Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

05 Apr 2011 20:30

tags

U.S.: TEPCO: Fukushima’s radioactive water no longer leaking into ocean

  • The leaks were slowed yesterday after we injected a mixture of liquid glass and a hardening agent and it has now stopped.
  • A TEPCO spokesman • Explaining that the radioactive seawater leaks from the Fukushima reactor apparently stopped. It just required some liquid glass, a hardening agent, and a little hope. Which is exactly what we needed that one time we stopped our server from melting down when Andrew Sullivan linked to us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 16:04

tags

World: Libyan rebels plan to begin exporting oil themselves

  • This is a big deal for the opposition council. The Libyan rebel government’s deal with Qatar to export oil has obvious benefits to their cause, and they aren’t strictly economic. One aspect of the Libyan struggle we can’t overlook is the need for others to perceive their legitimacy — the more the rebellion shows a unified, proactive, and competent front, the more pressure it may put on Gaddafi’s beleaguered allies to desert him. The immediately refused rebel ceasefire offer was a good example, and this follows suit — the practical proof that oil exports can resume despite Gaddafi’s efforts to the contrary is another psychological victory against a regime that’s already reported as suffering key defections by officials. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 15:31

tags

World: Conflicting reports suggest Gbagbo may soon be out

  • Not long for Laurent Gbagbo? Reports coming out of the Ivory Coast are somewhat convoluted at this moment — the machinations of these scenarios can involve a lot of back and forth between the sides involved, and as such it’s understandable that things can become murky. Reuters had reported that strongman Laurent Gbagbo signed a U.N. document ceding power and surrendering, but nearly an hour later posted a report from a U.N. official claiming his surrender is not official, and that he’s negotiating for protection. Perhaps the biggest takeaway, though, is what’s most important thing for the Ivory Coast; that there’s a visible endgame, and Laurent Gbagbo’s desperate grip on power could soon vanish. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 14:53

tags

Politics: Mr. Glass goes to Washington … to defend NPR’s honor

  • frustration Following conservative activist (or hatchet man, if you prefer) James O’Keefe’s video embarrassing an NPR fundraiser, radio host Ira Glass was upset that NPR seemed to cede to claims of a liberal bias, which he thinks is nonsense.
  • pushback Glass took to Washington DC, giving a speech at George Washington University. He said that he’d asked Brooke Gladstone, one of the hosts of “On The Media” to dig up any statistics on these accusations against NPR. source
  • » Numbers and thoughts on bias: Glass cited a study on NPR by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) which found their guests, from a partisan standpoint, were 60% Republican and 40% Democratic. He also defended NPR’s hosts, saying that Michele Norris asking a CEO if we can afford to eliminate taxes for certain companies isn’t bias, because she’d ask the same question of someone in favor of spending increases. But as the first example infers a pro-tax bent, a conservative might decry it as bias when it really isn’t. It’s an interesting take from an interesting man, and we urge you to give the full article a look.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 13:50

tags

World: Ai Weiwei’s arrest may signal dire sea change in China

  • Western capitals are failing to understand the magnitude of what is happening now. The Chinese authorities are actively seeking to try to redefine the boundaries of which opinions are tolerable, and which are not.
  • Nicholas Bequelin, researcher for Human Rights Watch in China • Speaking on the grim state of Chinese affairs, in the wake of the arrest of famed artist and dissident Ai Weiwei. He argues that the Chinese’s tightening grip over the citizenry indicates a meaningful shift towards more abject totalitarianism. Bequelin added: “We know for certain that there are lawyers who haven’t been arrested, but have been clearly threatened. They’ve been told ‘the gloves are off, we can do anything we like now’. One was informed that ‘the party has special ways to deal with people like you’.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 13:37

tags

World: NATO: Airstrikes decimate large chunk of Gaddafi’s prowess

  • 30%of Gaddafi military capacity destroyed by airstrikes source
  • » That’s what NATO says, at least. NATO Brigadier General Mark van Uhm made the claim to a bunch of reporters in Brussels. That said, though, some of Gaddafi’s tactics have made it harder for NATO to attack. “The operational tempo remains, but we have seen a change of tactics (from Gaddafi),” van Uhm said. “When human beings are used as shields we don’t engage.”
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 12:23

tags

U.S.: Southwest Airlines: Our Boeing 737s not all they’re cracked up to be

In an inspection of their fleet of 737s following a plane’s emergency landing last week, the airline says that five of their planes had fuselage cracks in them. Kevin Smith’s PR flub no longer looks so bad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

05 Apr 2011 10:36

tags

World: French Prime Minister: Ivory Coast presidential crisis nearing end

  • As we speak we are speaking to two generals to negotiate President Gbagbo’s surrender.
  • French Prime Minister Francois Fillon • Explaining what’s currently happening in the Ivory Coast, after days of increasingly violent fighting between forces loyal to presidential stickler Laurent Gbagbo and forces who favored Alassane Ouattara, the man who won November’s election but was held from office by Gbagbo. Months later, the fighting got extremely violent, and the UN and France eventually got involved. Now, it appears, Gbagbo is close to surrendering the leadership he long fought to keep. “We are in a situation where everything could be resolved in the next few hours,” said French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 01:12

tags

U.S.: Alleged 9/11 mastermind will face military tribunal, not civilian trial

  • NO Khalid Sheikh Mohammed won’t be tried in NYC court source
  • » Why the change? In November of 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder angered a lot of people (mostly Republicans) by announcing that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others implicated in masterminding the 9/11 attacks would be tried in civilian court, as opposed to military tribunals. Now, Holder has changed course. He blames the change of plans on Congress, which passed legislation barring federal funds from being used to transfer GITMO detainees to the US. However, President Obama signed that legislation, so the White House can’t cry foul too loudly here without being just a tad hypocritical.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags