Twitter: 12 years a fiscal stimulus
In a new book, the historian Ed Baptist suggests slavery kick-started America’s economy. But a reviewer at The Economist thought the author was unfair to slave owners. Twitter was quickly on the case. Under the #economistbookreview tagline, tweeters suggested how the magazine might review other works: “What people fail to appreciate is the shot in the arm Godzilla’s rampages gave to the Tokyo construction industry“ and “There’s no recognition at all of Sauron’s impressive record creating jobs for orcs and growing the Mordor economy.”
YouTube: Baaaaaad idea
New Zealander Budd Hanz was flying a camera drone and swooped low to video his grazing ram, Rambro. This broke the first rule of ram care: never disturb them at lunch. The animal butted the drone into a bush, and then chased Hanz when he came to retrieve it. “I had my hands full, so he got me pretty good,” he said.
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Viral Nova: A cut above
If your heart has cockles, prepare them for warming. When John McCormick, 65, had a heart attack while mowing his lawn, a fire crew was quickly on the scene to revive him and take him to hospital. Then the team, from Baystown, Texas, went back to his house to finish cutting the lawn. They left Mrs McCormick a note saying: “We felt bad that your husband didn’t get to finish the yard, so we did.” McCormick did not survive, but discover how this small act of kindness brought comfort to his family.
Buzzfeed: Oh poo!
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A new father trying to capture the joy of fatherhood by taking photographs of his baby got a surprise — when it pooed on his arm. The father said he felt the baby’s tummy muscles tense but “before I could do anything, Ted exploded from his bum”.