Pulled Quotes

USA Today had an interesting article from last week’s paper that still remains in my mind as something that truly caught my attention. “For many of USA’s inmates, crime runs in the family,” this story was fascinating to me; I have never contemplated the connection and relation between family members and sibblings and the idea of sharing the title of a convicted felon to have any correlation. There is much to learn and understanding from this article.

First off, there is the psychological understanding and that of our journalistic integrity. Kevin Johnson did a good job of incorporating an intriging story of three brothers, the Caston brothers, and the psychological effect of their home life and past childhood to express reason to believe crime runs in the family. There are two stories tied into one and are more effective when made into one.

Second, I enjoyed Johnson’s style of telling the Caston story and interviewing two of the three brothers, which gave reader’s more background information of these men’s stories and the reason for their criminal integrity. He brings up the point that “48 percent of state prisoners have relatives who have done time” (1A). He ties together the story from a psychological perspective and various statisitics regarding other families in similar situations with the law. The story has my complete and utter attention and although it was one that was longer than some, it brought two stories together that made you think was an interesting concept that one would may have never thought to be tied together.

I think there was a good use of sources and never brought any unanswered questions to the table.

  Same as last week, Tiger Woods comes out on top and in his wake leaves the competitors frustrated and stunned. In the USA Today article, Woods Rallies for Victory at Dubai Desert Classic, we are shown yet again that whether Tiger is in the lead or trailing, that you can never count him out; he is always a threat.

  Tiger has begun his season with two wins, which only supports he notion that he is going to have a special year. When his back is against a wall, the true “tiger” in him comes out and he capitalizes on every single mistake made on the links. This will be my last post on the Tiger topic, simply because I believe that it will be the same thing every week. Unless Tiger has some sort of unexplainable break down and all of the sudden is not the best player ever, than maybe we will have something to talk about. But for now, I feel that other than printing the scores there is no need to showcase what he has done week in and week out, until of course he breaks every record in the books.

   This article is interesting in that it implies that Els ever had a chance. Tiger has made it crystal clear that unless the tournament is over and the players have received their checks, nobody can consider themselves winning. As long as Tiger has the possibility to win, nothing is safe.

Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I saw the new film “There Will Be Blood.”  In the movie, Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an incredible performance as Daniel Plainview, a ruthless oil guru who challenges the notions of family and religion and their importance in achieving one’s own business goals.  The movie is still flying relatively under the radar, despite its nomination for eight Oscars.  Rightfully so- the movie is brilliant, but not exactly mainstream in any sense of the word.  My guess is that the movie was never intended to be a blockbuster hit- it doesn’t have a pop-infused soundtrack, its few humorous points draw heavily from black humor influences, and I didn’t remember it having a stand-out quote that it could be remembered for.

That is, until I picked up today’s USA Today and read the article “‘Blood’ Stirs the Milkshake”.  Scott Bowles’ article outlines how a specific line from the movie is quickly gaining a cult popularity among the film’s viewers- “I drink your milkshake!  I drink it up!”

Of course, Day-Lewis was not referring to a milkshake at all, at the point in the movie when this line was uttered- he was referring, instead, to the notion of “DRAINAGE!” (Which I’m sure will become a popular phrase, as well).  Nonetheless, the line has become synonymous with the movie, inspiring a YouTube video that has already received almomst 79,000 views. 

My only annoyance with the popularity of this video is that the line is completely taken out of context.  Yes, the line’s funny- it was meant to be.  But the situation from which it sprang forth really isn’t all that funny.  It was a line said to a man who is losing everything, from a man who has taken everything he has.  It’s a line that envelops the darkest theme of the movie- greed, and its consistent triumph over religion. 

I think it’s a shame.  The people who keep spreading the milkshake line are probably the same kids still saying such one-liner gems as “If you have sex, you will get pregnant and die!”

In a recent USA Today article the author addresses an incident that occurred in a  Virginia Beach Abercrombie and Fitch store that left one manager arrested and two murals confiscated.  It seems that the controversy over A&F’s scantily clad advertisements reached a peak after a manager refused to remove murals that depicted a topless woman covering just her nipples and one of several young men who were shirtless and have some of their butts exposed

The author does a mediocre job at addressing the information that is presented in this article.  I felt that the articles linked from this article to much smaller news venues, such as The Virginian-Pilot and Newport News Daily Press, had much more in depth information and extensive articles.  I expected to see more attention to detail and possible interviews with the manager and other locals who felt that the murals were offensive.   It also would have been extremely beneficial to have included an interview with A&F representatives.

I think that to make this article more successful the author should have addressed the overall consequences of the murals’ removal.  I was interested in what the immediate consequences will be for the manager who was charged with the display of obscene materials in a public place. Will A&F take responsibility for the manager’s law suit- or will they leave him to fend for himself? I was also interested why the company of Abercrombie and Fitch did  not have charges placed against them.  It would seem that the company would take responsibility for their ad campaign rather than leaving their employees to take responsibility for them.  Will the national ad campaign be forced to be taken down at other locations- or is this a completely isolated incident? This article has potential, though there are many issues that the author should further investigate to improve its quality.

In a recent USA Today article Bush’s new budget and new tax cuts are brought into question. The honorable president has decided it would be a great idea to lower his approval rating, I mean lower taxes, drastically. In a plan to instate the biggest federal budget ever, THREE TRILLION DOLLARS, Bush hopes to fight terrorism and “spur the economy.”

The biggest cuts would come from a mastermind plan to freeze any new funding, and thus growth, of nearly all health care providers for the next three years! Apparently Bush is jumping on the health care reform bandwagon. All the new presidential candidates have been using this vehicle to advocate change and please the workingman. Yet, Bush wants to jump in and fuck over any chance for current health care to continue running smoothly, which I can’t even say with a straight face. In an effort to solidify his legacy as George “The Terror of Terrorists” Bush, he plans on leaving the next president with an insurmountable pile of death and debt. Bravo.

The worst part is that there is actually a chance this budget has a chance. Following a growing trend of increased partisanship, Republicans and Democrats alike have been compelled to vote down party lines 80% of the time. Now Republicans have vowed to support Bush’s budget regardless of intelligence, practicality, or constituency mindset.

What happened to the idea that representatives of the house would represent the people that voted them into office? What happened to the idea that senators would represent the political agenda of their state? It has all been thrown to the wayside. Compromise, it was what made this nation possible, it is why we have these two houses, it is why I can feel free to rant and cut down the president in a public venue and not end up with a bullet in my head. Now polarized political parties dictate change, and since both sides are too ignorant, too stubborn to cross lines, to bridge gaps, to work together, nothing happens. The approval rating of congress is 18%, completely unheard of, the lowest of all time. When are they going to get the message? They’re not doing their damn jobs!

CNN covered a story involving two Georgia cops from different departments having a gunfight in the middle of an Atlanta suburb on Friday afternoon. No one was seriously injured, except the departments’ reputations. The officers, Jay Daily and Paul Phillips, have been hospitalized and are being treated for minor bullet wounds. Unfortunately, the big question as to why they had a gun fight has yet to be answered.

The article mentions that there was a third party involved, a person who flagged down Phillips which started the whole incident. I’m curious as to why the reporter didn’t interview that person; they even remain nameless throughout the whole article. The only two people that were interviewed were officials of each police department, and they both seemed to be clueless as to what went down.

After reading the article I get the impression that the reporter thought it an interesting story, but didn’t have any valuable sources to really tell it well. They sacrificed the facts. Perhaps they should have waited until enough information surfaced to give the story justice. The least the reporter could have done was interview Daily, especially since he now has a lot of spare time on his hands after being suspended. After more research I found the complete story covered by Atlanta’s WSBTV Action News 2.

Two of my friends, Ian and Jessica, were killed in a car accident on Thursday.  This happened near my hometown of Sweetwater, Tennessee.  To get more details I looked at the newspaper online.  I was immensely disappointed at what I saw. 

The story lists their names and ages and the fact that they died and one other was hurt.  However, it did not say why there was a sudden traffic stop on the highway.  I later found out (after checking several news stations) that there had been a major slow down due to construction.  The newspaper could have talked to someone about how to prevent accidents happening at this location.  Apparently, there have been many wrecks at this site, so the news should make people more aware of this hazardous situation.  The article contained no quotes from witnesses or anyone else that relates to the story. 

The article also did not discuss how fast she was going, if it was an accident, or if the driver was intoxicated.  If I had not been able to get in touch with other friends, I would have never known.  I also later found out that the passenger had landed in the drivers lap.  Were they buckled up? 

The family of six has lost a father, two brothers, and a sister, but the paper fails to metion that.  I  believe talking to the family would have helped.  I did not know where funeral arrangements were or if they were taking donations instead of flowers.  This seems like something a small town newspaper should include, especially since everyone knows everyone.  Some people may think that since it was a car accident it should not be front-page news.  Deadly car accidents rarely happen in Sweetwater, Tennessee and when anyone dies it is usually a big deal. 

Of course, the next article was about a 46-year-old man being arrested for cooking meth.  The story is considerably long with all the details anyone needs to know about the case.  I am just very disappointed that this 26 year old and 18 year old were just another name and picture in the newspaper. 

One of the most compelling stories that caught my eye while reading USA Today this week was one about a teen boy who murdered his parents and siblings. Nicholas Browning spent the next day with friends after murdering his father, an established attorney, his mother and his 11 year-old and 13 year-old brothers. Browning, although can not face the death penalty, will be tried as an adult.

I’m sure this was a difficult story for the reporter to cover. The community in which the murders took place was a quite small one and the reporter probably was faced with a great deal of emotional individuals that were difficult to interview. I realized there was little reaction comments from those who knew Browning first-hand. I realize this might be attributed to the unwillingness of close friends and family to comment on the issue.

Although the reporter probably gained as much information as possible in regards to the case there were a few issues I would have requested him to cover.

1. If the teen called in the murder not confessing how did the police turn accusations to him?

2. Statements from close friends and family of the deceased and the accused murderer.

3. Has the teen accused made any statements?

4. Why did neighbors not hear any gun shots from the house the night of the murders?

5. Has the teen had many delinquent situations in the past?