Lynch359

Analysis-CAR

2010-04-24T15:29:26Z

I did not find an article where I could depict if the author used CAR; however, computers are changing the way reporters work. Reporters collect information in databases and analyze public records with spreadsheets.
System mappings of political and demographic changes are a part of CAR.
E-mails and research are also widely used examples of CAR.
An article from Time Magazine reports that the Journal-Bulletin used an IBM 4381 to analyze 30,000 low-interest mortgages issued in Rhode Island.
Another example of CAR: a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal was doing a story of undefended indigents being jailed for small fines they could not pay, such as jaywalking. Clerks fed records of 899 inmates through a computer. The reporter was able to bring justice to hundreds of inmates, according to Time.
The reporter has to be knowledgeable with certain computer programs, such as excel, Microsoft, spreadsheets, etc.
I would think specifically with excel because there are a lot of numbers being fed into a computer, and the computer organizes the numbers.
Also knowledge of the ins and outs of e-mail, research via the computer and basic information along those lines would be beneficial.

Fairbault man Charged with Aiding Suicide

2010-04-24T14:41:01Z

A former nurse and Fairbault man was charged on Friday with helping people commit suicide while sitting at his home computer and presenting himself as an "angel of mercy," according to the Star Tribune.
Rice Country Attorney charged William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, with two counts of suicide aiding after the deaths of 18-year-old Nadi Kajouji of Ottawa, Ontario and 32-year-old Mark Drybrough of Coventry, England, according to the WCCO.
Melchert-Dinkel posed as a young female nurse and allegedly wrote in suicide chat rooms that the victims would be better off in Heaven and it was okay to let go, according to the Tribune.
Drybrough hanged himself after setting up a webcam so Melchert-Dinkel could watch.
The "angel of mercy" told the Canadian college student that she would avoid a huge mess if she jumped into a river; she took his advice and died in an icy river in Ottawa.
Melchert-Dinkel allegedly admitted encouraging dozens of people to kill themselves. He said with 10 or 11 people he was successful at doing so by making suicide pacts with them.
He told police he had "an obsession with death and suicide," but felt "terrible" when he succeeded, the Tribune reported.
Each charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but his sentence has not been given yet.

Three Teenage Girls Killed in car Rollover

2010-04-24T14:17:07Z

Three teenage girls died and one girl remains in the hospital after their car rolled over near Altura Friday afternoon, according to the Lewiston Police Department.
Police said around 3 p.m., four teenage girls, ages 12 to 16, were traveling on Winona Country Road 20 and crossed the center line, overcorrected and rolled, according to the Star Tribune.
Three of the girls died at the scene, but the survivor was airlifted to Gunderson Medical Center in La Crosse, Wis., according to the WCCO.
Their names have not been released yet, and authorities have been unable to determine what caused the accident.

Protests Continue in Thailand

2010-04-24T13:36:43Z

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand rejected a new offer by anti-government red shirts to end protests early in return for the dissolvement of parliament within a month.
Red-Shirt protests have carried on protests in Bangkok for six weeks, where clashes two weeks agowith the police led to 25 people dead, the BBC reported.
The PM said parliament will be dissolved, not for the Red Shirts, but for the country. However, Mr. Abhisit said parliament will be dissolved by the end of 2010.
The red shirts protest the "double standards" where the wealthy, elites and military break laws with impunity, while the poor are held responsible, according to the NY Times.
Many protesters are former Prime Minister Thakskin Shinawatra supporters. Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Red shirts like Shinawatra because he is said to have done the most to help the poor, according the NY Times; while Mr. Abhisit's government is illegitimate because it came to power by securing parliament's support after the judiciary dismantled the previous pro-Thaksin government in 2008, according to the BBC.

Phoenix Gov Enacts Toughest Bill on Illegal Immigration

2010-04-24T10:09:04Z

Phoenix Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill on illegal immigration that is set out to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants, according to the NY Times.
Brewer signed what the Times have called the "toughest" bill on illegal immigration on Friday, a move that provoked protests and a divisive battle over national immigration reform.
Before Brewer signed the bill, President Obama called the bill "misguided," according to the BBC, and he said the bill threatened "to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."
The law, which critics have argued is too broad and too strict, would make the failure to show proper immigration documents a crime, the Times reported, and it gives police expanded power to hold anyone who they suspect of being in the country illegally.
One group that opposes the bill said it will turn Hispanics into terrorists no matter what their legal status while supporters say the bill will help get illegal immigration in control, the BBC reported.
Arizona is a main entry point for undocumented immigrants.

Supreme Court Rules Animal Cruelty law Violates Free Speech

2010-04-24T10:07:04Z

The Supreme Court ruled that the law making the sale of animals being tortured violates the right to free speech.
An 8-to-1 ruling this week making the federal law that bans the sale of animal-cruelty videos was a victory for Robert Stevens who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2005 for creating and distributing videos of dog fights, according to the BBC.
The law established in 1999 was supposed to deter depictions of animal cruelty and aimed at limiting internet sales of "crush" videos that show women crushing small animals with their hih-heeled soes, according to the BBC.
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., affirmed the essentialness of freedom of expression, even during societal condemnation. NY Times editor commented saying "It was gratifying that the court recognized that the right way to protect animals from abuse is through laws aimed at the abuse itself, not at free expression."
Justice Samuel Alito, who dissented, said the cruelty to the animals was enough to continue the law. Alito said animal cruelty videos should not be protected by the constitution, but treated like child pornography, according to Reuters.

Travelers in Europe still Stranded at Airports

2010-04-16T13:17:40Z

Hundreds of thousands of passengers in Europe have been affected by volcanic ash spewing from Iceland, which is causing flights across most of Europe to be cancelled. Officials said some 17,000 flights will be cancelled on Friday, the BBC reported.
"I've never seen such chaos," Erich Klug, 35, said, a buyer for an auto parts company who has been stranded at the Frankfurt airport after it closed last Friday, the NY Times reported.
Aviation authorities said they do not know when flights will be back to normal, the earliest date being Saturday.
The question has been raised if President Obama will make it to Poland for the Polish president and his wife's funeral after an unrelated plane crash.
Scientists say the volcano is producing less ash, but it is still erupting, according to the BBC.
More countries closed their airspace Friday morning: the UK, Denmark, Norway, Irish Republic, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands closed their airspace on Thursday, while France shut down 24 airports in its northern country, according to the BBC.
Airports have begun laying out beds for tired travelers still waiting for flights to resume.
The volcano causing the problems has erupted for the second time in one month.
The World Health Organization in Geneva cautioned people with respiratory problems to stay inside until the ash has settled, according to the Times.

Tea Party Members Rally State Capitol

2010-04-16T01:48:58Z

ore than 500 Minnesota tea party members rallied outside the state Capitol Thursday to protest governments spending on the day taxes were due, according to WXOW.
Lawmakers were scarce at the event. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann addressed the protesters via speakerphone from Washington, D.C.
"We're on to them; we're on to this gangster government," the NY Times reported Bachmann saying. "I'd say it's time for these little piggies to go home," she said.
Protestors spoke for several hours about repealing the health care bill, limiting government spending and ousting particular elected officials in fall's elections.
"If you're unsure when you get to the voting booth as to what to do, don't vote for any incumbent," Leon Moe, a veteran said to the crowd. "It may take us a cycle or two to take out the garbage, but we need to take the garbage out. We need to get the cesspools at the state levels cleaned out, and that should begin to drain the cesspools in Washington."
Tax Day rallies are a on-going tradition at the Capitol, and rallies were placed in at least 10 cities across the state, which included Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, Winona and more.
Signs, buttons and T-shirts were abundant at the protests.
Lisa Erbes, 37, of Burnsville, carried sign that said: "You work for me and come November, you're fired," the WCCO reported.

Obama sets new bar for Space Program

2010-04-16T01:46:58Z

Barack Obama has sternly come back at critics on Thursday who said Obama's space plan will end the nation's human spaceflight program.
Obama addressed about 200 attendees at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, telling them of his new "revitalized" space agency plan, according to the NY Times.
"By 2025 we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first ever crew missions beyond the moon into deep space," he said.
"So, we'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history. By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to earth, and a landing on Mars will follow," Aljazeera reported Obama saying.
Obama argued the space program, flying astronauts to space, would be better served by funding private companies rather than continuing government support for the program.
Obama said the U.S. cannot continue doing the same old things as before.
"In short, 50 years after the creation of NASA, our goal is no longer just a destination to reach. Our goal is the capacity for people to work and learn, operate and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite," the Times reported.
Obama said the agency would begin developing a heavy-lift rocket by 2015 and slowly push the boundaries of where people can travel and live.
Obama promised $40 billion to help maintain workers at the Kennedy Space Center who would lose their jobs after space shuttles are retired, according to the Times.

Facebook Called to add Panic Button

2010-04-16T00:14:57Z

Facebook is being pressed by a British child protection agency to add "panic buttons" to its homepage at a meeting in Washington DC, according to the BBC.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) is criticizing Facebook for not having a "panic button" on every page of its website.
The button would alert police and possible other resources, such as CEOP, to potential pedophiles', according to Telegraph.
Alan Johnson, the home secretary, and Gordon Brown would like Facebook to install the panic button to their site, according to Telegraph.
Facebook said they will not add a panic button, but will add a CEOP to the site's Safety Centre.
Other sites, such as Bebo, have a panic button. Following the link takes people to a site on handling cyber bullying, viruses, distressing material and inappropriate sexual behavior, the BBC reported.
Facebook is scheduled to meet with CEOP in Washington on April 12 to further discuss the issue.
The suggestion for the button follows the murder of Ashleigh Hall, 17, last October in County Durham. Peter Chapman, a 35-year-old serial rapist met Hall on a social networking site, according to Telegraph. Chapman was jailed for at least 35 years after he raped, suffocated and dumped the teen's body in a field near Sedgefield.
Facebook said it was saddened by her tragic death.

Minneapolis Police Sgt. hit by Drunk Driver

2010-04-16T00:12:24Z

A Minneapolis police sergeant was hit by a drunk driver Thursday morning as she investigated a driver who had crashed into a light pole, the Star Tribune reported.
Sgt. Rena Dudgeon was called to 31st Street and Nicollet Avenue around 3:45 a.m. to a car accident, but when she circled the car to check for other passengers, she was struck in the hip by 22-year-old Marcus Sheen, according to the Tribune.
Sheen fled the accident, but was picked up a short distance away.
"It could have been very bad," Fifth Precinct Inspector Eddie Frizell told the Tribune. "She got lucky."
Dudgeon was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center and sent home for recovery.
Sheen had a blood alcohol concentration of .284, according to WCCO, and he was also under the influence of controlled substances.
Police intend to charge him with criminal vehicular injury, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while intoxicated, hit and run with an injury and open bottle.

Analysis, Culture

2010-04-12T12:18:39Z

I looked at an article written about Thailand's conflict because I work with immigrants from Thailand who used to live in Taiwanese refugee camps.
Moo, a 20-year-old high school student, said the protests the red shirts are putting on are justified and news papers that report otherwise do not know the whole story. Moo lived in a refugee camp, but came to America two years ago and lives in St. Paul.
The BBC generally does a good job at avoiding stereotypes about one particular group to another.
(I read another article by the MiamiHerald, and the journalist made the red shirts out to be the bad guy, and I'm not saying who the good or bad group is, the government or red shirts, in this case, but the paper definitely generalized the cultural group.
At one point in time, the Herald said, "the so-called red shirts..." That really struck me because the red shirts are a real group with real people rallying for Democracy. There's another group called the yellow shirts; they are not 'so-called' groups.
The BBC remained neutral by reporting the whole story: the journalist did not just talk about the rebels and the protests/riots they were causing, in doing so making the red shirts the bad guy. The BBC reported on the red shirt's struggle for elections and democracy and the history with the previous prime minister (who was ousted in 2006.) That's how the BBC remained the most neutral: reporting both sides while adding the history of the struggle.
The source:

Woman Faces DWI Charges After Being Rear-Ended by Train

2010-04-12T01:32:55Z

DWI charges are pending for a New York Mills woman who was rear-ended by a train on Saturday morning near Wadena, according to Fergus Falls Journal.
Kimberly Dawn Preuss, 28, was driving eastbound on the train tracks near U.S. Highway 10 and County Highway 143 around 4:30 a.m. when her vehicle was hit by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train, according to the Star Tribune.
Officers arrived at the scene, and used extrication to remove Preuss from the vehicle.
She was taken to a hospital for an evaluation, but has been released since then, according to the Tribune.

25-year-old Charged with Unintentional Murder

2010-04-12T01:15:01Z

A 25-year-old was charged with second-degree unintentional murder on Thursday in relation to an attack in Minneapolis that stared with a casual talk and handshake, according to WCCO.
A video surveillance camera showed 25-year-old Jonathan Rubio-Segura talking to Tony Gale,37, on March 26 near Hennepin Avenue and N. 5st Street.
The two men did not know each other, according to police, but the men talked for a few minutes, hugged, shook hands and parted ways.
Rubio-Segura rushed Gale when his back was turned, punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious, and continued to punch him as Gale lay in a pool of blood, according to the Star Tribune.
Gale was taken to Hennepin County Medical Hospital where his health was improving; he was able to talk for brief periods of time, but relatives said he was in a medically induced coma when he died Thursday, according to the Tribune.
Police do not know what provoked the attack and stated Gale is an innocent victim.

Flags Flown Half-Staffed for CPL Swenson

2010-04-12T00:55:19Z

Gov. Pawlenty ordered all U.S. flags and Minnesota flags to be flown at half-staff at state and federal buildings on Saturday, in loving memory of Lance Corporal Curtis M. Swenson, according to Hometown Source.
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson, 20, of Rochester, died Friday in Afghanistan, according to the Post Bulletin.
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=446160
Swenson was killed after the vehicle he was riding in his an IED, improvised explosive device. Cpl Swenson is survived by his wife, parents, sister and other family and friends.
Cpl Swenson's sister, Emiliy Swenson, created a Facebook page in his memory. By Monday 900 people had joined the group. Emily Swenson titled the Facebook page "RIP LCPL Curtis Michael Swenson."