Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

21 Sep 2011 09:49

tags

World: American hikers freed from Iranian prison … finally

  • what After a process delayed by a judge’s vacation, American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were reportedly freed from an Iranian prison this morning.
  • how The two men were freed on a $500,000 bond — each — but the source of the bond money is being kept a secret by the lawyer for the men. Anonymous donor?
  • why The Iranian government jailed the men (and a woman who was with them) on spying charges, but their main crime seems to be trespassing. Crisis over. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 22:18

tags

World: How heavily does the Chinese government censor the Internet?

  • 1.3 million websites shut down by the Chinese gov’t last year source
  • » This means there were 41% fewer websites accessible to China’s residents at the end of last year, compared to a year earlier. And the statistic comes directly from the Chinese government itself (well, a government-run think tank, at least), so it’s probably not an overstatement.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2011 02:02

tags

World: Over one-third of human beings aren’t free

  • The tree-hugging hippies over at Freedom House have released their “Worst of the Worst” report, detailing the world’s most egregious violators of human rights, political expression, and other basic freedoms. The usual suspects are all there: North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, Libya, Burma (Myanmar), and Tibet top the list, with China, Cuba, and several others not far behind. The organization concluded that 35% of the world’s population lives in “Not Free” states, while 45% of countries can be considered “Free,” a 14% increase from thirty years ago. The full report is well-worth the read. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2011 16:10

tags

World: More on France’s veil ban: Who does this help, really?

  • Protests over French veil ban: As we mentioned earlier today, France has banned the full-faced Islamic veil (imposing a fine of 150 euros for violators), which is provoking some understandable dissent. A question for France: For a Muslim who wears the veil, how is this anything but crass discrimination? And for somebody without religious faith, how is this anything but the government fining people for their fashion choices? Any way you slice it, it comes out awful. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2011 13:19

tags

World: China insists Ai Weiwei’s arrest isn’t about freedom

  • [It is my] understanding the public security authorities are investigating Ai Weiwei according to law on suspicion of economic crimes… This has nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression.
  • Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei • Seeking to dismiss claims that his government arrested famed artist and dissident Ai Weiwei for political reasons, at a news conference. Weiwei’s family (in addition, frankly, to most everyone else) isn’t buying it. Chinese law states that officials must notify the family of an arrested citizen within 24 hours of the detention, and Ai’s wife has heard nothing: “As of 8 A.M. today, it has been 96 hours since Ai Weiwei was taken away from Beijing airport, and I haven’t heard a single word about him.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Nov 2010 11:23

tags

World: Aung San Suu Kyi freed, but she’s really the tip of the iceberg

  • one Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist (Aung San Suu Kyi) freed after 15 straight years under house arrest
  • 2,000 other political activists imprisoned in Myanmar without quite the same pedigree source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Sep 2010 13:49

tags

World: Par for the course: Hiker in Iran supposed to be released, isn’t

Sarah Shourd, right, was supposed to be freed this week, but Iran suddenly changed their minds. Two other hikers remain in custody after a year. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Aug 2010 23:12

tags

Tech: Will Cheezburger Network’s Ben Huh tweeted Reddit offer work?

Condé Nast, I’m publicly offering to buy Reddit.: This was an email I sent to one of our sites, The Daily What: Hi… http://bit.ly/9keWv1Sat Aug 28 00:44:56 via twitterfeedbenhuh
benhuh

  • What happened? Reddit wanted to accept ads in favor of California’s pot-legalizing Prop. 19, which owner Condé Nast said was a big no-no. So they offered to run the ads for free.
  • A tweeted offer Not long after, Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh made an unsolicited offer to buy the business from Condé Nast. And he tweeted it. That’s postmodern.
  • Why that may be bad Ben Huh severely underpays his workers for work that requires a college education. We already covered it in detail. We don’t need to say anything else. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2010 09:33

tags

World: Since Israel won’t allow it, Egypt opens up its Gaza Strip border

  • It’s a tiny strip that’s only been open for small periods since 2007. While Egypt still has beef with Hamas, they opened that strip so Gaza could get humanitarian aid into the enclave, which is otherwise completely surrounded by Israel (or Israel-blocked water). Hard materials – like steel and concrete to rebuild from the 2009 bombings by Israel – wouldn’t be allowed through Egypt, however. Still a big step, though. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2010 21:05

tags

Tech: Twitter app developers starting to get annoyed by the mothership

  • When we launched, Twitter was incomplete, so developers rushed to fill those holes, but eventually we’re going to have to build a lot of features in because they should be there. We want to set those expectations.
  • Twitter co-founder and chief executive Evan Williams • Regarding the company’s push to build out that infrastructure that app developers had previously built out for the company. Now that the company’s large enough to buy or build some of those apps themselves, it’s causing a bit of nervousness amongst developers. Many are excited about/dreading Twitter’s Chirp conference this week as a result. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>