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

11 Jan 2012 21:24

tags

Politics: Rick Perry bracing for last stand in South Carolina

  • Iowa’s a fine state. New Hampshire’s… it’s an interesting place. They winnowed the field down. South Carolina picks presidents.
  • Rick Perry • Trying to play to a crowd at a South Carolina restaurant (called Lizards’ Thicket, curiously). Perry has gone all-in on South Carolina — he had a staggeringly poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, placing in fifth, and barely even tried to compete in considerably more moderate New Hampshire. Instead he’s relying on a more religious, socially-conservative GOP base in South Carolina to pull his campaign out of the doldrums. How successfully he can run on social issues while still being likable to a general audience is an open question, though; arguably his most pointed “culture war” ad of the race was received about as poorly as one could conceive. Anything short of a miracle comeback on the 21st, and you can wave the Perry campaign goodbye. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 20:49

tags

World: Reports suggest fracturing within Arab League monitors in Syria

  • “It does not serve anything”: Those were the words of an unnamed Arab League monitor, decrying the lack of purpose and efficacy of the delegation in Syria. Just yesterday, an Algerian monitor named Anwar Malek left Syria, calling the effort “a farce,” a sentiment this anonymous skeptic agrees with: “The Syrian authorities have exploited the weakness in the performance of the delegation to not respond. There is no real response on the ground.” The U.N. estimates that of the over 5,000 people killed by the Syrian government in the last ten months, a whopping 400 have occurred since the monitors arrived. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 20:26

tags

Politics: Mississippi judge blocks 21 of Haley Barbour’s pardons

  • Checked by the judiciary: Thanks to a request by Mississippi’s Democratic Attorney General, Jim Hood, 21 of the 208 pardons issued by outgoing Governor Haley Barbour yesterday have been blocked. Hood objected on the grounds that the convicts in question failed to give sufficient notice they were seeking the pardons, which he claims amounts to a violation of the state’s constitution on Barbour’s part. Barbour defended his decision today, in a statement emphasizing the relatively low rate of currently serving prisoners released, as well as medical considerations. (Photo by Gage Skidmore) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 20:16

tags

World: More on the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan

  • How it happened: Mostafa Roshan was being taken to work when two people on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to the side of his car, which then exploded. Roshan was killed in the blast, and his driver suffered fatal wounds. Roshan, the deputy director of commerce for the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was likely targeted for his prominent role in the facility, which is at the center of a major controversy over what the U.S. sees as a push by Iran to create nuclear weapons. Roshan, in his role, would likely have been in charge of procuring materials to build nuclear fuel. The U.S. has denied any role in his death. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 15:18

tags

U.S.: Mississippi ex-Governor Haley Barbour goes on pardon spree on last day in office

  • 208 pardons by Haley Barbour on his last day in office source
  • » The power of the pen: In a move that shocked the Mississippi political system and jumbled up the traditional left-right orthodoxies on law and order, outgoing Governor Haley Barbour used his last day in office to pardon 208 inmates, among them 14 convicted murderers, as well as the older brother of former NFL quarterback Brett Favre. This deluge has both led Democratic lawmakers to push for future restrictions on the gubernatorial right to pardon. To be sure, it’s wrong to decry a particular pardon without knowing all the facts. But waiting until the last day of an eight-year tenure, with no more accountability in sight? That’s always going to cause controversy, and rightly so. Edit: Fixed an error. Sorry about that all :/
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 14:39

tags

World: Syria’s Assad pledges victory over “terrorist” movement

  • I belong to this street. We will make this phase the end for them and their plans. We are going to win without any doubt.
  • Bashar al-Assad • In remarks made to a pro-Assad rally in Damascus. This represents clearly the ongoing narrative by Assad’s government in dismissing the accusations of widespread, lethal violence against the public; the death-toll, while acknowledged, is suggested to be the work of terrorists rather than state security forces themselves (for an illuminating look into these propaganda methods, look at the state news agency’s website). The UN estimates that Assad’s government has killed over 5,000 civilians during the last ten months. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 14:10

tags

U.S.: Guantanamo Bay has seen a decade as a detainee facility

  • A controversial anniversary: It was ten years ago to the day that the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba was turned into a prison facility, designed to house suspected terrorist detainees indefinitely, pending a process of oft-criticized military tribunals. For the Obama administration, this was an occasion they once hoped (and indeed promised) would not happen; the President’s first full day in office was marked with the signing of an order to close the facility within a year. Three years on, and the failure to fulfill this promise (as well as the absence of any earnest public explanation of it) does beg the question: was this truly a moral issue for the President, or simply a made-to-order, feel-good issue to stoke a liberal base? Check the link for a very thoughtful piece on the anniversary of Gitmo from The Atlantic’s Andrew Cohen. (photo by Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 Jan 2012 15:22

tags

World: Large quake near Indonesia; tsunami warnings in effect

  • 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits off coast of Indonesia source
  • » A tsunami warning is in effect: The earthquake struck shortly after midnight local time, some 262 miles off the coast of Banda Aceh, Sumatra. There are, so far, no reports of casualties or damages, but Indonesian officials have confirmed the tsunami alert. The caution is entirely sensible; it was in late 2004 that a large earthquake triggered a catastrophic tsunami which struck Indonesia, killing nearly a quarter-million people.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2012 14:39

tags

U.S.: College age booze-bingers average 9 drinks per binge session

  • So says the Center for Disease Control. Their study on binge-drinking, released today, trumpets this very concerning figure, though some vital context is missing; obviously, what type of alcohol is being consumed is going to play a role in just how dangerous this is. There isn’t really a type of alcoholic beverage you can consume nine times over that wouldn’t leave you blindingly or dangerously drunk, however, and as a public health issue this can’t be ignored. (Photo by libraryrachel) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2012 14:18

tags

U.S.: Panel awards compensation to victims of North Carolina eugenics program

  • $50,000 for each victim sterilized source
  • » This is justice? For some background, from 1929 to 1974, the North Carolina engaged in a eugenics program ostensibly designed to remove criminals and the mentally disturbed from the gene pool through state-mandated sterilization. Pretty heinous, right? Well, the panel decided to award the above figure to all “verified” victims (the state estimates between 1,500 and 2,000 victims may still be alive, but only 72 are verified). As it happens, $50,000 is about double the average yearly income in North Carolina, a pretty modest compensation for having the very right to create life stripped for all time by the state.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>