Some 15 years ago, a British writer drummed up a list of “commandments” for journalists. Tim Radford, former science, arts, and literature editor at the Guardian , pulled together 25 thoughts in response to a question he asked himself: “What is the most important thing to remember about writing a story?”…
Continue reading …California police are treating graffiti threatening Governor Jerry Brown’s life with the utmost seriousness, calling it a “terrorist threat.” One spray-painted scrawl in Santa Ana said, “We gonna kill Gov. Brown 2/14/11,” and the other “26 more days 4 Brown”—with a swastika thrown in for good measure.
Continue reading …Say the unthinkable has happened: you’re trapped in the office with a co-worker who’s pulling an adult Columbine—what do you do? Take cover behind a filing cabinet, advises the NYPD. The recommendation comes from a study on workplace violence done by the department’s counterterrorism division, the New York Post…
Continue reading …The capital punishment system faces a serious obstacle: the only US producer of an anesthetic used in lethal injection has decided to stop making it, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thiopental sodium is made exclusively by Hospira, an Illinois company. It had already suspended production in 2009 because of manufacturing…
Continue reading …Don’t get too excited over Barack Obama’s promise to cut unnecessary, contradictory and “ just plain dumb ” regulations. Lots of presidents have promised the same thing, and they rarely get anywhere, the New York Times observes. Even seemingly silly regulations have their supporters, making repeal a political process. The regulation forbidding…
Continue reading …The US and Russia can and should keep their smallpox supplies , the World Health Organization’s executive board concluded yesterday. The WHO has been asked to consider setting a deadline for destroying the virus, the Wall Street Journal explains. But at a meeting in Geneva yesterday, the board agreed with the…
Continue reading …New research on elementary school kids suggests that as many as in 1 in 8 relationships a child has may be “unbalanced.” In other words, one child feels the other is a friend, while the other child actually dislikes him or her. Prior research has focused on friendship pairs and…
Continue reading …GOP up-and-comer Paul Ryan will deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week , reports the Washington Post . Ryan is chair of the House Budget Committee, and he’ll speak from the panel’s hearing room to underscore a message of fiscal discipline, say party leaders. Ryan,…
Continue reading …Bradley Manning’s lawyer is accusing the military of mistreating his client, saying that he was forced to spend two days virtually naked in his cell after the Army placed him on suicide watch against the recommendation of the jail’s forensic psychiatrist. Manning was confined to his cell around the clock…
Continue reading …The Donald is about to be a grandfather thrice over. Trump’s daughter Ivanka is expecting her first baby with hubby Jared Kushner, the Huffington Post reports. “I have been wanting to share some amazing news with you all for some time … I’m pregnant! Jared and I couldn’t be more excited,…
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