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09 Jun 2011 14:04

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World: Viagra possibly being used for some horrific stuff in Libya

  • Disturbing allegations An International Criminal Court prosecutor has claimed that Gaddafi is buying a “Viagra-like” drug for his troops to help them commit sexual assaults. The prosecutor is trying to prove that the Gaddafi regime is using sexual assault as a weapon of war. The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has been working on this case for some time and is serious about taking Gaddafi down.
  • Denials on both sides Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, says they haven’t shipped any of their drugs to Libya since the sanctions started back in February. The report says “Viagra-like,” but it’s possible Gaddafi’s troops are getting the real thing from the black market. Libyan spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim also denies the charges, calling them the “same old nonsense.” Either way, this whole thing is disgusting. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 21:40

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World: Americans win “World’s Funniest People” award…but is that a good thing?

  • americans are funny. At least, that was the conclusion drawn from a survey by social networking site Badoo (who?), in which 30,000 people in 15 countries were asked to name the world’s funniest citizens. Americans came out on top, with Spaniards and Italians taking second and third, respectively. But wait–what exactly did they mean by “funny?” Was it in a, “That joke was hilarious!” sort of way, or a “You have toilet paper stuck to your shoe and nobody’s telling you” sort of way? We don’t know, so we’re not sure whether or not Americans should rejoice at this news. Similarly, should Germany be proud or embarrassed that they came in dead last? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 16:44

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World: Are Syrian soldiers defecting instead of combating protests?

  • The Syrian army vs. security: It’s being reported that defections among soldiers in the Syrian military are on the rise, thanks in part to the grisly nature of the deeds they’re being asked to carry out. So says Human Rights Watch researcher Nadim Houry: “…in Daraa, for example, we know there have been some defections and in some cases some soldiers have come under fire from the security forces for defecting.” This allegation isn’t new; security forces have reportedly turned their guns on soldiers unwilling to shoot at civilians for some time now. (Warning: the source article features a graphically unpleasant image of a Syrian policeman who’s been shot dead.) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 11:39

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World: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri eulogizes Osama bin Laden

  • The sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice.
  • Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri • Eulogizing the death of Osama bin Laden in a recently-released 28-minute recording. He had some rough words for the U.S., too, obviously: “Today, and thanks be to God, America is not facing an individual or a group … but a rebelling nation which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance.” Al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda’s longtime number two, was reportedly passed up for the top job after Bin Laden’s death. In other news, a recent poll suggests widespread global support for the killing of Bin Laden, though most people think it won’t change things. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2011 21:04

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World: Homeowner of possible mass grave site explains the blood

  • He got drunk and cut his wrist. It took me all day to clean the inside of the house. I’m not sure I got it [the blood] all.
  • Joe Bankston, the owner of the house at the center of the possible mass grave in Texas • Offering a possible alibi for what happened. (No grave has been found as of yet, but blood has.) Bankston’s daughter lives in the home, and her boyfriend attempted suicide a couple of weeks ago, leaving a large amount of blood. The boyfriend, a soldier who went AWOL, is now in psychiatric care after the incident. Bankston’s son, admittedly a convicted sex offender, hasn’t lived in the region for at least a year. “He lived with us for a little while, but had to go to Michigan about a year ago for a court appearance and never came back,” he said. “Last I heard, he was in Ohio.” Thus far, this sounds like a dysfunctional family with a lot of wrinkles (and big ups to Bankston for being so honest about his family’s troubles), not a mass grave site. A weird case all around. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2011 16:52

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World: Muammar Gaddafi would rather die than surrender

  • We will not kneel! We will not surrender: we only have one choice – to the end! Death, victory, it does not matter, we are not surrendering!
  • Muammar Gaddafi • More or less affirming the attitude he’s been exemplifying for months. His defiant remarks came during a phone call to Libyan state television, during which the sounds of low-flying aircraft were audible over the line, and he quickly hung up. NATO’s offensive strikes in Libya have intensified recently — perhaps the result of President Obama agreeing with British PM David Cameron that it was time to ‘turn up the heat‘ on Gaddafi and his forces? In any event, this much seems clear: Gaddafi would rather die than relinquish command, and NATO doesn’t intend to leave him in power. Gaddafi might get his wish on this one. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2011 11:11

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World: In Zimbabwe, people go to jail for using Robert Mugabe’s bathroom

  • cause A Zimbabewan police officer working a trade fair in Harare had to use the restroom last month, so he used one specifically reserved for president Robert Mugabe. Not the best move, but come on!
  • reaction Rather than laughing it off as no big deal, officials arrested the police officer and imprisoned for a month. He hopes that an appeal to his boss might be enough to overturn a ten-day sentence. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Jun 2011 10:24

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World: Official: Ali Abdullah Saleh’s injuries not minor by any stretch

  • His face was quite charred. The burns are serious; he is not as well as his aides are portraying it.
  • A western official, speaking under condition of anonymity • Describing the condition of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who took a leave of office last week to receive medical care in Saudi Arabia after an attack on his presidential palace. Saleh could still return to power at some point (whether people in Yemen want him to is another story), but based on his current condition, recovery could take a few months. Another possible injury — on top of the burns and the wooden shrapnel that hit close to his heart — might be a punctured lung, which some sources have reported was a side effect of the shrapnel. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 23:21

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World: Dutch Government hatches plot to anger college kids everywhere

In an effort to completely obliterate their tourism industry, Dutch officials want to ban non-residents from visiting weed cafes in the Netherlands. Yeah, we’re as stumped as you are. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 18:07

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World: Bloody day in Iraq for Iraqis, U.S. military

  • five American soldiers killed by a rocket attack on a joint Iraqi-U.S. base today, the single deadliest incident for the U.S. military in two years
  • 18 Iraqis killed today in a series of violent incidents — a car-bombing and suicide bombing feared to be the work of al-Qaeda in Iraq source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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