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12 Sep 2010 09:48

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World: So, Iran’s ready to free detained hiker after all apparently

  • Blame the delay on a power struggle. Apparently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to release Sarah Shourd to prove his country respected the “dignity” of women. Other top leaders reportedly complained about his reasoning. So now, Shourd will reportedly be let go on $500,000 bail and can leave the country, but will have to return for trial to face spying charges (fat chance). She can now reportedly go at any time. The other two hikers can’t ‘cuz they’re guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Sep 2010 13:49

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World: Par for the course: Hiker in Iran supposed to be released, isn’t

Sarah Shourd, right, was supposed to be freed this week, but Iran suddenly changed their minds. Two other hikers remain in custody after a year. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2010 10:44

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World: Joran Van der Sloot to newspaper: Yeah, I extorted that girl’s family

  • I wanted to get back at Natalee’s family. Her parents have been making my life tough for five years.
  • Joran Van der Sloot • Admitting, via a Dutch newspaper, that he tried to extort Natalee Holloway’s parent’s in an attempt to get back at them. He has been charged with wire fraud in a case involving the Holloway family, $250,000 and a lot of BS. Also, a Peruvian court ruled that he is not being held unlawfully for his charges – he’s the prime suspect in a murder case in that country. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2010 00:07

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World: Dear Pastor Terry Jones: Afghanistan doesn’t like you either

  • florida Paster Terry Jones plans to burn a bunch of Korans this week as part of “Burn a Koran Day” on 9/11. Classy, dude, classy.
  • afghanistanAfghans, however, didn’t wait to burn American flags and an effigy of Jones in anticipation of the pretty dumb event. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 20:31

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World: WikiLeaks leaders to Julian Assange: Step down, brah

  • I am not angry with Julian, but this is a situation that has clearly gotten out of hand. These personal matters should have nothing to do with WikiLeaks. I have strongly urged him to focus on the legalities that he’s dealing with and let some other people carry the torch.
  • Wikileaks organizer Birgitta Jonsdottir • Offering some insight into the Wikieaks organization’s stance on their leader. Short answer: They want him out, and have been pushing him to quit for two weeks. Jonsdottir, who also serves in Iceland’s parliament, has a pretty solid sum-up of the public face of Wikileaks at the end of this Daily Beast article: “Julian is brilliant in many ways, but he doesn’t have very good social skills. And he’s a classic Aussie in the sense that he’s a bit of a male chauvinist.” Ahahahaha, oh boy. TechCrunch suggests that Assange’s personal problems don’t make him a good leader. Hm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 15:40

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World: Fidel Castro uses the Internet enough for the rest of Cuba

  • 13% of Cuba has access to the internet, which is only accessible by expensive satellite access (that’s a lower average than Haiti, even!)
  • 200+ the number of news items Fidel Castro reports to read daily, which is kind of a lot; he’s obsessed with Wikileaks, too source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 14:37

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World: Dramatic death, damage tolls in Guatemala landslides

  • 36+ people have died in the mudslides
  • 40+ are reportedly still missing in the mud
  • 40k+ are now homeless due to the storms source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

05 Sep 2010 13:23

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World: ETA: Basque separatists in Spain claim they’re done fighting

  • These guys really wanted to break off from Spain and build their own country. They did it using violent means, and over the past 40 years, over 850 people died at their hands. But today, Basque separatists ETA have claimed to lay down their arms, weakened by a tough year full of arrests. We’ll see if this holds up, or if these pirate ghost-looking dudes are just bluffing. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 12:56

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World: Good idea: Pope may get involved in Iranian stoning case

  • The Holy See is following the case with attention and participation. The position of the church, which is opposed to the death penalty, is that stoning is a particularly brutal form.
  • Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi • Informing the world that Pope Benedict XVI is willing to get diplomatically involved in the Iran stoning case if it escalates any further. The case, if you’re not aware, involves Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery in a case that involved the death of her husband. She was sentenced to stoning, which involves groups of people throwing stones at the person convicted – not exactly a fun way to die. (She was also sentenced to 99 lashes because of a newspaper photo that was reportedly not even of her.) The fact that this has the Pope’s attention raises hope that there might be a diplomatic solution to the humanitarian crisis. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Sep 2010 22:21

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World: Christchurch, New Zealand quake’s cost almost entirely monetary

  • no
    deaths     the good part about yesterday’s big quake in New Zealand
  • $1.4 billion the estimate of damages from the quake; that’s the bad part source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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