Most Popular News
As a Sunday follow up to our What Do We Really Know post, a look at the 20 news items ranked on Google News as the most popular. If we reasonably assume that these are the 20 stories that received the most ‘clicks’ or were accessed the most by visitors to Google News, the importance of them being the most popular takes on a random significance.
But the first story about the now well-known video portraying Hillary Rodham Clinton as the villain in a remake of a former commercial, provides a refined view of popularity. Only due to the fact the date stamp is from March 22nd and this is Sunday March 25th and it is yet on top of the list. One report has Obama denying any connection to the video and another report suggests someone who lived with one of his staffers was involved.
Obama fan admits to anti-Clinton ad
Independent - Mar 22, 2007
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington. It was always likely that solving the mystery would just be a matter of time and so it has proved.
New media, but the same old game
Vessels are boarded at sea all the time by countries protecting their territory or enforcing various legal expectations of those operating in or near nautical boundaries. The arguments over what is and is not acceptable is commonly up for debate. However, these days, any matter related to Iran becomes a big story. This probably qualifies as an international incident at least by someone’s opinion.
AlaskaReport Blair: Sailors Weren’t in Iranian Waters
ABC News - 20 minutes ago
In this recent but undated image released by the British Royal Marines Sunday March 25, 2007, marines from 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines conduct operations on waterways in the Basra region of southern Iraq as part of Operation Troy.
News items can often be exaggerated or unnecessarily repeated and redistributed to keep them in the public sphere. This is a story, although somewhat compelling, serious and worthy of our sympathy, could be transformed into a tool for political purposes. It should have been enough to report it as it features a newsworthy individual or individuals and that it is noble to express concern for someone’s distress. But it need not be repeated daily for an extended period of time.
Carlisle Sentinel Stop speculation on Mrs. Edwards’ health
Arizona Daily Star - 8 hours ago
Our thoughts today are with Elizabeth Edwards, 57-year-old wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards. Edwards announced on Thursday that his wife has had a recurrence of breast cancer less than five years after she was originally diagnosed …
In the Hospital, Mrs. Edwards Set Campaign’s Fate
With this additional report on the same subject we rest our case.
Fremont Tribune Iraq funding measure splits Mich. lawmakers along party lines
WLNS - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON Michigan’s US House members voted along party lines on a proposal that would offer a cutoff deadline on the Iraq war.
And how is this a significant contribution to the discussion on Democratic party strategy to oppose the successful completion of the war in Iraq?
BBC Sport Diagnosis Murder
New York Daily News - 36 minutes ago
BY TINA MOORE & IAN BEGLEY. To Eldon Bremner, last Saturday night seemed like any other night at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. As matches ended in the ICC Cricket World Cup in the early evening, players, managers, officials and fans poured into the hotel …
It may not be fair, but I categorize the story above as ‘who cares’?
Javno.hr For Cats and Dogs, Life Is a Bowl of …
New York Times - 16 hours ago
TRY IT By FDA rules, products not allowed in animal feed can go into pet food. What exactly are pet owners getting when they buy their pet food - some $16 billion worth each year in the United States?
Our previous post on the pet food insanity dealt with it as an example of part of what is wrong with global everything. More specifically in regard to just the pet food, it should suggest that trade with China can be treacherous. They freely use rodentcide in processing their wheat. Something that is illegal in the US. Wheat is a common commodity. what else lurks in trade with China that could pose a clear and present danger?
The Times and Democrat Sanctions to hit nuclear firms
Times Online - 1 hour ago
THE architects of Iran’s illegal nuclear programme will face a squeeze on their personal finances as a result of tighter United Nations sanctions that were due to be approved by the security council last night.
We recently joined the Reject the UN and Screw the UN blogrolls. We are intent on providing posts dealing with this outdated, corrupt and completely irrelevant organization that serves only as a smoke screen for international bad behavior. So what useless initiative that will never solve anything are they up to now? It is good this made it to the most popular news.
Playfuls.com Sharp-Tongued Gibson Takes Teacher to School
E! Online - Mar 23, 2007
by Natalie Finn. Mel Gibson apparently went all Apocalypto the other night on a critical college professor after she lobbed a few pointed questions at him regarding his visually compelling yet grotesquely violent Mayan epic.
I would say enough already with the Mel stories except this one is better. Some claimed academic heckles Gibson while giving a talk on film making and gets a well-deserved dose of Mel’s now famous temper. That’s right, if you don’t like it make your own movie.
Macworld Media Reactions to Apple TV
Playfuls.com - Mar 23, 2007
by Mihai Alexandru. The latest gadget available from Apple is already on store shelves. Apple TV is a product with a clear objective.
I guess you can’t review product offerings without talking about them. The only problem I have with this is most times it seems the reviews are only done by those who make a living publishing their opinions. How much value can that have?
The Age Naomi’s glam punishment
NEWS.com.au - Mar 24, 2007
By entertainment writer Jonathon Moran. SUPERMODEL Naomi Campbell is the best-dressed garbage collector in New York City, treating her community service as another trip down the runway.
Ya, like a supermodel should be a news story.
Carib Journal US judge blocks 1998 law criminalizing Web porn that reaches kids
The Age - Mar 22, 2007
A federal judge on Thursday threw out a 1998 law that makes it a crime for commercial website operators to let children access “harmful” material.
This may relate to our recently renewed intense dislike for the ACLU. We are in the process of determining what we may be able to do to oppose that group that does little to protect anything civil or what should be a liberty. More on this later. We are guessing the judge in this story favors the ACLU.
TechShout! Never mind the hype - how about the console?
Telegraph.co.uk - Mar 23, 2007
After all the waiting and muttering, European gamers finally have their hands on the PlayStation 3. Here’s what they’ll find, writes Claudine Beaumont.
Maybe there is a little too much attention paid to gaming. It may occupy too much time in the lives of people who could afford to donate more time to practical matters.
Ledger Independent Final Four feels great for Buckeyes and Bruins
Edmonton Sun - 8 hours ago
By AP. At San Antonio, Greg Oden made the most of his time on court during a key stretch of the second half, carrying the top-seeded Buckeyes past Memphis in the South Regional finals.
We are too biased to comment objectively on this story since all of us at MoreWhat.com are March Madness fanatics. Pardon us this small vice which we vigorously support.
China Daily Top China, US diplomats discuss North Korea
China Daily - 3 hours ago
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing discussed stalled talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme in a telephone conversation on Sunday, China’s foreign ministry said.
It would be an improvement if there was more substance versus discussion. Get on with it people, how long can negotiating bribes take?
Kuwait Times Miss Tennessee Crowned New Miss USA
Glens Falls Post-Star - Mar 23, 2007
By ALEX VEIGA. Rachel Renee Smith, Miss Tennessee USA 2007, walks along the stage during the swimsuit competition at the Miss USA 2007 pageant on Friday, March 23, 2007, in Los Angeles.
Didn’t see the show. Haven’t seen the girl. Everyone is entitled to the fifteen minutes.
Earthtimes.org Alcohol ‘is more dangerous than ecstacy’
Telegraph.co.uk - Mar 23, 2007
Alcohol is ranked much more harmful than the Class A drug ecstasy in a controversial new classification system proposed by a team of leading scientists.
Cancer is linked to cigarettes and you tell me I can’t smoke. HIV becomes a notorious disease and you want everyone to stop having sex. Now you want us to stop drinking. When do you expect a ban on eating and breathing?
Earthtimes.org Brain Damage Demonstrates Emotional Nature Of Moral Decisions
Medical News Today - Mar 22, 2007
US neuroscientists have demonstrated that moral decisions such as whether you would kill one person in order to save many others are strongly influenced by a part of the brain that involves emotion.
Can’t bring myself to read this one. But by what is shown here it is easy to understand how it may have received enough clicks to make the most popular list. Curious of how stupid this is would normally have been enough to make me check it out. Bot today is a busy day.
Scientific American Big media’s challenge to YouTube
Times Online - 16 hours ago
WANT to watch a trailer for the Simpsons movie due out this summer? Simple. Log on to YouTube, tap “Simpsons” into the search bar, and take your pick.
Again, my personal opinion is YouTube understandably is popular but unless this is just the newness of it causing the stir or the challenge-rich environment in which they operate, I find it seriously overrated as a component for serious discussion.
The Times and Democrat Quake Jolts Central Japan, At Least 1 Dead, 50 Injured
FireFighting News.com - 33 minutes ago
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 rocked the Hokuriku region in central Japan on Sunday morning, killing at least one person and injuring at least 50 others.
Ya, morbid curiosity plays its part in news distribution. That’s too bad.
WHDH-TV Negotiations in Somalia Suspended
Prensa Latina - 2 hours ago
Nairobi, Mar 25 (Prensa Latina) Leaders of the Ethiopian Army and the clan Hawiye suspended negotiations which had given the population of Mogadishu, Somalia a break after being trapped in the fire of the two parties.
The really silly thing about armed conflict is as a species we try to rationalize the activity with rules.
That’s it for this most popular news post. Hope it provided at least some entertainment. If you think it was really pathetic, let us know. Whether the post was pathetic or the MP news doesn’t matter, tell us about either. Now go finish your weekend.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
March 26th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
[…] Video is here. MoreWhat discusses boarding vessels on the high seas, and on major rivers connected thereto. More may be going on than meets the eye, says this rather sharp intelligence analysis. In this climate, it is important to understand the threat delivered this week by Ali Khamenei. The regime’s basic position is that Iran has kept its nuclear program entirely legal, but now the “illegitimate” Security Council is taking actions against Iran that are “illegal” and therefore Iran would be justified in taking illegal actions of its own. This is what is really going on. Under the U.N. Charter, Iran is treaty-bound to obey the commandments of the Security Council. The Security Council has commanded it to halt enrichment of uranium pending the verification of the peaceful nature of its program. Iran has rejected this decision, and indeed has arguably abrogated the U.N. Charter entirely. So it is simply untrue that Iran’s program has been legal to date. Up until 2002, the main elements of the program were secret - a fact that in and of itself was a violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. And now, by refusing to obey the Security Council, Iran is once again in breach of the Treaty - and the U.N. Charter. […]