The Lantern Blog

After close examination by doctors, a case of swine flu has been found in Ohio’s Lorain County.

Swine flu is a variant of influenza that is caused by exposure to infected pigs.  The virus can mutate into a transmittable disease between humans.

The current strain of Swine Flu that has been found recently around the country has been linked to Mexico.  The nine-year-old boy who came down with the Swine Flu had been traveling in Mexico just a few days before he experienced symptoms.

Symptoms of the Swine Flu are very similar to that of seasonal influenza.  Flu shots taken for the seasonal flu are generally considered unlikely to provide protection against this fairly new strain.

What can you do if you come down with the Swine Flu?  Simply put—stay at home!  It is currently unknown how easily this strain will be passed from human to human, but scientists have not ruled out the possibility that it could cause widespread issues.  Individuals recovering from the Swine Flu are generally considered to be contagious up to seven days after they feel better.

In terms of prevention, frequent hand washing is highly recommended to put airborne germs at bay.

Are you taking any precautions with the news of Swine Flu reported in Ohio?

The BBC is reporting that the founders of the now infamous website the Pirate Bay (which we will not link here)  have been sentenced to jail.

The founders for a long time had skirted charges based on a loophole in Sweedish law which allowed bit torrent trackers to operate legally in their country.  Alexa rates the Pirate Bay 105th most popular of all the websites in the world.

They were sentenced to one year of jail time plus a fine of $4.5 million.  The founders say they don’t have it to pay and would rather burn everything they own than pay it.

“Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde were found guilty in the case, along with Carl Lundström,” wrote Wired.com

Engadget, the mega tech blog points out that an appeal is inevitable and that nothing in the courts order will actually shut down the website.

Even if it did if the history of piracy has taught us anything shutting down one venue has been a game of whack a mole.   As soon as one ‘mole’ is whacked another pops up to take its place.

From the Lantern Newsroom:

A near East Side man was taken to Grant Medical Center in stable condition after being shot by Columbus Police early Saturday morning.

Police were called to the back of a Franklin Avenue residence at approximately 5:03 a.m. after a witness saw a man with a gun. Officers received a description of the suspect, who was later identified as Bernard L. Wright.

Officers found Wright in front of 1860 Oak St., on the near East Side close to East Broad Street. When police tried to take him into custody, Wright began to fight with the officers. During the fight, Wright pulled out a gun. Officers disengaged from fighting, drew their weapons and fired at Wright, striking him in the torso. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

Wright was transported to Grant Medical Center in stable condition. One officer was treated and released for minor injuries to her hand as a result of the fight. Wright has been charged with assault on a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon, using a weapon while intoxicated and aggravated menacing.

This was the second police involved shooting in the last week. Officers from the Columbus Division of Police shot 29-year-old James L. Harris Tuesday night after he fled the scene of a 12th Avenue home invasion, stole a car at the Ohio State Fairgrounds and led officers on a car chase through the Northeast Side. After Harris crashed the car near Oakland Park Avenue and Westerville Road, he made a gesture as if he was reaching for a weapon. Police shot Harris twice, and he died from the injuries Wednesday night. The home invasion is still under investigation.

ESPN is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys have decided to cut their star wide receiver, Terrell Owens.

After three years in Dallas—filled with controversy after controversy—the Cowboys decided that the wideout just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Late last season, team owner Jerry Jones said, “The more they’re talking about the Cowboys, the more we like it,” in response to Owens’ antics. 

I suppose this will get tongues waggling about “America’s Team” too.

Owen’s release comes after just one year on his four-year extension.  Last season, Owens exceeeded 1,000 yards receiving, and caught 10 TDs.

This comes just hours after several other high profile free agents were retained by their teams.  The Ravens re-signed MLB Ray Lewis.  The Arizona Cardinals re-signed QB Kurt Warner.

In Ohio football news, the Cincinnati Bengals signed WR Laveranues Coles to replace Houshmandzadeh.

Imagine yourself sitting on top of this mountain of cash. Imagine the mountain is (before taxes) $212 million. The recipient will probably have a wallet some $137 million thicker.

Talk about a good day! I can’t even imagine what to do with that kind of cheddar.

That rather—cough, cough—tough decision is now on the shoulders of one lucky New Jersey resident. The winning ticket in Tuesday’s drawing was sold in Ocean County, New Jersey.

After quite a drought, both the Powerball and the Mega Millions payed out in the last few days. The Powerball had two winning tickets last week—the owners of which will share the $174 million bucket-o-fun.

What would I do if I had won? First of all, tune out of school. I’d do enough to get me to graduation in 101 days. I haven’t put all this time in to just pull out of the race on the final straight away.

Then, of course, I’d pay for all that fun and newly irrelevant education, buy a house, take care of the family, and buy a boatload of stocks while they’re super cheap! I really can’t imagine what I for sure would do, but this article from MSN Money is a clear outline of what I wouldn’t do.

So, Lambo’s, Carribean islands, a 10-year round-the-world cruise…what would you do? Leave comments, and let’s see what sort of creative and crazy ideas are out there.

According to several sources, music star Rihanna may have been pregnant before the Chris Brown incident took place.

Credit: 20 minutos (Wikimedia Commons)

Rihanna reportedly knew that she was potentially pregnant, but kept it completely secret from Brown, possibly knowing that his reaction would not be positive.

According to Star Magazine, Rihanna withheld this information before the assault took place.  Just a few days before the assault, Rihanna made an appointment and visited an ob-gyn.

In your opinion, what are the implications if Rihanna was actually pregnant when the assault took place?  This is a fairly shocking development and twist—if in fact Rihanna is pregnant with Chris Brown’s child, what kind of effect would it have on either of their careers?

Chris Brown’s court date is scheduled for the beginning of March.  According to the New York Daily News, Brown has enrolled in an anger-management class.

Sport Illustrated’s all-too-famous Swimsuit Issue offers a few photos of Danica Patrick. Danica, an accomplished IRL driver, is perhaps better known for her presence in the GoDaddy.com television commercials.

Credit: twohlford (Wikimedia Commons)

Danica Patrick has a tattoo of an American flag on her lower back, and apparently SI wasn’t too comfortable printing it in her photo shots.  According to multiple sources, SI airbrushed the tattoo out of her pictures.  Patrick is aware of this, and she is comfortable with the final photos.

Just last year, Danica Patrick was photographed in a swimsuit with the tattoo still intact.  Personally, I’m not sure if there is a background driving force behind SI’s actions, but it seems odd that they would print her tattoo one year and take it out the next.

What are your thoughts?  Do you think that Patrick’s tattoo really has any major impact on Danica, the magazine issue, or the society as a whole?

According to the mgoblog, Michigan Wolverines quarterback Steven Threet will transfer out of the university.

Credit: Alan Warren (The Ann Arbor News)

Michigan has recruited two standout passers in Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson.  Presumably, if Threet does indeed follow through on his transfer, Forcier and Robinson would duke it out for the Michigan starting quarterback position.

Threet looked lost at times last season as the Michigan quarterback, and also struggled with injuries.  It did not seem that he was a very good fit in the Michigan spread offense under new head coach Rich Rodriguez.

The two returning quarterbacks on Michigan’s roster are Nick Sheridan and David Cone.  Sheridan started four games for the Wolverines last season.

It is unknown at this time what school Threet plans on transferring to.

49 people died today near Buffalo, New York, when a commuter plane crashed without any warning.  Witnesses say the plane came in low and loud.

ABC News, is reporting that flight 3407 crashed so quickly that the pilot did not even have time to call for mayday.

The National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the black box from the airplane, which presumably will answer some questions about what happened.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua provides background on the commuter planes.  They can hold up to 78 passengers, and are products from Canada’s Bombadier Aerospace.  What’s worse—in 2007, the manufacturer asked that the planes not be flown because of issues with the landing gear.

This comes right on the heels of the flight 1545 incident, and will surely cause more consternation about the already unpleasant process of flying anywhere.

According to Access Hollywood, the popular singer Chris Brown turned himself in to LAPD authorities late on Sunday night.  He had been under close scrutiny and investigation from the authorities for an alleged domestic violence felony battery.

Credit: Brandon Evans (Wikimedia Commons)

It is believed that Brown may have assaulted Rihanna, his girlfriend.  They both did not show to the Grammy Awards show tonight.  According to an interview completed by Access, Rihanna is OK.   

Chris Brown was nominated for two awards—Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (”No Air”, with Jordin Sparks), and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (”Take You Down”).

Rihanna was nominated for three awards, and was also slated to perform on the show.  Among the awards she was nominated for were Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (”If I Never See Your Face Again”, with Maroon 5), Best Dance Recording (”Disturbia”), and Best Long Form Music Video (Good Girl Gone Bad Live).

Pop on the Pop thinks that this relationship is finally over, and even calls Chris “goofy looking.”

Black Political Thought thinks that Chris Brown will join a “long list of women beaters who end up as social pariahs.“