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16 Aug 2011 10:11

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

03 Feb 2010 23:25

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Politics: Murray Hill Incorporated: Finally, a candidate we can believe in

Yeah, this is pretty cheeky. But Murray Hill, Inc. is really running for Congress in the Maryland 8th District. They even have the kind of press release that should be studied by people who write press releases. “We want to get in on the ground floor of the democracy market before the whole store is bought by China,” they write. We hope they win so the Supreme Court is forced to reconsider its decision about giving corporations the same rights as people. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

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