Current Events Archives
November 13, 2007
■ “Oink didn’t offer solutions; it highlighted the problems of over-priced, over-controlled music elsewhere.” [#]
October 2, 2007
■ “The numerous road accidents, boat disasters, floods in the north, gas explosions in Kumasi and collapse of buildings that the country has witnessed in recent months may not be for nothing. A global meeting of witches, currently underway in Ghana, is targeting thousands of lives through fatal road and other accidents.” [#]
August 6, 2007
■ “Japanese scientists are to explore the centre of the Earth. Using a giant drill ship launched next month, the researchers aim to be the first to punch a hole through the rocky crust that covers our planet and to reach the mantle below.” [#]
July 26, 2007
■ Burning Man Protest Protested by Burning Man Protesters: “What’s really strange is that during the protest, other Burning Man participants came out of the Burning Man office to protest the protesters.” [#]
July 13, 2007
■ “The Iraqi port city of Basra, already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now been gripped by a scary rumour - giant badgers are stalking the streets by night, eating humans.” [#]
July 7, 2007
■ “President Sarkozy has fallen foul of intellectuals and critics who see his passion for jogging as un-French, right-wing and even a ploy to brainwash his citizens.” [#]
June 4, 2007
■ “Frustrated shop owners said the branch overreacted to the strange fax, which turned out to be an in-house marketing document sent by the bank’s corporate office.” [#]
February 22, 2007
■ Does three make a trend? “Two circus clowns have been shot dead during a performance in the eastern Colombian city of Cucuta, police say. … Last year, a prominent circus clown, known as Pepe, was also shot dead by a unknown assailant in Cucuta.” [#]
February 9, 2007
■ “John Burns, one of The New York Times’ most respected reporters and a longtime figure in the paper’s Iraq coverage, said he has mixed feelings about leaving the war-torn coverage to take over the paper’s London bureau later this year. But he says, even after he departs, the Times coverage should not and will not be reduced, despite ongoing budget difficulties.” [#]
January 24, 2007
■ “Which brings me to the main reason I delayed writing about Obama. For me, it was a trick question in a game I refused to play. Since the issue was always framed as a battle between gender and race (read: non-whiteness — the question is moot when all the players are white), I didn’t have the heart (or the stomach) to point out the obvious: Obama isn’t black.” I’ve seen several articles with similar themes in recent days. They bring to mind a story I did while a student a Columbia on the relationship between black Americans and African immigrants … a story that, in part, had (white guy) me walking around Queens asking black people if they were from Africa … . [#]
■ “A German Web site has come up a novel niche market — renting out demonstrators for public protests. Good-looking protestors can help an organization get its political message to the public for as little as €145 a day.” [#]
January 23, 2007
■ “Yesterday, young voters in their early twenties were crying in front of the school where they were supposed to vote. I interviewed them. They told me they were desperate because they cannot vote for what they want in their lives, but only against what they fear.” [#]
January 1, 2007
■ The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday. [#]