News Cut: May 2, 2011 Archive
Saving history (5x8 - 5/2/11)
Posted at 7:18 AM on May 2, 2011
by Bob Collins
(8 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8
When newspapers die, what will we save on historic days? Another Saturday night, Egypt's shame, when people do good, and we're all going to be OK.
Continue reading " Saving history (5x8 - 5/2/11)"
Closure and the FBI poster
Posted at 10:35 AM on May 2, 2011
by Bob Collins
(10 Comments)
Filed under: War
A Midmorning caller, who says her sister died at the Pentagon on 9/11, called the program today to say the death of Osama bin Laden doesn't provide the closure that the experts say it should be bringing to the families of 9/11 victims.
"Catherine" says it still bothers her that something was missing from the FBI's "wanted" poster for bin Laden: A mention of 9/11:
"I would not be concerned," John Radsan, a professor of law and director of the National Security Forum at William Mitchell College of Law. He said the upcoming trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accused accomplices, will provide plenty of proof that al-Qaeda was responsible for 9/11.
For what it's worth, the FBI updated its poster today.
Osama online
Posted at 12:10 PM on May 2, 2011
by Bob Collins
(8 Comments)
Filed under: Tech
This is a chart showing hourly traffic to the MPR News Web site yesterday. I've taken one of the axis labels out because that's the kind of information we'd have to kill you over if you knew it, but the point is the same: Even late on a Sunday night, people -- a lot of people -- are getting their information online.
It's an interesting chart, mostly because every TV station in America was covering the build-up to last night's presidential announcement, which was delayed by more than an hour.
Akemai, a company which hosts many of the larger news Web sites in the world, registered 4.1 million page views right around the time President Obama began his speech to the nation.
The spike represents a 24% increase in global web traffic compared to the averages for the time period when many people have gone to bed.
That number seems low. But it still represents 4.1 million page views per minute, about the same as the Super Bowl, which is all about TV.
By comparison, last week's royal wedding drew about 5.3 million page views per minute. But nothing compares to the all-time online audience winner: Last year's World Cup qualifying matches, which coincided with the longest-ever Wimbledon final. That drew over 10 million page views per minute.
At least online, you can beat terrorism with soccer and tennis.
(8 Comments)Fergus Falls' big move
Posted at 2:39 PM on May 2, 2011
by Bob Collins
(3 Comments)
When nearly 100 elderly people in an assisted-living home need to move to a new facility, you don't just put them on a bus and drop them off at unfamiliar surroundings. Things are more complicated than that.
In Fergus Falls today, the PioneerCare Center moved 93 of its residents to a new building that's been under construction for about 18 months.
"We've been planning the whole transfer to this new building since the start of construction," Steve Guttormson, the spokesman for PioneerCare told me this afternoon. "We've had staff and volunteers and families on different committees."
It helped to have the people of Fergus Falls around.
The new building is about four blocks from the old one, so today, Fergus Falls had a parade for the residents of the facility, with classic cars, a color guard from the VFW, and the kids in the band at Fergus Falls High School escorting the seniors to their new home.
Two residents -- Mildred Roswold and Pete Beldo -- were chosen as grand marshalls.
"It is a wonderful addition to our community and the school felt we need to do our part to help in this grand opening," Dean Monke, the high school principal, said.
By all accounts, the residents , such as Dorothy Loftis, liked it:
(h/t: Shane Garrahan. Photos via Steve Guttormson. Band photo via Eric Strom)
The bin Laden storytelling
Posted at 3:52 PM on May 2, 2011
by Bob Collins
(1 Comments)
Filed under: War
Perhaps it's because we've gotten so accustomed to vague answers to specific questions from government officials, or maybe it's simply because of the compelling story of the death of Osama bin Laden, but today's performance before the bright lights by a White House national security adviser was an extraordinary briefing to behold.
Over the course of 45 or so minutes, John Brennan skillfully outlined the details of the raid on bin Laden's compound, and provided the occasional opportunity to read between the lines.
His briefing will be sliced up into small sound bites over the next news cycle or so, which is a shame because the only way to appreciate the information he shared was to watch (or listen) to the entire thing.
Meanwhile, the White House has released this photograph showing officials following the raid on Sunday.
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