News Stories

[-HyugaNeji-]

A general rant from my side now! How can news be trusted these days anyway? Look at the scandalous coverage about the "death of Patrick Swayze".

Even german news stations broadcasted news of his death!! And what happend in reality? He didn't die at all. This is from hollywoodreporter.com:


A spokeswoman for Patrick Swayze issued a statement Tuesday refuting "severely reckless" reports that the cancer-stricken actor died.

The statement from publicist Annett Wolf read, “This is to confirm that Patrick Swayze did not pass away this morning contrary to severely reckless reports stemming from a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. Patrick Swayze is alive, well and is enjoying his life and he continues to respond to treatment.”

In addition to the unspecified Jacksonville radio station, a German TV news channel also repeated the incorrect news, which went viral via Twitter as well.

Wolf could not be reached for comment.

Swayze most recently starred in the A&E series "The Beast."


I find it disgusting that the report of a LITTLE radiostation in Florida becomes NEWS around the world within a very short period of time. This way, RUMOURS are created. Believe me. Even in weeks we'll still read R.I.P. comments on Patrick Swayze vids on youtube.

I hate, that nowadays, the fast buck with fast news, is much more important then REAL journalistic investigation. Imagine what such things must mean for Patrick himself and his family and friends. This is so reckless.

What do you think about this?

[TooPurePureBoy]

What do you think about this?

It all goes back to the advent of the 24 hour news cycle. Or even further back the nightly news programs of the 3 major networks.

The fact is that the amount of news the entire world really needs to know about is pretty minuscule. When you have advertisement to sell and slots to fit you end up with all kinds of trashy stories that are completely jejune in relation to peoples actual lives.

[oompa loompa]

After seeing the picture of the 'dead' prabhakaran.. I'm at a loss for words.. I wonder what the SL government is going to try and pull off next.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by TooPurePureBoy

It all goes back to the advent of the 24 hour news cycle. Or even further back the nightly news programs of the 3 major networks.

The fact is that the amount of news the entire world really needs to know about is pretty minuscule. When you have advertisement to sell and slots to fit you end up with all kinds of trashy stories that are completely jejune in relation to peoples actual lives.

There's plenty of "real" news the networks could show to fill the time. How much coverage to we get for most bills that go through congress? Unless it's an issue one of the parties made into a talking point, there isn't all that much. How about political events in other parts of the world? We don't get a lot of coverage there either unless it's something violent happening, or something related to the US. The problem is, the networks think that if they cover that stuff they'd get killed in the ratings by the one that sticks with the tabloid reporting. Whether that's true or not I can't say, but as long as that perception exists in the network executives, none of the big news channels will take that chance.

[KimmyChan]

Indonesia air crash kills scores -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/8058721.stm

[TinyRedLeaf]

Suu Kyi's trial begins amid lockdown

Rangoon (May 18): The trial of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has begun with soldiers patrolling the area surrounding Insein prison in Rangoon, where the trial is taking place, as the government tries to prevent demonstrations.

Shops were closed and paramilitaries were searching cars and people, apparently fearing a repeat of the events of September 2007 when tens of thousands of Buddhist monks led anti-government protests. Opposition groups have called for protest rallies in front of the prison until Ms Suu Kyi is freed.

"We call all political forces for Free Aung San Suu Kyi to mobilise all over Burma, by holding praying sessions in homes, places of worship...and holding silent, peaceful rallies in front of Insein prison," said a statement from three pro-democracy activist groups.

Ms Suu Kyi was arrested after John Yettaw, an American man, swam across a lake to the home where she has been held under house arrest for most of the past 20 years.

Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Mr Kyi Win, said her supporters were "very angry with this wretched American", whom he called "a fool".

Opponents of the government have said the bizarre circumstances are being used as a pretext for keeping Ms Suu Kyi locked away until elections are held in 2010. "(Yettaw) is the cause of all these problems," said Mr Win.

On the eve of the trial, Mr Win said Ms Suu Kyi was innocent of the charges, which could put her into prison for up to five years. "After listening to the sequence of events, it is very clear that there is no breach of conditions of her restrictions," he said after visiting the Noble Peace Prize laureate in the prison over the weekend.

The charges are widely seen as a pretext for the ruling junta to keep Ms Suu Kyi detained past elections it has scheduled for next year as the culmination of a "roadmap to democracy" which has been criticised as an excuse for continued military control.

- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, BBC NEWS

Sri Lanka hails victory over Tamil Tigers

Colombo (May 19): Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has declared the country "liberated" from Tamil Tiger rebels after a 26-year war. He made the announcement in a speech to the country's Parliament, a day after the army said rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed.

Sri Lankan television stations broadcast footage of a body purported to be that of Prabhakaran, but Tamil media outside Sri Lanka has denied the army's claims that the Tiger chief is dead.

Earlier, in a nationally televised live address, Mr Rajapakse hailed "a day which is very, very significant — not only to us Sri Lankans but to the entire world". He added: "Today we have been able to liberate the entire country from the clutches of terrorism... We have been able to defeat one of the most heinous terrorist groups in the world."

After speaking in his native Sinhala, Mr Rajapakse switched to the language of the Tamil minority, saying ethnic and religious divisions should end. "We must find a homegrown solution to this conflict," he said. "That solution should be acceptable to all the communities."

On Monday (May 18), the army said it had killed Prabhakaran after over-running the last patch of territory held by the Tamil Tiger rebels (also known by its full name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE for short). It said Prabhakaran, who founded and had led the LTTE since the mid-1970s, was shot dead with two senior deputies as they tried to escape.

The Tigers had been fighting for a separate state for Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka since the 1970s. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict and thousands displaced.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said he was "deeply troubled" by civilian deaths during the closing weeks of the fighting and that he would visit Sri Lanka on Friday (May 22) to assess the situation.

- BBC NEWS

Zhao Ziyang's memoirs to be published
The insider who tried to stop Tiananmen

Hong Kong (May 19): A new memoir by the deceased former Communist party chief ousted for refusing to help suppress the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square offers a rare window into the power struggle that surrounded the bloody crackdown as its 20th anniversary nears.

Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang, to be officially released on Tuesday (May 19) in Hong Kong, is based on 30 hours of tapes recorded by Zhao before his death in 2005 and smuggled out of China. Zhao recorded over existing music cassettes while living under heavy surveillance and distributed them among various friends for safekeeping. The tapes were only recently collected, transcribed and translated for publication in book form.

The book marks the first time a former top Chinese leader has spoken so openly about his experiences at the centre of power. Although politically conservative when he promoted economic reforms in the mid-1980s, Zhao came to think, towards the end of his life, that major political reform was needed to sustain China's economic progress.

While China's leaders never adopted that view, the book's account portrays Zhao, who was later put under house arrest until his death, as a key architect of the country's early economic reforms.

Zhao was general-secretary of the Communist party when students and others held protests in April and May 1989 centered in Beijing's massive Tiananmen Square. In the book, Zhao discusses how he opposed the imposition of martial law, as well as the ultimate use of armed force to quell the largely nonviolent demonstrations on the night of June 3 and the morning of June 4, 1989.

"I told myself that no matter what, I refused to become the general-secretary who mobilised the military to crack down on students," Zhao says in the book.

The timing of the book is likely to be a sore point for Beijing. China's government, which has defended its response to the protests, has never given a full accounting of the casualties from the crackdown, but hundreds of people are believed to have been killed.

The authorities have moved to suppress commemoration of the anniversary, including the detention or harassment of activists in recent months, say overseas human-rights groups. Chinese officials couldn't be reached for comment.

- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Japan closes schools as H1N1 flu spreads

Osaka (May 19): Japan today shut down more than 4,000 schools to contain an outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) as most of the suspected cases are high-school students.

The authorities have closed down around 4,043 schools — double the previous day's figure — to slow the spread of the H1N1 virus, which has so far infected 173 people in the country, the fourth largest national figure on the world infection table.

Many people in the affected urban areas were wearing face masks after the western cities of Kobe and Osaka became the first in Japan to suffer domestic outbreaks of the virus, which spread rapidly through two schools. The virus is believed to have spread after high schools from the two cities played in a volleyball tournament, and some players and coaches felt feverish afterwards.

The first confirmed domestic infection was reported last Saturday (May 16). No fatalities have so far been reported in Japan.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said nearly 10,000 cases of H1N1 flu have been confirmed in 40 countries. It added that 79 people are known to have died from the new virus.

Most of the new flu victims were in Mexico, which reported some 545 cases, and the United States, where 409 new cases have been confirmed. Five confirmed cases were reported in Panama, three in Chile, two in El Salvador and one each in Britain, Peru and China. Five new deaths have also been reported — four in Mexico and one in the US.

- XINHUA, BBC NEWS

[iLney]

This is quite old, but it's new for me.

A Letter To Trekstor RE: Racist iBeat Blaxx MP3 Player

Dear Trekstor

Your PR division sucks/may never have learnt how to read aloud. Given both of those possibilities are not mutually exclusive, we have a strong inclination to believe both statements are true. You are doing a great job at proving us right, all thanks to your new iBeat blaxx MP3 player. Do not get us wrong, the little fascist music playing device looks quite the accomplished gadget. We are confident it plays just as well as you promise, but we have a little problem with the name. We are guessing, (not being complete morons), that anything named "iBeat blaxx," is probably not going to go down well with anyone who is not an absolute jerk-off. What do we know? Still, if you see the light and would like to apologise to all those many, many individuals you have offended, please feel free to drop us a line at tips@gizmodo.com. Further, as your publicity department could apparently not organise a piss up in a brewery with due competence, perhaps our trusted readership could assist you in the naming process? If you would like to take us up on our offer, please see below for suggestions.

Kind Regards

Gizmodo

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/seriously...p#viewcomments

And the reply:

TrekStor Renames iBeat Blaxx After a Bit of Self-Flagellation

Dear Gizmodo,

TrekStor is shocked by the way our new MP3 player's name "TrekStor i.Beat blaxx" is perceived. Of course the word "Beat" is not meant as a verb, but refers to the beats of the music you are listening to. More than 4 years ago, TrekStor introduced the i.Beat MP3 player series that today consists of more than 25 different players - all named individually. "blaxx" was chosen, because the player is designed with an elegant black piano finish. As a reaction to the bad connotation of the name, TrekStor decided to rename the product "TrekStor blaxx" - effective immediately. We sincerely apologize to everybody whom we offended by the initial name of this product and want to emphasize that TrekStor condemns violence and any form of racism.

Mit freundlichen Gr en,
Best regards,

Gil Szmigiel
Vice President / CTO

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/oops/trek...ion-293667.php

Lolz

The moral lesson is the market always rules

[Vexx]

I suspect they were felled by having German as their first language.... not unusual though more often we get to hear about American business faux pas when introducing products in foreign lands.

I also imagine the consternation in the Trekstor office was hilarious to behold.

[Anh_Minh]

I'm still offended. Seriously, what's with the 'x's?

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by iLney

This is quite old, but it's new for me.

Dear Gizmodo,

TrekStor is shocked by the way our new MP3 player's name "TrekStor i.Beat blaxx" is perceived. Of course the word "Beat" is not meant as a verb, but refers to the beats of the music you are listening to. More than 4 years ago, TrekStor introduced the i.Beat MP3 player series that today consists of more than 25 different players - all named individually. "blaxx" was chosen, because the player is designed with an elegant black piano finish. As a reaction to the bad connotation of the name, TrekStor decided to rename the product "TrekStor blaxx" - effective immediately. We sincerely apologize to everybody whom we offended by the initial name of this product and want to emphasize that TrekStor condemns violence and any form of racism.

Mit freundlichen Gr en,
Best regards,

Gil Szmigiel
Vice President / CTO
Lolz

The moral lesson is the market always rules

You know... I didn't even see the offence until I read the reply from the company and then I was like
ooooooooooooooh
"beat blacks"
(for crying out loud...)

That is so farfetched and lame, it's not even funny *sighs*
But upon saying it and hearing it:

honey, what did you get for christmas?
gee, mommy! ibeatblaxx is awesome! it's all thanks to grandpa!

Could be taken in the wrong way, i guess

[Claies]

Okay, that's Gizmodo being dumb. Even the whole South Carolina Craigslist circus is less ridiculous.

[Shadow Kira01]

If you guys hadn't pointed that out, I wouldn't see what was wrong with the MP3 player name..

Good thing, mine is a Sony.

Like Akiba says, "Its a Sony!"

[KimmyChan]

Fiennes climbs to Everest summit -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8060649.stm

[sa547]

Handley pleads guilty:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ession-charges

Apparently this issue might warrant a separate thread. Oddly enough, this doesn't appear on the usual newschannels, and the glaring thing about this situation is that there's no ACLU or EFF, who normally goes into rescue whenever there's a serious problem with the First Amendment.

[Knight Hawk]

Not surprised to be honest. America has a zealot obsession to protect the children. Comic LO and those other loli manga's are damned hardcore (kids look really young), judge or jury wouldn't let him fly for that. Still though, worried about those folks buying Kodomo no Jikan, hell, any manga that contains "minors" for that matter.

[Xellos-_^]

i still don't understand why he bought that stuff through the mail when he could have just downloaded it.

[TinyRedLeaf]

FBI foils alleged New York terror plot

New York (May 21): United States officials said they foiled a plot by four Americans to blow up a New York synagogue and shoot down a US warplane in a year-long undercover operation, amid fierce debate today over national security.

The alleged terrorists, all US citizens, were arrested yesterday as they laid what they believed were bombs — in fact duds supplied by undercover agents — outside a Jewish temple in New York's Bronx neighborhood.

The allegations that they attempted to blow up a synagogue and intended to use what they believed to be a Stinger missile against a plane at a National Guard air base fuelled a growing political debate in Washington on how to deal with terror plots.

President Barack Obama vowed today to protect the nation in a major address laying out his vision for the future of the country's security, but he has been accused by Republicans, notably former vice-president Dick Cheney, of opening the country to new 9/11-style attacks amid his plans to close the Guantanamo Bay camp and end "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

The alleged plot in New York lacked the sophistication of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, when terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and destroyed the World Trade Center in Manhattan. However, the fact that the four men allegedly believed they were about to cause carnage at a Jewish center, then use a sophisticated weapon to shoot down a plane has sparked serious concern.

That all four were apparently born in the US also raised the spectre of a rise in homegrown terrorists who may be harder to detect than foreign infiltrators. Three of the men are US citizens and one is of Haitian descent, according to New York Governor David Paterson. The suspects — identified as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen — were all residents of Newburgh, New York, and had been tracked for over a year.

The charges against them, which include conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and to use anti-aircraft missiles, carry a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison to a maximum of life imprisonment.

The four are due to appear in federal court in the New York state town of White Plains later today.

- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by oompa loompa

After seeing the picture of the 'dead' prabhakaran.. I'm at a loss for words.. I wonder what the SL government is going to try and pull off next.

Yo. that's a victory and I applaud them for it. Our military should do the same in the southern Philippines. Now... where are the heads of our Communist and Islamist arch-insurgents? I want them bloodied, beheaded and bullet riddled mugs shown impaled (like a kebab) on national TV.


While I'm not ruling out abducting Jose Maria Sison from the Netherlands Mossad-style.. The guy's a terrorist. Make no mistake about it.


Down with separatists!

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by sa547

Handley pleads guilty:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ession-charges

Apparently this issue might warrant a separate thread. Oddly enough, this doesn't appear on the usual newschannels, and the glaring thing about this situation is that there's no ACLU or EFF, who normally goes into rescue whenever there's a serious problem with the First Amendment.

Pleading guilty kills off any chance of appeal in this case. Unless there was real child porn here, it would have stood a very good chance of being overturned, given the supreme court's previous rulings on the issue. So today it's lolicon manga that can land you in prison. Tomorrow? Regular porn? Violent video games? Pamphlets critical of the government? Things like this set a bad precident for free speech in general.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

FBI foils alleged New York terror plot

I heard about this last night on the news. Though I was wondering, just how exactly were going to get stinger missiles without the government giving them the fake one. I mean those things can't be easy to come by in the US. Plus they were meeting with an informent pretty much the entire time they were planning this attack. I wonder how much they were lead into it by said informent. Though apparently they did actually try to plant the fake bombs so one can't say they didn't really plan to go through with it, unlike some other cases, because the demonstraitably did. Still, this shows that traditional police work is able to stop these things and we don't need to torture people to protect American lives from terrorists.

[mg1942]

Originally Posted by Knight Hawk

Not surprised to be honest. America has a zealot obsession to protect the children.

But we are minor leagues compared to the progressive EU and The Commonwealth.