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24 Jun 2011 20:55

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World: Rwandan genocide: Life imprisonment for former gov’t minister, son

  • During the course of these repeated attacks on vulnerable civilians, both [Pauline] Nyiramasuhuko and [Arsene] Ntahobali ordered killings. They also ordered rapes. Ntahobali further committed rapes and Nyiramasuhuko aided and abetted rapes.
  • International Criminal Tribunal Judge William Sekule • Discussing the reasons the two Rwandans — a former minister for family and women’s affairs, and her son — received life sentences from the tribunal, along with many other officials involved in a widespread massacre of ethnic Tutsis in the Rwandan city of Butare. Nyiramasuhuko, a Hutu, ordered the killings on a the Tutsis hiding in a government office. From there … well, just read the quote above. You get the idea of how bad this all is. These convictions close one dark chapter of a story whose book, once neglected entirely, has yet to close. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 18:02

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Culture: Not the boss, the CEO? James Spader could join “The Office”

  • Think bigger than the next Michael Scott: While the new boss at the Scranton branch of Dundler Mifflin isn’t quite clear yet, one of the candidates for the position, one James Spader, may be out of the running for reasons completely unrelated to his qualifications. See, Spader might join the show — as Dundler Mifflin’s CEO, replacing Kathy Bates. But unlike Bates, word is that he’d be a regular character on the show. Spader is something of an anti-Ted McGinley — when he joins a show late in its run, he makes it better. Example: “The Practice,” where the Spader-led reboot was so successful producers spun it off into “Boston Legal.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 12:35

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Biz: Ralph Nader, activist investor? A consumer advocate’s Cisco grievance

  • If they can’t give shareholders value, then they have to give cash.
  • Ralph Nader • Playing activist investor in the wake of frustration with Cisco’s stock. Nader, an investor in the company (he has 18,000 shares), wrote a letter a while back complaining about the company’s low dividends, despite the fact that their stock performance has been week and they have tons of cash in the bank, and the “powerlessness of owner shareholders” that resulted from this. It’s pretty weird that the consumer advocate, of all people, is taking on this role, but hey, maybe he just thinks their shares are unsafe at any speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 11:28

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Tech: The Winklevi plan to sue Mark Zuckerberg AGAIN. Seriously.

Dear Winklevi: You have $65 million. Why start up ANOTHER lawsuit, anyway? You guys are like 30. This happened like eight years ago. You won. Why do this to yourselves? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 11:17

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World: Osama bin Laden seriously considered changing al-Qaeda’s name

  • what In the months before his death, the leader of the terrorist group considered giving al-Qaeda a different name, according to a letter retrieved by special forces officials after he was killed back in May. It was a sign of Bin Laden attempting to keep the group relevant.
  • why The  name “al-Qaeda” stands for “the base,” which Bin Laden thought didn’t strike a religious pose. He wanted a name that emphasized that they were going to holy war with the enemies of Islam. He had nothing to worry about; “al-Qaeda” did the trick. source
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