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06 Apr 2010 10:57

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U.S.: Obama decides to fix U.S.’s Nuclear Posture, cut back big time

  • We are going to want to make sure that we can continue to move towards less emphasis on nuclear weapons … [and to] make sure that our conventional weapons capability is an effective deterrent in all but the most extreme circumstances.
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing his decision to scale back the nation’s nuclear powers, limiting exactly when the weapons can be used. Don’t think he’s going to go all soft on us, though. He’s leaving an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” just in case they decide to try any funny stuff. You know, like threatening to drop a nuke on the U.S. source

30 Mar 2010 10:55

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World: Amnesty International says China executed a lot of people last year

  • 1000’snumber of people executed in China last year, according to Amnesty International – note the lack of firm number here
  • 714 number of people executed in 17 other nations last year, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States source

14 Mar 2010 11:19

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World: A color-coded history of national protest movements

  • red The newest movement, in Thailand, is trying to push out prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva; the red team gave him a Monday deadline to resign.
  • orange Ukraine’s Orange
    Revolution
    took place
    after a 2004 election
    marred by massive
    corruption – but protests
    eventually won out.
  • green The Green Movement, still strong in Iran, gained strength after president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unexpectedly won reelection last year.

18 Feb 2010 08:24

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World: Laugh all you want, but Iran is innovating super-fast

  • 11 times faster growth in science than any other country source

16 Feb 2010 09:05

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World: Ahmadinejad has delusions of making a nuclear deal with the West

  • There are some talks under way over the nuclear fuel swap. The case is not yet closed … we have already announced that we are ready for a fuel exchange within a fair framework.
  • Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Regarding hopes for a nuclear fuel swap despite the fact that they had already started enriching uranium. Iran already missed their chance; the UN’s deal required other countries to enrich the fuel for Iran so that it wasn’t at a high enough grade for them to build weapons. The chance that they’ll be sanctioned is pretty dang high. source

15 Feb 2010 09:20

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U.S., World: Hillary Clinton has a prediction on what happens to Iran next

  • That is how we see it. We see that the government in Iran, the supreme leader, the president, the Parliament, is being supplanted and that Iran is moving towards a military dictatorship.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Speaking at a televised town hall meeting at Carnegie Mellon University. She’s literally suggesting that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps could take power away from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and company based on the intelligence they have. She also notes that UN sanctions would focus on the guards, which control Iran’s nuclear program. Interesting take. source

11 Feb 2010 09:54

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Tech, World: Iran is blocking Gmail, may have bigger plans for the internet

  • This has been going on for more than four days now. I contacted my internet provider and they said it is out of their control.
  • An anonymous Iranian whose internet is getting gummed up • Regarding his frustration with the Web. Iran has already shut down Gmail permanently – we blame Buzz – and has only been allowing limited access to the Web in the wake of the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Google confirmed that they’ve had a sharp drop in traffic from Iran this week. “Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online,” Google wrote. “Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control.” source
 

11 Feb 2010 09:45

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World: The #iranelection protest machine is working on all cylinders

  • The opposition in Iran collectively has brass cajones. In this clip, protesters pull down a pro-government sign. In case you want to see more clips like this, this Facebook page has many.

11 Feb 2010 09:35

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11 Feb 2010 09:28

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World: Iran enriches uranium, God cheers, the rest of the world jeers

  • I would like to notify you and announce with a loud voice that – thank God – our chief nuclear negotiator announced that the produce of fuel at 20% started under the watchful eye of our scientists.
  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Announcing to a crowd that the country that sent worms to space is now enriching uranium at levels high enough to build their own reactors. He notes that they could enrich as high as 80 percent, but they have no need. 20 percent is high enough to anger the West. source