Washington Post: 450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths in Turkey:
…First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.
In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported.
billmon: Give it a Rest
I see from a stroll around the blogosphere that the conservatives aren’t the only ones playing the blame game and sharpening the attack lines. And I just got an email from some allegedly left-wing son of bitch chortling about imperial chickens coming home to roost and Michael Collins raising a toast in hell.
To which, all I can say is: What the fuck is wrong with you people??
Thirty seven innocents are dead, hundreds more are wounded, a city is paralyzed, and you’re acting like this is the spin room at the last presidential debate — or your own private revenge fantasy.
It’s almost as bad as the columnist for the Guardian who blithely referred to America in the wake of 9/11 as a “bully with a bloody nose” — smugly oblivious to the fact that the blood in question was the blood of more than 3,000 innocent human beings.
There will be plenty of time later to argue whether London does or does not demonstrate the failure of the flypaper strategy, whether the Rovians did or did not deliberately blew the cover on a British counterterrorism operation, and whether the right-wing media is or is not milking today’s attack for political gain.
But right now I gotta agree with Kevin Drum: Just for today — or what’s left of it — can’t we drop the politics and the armchair quarterbacking and treat this like the terrible human tragedy that is? Just this once?
I’ve been enjoying my trip. It’s always exciting being surrounded by so many creative and diverse folks. The Flash ecosphere is particularly diverse. Marketers sit next to designers, who sit next to developers, who site next to artists, who sit next to cartoonists, who sit next to… well you get the idea. I’m going to walk away inspired for sure. Well worth the trip. Wish I could have spent more time sight seeing here in New York. But that’s for another day and another trip.
Even saying all that – I can’t wait to get home to my family.
A New York negative, at least where I am at (near Madison Square Garden) – a near complete lack of public spaces to sit while eating. No Love Park. No Rittenhouse Square. No Reading Terminal Market. Shit, no Gallery. While I can buy the perfect pizza (for a buck even!), I have no where to go around here to sit. Ah Love Park – can’t wait to see you on Monday 🙂
Now is not the time to point to each other, almost in joy, because, to paraphrase, “we’re covering the story better than the BBC.
Now is not the time to bring up the incriminations of why this happened and use it as fodder and ammunition in this stupid oneupmanship that characterizes too many of the popular web sites.
Write on our shared sorrow for the people in London. Or write on flowers and trips to Maine and life in general, because life is good. Life is good. But not this. Don’t use this event to promote weblogging.
You’re right, and I know I’m guilty of this myself.
Subways and at least one bus around three and half hours ago – during rush hour in London. Over 95 injured and 2 reported dead so far. Blog reports flowing in from Feedster. BBCNews and CNN updating regularly. Google News and Yahoo News most comprehensive. More at Jeff Jarvis’s.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you.
I’m in one of the last sessions for the day, being run by Ken Martin and Ivan Todorov of BLITZ – “Viral Marketing and the New Online Experience”, and of course the focus is Flash (it’s a Flash conference – duh). The surprising thing to me, is how much the language used mirrors that used by citizen media and blogging proponents – indeed even myself. Markting should be participatory. 2-Way. A Conversation. Those are concepts that form the basis of efforts like Philly Future.
And Albert – if you’re reading – I just had the perfect slice of pizza. Only Vincent’s, in my neighborhood, comes close. Damn, damn, damn.
I’m in New York today, attending Flashforward. What – you didn’t know I use Flash? Yeah, I don’t talk about work that much here do I? Java, MySQL, and yes – Flash… well more like Actionscript. Flash as a graphic arts/animation tool is mostly foreign to me – although it greatly peaks my interest. The intersection of code and visual/audio arts can be a lot of fun.
A couple Comcast co-workers of mine will be speaking this Friday.
If you’re around – say hi.
Well, ummm… not exactly, but Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, Rufus Wainwright, and Brian Adams, put on on a terrific July 4th celebration here in Philly. I had to watch from home, but even from there, Patti LaBelle and Elton John were amazing. Turned out the concert had the duel purpose of celebrating our country’s birthday and raising awareness to fight HIV/AIDS. This angle of the concert was completely overshadowed by Live 8 arriving in town. In fact, until the concert, I didn’t know there was an HIV/AIDS awareness effort attached to this. Great job promoters. That didn’t seem to matter because it looked like the Parkway was packed yet again with concert goers.
Here is where to go to donate.
Oh, and unlike MTV’s coverage of Live 8, our local coverage of this concert was a-ok. No music interrupts. No cutting to commercial or to stupid commentators during songs. The music did the talking. Now if we could just get those amateurish audio problems solved. And why not have the Philly Pops play during the fireworks? It would have kicked ass.
So that’s two concerts on the Parkway, each way over a hundred thousand in attendance. Within three days time! Philly has every reason to be proud.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/02/2005 | R&B star Luther Vandross dies at 54
Grammy award winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as “Here and Now” and “Any Love” sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop for millions of couples worldwide, died yesterday. He was 54.
Since suffering a stroke in his Manhattan home in 2003, the R&B crooner stopped making public appearances, but he managed to continue recording. In 2004, he captured four Grammys as a sentimental favorite, including best song for the bittersweet “Dance With My Father.”
Mr. Vandross, who was in a wheelchair and appeared weak at the time, delivered a videotaped thank you: “Remember, when I say goodbye, it’s never for long. Because” – and he broke into his familiar hit – “I believe in the power of love.”
Howard at Philly Future keys us into whats going on around town and our regional web.
I’d just like to wish you a happy – and thoughtful July 4th.