Rıza Sarıbabıçcı, chief surgeon of Konya Numune Hospital, on Sunday, December 17 rejected reports published in Turkish daily Hurriyet that female observant Muslim members of his staff refused an ultrasound to an adolescent male suffering from testicular torsion. The boy, Ali Faruk G., according to hospital registers, came to the hospital’s urology department seeking treatment […]
Taoist Beatles Propaganda
I have been following the Paul McCartney-Heather Mills breakup quite closely. (I recognize this is morally wrong, however.) Yesterday, Sir Paul locked her out of their London townhouse. When Heather’s bodyguard climbed to the second floor to enter the window, McCartney had him arrested. I was surprised to learn that Paul is now worth $1.5 […]
The Poop on Albany’s Drinking Water
Posted signs at Bowman Park in northeast Albany, Oregon, warn against coming near the water. They have been there since November 24th, 2006, when heavy, seasonal rains led to the release of dilute, raw sewage from the Albany Wastewater Treatment system into the Willamette. Despite recent dry spells, the signs have remained in place. If […]
The World’s First Collective Blog?
GroundReport is a funny animal. In some ways it is a large, collective blog, open to everyone. Because it’s so big, writers will be able to have an unusually high degree of influence in the blogosphere, and make more money on advertising than would otherwise be possible. On the other hand, GroundReport won’t let stellar […]
Open Up the Business Model: How Citizen Journalists Get Rewarded
About 50 million Americans have added their original content to the Internet’s bounty. Most haven’t seen a dime. Five of the ten fastest growing brands on the Web rely on users for content. Most, like MySpace, Flickr and Heavy.com, do not pay their contributors. But the tide may be changing towards systems of compensation. Interestingly, […]