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28 Dec 2011 21:08

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World: Large, unexplained explosion hits near Myanmar’s largest city

  • 17+ killed in a blast in a suburb of Yangon, the country’s largest city, early Thursday morning local time
  • 80+ injured in the blast; witnesses said several smaller blasts followed the main explosion source
  • » Details still limited: Local officials have as of yet not explained what caused the blast. “There are many casualties. We are not in a position to give you further information. We are still looking into it,” said a police officer from Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Police Station.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 19:00

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U.S.: Video montage: What happens when you run a red light

  • Think twice before you pass that red light: American Traffic Solutions, a company that makes red-light traffic cameras, just threw up this video of car crashes and near-misses its traffic cameras caught in the past year — in New Jersey alone. Some of the crashes are quite troublesome; others are harrowing near-misses. Someone will likely give this clip Benny Hill theme music at some point. Really, honestly, it’s begging for one. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 15:19

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World: Continued violence in Syria during Arab League visit

  • Do you trust this man? He is General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, of the Sudanese military. During his tenure in Sudan, he’s thought to have had insight (if not evidence of direct involvement) into any number of gross human rights atrocities. He’s now leader of the Arab League delegation visiting the ravaged city of Homs in Syria, and despite reports of gunfire directed at protesters during the visit, al-Dabi stated that they did not see “anything frightening” and that it “was quiet.” Said Omer Ismail, of the anti-genocide Enough Project: “Instead of heading a team entrusted with a probe of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Syria, the general should be investigated by the ICC [International Criminal Court] for evidence of similar crimes in Sudan.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 14:44

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Politics: Gary Johnson officially changes party registration, kicks off new campaign

  • We are just fed up with the two-party system. The Democratic Party, I think, has turned their backs on gay rights, marriage equality, their anti-war base, their anti-drug war sentiment. …Republicans are no longer the stewards of the pocketbook. Republicans are no longer good stewards of tax dollars.
  • Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson • Giving a mission statement of sorts as he makes it official — former Republican candidate and governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson has leapt over to the Libertarian Party to mount a third-party candidacy for president. Johnson was a popular governor in New Mexico at the time of his departure, and boasts a platform that was markedly unorthodox for the present GOP field (save the occasional overlap with Ron Paul, who Johnson endorsed in 2008). Should he gain any traction, a Johnson candidacy could have a scale-tipping effect in 2012, as the recent polling surge by Ron Paul illustrates a decent spate of GOP voters are willing to look at a different brand of conservative this cycle. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 14:32

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Politics: Obama, Clinton headline Gallup’s “most admired” list

  • women Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has seized the top spot in Gallup’s “most admired” list for 2011, for the second consecutive year. Other notables: Michelle Obama (2nd), Sarah Palin (4th), Michele Bachmann (10th).
  • men President Barack Obama also led for the second consecutive year, taking the top spot in the men’s category. Other notables: George W. Bush (2nd), Newt Gingrich (6th),   Donald Trump (7th), Catholic Pope Benedict XVI (8th). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 11:37

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World: Iran threatens major waterway in fight against U.S. sanctions

  • Closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces. Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway.
  • Iranian Adm. Habibollah Sayyari • Claiming that Iran has the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major waterway that’s extremely important for the distribution of one-sixth of the world’s oil. Sayyari’s threats come as Iran worries that the U.S. and its allies will start to sanction Iran’s all-important oil supply out of frustration with the country’s controversial nuclear program. Congress recently passed a bill to sanction the country’s central bank, which Obama plans to sign despite having misgivings about the effects it might have. As tensions continue to rise over Iran’s nuclear program, could military action become an option for the U.S.? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 11:09

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Music: 2011 in music: Adele’s “21” scores biggest album sales since 2004

  • 3% increase in U.S. music sales in 2011 — some welcome news
  • 5.6M number of copies Adele sold of her mega-popular second album, “21,” in the U.S. alone in 2011 — and the second-place album isn’t even close to her
  • 7.9M number of copies R&B crooner Usher sold of his 2004 mega-hit “Confessions” — the last time an album sold more than 5 million copies in a single year
  • 11M number of copies N’Sync sold of its 2000 album “No Strings Attached” — just to give you an idea of how much the industry’s changed in the MP3 era source
  • » A major mark in a new era: What makes Adele’s album sales all the more impressive is that so much has happened since 2004 throughout the music industry. In 2004, CDs were very much the dominant medium, and iTunes was still fairly new, with its mix-and-match nature only starting to make its mark. Now, we have Spotify, Rdio and Mog — services which threaten to get us out of the habit of buying albums altogether. Is it possible that Adele’s mark is a once-in-a-decade thing, or has the industry begun to recover from a decade of bad decisions and splintering at the hands of technology — by focusing on nurturing good artists?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Dec 2011 10:27

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World: In case you missed it: Kim Jong-Il’s highly-choreographed funeral

  • Last night was just strange: Euronews’ “No Comment” YouTube channel did us a favor and edited down this meandering feed, where (in one scene) the camera focused on a building for ten minutes, down to two minutes that really give you the gist. We’ll choose not to debate on whether the tears were real. Instead, let’s discuss what this shows about North Korean culture. The Telegraph argues that it shows that North Korea is really a monarchy or royal dynasty, despite its reputation as a communist nation — and that Kim Jong-Un is without a doubt the country’s leader. And the Christian Science Monitor disputes (in a slideshow) that the country is really as isolated as the West has come to believe. And MSNBC parses the funeral through the eyes of South Korea — and what they find is a giant bout of disinterest. What did you get out of this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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