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19 Jun 2010 09:38

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World: Japan’s far-right minority doesn’t want you to see this documentary

  • There are millions of Japanese people. There’s around 10,000 far-right nationalists. And they really don’t want you to see “The Cove,” an Oscar-winning film about Japan’s fishing trade, which often is very violent towards dolphins (and notes the amount of mercury in the country’s fish supply). The protests are getting enough attention that the film might not get a showing at all. “Everybody is so scared,” said Tatsuya Mori, a film director and critic of the protests. “The Japanese tend to imagine worst-case scenarios, but we need to remember that they are in fact a very small number of people.” Not a single theater in Japan has been willing to show the film. source

19 Jun 2010 09:19

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Culture: Conan should take solace in Leno’s tanking in the ratings war

  • 1.1 Conan’s rating during his fifteenth week of the “Tonight Show”; he was beating Letterman at this point
  • 0.9 Leno’s rating during HIS fifteenth week of the “Tonight Show”; he’s currently tied with Letterman source

19 Jun 2010 09:09

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Politics: Obama’s still upset he can’t get anything done with Congress

  • I was disappointed this week to see a dreary and familiar politics get in the way of our ability to move forward on a series of critical issues that have a direct impact on people’s lives.
  • President Barack Obama • In his weekly radio address this week. What’s the president so upset about? First, the Senate stonewalled his latest stimulus plan. It wasn’t just the GOP – a number of Democrats voted against it, too. Second, he’s ticked that he can’t get a bill through uncapping how much the oil companies can pay to individuals. “We should remove that cap,” he said. “But the Republican leadership won’t even allow a debate or a vote.” But, here’s the big one: Obama’s been in office for a year and a half, and he still has 136 position appointments being held up in the Senate.  “I know the political season is upon us in Washington,” he said. “But gridlock as a political strategy is destructive to the country.” We agree. source