Plagiarism at the News & Record

With no byline or attribution, a post appears on the News & Record's Pet Shop blog that has been copied almost entirely from other sources. Here is the post as it appears on the News & Record's website, the bold portions, which is to say, all but one sentence, are identical to this from June 16, 2011 (which itself appears to have heavily copied from other sources).

With the summer months upon us, pet travel is at it's height and it's time for a reminder about the dangers of leaving your pet in a parked car. Whether you're parking in the shade, just running into the store, or leaving the windows cracked, it is still not OK to leave your pet in a parked car.

The temperature inside a car can skyrocket after just a few minutes. Parking in the shade or leaving the windows cracked does very little to alleviate this pressure cooker.

On a warm, sunny day try turning your car off, cracking your windows and sitting there. It will only be a few short minutes before it becomes unbearable.

On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows cracked can reach 102 degrees within only 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. At 110 degrees, pets are in danger of heatstroke. On hot and humid days, the temperature in a car parked in direct sunlight can rise more than 30 degrees per minute, and quickly become lethal.

Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a study to measure the temperature rise inside a parked car on sunny days with highs ranging from 72 to 96 degrees. Their results showed that a car's interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour. Eighty percent of the temperature rise occurred within the first half-hour. Even on a relatively cool day, the temperature inside a parked car can quickly spike to life-threatening levels if the sun is out.

Further, the researchers noted that much like the sun warms a greenhouse in winter; it also warms a parked car on cool days. In both cases, the sun heats up a mass of air trapped under glass. Precautions such as cracking a window or running the air conditioner prior to parking the car were found to be inadequate.

Dogs are designed to conserve heat. Their sweat glands, which exist on their nose and the pads of their feet, are inadequate for cooling during hot days. Panting and drinking water helps cool them, but if they only have hot air to breathe, dogs can suffer brain and organ damage after just 15 minutes. Short-nosed breeds, young pets, seniors or pets with weight, respiratory, cardiovascular or other health problems are especially susceptible to heat-related stress.

Signs of heat stress include: heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid pulse, unsteadiness, a staggering gait, vomiting or a deep red or purple tongue. If a pet becomes overheated, immediately lowering their body temperature is a must.

If this should happen, follow these steps:

* Move the pet into the shade and apply cool (not cold) water all over their body to gradually lower their temperature.

* Apply ice packs or cool towels to the pet's head, neck and chest only.

* Allow the pet to drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes.

* Then take the pet to the nearest vet.

Rush is wrong (and Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein too)

I just heard Rush Limbaugh say of the domestic spying revealed to be taking place on all americans (yes, it's lower case now):

"It matters because of who is collecting all this data. It would be one thing if it was Colonel Sanders, but it's not, it's Barack Obama and we know what he's all about."

No Rush, that is wrong and it is the very kind of shallow thinking that got us here.

What matters are the infringements on privacy and the lack of restraint on government NO MATTER WHO is doing it. Those who thought it was okay when Geoetrge W. Bush was in the White House are the very people who laid the foundations upon which the Obama administration is now carrying on. Those who make excuses now for what was objectionable under George W. Bush because they "trust" Barack Obama are no better. Both groups are civic deadbeats. Small, dangerous, petty idiots.

Right is right and wrong is wrong and this country will be sucked into totalitarianism if we continue to object only when we perceive it to be the "others" dragging us down that dark road.

Common cause

Now, remind me again: Why was the assault on the Fourth Amendment begun under George Bush and continued with the support of Republicans and Democrats alike necessary?

"It's just for the bad guys."

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about."

Do I remember that correctly?



(Thanks to Fred for the vid.)

The greater piedmont triad north central regional area, NC

GREENSBORO, NC -- I have long been of the opinion that the concept of "regionalism" is a detriment to the people of the largest city of the "piedmont triad." It works against the efforts and accomplishments of the people of Greensboro to have us blended away into the amalgam of the "region." I've never been able to articulate it, however, with the skill and clout of Guilford County's former economic development head Rob Bencini, who adds some perspective in When Regionalism Does a City Wrong.

An excerpt:

Perhaps that’s the source of all this “piedmont triad” marketing effort at the expense of your own brand.  You were trying to prove you weren’t the bully any more.  Well, it’s really not working.  By year 2000 the McKinsey study commissioned by Greensboro’s foundations found Greensboro to be falling behind and the city was labeled “pleasantly mediocre”.  Now, it’s even worse.

The acceptance of "The Triad" as a place, with meaning only to those insulated in its nebulous boundaries, has become so engrained that, at this point, I'd be happy with small steps, like removing "Triad" from among the real places plotted on WGHP's weather maps. Every little burgh gets a point on the map but the area's largest city is invisible.

No, thank YOU News & Record

GREENSBORO, NC -- News & Record reporter Joe Gamm tweets:

"Thank you, #Greensboro. http://t.co/HKXGNRYrmU"

The link is to a News & Record story about an assault. Gamm is apparently thankful for the humor of someone being knocked unconscious with a blow to the head. 

No? 

Not funny? 

Hmmm, how about if the assailant removes the victim's pants? There you go, now that's funny! Hysterical! — and at odds with what the Greensboro Police reported.

From the GDP press release:

"Ms. Hamidoiu then removed Mr. Foust’s pants and wallet from his bedroom and ran outside where she removed  some of his money from the wallet then threw the wallet and pants on the ground and fled on food (sic) in an unknown direction."

Here is how the News & Record tweaks the story for maximum comedy:

"The woman then took Foust's pants off, took his wallet from his bedroom and ran outside."

Gamm has previously demonstrated his reporting prowess by besmirching through innuendo the reputation of a murder victim, fabricating a quotation from a 911 call that lead readers to believe police had threatened a woman by firing shots at her and by regurgitating unchecked the inaccurate assertions of the police. Now comedy! He's a man of many talents.