TopFinds: World War 3 Between Israel and Iran and 'Holistic Forms of Human Stupidity'

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A sewage treatment plant named after George W. Bush. A photographer who snaps pics of phone sex operators. Mounting political pressure from Israel to strike Iran. These are the top stories from around the world.

Tech & Internet

Bill Gates, one of the world's most powerful business magnates, steps down from his daily role at Microsoft today. Gates is moving on to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help fight disease in poor countries, provide low-income families with access to education and computers, among others. Today, everyone is looking back at Gates' role in building the world's largest software company and its future without him. DigitalJournal.TV gives you a look at his life and we take you inside his new role with his foundation.

The world of technology also saw big news with the iPhone in Canada: Rogers has announced its pricing plans for the upcoming iPhone 3G and as citizen journalist Sarawanan Ravindran reports, Rogers plans can be quite costly, ranging from $60 to $115 per month. When you compare that to AT&T's offering in the U.S. (opens in PDF), it looks like Canadian iPhone fans are going to pay through the nose to use the gadget.

Also in tech: Chris V. reports Australian schools dump Outlook for Gmail for 1.3 million students (funny this news came out the same week Gates is stepping out of Microsoft); robots and humans could be getting into sexual relationships in the future (ok, we can't think of anything snappy to say for this one -- it's just plain freaky); Saikat Basu reports the number of PCs in use worldwide has approached the 1 billion mark (this will no doubt be a boon to social networking, online news consumption and surfing for porn); and Nathalie C. tells us Nintendo will be donating Wii consoles to hospitals (we wonder if learning how to properly secure the Wiimote strap will become part of the future curriculum in nursing schools?).

Politics & World

Vote it up! 5 votes Barack Obama Barack Obama (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike)

Obama thinks rapists should get the death penalty. Citizen journalist Can Tran reports on a very big issue this week and (surprisingly?) Obama and McCain seem to agree on something: Child rapists should get the death penalty.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was illegal to give child rapists the death penalty, and like Obama and McCain, some DigitalJournal.com citizen journalists are very critical of the decision. Enter okieboy, who writes in an opinion piece:

"In a 5 liberal to 4 conservative split, those robe-clad constitutional butchers have decided that raping a child is not all that bad a crime; certainly not one that warrants the death penalty. That, after all, would be cruel and unusual punishment."

Other big stories in politics and the world right now: San Francisco plans to name a sewage treatment plant after U.S. President George W. Bush, Chris V. reports (is that because the big man sometimes has verbal diarrhea?); a Minnesota city wants Google to stop taking pics of the town reports Michael Billy (Chris V. said it best: If they want Google out, Google should demand the whole town also stop using its services); religious Americans apparently don't hate each other as much as you might think says Samantha Torrence (I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact so many religious people are Democrats -- source opens in PDF); Overseas, 1,300 people are feared dead in the wake of a typhoon in the Philippines reports jxtra; and Sheba reported that a lost Amazonian tribe was a hoax. Great reporting.

Arts & Entertainment

Vote it up! 5 votes Phone sex operator Emma Emma is one of the phone sex operators Toledano photographer for his new book Courtesy Phil Toledano (All Rights Reserved)

DigitalJournal.com managing editor David Silverberg delighted us this week with phenomenal coverage (yes, I am biased, but I will call it phenomenal anyway!) of four offbeat artists. Silverberg profiled a man who makes portraits of blonde celebrities out of bubble gum; a man who builds and lives in homes less than 100 square feet; a photographer who shoots phone sex operators; and a unique artist who draws "upside downside up” art — he draws a woman with a bird on her shoulder, for example, and when the picture is rotated upside down, a completely new image appears.

Also big in A&E this week, radio shock jock Don Imus is in trouble again for making racial remarks, Sue D. reports (his explanation and reaction to all the controversy made him look like an idiot if you ask me, which you didn't, but I tell ya anyway!); citizen journalist Hargrove wrote a great opinion piece on a racial-based art exhibit featuring Obama (interesting insight into a very controversial topic); and finally, sad news for the comedy world as George Carlin died at the age of 71, reported Mr Garibaldi. Carlin is always a tough act to follow, so we'll end this category with a hilarious yet true quip he was known for: "Ever notice that anyone going slower than you is an idiot, but anyone going faster is a maniac?" (here are a few of our favourites).

TopFinds Awards

Vote it up! 1 vote Atomic Bomb Picture taken of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Photo courtesy U.S. Military (Public Domain)

Whenever you see an article that starts out with the words "...The makings of World War III are staring us square in the eye," you can't help but stop and read it. This week's TopOpinion Award goes to a new citizen journalist on DigitalJournal.com: G. Robert M. Miller, for his article on the potential disaster facing the world as tension heats up between Israel and Iran. Miller takes a look at mounting political pressure in the Middle East, as Israel looks to the United States to help it attack Iran, and notes that a strike in the region could move other countries into global military action. One of the best parts of the article was the comment thread that followed, so kudos to Miller for inspiring a very politically charged community on DJ. We look forward to more intriguing news and opinion pieces from you, and a warm welcome to the site.

A very beefy article earns Sykos Masters TopInternet Award this week: Rumoured Changes to CHRC Arbitrations May Result in Further Censorship. Masters takes a look at the meeting of the Canadian Association of Journalists National Conference and this quote from Ian Fine with the Canadian Human Rights Commission sums it up:

We believe in the work that we do. We believe that there should be reasonable limitations on freedom of expression but that is not to say that individuals have the right not to be offended. In the back-and-forth of public debate everyone should be able, without fear, to say or write things with which others may disagree and even find offensive. What is not permissible, however, is to use free speech as a cover for hatred.

Masters gives a legal and technical look at an important subject in today's media and the comment thread that follows this story is also just as important to read. Our hats off to Masters on excellent coverage.

Paul Wallis is no stranger to awards on DigitalJournal.com (he has a virtual mantle full of them), and so it might come as no surprise that he wins this week's TopBusiness Award for an in-depth look at practically every major news event happening today. The title alone speaks volumes: Morons of the world unite, at $140 a barrel, all you have to lose is your credibility. Wallis gives perhaps the most concise (and hilarious) summary of all the troubles affecting the United States and global markets today that we have ever seen. A few of our favourite wry points from the article include synopsis of the following:

Subprimes: Exit a few trillion, bye bye credit market except in straitjacket form. Inject a few billion to offset the few trillion. Don’t buy a calculator, you can do it in your head, where it's cheaper.

Oil: Allow antiquated economic model to exist well past use-by date, which was 30 years ago at least. Inflict absolute bloodbath on consumer prices, make sure not to have any strategy in place, let alone any actual working alternatives.

Inflation: Ignore until piping hot, serve to very cold markets.

A gentlemanly bow to Wallis for a superb article, and a thanks for the best gut laugh we've had in a long time. I can't think of another time when we'll get to see the words "holistic form of human stupidity."

Vote it up! 4 votes Robert Mugabe President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe listens as Prof. Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the Commission of the African Union, addresses attendees at the opening ceremony of the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Lock (USAF) (Public Domain)

Africa has been in the news a lot this week as global leaders speak out against Zimbabwe leader, Robert Mugabe. Enter DigitalJournal.com citizen journalist Lenny Stoute with impeccable timing and editorial focus. Stoute wins this week's TopWorld Award for his coverage on the subject. In his article titled "Is Zimbabwe Becoming Africa's Burma?" Stoute provides an incredible look inside the election process in a country bound and gagged by turmoil and conflict, summarizing the entire ordeal by writing:

As in Burma, at this point we're looking at a leader complicit in the impoverishment of his own people as a means of asserting control.

This piece is a must-read for anyone looking for insight into the nation's troubles and a big round of applause to Stoute for bringing in a unique and interesting angle to this story.

Our how-to-write-a-headline tutorial must be working, because Debra Myers invoked numerous double-takes at the DigitalJournal.com offices with her article titled: Electroshock Therapy Used On Mentally Handicapped Children. It's blunt, simple, yet incredibly effective and the article that follows wins Myers the TopCrime Award. Her article is a heart-wrenching look inside a mental facility where officials have reportedly admitted to "administering excessive and unfair shocks" to two children. And brace yourself for this revelation: A prank phone caller apparently had a hand in getting other students shocked:

The prank caller, who is believed to have been a former student, called the center pretending to be one of the staff, and ordering shock treatments to be initiated on a then 16- and 19-year old student because of some things that were done hours prior. After the call, the students were awakened. One was shocked 22 times and the other student was shocked 77 times.

This story is nothing short of horrifying, but a big kudos to Myers who approached a difficult subject with tact and objectivity. Our thoughts were right in line with Mr Garibaldi's comment, "My God, what is this, the late 1800's?"

Citizen journalists are everywhere, and often they know just what to do to pull the strings to get into a sell-out event. This week's TopArts Award goes to KJ for her report about Toronto's Kensington Market. KJ got into an event where a band called "Kensington Market" was playing, and she gives a great in-depth look at how the band has changed over time and how their music has stood out. She also talked a local photographer, David Lister, into shooting the event, so this behind-the-scenes look is illustrated by a number of exclusive photos. Kudos to KJ for keeping the sound alive.

Last but not least in our round-up is DigitalJournal.com regular Sue D. who takes home this week's TopPolitics Award for her article on the second amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the rights of individuals to keep guns. The news soaked up gallons of headline ink from media all over, as the Supreme Court struck down a ban the District of Columbia had imposed since 1976, preventing individuals from owning a gun in their home unless it was not loaded and kept disassembled or under a trigger lock. As Sue reports:

This is the first time the Supreme Court has conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since it was ratified in 1791.

Whether you agree or disagree with the right to bear arms, this article is an important read for its legal implications. Congrats Sue for a thorough report and for posting with several updates in real-time.

Vote it up! 6 votes TopFinds Awards for June 27, 2008 Topfinds award winners for the week ending June 27, 2008. Illustration by DigitalJournal.com (Creative Commons - Attribution)