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What is your favorite old news article?
Did you know that there were news since before Tildes was created? What is something you read from way back then that you're still fond of? I know there are a lot of people here on the older side so maybe this could be a chance to show us youngsters what life was like "back in the days".
What prompted me to make this thread is this old New York Times article Metaphors for Internet May Affect Its Use (1996). It's interesting to realize people back then also struggle with metaphors when it comes to new tech, not unlike we're with AI now.
I found it by doing a narrow Google search for "internet" to within nytimes.com and before 2000. If you don't have anything from the top of your mind, I recommend trying this with your favorite news outlets and on your chosen topics. There might be surprises ;)
Man living in fear of South West super-badger the size of a large pig
I've had the original link bookmarked for years but sadly it leads to nothing - luckily the Wayback Machine has it.
The phrase "suddenly there was a badger" lives rent-free in my head. Also describing the teeth being "as long as a lemonade bottle is wide" is a bafflingly specific comparison.
lol are you also a big fan of this article?
A turkey settled near her Minnesota home. Now she carries weapons. - By Kyle Melnick, January 26, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST -
"Gross said she has applied every precaution from wildlife experts. She doesn’t keep any food outside of her home, and doesn’t play loud music out of fear it’d attract the turkey. She hasn’t grilled outside in nearly two years. She bought a horn to scare the turkey, but it just provoked the bird. Gross sprayed water on it, but that only scared the turkey for two weeks. [...] “He’s out there pecking at my tires,” Gross said."
re: badgers:
This is a ridiculous suggestion. Badgers are amazing climbers, so unless this fence is also made of lubricated glass, it'll do absolutely nothing.
I am now!
One more and I will stop crowing fowl news. That's un oeuf for one day.
A cassowary, a rare emu-like bird, attacks and kills Florida man, officials say
I thought the turkey started carrying weapons. Slightly disappointed. But still a great article!
Fatal Distraction - Firgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car is a Horrifying Mistake - Is it a Crime?
This news article is very grim and deals with a truly horrible subject matter but it's one of the best news articles I've ever read. Really stuck with me when I first came across it years ago but now that I'm the father of a one-year old the article is truly terrifying.
A powerful extract from the article below,
"The facts in each case differ a little, but always there is the terrible moment when the parent realizes what he or she has done, often through a phone call from a spouse or caregiver. This is followed by a frantic sprint to the car. What awaits there is the worst thing in the world."
Really bone-chilling stuff!
I was going to post Fatal Distraction as well! Great pick (yay me) -- Many years ago this wasn't as well known, and as someone who has ADHD who was going to become a parent, it terrified me to no ends. I'm happy (...) to report that on the other site when there was an unfortunate tragedy in the news, most of the people in the comments must have read this article or its derivitives, and were mournful, sympathetic and respectful of the parent that this tragedy happened to. A very very very far cry from just a dozen years ago.
My nomination:
The Really Big One: An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when. - by By Kathryn Schulz,
July 13, 2015, The New Yorker
Thanks for the extensive references, looks like I got some catching up to do.
Edit: It's a bummer the original comment is deleted, here's the list of suggested links in case anyone else wants to read them. Mods please let me know if it's not ok to repost and I'll delete it.
Foot Heads Arms Body