Five stories that have North Texas talking: Lance Armstrong's horrible day, Anderson Cooper interviews Arlington Reddit troll, binders full of debate recaps and more.
Lance Armstrong stepped down from his role as president of the cancer awareness-promoting Livestrong foundation this morning. This comes after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with testimony from 11 teammates saying the cyclist had broken doping rules while winning his seven Tour-de-France titles.
Well, now Nike has pulled its sponsorship of the cyclist. From the company鈥檚 release:
"Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him," Nike said in a statement. "Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner."
on NPR鈥檚 Two-Way blog.
-- Lyndsay Knecht
Anderson Cooper To Do AMA -- Sort Of -- With Fired Arlington Reddit Troll
Reddit has reached mainstream curiosity with its free-form Ask Me Anything chat sessions with the likes of President Obama (and Ira Glass). But the sprawling online community鈥檚 dark side hit home when of the aliased moderator of Reddit forum 鈥淛ailbait鈥� last week: Arlington man Michael Brutsch.
Known as Violentacrez (鈥渧iolent acres鈥�) on the site, Brutsch lost his job for posting and approving photos of scantily clad underage girls and other related offenses. to mention he鈥檒l be interviewed on CNN Thursday; Brutsch will most likely appear on Anderson Cooper 360.
The show airs on weeknights at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. CT.
-- Lyndsay Knecht
Binders Full Of Debate Recaps!
If you missed a minute of last night鈥檚 debate, NPR has you covered as per usual:
- , noting the exhausted voters鈥� downturned questions in the Town Hall format;
- toasting moderator Candy Crowley for disputing claims and facilitating quick research;
- from the auditorium at Hofstra University on Long Island.
And get your
-- Lyndsay Knecht
UT Dallas Alum Helps Rebels In Syria With YouTube Videos
UT Dallas Obaida Hitto grad documented the Syrian war via YouTube video as he weathered the turmoil alongside members of the Free Syrian Army. He wasn鈥檛 there by chance: about how 25-year-old Hitto blew off law school to visit the country where his father was born and help rebels spread information via video posts like this one:
he still has shrapnel in his back from the mortar attack last month that sent him home.
-- Lyndsay Knecht
Big Bird Has a Posse: 鈥楳illion Puppet March鈥�
Thousands of humans have signed up for the 鈥溾��, an unofficial Nov. 3rd event billed as a show-of-support for public broadcasting, children鈥檚 education, and all of puppet-kind.
In the Oct. 3rd Presidential Debate, Republican candidate Mitt Romney briefly mentioned big bird and said he was 鈥溾��. (He鈥檚 not alone; statements from various politicians over the years have touched on.)
Romney鈥檚 statement instantly set, eventually affecting the formation of the 鈥淢illion Puppet March鈥�.
and are inviting participants to show up, puppets in tow.
And if you don鈥檛 think Texans take their puppets seriously, one need only recall the touching funeral for the beloved
The event isn鈥檛 sponsored by PBS, and Oscar the Grouch couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment.
-- Justin Martin
