TopFinds: Plane Lands in River, Nortel Lands in Hot Water (2024)

A plane lands suddenly in the Hudson River. Joe the Plumber becomes a war correspondent. And Mickey Rourke wins a Golden Globe. These are the top stories making news right now.

Once again, DigitalJournal.com’s Gaza reporter informed readers about the unfiltered news occurring during the invasion. Sameh Habeeb was somehow able to file a story as rocket crashed around his home, describing the destruction and killings he is witnessing. He’s an extraordinary journalist who has been brave enough to risk his life in order to write about his hometown. No matter what faction you side with, it’s hard to deny that Sameh’s contributions have been an incredible benefit to the Citizen Journalism community.

Many other stories are popular right now, including:

• US Airways Pilot Makes Textbook Emergency Landing on Hudson River: Shocking news out of New York, where an airplane made an emergency landing in the Hudson River after encountering a bird in its flight path. Miraculously, all the passengers survived and no one was critically injured. Many citizen journalists caught video and photos of the event before the mainstream press showed up, demonstrating how everyday people can capture important details of breaking news and broadcast them to the public.

• As Israel Promises Increased Action, We Promise Increased Outrage: The Middle East conflict rages on and so do the opinionated articles by incensed Digital Journalists. For instance, G. Robert M. Miller wrote about how public opinion is siding with the Palestinians as Israel continues to pound the Gaza Strip. Allon Sacks, an Israeli citizen, said in his article that “history shows us that the current offensive won’t accomplish much of anything that promotes peace.” He explained that Israel is focused on crippling Hamas, which is incredibly difficult in a region where violence breeds only more violence.

• Israeli Tourists Flock to Border to Watch Gaza Killings: A bizarre but not so shocking story came from the Middle East — tourists are crowding the Gaza border to watch the spectacle that is war. “The Gaza war has become the newest spectator sport in Parash Hill, Israel,” we learned. And if you want some intense debate about the Israel-Gaza conflict, peruse the incredibly lengthy comment section.

• ‘Joe the Plumber’ from Israel: Journalists should be ‘abolished’: In the Department of Why Won’t He Go Away?, Joe the Plumber is back in the spotlight, this time acting as a war correspondent for an alt media outlet. He’s in Israel checking out the weapon arsenal and spouting off some inane garbage such as, “I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war.” How many months before Joe becomes a reality show contestant alongside Sean Avery and the puffy-haired guy from Kid ‘n’ Play?

• Teen pregnancy results are in, the Southern U.S. wins again: Mississippi, come on down, you’re the new winner of teen pregnancy rates! Yes, the Southern state won the auspicious honour of having teen pregnancy rates 60 per cent higher than the national average. John Rickman offered a comment that could explain the soaring percentage: “There isn’t all that much sex education in the South and teens do not have ready access to condoms.” Do you agree or disagree? Have your say in the comments section.

• Sarah Palin Supports Caroline Kennedy for New York Senate: Sarah Palin is throwing her political weight behind Caroline Kennedy, a Senate hopeful. Carol Forsloff reported that she considered “Ms. Kennedy qualified and experienced, and she could serve New York well.” Do you think this is a ploy of some sort or just a politician picking a favourite?

• Forensic Experts Face Complex Task on Casey Anthony Defense: The Caylee Anthony case continues to be hot news, and this time a journalist described the complicated forensic investigation necessary to determine what exactly happened to the child. A forensics expert himself, John Lloyd Sharf said, “The Defense Team is far more well established in forensics and law than the prosecutors on this type of case. The case is so weak, it looks like a winner, with work.”

• Father-Daughter Incest Takes Place While Mom Sells p*rn: Here’s an ugly story that is difficult to read: A father and his 25-year-old daughter are being accused of committing incest, while the mother is being charged with selling child p*rnography. This twisted story is still ongoing, because investigators may lay more charges.

• Student auctions off her virginity, bidding reaches $3.7 million: Nothing like raising money for tuition by selling some sex. A 22-year-old American is selling her virginity for the kind of money only pro athletes can make in a year. Supposedly, an Aussie businessman is the winning bidder but no word yet on whether the girl will follow up this stunt by selling a vital organ.

• Nortel About To Make A Historic Decision. Bankruptcy?: The recession continues to wipe out companies, including Canada’s high-tech hero Nortel. James Raider said Nortel may file for bankruptcy, but “this could be a ploy to shake the government bailout train loose of some taxpayer cash. At minimum, Nortel is putting itself into ‘play.'” But will it continue to play in the high-tech field or just crash and burn?

• White House Puppy Choice Down to Labradoodle or Portuguese Dog: It might be fluffy news — literally — but pooch watchers want to know which dog the Obama family will bring into the White House. The race is down to a Labradoodle (um, OK) or a Portuguese dog. Also of interest, Leo Reyes wrote, “The President-elect prefers to adopt a dog from an animal rescue shelter rather than acquiring one from known dog breeders that mostly sells or promotes pure breeds.”

• 13-year-old girl sends 14,528 text messages in one month: It looks like a typo, but this is no error: a girl sent more than 14,000 texts in a month, evidently enamoured by the idea of not speaking to her friends at all and merely communicating with them via shorthand. But Chris V. Thangam wasn’t done with just reporting on this rare text fiend: he followed up with another eye-popper of a story about a girl who sent and received more than 35,000 text messages a month. And she did that twice! M Dee wondered, “What I want to know is when did this kid find time to sleep?”

• Golden Globe’s are Man’s Best Friend, Rourke Thanks His Dogs: The Hollywood award season began with a bang, as sleeper hit The Wrestler took home the much-lauded Best Actor Award, given to Mickey Rourke. In a surprising statement on the podium, Rourke thanked his pet dogs for meaning the world to him. You could almost hear the collective “awwwww” echoing across the world. For a tough guy playing a pro wrestler, Rourke sure does have a soft spot.

TopFinds Awards

The honourees of this week’s TopFinds Awards attracted impressive attention and widest readership. Digital Journal thanks the following Citizen Journalists with Awards for their passion for covering the top issues of the day: Chris V. Thangham, G. Robert M. Miller, Carolyn E. Price, Leo Reyes, James Raider, Mike Krachan, Carol Forsloff, Nikki Weingartner, Michael Squires, and Sameh A. Habeeb.

The Top Blog Post of the Week goes to Marian Peters for her cute story about her husband’s prophetic dream. We won’t give away anything here so you’ll have to check out this interesting blog post to find out why Marian’s hubby could be a psychic by night.

The Top Comment of the Week is awarded to Jesse Reynolds, who wrote a spirited comment in a sports article regarding Toronto Maple Leafs player Mikhail Grabovski. He demonstrated his keen hockey knowledge while also dropping some historical footnotes on us, bringing up old-school Leafs forwards such as Sergei Berezin. He then evaluated the Leafs’ high hopes, highlighting the players he believed could become the real sparks for the storied franchise. It’s always heartening to see intelligent and thoughtful commentary on sports articles, and we hope to see your name often, Jesse.