Social media news and TV – Current.com Blog – Your guide to Current

Yesterday we introduced a new experiment on Current.com called Developing Stories. As expected, there has been some confusion around the concept, but we’re working to clear things up as we go, after all it’s an experiment. Ed. Note — If you’ve already read our intro post, please re-read it as it’s been updated with information about pitching stories for consideration as Developing Stories. Thanks!

Our first ever Developing Story came from current89 titled, “House Dems set for health care vote: AARP to endorse bill.”

This morning, we have our first scoop. WakeUpPeople posted a story titled, “Bachmann calls on protestors to use scare tactics against Congress.” This was considered a scoop because it’s a new development in the health care reform bill story, so current89’s story has been removed from featuring on the Current.com homepage, removed from the Current Developing Stories group, and placed in the Developing Stories Archives. Also note, both of these stories have been connected via links in their comments.

It will be interesting to see how this develops going forward. Kudos to both current89 and WakeUpPeople for getting Developing Stories off and running!

Got a scoop? Want to suggest a story for development? Here’s how!

If you want to get your story on our radar for consideration, please tag it with “Current Developing Stories” when you submit to Current.com. PLEASE NOTE: Tagging is not the same as adding to a group. The “Current Developing Stories” is a CLOSED group managed by the editors, so you will not be able to add stories there. Tagging, however, will allow you to be seen by our editors we will monitor that tag for potential stories to develop.

A pretty nice list for today’s top 5 on current, so curl up to your lunch (or mid-afternoon snack if you’re on the East Coast), and give these stories a look. I’ve even included a bonus for those of you who make it all the way to #5.

1. The “Climate Illiterate” US could hurt Copenhagen deal, says expert

   Even with growing awareness around climate change, the US trails in awareness on a global scale. It looks like this may end up costing us:

   “Nobody should dream of the possibility that numbers and targets for countries will be sealed in Copenhagen,” said Schellnhuber, one of the world’s foremost climate scientists. “If the US doesn’t move then nothing will happen.”

   He added: “The US in a sense is climate illiterate. It is a deeper problem in the US, if you look at global polls about what the public knows about climate change. Even in Brazil and China, you have more people who know the problem, who think that deep cuts in emissions are needed.”

   Read more here.

2. Kenya’s heart stops pumping
   

   High in the hills of Kenya’s Mau forest, some 20,000 families are facing eviction from their farms – accused of contributing to an ecological disaster which has crippled the country.

   The authorities are to start the process of removing them any day now. Farmers will be asked to surrender their title deeds for inspection.

   If their documents are genuine, they have a chance of being resettled or compensated.

   If not, they will simply be told to go.

   “We are afraid. Not only me, but all of us here,” says Kipkorir Ngeno, a teacher and father of six, from a village known as “Sierra Leone”.

   “They call us squatters – a very bad name. But this is my land. It is not illegal.”

   Read more here.

   Also, Vanguard’s Mariana van Zeller has reported from Sierra Leone several times before, covering cursed diamonds, the traditions of female circumcision, and recovering war-wounded amputees.

3. Drunk soldiers killing demonstrators in Guinea

   Andrew Fitzgerald, online producer for Current News, posted on the blog about this disturbing story from Guinea about pro-democracy demonstrators who were killed in the streets by soldiers. He’s busy gathering more information on this story as it develops, and plans to have raw video footage up this afternoon.If you have anything to contribute, or just want to comment, please head over here.

4. 22 Misspelled Political Signs

   Political signs seem to be frequently accompanied by misspellings and grammar mistakes. My theory is that people get so excited about expressing themselves that they overlook the simple gaffes made in their haste. Or, perhaps our illiteracy extends beyond mere climate change awareness.Read more here.

5. Secret Service investigating Facebook poll on “Killing Obama”

   Facebook was the center of a stir yesterday when a user posted a poll asking other Facebook users, “Should Obama be killed?” The shocker is that 5% of the respondents actually said “yes” in response, before Facebook disabled the application used to create the poll. Now we are learning that the U.S. Secret Service is launching an investigation into the matter, in partnership with Facebook.Read more here.

   BONUS ROUND

6. First Listen: Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack

   Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the altered-for-the-trailer version of Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” is going to be included on the soundtrack. Thanks for pointing this out, richjm.

It’s Monday, and while the wheels are slowly starting to pick up steam, here are the top 5 stories being discussed on Current.com:

1. California dreaming of full marijuana legalization
   

   Medical marijuana has become big business in California and the drug is approved for a range of conditions and for “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief”. In these straitened financial times, booming sales and healthy tax revenues mean that full legalisation of cannabis may be just around the corner.Across California there are an estimated 2,100 dispensaries, co-operatives, wellness clinics and taxi delivery services in the sector known as “cannabusiness”. That is more than all the Starbucks, McDonald’s and 7-Eleven outlets in the state put together.

2. Honeybees, Bumble Bees, and now Ladybugs– they’re all going on strike

   A citizens-science group is calling for children, adults, families, and educators to help native ladybugs.

   During the past two decades as invasive look-alike ladybugs expanded their territories and pollution and habitat loss have crowded them out, species of Native ladybugs began vanishing and the invasive species began increasing. These include the multicolored Asian ladybug, checkerboard ladybug and the seven-spotted ladybug.

   “This has happened very quickly and we don’t know how this shift happened, what impact it will have, and how we can prevent more native species from becoming so rare,” said John E. Losey, Cornell University entomologist.

3. McDonalds Density: Never more that 145 miles away

   Data can be truly eye-opening. Take a look at this visualization of McDonald’s locations across the United States, and take comfort (?) in knowing that the golden arches are always less than 145 miles away from wherever you are.

   

   This map was created by Stephen Von Worley, who used location data on the 13,000 plus MickeyD’s locations along with some coding-fu to generate the above map. What we see is as expected, a network of the franchises largely following the freeway and highway system and increasing in density in proportion to the population density.

4. Community organizing for comprehensive immigration reform

   This video by allanfrieux is rather timely.

   The Center for Community Change and the Reform Immigration FOR America
   Campaign organized state-wide youth trainings in Colorado and Florida. This video takes an inside look at what happens at these trainings, it talks about what Comprehensive Immigration Reform is, and shows how the youth is organizing their communities to fight for C.I.R.

   
   Community organizing for comprehensive immigration reform

5. Sneak Attack at Oakland Whole Foods

   Personally, I’m a big fan of creative demonstrations. This sneak attack at an Oakland Whole Foods falls right into that category — complete with choreographed dancing and a backing band.

   In case you’re not keeping up like some of us are, Whole Foods’ CEO, John Mackey, recently penned an op-ed in the WSJ in which he opined that, because he is able to provide private health insurance benefits for his (mostly young and w/o pre-existing conditions, like arthritis or CAD or osteoporosis) workforce, he is opposed to health-care reform that would make health-care a “right” in America.

   He even (surprisingly) went so far as to call it “ObamaCare,” right in line with the nut-jobs who don’t want our government to mess with their MediCare.

   
   Sneak Attack at Oakland Whole Foods