News – More First Steps
Middle East
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki looks to Iraq’s neighbors for help in quelling the violence in the country. This at a first for quite some time. US diplomats sitting down with representatives of said neighbors. I’m far too cynical toward the current administration to hold any optimistic hope at this point, but it is a positive step. Perhaps something will come of it, but I wont’ hold my breath.
Could it be that the militants in Iraq are leading the way in tactics? That would be a slap in the face, wouldn’t it?
Now Ahmadinejad wants to have an audience before the UN to defend Iran’s nuclear program. I say let him have it, see what he has to say for himself. At worst he gets laughed at, at best he might actually have something intelligent to say.
Supposedly a senior leader of an alQueda linked insurgent group was captured in Iraq. Not that it means anything, as it never seems to mean a thing when a big time militant is captured. The big picture remains the same regardless.
Israel recalls their ambassador to El Salvador after he’s found in a street, drunk, wearing only bondage gear. Makes you wonder how hard they look at those who they would send as representatives of their country. Though it’s nice to see some people who enjoy.. flavor added to their lives. 😉
Africa
UN investigators accuse Sudan’s government of orchestrating crimes in Darfur that include murder, mass rape and kidnapping.
Because things weren’t bad enough before, now we have a warning that the presence of Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia could start a war.
Asia/Pacific
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, believes that dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program will be a ‘complex process’.
Thousands riot in China, the trouble caused by rising public transport costs according to the Boxun Chinese news website. That might have been the spark, but I doubt it was the sum total of the fuel.
Europe
A German brother and sister want to have a sexual relationship and are taking their fight to court. A good time to look at the incest taboo. By the look of things, it isn’t as needed as one might suspect, since children growing up together tend to have a sexual aversion to one another rather than an attraction. Interesting stuff.
Protestors hit the streets in Rome to show support for a government proposal to give rights to gay couples.
Americas
Bush promises to end FBI lapses that led to info on the US public being attained unlawfully. Personally, I expect he plans to make sure it doesn’t get out, not that it ends. But then, maybe that’s just me.
Halliburton plans to move its HQ from Texas to Dubai, supposedly to expand their business in the Middle East. Considering they’re the pet company of the US government, I can’t see that they’d need any extra help with that.
General
300, the movie based on a graphic novel, takes the cake as far as opening weekends go. To give a sense of scale, more people went to see 300 than went to see the other ten top movies combined.
US researchers say they’ve found the hormone that makes teens so volatile. Apparently this THP substance normally acts as a tranquilizer in the body, but has the opposite effect at puberty.
Brushing the teeth could cause seizures in some of those who have epilepsy. So keep an eye on them in the morning.
Light pollution spreads, making it more and more a chore to see the stars in the sky. In my area, I can only see the brightest ones. I wonder how long until the lights blot out Orion, who is usually visible to me.
The Myth of the Down Low Brother. Don’t I find just the most interesting stuff sometimes? 😉
The Blogs look at the FBI abusing the Patriot Act and if the Internet can destroy a woman’s chances of getting hired at a law firm.
Today’s Papers has note that British troops are also having medical care issues for vets, that Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York yesterday said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign, that insurgents burned homes in a city northeast of Baghdad and more in the one page news.
Amusements
Mark Fiore: Ouchie is Here for You!
When refusing to pay for lapdance do you 1) Promise to pay later 2) Run off and hide or C) Drunkenly get in your dilapidated van and drive the mother right into the place?
Man gets drunk, decides it will be funny if he calls the cops and taunts them for three hours. “He said we need to try harder to find him. He said he couldn’t believe he hasn’t been caught yet”
College students surprised to have in-dorm pot farm shut down by campus cops
Atlantic City agency in charge of doling out casino money to those in need considers the casinos themselves “in need”
Now that he’s been in jail in Dubai for a couple of months, the man who drunkenly patted an airport worker’s buttocks says he’s really, really, really sorry about it and can he please go home now?
Today’s “man accused of attacking traffic lights with an axe” story brought to you by Nelson, New Zealand
Smokers ordered to stop lighting up at home, opening the door for other fun court judgments. “Would a vegetarian make a complaint about someone cooking meat on their barbecue next door because they didn’t like the smell?”
Fark Photoshop Challenge: <A HREF="http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=2642644″>The USPS has proposed a “forever stamp” that retains its first-class value when postage rates go up. Photoshop a design for the first “forever stamp”
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this Roman emperor’s sceptre
Fark Photoshop Challenge: If you were lost in the rain forest, what would YOU bring?