Med Examiner Writes of Va. Tech Tragedy

AP | Guardian The morgue scene couldn’t have been more grim: As doctors worked to retrieve evidence from 33 bodies riddled with gunshots, they were unnerved by the ringing of victims’ cell phones, signaling loved ones seeking reassurance they would never get. This haunting detail offers, after several months, a fresh perspective on the VA…

The New Atlantis – Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism – Christine Rosen

The New Atlantis The structure of social networking sites also encourages the bureaucratization of friendship. Each site has its own terminology, but among the words that users employ most often is “managing.” The Pew survey mentioned earlier found that “teens say social networking sites help them manage their friendships.” There is something Orwellian about the…

Images of Journalists in Popular Culture

Images of Journalists in Popular Culture (PDF) A newsroom is always filled with fast-talking, bright people whose main work is to speak to strangers, investigate a situation, get answers, develop a story. Since reporters are always finding out something about someone, they create countless stories with good beginnings, middles, and endings. The newspaper gave the…

Hoax/Art/Stupidity

I’ve been scanning the online coverage of the MIT student who caused a bomb scare when she walked into an airport wearing a blinking circuit board on her sweatshirt. I’m dismayed by the number of headlines that unquestioningly repeat the authorities’ line that she was wearing a “fake bomb.”  Several headlines at least put the…

From the Sickbed

I’ve been laid up in sick all weekend, mostly drifting in and out of sleep. I started getting chills Friday afternoon at work. I zipped up my jacket and put the heater on in the car to keep the chills under control, went to the couch in the basement (where my wife banished me) and…

Urban Dictionary: aibohphobia

aibohphobia The irrational fear of palindromes (words that read the same forwards and backwards). Dude 1: Hey, what’s your name? Dude 2: Bob. Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs and hides behind sofa* Bob: Wow. Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs away and falls down stairs* This completely stupid fauxbia made me laugh for some reason. There appears to…