4Better Or Worse
4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Published on May 13th, 2004
0 comments Hottest seat: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sits before the Senate Armed Services Committee May 7 to explain the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners, amid an increased clamor for his resignation....
The week in review
Published on May 6th, 2004
0 comments Most Un-American behavior: Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad are photographed as they're subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their American guards. Best escape:...
The week in review
Published on Apr 29th, 2004
0 comments Biggest march: Hundreds of thousands pro-choicers, anti-Bushers flood the Mall in Washington April 25. Most high-profile American war death: Former NFLer Pat Tillman is killed April 22 in Afghanistan...
The week in review
Published on Apr 22nd, 2004
0 comments Worst week for 20,000 American troops in Iraq: Their homecomings are postponed for another three months because of Iraqi uprisings in the bloodiest month of the war yet. Most fragile coalition: U.S....
The week in review
Published on Apr 15th, 2004
0 comments Best insta-trend: Not since the "Oracle of Bacon" emerged in 1996 (to measure connections between actors) has a UVA-based trend caused as many smiles as "High Five Day," whose third annual...
The week in review
Published on Apr 8th, 2004
0 comments Worst desecration: Eight contractors, including four Americans, are killed and two are dragged through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, March 31. Worst sticker shock: Gas prices average $1.75...
The week in review
Published on Apr 1st, 2004
0 comments Worst fire: In Richmond on March 26 when fire breaks out in a construction dumpster, ignites a student housing project, and leaps over Broad Street. When the ashes clear, over 24 buildings are...
The week in review
Published on Mar 25th, 2004
0 comments Lamest legislature: The Virginia General Assembly extends its session without resolving the $2.4 billion budget gap between the Senate and the House of Delegates– and then the House decides to...
The week in review
Published on Mar 18th, 2004
0 comments Worst terrorism: Ten bombs hit Madrid's train lines at rush hour March 11, killing 200 people and wounding 1,450. Biggest bandwagon: Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Asbury Park, New Jersey, join San...
The week in review
Published on Mar 11th, 2004
0 comments Best Super Tuesday for John Kerry: The Massachusetts senator sews up the Democratic nomination for president. Worst week for Martha Stewart: The domestic diva is convicted March 5 of lying to the...
The week in review
Published on Mar 4th, 2004
0 comments Biggest Constitutional news: President George W. Bush calls for an amendment to ban gay marriages. [See Essays on page 63 for a satirical take on the subject.–editor] Worst allegation of...
The week in review
Published on Feb 26th, 2004
0 comments Most convictions by a City Council candidate: Republican Kenneth Jackson has four for assault & battery– the last in 1995– and he wielded a knife in three of those, report Elizabeth...
The week in review
Published on Feb 19th, 2004
0 comments Most wedding bells ringing: Hundreds of gay couples line up at City Hall in San Francisco on February 12 after the city starts issuing licenses and performing weddings for same-sex couples. Fewest...
The week in review
Published on Feb 12th, 2004
0 comments Biggest upset: Local Dems dump two-term incumbent City Councilor Meredith Richards, the party's challenger to Congressman Virgil Goode in 2002, at its February 7 convention, instead nominating...
The week in review
Published on Feb 5th, 2004
0 comments Best chance to glimpse Janet Jackson's right breast: The Super Bowl halftime show, when Justin Timberlake rips off her top in what he calls a "wardrobe malfunction." Most unusual breast accessory:...
The week in review
Published on Jan 29th, 2004
0 comments Best new episode in Louisa's continuing police soap opera: The town's police chief and another officer are arrested for assault and battery, according to a Braxton Williams story in the Daily...
The week in review
Published on Jan 22nd, 2004
0 comments Best boost for presidential candidate John Kerry: The Massachusetts senator wins the January 19 Iowa caucuses. Worst horror on I-95: A fuel truck plunges off a three-story overpass in Maryland,...
The week in review
Published on Jan 15th, 2004
0 comments Worst big cat maulings since a white tiger attacked magician Roy Horn October 3: A bicyclist is in serious condition after she's attacked January 8 in California by a mountain lion that attempts to...
The week in review
Published on Jan 15th, 2004
0 comments Worst big cat maulings since a white tiger attacked magician Roy Horn October 3: A bicyclist is in serious condition after she's attacked January 8 in California by a mountain lion that attempts to...
The two weeks in review
Published on Jan 8th, 2004
0 comments Worst present for the beef industry: Just as Americans are sitting down to their Christmas roasts, the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy mad cow disease is reported from an infected...
The week in review
Published on Dec 25th, 2003
0 comments Worst showing for the insanity defense: Teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo is found guilty in the capital murder of FBI agent Linda Franklin December 18. Best showing for the insanity defense: A federal...
The week in review
Published on Dec 18th, 2003
0 comments Best arrest for the spam-weary: Two North Carolina men are indicted on four felony counts of transmission of unsolicited bulk electronic mail following an investigation by Attorney General Jerry...
The week in review
Published on Dec 11th, 2003
0 comments Best boost for Howard Dean's presidential campaign: Former vice president Al Gore endorses Dean December 9. Worst weather: The season's first snow hits December 4. Worst time to leave the kids in the...
The week in review
Published on Dec 4th, 2003
0 comments Worst shopping frenzy: A female Wal-Mart shopper in Orange City, Florida, is trampled and knocked unconscious November 28 by a 6am sale crowd desperate for $29 DVD players. Worst bowl choices: Before...
The week in review
Published on Nov 27th, 2003
0 comments Worst week for Michael "There's Nothing More Loving than Sharing Your Bed" Jackson: More than 60 cops descend upon his Neverland ranch with a search warrant in connection with sexual-abuse...
The week in review
Published on Nov 20th, 2003
0 comments Worst fire: The historic and luxurious Clifton Inn burns November 14, killing two women. Worst murder: Police discover a dead man in a car parked in a driveway on Yancey Mill Lane November 13. Cause...
The week in review
Published on Nov 13th, 2003
0 comments Worst homicide: Volunteer firefighter Walker Andrew Sisk, 22, is fatally stabbed early November 9 at 14th and Wertland streets in Charlottesville's first slaying of the year. UVA student Andrew...
The week in review
Published on Nov 6th, 2003
0 comments Worst party to crash: UVA walk-on football player Carson Ward is in critical condition after attempting to enter a Sigma Chi fraternity Halloween party. Two frat brothers, Kurt P. Rupprecht and John...
The week in review
Published on Oct 30th, 2003
0 comments Worst firestorm: Southern California is ablaze. Ten wildfires have destroyed over 1,000 homes and killed at least 15 people. Best decision in a sniper trial: After two days in court representing...
The week in review
Published on Oct 23rd, 2003
0 comments Best news for CourtTV fans: The trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad gets under way in Virginia Beach, with Muhammad firing his attorneys and representing himself. Best demolition for James...