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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

News The Morning News: More Philippines Deaths, the Indian PM at the White House, World's Oldest Sheep Dies, and Shock Therapy for Erectile Dysfunction

Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 9:04 AM

The Recession Has Eased: So why is the "problem list" of banks longer than it has been in the last 16 years?

The Decision About Troops in Afghanistan: Expected within days.

Washington's Basic Health Plan: More people on waiting list than enrolled.

Drive-by Shooting in Sunnyside (Yakima County): Nobody hit.

State of Emergency: More bodies discovered in the Philippines.

Two Producers of Contaminated Milk: Executed in China.

Indian PM Is Obama's First State Visitor: China, Pakistan, environment, recent snub on the minds of those watching. And tonight's first state dinner will be heavy on the vegetarian.

Lucky, The World's Oldest Sheep: Died during a heat wave.

Shock the Cock: Direct shockwaves treat erectile dysfunction.

Pirates Attack Oil Tanker: Possibly Nigerian, not Somali. Piracy in West Africa on the rise.

Ann Powers Reviews Susan Boyle's Album: "Since she first raised her arms in what now seems like a blessing on the talent show 'Britain's Got Talent,' revealing herself as the new queen of pop's Island of Misfit Toys, Susan Boyle has come to mean several things to her fans: hope, the triumph of the ordinary, the reality-television embodiment of the Euro-American Dream. As a singer, though, she offers something else: relief."

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Oh man, do I have a soft spot for Ann Powers. She wrote a great memoir called Weird Like Us: My American Bohemia that I've been kinda obsessed with since I was 16.

Plus I love that song. This is better than that overplayed Les Mis song she blew up over.

Posted by singing cynic on November 24, 2009 at 9:08 AM

Today is also the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species." A happy anniversary to dear old "evil-ution."

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 9:09 AM

Once again Obama bows to a foreign leader instead of giving his vegetarian guest a piece of grade A American beef. Does his cowardice know no bounds?

Posted by Reg on November 24, 2009 at 9:14 AM

Lucky, The World's Oldest Sheep: Died during a heat wave.

I think the headline here is that global warming has killed a celebrity sheep.

Posted by Judah

on November 24, 2009 at 9:16 AM

Wild Horses is a great song. I love playing it, the harmonics are fun in G. She sings way better than I do.

Posted by kim in portland on November 24, 2009 at 9:35 AM

You have to give Boyle credit. She puts in a good performance in front of millions.I worried her voice would crack and she'd lose it, but she did alright. Good for her.

Posted by Vince on November 24, 2009 at 9:38 AM

Since Slog never follows up on stories, I figured I would. Remember that census guy in Kentucky who was "lynched" a while back? His death was ruled a suicide. Seriously. It seems he had taken out a rather large life insurance policy right before he died.

I guess "real America" wasn't quite as fed-up with the government as all the right-wingers tried to make us think they were.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 9:47 AM

@7, Isn't that more of a motivation for murder than suicide? I mean... it's not like you can spend a payout from life insurance when you're dead. Unless there's something I don't know about the afterlife. Which is entirely possible.

Posted by lily on November 24, 2009 at 10:03 AM

I really don't like the style of singing espoused by Susan Boyle. Showtunes...diva stuff..."big moment" at the end stuff.

But I'll be damned if I didn't just download Wild Horses off iTunes. That's haunting shit, and I never knew the lyrics were so beautiful. Well done, Susan Boyle.

Posted by baconpussy on November 24, 2009 at 10:06 AM

His son was the beneficiary, and he wanted to provide for him. A good Daddy right to the very end.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 10:07 AM

Dang. You're a font of knowledge, 5280. :) I guess that is a good daddy, especially if he made sure the policy was payable on a ruled suicide--although how the heck he hanged himself when his hands and feet were bound with duct tape strikes me as rather unlikely.

Posted by lily on November 24, 2009 at 10:23 AM

I'll see if I can find the coroner's report - it's out there on the interwebs somewhere. I read it a few days ago.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 10:29 AM

@7: It's not an uncommon thing for people who are in dire financial straits and despondent to take out a large life insurance policy on themselves and make their families the beneficiary. That's why life insurance policies have the caveat that they will not pay out in case of suicide (as a corollary, the people who are desperate enough to go through with it will attempt to disguise the suicide as a murder or accident.)

Posted by JBB on November 24, 2009 at 10:32 AM

This will get you started. The coroner's report came out more recently, but I'm still trying to find that.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05…

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 10:41 AM

"All that's read is black and white." -Ozzy Osbourne

Posted by Paul Pauper on November 24, 2009 at 10:49 AM

Am I the only one who thinks Susan Boyle sucks? I haven't heard the album but I've heard the song that made her famous and she sucks. I couldn't listen to the whole thing. Sure, I get that she's an untrained normal person. More power to her and I hope she gets rich out of this as long as I don't have to listen to her crappy singing.

Posted by Root on November 24, 2009 at 10:53 AM

@15

I guess the lyric is "You'd see that black and white is read." My bad.

Posted by Paul Pauper on November 24, 2009 at 10:58 AM

Here you go:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/arti…

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 24, 2009 at 12:00 PM

While I don't support executions, it is interesting to see how China deals with those who harm and kill others through defective products. Here, the company gets sued and the executives who decided human lives aren't worth shit walk away with zero personal cost.

Posted by keshmeshi on November 24, 2009 at 12:03 PM

Anyone notice how the audience did not realize what song she was singing until the refrain? I think its interesting to note these things, how the younger, mostly dumber generation y does not know these things.

Posted by gen zer on November 24, 2009 at 12:47 PM