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Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:13:58 -0500

The Lush Lullaby Renditions Of Nickelback?? Seriously? Does the...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:47:00 -0500

The Lush Lullaby Renditions Of Nickelback??

Seriously? Does the world really need this?

Maury Christmas! (via 9gag)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:43:18 -0500

Maury Christmas!

(via 9gag)

Water World In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:42:00 -0500

Water World

In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to discuss climate change. Nowhere are the stakes higher than in Bangladesh, where a 1-meter rise in sea level will flood 20 percent of the country and displace 35 million people.

It is ironic that Bangladesh is a victim of a phenomenon it had virtually no role in creating.

But Bangladeshis are a tenacious lot. And in the face of such hopelessness, they are dreaming up innovative solutions to combat the future nature has carved from them. Steps such as floating schools and rice that can “hold its breath” underwater.

This powerful PBS piece — part of the show ‘NOW’ — is 25 minutes long and is must viewing, whether you’re a Bangladeshi or not.

Today is National Cliche Day. And it’s a good a time as...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:23:00 -0500

Today is National Cliche Day. And it’s a good a time as any to recycle this old Tumblr entry:

Every crime story EVER written

Journalists LOVE resorting to the tired phrases. So, my friend Lateef and I (both former cop reporters) decided to write the ultimate crime story using every possible hackneyed wording we could think of.

Count the clichés and vow to never ever repeat them.*

Neighbors search for answers as drive-by shooting claims life of teacher

By Scoop Jones and R. U. Luckie/ The Daily Downsizer

ATLANTA, Georgia — It was Billy’s last dance.

Billy Dance walked out of his modest ranch house to retrieve his newspaper from the front lawn — and never came back.

Dance, a 32-year-old business instructor, was gunned down in a hail of bullets Tuesday in a quiet suburban neighborhood outside Atlanta, police said.

“I am shocked. It was a scene straight out of a movie,” said neighbor Johnny Kutz. “We never thought anything like this could ever happen here.”

The shooting was the second headline-grabbing incident in as many days in the Bubbling Brook community, and it heightened tensions.

On Sunday, a woman in a nearby subdivision was arrested on animal cruelty charges after authorities found 74 uncared-for cats inside her house.

Neighbors have also grappled with several car break-ins in recent days where teenagers stole iPods from unlocked vehicles and fled on foot.

So far, police are being tight-lipped about whether Dance’s shooting is related to the recent crime wave.

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Atlanta police Sgt. Christopher Rude. “We’re following up on a lot of leads, and we already have a person of interest in custody.”

The early morning calm was shattered about 6 a.m. when a maroon older-model sedan drove past Dance’s house and someone opened fire.

“It sounded like ‘pop,’ ‘pop,’ ‘pop,’” said LaKeisha Washington, who was getting her children ready for school at the time. “At first, I thought it was firecrackers.”

Neighbors described Dance as a quiet man who mostly kept to himself.

“I’d see him sometimes when I was working on my yard and he was getting in his car,” said Roger Jordan. “We would wave. He seemed like a pleasant guy.”

Dance’s colleagues at Dewey Institute of Technology said he was an instructor who always had a smile on his face.

“He always thought outside the box when he taught,” said Mary Pepperidge. “It’s a pity he was taken in the prime of his life.”

Police tape cordoned off Dance’s one-story house Tuesday evening. Yellow placards counting the shell casings littered the area. A reporter counted 25 of them.

By the driveway, neighbors had set up a make-shift memorial. A candle-light vigil was slated for later in the night.

Jordan’s wife, Samantha, said the killings had upended her sense of peace and tranquility in the subdivision of middle-class homes with well-manicured lawns.

“This is the kind of place where we don’t even lock the door at night,” she said.

Those who dropped off teddy bears and bouquets in a show of support at the memorial searched for answers. They were at a loss to explain Dance’s passing, as was a homicide detective who came by to re-interview some of the residents.

“I tell you, I’ve been on the force for 13 years and usually in a homicide, there is some link between the victim and the perpetrator,” the detective said, without wanting to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Davie Nelson, councilman for the district that Dance lived in, also milled about, commiserating with the crowd.

“This is why we need more police officers,” Nelson lamented.

Towards late afternoon Dance’s Aunt Matilda came to the crime scene. The woman said she wanted closure.

“I just want closure,” Aunt Matilda said.

_______________________

*The same day we made up this story, this was the headline on abcnews.com:

Alabama Shooter Michael McLendon Was ‘Quiet’

Alabama Shooter Often ‘Kept To Himself,’ Had Quit Job Last Week

Not the reaction your wife expects. So surprise her! 9gag: You...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:44:00 -0500

Not the reaction your wife expects. So surprise her!

9gag:

You son of a bitch!

thedailywhat: Goal Celebration of the Day: What do you do when...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:38:27 -0500

thedailywhat:

Goal Celebration of the Day: What do you do when you play for a seventh tier soccer club and there are barely any fans around to cheer for you after a rather epic-looking goal?

This.

[via.]

Ewoks go on a rampage on the ‘Today’ show set The...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:26:40 -0400

Ewoks go on a rampage on the ‘Today’ show set

The segment starts off in your usual ‘Today’ show manner with the NBC morning program’s hosts dressed as Star Wars character chatting with a lady from Better Homes & Gardens about fun Halloween ideas.

But keep watching and you will be treated to the following :

Ewoks throwing things
Ewoks drinking martinis
Ewoks fighting each other
An Ewok very possibly grabbing Meredith Viera’s bottom
An Ewok dry-humping

Radio prank goes HORRIBLY wrong

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:49:27 -0400

Radio show prank involves calling employee’s wife and telling her that her husband’s been cheating on her.

The last two seconds are priceless. Cringe-inducingly priceless.

Love!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:27:00 -0400

Love!

Follow Friday: The Dark Side (via 9gag)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:25:23 -0400

Follow Friday: The Dark Side

(via 9gag)

This is sad but I am guessing oh so true in my case come...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:25:12 -0400

This is sad but I am guessing oh so true in my case come Halloween night :(

urlesque:

zachlinder:

Chris Ware for The New Yorker.

Brilliant.

[via brooklynmutt]

Cyber-beggar (via 9gag)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:11:14 -0400

Cyber-beggar

(via 9gag)

CraigsList Ad of the Day (via thedailywhat)

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:07:12 -0400

CraigsList Ad of the Day

(via thedailywhat)

juliasegal: That’s one way to make guys want manicures and...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:20:50 -0400

juliasegal:

That’s one way to make guys want manicures and pedicures.

My new favorite Website: STFU Marrieds Chockful of...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:11:00 -0400

My new favorite Website: STFU Marrieds

Chockful of groan-inducing gems like the one above! (click on image)

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? The oddest police sketches Police sketch...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:50:00 -0400

Suspect in a Miss. teen kidnapping

Suspect stabbed newlyweds in Victoria

Suspect in a pub burglary in England

Suspect in a Fla. child assault

Suspect in Wales robbery

Suspect in a Thai robbery

A post office robbery suspect

Sketch in missing Madeleine McCann case

Sketch of a Penn. prowler

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? The oddest police sketches

Police sketch artists provide an invaluable service in bringing perps to justice. Unfortunately they are handicapped by details (or lack thereof) that the witnesses provide.

And when that happens, we’re left with a rogue’s gallery of the bizarre.

But even such dubious sketches yield results. Remember this drawing? It’s the sketch of a person who fatally shot a woman outside a Target store in Georgia.

Cops made an arrest in the case: it was the woman’s mother in law

With that in mind, bone up on the details of our gallery:

Sketch 1: Man suspected in the gunpoint abduction of a teen in Leadington, Missouri.

Sketch 2: Sketch of man who broke into the home of a newlywed in Victoria, Australia, and stabbed them.

Sketch 3: Computerized image of a man who stole two small safes from a pub in Stalham, Norfolk.

Sketch 4: Sketch and mugshot of a man who squeezed the bottom of a middle-schooler in Naples, Florida.

Sketch 5: Computer sketch of a conman who tricked an elderly widow of her life savings in Wales.

Sketch 6: A robbery suspect in Thailand.

Sketch 7: A post office robbery suspect.

Sketch 8: The bizarre sketch released by police of the person who abducted Madeleine McCann.

Sketch 9: Sketch of a prowler who targeted young women as they slept in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

21 news caption mistakes

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:07:00 -0400

21 news caption mistakes

“It takes a matter of seconds for a thief to break into...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:48:26 -0400

“It takes a matter of seconds for a thief to break into your car. All it takes is a hammer, an empty parking lot” …

… and, if the thief’s anything like this reporter, many many many tries

“Umm, not the headline I’d go with” This Wall...

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:50:00 -0400

“Umm, not the headline I’d go with”

This Wall Street Journal story is actually about how former colleagues of investor Raj Rajaratnam are bolstering the government’s investigation into the biggest insider-trading case in decades.

Fascinating story; unfortunate headline.

(Thanks, Amanda)