Reviews Category
We don’t just report off-beat news, breaking news and digest the best and worst of the news media analysis and commentary. We give an original take on what happened and why. We add lols, satire, news photos and original content.
Climate change will murder 30,000 of you
YOU cannot argue with science. A look at academic research tells us:
Between 2010 and 2099, climate change will cause an additional 30,000 murders, 200,000 cases of rape, 1.4 million aggravated assaults, 2.2 million simple assaults, 400,000 robberies, 3.2 million burglaries, 3.0 million cases of larceny, and 1.3 million cases of vehicle theft in the United States.
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Petronella Wyatt and the cyclists: three broken arms and two muggings
COMPARE and contrast:
PETRONELLA WYATT, 19 February 2010, Daily Mail:
Last week I met a friend for coffee. ‘How is your mother?’ she asked. I stared into my latte. ‘Um, she had a serious accident. Her arm is broken.’ ‘Oh, no. What on earth happened?’ ‘She was run down by a bicycle.’
The inevitable convulsion took place in the nerves of my friend’s face. She looked as if she was going to laugh. She could not suppress a gurgling sound before she managed to compose her features into the correct position of commiseration and shock, and say: ‘How awful!’
But once you stop laughing, it isn’t really funny at all. My mother is elderly and frail. She lives in North London, and was crossing the road after dark when she was hit by a cyclist who did not have his lights on.
She fell on her back and hit her head. She was bleeding. The cyclist didn’t bother to stop. A kind passer-by took my mother to hospital, where was told she was lucky to have escaped concussion or a broken back.
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Private dancer Julian Assange doesn’t want you to see him making shapes
JULIAN Assange is not so transparant:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s complaint about a More4 documentary he claimed was unfair and violated his privacy has not been upheld by Ofcom, the media regulator … The media regulator rejected Assange’s complaint that More4 had violated his privacy by showing footage of him dancing in a nightclub in Iceland.
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Lake Annecy Murders: Philippe D remembers and the Balkan is an Italian
LAKE Annecy Murders: Saad al-Hilli, 50, Ikbal al-Hilli, 47, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, Sylvain Mollier, 45, have been murdered:
The Times: “Alps hiker tells how he found bodies of British family”
A hiker named Philippe D, 41, found the dead bodies. He tells Le Parisien newspaper:
“I approached the car. I did not touch anything but I saw that there was nothing more to do. There was no sign of life. There was no sound. It was like a movie … a television series where everything begins with a murder. Except this time, it was us as the actors and that we did not have the remote to change the channel. A few minutes [earlier], it might be us that were there, instead of the cyclist [who was] killed.”
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Local News: toaster catches fire in Bracknell
LOCAL News: To Bracknell, where a toaster has caught fire:
Becky Barnes reports:
Firefighters from Bracknell were called to a toaster fire in Nettlecombe at around 10am…When they arrived the fire was out and the girl had taken the smoking toaster into the garden.
More local news 24/7…
Spotter: Scary Duck
Posted: 11th, September 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
How red did the Yangtze River turn? Photoshop disasters
HOW red did the Yangtze River turn this week? Reports are that it went “blood red“. The Daily Mail said it went “scarlett“.
The report suggests a light terracotta:
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The troubling story of Lisa Miller and the anti-gay Mennonite church
SAME-sex unions are big news. The Rev. Kenneth Miller 46, a Mennonite from Stuarts Draft, Va., has been found guilty of helping Lisa Miller (no relation) leave the USA in September 2009. Rev. Kenneth Miller has been found guilty of aiding in international kidnapping.
Miller and Jenkins had joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. In 2002, Isabella was born through artificial insemination. The couple split in 2003. Lisa Miller got custody. Jenkins got visitation rights. Lisa Miller turned her back on her homosexuality. She turned to the Church, becoming a Baptist, then a Mennonite. She refused to let Jenkins see their child. This was in breach of the court.
In August 2009, a judge indicated that unless Lisa Miller comply he would turn custody of the girl over to Jenkins. Preparation swere made for Jenkins to take full custody.
Lisa Miller took Isabella and fled to Nicaragua.
Life Site News reports:
Nicaraguan Mennonites say that they have been persecuted by government authorities since they chose to shelter ex-lesbian Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella following their escape from the United States, but add that they are willing to suffer and even die to protect Isabella from a court-ordered custody transfer to her non-biological lesbian “mother” [Janet Jenkins].
…The letter of the Nicaragua Brotherhood does not specify which Nicaraguan Menonite churches are represented. Although its publication date is given as February of this year, it appears not to have been distributed outside of Mennonite circles. It was quoted in May in the Mennonite World Review, and was quoted in Jenkins’ lawsuit.
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Posted: 11th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)
The Lake Annecy Murders: What Annemarie Souderman saw
THE Annecy Lake Murders: The Times has an “exclusive“. It’s about “secret meetings“. News is that Saad al-Hilli relocated his family from one camp site two days before he and three others were murdered. In itself, this is no big deal. Camping with a car and a caravan after the school holiday rush make moving easy. Only, this new campsite was under a mile from the old one.
Why did he move?
The Times says he had no reservation at the Euro30-a-night Village Camping Europa site in the village of Saint Jorioz. He paid with a discount coupon.
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In Photos: North Korea National Day 2012
IN Photos: North Korea National Day 2012. It was great. There were the synchronised dancing and bowing, the coloured cards the stadium crowd flips over and over so that they look like a bit like homemade computer tablets (see London Olympics). It’s Pyongyang 2012. It’s one nation under the flag of half a nation:
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Dead immigrant rains from plane on Mortlake’s Portman Avenue – maybe
LOTS of people excited by low-flying planes over London today. If the Heathrow Third runway gets the go ahead it will be likes more often. Over in west London, eyes are aimed downwards to the body lying on Portman Avenue. The Daily Express surmises all the facts in a headline.
‘STOWAWAY’ PLUNGES TO DEATH FROM PLANE
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Video: attempted armed robbery in Atherton: spot the police
TO Atherton, where an attempted armed robbery has gone badly for the would-be thief. The villais captured. The heroes sit on him. And the police..? You call them. The police will get there when they can:
How long can you sit on the villain for?
Posted: 10th, September 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
Planet Of The Knobheads: the robot always gets the girl
FLASHBACK to 1939: all the cool kids re reading Planet Of The Knobheads:
Spotter: Its Dark in the Dark
1889: The Oklahoma Land Rush
FLASHBACK: The Oklahoma Land Rush. Settlers race across the border into Indian Territory as a signal opens the area to white settlement in Oklahoma City on April 22, 1889. The capital of what is now the state of Oklahoma has expanded through annexation from 80.01 square miles in 1958 to 620 square miles.
Pistols drawn:
Posted: 10th, September 2012 | In: Flashback | Comment (1)
Annecy Lake Murders: Madeleine McCann, Laurent Fillion-Robin and ideas
THE ANNECY Lake murders: the murders of four people in the French Alps have been knocked off the front pages by the London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony. Feel good beats a murder mystery. But there are reports:
The Telegraph tweets: “Alps shootings: police widen cordon around al-Hilli family home in Claygate, ask neighbours to leave houses.”
The Times has a Q&A, which is more Q than A:
Q. “Were the Hillis victims of a carjacking that went wrong?”
A: “…Investigators say it is possible…”
Q. “Was Saad al-Hilli a target for professional hitmen?”
A. “…investigators say it is also possible.”
Q. “Could a family feud have led to the massacre?”
A. the murders have “left investigators questioning whether it could really have been carried out by, or on the instructions of, a relative”
Q. “Are there other theories?”
A. Yes.
See this straw plucking from the Guardian:
The theory of a lone killer driven by psychopathic, religious or racial hatred is, perhaps, one of France’s worst fears in the aftermath of the Annecy shootings. It would take the country back to the dark days earlier this year when Mohamed Merah, who claimed links to Islamic extremism, went on three separate killing sprees in and around the south-western city of Toulouse.
Q. “What evidence points to a professional hitman?”
A. Some.
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Posted: 10th, September 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comment
Tory headmistress issues students with toilet ‘tinkle cards’ (one per week)
TO Birmingham’s Castle Vale Performing Arts College, where all pupils have been issued with a “tinkle card”. The cards carry the message:
“I am missing a super important learning opportunity because I need to tinkle.”
Pupils only get one card a week. They are also encouraged to communicate with their teacher via hand gestures. There are a variety of signals:
Holding up three fingers – I need to go to the toilet.
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Posted: 10th, September 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)
1993: The Independent salute peacenik Osama bin Laden
SNAPSHOT: On 6th December 1993 issue, The Independent had news on the work of peacenik Osama bin Laden:
Obama gets bear hugged and lifted and a female biker rides Joe Biden (photos)
THE battle for the White House is on. You will now see two photos:
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Posted: 9th, September 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani is free: The West will beat Iran by showing it humanity
IN IRAN, Yousef Nadarkhani, the evangelical Protestant Church of Iran pastor sentenced to death for apostasy, is at home with his loved ones. He’s free-ish. Nadarkhani has been acquitted of apostasy. He has, however,been found guilty of evangelising Muslims, a crime that earned him three years chocky. He’s out because he was in prison for so long already, having been arrested in 2009 and sentenced to be killed by the State in 2010.
No word on the matter on Iran’s Press TV. No word on how the enlightened made Nadarkhani an offer: renounce his faith to escape a death sentence. About 0.5 per cent or Iranians are Christian. For the paranoid regime, that’s too many.
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Paraguay’s Natividad de Maria in photos: dropping money for Jesus
TO Paraguay, where youngsters vie to catch 50,000 Guarani bannotes, (around £9), during Natividad de Maria, or Birth of Mary celebrations at the Virgin Mary Catholic church in Guarambare, Paraguay. The money throwing is part of celebrations that honour the birth of Mary, during which church members who believe they have received special favours from her, throw banknotes from the church’s balcony to children below, as a way to return the favour. Because when push comes to shove, it’s cash not dogma you want, right?
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Youths compete to catch a banknote of 50,000 Guaranies, worth about $12 dollars, during "Natividad de Maria," or Birth of Mary celebrations at the Virgin Mary Catholic church in Guarambare, Paraguay, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. The money throwing is part of celebrations that honor the birth of Mary, during which church members who believe they have received special favors from her, throw banknotes from the church's balcony to children below, as a way to return the favor. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Remembering Eddy Huntington and My Friend Dick
FLASHBACK remembers Eddy Huntington, the model discovered by Italy’s Baby Records. Eddy’s biggest hit was USSR. But Meet My Friend was worthy of note, it being Huntington’s only UK release.
After success in pop, Huntington became a primary school teacher at Eldon Grove Primary School, Hartlepool. He’s the Deputy Headteacher of Rosebrook Primary School,Stockton-on-Tees.
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Posted: 9th, September 2012 | In: Flashback, Music | Comment
1954: Marijuana is the dreaded weed. In SWEETHEARTS ‘I Was a Musician’s Girl’
FLASHBACK to 1954: Marijuana is the dreaded weed. In SWEETHEARTS “I Was a Musician’s Girl”, the perils of dating a drummer become apparent. The young woman may start to think for herself:
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Posted: 9th, September 2012 | In: Flashback, Key Posts | Comment
Annecy Lake Murders: media focuses on Zaid Al-Hilli and ignores Suhaila Al Saffa and Sylvain Mollier
THE Annecy Lake Murders: The murders of Saad Al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal Al-Hilli, 74-year-old Suhaila Al Saffa and Sylvain Mollier in the media:
Sunday Express (front page): “Each victim shot twice”
Sunday Telegraph (front page): ANGUISH OF MURDERED BRITON’S BROTHER”
Star on Sunday (front page): “Victims letter confirms feud”
The media focus is on Zaid Al-Hilli, one of the victim’s older brothers. He denies any row. Still, the Star claims to have seen a letter:
SAAD AL-HILLI: ‘I’VE HAD TO WIPE MY CONTROL FREAK BROTHER OUT OF MY LIFE’ – A FAMILY friend of the British dad murdered in the Alps has lifted the lid on the bitter inheritance feud tearing the Al-Hilli family apart.
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Posted: 9th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
The corset: before and after photos
BEFORE Spanx, Body Magic, liposuction and Lycra, there was the corset. With the right amount of resistance and stitching, your figure could be altered to defy gravity. Everything went up with a corset – including your chin and eyebrows. They were available for children, too. And they worked. Get a load of these before and after photos:
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Posted: 8th, September 2012 | In: Fashion, Flashback | Comment
Lake Annecy murders: Kadhem’s will and the mystery Swedish women
THE ANNENY MURDERS: Still no name for the older woman shot dead in the car with Saad al-Hilli and his wife, Iqbal. The Guardian says she was 77. The Mail says she was 74. Sources report that she was Swedish. But no name has been given. Why not?
Daily Mail (front page): “WHO WILL CARE FOR MASSACRE ORPHANS?”
The trauma of the two girls orphaned in the Alps massacre deepened yesterday, as it emerged that no family member has come forward to look after them.
How do we know that no-one from their family has come forward to help Zeena Al-Hilli, 4, and seven-year-old Zainab?
Their uncle and closest living relative, Zaid Al-Hilli, 53, is being questioned in London today over an alleged feud between him and the girls’ murdered father over an inheritance rumoured to be worth anything up to £1million, police said.
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