Tag Archives: works-encircle

Michael Hastings Dies in Car Accident; Acclaimed Journalist Was 33

Michael Hastings, an acclaimed young journalist, has died in a car accident. The Vermont native was just 33 years old when he passed away Tuesday. He was widely known for a profile in Rolling Stone magazine, which reported his death, of a general who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan. “We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone ,” said Ben Smith, editor in chief of BuzzFeed, for whom he also wrote. “Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered.” “From wars to politics, he wrote stories that would otherwise have gone unwritten, and without him there are many great stories that will go untold.” “Michael was also a wonderful, generous colleague, a joy to work with and a lover of corgis … especially his Bobby Sneakers,” Smith continued. “Our thoughts are with Elise and the rest of his family.” Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana echoed those sentiments in comments in an obituary posted Tuesday evening on the magazine’s website: “Great reporters exude a certain kind of electricity, the sense that there are stories burning inside them,” Dana said of Hastings. “There’s no higher calling or greater way to live life than to be always relentlessly trying to find and tell those stories.” “I’m sad that I’ll never get to publish all the great stories that he was going to write.” “I’m sad that he won’t be stopping by my office for any more short visits which would stretch for two or three completely engrossing hours. He will be missed.” His reporting on Gen. Stanley McChrystal in 2010 led to his resignation after he was quoted mocking President Obama, Vice President Biden and other officials. The story was titled “The Runaway General” and resulted from the considerable access to McChrystal and others that Michael Hastings was granted. “You never know how a story will be received,” he told the Burlington Free Press . “I knew the reporting was new and different, but I’m kind of surprised at the impact.”

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Michael Hastings Dies in Car Accident; Acclaimed Journalist Was 33

Kanye West Parkinson’s Lyric Sparks Outcry

Kanye West is “ignorant” and “distasteful,” according to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, and not just because he impregnated Kim Kardashian . The group is livid with the new father of Kaidence Donda West (or whatever the baby name really is) for lyrics that use Parkinson’s as a punchline. In “On Sight,” from his new album Yeezus , which dropped Tuesday, Kanye raps “A monster about to come alive again / Soon as I pull up and park the Benz.” “We get this bitch shaking like Parkinson’s.” Yeah. We can see how some might not be thrilled. In response to the song, APDA VP Kathryn Whitford said in a statement: “We find these lyrics distasteful and the product of obvious ignorance .” For over 50 years, the group has been the nation’s largest organization dedicated to helping those with Parkinson’s and furthering efforts to find a cure. No response from Kanye’s camp … but we don’t recommend taking a page out of Lil Wayne’s playbook following that rapper’s Emmett Till “apology.” What do you think? Should ‘Ye apologize for the lyrics?

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Kanye West Parkinson’s Lyric Sparks Outcry

Domino Book Chain Collapse Sets World Record

This awesome video of books collapsing has set a world record for longest domino chain – and it’s all for the good cause of encouraging kids to read. The Seattle Public Library set up 2,131 hardcover books end-to-end in an effort to promote its Summer Reading Program, then filmed the thing. Concept designers Luke Greenway and Laura D’Asaro assembled lines of books that traverse stacks, climb stairs, and even spell out the word “read.” Not only that, the tumbling works encircle a number of library patrons in action! Take a look at the awesome, literary domino chain collapse below: Domino Chain World Record

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Domino Book Chain Collapse Sets World Record