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12 Jan 2011 20:06

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World: Poor Ai Weiwei: China tears down prominent artist’s studio

See this unlucky guy right here? He’s an artist. He once built an art studio. China didn’t like his anti-communist views, so they tore it down. Now he doesn’t have an art studio. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2010 11:47

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Politics: Three reasons Clarence Thomas’ wife is bad for Clarence Thomas

  • one Virginia Thomas works at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that suggested appointees for Bush while the 2000 election was contested.
  • two She’s already a well-known figure among conservative activists, and now heads a new Tea-Partyish, anti-Obama nonprofit called Liberty Central.
  • three There’s no word on where the sizable funding for the organization, which she hopes “will be bigger than the Tea Party movement,” has come from. source
  • » What this means for Clarence Thomas: He may have to recuse himself from a number of politically-oriented cases because of his wife’s extracurricular activities, which, as a private citizen, she’s totally allowed to do. If Liberty Central were to take off, it could be a glaring conflict of interest for the court’s most conservative judge.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 13:43

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World: Report: Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Farinas could die

  • 129 number of days he’s been on a prolonged hunger strike
  • Why did he protest?Since Feburary 24, Farinas has been hunger striking to protest the imprisonment of numerous political activists, as well as the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner who died during his own hunger strike.
  • His current statusFarinas is currently at Arnaldo Milian Castro University Hospital in Santa Clara. His doctor says he’s being fed a little via intravenous feeding and has gained weight, but has a blood clot that could prevent blood from getting to his heart.
  • A surprising facetPerhaps the most interesting thing about the Farinas situation is that the source which reported on the opposition activist was Granma, a communist newspaper – and they played it very big, devoting two of their eight pages to him. source
  • » Programming note: This is based on an AP article, which as you might know, we try to avoid here at the ShortFormHQ. But this article seemed important enough that it was worth bypassing the picket line, at least today.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jun 2010 11:55

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World: The “Rachel Corrie” Israel/Gaza incident much more subdued

  • We are not afraid.Everyone on the boat is very calm.
  • Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire • Aboard the Rachel Corrie, an aid ship headed to Gaza, not long before it was intercepted. Unlike the prior flotilla act a week ago, there was no violence this time. In fact, Israeli authorities boarded with the activists’ permission this time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jun 2010 10:27

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World: Flotilla activists chewed up, spit out after Israel stops detaining them

They’re not in Israel anymore, but they’re not back home, either. It’s kinda like they just threw them out on the edge of the curb, eh? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

27 Apr 2010 20:10

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U.S.: Two places where an economic boycott of Arizona would hurt

  • baseball The state’s MLB team, the
    Arizona Diamondbacks, could face empty (or emptier) seats across the country thanks to a boycott.
  • tourism The Grand Canyon is a huge
    driver of tourism in the state;
    activist groups are telling people
    to stay away. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Mar 2010 20:50

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U.S.: Civil diso-awesome: Gay soldier Dan Choi chains self to White House

Choi, who’s fighting his removal from the National Guard, is sort of a cause celebre among gay activists right now. Chaining yourself to the White House sounds awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Oct 2009 20:16

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U.S.: The National Equality March: A vivid display of activism in D.C.

  • This is their moment. You knew that this wouldn’t be any march on Washington when Obama openly big-upped the movement and said he would end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” last night. But for the thousands of people in D.C. today (seriously, we were nearby, the crowd was massive and meaningful in size), that was only a start. They want him to keep going. Will he? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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