Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

12 Jul 2010 21:01

tags

World: Fidel Castro: The U.S. needs to, you know, stop causing nuclear war

  • Instead of taking practical steps towards the reduction of the chilling threat of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Iran or any other part of the world, the United States is moving towards the control of the vital oil-producing regions of the Middle East – with violent means should other means fail.
  • Former Cuban president Fidel Castro • Speaking in a rare television interview tonight on the United States’ foreign policy, which he says is slowly building up to nuclear war with Iran. It’s an oddly-timed event, seemingly designed to make sure Castro’s stance on foreign policy was still part of the discussion. It worked – he’s currently Twitter’s top trending topic. source

30 Jun 2010 09:51

tags

World: Benigno S. Aquino III, a.k.a. Noynoy: Hope for the Philippines?

Based on Twitter’s unbelievably positive reaction towards the country’s new president, there’s sincere hope he’ll improve the often-volatile country’s quality of life. source

06 Jun 2010 12:18

tags

World: Naoto Kan, Japan’s new prime minister, doesn’t wear ugly shirts

Note the suit that Kan is wearing. It really lends itself to a “take me seriously, United States, you’re a lynchpin of my foreign policy” vibe. source

13 May 2010 10:20

tags

World: In Thailand, a major opposition leader was shot today

Moments after this photo of renegade Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphol (better known as Seh Daeng) was taken, he was shot in the head. A huge loss for the Red Shirts. source

21 Apr 2010 09:56

tags

World: David Cameron has yolk on his face thanks to some hoodie dude

  • What the heck happened? David Cameron, the U.K. Conservative leader went to go visit a college somewhere, and during the visit, some kid draped in a hoodie egged him. People on Twitter have been taking joy in Cameron’s misery today. For his part, he’s having fun with the incident. “Now I know which came first, the chicken not the egg.” (The hoodie, by the way, is also funny: Critics have in the past attacked him for his stance on youth crime, which they derisively call the “hug a hoodie campaign.”) source

20 Apr 2010 10:09

tags

U.S.: Also (sadly) dead: 98-year-old civil rights trailblazer Dorothy Height

The former chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women was one of the few women in a civil rights leadership position. source

18 Apr 2010 11:46

tags

World: This fresh-faced Ugandan kid has way more power than you do

King Oyo, who just turned 18, is now on his own to lead Uganda’s Tooro kingdom. He’s been running it with advisers since his dad died in 1995 – when he was three. source
 

17 Apr 2010 11:59

tags

World: Nick Clegg’s starting to sound a little like Obama circa mid-2008

  • I can’t predict what is going to happen in the election campaign, but I think something exciting is starting to happen. … If a growing number of people do that then the possibilities of doing things differently really are huge.
  • British Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg • Regarding the increase in support his party has seen in recent weeks. The center-left party is doing well in the polls of late, especially in the wake of Clegg’s solid performance during a TV debate earlier this week. He suggests it could be a break from “old politics.” Other British parties are finding ways to criticize this possibility, though: Labour representatives are down on the party’s stance on the Trident nuclear defense system, and Conservative leader David Cameron is quick to leap on the possibility of a hung parliament of the Lib Dems get any more power. source

10 Apr 2010 10:12

tags

World: Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s death has huge symbolic value

  • It is a damned place. It sends shivers down my spine. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the intellectual elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk airport. This is a wound which will be very difficult to heal.
  • Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski • Regarding the plane crash that killed the current Polish president today. Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other Polish leaders and members of the elite were killed on their way to a ceremony commemorating the deaths of many Polish officers at the hands of the Red Army during World War II. This incident feels just as sad. source

17 Feb 2010 11:16

tags

World: Yeah, we got him: Pakistan finally admits to Taliban leader’s arrest

  • Sure took them a while, didn’t it? The arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the reported No. 2 in the Taliban (who’s such a big figure that we don’t even have a photo of him) was met with muted response from Pakistan yesterday, but today, they finally came clean. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, referred to it as an “important arrest,” but didn’t say much else (out of fear?). source