Mark Phillip's Blog

An Incredibly Moving Story

Posted By: Mark Phillips · 5/17/2013 12:01:00 PM

After Paul Monti lost his 30-year-old son Jared in Afghanistan in 2006, he did what he says he's since learned a number of parents of fallen soldiers do: He began driving his son's truck. As Monti explained in a radio interview several years later, "What can I tell you? It's him. It's got his DNA all over it. I love driving it because it reminds me of him, though I don't need the truck to remind me of him. I think about him every hour of every day." It's a statement that Nashville songwriter Connie Harrington found particularly moving—so much so, that within days of catching it on the radio she had written the song "I Drive Your Truck," which, after being recorded by Lee Brice, hit No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart last month.

But, amazingly, Monti and Harrington had yet to connect, reports NPR. Though Harrington wanted ...

Another brush with stupidity!!

Posted By: Mark Phillips · 5/16/2013 12:01:00 PM

Drunk Frat Guy Left at Hospital ... With Post-It Note!

 Frat fail: An Arizona State University student who put back an estimated 20 shots of tequila ended up passed out in the emergency room, but his fraternity brothers were nice enough to stick a Post-It note on him asking for help before leaving. The 19-year-old is fine now, but he might face charges of underage drinking. The student had passed out and started turning blue before his frat brothers dropped him at the hospital, police said. They initially tried taking him to one of their homes because they were afraid of getting into trouble. The student had a BAC of 0.47%—nearly six times the legal driving limit.

His frat, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, drew headlines last year when another of its members drowned in a river after being kicked out of a Tempe bar during a fraternity party. And Bloomberg previously ...

Plane Forced Down By Bad Singing

Posted By: Mark Phillips · 5/15/2013 12:01:00 PM

A Los Angeles to New York City flight was forced to make an emergency stop in Kansas City thanks to a different kind of "atmospheric disturbance"—an unruly passenger who refused to stop singing Whitney Houston songs. The woman, who belted out "I Will Always Love You" even as she was hauled off the plane by an air marshal, was interviewed but not charged, ABC reports. She was left to make her own way to New York after American Airlines refused to allow her back on the flight.

Samsung: 5G Downloads Movies in 1 Second

Posted By: Mark Phillips · 5/14/2013 12:01:00 PM

Samsung has wireless technology in the works that will let users download an entire movie in a second, it says. In tests, the South Korean company's 5G service worked over a distance of more than a mile, AFP reports via Business Insider. Data traveled at more than a gigabyte per second, the firm says. It's "up to several hundred times faster" than current 4G systems. But don't get too excited yet: The service won't go commercial until at least 2020. When it does, though, we can expect "3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition content, and remote medical services," the company says.

New Delhi Subway Riders Must Pass Breathalyzer Test

Posted By: Mark Phillips · 5/13/2013 12:01:00 PM

The New Delhi subway is so tired of drunken passengers starting fights at night that it's setting up breathalyzers at all its stations, reports the Hindustan Times. Those who blow over the limit can't board a metro rail car. It's believed to be a worldwide first for any subway system, but critics are asking an obvious question: Do turned-away riders try to drive home instead?

"For activists like us it was a difficult task to raise awareness among people to exchange their cars for public transport when drunk, especially in Delhi," says a member of an anti-DUI group. "Now, all that will come to naught." The Telegraph of India says the move is at least in part a reaction to the December gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi. Though she was on a bus, not the subway, her assailants were believed to be drunk at the time.

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