Tag Archives: early-thursday

Oscar Pistorius Nike Ad: "Bullet in the Chamber" Takes on Chilling New Meaning

Oscar Pistorius’ Nike ad during the 2012 London Olympics – part of the athletic giant’s “Weapon” series – declared the sprinter a “bullet in the chamber.” Given the stunning events of this morning, when Pistorius was arrested for murder in South Africa, those words have taken on a chilling new meaning. Early Thursday, South African police arrested the double amputee and Olympic inspiration for the shooting death of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp . Initial reports indicated that the death was an accident, but police have refrained from definitive statements on the crime; he is due in court tomorrow. Oscar Pistorius’ Nike ad, obviously now in bad taste given the situation, has been pulled by the company. But it begs the broader question in general: Are weaponry and violence too serious to employ metaphorically – and so casually – in sports marketing? Is athletic competition really akin to war? Watch the ad below and see if you think it’s inappropriate, not just in light of Pistorius alleged slaying of Reeva Steenkamp, but as a general idea: Oscar Pistorius Nike “Weapon” Ad

Original post:
Oscar Pistorius Nike Ad: "Bullet in the Chamber" Takes on Chilling New Meaning

Oscar Pistorius Nike Ad: "Bullet in the Chamber" Takes on Chilling New Meaning

Oscar Pistorius’ Nike ad during the 2012 London Olympics – part of the athletic giant’s “Weapon” series – declared the sprinter a “bullet in the chamber.” Given the stunning events of this morning, when Pistorius was arrested for murder in South Africa, those words have taken on a chilling new meaning. Early Thursday, South African police arrested the double amputee and Olympic inspiration for the shooting death of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp . Initial reports indicated that the death was an accident, but police have refrained from definitive statements on the crime; he is due in court tomorrow. Oscar Pistorius’ Nike ad, obviously now in bad taste given the situation, has been pulled by the company. But it begs the broader question in general: Are weaponry and violence too serious to employ metaphorically – and so casually – in sports marketing? Is athletic competition really akin to war? Watch the ad below and see if you think it’s inappropriate, not just in light of Pistorius alleged slaying of Reeva Steenkamp, but as a general idea: Oscar Pistorius Nike “Weapon” Ad

Original post:
Oscar Pistorius Nike Ad: "Bullet in the Chamber" Takes on Chilling New Meaning

SMH: Racist Signs Found At University Of Kentucky Calling Obama N-Word

So much for that post-racial America Obama was supposed to usher in. An anonymous vandal in Kentucky has been littering the University of Kentucky with elaborate, yet crude signs calling the President a ni**er. University of Kentucky officials are investigating two incidents in which someone hung signs that called President Barack Obama a racial epithet. On March 15, a professor noticed one such sign hanging on a door to the UK School of Law on South Limestone. He turned it in to campus police, who are investigating, said spokesman Jay Blanton. Early Thursday morning, third year law student Ches Clark said he found a sign affixed to a bus shelter on South Lime near Maxwelton Court. The sign said “How Do You Spell Ni**er? OBAMA.” The letters looked to be cut out of a menu, glued to another piece of paper and photocopied, Clark said. UK police could charge whoever posted the signs with third degree criminal mischief, Blanton said. It’s not clear whether anyone from UK was involved, but police are investigating because the first sign was on UK property, he said. Clark took the sign to his law-school class on racism and criminal law and posted a copy of it on his Facebook page. His law professor, Roberta Harding, said the sign looked juvenile, yet someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make it. The general sentiment in class was that whoever posted the sign should “get over” Obama being president, Harding said. “I think people were upset in a positive way,” she said. We’d never have imagined racists or rednecks in a place like Kentucky! SMH. Sadly enough, this is not the first time something like this has happened at the University of Kentucky. In 2008, two college-age men were arrested after hanging an effigy of Obama from a tree on the UK campus with a noose around its neck. Horrible. Source

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SMH: Racist Signs Found At University Of Kentucky Calling Obama N-Word

Massive 8.9-Magnitude Quake Hits Japan 7th Largest In History

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The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there felt the tremors. The quake rattled buildings and toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers toward highways. In Tokyo, crowds gathered in the streets and tried to reach relatives via cell phone. Scenes inside office buildings showed papers strewn all over the floor and people clinging onto seats and desks. Such a large earthquake at such a shallow depth creates a lot of energy, said Shenza Chen of the U.S. Geological Survey. It caused a power outage in about 4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas. A tsunami in the Pacific was moving closer to other shorelines in other countries, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera. It triggered tsunami warnings for various countries, including Japan and Russia, the National Weather Service said. “Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region,” it said. “Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter.” The quake was the latest in a series in the region this week. Early Thursday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck off the coast of Honshu. A day earlier, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off of Honshu, the country’s meteorological agency said. The largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said.

Massive 8.9-Magnitude Quake Hits Japan 7th Largest In History