Paintball, movies, and money: The other sides of the stories

The New York Times uses its well-read status to disseminate important information that is not otherwise reaching people in a story today about the dangers of paintball guns. The article tells the story of a woman killed while watching her son play paintball because of a defect in the equipment. The article presents the human side of the story well, sharing the concerns the woman and her husband had felt before letting her son play paintball in the lede and the remorse the owner of the paintball park felt after the accident, which made him decide to leave the business. The article also explains the details of the defect and how it can be caused by alterations players learn to make themselves from the Internet. The widowed husband in the story said he was looking to raise awareness on the issue, and this Times article, both interesting to read and informative, should do just that.

A Washington Post article today gets at the story behind the story in an article about the child actor starring The Kite Runner. The parallels between 12-year-old Zekeria Ebrahim and his character in the movie are ripe enough to make his biography seem like a human-interest feature story. The article fluidly draws out elements of the plot, for those unfamiliar with the book on which the movie is based, while raising some of the difficulties of filming a movie about Afghani culture. Despite the fact that this film could help him start a life in a new country, Zekeria Ebrahim seems remarkably grounded in the article. The reporter has drawn out his child side by getting him to talk about what he enjoys the most: competitive kite-flying, the sport of choice for Afghani children.

A Boston Globe article also takes a fresh angle in its coverage of Governor Patrick’s plan to allow casinos in Massachusetts. The article suggests that New Hampshire is concerned that it, too, will allow casinos once any start appearing north of Boston. The article foresees how such proposals would fare by interviewing New Hampshire legislators and also looks at the possible expansion of casinos into Maine and Rhode Island.

The Times of London also looks at money matters as the Tory party raises the possibility of taxing non-domiciled residents in the UK on their foreign assets. The article explains everything you need to know to understand the situation: who the “non-doms” are (everyone from the “uber rich” to the average), why they are in the UK (often to avoid paying such taxes), and how they would respond to such a tax (depending on how wealthy they are). Rather than a straightforward article on finance, the story suggests a world of wealth and privilege and exclusivity told straight out of London’s posh Sloane Square.