TopFinds: From Racism in America to Stoned and Horny Brits

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Inside the racial race for the White House. Why the Blackberry Bold could compete with Apple's iPhone. The gene that caused Alzheimer's. These are the top stories making headlines around the world.

Technology & Internet

Research in Motion is going toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone with its upcoming BlackBerry Bold, outfitted with a 3G network, 1GB on-board storage memory and GPS capability, as Chris V. (cgull) told us. And if you want to see a DigitalJournal.com editor's take on the device and its impact in the telecom industry, check out a fun interview here.

What other tech and Internet stories should you bookmark? Facebook promises to protects its under-18 users, Andy wrote; the same Citizen Journalist also explained how Charter Communications will be monitoring the websites its customers visit, inciting reaction from privacy advocates; Microsoft's virtual telescope can sew together "imagery from the world's best ground- and space-based telescopes," malan wrote; MySpace won a $230 million judgment against two notorious "spam kings," Paul Wallis reported; this week, Google surpassed Yahoo as the most popular U.S. website, Chris V. announced; and, coming full circle, Apple said its iPhone will be distributed in Australia and India through non-exclusive contracts. Congrats, Apple, on finally opening your doors to someone not named AT&T.

Entertainment

Vote it up! Michael Moore Photo by jhahn6 (Creative Commons - Attribution)

Michael Moore isn't getting lazy, even after all his box-office hits. The filmmaker will release a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11 with a documentary about how the international community perceives the U.S., Can Tran told us. Let me guess, it's not going to be a decidedly positive film?

For all your entertainment news, check out these stories: legendary actor James Garner is undergoing surgery after a stroke, Michelle D. reported; Salman Rushdie is expected to win the "best of the Booker Prize," Chris V. said; a small-town Canadian girl was named 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year, KJ wrote; a construction worker committed suicide at Mel Gibson's home, S.D. reported; and Ron Paul's latest book on political liberty skyrocketed to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, Michael Billy told us. S.H. Mills couldn't hide her enthusiasm, writing:

Thank God some people are still interested in liberty and are not so afraid of personal responsibility that they're willing to allow a paternalistic state to run their lives.

World

Vote it up! China quake Medical workers give treatment to a wounded person stranded in the ruins of a high school in the earthquake-affected Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on May 13, 2008. Photo courtesy of Xinhua (All Rights Reserved)

Undoubtedly, one of the most startling stories of the week occurred overseas in China, where an earthquake has left more than 22,000 people dead. KJ covered the story thoroughly, writing about the schools buried in the rubble, the resulting disaster, the damaged dams, and the terrible aftershocks hitting the earthquake's epicenter. It's always impressive to see a committed Citizen Journalist giving us all the angles to a breaking news story.

Several other stories span the globe: the reward for the capture of an Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq has gone down from $5 million to $100,000, Gar Swaffar wrote; the UN predicts a global "economic downturn" is coming, Bob Ewing found (don't you love euphemisms for "recession"?); this year's G-8 Summit in Japan will focus on green jobs that combat climate change, Can Tran wrote; Benazir Bhutto was supposedly planning to hand secret nuclear data to North Korea, Knight Shield told us; and Paul Wallis explained how international food aid to Burma is being delivered to the country's generals, instead of to the truly deserving citizens. He concludes with a caustic castigation:

None of the featherweight, featherbrained, political posing has ever translated into doing anything effective for the Burmese people.

TopFinds Awards

Vote it up! Illustration by striatic (Creative Commons - Attribution)

On the minds of many political observers is the racial overtones casting a shadow on the presidential race. In her TopJournalism Award-winning article, Nikki W. excellently broke down the various instances of racism and discrimination peppering the U.S., particularly in relation to Barack Obama. She cited several recent examples, and illustrated how "the discriminatory jokes against the candidates' age, race and gender will more likely escalate over the next several months." She touched upon an issue that will only gain more prominence in the months to come, so read her article to learn how race relations may influence (unfortunately) people's reactions to political actions.

It's funny how a Time article from 17 years ago still holds relevance today. That was the crux of Paul Wallis's argument in his brilliant article taking home the TopOpEd Award. He looked at how Time explored the Church of Scientology's shady practices, while also giving us perspectives from other news sources on the Church's policies. We learned about the Scientology's prison camps, their strongarm tactics and how their army of lawyers threatened the Time reporter back in the day. Because groups like Anonymous continue to protest this faux-religion, Wallis's opinion piece should be required reading for anyone interested in the conflict.

Wouldn't it be cool to watch TV clips while chatting on MSN? It's a dream that could soon come true with MSN TV, a technology the subject of Saikat Basu's article winning the TopInternet Award. As the former Maverick wrote: "Microsoft believes that watching videos together while chatting online could be a new form of 'social experience.'" Basu went beyond the press release by detailing how the service will work, even mentioning the third-party programs involved. But as the Citizen Journalist said, it's best to take a wait-and-see attitude before giving MSN TV the thumbs-up just yet.

Vote it up! American toad - Bufo americanus During the mating season Bart B. Van Bockstaele (All Rights Reserved)

Bart B. Van Bockstaele does it again, taking home the TopPhotography Award honours for another nature-filled photo essay (will no one challenge this photojournalist for the award?). Bart once again got up close and optical by shooting several pics of toads having sex. Yes, sex. It is unbelievable to see a photo of a toad humping another toad, as if this natural act of erotica always takes place in Toronto rivers. Congrats to Bart for capturing these stunning pics while also providing interesting details on the animal's mating rituals. And the best phrase (dare I say, TopPhrase?) of the article to describe these toads? "Explosive breeders."

Welcome to another episode of the Race-y Race to the White House, featuring a Curious George T-shirt emblazoned with the text "Obama in '08." Where some saw a racist shirt others saw a cute joke, but no matter how you slice it, S.D.'s article on the T-shirt from Georgia became wildly popular on DigitalJournal.com. The piece wins the TopPolitics Award for diving into the heart of the controversy and offering perspectives from both sides of the argument. Speaking of arguments, read the lengthy comment list to find out everyone's (and I mean everyone's!) opinion on the shirt.

Scientists may have discovered the gene that caused Alzheimer's disease. Bringing us this medical Holy Grail is Bob Ewing, who is honoured with the TopHealth Award. As Bob wrote: "The research has provided new directions for further investigations and possibly new treatment targets." While the discovery has yet to materialize fully, this news bodes well for anyone affected by this debilitating disease.

We've all heard about the funds raised by celebrities to assist war-torn nations, thanks to high-profile names like Bono and Bob Geldof. But the winner of the TopWorld Award explained how we should look at those funds with a jaded eye: "The money has ended up making Africa poorer and more violent because the money has been diverted towards warlords, weapons and armed invasions," Can Tran quoted an author who said celebrity-raised money does more harm than good. This is the kind of news often missed by mainstream press, so kudos to Can Tran for illuminating an issue the world should definitely recognize.

Bongs and 'Beer Goggles' Have Brits Banging Big Time. You can't go wrong with an eye-catcher of a headline like that, and Pamela Jean's article on British youth using drugs and alcohol as their own Viagra was undoubtedly deserving of the TopLifestyle Award. She wrote about how young people were "strategically binge drinking or abusing drugs to improve their sex lives." Pamela suggested Brits try the good ol' sober sex approach, which will likely result in "no more trips to the health clinic for yet another screening for STD's." It's always refreshing to read a great lifestyle article peppered with the spice of humour.

Vote it up! TopFinds Awards Topfinds award winners for the week ending May 16, 2008. Illustration by DigitalJournal.com (Creative Commons - Attribution)