A boner of an error in the NY Times

You’ve probably already seen this, but since I had a copy I figured I would share this amusing mistake from the NY Times a few weeks ago.



D’oh!

If anyone has a copy of the correction that probably ran the following Monday, please share.

I know, I know, this sort of thing happens even to the best of us. The copy editor probably got used to seeing the words and just slipped up, but it is still a hilarious error that I am sure the scientists got a good guffaw about.

By the way, if you don’t know what the Large Hadron Collider is, go and check it out. It could be the end of us all.

Daytona Beach News-Journal going up for sale

Daytona Beach News-Journal

In the wake of a lawsuit from corporate shareholders, Cox Enterprises, the owners of the Daytona Beach News-Journal announced today that they would put the paper on the market. From the Orlando Sentinel:

A sale of the newspaper has become the only option in light of the latest legal loss against Cox Enterprises, the Atlanta-based corporate partner.

“We do not yet know the form this sale will take or the timing, but we know that it will be sold as a going and continuing business,” reads the letter posted on the newspaper’s Web site and jointly signed by board members.

The News-Journal has been ordered to pay Cox $129 million to buy out its shares and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal denied the News-Journal’s last request to rehear the case.

I got $5 on it!

I wonder who will be the first to make a bid? Murdoch? Gannett? Hearst?

Newseum to open Friday

Update (9:10 a.m.): Gen. David Petraeus and Co. are doing a press briefing from the Newseum right now. It looks like they are on Jeopardy. “We’ll take ‘Horrible Quagmires’ for $1000 Alex.”

Newseum

The $450 million Newseum is opening in Washington D.C. this Friday. For some reason, I have mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, it would be a great place to see artifacts and examine the history of journalism, on the other hand it’s a $450 million museum that features Anna Marie Cox’s slippers as part of an exhibit.

Gross waste of funds, or necessary addition to the museums of D.C.?

Either way, I’ll probably try and make a pilgrimage to the place this summer or by the end of the year. One thing is for sure, the place is hella cool looking.

Evening reads

  • Facebook Reportedly Near Accord Over Origin – Apparently Aaron Grennspan claims he created ‘The Facebook,’ soon to be associated with ‘The Huge Settlement.’ With the company worth an estimated $15 billion and rumor that it well sell public shares soon, I think they can afford to pay this thing under the rug.
  • Cindy McCain is shopping a book – I’ve got to tell you, those McCains are some writing fools. McCain has put out (what seems) like two books during his presidential run. Hell, I think he even put one out while in that Vietnam POW camp. Now his wife is jumping on the wagon as well. McCain’s book are always big sellers too, not that Cindy needs the money.
  • Yahoo/Google deal is anti-competitive: Microsoft – The ‘Search Wars’ continue, or do they? This bit in Wired claims that the Search Wars are over, and declared Google Inc. the victor. From my experience (which is limited) it seems that eliminating almost all competition in a market is just bad. We are taught in Econ 101 that competition is necessary to promote innovation. Now I don’t think Google would just stop being innovative if they were the only game in town, but it would certainly be easier for them to rest on their laurels a bit. However, I do have to admit I am a bit of a Google fanboy, I just love all of their apps and services.
  • ‘USA Today’ Launches Instant Message News Alerts and Search Function – While no doubt useful, there is something weird about talking to robot services in AIM. A news service would no doubt be any less creepy. Gannett has really been stepping up its online game (even stealing the Sentinel’s Flash prodigy last month), so I’ve got to commend them for that.
  • Study: Newspaper Web Sites Dominate Local Traditional Media, But Are Losing Share – Yay, job security! Well, sort of. To say that news Web sites are losing market share to Google and Yahoo! is to assume they ever really had a ton of it. Seems to me that is a winless battle, better to fight on your own turf and compete against other news Web sites. The key is to do things Google and Yahoo! can’t do or can’t make use of on their news sites.
  • San Francisco torch route switch angers spectators – So the torch bearers, on their way to cast the fire into the mouth of Mount Doom, are forced to pump fake and pull the old switcheroo in order to stave off attacks from protesters and rabble rousers. I just woke up from a nap and apparently I am in the Twilight Zone.

Art meets news with Larry Roibal

Obama doodle, by Roibal

Larry Roibal is a freelance illustrator who has been displaying his quick, amazing doodles that he does directly on news stories relating to the subjects. Though I am hard-pressed to call them doodles because of the quality of some of the drawings. What’s amazing is that he just uses a simple ballpoint pen and some of his work is almost gallery worthy. From his about page:

I draw sometimes for the sake of drawing, sometimes to practice my drawing, or just to pass the time. For years, I’ve been doing morning drawings, done over coffee or on the train. They’re done quick without corrections and off they go into the recycling bin without fanfare. There’s something liberating about drawing something you know is being thrown away. It’s not meant to be art, but having drawn pretty pictures for over twenty years, these doodles hold a strange appeal to me, you know, one man’s trash…

The guy is really amazing.

Credit: Drawn!

Morning reads, both journalism and non

Sam Zell

  • Sam Zell: A Tough Guy in a Mean Business – I’ve had mixed feelings about Zell since he became my current pseudo-boss. On the one hand he is willing to take risks and branch out in new directions (so he says). On the other hand he is only willing to do that if it increases the bottom line, not if makes for better journalism. That’s the nature of the news business though, there’s no way around it. (p.s. I love the picture above, courtesy of the New York Times.)
  • Tribune Turns to Radio to Revive Empire - Another article about Zell/Tribune-deal. For some reason this whole thing fascinates me. I’d always read about the other deals big deals (McClatchy buying Knight Ridder, Tribune buying LA Times, Gannett deals), but have never had the privilege of watching one evolve from the inside out. Hopefully deals like this won’t completely destroy the business I love so much.
  • Inside Word at Pulitzer Announcement: Entries Down, But Online Up - The day a Pulitzer Prize is given to a story that is an Internet-only package is the day online journalism will have truly arrived (if that hasn’t already happened).
  • In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop – If ‘Death by Blogging’ ever becomes a common thing, our world will have truly gone off the deep end. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind blogging for a living if the subject were something I was really into (i.e. journalism, technology, news, politics). Then again, being forced to post can hinder the quality of the writing I am sure.
  • Commentary: It’s time for the newspaper industry to die - Not what you think. A commentary from Online Journalism Review contributor Robert Niles.
  • ‘Washington Post’ Captures 6 Pulitzers, ‘NYT’ Takes 2 – Go WaPo! Special mention to the Chicago Tribune staff, for winning the ‘Investigative Reporting’ prize for stories on faulty government regulation of toys, cribs, car seats.

Now it is time for to go and play journalist for a bit. Interviews, notes, transcribing and more interviews. I love this game.

State Department to renew Blackwater contract

blackwater
In “Are you kidding me news,” yes, the U.S. State Department will renew its contract with embattled mercenaries, er, security contractors, Blackwater.

Blackwater said its employees were returning fire after coming under attack from armed insurgents, but an Iraqi investigation called the killings "premeditated murder."

Starr said the U.S. government, in particular U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, will take a close look at the FBI's investigation report and then "decide whether it is consistent with U.S. goals and policies to continue the contract."

He said it will be important to see whether the FBI finds Blackwater itself criminally responsible, or merely a few of its employees.

"We can terminate contracts for the convenience of the government if we have to," he said. "I am not going to prejudge what the FBI is going to find in its investigation. It's complex. I think the U.S. government needs protective services."

Honestly, is this really the way to go? Winning the hearts and minds, by any means necessary.

I can almost hear Condi a six months from now say: “Well, it seemed like the best idea at the time. We couldn’t have known these wild, greedy, accountable to no one mercenaries would kill more civilians. It’s not like this has happened already…oh wait, never mind. Sorry.”

Hat tip: Heather

2008 hurricane season might be the most ironic ever

So after the announcement that we should be prepared for a vicious hurricane season (which they say every year just to cover themselves), I checked out the potential names for this year’s storms.

Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred

How ironic would it be for Florida (or any other state) to get pounded by a hurricane named Bertha, a name typically associated with a large woman, or Arthur, a drunk. The best, however, would be Hurricane Ike, as in Ike Turner.

Getting bitch-slapped by Ike would seem almost appropriate. OrlandoSentinel.com has a gallery of the hurricane names and matching celebrities. Not all of the same associations I would have made but some are still funny.

The hurricane experts always say the same thing before hurricane season. “Get ready for the worst yet!” “Residents should prepare for the worst!” “The end is nigh!”

So people run out, over-spend on water, batteries and other supplies and the big bix stores like Lowes, Wal-Mart and Costco make out like bandits. It’s a scam I tell you.

They did this last year and we only had a few storms, only one I think affecting Florida at all. But still, people went out to spend, spend, spend. Then they were stuck eating canned beans and soup for the next six months.

Sure we might have hurricanes, but no more than every year. You can’t predict this stuff accurately, you just have to roll with it. Weather people can hardly predict the day to day weather, let alone an entire hurricane season.

Don’t like it? Move. Other places have snowstorms, mudslides, Oz-worthy tornadoes and Christian fundamentalists. There’s a simple solution to all of those things, go somewhere else. Those things are a part of living on this planet.

Deal with it.

5ive things to read today

“Dude, I’m frickin’ baked, but this cookie is delicious.” (DENNIS COOK/ASSOCIATE PRESS)

5 years of war in Iraq, what is it good for?

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, as you have no doubt heard on every news station so far today. The NY Times has some good stuff up, as does WaPo and even my own paper The Orlando Sentinel.

No doubt today you will see countless time lines, hundreds of pictures and hear pundits from both sides screech about how the war is or is not working. It will be a day of endless speculation and 20-20 hindsight.

The thing to remember though is that during all of this time there have been men and women over there. Not just soldiers but workers, contractors and those in the media trying to help this war make sense to those of back here in the safety of the U.S. Don’t forget about those people when you have your debates about the Iraq War.

Through all of this, despite the war being more about money, power and politics, none of that can happen without the people on the ground.

War sucks, and this one especially. In five years, has anything really been accomplished? Proponents of the war will point to the overthrow of Saddam and the voting in Iraq, but has that really made things safer for the people living there? It seems not.

There is no perfect solution right now, and anyone pretending to propose one is a liar. No matter who wins, someone is still a big loser, about 50,000 in fact (and counting).

What now? What comes next?

War sucks.

The Middle East @ work

From American Public Radio:


Camel ride hits a few bumps from Marketplace on Vimeo.

The same type of thing happened to my mom and I in Thailand, though not quite as extreme because we are Thai. Woo American capitalism. You were right Thomas Friedman, the world really is flat! And it is not necessarily a good thing.

Watch until the last shot, it’s golden.

The rest of the series about how money works within Sharia law is intersting.

Here’s the thing, in Sharia law, you can’t make money from the lending of money. Basically you can’t charge interest, which makes things like loans and mortgages difficult for those that follow Sharia.

Now most people know how I feel about religion, but to those that don’t, this basically sets the tone. When your religion dictates your financial decisions, I think you need to rethink your priorities.

However, in this case, it actually forces those that follow Sharia law to make more sound financial decisions and stay out of debt. The reality here is that all financial companies should, morally, emulate what these companies are doing.

Clearly there are ways to get a house, get a student loan or invest in a mutual fund without going into debt or investing in companies that make profit through debt. Perhaps there is something to learn from the Muslim world, even if you disagree with everything else about it.

Headline-of-the-day

Bill would make hanging noose to intimidate illegal

So wait, is this guy Bill making a noose in order to intimidate an illegal? Or are they just saying he “would” do it, if he had to? That’s what happens when illegals push Bill I guess, he gets making them darn hanging nooses.

Damn you Bill.

If this is in print tomorrow I’m sending it to CJR’s ‘The Lower Case.’ I think this is worth a free subscription.

Road rage + guns + idiots = FLORIDA!

Yet again, here’s more evidence of why more guns is not a good thing.

Here’s the scenario. Guy #1 is driving his kids to school. He gets behind guy #2 who is in a van in front of him. Guy #1 feels that guy #2 is driving too slow. He tries to pass, van speeds up. He starts racing the van and eventually gets in front of it. Van rear-ends guy #1.

Guy #1′s natural first instinct is to get out his gun and start blasting at guy #2. Guy #2′s instinct is of course to take out his gun and start firing back OK Corral style. Guy #1 then drops his kids off and pursues guy #2, gun in hand.

The result is a rolling gunfight in a residential neighborhood that ends in both individuals being arrested.

Here’s the kicker: Both drivers had legal permits to carry concealed weapons.

More guns does not equal a more just a safe society. Period.

This also proves that Darwin was right. It’s just too bad some kids were in the cross fire and a damn good thing they didn’t get hit. Guy #1 would be feeling like quite the fool (well more so anyway) if his kids had been riddled with bullets.

Where’s the beef?

Oh wait, it’s being recalled.

The USDA is recalling 143 million pounds of ground beef from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. Why?

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.

A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not immediately returned.

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover Humane Society video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Now I understand that this is because we don’t want to eat tainted beef (for those of you that eat beef that it), but I like how hypocritical it is to call it “abuse” when we are about to slaughter the animals for consumption.

Neglect? Maybe. But abuse? Not so much. Instead of the entire company going down, which might lead to further scrutiny of the industry, a few poor saps are going to be made into scapegoats for the company. It’s nothing new, this type of story has been played out hundred times and it will be played out a hundred more.

Here’s a tip to avoid getting tainted beef. Don’t eat beef.