Word of the Week: Subterfuge

1. Subterfuge

2. I read the word in a book titled Chocolat.

3. There is no reason for subterfuge. Better have it out now and show him where he stands.

4. Subterfuge (Noun):  Deceit used in order to achieve one's goal.

5. The landlord purposefully employed a subterfuge to the tenants when they requested their deposit back.

Fairy Tale News Story

A robbery suspect cut down a giant beanstalk with an axe during a foot chase Monday resulting in the death of a giant.

The gigantic beanstalk was grown overnight with magic seeds by the suspect Jack in the backyard of his home in England.

Jack said the magic beans were obtained from a man at the market in exchange for a cow.

The suspect climbed the beanstalk in the morning of the incident arriving in a land high up in the sky where he followed a road to a house which was the home of a giant.

Jack entered the house for the first time stealing a bag of gold coins and then making his escape down the beanstalk.

Jack then repeated the robbery two more times stealing a hen that lays golden eggs and a magical harp that can play by itself.

During the third robbery Jack was almost caught by the giant who pursued him down the beanstalk.

While the giant was in pursuit of the suspect Jack called out for his mother requesting an axe and proceeded to use it to chop down the beanstalk, killing the giant.

The boy's attorney, Perry Mason, said his client ran for his life as the giant screamed his last words "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman."

Jack and his mother are currently living happily ever after with their new found riches.

Little Red Lead

1. Local school girl and her grandmother were rescued from the bowls of serial killer Big Bad wolf by a woodsman today at 12:30 pm.

2. Loal woodsman rescued young girl and grandmother from the guts of the notorious serial killer Big Bad Wolf this afternoon.

Earthquake Lead

A 4.7 earthquake rocked Gilroy Wednesday at 4:15 am causing over $10,000 in damage to one local business.

Word Of The Week: Festoons

1. Festoons

2. Read it in the book titled Chocolat.

3. I made my way gently home through the back streets, with its close, dark, almost windowless walls, broken only by the washing lines slung casually from balcony to balcony or by a single window box trailing green festoons of convulvulus.

4. Festoons (Noun):  A string or garland, as of leaves or flowers, suspended in a loop or curve between two points.

5. My neighbor Patrick decorated his bedroom with festoons of aluminum beer cans strung from one wall to another.

Comparing Media: TV, Newspaper, Internet

8 Year Old Boy Killed by Truck While Riding on a Pocket Bike

On KTVU-TV Channel 2 Mike Mibach covered a story on the Saturday morning news about the death of an 8 year old boy who was struck by a truck the evening before in a residential neighborhood in San Jose.

The total length of this news story from the second Mibach starts talking until the live shot signs off was one minute and five seconds in length.

Ten seconds into the news story Mibach introduces Alex Savidge who is live on the scene where police are investigating the death.

Savidge is standing in front of the memorial where family and neighbors have placed flowers and candles in memory of the boy who died.

After the camera pans away from the memorial on the street corner it shows random shots of police cars in the middle of the street and yellow police tape.

Savage explains that the boy was not wearing a helmet while riding the pocket bike and darted out into the street without looking.

I feel that KTVU well represented this story and told me all the facts I wanted to hear while including some cool live shots from the scene of the accident.


‘Pocket Bike’ Death Puts Focus on Law, Safety

In the San Jose Mercury News on the bottom fold of the front of the local news section there was an article written by Robert Salonga that totaled 30 column inches and spilled over to the middle of page B9.

On the front page there was a small photo two inches tall by three inches wide of the memorial on the street that was shown on the KTVU-TV news.

Below the lead is a subtitle in a larger font than the article that states “Boy, 8, was riding mini motorcycle and was hit by a pickup.”

On page B9 they included a photo of a pocket bike next to a real motorcycle with the weight, top speed, retail cost, and measurements in height & length so readers who are not familiar with the mini bike would have a better understanding as to how small they really are.

There are a total of five quotes in this story which come from an educational consultant, a police sergeant and a California Highway Patrol officer.

I feel that this article gave me the necessary facts about the accident, and then went into more detail about the type of motorcycle the boy crashed on than KTVU-TV did.


Child on Pocket Bike Struck, Killed in SJ

On the NBC Bay Area website Lori Preuitt published an article to the local news section with a subtitle beneath the lead which says “A Friday night playing outside turned deadly for a San Jose child.”

The story was extremely short with a total of 125 words which was broken into six paragraphs.

The main photo features cops cars at night with their red flasing lights on and yellow tape around them which grabbed my attention.

Preuitt then featured a Google map with a pinpoint of the location where the accident happened.

I felt this article was extremely short for such a tragic story and it could have done a better job at investigating.

For reference here is a link to the article: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Child-on-Razor-Struck-Killed-in-San-Jose-169869816.html

Comparing all of the articles I feel that the television broadcast was the best of them all, they had all the facts and showed live shots.

Even though the San Jose Mercury News went into great detail about what a pocket bike is, I’m already well aware of what they’re, so all of that information was unnecessary for me to read.

The worst story of them all was the internet story found on the NBC news website.

Word Of The Week: Aloofness

1. Aloofness

2. Read it on page 119 in the book titled Chocolat.

3. The man walked out of the shop with that look of insolence and aloofness he feels he has to affect with strangers.

4. Aloofness (Adjective): Distant physically or emotionally; reserved and remote.

5. My uncles aloofness was one of the reasons that caused him to get a divorce.

Jon Carroll: Columnist At The San Francisco Chronicle

My favorite writer is a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle named Jon Carroll.

Since most of the news I read comes from the internet, Jon’s articles are one of the only reasons why I still read the newspaper.

To me, Jon is best known for his liberal politics and odd humor based on life’s experiences.

He a fellow American living in the Bay Area who shares the same principles, liberal views and political ideology as I do.

I can’t think of anything I’ve read of his that I’ve disagreed with.

As I begin to read each of Jon’s columns, they trap me in the first paragraph and I have no choice but to read his entire article in order to escape.

Whether its racial, ethical, or political, Jon sheds insight about real world problems and political issues that normal news organizations put twists on.

Jon also likes to read other Chronicle columnists articles, comment about their perspective, or build a new story with a different approach.

On occasions I catch him writing about his wife, daughter, or his cats, which makes Jon very personable, like he’s your friend or next door neighbor.

Some of Jon’s most memorable articles have "the big finish" which will leave you thinking, talking or laughing to yourself such as his article titled “A chronicle of two thefts”, which tells a short story about the two times he was caught stealing by his mother. 

An example of some of his latest political writing can be found in the column on August 31, 2012 titled “The hateful message of Rick Santorum”.

Here is a quote take directly from the column.

“I just heard Rick Santorum speak at the Republican National Convention. I just heard a smug, self-satisfied prig spew his bile across that tiny percentage of the nation's television screens that were tuned in. I got to remember what the Republican Party really stands for in this cycle.

I had forgotten to remember the people Mitt Romney is pandering to. Not that they like him, but he looks like a ticket to power. The Republicans hope he will carry their message of exclusion and privilege to larger, captive audiences around the country.”

Jon’s articles are featured on the back page of the Datebook section of the San Francisco Chronicle on the weekdays.

A collection of his 3100 columns can be found here: http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/carroll/

Recycling Is Bad For The Environment

Recycling is a waste of resources and energy.

The first article I found is from Forbes magazine, the title of this article is "Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?" http://www.forbes.com/sites/amywestervelt/2012/04/25/can-recycling-be-bad-for-the-environment/

The second article I located is from the Livestrong website. The title of the article is "The Negative Effects Of Recycling Paper" http://www.livestrong.com/article/159591-the-negative-effects-of-recycling-paper/

Another interesting article from Discover Magazine about when recycling is bad for the environment.
http://www.discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/06-when-recycling-is-bad-for-the-environment