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16 Jan 2011 23:17

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World: “Baby Doc” returns to Haiti: Mother Jones is on the scene

  • “It sounded like a wild rumor …” Mother Jones was on the scene as Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti after a quarter-century of exile. And despite his unpopularity, he had his supporters today. “Things have never been as good as when he was here,” one translator told reporter Mac McClelland. “The only thing that was worse was we couldn’t talk about politics because he was a dictator, but everything else is much worse now.” (thanks idroolinmysleep for pointing it out to us immediately we found it) source
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16 Jan 2011 22:56

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World: Quick facts: How bad was Haiti leader “Baby Doc” Duvalier?

  • 19 the age that Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier took over Haiti
  • 28 number of years he and his dad, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, ruled over the country
  • 15 number of years “Baby Doc” was “president-for-life” before he was booted from power
  • 100k people left the country while “Baby Doc” was ruler; many sought asylum on rafts source
  • » With an iron fist: The regime of father and son – especially son – was noted for its disparities. The leaders, who had near-absolute rule (with the help of a secret police force called the Tonton Macoutes), lavished themselves while doing little to help Haiti’s population deal with the overwhelming poverty. It got so bad that Pope John Paul II publicly called out elites for their lack of interest in and care for the plight of the poor. To emphasize … this guy’s return is not good by any stretch of the imagination. He needs to go back to France.
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16 Jan 2011 22:31

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World: Like a clichéd plot device, Jean-Claude Duvalier is back in Haiti


The guy on this sign was forced into exile from Haiti 25 years ago. Now, no longer a baby, “Baby Doc” is back, perhaps looking for forgiveness from the weakened country. source
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16 Jan 2011 17:32

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World: Update: Three things you should know about Tunisia’s unrest

  • one Protesters are wary of trusting the police; the situation remains volatile. Two major gun battles took place on Sunday, one of them near the presidential palace.
  • two Tunisia’s prime minister is promising a new government on Monday, and at least one ousted party plans to return to the country after the unrest dies down.
  • three High-profile members of former president Ben Ali’s staff have been arrested, and some of his family members have been attacked and killed by angry citizens. source
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16 Jan 2011 15:53

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Politics: Arnold Schwarzenegger: I lost $200 million being governor

  • In all it is probably more than $200 million. But I’m not sorry. It was more than worth it.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger • Explaining the overall cost for him to be the California governor. We’re not exactly sure how that cost breaks down, but we’re guessing it has something to do with the number of movies he had to turn down while playing politician. That said, though, he notes that the bigger cost was what it did to his family. “There is a lot there that needs to be repaired,” he said. He noted that he was better about it in his second term than his first, but during that first term, he would leave home for weeks at a time. At least you weren’t recalled. source
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16 Jan 2011 15:02

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Politics: Despite large-scale attack, Gawker stays on the 4chan beat

  • Here’s what we like about Gawker: Despite getting their asses handed to them by a group that reportedly had indirect ties to 4chan (and made note in their attack of the site’s criticism of 4chan), they don’t back down. A feature headline on Gawker’s front page? “4chan Is Not Very Scary In Real Life.” Mend those fences, Gawker Media, mend those fences. source
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16 Jan 2011 14:31

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Culture: Seth Rogen’s “Green Hornet” reboot does kinda OK at box office

  • $34 million the opening for “The Green Hornet,” his biggest live-action opening ever – barely topping “Superbad” and “Knocked Up”
  • $120 million the reported budget for the film, which is six times the size of the “Superbad” budget; Rogen also produced “Hornet” source
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16 Jan 2011 14:16

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Culture, World: Chilean miners – all 33 of them – plotting huge book, movie deal

  • All the life story rights are vested in this company and we have not yet granted anyone the official rights to the story.
  • Chilean attorney Guillermo Carey • Discussing what the Chilean miners plan to do with their made-for-a-movie story. Rather than just letting any one of the guys individually release a book and fight for the movie rights (and thereby splitting the Chilean miner film market), they plan to do everything together, possibly as a massive package deal. The deal would mean that the miners would stand behind a single book and film deal, possibly with a multilevel promotional push that would make Brangelina jealous. We can’t wait to play the Chilean miner video game on our Nintendo Wii. We bet it’d be called “Run Inside of This Room for 69 Days.” Or possibly even a branded reboot of the “Lemmings” franchise. source
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16 Jan 2011 14:03

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Politics: Tom Coburn has date for the State of the Union: Chuck Schumer

They’ll be paired, “Odd Couple”-style, in an attempt to be more civil. “We don’t sweep differences under the rug,” Chuck said. “Tom and I have real differences, but we can do it civilly.” source
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16 Jan 2011 12:14

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World: Wikileaks, Stuxnet collide to create awesome article about Iran

  • Iran doesn’t have the bomb yet. But they’ve been trying really hard to get it, according to the latest round of data released from Wikileaks. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which reportedly has all 250,000 diplomatic cables, has been releasing them slowly but surely, and the latest one is kinda sorta a big deal. The cables portray it as kind of last-gasp attempt for Iran to jump-start its diplomatic prowess. “A race exists between the bomb and financial collapse,” one French nuclear expert explained in the cable. Some quick numbers:
  • 350 Iranian companies and groups were reportedly involved in the pursuit of nuclear technology
  • 30+ countries that have contacts Iran is trying to use to make this bomb thingy happen
  • no Iran doesn’t have much in the way of its own uranium, making their job tougher source
  • » Oh, and remember Stuxnet? That computer worm seemingly designed to damage Iran’s nuclear program was reportedly a American-Israeli joint, according to this here article by The New York Times. It was reportedly so effective at causing a malware ruckus that it set Iran’s nuclear program back by several years. Favorite line: “The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart.” Class.
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