ShortFormBlogJuly 2, 2011

This scene reminds us of a great line from the Simpsons. “Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it!” Fortunately, the NYPD did that for us. You know, without blowing off our limbs or anything dangerous like that. (via Gawker) source

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I remember a family meeting 15 years ago, my uncle Ken Dayton looked at our collective family situation improving over the year before. Therefore, our total taxes paid went up. One of my cousins complained about our taxes going up. My uncle Ken looked him square in the eye and said, ‘We should want to pay more taxes. That means we’re making more money.’
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton • Offering a defense of higher taxes amid a shutdown of the state government this weekend. As you might guess, most Republicans don’t think this way … to put it another way, this train of thought trickles down a bit differently for them. Dayton, a Democrat, is having a tough time getting any leverage with the GOP on budget talks. And it bums him out: “Yesterday was probably the worst day in my six months (as governor),” he said today. “Today isn’t much better. It’s quieter. You know, I take this very, very seriously — the effect on peoples’ lives, their livelihoods, the services that people need. People had their vacations planned and taken away from them. So I can’t say it’s fun right now.” source

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Yesterday, large protests like this one took place in Hama province in Syria. Today, Bashar al-Assad’s reaction appears to involve sacking the region’s governor in an effort to retain a handle on the situation. No details were given on Ahmad Khaled Abdulaziz’s sacking, though you can probably guess that this large protest, at the same site where Assad’s father led a bloody crackdown 30 years ago, probably had something to do with it. (And it isn’t even the first sacking of its kind, either; two other governors have already lost their gigs.) This is just one sign of the grinding gears of change in Syria — things could get interesting this month. Assad plans meetings with opposition leaders on the 10th; and the opposition plans a large conference of their own on the 16th. source

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action Despite a ban blocking flotillas headed towards Gaza from leaving Greek ports, an American one attempted to do just that yesterday. It was turned away by the Greek coast guard, which reportedly pointed machine guns at flotilla passengers. This comes on the heels of Greece’s austerity vote.
reaction As you might imagine, reaction to this news was emotional on both sides. “Greece sold its body to the banks and its soul to Israel and the United States,” said one activist on the flotilla. The ship was named “The Audacity of Hope,” meaning Obama was indirectly dragged into this situation, too. source

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It will be very hard to believe in the future what African people say. She has to repent if she’s lying.
Nigerian Imam Nurudeen Sulayman • Discussing the NYC African community’s feelings on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn accuser — especially among Guineans. To put it simply, they worry that it reflects badly on their community. The new developments around the accuser, who reportedly called a prison inmate and talked to him about extorting Strauss-Kahn in a rare dialect of Fulani, have put unwelcome attention on fellow Guineans in the city. “It’s about the two of them,” said Mamadou Diallo, president of the Futa Islamic Center, where the accuser reportedly attended services. “All we can do is stand still and watch.” source

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02 Jul 2011 18:13