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01 Sep 2011 10:27

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World: Australian outlaw Ned Kelly’s remains discovered via DNA testing

  • So that’s where that Heath Ledger movie came from. The headless remains of notorious bucket-clad Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, whose plight was the subject of the first feature-length film ever made, were discovered in a former Melbourne prison and — get this — confirmed via DNA testing. Officials were impressed. “To think a group of scientists could identify the body of a man who was executed more than 130 years ago, moved and buried in a haphazard fashion among 33 other prisoners, most of whom are not identified, is amazing,” said Victoria Attorney General Robert Clark. Next challenge: Figuring out if he and Buckethead are distant relatives. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2011 21:17

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U.S., World: Tropical Storm Katia could become Hurricane Katia overnight

  • yeah … Meteorologists expect Tropical Storm Katia to strengthen into a hurricane tonight — making it the second Atlantic-based hurricane in a week. (Dunno if you heard, but the last one was a bit of a doozy.) The storm’s current path shows Katia moving west-northwest toward North America.
  • … but Don’t freak out yet, though — the storm may never actually hit land. See, storms in the Atlantic often get blown off course by jet stream winds that run west-to-east across the U.S. Those winds plus east-to-west winds across Africa cause the storm to “recurve.” Many hurricanes die out this way. source
  • » A coulda-been Katrina: Storm-trackers give hurricanes their names based on six standardized lists that they then cycle through; each year has a different list, so we’ll see 2011’s list again in 2017. Had 2005 not been a devastating year of storms, Katia would still be “Katrina”.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2011 16:29

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World: Researchers conclude unprecedently old origin date for stone tools

  • 1.76million-year-old tools oldest known of Homo erectus source
  • » Spanning the depths of time: American researchers working at Columbia University have determined the age of a collection of stone tools discovered near Lake Turkana, Kenya, dating them st the above figure. They used a paleomagnetic method to achieve this, as the silt and hardened clay on the tools preserved a record of the earth’s magnetic polarity. By analyzing the polarity reversals that have occurred over time, the researchers drew this conclusion. This would make them the earliest known example of Homo erectus tools, with 2 million years being the most common estimate as to when erectus evolved. Isn’t science fun?
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2011 15:26

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World: Libyan transition deputy chairman says Gaddafi is in Bani Walid

  • Libyan rebels believe Gaddafi is cornered: The New York Times is reporting that the Libyan rebels believe Muammar Gaddafi has been pinned down in Bani Walid, a desert town that sits about 150 miles from Tripoli. Said Abdul Hafith Ghoga, the deputy chairman of Libya’s transition council: “Since today we have learned that he is staying in Bani Walid, we are waiting to give him a chance to surrender.” It’s worth remembering that yesterday, Libyan council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil gave Gaddafi loyalists a four-day surrender deadline. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2011 11:06

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World: Duh: Gaddafi’s spokesperson rejects demands his boss step down

  • No dignified, honorable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs.
  • Still-around Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim • Denying that his boss would give in to demands that the longstanding Libyan dictator should give in to the rebels. Time’s running out if Gaddafi actually plans to surrender — the rebels plan a major military strike if he doesn’t. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2011 16:57

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World: Yoshihiko Noda is the new Prime Minister of Japan

  • He’s a compromise candidate. He doesn’t have his own independent power base. And he’s not a particularly strong communicator. He’s not a populist at all. He’s sort of a typical throwback to the Japanese prime minister of yore, the faceless grey suits. Even in Japan his name recognition factor is quite low.
  • Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple U’s Japanese campus • Giving a not-so-enthralled take on the new Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda. This article states that Noda, a former finance minister, acknowledged during his campaign that “he was no goldfish, but rather an unattractive loach, a bottom-feeding fish.” We’re endlessly curious how it would be received stateside if Mitt Romney proclaimed his similarity to an ugly, bottom-feeding fish. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2011 16:04

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World: Libyan leader issues ultimatum to Gaddafi loyalists

  • 4 day deadline for Gaddafi forces to surrender, Libyan leader says source
  • » An ultimatum backed by force: Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of Libya’s interim council, issued a deadline to all forces still loyal to the now-hiding Muammar Gaddafi — give up and surrender all remaining control, or else “we will decide this matter militarily.” He emphasized that he doesn’t wish to do this, but doesn’t feel the council can afford to wWith all the work Libya has in front of it, the idea that such things could be put off to acommodate further bloodshed is troubling. Here’s hoping for a clean, civil laying down of arms.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Aug 2011 10:20

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World: Weird timing: Gaddafi’s only daughter gives birth in Algeria

Aisha Gaddafi, referred to as the “Claudia Schiffer” of the Arab region in this CNN article, reportedly just gave birth a day after leaving Libya with her mom. She lost a daughter during a NATO airstrike in April. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 21:39

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World: WikiLeaks criticized for releasing cables with names unredacted

  • redacted In recent months, WikiLeaks made a name for itself by releasing diplomatic cables with the help of media outlets that parsed through the data and helped ensure the data redacted names and other sensitive data from the cables.
  • unredacted Recently, however, WikiLeaks has gone back to simply releasing the cables on its own, using Twitter as a main mechanism. This time, however, the redacted names are staying in — giving officials and human rights activists pause. source
  • » Remaining defiant amid criticism: WikiLeaks did not take kindly to the New York Times portrayal of this story, by the way. “Sorry, NYT,” the organization wrote on its Twitter feed just as we were typing this all in, “It doesn’t matter how many sleazy hack jobs like Ravi Somaiya you hire, we’ve out published your Pentagon tabloid already.” Somaiya co-wrote wrote a fairly unflattering profile of Assange that ran with the diplomatic cables they published.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 20:27

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World: VIDEO: U.S. ambassador to Syria gets assaulted by pro-Assad demonstrator

  • Note: The clip above is not in English. One thing the highly-produced clip does show,, though, around the two minute mark, is the assault of Robert Ford, the Damascus-based U.S. ambassador to Syria, who was ambushed by pro-Assad demonstrators. One of the protesters tried to wrap him up in a posters that features the Syrian leader’s face. So the real question, of course, is, how did he allow himself to get into such a situation? Just in case you’re wondering since you don’t understand Arabic — the clip they show is something of the Syrian equivalent of a Nancy Grace report, and is totally stilted and biased. “[The clip is] a weak, banal, laughable attempt by the Syrian thugs to have the international community focus on anything but the real story,” a State Department official said, “which is the government’s continuing campaign of terror on its own people through torture, murder and illegal imprisonment.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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