Sadly, the government of Afghanistan had become a byword for corruption. And I am not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm’s way for a government that does not stand up against corruption.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown • Discussing his plans for Afghanistan in fairly harsh terms. Considering Brown’s talking about Afghanistan right as Obama’s trying to figure out his own plans for sending troops to the country, his words carry extra weight. • source
She came across as a lovely young girl, and I’m sure it wasn’t a nice feeling for the judge to send someone like this to prison — but someone is dead because of a text message.
Oxford, England police officer Bill Sykes • Describing Phillipa Curtis, who was sentenced to 21 months in prison for a car crash that led to the death of up-and-coming fashion designer Victoria McBryde. What caused the crash? Curtis was texting on her phone. While McBryde’s parents feel the sentence was too lenient, many others feel it wasn’t. The U.K. has some of the strictest texting-while-driving laws in the world. While Curtis was not sending a text message at the time of the crash, she was sending a number of them around the time the crash happened – enough to convict her on. Scary. And sad. • source
The British National Party‘s Nick Griffin is a combination of Nick Frost of “Shaun of the Dead” and Peter Griffin of “Family Guy.” Except he’s racist. Big time.
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There were people sitting in rows on the floor; … there were others being interrogated at little desks in the corridor because the interrogation rooms were full. I heard questions and shouts coming from the interrogation rooms and the occasional slap.
Iason Athanasiadis • Talking about the Iranian jail in the midst of a pretty scary response to election protests. Athanasiadis, a British-Greek journalist who speaks Farsi, was held in Tehran’s Evin prison for 18 days along with many jailed protesters. He’s a freelance reporter who often writes for the Washington Times. • source
This early version of the Declaration of Independence was discovered a few months ago and verified conveniently just before the 4th of July. Great job on that whole timing thing, National Archives! source