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Not just for the birds: The best of iReport this week

elchueco — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:25:00 GMT

With the week drawing to a close, it's time to look at some of the best birds stories that landed on the iReport desk.

Feathers ruffled over real-life "Angry Birds"

Thanks to Manila's Linus Escandor we learned about the controversial, if colorful, practice of dyeing baby chickens for quick sale to wide-eyed kids. The practice is not isolated to the Philippines, however; a quick web image search for "dyed chicks" will surface hundreds of images from all around the world showing the colorful little cluckers in crates, cages, and in the hands of children. Escandor reflected on the issue: "The chicks have to be soaked and sprayed in food color [...]" he said. "When the children played with the chicks they suffered stress and lead to death, because oftentimes the children treat them as a toy not as a pet." There's wonderful lessons to be learned from pet ownership; to respect other living creatures should be one of the first.

The pigeon lady of New York City

From New York City comes the story of Jewelene, a New York City woman who rescued a pigeon, named it Petel, and raised it as her pet. Freelance photographer Harry Peronius says Jewelene is well-loved by city pigeons, who she meets on Chambers Street in the New York City neighborhood of Tribeca: "Many of them she has a name for. When she arrives to the spot, the pigeons recognize her and fly down to her. I've seen it with my own eyes, amazing!"

It's a wonderful and quirky story about love, fate, and overcoming the odds. Be sure to check it out.

Customs Day celebration with fire, alcohol, and drugs

iReporter and freelance photojournalist Syed Yasir Kazmi sent us photos from Karachi, Pakistan, where last week they held a celebration for the World Customs Organization's International Customs Day.

Now hold your breath for this: the celebration included the burning of alcohol, drugs, and other contraband materials seized at the country's customs. The event is based on the theme of "borders divide, customs connect," according to the WCO's website. "There was lots of heat and smoke when they burnt drugs. My reaction was to save myself from that heat but [I took the best frame] I could take," he said.

Glitter and nudity outside Alfalfa Club dinner

Washington's Armando Gallardo sent us photos of Occupy DC protesters in the vicinity of the Capitol Hill Hilton Hotel where the Alfalfa Club held its yearly banquet on January 28. The photos do an amazing job of putting you in the middle of a heated protest involving glitter bombs, nude protesters, the Washington elite, and the NYPD's mounted police.

Gallardo, who covered the protest as a freelance photojournalist, said: "For someone who has been covering the Occupy DC camp for a while, I was surprised nobody got arrested."

Chinatown celebrates the Year of the Dragon

Finally, we'd like to highlight the great coverage we received of the Chinese New Year Parade in New York's Chinatown by Rachel Cauvin, Daniil Sosonkin, and freelance photographer Patrycja Adamowska, whose photo you see above. She tells us it was cold and quite crowded last Saturday, January 29, but that didn't dissuade people from sticking around to enjoy the colorful floats and costumes on display.

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Do you have a story you want to share? Check out our assignment desk, or submit your own view of the news.

iReport roundtable: Thursday @ 2:30 p.m. ET

davidw — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:34:50 GMT

Please join us here in the blog for our weekly roundtable discussion. We are looking forward to talking with everyone about what's going on in the community.

If you've got questions, suggestions or concerns, this is a great time to share them. We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET. If you can't make it then, feel free to private message anyone on the iReport Team or email me at david.williams@cnn.com

iReporters sound off on the Florida GOP primary

jmsaba — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:47:48 GMT

Last night, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earned a commanding victory in the Florida GOP primary vote, solidifying his position as frontrunner in the continuing battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

Politically minded iReporters tuned in, and shared their thoughts on the tightening race. Though most agreed that the night was a big win for Romney, some thought the primary was as much a rejection of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as an embrace of Romney. Others noted that Romney owed his victory to the money his campaign poured into the state, which far outstripped any of his opponents' spending.

W.J. O'Reilly of Alexandria, Virginia, believes that Romney's big win over Gingrich was as much a referendum on Gingrich's character as it was a testament to Romney's campaigning skills.

"Gingrich criticized Romney as 'the moderate Governor from Massachusetts,' and as such, there can be no surprise about yesterday's victory in the more moderate Florida demographic," he said. "Therefore, Romney's victory yesterday was a win for the more moderate candidate and, with significant female abandonment of Gingrich, a vote against cheatin' men, you might say."

Adriana Maxwell of Atlanta, Georgia, said that Romney's superior organizing skills won the night for him. "Between PAC money and the fact that Romney has a better organization then Gingrich in Florida, at least that strategy worked," she said. "Romney received all 50 [Florida] delegates. We'll see if it works in the other 46 states."

Kingwood, Texas, iReporter Egberto Willies said that he wasn't surprised by Gingrich's precipitous decline and defeat in Florida, or that Romney won the contest after outspending Gingrich 5-to-1. "Gingrich was carpet-bombed by both Romney and Romney SuperPACs," he said.

"Ironically, Gingrich championed the Citizens United case and all 'money is free speech' actions, and is now suffering the consequences of said actions. President Obama was criticized when at the previous State of the Union he chastised the Supreme Court judges for their decision. This is poetic justice and vindication."

And David P. Kronmiller of Burbank, California, believes that Romney's big victory in Florida may actually backfire on him, owing to the disproportionately negative tone of the campaign in that state. "In a recent poll, Obama beats Mitt in Florida by 8 points and is up over Romney nationally by 5. The Florida shift in Obama's favor happened last week, while Mitt went negative," he said.

If you're fired up to play pundit this election season, we want to hear from you! Join the discussion on CNN iReport.

Meet Supraja, iReport's Spring intern

jmsaba — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:48:04 GMT

Starting this week, you might notice a new face popping up on the iReport site: Our Spring intern, Supraja Seshadri, is officially part of the family now!

You'll get to know her over the next few weeks, but by way of hellos and handshakes, we asked her to pen a short bio to introduce herself to the iReport community:

Supraja is currently a senior at Emory University and will be graduating this May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology along with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

Supraja had a great experience interning with the CNN Medical Unit in New York last summer, where she worked on Sanjay Gupta’s “Terror in the Dust” documentary. She has a solid foundation in multimedia and print journalism. She was able to hone these skills in her two previous internships, ShareWIK.com, where she was responsible for a lot of the video content on the website and DNA (Daily News & Analysis) Newspaper in India, where she wrote and published 15 stories on various topics.

Supraja is president of an all-female fusion dance team at Emory and is Publicity Chair of Emory’s Indian Cultural Exchange. She’s artistically inclined and loves to read, write and draw in her free time.

Supraja plans to pursue journalism, particularly on the production side, after college.

So please, join all of us in welcoming Supraja to Team iReport!

iReporter gets bleacher seat at SAG Awards

dsashin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:40:55 GMT

Kathi Cordsen has been star-struck since she was 10 years old, but she usually gushes over the celebrities from the black leather couch in her den.

On Sunday, she got to see her favorite stars in person.

CNN arranged for Cordsen -- a long-time contributor to iReport -- to snag a spot in the fan bleacher seats at the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards at the Shrine Exhibition Center. Cordsen, 59, lives in Fullerton, California, and often recaps TV shows for iReport.

From her seat on the third row of the bleachers Sunday afternoon, Cordsen snapped 118 photos with her Cannon Powershot.

“The sun was so bright, I couldn’t tell through the lens what I was seeing,” she says. “I just snapped and snapped.”

Cordsen captured photos of the casts of "Modern Family," and "The Good Wife," Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, and other stars of the small and silver screens. Everyone went crazy when George Clooney and Brad Pitt showed up on the red carpet, she says.

“Brad Pitt, oh, that man is so handsome. In the movies he’s really handsome, but in person he’s unbelievable. Seriously! And Angelina Jolie, she just walks around looking like a queen ... Just a subtle smile on her face and when she looked at him, I swear, they’re so in love."

"It was so cute when Kyra was running her fingers through Kevin's hair," Cordsen said. "I had no idea she was married to him!"

Cordsen says she has loved Kathy Bates since she saw her in a Stephen King movie, and now watches her on "Harry's Law."

"She came down the red carpet and didn’t want to have her pictures taken. She just walked up to where the water was, got some water and started leaning on the statue," Cordsen says."She wouldn’t look at anybody. We were all yelling her name. All of a sudden she looked up and I just took a picture.”

Cordsen came home Sunday night feeling like she had run a marathon. But she has already told iReport, "if you need a seat warmer for the Oscars, let me know."

'Chuck' vs. the iReporters: one last round

hhanks — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:43:56 GMT

In 2009, when it looked like “Chuck” might not be renewed by NBC, fans mobilized on social media, including iReport, to campaign for a third season.

We saw iReport tributes from at least four countries, with a slew of creative videos from fans discussing why the show deserved to continue. One such iReporter, Gray Jones of Toronto, Ontario, appeared live on CNN.com with “Chuck” himself, Zachary Levi, and co-star Joshua Gomez. Levi and Gomez thanked Jones and other iReporters for their efforts.

Two and a half years later, the show ends its fifth and final season on Friday.

“The little show that could” found its way into the hearts of iReporters, and is finally ending after a good, long run. iReporters who posted videos in 2009 reflected on their "Chuck” fandom this week.

Since appearing on CNN.com with Levi and Gomez, podcaster Jones spent two weeks on the set interviewing dozens of cast and crew members.

“It's been an incredible family, it's been a community,” Jones said of the people he has met, some of whom he got to know almost exclusively via social media. “Five years ago, I never would believe how close these people would become. I'm very close with the cast and crew, and the fans. We're dubbing the finale 'Chuck vs. the Kleenex.' It's going to be so hard to see it go. When you've fought so hard for something, it feels different.”

Chattanooga, Tennessee residents Connie Jones and her daughter, Skylar (a big fan of Chuck’s wife on the show, Sarah Walker) talked about saving the show when Skylar was just four years old. Now seven, Skylar is looking forward to seeing how it ends, while Connie will be celebrating her 11 year wedding anniversary watching the finale.

Wendy Farrington from Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, came up with the idea of eating at Subway (a major “Chuck” sponsor) on the day of the second season finale (not long after the idea was hatched, she met Levi at a convention in England, who served fans Subway sandwiches for his last panel of the weekend). She is putting on a finale party at the NBC Experience Store in New York City on Friday night, and was asked to work as a volunteer coordinator for Levi’s “Nerd HQ” charity event at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

"Much as I am sad that it's ending, it's not,” she said. “The friends and the experiences I had are never going to leave me. I'm trying not to think of it as a goodbye but more as a thank you.”

One of the show's biggest supporters, Mike Kostrov from Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, pleaded for a third season in 2009. He now thinks the show is ending on a high note.

Vincent Yau’s usual iReporting interest has been politics, but when it came to “Chuck,” the Knoxville, Tennessee resident actually inserted himself into the show to make his point about renewing it. On the eve of the finale, he shared his thoughts with iReport.

Two and a half years later, Kayley Luftig from Toronto, Ontario, says, “’Chuck’ coming to end is very bittersweet for me. While it was nice to have been given this final season, I can't help but get emotional. I could not have asked for a better pseudo family to be a part of and for that I thank the ‘Chuck’ fandom, the ‘Chuck’ cast and crew and anyone that has made this show such a huge part of my life.”

If you’re watching the farewell episode on Friday night, record a video and share your thoughts!

Tahrir Square, heavy metal and 'At Last': The best of iReport this week

dsashin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:29:12 GMT

From a community in mourning to a cruise full of heavy-metal rockers, this week's iReports were heartfelt, compelling and quirky. Here are some of the best:

Tahrir Square, one year later

Hayden Pirkle, an American student and journalist in Cairo, Egypt, joined the Egyptians gathered en masse in Tahrir Square on Wednesday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak from power. They also demonstrated against the military council that has led the country since Mubarak resigned February 11. While Pirkle said there was a "festive vibe" – merchants sold popcorn and smoked yams, while children waved Egyptian flags -- the revelry was tempered by frustrations about the slow pace of change. "Egypt has a long way to go until it has a legitimate democratic system in place," he said. "It is naive to say that the ousting of Hosni Mubarak and the election of a parliament has led to 'freedom'."

Penn State community mourns

Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was buried Wednesday in State College, Pennsylvania, and this week, the community mourned the loss of a local icon, despite the scar that ended his career. Photographer Matt Spingola and writer Emily Granville grew up in the State College area and documented some of the public displays of grief. "With the Jerry Sandusky scandal firmly rooted in our hearts and minds, how do we come to terms with the layers of grief?" Granville wrote. "I feel shock, abhorrence, and sadness for the victims. It feels natural to want to scream and tear apart anyone who would let such depravities occur. Then again, my emotions are somehow tempered with memories of the decades of Joe Paterno's innumerable good deeds."

Baby over Chicago

Scott Pitocco’s charming shot of his 10-month-old son, Chase, observing Chicago at dusk from the Skywalk, was CNN.com's Travel photo of the day on Friday. Pitocco, who lives in Annapolis, Maryland, says the family waited in line for an hour before they finally made it to the top. "After getting out of the elevator we put Chase down to stretch his little arms and legs," Pitocco wrote. "He crawled over to check out the view for himself."

Metalheads for Wolf Blitzer

Aboard the annual "70,000 Tons of Metal" Caribbean cruise, iReport globetrotter Percy von Lipinski delivered a colorful video tour of the floating rock music festival, along with some of its quirkier characters. Ear plugs were "in high demand," but the crew was pleasantly surprised at how well behaved the rockers were. Turns out, they also watch CNN. Who knew that “metalheads” are among Wolf Blitzer’s legion of fans?

'At Last' was 'our song'

When singer Etta James died on Friday, couples everywhere mourned the woman who described their relationships like no one else could. We heard from tons of folks who danced to her recording of "At Last" at their weddings, including one husband whose new wife surprised him with a personal rendition. "I knew she was planning something, but I had no idea what it was," says John Villecco, who married Katie on July 23 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "I knew she was a good singer, but I didn't know she was that great! I was tearing up by the end of it."

Finally, it wouldn't be a best of the week without a special shout-out to our community of 1 million (and growing). We celebrated the milestone on Monday with this video portrait of some of our contributors.

Do you have a story you want to share? Check out our assignment desk, or submit your own view of the news.

CNN iReport roundtable - Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET

hhanks — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:58:51 GMT

Please join us here at 2:30 p.m. ET for today's iReport roundtable.

We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET and look forward to talking with you then.

Inspired by Paterno, fans reflect

zdan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:53:12 GMT

As legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is laid to rest Wednesday in State College, Pennsylvania, the community is remembering a local icon, despite the scar that ended his career.

Paterno was fired in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal in November 2011, in which assistant coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly sexually abused several boys. Leaving the sidelines mid-season signaled the end of an era: Paterno held a 46-year tenure as head coach and earned the honor of the winningest coach in major college football history.

iReporters who attended Penn State -- and even some who didn’t -- shared their memories of Paterno, known to many by his nickname of "JoePa."

Richard Liedy, 76, graduated from Penn State in 1957 and has followed Paterno for his entire career. Paterno was an assistant coach when Liedy was a sophomore. Liedy attended every Penn State football game until he graduated. Even after moving to Colorado, he goes back for games every few years.

"I have met [Paterno] on several occasions and think very highly of him as a mentor of men and a motivator of achieving high academic performance amongst his players," he said.

"I remember shaking his hand getting that great grin of his, especially when his team won that day," remembered Liedy, who met Paterno in 1957 at the campus' Nittany Lion Inn.

Photographer Matt Spingola and writer Emily Granville, both in their 30s, grew up in the State College area. They walked through downtown this week and noticed a lot of touching displays in memory of Paterno.

"It was overwhelming. We grew up in the area and we’ve always known about JoePa," Spingola said. "He's a local icon. He’s done so much for Penn State."

One of the store-front memorials they encountered was a drawing of Paterno with his hands in his pockets, his trademark stance. "We'll miss seeing that on the field and the press box," he said.

High school senior David Chang never met Paterno, but credits him nonetheless for changing the course of his life.

The Audubon, Pennsylvania, teenager had a wake-up call last year when he saw his poor grades. He realized he was falling short of his full potential. While researching the liberal arts program at Penn State, Chang came across a video about the Paterno Fellows Program. The video challenged good students to become outstanding and he made it his goal to become a Paterno Fellow.

Chang wrote his college entrance essay about how Joe Paterno inspired him to become a better student. And when he heard of Paterno's death, all he wanted to say was “thank you” to the man that taught him a valuable lesson.

"Before learning the life lessons Paterno regularly taught his players, I had little understanding of the world around me," he said. "I gained a greater perspective of the world around me and became a better individual in the process."

What will you remember Paterno for best? Share your thoughts in the comments below or send an iReport with your memories.

SOTU reaction: The race for 2012 begins

jmsaba — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:32:47 GMT

Last night, President Obama delivered his fourth (and possibly final) State of the Union address -- An oration that was both a policy guide to the coming year and an unofficial kickoff to his 2012 re-election campaign. In it, he touched on themes of income inequality and the "urgent" need to bolster U.S. employment in the face of a still-struggling economy.

iReporters who tuned in to last night's address shared their reactions to Obama's speech, and saw some general themes emerge: There were plenty of campaign-worthy soundbites to fire up his base, with mixed efforts at outreach to independent and moderate voters.

Melissa Fazli voted for Obama in 2008, but became disappointed and disillusioned with his administration over the past two years. But now, she plans to vote for Obama in the general election, and said she was moved to tears by the speech. She's strongly in support of Obama's call to investigate and bring prosecution against the lending practices that led up to the housing crisis.

"I would like to see it enforced by everyone using social media everyday to keep it on Obama's table until indictments are made," she said. "I would love to see some of these banks go directly to jail and not collect even $200 along the way."

Indiana moderate Mark Ivy, on the other hand, is a little more skeptical of Obama's rhetoric. He thinks that Obama delivered plenty of red meat to liberals, but needs to address the national debt and deficit spending in order to attract swing voters.

"We are all in this together. We must all be willing to give a little," he said. "The number one way to attack the debt and attract Independents and Republicans is a real plan of attack on the tax breaks, the tax deductions that cause the disparity in the effective tax rates. This must done across the board. Closing those 'loopholes' would have an impact on our debt and deficits without tax rate increases or surtaxes while increasing revenue."

And while left-leaning Zennie Abraham of Oakland, California, thought Obama delivered a solid speech in general, he was particularly impressed by the President's full-throated embrace of a pro-U.S. trade policy.

"The President now realizes that nationalism is the one approach that will save America, whereas when he first took office, our allies, like France and Germany, were trying to talk him into maintaining the 'free trade is good' policy that has harmed America," he said. "In doing so, Obama also hones his case for good old fashioned Liberalism."

If you watched last night's State of the Union address, we want to hear from you! Join the discussion on CNN iReport.