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

15 May 2011 22:36

tags

World: Three signs Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s case is a media circus

  • one The Business Insider wrote a piece noting that DNA evidence was found in the hotel room, while hinting at something else. Well, of course there was! He stayed in the hotel overnight!
  • two Today, when presented a lineup, the maid at the center of the sexual assault charged picked the French political figure. Paparazzi surrounded her as she left the police station.
  • three The IMF leader’s lawyer has a long list of high-profile clients, including P. Diddy, NFL star Plaxico Burress (who shot himself in the leg) and blingmaster “Jacob the Jeweler.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 21:52

tags

U.S.: Sony PlayStation Network’s return a pretty bumpy one

  • great After weeks of downtime, Sony got their PlayStation Network online for the first time in nearly a month — a month full of hacks, reports of credit card fraud and apologies that followed. There was much rejoicing in the gaming world.
  • troubling WIthin minutes of its return, the system went down. “Please bear with us as we continue working on #PSN restoration. We are experiencing extremely heavy traffic,” a tweet from Sony said. It’s back up, but for how long? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 15:18

tags

U.S.: Mississippi floodways opened to keep big cities safe

  • Saving urban areas by flooding farmland: Officials opened up the Morganza Floodway Saturday in an attempt to divert water from the Mississippi River, which will eventually drain into the Gulf of Mexico. Even though this move will destroy valuable crops, it’s better than running the risk of flooding large cities like New Orleans at levels worse than Hurricane Katrina. (Photo from US Army Corps of Engineers’ Flickr page.) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 13:53

tags

World: The Third Intifada: Social media rocks the Middle East again

  • The violent protests happening in Israel today got at least a small spark from Facebook. Large numbers of Palestinians are protesting today (with harsh reaction from Israeli soldiers) after a movement called the Third Intifada sprung up on the social media site. The previous two Intifada movements, which Palestinians used to protest against Israel, were also quite violent. The Facebook page for the current movement had about 300,000 supporters before it the social networking site took it offline due to messages inciting violence against Israel. The movement has since moved to its own website. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 11:52

tags

Politics: In this post, we call Newt Gingrich’s bluff on food stamps

  • What I said is factually true. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.
  • 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich • Defending himself from charges of racism after he referred to Obama as the “Food Stamp President.” Gingrich claimed is was “factually true” because one in six Americans receive them. OK, Newt, we checked your numbers and you’re right — over 44 million people out of roughly 307 million received food stamps in February 2011, a record level that’s jumped by nearly 20 million since 2008. (Though we’ll add this much: The number is closer to one in seven, brah.) But the problem is tone, Newt. By calling a president a “Food Stamp President,” you make an attack that sounds less like a reasonable criticism and more like a broadside: Would you have said this about Clinton? Or Bush? Exactly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 11:51

tags

U.S.: John Boehner: Obama isn’t serious about cutting the deficit

“He’s talking about [the deficit],” Boehner says. “But I’m not seeing real action here.” Obama put the Bush tax cuts on the cutting board. You won’t. Who’s serious again? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 11:01

tags

World: French politicians react to Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest

  • He’s definitely discredited. The case and the charges mark the end of his campaign for the presidency, and will likely prompt the IMF to ask him to leave his post.
  • French National Front party leader Marine Le Pen • Sticking the dagger into Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund leader charged with the attempted sexual assault of a maid in a NYC hotel. Le Pen is not an unbiased party: Strauss-Kahn, a member of France’s Socialist party, was a likely favorite in the 2012 elections in France, and his arrest puts Le Pen’s own party at a major advantage. But that said, other politicians in the country are reacting with shock about the whole thing. For example, Bernard Debré, a member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMD party, calls the charges “a humiliation and an affront to the honor of France. Everyone will now say, ‘Look at what the French do.'” Strauss-Kahn’s own Socialist party is keeping mum for now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 May 2011 02:30

tags

World: Three ways Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest complicates things

  • His powerful influence makes the sexual assault case all the more complicated. The man has a wide array of influence on global politics due largely to his current position, which leads a group that oversees the global financial system. And with a significant piece of evidence — Strauss-Kahn’s cell phone — reportedly left at the scene, there is said to be enough evidence to charge him. (EDIT: They have — with charges including attempted rape.) He reportedly plans to plead not guilty. This isn’t just a tabloid fodder-type story, though the New York Post, shown above, is certainly having fun with it. A few broader implications of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest:
  • one With the global financial and debt crises still major problems, the International Monetary Fund plays a huge role in global politics — especially in countries like Greece. And Strauss-Kahn leads the IMF.
  • two While he hasn’t officially announced his plans to run for president of France, he has been polling the best against the unpopular Nicolas Sarkozy. He could leave the Socialist party in a bit of a bind.
  • threeStrauss-Kahn’s charges could force the IMF to pick a new leader on the fly — which could have a ripple effect on the debt crisis. He’s considered conservative; his successor may take a harsher stance. source
  • » To put it another way: The decisions the IMF makes have strong direct and indirect effects on world economies. Last year, for example, the IMF and the EU twisted Greece’s arm so the country would put in place strong austerity measures in exchange for a massive long-term loan. And here is this guy, in charge of a group that indirectly caused rioting in the streets of a major city, accused of a crime that’d make Bill Clinton’s whole impeachment fiasco seem like nothing. It makes you grit your teeth thinking of what that means for global economies.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags