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Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 22 May 2013 20:00:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/irans-guardian-council-shortlists-successors-to-ahmadinejad http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/irans-guardian-council-shortlists-successors-to-ahmadinejad Brendan Kiley <p>President Ahmadinejad calls the shortlist an "act of oppression" because his favorite guy wasn't chosen. Also cut from the list? Open critics of how the regime handled the 2009 protests. <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/22/irans-ahmadinejad-denounces-election-decision/?utm_source=feedly">(Surprise, surprise.)</a></p> <blockquote><p>Among those approved for the June ballot are Iran&#8217;s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, prominent lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati and Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf &#8212; all top Khamenei loyalists. Former chief of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezaei and a little known former minister, Mohammad Gharazi, have also been approved.</p> <p>Only two of are considered pro-reform figures: Former top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani and former first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref, but neither have yet gained any strong following among moderates and liberals after years of crackdowns by authorities.</p> <p>Most hope for an opposition revival had rested with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was not approved by the Guardian Council after hardliner complaints. Rafsanjani had openly [criticized] the heavy-handed tactics used to crush protests in 2009 following the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad.</p> <p>The ruling dealt a serious blow to Ahmadinejad&#8217;s hopes of having a loyalist succeed him. He can&#8217;t run in the June 14 ballot due to term limits under Iran&#8217;s constitution.</p></blockquote> <p>Depressing. But who knows what subversion lurks in the hearts of (outwardly obedient) Iranian politicians? A clever <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Dub%C4%8Dek">Dubcek</a> might wiggle his way into the presidency.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/irans-guardian-council-shortlists-successors-to-ahmadinejad#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16843797&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/irans-guardian-council-shortlists-successors-to-ahmadinejad?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16843797&id=comments 4 Wed, 22 May 2013 11:34:32 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/when-is-a-dictator-existential http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/when-is-a-dictator-existential Charles Mudede <p>It finally happens when he is <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/05/2013522105015147596.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount">very, very old</a>...<br /><blockquote>President Robert Mugabe has signed Zimbabwe's new constitution into law, clearing the path to crucial elections later this year.</p> <p>A beaming Mugabe, flanked by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his main political rival, and Deputy President Joice<br />Mujuru signed multiple copies of the charter on Wednesday at State House in the capital, Harare, to cheers and applause from aides.</p> <p>Approved overwhelmingly in a referendum in March this year, the constitution clips the powers of the president, limits presidential tenures to two five-year terms and does away with the post of prime minister.</p> <p><strong>However, it does not apply retroactively so the 89-year-old Mugabe</strong> could technically extend his three decades in office by another 10 years.</blockquote> If, however, Mugabe happens to find himself in reasonably good health and approaching the remarkable mark of a 100 years of existence, he will have to take out his pen again and make some more amendments to a constitution that in reality could only realize its value with his death.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/when-is-a-dictator-existential#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16842780&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/22/when-is-a-dictator-existential?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16842780&id=comments 2 Wed, 22 May 2013 07:53:03 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/16/the-most-racially-intolerant-countries-in-the-world http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/16/the-most-racially-intolerant-countries-in-the-world Charles Mudede <p>According to this <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/">WaPo post</a>, the US is nowhere even close to the top...<br /><blockquote>When two Swedish economists set out to examine whether economic freedom made people any more or less racist, they knew how they would gauge economic freedom, but they needed to find a way to measure a country&#8217;s level of racial tolerance. So they turned to something called the World Values Survey, which has been measuring global attitudes and opinions for decades.<br />Among the dozens of questions that World Values asks, the Swedish economists found one that, they believe, could be a pretty good indicator of tolerance for other races. The survey asked respondents in more than 80 different countries to identify kinds of people they would not want as neighbors. Some respondents, picking from a list, chose &#8220;people of a different race.&#8221; The more frequently that people in a given country say they don&#8217;t want neighbors from other races, the economists reasoned, the less racially tolerant you could call that society. </blockquote><br />Racism rocks hard in "India, Jordan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong." Indeed, over 70 percent of Hong Kongers do not want to live next to a person of a different race. Maybe cosmopolitanism and density are not a given.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/16/the-most-racially-intolerant-countries-in-the-world#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16783105&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/16/the-most-racially-intolerant-countries-in-the-world?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16783105&id=comments 25 Thu, 16 May 2013 07:55:42 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/postcards-from-thai-commercialism http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/postcards-from-thai-commercialism Brendan Kiley <p>Our man in Asia has sent some images and observations from one of Bangkok's new malls. Malls are a big damn deal there. When I was <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/how-i-spent-my-winter-vacation-a-few-notes-on-burmamyanmar">in SE Asia this past New Year's season</a>, a Thai newspaper wrote a story about the ten most important things that had happened that year&#8212;a mega-mall opening in Bangkok was on the list. (The enormous protests, during which thousands of people <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/24/thailand-anti-government-protests">"calling for the overthrow of the Thai government"</a> clashed with police, were not.)</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/14/1368576226-soldiers2.jpg" alt="Soldiers of fashion." title="Soldiers of fashion." width="500" height="529" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">OMIT</li><li class="imageCaption">Soldiers of fashion.</li></ul></div></p> <blockquote><p>As Bangkok develops more and more in to a tropical version of Tokyo&#8212;in affluence and just plain simulated weirdness&#8212;megastore owners have been branching out to make themselves not just places to buy, but to have an experience. It is not the <em>product</em> that is the commodity, it is the <em>process of buying</em> the product.</p></blockquote> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/14/1368576519-twigz.jpg" alt="This is a real person, getting paid to make like a mannequin." title="This is a real person, getting paid to make like a mannequin." width="500" height="680" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">OMIT</li><li class="imageCaption">This is a real person, getting paid to make like a mannequin.</li></ul></div></p> <blockquote><p>Terminal 21 is a mall in Bangkok that I would have loved to have heard the pitch for. The salesperson who put this over was a genius. The idea behind the place is that the mall looks like it is an airport terminal with eight floors. </p></blockquote> <blockquote><p>So, on the top floor, for example, your arrival gate is Los Angeles (or rather Hollywood.) This floor has the movie theaters and video games. Other cities are Tokyo, Rome, Paris, Istanbul, London and San Francisco, which confusingly has two floors.</p> <p>In the basement is&#8212;and it is hard not to read a Thai prejudice against darker skin in to this&#8212;is &#8220;the Caribbean.&#8221; The higher one&#8217;s head is in this society, the more prestige. Thus, in movie theatres the more money you pay for a ticket, the further back and higher elevated you are.</p> <p>I don&#8217;t think that the Caribbean in the basement is a coincidence, but on the other hand Istanbul is higher than Paris and Rome, so who knows?</p></blockquote> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/ad6d/1368574998-japanlevel.jpg" alt="The Terminal 21 mall." title="The Terminal 21 mall." width="500" height="332" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">OMIT</li><li class="imageCaption">The Terminal 21 mall.</li></ul></div></p> <blockquote><p>On each floor, the signifiers of the city are, aside from convincing airport displays, usually other modes of transport. London has its double decker buses and Underground signs, Paris has the Metro stops, San Francisco has cable car tracks, bicycles and the Golden Gate Bridge there are Vespas in Rome and Istanbul has a Trojan horse (this is stretching, I know).</p> <p>You are in a mall formed like an airport with cities on each level and to represent the cities they use other types of transportation. Is this how we classify ourselves&#8212;by how we get from place to place? Also, each floor&#8217;s<br />cleaning and security staff wears a stereotypical outfit of that region.</p></blockquote> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/14/1368575192-sanfran_level.jpg" alt="San Fran level." title="San Fran level." width="500" height="583" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">OMIT</li><li class="imageCaption">San Fran level.</li></ul></div></p> <blockquote><p>This is an era of wonder, which future generations will hear stories of and not believe. With the complete domination of capitalism crowding out politics or philosophy or even religion as pastimes*, people need increasingly more exciting ways to shop. It is not the need of items to buy as much as the need to fill time. Not only do we have more people who have their basic needs met than at any other time in history, but this fulfillment has led to boredom and more creative ways to simulate and stimulate want.</p> <p>*This is not entirely bad.</p></blockquote> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/14/1368575507-into_the_belly.jpg" alt="In through the out door." title="In through the out door." width="500" height="375" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">OMIT</li><li class="imageCaption">In through the out door.</li></ul></div></p> <p>And that's the news from our man in Asia. (Coming in our next episode&#8212;visiting a police inspector's museum in Laos.)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/postcards-from-thai-commercialism#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16766167&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International Economy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/postcards-from-thai-commercialism?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16766167&id=comments 15 Our Man in Asia Sends Postcards from a Bangkok Mall Soldiers of fashion. OMIT Tue, 14 May 2013 16:54:29 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/out-with-the-old http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/out-with-the-old Brendan Kiley <p>Prolific Slog tipper Greg sends this story of <a href="http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=25471">a contractor bulldozing a huge and ancient Mayan temple</a> called Noh Mul for road fill:</p> <blockquote><p>Noh Mul. Its name means the Big Hill but it&#8217;s not so big any more, this once towering and stout ceremonial center in San Jose/San Pablo has been whittled down to a narrow core by excavators and bulldozers. Whodunnit? Contractors who&#8217;re using the rich gravel and limestone content to fill roads in nearby Douglas Village.</p> <p>Now, this was the main temple, the ceremonial center for Noh Mul, at about 20 metres among the tallest buildings in Northern Belize - and it&#8217;s not centuries old, it&#8217;s millennia, thousands of years old and the thought that its rich limestone bricks cut with stone tools in the BC era, the thought that this could be used for road fill is a manifest outrage...</p></blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, the <em>Tibet Post</em> reports that Chinese interests are <a href="http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/tibet/3382-china-destroys-the-ancient-buddhist-symbols-of-lhasa-city-in-tibet">tearing down ancient Buddhist temples and monuments in Lhasa</a> to make a tourist attraction:</p> <blockquote><p>Ignoring both religious freedom and the outcry of the Tibetan people, the Chinese authorities have begun demolishing the ancient capital of Lhasa, including one of the most important Buddhist sites of the city, Tibet's holiest Jokhang Temple.</p> <p>Chinese authorities are planning to destroy the ancient Buddhist capital of Lhasa, and replace it with a tourist city...</p></blockquote> <p><em>Business Insider</em> reports that the Chinese government is trying to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-mall-being-built-in-lhasa-tibet-2013-5">sweep news of the destruction under the digital rug</a>, courtesy of its censors:</p> <blockquote><p>&#8220;Lhasa is being destroyed by excessive commercial development,&#8221; Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser, who lives in Beijing but grew up in the capital, wrote in a letter after visiting the area. &#8220;Please save Lhasa.&#8221;</p> <p>Li notes that the post received thousands of comments and shares on the social network Weibo before Chinese censors took it down.</p></blockquote> <p>Remember back in 2001, when the Taliban <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1326063/After-1700-years-Buddhas-fall-to-Taliban-dynamite.html">destroyed ancient Buddhist statues</a> for religious reasons and the world went nuts? I wonder if the world will do the same about ancient religious sites being destroyed for commercial reasons.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/out-with-the-old#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16764532&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/14/out-with-the-old?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16764532&id=comments 13 Tue, 14 May 2013 14:30:41 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/watching-the-world-think http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/watching-the-world-think Brendan Kiley <p><a href="http://rcmap.hatnote.com/#en">This real-time map of the world as it updates Wikipedia entries</a> is conceptually gorgeous. And it feels like a combination of superpowers&#8212;teleportation plus x-ray glasses plus mind-reading. Or something. The map only tracks the edits of unregistered users, which is only a small fraction of the action on Wikipedia.</p> <p>Watching it is like watching the world think&#8212;at least the parts of the world that have computers, internet access, and a modicum of free time.</p> <p>Here are some stills of someone in Seattle thinking about the Huskies basketball team, someone in Argentina thinking about leggings, someone in Iran thinking about a prominent member of the Chinese communist party, someone in Britain thinking about a Turkish soccer player, and more.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4406/1368392296-wikimap.jpg" alt="wikimap.jpg" title="" width="500" height="386" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">TI</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/f9fd/1368392517-wikimap_legs.jpg" alt="wikimap_legs.jpg" title="" width="500" height="387" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">TI</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/9ecb/1368392556-wikiturkey.jpg" alt="wikiturkey.jpg" title="" width="500" height="361" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">TI</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/12/1368392595-wikimap_ji.jpg" alt="wikimap_ji.jpg" title="" width="500" height="421" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">TI</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/05/12/1368392877-wikilast-last.jpg" alt="wikilast-last.jpg" title="" width="500" height="373" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">TI</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><small>Hat tip to Sgt Doom.</small></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/watching-the-world-think#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16746489&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Teh Internets International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/watching-the-world-think?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16746489&id=comments 2 Watching the World Think TI Mon, 13 May 2013 08:21:08 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/white-people-do-not-have-a-monopoly-on-racism http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/white-people-do-not-have-a-monopoly-on-racism Charles Mudede <p>This is the black African president of Zimababwe talking about his country's (and region's) true natives, <a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-11079-Bushmen+resistant+to+change+Mugabe/news.aspx">the San people</a>...<br /><blockquote>THE San people &#8211; also known as the Bushmen tribe &#8211; must be &#8220;acculturated&#8221; and brought into mainstream society, President Robert Mugabe has said.</p> <p>Often referred to as the First People, the Bushmen have lived in southern Africa for more than 20,000 years, and scientists believe they are the first modern humans from which all other peoples evolved.</p> <p>But Mugabe, speaking in Tsholotsho last Friday, said some of their cultural practices had no place in a changing world.</p> <p>"[John Nkomo] said integrating the San was difficult because they are a culture that is resistant to change,&#8221; Mugabe said.<br />&#8220;We know in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa they have a similar problem but they are trying. The San still want to herd cattle because they like meat more than we do, and we should make sure we acculturate them."</blockquote> This kind of talk is not original. Black Africans of Bantu descent almost always talk about San people in exactly the same way white Europeans talk about them. So, racism does not begin or end with white people. Racism has no content; it only has a form.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/white-people-do-not-have-a-monopoly-on-racism#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16752687&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/13/white-people-do-not-have-a-monopoly-on-racism?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16752687&id=comments 16 Mon, 13 May 2013 08:15:24 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/syria-has-probably-used-chemical-weapons http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/syria-has-probably-used-chemical-weapons Eli Sanders <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/world/middleeast/us-says-it-suspects-assad-used-chemical-weapons.html">So says</a> the White House. The question is: What, if anything, should President Obama do about it?</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/syria-has-probably-used-chemical-weapons#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16594803&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/26/syria-has-probably-used-chemical-weapons?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16594803&id=comments 19 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:00:00 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/springtime-for-hitler http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/springtime-for-hitler Brendan Kiley <p>This just in from our man in Thailand (formerly known as "our man in Vietnam" and "our man in Myanmar"):</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/dff6/1366830061-20130416_143559.jpg" alt="20130416_143559.jpg" title="" width="500" height="601" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Our Man in Southeast Asia</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>Wikipedia says that Thailand was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thailand_(1932%E2%80%931973)#World_War_II">briefly allied with the Axis powers</a> during WWII&#8212;mostly because they were pissed at the French colonialists&#8212;but I don't think this is about that.</p> <p>I don't know what this is about.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/springtime-for-hitler#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16580977&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> At Large International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/springtime-for-hitler?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16580977&id=comments 17 Springtime for Hitler Our Man in Southeast Asia Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:15:40 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/around-the-world-in-24-english-accents http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/around-the-world-in-24-english-accents Charles Mudede <p>If you've never seen it...<br /><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="460" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dABo_DCIdpM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br />May favs: Southern Irish, South African, and Nigerian. The worst: Italian, German, Japanese. Altogether: Very entertaining.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/around-the-world-in-24-english-accents#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16581200&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/24/around-the-world-in-24-english-accents?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16581200&id=comments 10 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:47:46 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/does-north-korea-have-a-nuclear-warhead http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/does-north-korea-have-a-nuclear-warhead Paul Constant <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/politics/obama-voices-doubts-on-north-korean-nuclear-warhead.htm"><em>The New York Times</em> reminds us </a>that North Korea exists:</p> <blockquote><p>WASHINGTON &#8212; President Obama said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he did not believe that North Korea yet had the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to fit atop a missile, and he said nothing would shake him from a strategy of refusing to &#8220;reward&#8221; the kind of provocative behavior exhibited by Kim Jong-un, the North&#8217;s leader.</p></blockquote> <p>If President Obama is wrong, of course, we'll have to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/04/12/video-north-korea-threatens-to-strike-colorado-springs-but-doesnt-know-where-it-is/">kiss Colorado Springs goodbye</a>. Do you think he's right?</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/does-north-korea-have-a-nuclear-warhead#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16507274&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/16/does-north-korea-have-a-nuclear-warhead?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16507274&id=comments 23 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:30:16 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/the-reasons-why-uruguay-rocks-so-much http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/the-reasons-why-uruguay-rocks-so-much Charles Mudede <p>One <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/02/world/americas/uruguay-same-sex-marriage/">reason</a>...<br /><blockquote>Uruguayan senators voted overwhelmingly in favor of a same-sex marriage measure Tuesday &#8212; a key step that puts the South American nation on the path to becoming the 12th country to approve such a law.<br />Senators approved the marriage equality bill 23-8. Next week, lawmakers in the lower house, which approved a different version of the legislation late last year, are expected to vote on the senate's version.<br />If approved and signed by President Jose Mujica, who has indicated he supports the measure, the proposal would make Uruguay the second country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. Neighboring Argentina legalized such marriages in 2010.</p></blockquote> <p>Obama gave back <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/03/barack-obama-will-return-16666-67-in-salary-due-to-sequestration/">$16,666.67</a> of his salary "in solidarity with furloughed federal workers." Yawn. If you want to really see something, checkout <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/world/americas/after-years-in-solitary-an-austere-life-as-uruguays-president.html?pagewanted=all">Uruguay's president</a>:<br /><blockquote>In a deliberate statement to this cattle-exporting nation of 3.3 million people, Mr. Mujica, 77, shunned the opulent Su&#225;rez y Reyes presidential mansion, with its staff of 42, remaining instead in the home where he and his wife have lived for years, on a plot of land where they grow chrysanthemums for sale in local markets.</p> <p>Visitors reach Mr. Mujica&#8217;s austere dwelling after driving down O&#8217;Higgins Road, past groves of lemon trees. His net worth upon taking office in 2010 amounted to about $1,800 &#8212; the value of the 1987 Volkswagen Beetle parked in his garage. He never wears a tie and donates about 90 percent of his salary, largely to a program for expanding housing for the poor.</p></blockquote> <p>Urugauy also has a special safeguard mechanism (SSM), an important economic tool for developing countries&#8212;it let's them "raise tariffs temporarily to deal with import <a href="http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/glossary_e/ssm_e.htm">surges or price falls</a>." Pot is legal in <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/19/uruguay-may-have-legal-pot-shops-before">Uruguay</a>. I also hear they have great steaks.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/the-reasons-why-uruguay-rocks-so-much#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16408944&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/the-reasons-why-uruguay-rocks-so-much?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16408944&id=comments 11 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:44:37 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/africa-the-land-of-entrepreneurs http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/africa-the-land-of-entrepreneurs Charles Mudede <p>One thing Africa does not lack is entrepreneurs. If you need something to happen, you can always find someone who can hustle that thing into existence. In this particular case, a reporter needed Somali pirates for a story, and African entrepreneurs provided him <a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/somali-pirates-journalists-jamal-osman-time-magazine-kenya">with what he needed</a>...<br /><blockquote>The story begins in the slums of Eastleigh, a sprawling suburb of Nairobi in Kenya and home to a huge Somali community.</p> <p>There I met Adan (pictured above). He and his friends are running an industry that had been fooling some of the best journalists from around the world. Their business? Pretending to be pirates.</p> <p>"We pretend because we have the talent," Adan told me. "They (journalists) go to the boss and say we need pirates. The boss comes to us and says the white men need pirates. So he says 'pretend to be a pirate'." </blockquote> In the words of the economist <a href="http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/newsletter/articles-2010/en_GB/10-2010-Chang/">Ha-Joon Chang</a>...<br /><blockquote>Many people believe that the lack of entrepreneurship is one of the main causes of poverty in developing countries. However, anyone who is from or has lived for a period in a developing country will know that developing countries are teeming with entrepreneurs. On the streets of poor countries, you will meet men, women, and children of all ages selling everything you can think of, and things that you did not even know could be bought&#8212;a place in the queue for the visa section of the American Embassy (sold to you by professional queuers), the right to set up a food stall on a particular corner (perhaps sold by the corrupt local police boss), or even a patch of land to beg from (sold to you by the local thugs).</blockquote> Always keep this in mind: In any economic condition, an abundance of entrepreneurs is not a sign of a state's success but its failure.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/africa-the-land-of-entrepreneurs#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16405941&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/03/africa-the-land-of-entrepreneurs?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16405941&id=comments 11 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:25:00 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/25/today-in-seattles-only-city http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/25/today-in-seattles-only-city Charles Mudede <p>That city is connected by the Link. If you are not on the Link, you are not in a city. When you are in the city, you travel at magnificent speeds across urban space. Today at 9:50 am, the trip between Columbia City and the International Distract took 11 minutes, which in urban terms is practically the speed of light. <br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/58ab/1364234543-20130325_085330_edit_1.jpeg" alt="20130325_085330_edit_1.jpeg" title="" width="300" height="379" /></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/25/today-in-seattles-only-city#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16336849&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/25/today-in-seattles-only-city?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16336849&id=comments 13 Today in Seattle's Only City Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:00:54 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/21/the-globalization-of-general-intelligence http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/21/the-globalization-of-general-intelligence Charles Mudede <p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/visas-for-high-skilled-workers-could-double-under-bipartisan-senate-plan/2013/03/20/8b74c08a-9194-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost">WaPo</a>:<br /><blockquote>A Senate immigration plan would dramatically increase the number of high-skilled foreign workers allowed into the country and give permanent legal status to an unlimited number of students who earn graduate degrees from U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering or math, according to people familiar with the negotiations.</p> <p>The agreement would be a major victory for the tech industry, which has backed an intense lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill in recent months arguing that Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other companies are having trouble finding qualified workers because of visa limits.</p></blockquote> <p>During a lecture at the London School of Economics, the economist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stiglitz">Joseph E Stiglitz</a> conducts this thought experiment (you can listen to the lecture, "The Price of Inequality," on a podcast <a href="http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2012/06/20120629t1830vOT.aspx">posted here</a>): Imagine a world with corporations that are local and immobile and skilled laborers who are global, free to go to any country that presents an opportunity. The character of nations in such a world would be very different from that of ours. In our world, multinational corporations cheapen local labor at all levels and force states to decrease spending on its citizens and increase spending on creating business climates that can lure or retain corporations. But if skilled labor was multinational, states would actually have to create an ideal climate for citizens&#8212;good schools and high wages are what retain and lure skilled labor. This, as I said, is just a thought experiment.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/21/the-globalization-of-general-intelligence#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310305&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/21/the-globalization-of-general-intelligence?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310305&id=comments 9 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:20:53 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/04/jews-and-arabs-to-use-separate-buses http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/04/jews-and-arabs-to-use-separate-buses Charles Mudede <p>Haaretz reports on the <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-introduces-palestinian-only-bus-lines-following-complaints-from-jewish-settlers-1.506869">latest</a>...<br /><blockquote>Starting on Monday, certain buses running from the West Bank into central Israel will have separate lines for Jews and Arabs.</p> <p>The Afikim bus company will begin operating Palestinian-only bus lines from the checkpoints to Gush Dan to prevent Palestinians from boarding buses with Jewish passengers. Palestinians are not allowed to enter settlements, and instead board buses from several bus stops on the Trans-Samaria highway.</p> <p>Last November, Haaretz reported that the Transportation Ministry was looking into such a plan due to pressure from the late mayor of Ariel, Ron Nahman, and the head of the Karnei Shomron Local Council. They said residents had complained that Palestinians on their buses were a security risk.</blockquote> Apparently this is being done for the benefit of the Arabs...<br /><blockquote>Transportation Ministry officials are not officially calling them segregated buses, but rather bus lines intended to relieve the distress of the Palestinian workers.</blockquote> This only shows how hard it is for even humans, the animal with the most complex cultural memory system known, to learn from history.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/04/jews-and-arabs-to-use-separate-buses#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16157699&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/04/jews-and-arabs-to-use-separate-buses?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16157699&id=comments 12 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:49:50 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/bad-news-in-bangladesh http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/bad-news-in-bangladesh Brendan Kiley <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-bangladesh-riots-20130301,0,7900082.story">LA Times:</a></p> <blockquote><p>NEW DELHI &#8212; Police and demonstrators in Bangladesh clashed for a second day Friday as the death toll rose to at least 37 in violence sparked by a <strong>controversial death sentence handed down against the head of an Islamic party</strong> for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence...</p> <p>At least four of the dead were reportedly law enforcement officials. Hundreds more were injured.</p></blockquote> <p>Bangladesh observers ay the country was having its Occupy or Tahrir Square moment&#8212;a longstanding peaceful sit-in at Shahbag intersection in Dhaka. What do they want? Death sentences for alleged war criminals who now lead political parties, and removing religious fundamentalism from politics.</p> <p>The Shahbag demonstrators have, reportedly, refused to let standing politicians benefit from their movement (not allowing them to give speeches or grandstand at Shahbag, for example), but Islamic political leaders say the Shahbag crowds are being manipulated by Bangladesh's current ruling party&#8212;now things have taken a violent turn.</p> <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/world/asia/bangladesh-protests/?hpt=wo_c2">More background at CNN.com:</a></p> <blockquote><p>And in the fourth most populous Muslim country in the world, the peaceful movement is also trying to achieve something remarkable: a ban on extreme fundamentalist parties.</p> <p>"It's a revolution. A social revolution," says Dhaka resident Shaon Tanvir. "They have been using social media very effectively. A couple of hours' notice, and hundreds and thousands of people turn up."</p></blockquote> <blockquote><p>Parents bring their children, their faces painted red and green in the colors of the Bangladeshi flag. Housewives pack lunches for the demonstrators. Passing motorists honk their horns and flash thumbs-up signs...</p> <p>As the protests grew, the parliament proposed an amendment to the law empowering the International Crimes Tribunal. Under the proposed amendment, the government can appeal any tribunal verdict, and Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said it plans to do so in Mollah's case.</p> <p>Protesters hailed the proposal, but human rights groups weren't pleased.</p> <p>"A government supposedly guided by the rule of law cannot simply pass retroactive laws to overrule court decisions when it doesn't like them," said Brad Adams, the Asia director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.</p></blockquote> <p>In better news from Bangladesh, its experiments with fusing prawn farms with rice paddies&#8212;which increase food production, the national economy, and efforts to combat global warming&#8212;<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/mar/01/bangladesh-climate-change-rice-fish-farms">seem to be doing well.</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/bad-news-in-bangladesh#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16134709&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> News International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/bad-news-in-bangladesh?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16134709&id=comments 2 Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:59:33 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/nervous-conditions http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/nervous-conditions Charles Mudede <p>Exactly why did 4000 Zimbabweans lose their lives to cholera? <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/03/2013310270138931.html">Al Jazeera</a> reports:<br /><blockquote>The UN dispute tribunal in Nairobi, Kenya, in effect found that UN bosses did not want to upset the government of Robert Mugabe, and did not act on warnings by a senior member of its staff. One hundred thousand people caught the disease.</p> <p>Months before the outbreak of the cholera epidemic in 2008, which coincided with a time of heightened political tensions in Zimbabwe, Georges Tadonki, the then head of the UN humanitarian office in Zimbabwe, warned his superiors of the severe risks, but no action was taken.</p> <p>Tadonki claims that he was fired in January 2009, partly because he sounded the alarm about the cholera crisis.</p> <p>&#8220;Mr Tadonke pressed the issue, and this tribunal has heard that he was hounded out of his job, and his lawyers said he suffered a nervous breakdown as a result.&#8221; Al Jazeera&#8217;s Diplomatic Editor James Bays said.<br /></blockquote> That nervous breakdown is the story of Zimbabwe's post-independence black intelligentsia in a nutshell. No good mind could survive in that overwhelming atmosphere of rural stupidity. </p> <p>The title of this post references <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_Conditions">this excellent book</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/nervous-conditions#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16138897&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/01/nervous-conditions?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16138897&id=comments 7 Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:31:22 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/21/why-apologize-for-a-little-massacre-after-all-this-time http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/21/why-apologize-for-a-little-massacre-after-all-this-time Bethany Jean Clement <p>...and why give back a certain gigantic diamond? British Prime Minister David Cameron is over in India, and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/20/david-cameron-amritsar-massacre-india?INTCMP=SRCH">he's sounding like an asshat</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>David Cameron has defended his decision to stop short of delivering a formal British apology for the Amritsar massacre in 1919, in which at least 379 innocent Indians were killed. As relatives of the victims expressed disappointment, the prime minister said <strong>it would be wrong to "reach back into history"</strong> and apologise for the wrongs of British colonialism...</p> <p>...Cameron said Britain could still be proud of its former empire &#8211; while acknowledging the mistakes &#8211; as he <strong>rejected demands to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India</strong> from the British crown jewels.</p> <p>Asked whether Britain should return the diamond, he said: "I don't think that is the right approach. It is the same question with the Elgin marbles," he said. "It is for the British Museum and other cultural centres to do exactly what they do do, which is link up with museums all over the world to make sure that the things we have, and are looked after so well, are properly shared with people around the world. No, <strong>I certainly don't believe in returnism</strong>."</p></blockquote> <p>And here are Hari Kondabolu's <strong>extremely funny and biting</strong> thoughts on that big-ass diamond: </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OuCaktPdSCo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/21/why-apologize-for-a-little-massacre-after-all-this-time#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16066166&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Death Comedy Chow History International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/21/why-apologize-for-a-little-massacre-after-all-this-time?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16066166&id=comments 18 Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:00:09 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/julian-assange-runs-for-senate-to-avoid-prosecution http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/julian-assange-runs-for-senate-to-avoid-prosecution Brendan Kiley <p>Mr. Wikileaks announced from the Ecuadorian embassy in London&#8212;where he's still holed up to avoid extradition&#8212;that he will <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/18/julian-assange-wikileaks-senate-victory">run for a seat in the Australian senate</a>, both to push his agenda of government transparency and "as a defence against potential criminal prosecution in the United States and Britain."</p> <p>The US has a long and distinguished history of federal politicians <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes">getting themselves convicted</a>, but I can't think of one who ran for office to avoid conviction.</p> <p>Regardless, an Assange campaign has some obvious advantages. He has serious name recognition, a clear and unambiguous platform, a proven record of taking principled stands, a flair for showmanship&#8212;and, best of all for a campaign manager, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_Authority">the sex scandal</a> is already out there. It's been digested and (mostly) forgotten by the body politic.</p> <p>The best defense against a smear campaign is having nothing left to hide.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/julian-assange-runs-for-senate-to-avoid-prosecution#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16035340&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Politics Teh Internets International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/julian-assange-runs-for-senate-to-avoid-prosecution?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16035340&id=comments 9 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:31:09 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/why-so-many-people-had-dash-cam-video-of-the-ural-mountains-meteor http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/why-so-many-people-had-dash-cam-video-of-the-ural-mountains-meteor Grant Brissey <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BaEQNeyeZbU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>If you noticed <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/15/heres-more-footage-of-the-russian-meteor-strike">how many people had dash cam video</a> of the spectacular meteor landing in Russia, and you guessed it might have something to do with rampant corruption in the remote area, congratulations, you were right. <a href="http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/02/russian-dash-cams/">Via Wired:</a></p> <blockquote><p>The sheer size of the country, combined with lax&#8212;and often corrupt&#8212;law enforcement, and a legal system that rarely favors first-hand accounts of traffic collisions has made dash cams all but a requirement for motorists.</p> <p>&#8220;You can get into your car without your pants on, but never get into a car without a dash cam,&#8221; Aleksei Dozorov, a motorists&#8217; rights activist in Russia told Radio Free Europe last year.</p></blockquote> <p>The article goes on to suggest interested parties "Google 'Russia dash cam crash' in YouTube&#8212;or even better, <a href="http://www.yandex.ru/">Yandex.ru</a>, the county&#8217;s equivalent of Google&#8212;and you&#8217;ll find thousands of videos showing massive crashes, close calls and attempts at insurance fraud by both other drivers and pedestrians."</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/why-so-many-people-had-dash-cam-video-of-the-ural-mountains-meteor#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16031447&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Crime International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/18/why-so-many-people-had-dash-cam-video-of-the-ural-mountains-meteor?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16031447&id=comments 11 Why So Many People had Dash Cam Video of the Ural Mountains Meteor Tunguska, 1927 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tunguska.png">Wikipedia Commons</a> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:05:16 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/13/you-must-see-these-photos-of-bootleg-gas-refining-in-the-niger-delta http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/13/you-must-see-these-photos-of-bootleg-gas-refining-in-the-niger-delta Brendan Kiley <p>Go to <a href="http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/money-for-the-taking-in-niger-delta-swamps/?ref=global-home">this page at nytimes.com</a>. Choose the full-screen mode. Samuel James's photos of the bootleg-fuel industry in the Niger Delta are disturbingly gorgeous.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/13/you-must-see-these-photos-of-bootleg-gas-refining-in-the-niger-delta#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16001153&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Media International Economy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/13/you-must-see-these-photos-of-bootleg-gas-refining-in-the-niger-delta?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16001153&id=comments 2 Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:32:22 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/a-burial-for-julia-pastrana-the-bear-woman http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/a-burial-for-julia-pastrana-the-bear-woman Cienna Madrid <p>This <em>New York Times</em> story about one artist's decade-long quest to get the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/arts/design/julia-pastrana-who-died-in-1860-to-be-buried-in-mexico.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&">embalmed body of a 19th-century circus performer</a>, Julia Pastrana, a woman once billed as "the ugliest woman in the world,&#8221; repatriated to her birth place in Mexico, is sad and fascinating:</p> <blockquote><p>Pastrana was born in Mexico in 1834. She had <strong>two rare diseases</strong>, undiagnosed in her lifetime: generalized hypertrichosis lanuginosa, which covered her face and body in thick hair, and gingival hyperplasia, which thickened her lips and gums. </p> <p>... In 1859 Pastrana became pregnant by Lent while touring. Her infant inherited her hypertrichosis and died hours after his birth in Moscow, and Pastrana died from complications five days later.</p> <p><strong>Lent soon began exhibiting the embalmed bodies of his wife and son</strong>. He later found a bearded woman in Germany whom he married and billed as Pastrana&#8217;s sister, &#8220;Zenora Pastrana.&#8221; The couple traveled, and Zenora performed alongside the bodies.</p> <p>After Lent&#8217;s death, Pastrana&#8217;s body was exhibited widely, most recently by a Norwegian fairground operator in the early 1970s. In 1976 thieves broke into a warehouse owned by the fairground&#8217;s heir and <strong>stole the bodies</strong> of Pastrana and her son...</p></blockquote> <p>According to the article, Pastrana was finally laid to rest in Sinaloa, Mexico, today.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/a-burial-for-julia-pastrana-the-bear-woman#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15992303&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/a-burial-for-julia-pastrana-the-bear-woman?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15992303&id=comments 4 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:05:34 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/the-myanmarburmese-government-hacks-journalists-email http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/the-myanmarburmese-government-hacks-journalists-email Brendan Kiley <p>Myanmar/Burma has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/burma-offers-visas-journalists">just allowed journalists to enter the country lawfully</a>, meaning certain people (ahem) who work as reporters don't have to fake their work histories/identities to get into the country.</p> <p>This comes on the heels of a <em>NYT</em> story about reporters who've worked (clandestinely or otherwise) in Burma learning that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/world/asia/journalists-e-mail-accounts-targeted-in-myanmar.html?src=twr&_r=0">their email accounts have been hacked</a>, possibly (probably) by the military.</p> <p>A few cross currents are to be expected in a place like Myanmar/Burma (a little on the politics of what to call the country <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/how-i-spent-my-winter-vacation-a-few-notes-on-burmamyanmar">here</a>) that is in the middle of a historic identity shift. Some policymakers want to move towards openness, while some in the old guard are still doing their same old thing.</p> <p>It's like any institution trying to <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/12/16/department-of-justice-finds-that-seattle-police-engage-in-a-pattern-or-practice-of-unnecessary-force-but-no-evidence-of-discriminatory-poli">change its bad habits</a> and <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/undercover-cops-entrap-reluctant-man-into-selling-joint-for-5">adjust to a new reality.</a> Some inconsistencies are to be expected.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/the-myanmarburmese-government-hacks-journalists-email#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15985963&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Media International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/12/the-myanmarburmese-government-hacks-journalists-email?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15985963&id=comments 1 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:45:04 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/north-korea-apparently-detonates-nuclear-weapon http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/north-korea-apparently-detonates-nuclear-weapon Paul Constant <p>Kim Jong-un seems to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test.html?hp&_r=0">share his dad's love</a> of <strong>things that go boom</strong>:</p> <blockquote><p>American and South Korean officials reported seismic activity in North Korea on Tuesday that appeared to be evidence of the country&#8217;s <strong>third, and long-threatened nuclear test </strong>and a new challenge for the Obama administration in its effort to keep the country from becoming a full-fledged nuclear power.</p></blockquote> <p>The blast was reportedly in the range of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/north-korea-nuclear-test_n_2666319.html">six or seven kilotons</a>. For comparison's sake, the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima was <a href="http://www.nukefix.org/weapon.html">approximately 12.5 kilotons</a>. There has been no comment from the White House yet.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/north-korea-apparently-detonates-nuclear-weapon#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15986225&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/north-korea-apparently-detonates-nuclear-weapon?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15986225&id=comments 21 Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:23:09 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/greek-police-try-to-photoshop-away-signs-of-prisoner-abuse http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/greek-police-try-to-photoshop-away-signs-of-prisoner-abuse Brendan Kiley <p>Things keep getting hairier in Greece, where austerity measures have led to a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/11/greece-humanitarian-crisis-eu">"humanitarian crisis"</a> of poverty and homelessness, and civil society is fraying and radicalizing into factions of ultra-nationalist fascists (the Golden Dawn, which is frighteningly <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/26/golden-dawn-infiltrated-greek-police-claims">well-integrated into the police force</a>) and anarchists.</p> <p>A few days ago, Amnesty International said Greek police had photoshopped away signs of torture in photographs of four anarchist bank robbers arrested earlier this month. From <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/greek-police-photoshop-away-signs-brutality-mugshots-2013-02-04">the AI website:</a> &#8220;The Greek authorities cannot just Photoshop their problems away. This culture of impunity needs to be stopped." </p> <p>You can see examples of <a href="http://roarmag.org/2013/02/photoshopping-away-police-repression-in-greece/">the doctored photos at roarmag.org</a>, which also reports:</p> <blockquote><p>Let&#8217;s not forget that a few months ago, the same government, the same Minister of Public Order, and the same police force, tortured &#8212; as it <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/greek-antifascist-protesters-torture-police">was proven</a> &#8212; 15 antifascist activists for having organized an AntiFa moto-parade. And it is the same state officials who launched an attack against the country&#8217;s squats...</p> <p>It is by now obvious that the Greek state, in order to defend the extremely unpopular and unsuccessful austerity measures it has been imposing for a couple of years now, has chosen the road of repression. It is not something new: we have seen such practices in the past too &#8212; in Chile, in Argentina, and elsewhere. The difference is that in those cases we were talking about military dictatorships, while in the Greek case we are talking about a democratically-elected government...</p></blockquote> <p>Some Greek theater company has got to be staging Dario Fo's <em><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-comedy-with-claws/Content?oid=14142157">Accidental Death of an Anarchist</a></em> these days. I can't imagine a better context for that show right now than Greece.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/greek-police-try-to-photoshop-away-signs-of-prisoner-abuse#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15983223&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater International Economy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/11/greek-police-try-to-photoshop-away-signs-of-prisoner-abuse?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15983223&id=comments 3 Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:22:58 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/05/a-million-shades-of-grey http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/05/a-million-shades-of-grey Paul Constant <p><a href="http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/04/16843014-exclusive-justice-department-memo-reveals-legal-case-for-drone-strikes-on-americans?lite">Dominic mentioned this</a> in the <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/05/15931899-the-tuesday-morning-news">Morning News</a>, but it deserves its own post:</p> <blockquote><p>A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can<strong> order the killing of American citizens </strong>if they are believed to be &#8220;senior operational leaders&#8221; of al-Qaida or &#8220;an associated force&#8221; &#8212; even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.</p></blockquote> <p>This is more power than the government has ever admitted to. This is serious business, and the Obama Administration should have to answer for this memo. Unfortunately, because terrorism makes elected officials stupid, it's probably only going to go so far as to mess up a few minutes of John Brennan's confirmation hearings this week. And if human rights violations committed by the United States since 9/11 outrage you, there are <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/05/16853156-report-pulls-back-veil-on-cias-rendition-program?lite">a few dozen other nations </a>that should arouse your ire, too:</p> <blockquote><p>As many as <strong>54 nations aided the United States in rendition and detention operations</strong> that swept up more than 130 people as part of the Central Intelligence Agency&#8217;s global counterterrorism efforts, according to a report released Tuesday by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a human rights advocacy group.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/16/a-game-of-drones">I wrote about this for President Obama's inauguration</a>, but the moral math of being an informed American keeps getting murkier every day.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/05/a-million-shades-of-grey#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15932206&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/05/a-million-shades-of-grey?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15932206&id=comments 14 Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:19:53 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/30/mugabe-and-the-white-farmers http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/30/mugabe-and-the-white-farmers Charles Mudede <p><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013130134525141101.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount">Al Jazeera</a>:<br /><blockquote>"Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 (left) in government coffers," Biti told journalists in the capital Harare on Tuesday, claiming some of the workers had healthier bank balances than the state [of Zimbabwe].</p> <p>"The government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment. We are failing to meet our targets."</p> <p>Zimbabwe's economy plummeted at the turn of the millennium, after President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms.</blockquote> Yes, this is what happens when you have a large rural population that doesn't know jack. Mugabe's voters were not in the cities but in the rural areas. And those farms he so heroically reclaimed for the blacks were not owned by the whites; they were owned by the banks, and the banks were owned by the blacks. You could not remove the whites without creating a deep banking crisis. The banks depended on the payments white farmers made on their loans. If you took their farms, you also had to take their debts. This did not happen, and so Zimbabwe is where it is.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/30/mugabe-and-the-white-farmers#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15881395&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/30/mugabe-and-the-white-farmers?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15881395&id=comments 12 Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:43:06 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/chimerica-today http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/chimerica-today Charles Mudede <p><a href="http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-01/18/content_16141893.htm">China Daily</a>:<br /><blockquote>China's GDP for the first time<strong> passed $8 trillion, or about 55 percent the size of the US economy</strong>, after the world's second-largest economy struggled to speed up growth in the fourth quarter.<br />Based on yearly growth of 7.8 percent, the government announced on Friday that the country's 2012 GDP was 51.9 trillion yuan ($8.28 trillion).<br />GDP grew 7.9 percent in the final quarter, compared with 7.4 percent in the third and 7.6 percent in the second.<br />China's growth continued to be the highest among leading world economies, although it was its slowest in 13 years.</blockquote>Japan's GDP is $5.8 Trillion. The world's GDP is $70 trillion. As for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_(finance)">deritives market</a>, it's valued at <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/banking_finance/derivatives_market_bubble_financial">$700 trillion</a>. <br /><blockquote>$700 trillion is more than 10 times the GDP of the entire world and equivalent to $100,000 for each of the 7 billion inhabitants of our planet.</blockquote><br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:423px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/7f95/1359140738-screen_shot_2013-01-25_at_10.57.44_am.png" alt="Screen_shot_2013-01-25_at_10.57.44_AM.png" title="" width="411" height="191" /></div><br />Who will rescue us?</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/chimerica-today#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15842895&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/chimerica-today?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15842895&id=comments 10 Chimerica Today Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:11:05 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/man-attempts-to-shoot-a-bulgarian-politician-on-live-tv http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/man-attempts-to-shoot-a-bulgarian-politician-on-live-tv Christopher Frizzelle <p>Holy shit!</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1pL1FC91HPo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/19/us-bulgaria-assault-idUSBRE90I0B620130119">According to Reuters: </a></p> <blockquote><p>A man jumped on stage and pointed a gun at the leader of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party before security guards wrestled him to the ground during a televised conference on Saturday.</p> <p>Ahmed Dogan, the long-time leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) escaped unscathed, and it was not immediately clear why the attacker had targeted him at the party congress in downtown Sofia...</p></blockquote> <p>Reportedly, the assailant is 25 years old and had two knives as well. <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/gun-pointed-at-bulgarian-politician-on-live-tv">Here are some photos of him&#8212;and his bloodied face&#8212;being escorted away.</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/man-attempts-to-shoot-a-bulgarian-politician-on-live-tv#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15785270&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> International http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/man-attempts-to-shoot-a-bulgarian-politician-on-live-tv?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15785270&id=comments 15 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:54:30 -0800 The Stranger