top ten lists

CNN top 10 list of most viewed stories from today. There are few which were missing which might have been important, but it is a convenience to me to see which are the top 10.

1)http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/22/dubai.building.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This is a fun story and is an impressive feat, if the tallest building record wasn't toppled every couple of years now days. So it's really not that important yet since the building isn't done yet anyway.

2)http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/21/tammy.faye/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Who? Why is this important at all? A former corrupt televangelist's ex-wife dies. Big deal.

3)http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/22/pakistan-strikes/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

I guess that's important. The headline though was odd. It read, US strikes not wanted. Really? A country doesn't want us to attack? What a shock.

4)http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/22/poland.france.reut/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Stories about the following are irrelevant fluff pieces: Bus/train/airplane crashes, school shootings, building fires. Yes they are terrible tragedies, but they have no real importance unless they are part of a larger story. IE, a series of arsons, defects in airplane construction/maintenance, etc. Otherwise, I don't care.

5)http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/22/trapped.arch.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This is a story? Oh no! I was trapped in a national landmark for hours without power! Woe is me!

6)http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/11/mens.health.myths/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This would be useful if the myths dealt with things that matter. ED, hair loss, laptops effecting sperm counts? Whatever. Give me the mythbusters show and get rid of this segment. At least entertain me when (dis)proving a myth.

7)http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/07/21/mars.rovers.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

NASA really isn't news. It's sort of cool to see stuff in space though. And storms on other planets are pretty impressive. But again, what exactly is the impact on us here?

8)http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/21/texas.flood.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This is basically relevant news and its ongoing. Yay. But somehow talking about the weather just seems so banal.

9)http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/07/21/potter.agrawal/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Let me know when she passes Mao on the best seller list. Jesus would be next in line. I can't say I'm impressed with the quality of work she's doing, but at least kids are reading something. That's a start.

10)http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/22/us.iran.talks/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Hey, look at that, an actual story.. buried at 10. Way to go viewing public!

A few that didn't make the cuts. Israel released 250 or so of Abbas' foot soldiers to help in his war against Hamas for control of Palestinians attacking Israelis. That's an odd twist. And the Turks elected by a wide plurality a populist Islamist/free market government. What a weird combo. Stricter religiousness and free market economics? That will have interesting ramifications on both the Iraq war (because the Turks are fighting the Kurds) and the EU (because the EU has lots of issues with Islamists lately). Somehow or other those two stories were buried. Same with the ongoing Nigerian lawsuit against Pfizer.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/20/mideast/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/22/turkey.elections.reut/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/07/20/nigeria.drugs.ap/index.html