I liken CNN to rubbernecking an accident on the highway: I shouldn’t look, but I…just…can’t…help…it.

So when CNN started selling T-shirts with headlines on them two months ago, I waited excitedly for the opportunity to purchase some horrible headline emblazoned on a shirt branded with CNN’s logo. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

CNN reserves its shirts for only the most quirky, offbeat headlines that find their way onto the site.

So while CNN’s headline shirts have been around for a while now (longer than I expected actually), it’s only recently that I found that they serve an important purpose. As CNN’s most outrageous and gimmicky headlines are the ones “shirt-worthy”, the number of shirts featured on the CNN home page is actually a pretty keen barometer of CNN’s credibility as a news source.

So without further ado I propose the CNN T-shirt Index, together we can document CNN’s precipitous slide toward tabloid journalism. Hold on to your Blitzers!

Current CNN T-shirt Index: 3

[Olympic sponsors] can take solace in the fact that although activists of all stripes will work to associate the Games with a variety of issues, it appears that they have, at least in the minds of the majority, not yet successfully done so.

It is arguable whether the statement was true at the time that I wrote it. It’s possible that given Spielberg’s resignation and the Uyghur “terrorist plots” among others, that some of China’s most sensitive issues have already been irreversibly tied to the Beijing Olympics. I also stated that the landscape could change; and change it did. A mere week later, we are standing on an entirely new precipice and I can say unequivocally: the statement is wrong.

In the foreign media coverage of the recent riots in Tibet, the subject of the Olympics and the effect of these events on the Games featured prominently in most stories. However, tying the riots to the Olympic Games was not only prevalent in foreign coverage but also in coverage by the Chinese media (a.k.a. the Chinese government). In fact, the Chinese government’s desire to link the events in Tibet to the Olympics has left me scratching my head.

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This time around, however, corporations would be wise to consider the possible downsides of being associated with the Olympics. While the event has been dubbed the “Green Olympics” by the Chinese government, activists have decided to go with another G-word: genocide. China’s support of the Sudanese government has dominated recent headlines but is just one of the many potential landmines sponsors could find themselves stepping on. Other issues range from the environment to Tibet to the country’s human rights record and beyond.

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Many interpret evolution as the continual “improvement” of a species over time, but this is an over-simplification. Evolution makes no assumptions on what is “good” or what is an “improvement”. It does not favour the fastest or the strongest but rather whatever characteristics ensure survival and spur reproduction.

This week’s links show three observations that have clued us into how we humans play a role in the evolution of other species. Interestingly, the changes in these cases are not of the sort one might expect to be favoured by evolution; it is also certain, that if it were not for our influence, these species would evolve rather differently.

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In the two videos below, Captain Disillusion blasts the London Evening Standard and CNN (the pillar of respectable journalism that it is); if you enjoy these videos, make sure you go on to watch his other videos.

A recent Xinhua article on the subject of China’s refusal to implement a films rating system includes some very entertaining remarks by a government official. Imagethief took the opportunity to chime in with the appropriate amount of snark the comments deserve; his post, Movie ratings will put China on the express train to pornoville: Official, is very entertaining and definitely worth reading if you haven’t already. From Xinhua:

China won’t adopt a film rating system for the moment, the publications watchdog said.

Liu Binjie, General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) director, told reporters here on Tuesday that the country will not take the measure until “the market has been completely standardized”, the New Express report.

There were two major concerns for the decision, he said. First, film rating was still a topic “too sensitive” for the general public. Secondly, China had yet to build a mature and orderly film market.

“Under the current circumstances, a film rating system equals legalizing the mass production of pornographic publications,” Liu said.

While the official’s reasons for opposing a film rating system are nonsensical, it appears that there is still legitimate motivation (from the government’s point of view) for rejecting such a system.

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Do childhood vaccinations cause or contribute to autism? That’s the question at the center of a case involving an Atlanta girl. The answer may come today. Meet the 9-year-old and her family who are challenging medical and government experts. A Larry King Exclusive!

I was going to sit this one out, thinking that any rational adult would be able to make up their mind. I mean, it is wild speculation versus peer-reviewed science; which would you trust your child’s life to? But at the time of this writing, the CNN.com Live Poll showed that 80% of roughly 9,700 people stated they believed vaccinations cause or contribute to autism*. Below the poll was the necessary disclaimer “This is not a scientific poll”. Damn straight it isn’t.

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I know that I really missed the boat on this one, but I thought it was worth mentioning even if I am a few months behind. A new company specialising in kites for ships has started making waves in the shipping industry. From Reuters:

…two fast-growing German companies have worked together developing a high-tech kite system to pull enormous ships across the oceans — and save enormous amounts of money.

The 132 meter (433 ft) long MV “Beluga SkySails” will make its maiden voyage in January across the Atlantic to Venezuela, up to Boston and back to Europe. It will be pulled by a giant computer-guided 500,000-euro ($725,000) kite tethered to a 15-metre high mast.

Reading this, I can’t help but believe that this is exactly where the future of environmentalism needs to go.

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