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11 Oct 2011 10:22

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World: Twitter trolls try to control the conversation on Bahrain

  • They start working and finish all together. Which means, it’s like a job. They talk about Iran, sectarian warfare — they use common words and they never discuss. They just come to fight.
  • London-based Bahrain blogger Hussain Yousif • Describing the trolls that have come up on Twitter around Bahrain-related topics; trolls which seem to work on a 9-5 schedule. We’ve noticed a bit of signal-jamming in our day as well — there were a lot of pro-Libya protesters on both Twitter and YouTube who tried to cloud the information actually coming out about Libya, for example — so we totally believe this. Have you guys, especially the ones closely following the news in the Middle East, run into anything like this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 23:32

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World: Hurricane Jova, two other storms strengthen in Pacific

  • Another strong storm in a strong Pacific hurricane season: Currently a Category 3 storm, Jova could become a Category 4 relatively soon. It’s already the fifth major Pacific hurricane this season, and it’s one of three storms currently brewing along the Mexican coast. Either way, when it makes landfall, expect “torrential rain and coastal flooding.” Different models suggest that the storm could head a number of different directions — including a direct hit on Mexico. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one, folks. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 23:21

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World: Study: Chocolate could help lower heart risk for women

  • claimEat more chocolate (in moderation), have a lower risk of getting a stroke? A Swedish study of 33,000 women seemed to come to that sweet confectionary conclusion. Dark chocolate had a better effect on heart health than other kinds.
  • rebuttal Doctors still haven’t recommended chocolate as the best way to reduce the risk of having a stroke, though. They do recommend “blood pressure medicine, quitting smoking, exercising more and eating a healthier diet.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 21:40

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World: WTF: Wikileaks diplomatic cable claims Jamaicans are terror threat

  • Although not widely known, Jamaicans have been involved in some of the worst or potentially devastating acts of terrorism of the last decade.
  • A recently-uncovered Wikileaks cable from a U.S. diplomat in Jamaica • Suggesting that Jamaicans are a serious terror threat … a claim that the diplomat makes by linking three separate notable terror incidents in the past decade to people of Jamaican descent: Shoe bomber Richard Reid (his parents were Jamaican), D.C. sniper co-conspirator Lee Boyd Malvo and 2005 London bomber Germaine Lindsay. As Talking Points Memo points out, the ties are weak at best, making this 2010 diplomatic cable a bit of a bizarre footnote in the annals of Wikileaks — one with plenty of bizarre footnotes already. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 14:41

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World: Far-left party gains unexpected strength in Polish Parliament

  • We’re fighting a culture of delegalisation. In Poland, you go to jail for insulting the President, for a word, for insulting religious feelings, insulting an official. You go to jail for drinking beer and then walking with your bike. You go to jail for smoking a joint. For abortion. This is a nihilist policy which hurts people.
  • Janusz Palikot, Polish MP • Laying out a cursory platform for his eponymous “Palikot Movement,” a far-left political party which unexpectedly surged in Poland’s election on Sunday, capturing 10% of the vote. Palikot now sits atop the relatively inexperienced liberal wing of the Polish parliament, and has been uncompromising in his advocacy of a liberal secularization of Poland. Of particular note, given the prominent role the Catholic Church plays in public life in Poland — he’s calling for an end to public funding for religious courses taught in state schools. Palikot, a former vodka magnate, was first elected in 2005. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 20:50

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World: Egyptian violence heats up after Coptic Christian protests

  • Both sides blame the military for the escalation: While protests had roots in a conflict around a Christian church, the violence reached unprecedented heights, with at least 24 killed and 213 injured, and gruesome photos (which are on AP, but we won’t publish) telling the story of a devastating scene. “What happened today is unprecedented in Egypt. 17 corpses crushed by military tanks,” tweeted human rights activist Hossam Bahgat. “I saw bodies missing hands and legs, heads twisted away or plastered to the ground.” This Al Jazeera English clip above does a pretty decent job of explaining what led to the protests — the worst since the fall of Mubarak. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2011 23:16

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World: Yemeni opposition not exactly buying Saleh resignation claims

  • claim Longstanding Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, fresh from recovering from an assassination attempt that left most of his body burned, claimed on state television that he would be resigning from office soon. Finally.
  • dismissal However, Saleh has made this type of claim on three separate occasions since April, a period which included months of incapacitation. The boy who cried wolf? More like the leader that cried “stepping down!” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Oct 2011 12:46

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World: Is the Nobel Peace Prize’s approach to the Arab Spring the right one?

  • We have included the Arab Spring in this prize, but we have put it in a particular context. Namely, if one fails to include the women in the revolution and the new democracies, there will be no democracy.
  • Nobel Prize Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland • Explaining how the committee worked the Arab Spring into the Nobel Peace Prize while giving it a broader context — the repression of women. One of the three winners, Yemen’s Tawakkul Karman, has been a leader the anti-government protests in that country. The other two, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee represent different parts of the issue — Sirleaf is Africa’s first freely elected female leader, while Gbowee led a successful campaign against the usage of rape as a weapon during Liberia’s civil war. As the Arab Spring has plenty of moments which might be considered problematic for giving out a Nobel Peace Prize (such as war and violence), this is a compromise that de-emphasizes all that, while focusing on a quite-important issue. Think it’s the right approach? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2011 11:24

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World: Greek austerity protests: Tens of thousands take part in massive strike

Roughly 16,000 people showed up for protests in Athens, and another 10,000 showed up in the northern city of Thessaloniki. The protests are in reaction to expected job cutbacks due to austerity measures. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2011 10:38

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World: Amanda Knox, now out of jail, has massive debts to pay back

  • $1 million in legal costs incurred by Knox and her family source
  • » Two words: Book deal. Ananda Knox’s freedom wasn’t cheap, but it was a financial burden Knox was willing to pay. Her family had to foot most of the bill: Her parents both had to get second mortgages and dip into their retirement savings; her grandmother had to get a $250,000 loan. Fortunately for Knox, her story will prove to be very valuable to publishers. Sources say that she already started working on a memoir while in prison.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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