Good day, bad day: August 31, 2012
Honey Boo Boo scores better ratings than the RNC, while 125 Harvard students are investigated for cheating — and more winners and losers of today's news cycle
GOOD DAY FOR:
Lowbrow entertainment
TLC's reality series Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, a spin-off of Toddlers & Tiaras, scores better ratings than several networks that aired the Republican National Convention. [Opposing Views]
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Marketing, maybe
The University of Chicago uses a "Call Me Maybe" reference to woo potential applicants, writing in a letter: "I know that we just met you — and this is crazy — but here are our numbers" — before launching into a list of the school's numerical accolades. [Newser]
Seeing the light
New bionic eye technology allows an Australian woman who was blind for 30 years to see lights and shapes again. [Tecca]
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BAD DAY FOR:
American tennis fans
Andy Roddick, America's best male tennis player, announces that he is retiring after he finishes competing in the U.S. Open. [BuzzFeed]
The ivory tower
Harvard investigates 125 students for possible cheating after school officials discover strikingly similar answers on a take-home test. [New York]
Haggling
A man calls the police to complain that a prostitute unexpectedly raised the price of her services after the business transaction was complete. The prostitute was arrested, and the man's charges are pending. [Gawker]
For more winners and losers see: Good day, bad day: August 30, 2012
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Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
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‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity