March 30, 2008
Poor Mexican emos, news on a shirt, one angry author, what’s the Eiffel Tower wearing?
Mexican emos are being targeted for attacks. We’re not talking about light-hearted jabs or mockery but full-on assault. There’s even a dark homophobic element underneath the whole thing. From the article: Most of all, however, the assailants target the emos for dressing effeminately, still a provocative act for many in a macho Mexico. “At the core of this is the homophobic issue.... [More >>]
March 25, 2008
High heat on Iran
Two interesting, perhaps ominous developments on the “will they bomb Iran” front: On March 11, Admiral William Fallon resigned as head of the U.S. Central Command. Fallon opposed a military strike on Iran and the word in the halls of power is that his exit may indicate an intention on behalf of Bush and Co. to attack Iran sooner than later. Just yesterday, General David Petraeus, head... [More >>]
March 23, 2008
The world’s most powerful blogs, Starbucks gets caught stealing from the tip jar, Look out! Cyclists!
The Guardian gives a list of the 50 most powerful blogs in the world. These blogs are SO powerful they can overthrow nations (probably not), change the economy (highly unlikely) and uhm, kill lots of your free time (yep). 40 years ago Robert Kennedy gave a speech which outlined flaws with the idea of the gross national product, the measuring stick for economic growth. The GNP (nowadays we use GDP as... [More >>]
March 16, 2008
Shopping cart races, that’s a lot of home-grown terror, turning urine into fertilizer
Every year a gaggle of Chicagoans run the Chiditarod, a shopping cart race around downtown Chicago geared at raising money and collecting goods for the food bank. The ACLU reports that there are almost a million names on the U.S. terror watch list. That’s one terrorist for every 300 Americans. The group also points some of the SNAFUs on that list, people like Senator Ted Kennedy, a couple of... [More >>]
March 14, 2008
The Dalai Lama on Tibet protests
The Dalai Lama – I am sooo sick of this guy. Commenting on the recent protests in Tibet, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese government for, among other things, the “politicization of religious issues.” Really?! This, coming from a man who is revered as a God-King, who once technically legally owned everything and every person in Tibet, and whose religious position allowed him... [More >>]
March 14, 2008
From the frying pan into the fire
To continue with Derek’s theme of Afghanistan this week, here is a statement by Malalai Joya, an Afghan MP currently appealing her suspension from parliament. “After 9/11, unfortunately the United States and its allies like Canada pushed us from the frying pan into the fire,” she states, calling on Canada to act independently from the US, and find an alternative policy to the current... [More >>]
March 12, 2008
Torture and hypocrisy
On December 5, 2002, Dilawar, a young Afghan taxi driver, was arrested, handed over to US troops and taken to Bagram Air Force Base for interrogation. 5 days later he was dead. In his five days in that dungeon, he was hooded, chained to the ceiling of his cell, and beaten repeatedly. His legs were so badly injured that they were described as “pulpified” – like they had been crushed... [More >>]
March 10, 2008
International Women’s Day: Afghanistan
I am caged in this corner full of melancholy and sorrow … my wings are closed and I cannot fly … I am an Afghan woman and so must wail. - Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005. One hundred and sixty-five. That’s how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in 2007. It’s a desperate act that reflects the desperate lives of women in Afghanistan, whose plight... [More >>]
March 2, 2008
The TED conference, can a billionaire be ‘exploited,’ Cambodian oldies
I’m extremely jealous at anyone who got to attend the TED conference in California this week. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a conference started in the 1980s that brings some heavy-hitting thinkers into the same building and lets them chat. Think the Nobel prize with fewer Swedes (not that there’s anything wrong with Swedes). This year’s speakers include human rights... [More >>]
