileaks. I won't spoil the video for you, however I'll extend a quote. During the interview the panelist shows a leaked video of soldiers mowing down over 11 innocent people in their Black Hawk helicopter in a barrage of bullets, you can hear the soldiers laughing about it seconds after everyone is dead. The interviewer then asks Julian how he would respond to the many parents of soldiers who say their children are not like that, and that showing the video wrongly depicts the attitudes of US soldiers in Iraq, he said that, "...the people in Baghdad, the people in Iraq, the people in Afghanistan, that they don't need to see the video, they see it everyday, so it's not going to change their opinion it's not going to change their perception, that's what they see every day, it will change the perception and opinion of the people that are paying for it all. And that's our hope." I noticed also the crowd was mostly against Julian, many thought of him as a "trouble-maker". Enjoy!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Q10 - A Writers Tool
Q10 is a writers tool. It is a very simple, but very powerful text editor that keeps distractions at bay. It shuts you out from the rest of your computer so you can dig in and get your work done! You can control the whole program with your keyboard so it makes it even easier. Best of all, it's free! Check out Q10's website to see all its amazing statistics so you can keep writing!
Q10
Q10
Students do better when using Twitter?
Study Finds Students may do better using Twitter by news release of South Dakota State University
The University of South Dakota did a study where 125 students were tested, seventy of them used Twitter for academic discussions, the other 55 participated as a control group. The class-student engagement level was significantly higher for the students using Twitter. I can easily see why this is so. I can think of personal accounts where I was off school hours and thought of a question I wanted to ask a student in the class or the professor, unfortunately most of these questions come up when I'm not in class, not near a computer, or near a piece of paper to write the question down. So when I finally get to a place where I'm able to ask the question I'm either too lazy, or I just forget. Since Twitter is always around, and because it is so instantaneous one can never have an excuse to extract and input data from the class. Indeed Twitter is revolutionizing many things that seem superficial and maybe even trite, but here it proves to be useful on a significant level.
The University of South Dakota did a study where 125 students were tested, seventy of them used Twitter for academic discussions, the other 55 participated as a control group. The class-student engagement level was significantly higher for the students using Twitter. I can easily see why this is so. I can think of personal accounts where I was off school hours and thought of a question I wanted to ask a student in the class or the professor, unfortunately most of these questions come up when I'm not in class, not near a computer, or near a piece of paper to write the question down. So when I finally get to a place where I'm able to ask the question I'm either too lazy, or I just forget. Since Twitter is always around, and because it is so instantaneous one can never have an excuse to extract and input data from the class. Indeed Twitter is revolutionizing many things that seem superficial and maybe even trite, but here it proves to be useful on a significant level.
Friday, November 12, 2010
"Postal Worker Claims He Got Fired For Recording Customer’s N-Word Rant" by Ray Rahman
This article/video was posted on www.mediaite.com on Friday November 12, 2010. I would have embedded the video but this does not support embedding for non-paying users. The link is here:Video
It is absolutely ridiculous some of the words that come out of the woman's mouth in this video. She is absolutely racist, one of the most shocking comments I heard her say was, "They'll kill you..." and the postal server said, "Why do you want to kill me ma'am?", and she responds, "I don't but they will...", he says, "Who?", and she replies, "The white people...", "The white people?" he asks. "For not doing what I need you to do right now." she says. Watch the video it's jaw-dropping.
It is absolutely ridiculous some of the words that come out of the woman's mouth in this video. She is absolutely racist, one of the most shocking comments I heard her say was, "They'll kill you..." and the postal server said, "Why do you want to kill me ma'am?", and she responds, "I don't but they will...", he says, "Who?", and she replies, "The white people...", "The white people?" he asks. "For not doing what I need you to do right now." she says. Watch the video it's jaw-dropping.
Monday, November 8, 2010
"The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie" by Linda Holmes
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131091599&sc=emaf
This article released on November 5th and went viral very fast. The libel implications are ridiculous, and the e-mail response was simply jaw-dropping. The magazine Cooks Source was caught in the act of lifting someone else's material without compensation or notification to the author. I have to say again the e-mail response is just appalling:
"In her recounting of what has become The E-Mail Blogged Round The World, Gaudio says that Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs sent her a note that said, among other things, this:
This article released on November 5th and went viral very fast. The libel implications are ridiculous, and the e-mail response was simply jaw-dropping. The magazine Cooks Source was caught in the act of lifting someone else's material without compensation or notification to the author. I have to say again the e-mail response is just appalling:
"In her recounting of what has become The E-Mail Blogged Round The World, Gaudio says that Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs sent her a note that said, among other things, this:
...Honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Libel in Editorials
A question was brought up in a writing class I'm taking about whether or not opinion or editorial pieces that are published are libel for their comments considering it is an opinion piece. My answer to this question is that yes, the author is libel for all of his or her statements. There is a definitive line one cannot cross without proper facts to back up an accusation. For example, one is allowed to make remarks upon a persons character without "factual" data to back it up, other than that they met the person, or have known the person and they are giving their opinion about the person as a person. However when the author begins to make claims about another persons actions, the author then becomes libel for the statements he or she is making. One can state that, "I didn't like him.", but cannot state, "I didn't like him because he solicits prostitution." unless the speaker/writer has hard-evidence to prove he actually solicits prostitution. The fact that it is an opinion piece does not mean the rules of libel have changed or bent, it simply denotes to the reader that if they are to read the article they are to expect the authors opinions within the story unlike a typical straight hard-hitting, factual news-story.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Actual Malice
The 1960 case of Sullivan vs. The New York Times was a landmark for the people and especially the journalists of the United States. Long story short: an Alabama government official thought he was being attacked by a group of African American fundamentalists who wrote about a protest gone violent in Montgomery.
Sullivan, the Alabama official thought that the advertisement depicted inaccurate claims that insinuated Sullivan's involvement, however the ad never once mentioned Sullivan's name.
The court chief justice ruled in favor of Sullivan and granted him $500,000. The trial was later over-turned by Justice William J. Brennan Jr., his reasoning sparked the term "actual malice" that is now used so frequently in court rooms today.
Brennan concluded that the First Amendment must protect the publication of all written statements, even if they are false.
The only exception to this rule is unless these statements were made with actual malice, this means that the offending party has made these statements with full knowledge of their falsity or made in reckless disregard of their truth. Justice William Brennan Jr. "maintained that erroneous statements are inevitable in free debate and must be protected if freedom of expression is to have the 'breathing space' it needs to survive.
The outcome of this event was extremely significant and opened up the air to whole new conversations within the media, and was beneficial in many ways the the journalistic community.
Sullivan, the Alabama official thought that the advertisement depicted inaccurate claims that insinuated Sullivan's involvement, however the ad never once mentioned Sullivan's name.
The court chief justice ruled in favor of Sullivan and granted him $500,000. The trial was later over-turned by Justice William J. Brennan Jr., his reasoning sparked the term "actual malice" that is now used so frequently in court rooms today.
Brennan concluded that the First Amendment must protect the publication of all written statements, even if they are false.
The only exception to this rule is unless these statements were made with actual malice, this means that the offending party has made these statements with full knowledge of their falsity or made in reckless disregard of their truth. Justice William Brennan Jr. "maintained that erroneous statements are inevitable in free debate and must be protected if freedom of expression is to have the 'breathing space' it needs to survive.
The outcome of this event was extremely significant and opened up the air to whole new conversations within the media, and was beneficial in many ways the the journalistic community.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
"Fla. pastor issues new demands" - USA Today
Fla. pastor issues new demands
The article published on September 10, 2010 about the Florida pastor named Terry Jones who had promised his followers that they would be burning Qurans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 said that he would ultimately be canceling his book burning due to too much pressure from the White House. It is well known that over the past week or so there has been plenty of back and forth accusations of whether Mr.Jones' demands have been met (the issue of the mosque being built near the Sept. 11th memorial), either Jones has some serious issues with keeping his affairs in order or the other end is not taking him seriously, and I feel there's a good bet it's both. I think its clear from the actions of the people Mr.Jones is trying to deal with that they are not really taking him seriously. According to the forementioned USA Today article after canceling his event Jones said he wouldn't continue his burning of the Quran if he was able to meet Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader of the Islamic center and mosque building near Ground Zero. Rauf responded by saying that he had no intentions of meeting with Jones, but he is more than willing to see someone who is "seriously committed to pursuing peace." I found this very funny, it seems I'm not the only one who has stamped a "this guy's a joke" on Jones' forehead.
The article published on September 10, 2010 about the Florida pastor named Terry Jones who had promised his followers that they would be burning Qurans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 said that he would ultimately be canceling his book burning due to too much pressure from the White House. It is well known that over the past week or so there has been plenty of back and forth accusations of whether Mr.Jones' demands have been met (the issue of the mosque being built near the Sept. 11th memorial), either Jones has some serious issues with keeping his affairs in order or the other end is not taking him seriously, and I feel there's a good bet it's both. I think its clear from the actions of the people Mr.Jones is trying to deal with that they are not really taking him seriously. According to the forementioned USA Today article after canceling his event Jones said he wouldn't continue his burning of the Quran if he was able to meet Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader of the Islamic center and mosque building near Ground Zero. Rauf responded by saying that he had no intentions of meeting with Jones, but he is more than willing to see someone who is "seriously committed to pursuing peace." I found this very funny, it seems I'm not the only one who has stamped a "this guy's a joke" on Jones' forehead.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Over 230 People Murdered, 400 Wounded
The New York Times - Somalia: Desperate Civilians Flee Fighting in Mogadishu
The article published in The New York Times September 7, 2010 described more than 230 people murdered by the Al Shabab, one of Africa's most aggressive and formidable militant Islamist groups. They control most of southern Somalia and have claimed affiliation with Al Qaeda since 2007. What I don't understand is why this article isn't at the top of this list for headliners. I am sure I can guess what some of the reasons are that it isn't though. One may be that it doesn't have to do with our country, another could be that people don't want to hear about 230 people and many of them civilians murdered. Some may say that it's old news, thousands of Somalians have died just in the past 12 years and no one wants to hear about it everyday, fair enough. However I believe the news shouldn't be censored or padded with flowery words to soften blows or to divert attention. The Fourth Estate has a mission to carry out, to inform the public without bias or prejudice about important news that will move and motivate readers to take positive action. But what denotes important? I believe genocide falls under the category of important, so why is this article hidden in a small dark corner of The New York Times?
The article published in The New York Times September 7, 2010 described more than 230 people murdered by the Al Shabab, one of Africa's most aggressive and formidable militant Islamist groups. They control most of southern Somalia and have claimed affiliation with Al Qaeda since 2007. What I don't understand is why this article isn't at the top of this list for headliners. I am sure I can guess what some of the reasons are that it isn't though. One may be that it doesn't have to do with our country, another could be that people don't want to hear about 230 people and many of them civilians murdered. Some may say that it's old news, thousands of Somalians have died just in the past 12 years and no one wants to hear about it everyday, fair enough. However I believe the news shouldn't be censored or padded with flowery words to soften blows or to divert attention. The Fourth Estate has a mission to carry out, to inform the public without bias or prejudice about important news that will move and motivate readers to take positive action. But what denotes important? I believe genocide falls under the category of important, so why is this article hidden in a small dark corner of The New York Times?
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