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The headlines are alive with the sound of sixth-grade penis puns, teens swapping kidneys for iPads, a gov't sancitioned Plate of noms and a 20-something who allegedly killed her daughter so she could party. Here's Today in News, with a little Nels-spin.
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“The Hot New Weiner Theory Sweeping the Internet”
—NYMag.com

The Weinergate scandal — or whatever it is — is a black letter day for headline writers. A quick Google News search revealed such gems as “Weiner apologizes for being stiff” and “Big lies come in small packages.”

I’m not exactly sure what responsibility the media has to people with funny names caught in potential sex scandals, because I definitely can’t stop cracking up about it. None of the mainstream outlets seem to be able to, either. You're setting a greeaaaat example for all us wannabe journalists, mass media.

Weiner continues to insist that he was pranked, and this is one of the first stories I’ve seen that indicates that may actually be true. This is good for him since I can say “with certitude” that he’s been doing a pretty poor job of not looking like a guilty sleazeball so far.

This article basically says that the site yFrog, which the lewd photo popped up on, is pretty easy to hack if you know someone’s yFrog email address. Bloggers are also saying it’s pretty easy to figure out a yFrog email address. The only unanswered question is: was it Weiner's wiener?
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Casey Anthony Trial: Frustrated Cops Called her “Cold Blooded… Monster”

Anyone else been following the sordid developments in the trial of Casey Anthony, the mom who allegedly killed her daughter so she could live the partying lifestyle of a twenty-something?

The trial has been going on about a week and a half now — and the coverage has been pretty balanced. The trial has been overall presented in a very factual way, with both the defense and the prosecution given adequate airtime. This story seems particularly damning to Anthony, but every single statement is backed by evidence or fleshed out in the article.
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No More Food Pyramid: Nutritional Icon is Now a Plate

…and a badly designed one at that. Sure, it’s simple, but really? The government could have paid me $50 bucks and I could have created their new icon. This is supposed to guide the nation out of an obesity epidemic and save us billions in healthcare? It looks like someone created it in a 1998 version of MS-DOS Paint. PAINT. And what’s with the title “MyPlate”? It sounds like a middle-school social network for cafeteria-goers.

The article pretty much backs up all the claims the plate makes and draws in a whole bunch of expert opinions. But who cares? The plate makes no reference to exercise and just seems to invite criticism from all levels. Anyone else want to go to Raygun and pick up the witty shirt they’re bound to come up with this summer?

...Now that I think of it, this whole “design controversy” worked out pretty well for the D+ campaign, which got a whole lot of people talking about Drake, looking into it and will probably draw in a gi-normous freshman class.

I take it back. The plate is brilliant. I guess I’ll give some of MySpace in my life to MyPlate. Check out the article for a ton of expert opinions and other great reasons why the plate rocks.
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Would You Sell a Kidney for an iPad 2?
-PCMag

No. I’m holding onto my organs until at least an iPad 3.

I'm not a big fan of PCMag. Last month, I actually wrote a letter to the editor to them upset about their consumer-oriented coverage of the Foxconn explosion in a polishing factory last month, when they ignored (and failed to report) the names or photos of those killed.

This story isn’t quite as one-sided as the other one — but it does spin it in a humorous light, which I don’t appreciate. We’re talking about an idiot 17-year-old boy here who didn’t tell his parents about the procedure and went to a hospital that wasn’t qualified. Hospital administration didn’t even know about the procedure, since it was outsourced to a “private businessman.”

…WHAT?! How can it even be possible to perform surgery on a minor in such a shady way?

Once again, PCMag misses the important story to focus on a consumer-oriented “funny” angle. There’s nothing funny about organ stealing. This is a case of a dumbass kid being victimized and cut apart.
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CDC Marks the 30th Anniversary of HIV/AIDS
-ABC

Great article that summarizes the crisis, tugs at some hearstrings and throws some shocking statistics at the reader right at the end. It references the first article about AIDS — then an unknown affliction — and grabs statements from one of the earliest doctors, whose quote “All of our patients died — 100 percent,” bluntly throws the epidemic into context. The following sentence: “She felt like a ‘midwife’ of death’ in the early years,” offers the reader a sense of despair and frustration that must have been present for early AIDS researchers.

The article then brings the reader into the present day, nothing that treatments are much cheaper and much more effective, and that HIV is now a disease that can be managed, with transmission risks much lower. It’s a great read, overall, and gives great insight into the magnitude and devastation of the crisis.
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I don't know if you heard, but there was explosion at an iPad 2 Foxconn factory a fews days ago that left dozens injured. Three were killed, but let's talk about the important stuff! iPhone 4S and/or iPhone 5 release dates could be delayed!

A quick Google news search of "Foxconn" the other day revealed the most prominent headlines to be related to delays in iPhone/iPad production and/or a drop in Apple stock. None of the articles I perused had even acquired the names of the victims or any quotes or descriptions about who they were. The best I could find were these series of pictures of anguished relatives from Sina/English — and they didn't even name the relatives.

Still, I was struck by the pictures — in the lowest photo, two women (who I presume to be Chinese) sit waiting in the hospital ward. One of them is wearing a red blouse and a purse — the other a striped shirt below a gray suitcoat. It looks like something I might see a young American mother or professional wear. Out of all the coverage I've seen, these three photos have done the best job at telling the human side of this story.

I understand that many media outlets don't have the resources to reach all the way out to China, but I find it hard to believe that a quick Google translation of Chinese news sources or a phone call to the right people couldn't at least produce the names of the deceased.

As this story breaks, it is becoming increasingly clear that this was a factory without regulation or supervision. How many more of these places with deplorable working conditions exist? As sad as the deaths of three people are, how much worse can it be? I can't help but be reminded of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 100 years ago that changed the American workplace. How many people have to die before companies like Apple take an active interest in their employees and not only their consumers?

And my message to the media: If I have to buy a laptop with blood on it, I want to know whose blood it is.

UPDATE: News sources are now saying aluminum dust produced during the polishing process are a possible cause of the explosion. Reports are saying the reason three people died is because iPads need to shine. 

The plant where the explosion took place was built in 76 days — a record time for Foxconn, specifically made to produce the iPad 2.
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