News – To Keep or to Kill?

Europe

A heated argument centers around a baby polar bear, rejected by its mother. Some think the youngling should have been put down to prevent it from becoming too attached to humans. Some of the Berlin Zoo’s staff have rejected this. Sounds like those keeping him have a plan to get him into the normal polar bear mindset and plan to eventually have him placed in another zoo. Sounds fine to me.

UK schools are the next place that the veil might be officially banned. There is the argument that it makes it hard for teachers and students to communicate and this hampers learning, but I don’t see how that is possible. One can still talk quite clearly with one on and hear as well. And few that I’ve seen have made it impossible to have eye contact. One can’t see expressions, but one can still inquire as to the feelings of the person. It isn’t that hard.

Middle East

Tareq al-Hashemi, VP of Iraq, thinks the government should talk to the militants in the country. Novel idea that. Never really hurts and afterward, you can still shoot em if you don’t like what they have to say in response. Best thing ever would be for some of those militant groups to be convinced to stop, thus weakening those that don’t.

Israel is struck by a general strike, a powerful union organizing it in response to workers not being paid. The government says they’ll be paid in the next two weeks and that it wasn’t a reason to bring the country to a grinding halt. Sounds like Israel needs to deal with some internal corruption, according to the article.

Palestinian finance minister Salam Fayyad, not a member of Hamas, says he’s met with US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Unfortunately, sanctions will remain for now.

Norway has been more open to dealing with the new unity government, leading to Israel canceling a diplomatic function with a Norwegian official. This being the new Israeli policy now. Sounds like sour grapes to me and does them little good overall.

Bush wants patience on his latest Iraq moves. He’d better be careful on that, the patience of many(including myself) are wearing out.

There are still a lot of people in Iraq trying to get out of the country.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, former VP of Saddam, was hanged yesterday. Interestingly, he had been previously sentenced to life in prison, but an appeals court looked at his case again and said the sentence was too lenient. Some argue the evidence against him wasn’t enough for a death sentence.

Looking back and questioning the timeline that led to the current troubles in Iraq.

Africa

Fighting in Somalia gets heavy. The most disquieting thing is a note that there have been reports of angry crowds dragging the bodies of dead soldiers through the streets. Deja’vu of the worst kind.

The Refugee camps in Darfur are almost full. One of htem noted as full because local water supplies are being stretched, not because of physical space. Meaning, we really need to get this thing dealt with.

Asia/Pacific

An Indonesian court sentences three Muslim militants to 20-14 years each for the beheading of three Christian Schoolgirls. Personally, I find the sentence to be lacking, especially since the charged man seems to have no remorse.

The 6 way talks stall yet again, with North Korea calling a halt until they are given access to some $25 million in frozen funds.

Americas

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is open. It’s a platform that has a glass bottom and extends nearly 20 meters out from the wall, some 1219 meters above the bottom of the canyon. I don’t think I want to go see that. No..

Mexican guitarist Rodrigo Sanchez has been denied a visa renewal to enter the US because his name is similar to some guy who has been banned from entering the country. It could take three months to rectify the situation, which has caused his music group to cancel some 8 events that were planned in the US. Considering how much this will likely cost him and his group, I’d be of the opinion he is well within his rights to sue the US government. This sort of inefficiency when it comes to dealing with common names and non-entry lists is inexcusable.

View a vid made by a Barak Obama supporter. It takes the classic 1984 Apple commercial that was an Orwellian spoof and replaced Big Brother with clips of Hilary Clinton’s own web vids. Personally, I think the vid is a bit cheesy and a bit unoriginal in that it replicates the whole of Apple’s commercial. Depending, I expect Apple to be knocking on his or her door about that if it gets too widely distributed.

Looks like Zoning regulations will keep Al Gore from putting solar panels n the roof of his house.

The Supreme Court mulls the significance of ‘Bong Hits for Jesus’. I must admit, the term made me smile briefly. Explainer, on the other hand, looks at what Christians think of Mary Jane.

General

A European study finds that women who have high blood sugar are more at risk for cancer. Mind, this is preliminary and more research need be done to refine the real cause. But it is a note to take care in one’s eating habits and reducing sugar intake is never a bad idea in a general sense.

Robotic birds used to fight pigeon problems. Interesting indeed.

Scientists investigate the possibility that breathing in Lunar dust is dangerous for astronauts. It’s the tiniest particles that could be the problem.

The general perception of Apple is changing. Like or love the machines, you have to give them one thing. They can innovate. The iMac, iPod, iPhone and soon to be released Apple TV are all examples of this. Products that cause a shiftin the industry, large or small, that spawns a series of imitators.

The Geico Cavemen getting a sitcom? Could happen. Personally, I find the commercials involving them to be hilarious and the development of them over time to show that whoever is behind them has a good brain. I’d be interested to see what they can do with them. Could be interesting.

The Blogs look at Russia withholding nuclear fuel from Iran, what makes Patrick Fitzgerald less than “distinguished” and the damage of Mitt Romney’s Miami gaffe.

Today’s Papers has note that Insurgents used children as decoys for a terrorist attack(abhorrent if true, there’s a dispute in the article), figures from various sources and concludes that despite the embargo on aid to the Palesitnian Authority, more aid was given to Palestinians in 2006 than in 2005, figures from various sources and concludes that despite the embargo on aid to the Palesitnian Authority, more aid was given to Palestinians in 2006 than in 2005, the Senate approving legislation that would strip the attorney general of the power to appoint U.S. attorneys indefinitely without Senate confirmation and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Eminem, as performed by The Smurfs, in German

Sever your leg please, sir

Children’s TV host greeting children with American Sign language gestures that translate to “I’m f*cking you.” Hilarity? Oh yeah

NYC business tip No. 678: When hiring a trio to transport your $4,000 worth of drugs through the city, either give them $4.50 for the Triborough Bridge toll or point them to one of the free East River crossings

Springtime: When the daffodils bloom, birds fly north and Mayor Ray Nagin announces the latest plot of Whitey to get him

Ten seemingly minor things that made “The Empire Strikes Back” a great movie. Includes audio proof that Tauntauns did indeed speak the same “robble-robble” language as the McDonald’s Hamburglar

Guy tries to break into a car he was told he couldn’t buy with a $13,000 IOU. Then he gets on top of the car with a sledgehammer and a samurai sword. That’s when things started getting weird

Villagers up in arms after missing out on lucrative bribes during a recent village election

Man arrested after officers find him standing on power lines trying to reconnect electricity to his house after he forgets to pay bills

The latest fad in the Japanese sex industry: a wine bath for your genitalia, followed by a massage. It’s just like the movie “Sideways”: farking Merlot is a no-go, but at least there’s a happy ending

Delivery worker arrested after bringing commuter trains to a halt by pushing emergency buttons, apparently for the sheer hell of it

Seventh grade girl suspended as a “Student With Attitude Problems” for wearing Tigger socks; why does Winnie The Pooh hate America?

Simply saying “Heil Hitler” can get you in trouble in Germany. Therefore, it’s probably not particularly good phrase to tack on to the end of your legal briefs

If you pay for lubricant in the supermarket, a few of your neighbors might find out. If you steal it because you’re so embarrassed by the possibility, everyone in New Zealand gets to hear your name

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this Hasidic martial artist

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these old control knobs

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop Mosh Girl’s younger brother (Round 2)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: It’s about that time again: Photoshop this enthused spring breaker