news notes

here's a summary of the news headlines that have caught my eye over the past week.

most popular photos on stumbleupon - you guys have got to take a look at these photos.  oh. my. goodness.  they are absolutely incredible.

10 states given no child left behind learning laws - i'm not a teacher, but even i could see from the get-go that no child left behind was a bad idea.  it's nice to see that finally states are able to do something about it and fix the failing schools.

does the 2011 photo of the year look familiar? - this photo is just beautiful.  the composition, the emotion.  it does remind me of the pieta, and that's probably part of why i love it so much.  the pieta was the first piece of art that actually moved me to tears.  i remember standing there in st. peter's basilica, staring at it with tears streaming down my face, feeling mary's overwhelming sadness and pain.

i'm not ok with chris brown performing and the grammys and i'm not sure why you are - this article highlights everything that was wrong about the entire chris brown/rihanna situation.  and what continues to be wrong about it.  it is a blatant lack of respect for victims of domestic violence and showcases the stigma that exists to this today of "blaming the victim."  also, have you heard the rumor that they're secretly dating again?  that makes me sick.

santorum's stone-age few of women - all i can say is, if santorum gets elected president, then women of the united states are in big trouble.  did you know he wants to make birth control illegal?  yup.  not just abortion (which is bad enough), but birth control.  he wants to shut down planned parenthood.  completely.  and he thinks that a woman's rightful place is at home, in the kitchen, serving her husband.  as my aunt whitney put it, "can you say troglodyte?"

pittsburgh steelers wr antonio brown makes special fan connection at super bowl via twitter - oh, man, i love you, antonio brown.  i totally wish this would happen to me.  but with hines ward.

pa amazon users to feel sales tax bite - governor corbett, you seriously blow.  first you cut funding for arts programs.  then you cut funding for important social programs.  you promised no new taxes, but now this.  you, sir, are an asshole.

walk with me - you guys, slow walkers are the bane of my existence.  i'm serious.  i walk 8 blocks between the train station and work every day, twice a day.  inevitably, i get stuck behind a slow walker.  it wouldn't be so bad if they just stuck to the "slow lane" and i could pass.  but no, they sort of amble all over the sidewalk so that half the time, i'll end up walking into the street just to get past them.  it is so annoying.  and like the author in the article says, don't even get me started on the sudden stoppers.  you know the ones, they stop abruptly to answer a text or update their facebook, causing me to nearly run into them.  i want to scream at them, "don't stop in the middle of fucking sidewalk, asshole!"  yeah, it makes me curse.

new technology allows parents to monitor students' lunches - i actually saw this news story yesterday and thought it was awesome.  unlike the story about the school dictating what the child can/should eat, this allows the parents to have total control.  i think it's genius and i hope that by the time our kids are in school, all schools will have this system.

nj governor rejects criticism of houston, defends decision to lower flags to half-staff -call me crazy, but i think that lowering the flag to half-staff should be reserved for government officials and military members.  nobody lowered the flag to half-staff when michael jackson died, and as far as i'm concerned, he was a bigger cultural icon than whitney houston could ever be.  don't get me wrong, i loved me some whitney, but...this is just ridiculous.  as far as i'm concerned, this is just another way for christie to be in the media.  the guy is as big an attention-whore as the cast of the jersey shore is.

i'm going to try to make this a weekly feature.  have you read any good news stories this week?