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21 Mar 2011 14:15

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World: Yemeni Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar defects

  • Top Yemeni General defects: Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar broke with the Saleh government in Yemen today, following a recent surge of violence in that’s been said to have claimed more than fifty civilian lives. The twist? Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar is also the half brother of President Saleh, and has decided to send troops to guard the civilian protesters. While the Yemeni population seems appreciative of this new ally, there are concerns about the General’s close history with Saleh, and his consequent military operations against northern Shiites, now a core of support for the uprising (some want him prosecuted for war crimes). This also makes it likely that a post-Saleh era in Yemen will be ushered in through military rule, which can make people a little nervous. (Trigger warning: Some graphic images in the clip.) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Mar 2011 10:41

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World: Pedophilia bust update: One guy had millions of pictures. Yuck.

  • 2 million number of photos a Bosnian man recently caught in a child porn bust had in his possession, authorities say
  • 4,000 number of videos the man had; he was just one of 70,000 members of the recently-broken-up ring source
  • » And worse: The unidentified man, referred to as an “important member” of the pedophilia ring, had a suitcase full of children’s clothes. Officials say he was “producing and posting online child sexual abuse materials.” Ugh. Disgusting.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Mar 2011 10:24

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Tech, World: Google: China’s messing with users’ Gmail accounts

  • then Google reported they had been victim of cyberattacks around January of last year. Come to find out it was China. They made a big stink about it, had their access temporarily revoked in China, and eventually moved to Hong Kong. It was kind of a big deal.
  • now In the wake of potential Jasmine Revolution uprisings, Google’s now accusing China of messing with Gmail — hurting users’ abilities to send e-mails and mark them read. Google thinks China is using a vulnerability in IE to compromise Gmail’s usability. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Mar 2011 10:05

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World: Protip to U.S. soldiers: Don’t kill civilians and take “kill photos”

  • The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers’ performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations (in Afghanistan).
  • A statement from the U.S. Army • Regarding a series of photos released by German magazine Der Spiegel which show U.S. soldiers taking photos with a man illegally killed in Afghanistan. The “kill photos” were reportedly part of a large series of thousands of photos the Army has tried to keep under wraps, fearing the result could be an even bigger black mark than Abu Ghraib. Some of the soldiers are already being prosecuted for their actions, which involved defenseless Afghan civilians whose deaths were reportedly staged to look like combat casualties. But things could get far worse from here. (Also: If you want to see the photos, look elsewhere.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Mar 2011 12:30

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World: Survivors still getting rescued in Japan, nine days after the quake

  • In case you need a reminder of the concept of keeping hope alive, watch this. These are people who got rescued NINE DAYS after the quake. And one of the people, an elderly woman named Sumi Abe, was 80. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Mar 2011 12:18

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World: Arab League: We wanted a no-fly zone in Libya, not airstrikes

  • What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians.
  • Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa • Speaking about the current airstrike campaign in Libya. It’s important to note that the Arab League — who, as you might remember, wanted a no-fly zone in Libya — is speaking out against the current campaign. Moussa says he’s also calling for an emergency Arab League meeting. So this could become more of a “thing” than it already is. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Mar 2011 11:42

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World: Japan finds more radiation-laden foods, limits their sale

  • bad As we reported yesterday, a number of food items from the region near Fukushima — including milk and spinach — had high levels of radiation in them, leading to considerable concern in Japan.
  • worse Now, more foods have tested positive for radiation — including canola and chrysanthemum greens. Now, Japan has restricted sales of food from anywhere near Fukushima. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 Mar 2011 11:22

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World: Japan quake: A massive death toll, with thousands more missing

  • 8,450 the official death toll from the quake so far
  • 12,931 the number of people still missing over a week after the quake
  • 118,000 support personnel are on the ground assisting in the recovery source
  • » A huge relief budget, still not enough: The city of Sendai, which is roughly the center point of the quake and Tsunami, has gathered an extra budget of roughly $220 million. Even that will likely not be enough. “No one believes this will be enough to cope with reconstruction,” said a Sendai city spokesperson. “This disaster will cause severe damage to city finances.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Mar 2011 11:08

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World: Libya: Gaddafi’s grumpy, calling attacking allied nations “terrorists”

  • You have proven to the world that you are not civilized, that you are terrorists — animals attacking a safe nation that did nothing against you.
  • Muammar Gaddafi • Offering, on Libyan state television, his personal assessment of the countries currently bombing the heck out of Libya. According to CNN, an image of a fist crushing a plane that said “USA” – which kinda looks like this — flashed on the screen. No symbolism in that whatsoever.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Mar 2011 19:50

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World: Operation Odyssey Dawn’s cost (already!): Over $62 million

  • 110 number of Tomahawk missiles that have been fired by U.S. forces over Libya so far
  • $569,000 the cost of each of those missiles, according to the U.S. Navy’s own fact file on the missiles source
  • » Oh, and there are other costs, too: It costs a fighter jet thousands of dollars an hour just to get off the ground — for example, according to a 2009 estimate from The Washington Post, an F-22 (one of the types of fighter jets in use over in Libya) costs around $44,000 per flying hour. And that’s not even discussing manpower or intelligence or other technologies in use. War is expensive. Even a couple of hours in.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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