A new series, where we try to give a short, easy, way-oversimplified background and history to a story that could use at least a hint of explanation, but really needs like a massive book or several. So, what the hell is going on in Ukraine? There’s these protests, people are mad, it’s gotten violent, and at least 25 people have died just between yesterday and today. Let’s start at the beginning: Ukraine lies at the intersection of Russia’s and the European Union’s interests. It also lies at the intersection of the Russian world and the European world....
Continue reading...International
Majority of Americans want better relations with Cuba, and so do I
A poll by the Atlantic Council found that 56% of Americans favor a more direct engagement, or even normalized relations with our neighbors off the coast of Florida. What’s more: The poll offered even greater evidence that a political tide has turned with its finding that two critical domestic political constituencies favor renewed ties to Cuba by even larger majorities than the nation at large. Survey respondents from the US Hispanic community supported broader Cuban relations by 62 to 30 percent. And voting-age residents of Florida, a decisive swing state in recent presidential elections, back a policy...
Continue reading...Two random North Korea-related stories of note
Just two random interesting things I came across today: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea apparently can’t get enough South Korea’s Choco Pies. In a country where the best jobs pay $63-100 a month, “the snacks are viewed as exotic, highly prized treats, selling on North Korea’s black markets for as much as $10.” In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, meth is offered as casually as a cup of tea.
Continue reading...Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen probably hammered right now
Breaking News: The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland gets drunk. Quite a bit. In fact, he’s probably rat-arsed right now. According, at least, to an alarming exposé by none other than that bastion of journalistic excellence, the Daily Mail: But a review of Mr Cowen’s public behaviour and his own admissions, coupled with extensive interviews of people who have witnessed the Taoiseach’s excessive consumption, reveals a habit of drinking that has been well known in Leinster House for more than a decade. This is a man who has designated Wednesday nights as ‘drinking nights’...
Continue reading...A land where everybody's drunk and ugly
Maybe when you read this: The nation’s females were lambasted when asked which country had the ugliest women in an international poll. Votes poured in, with people from around the globe eager to point out how overweight, unladylike, and generally foul British women are. Major complaints centred around how many are ‘rude’, ‘drink pints of beer like men’ and ‘end up drunk in the gutter’. The UK’s (not so) fairer sex were also accused of unashamedly breaking wind and belching in public, of letting their fat hang out, were smothered in ‘bad tattoos’ and committed crimes against...
Continue reading..."You got the Belgians running Europe?"
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s memoir is on sale today, alongside a lengthy profile/preview of the book in the Washington Post. Based on the tidbits from the profile, I may just have to snag A Journey: My Political Life (What an original and totally interesting title!). The Post piece mostly centers on the backstabbingly close relationship Blair had with his successor Gordon Brown. There’s this little tidbit regarding how Blair felt about Presidents Clinton and Bush, both of whom with which he shared close relationships. Blair first visited with George W. Bush at Camp David in...
Continue reading...A Complete History of the Soviet Union Arraged to the Melody of Tetris
This is pretty bad-ass. From the YouTube description: Buy the whole album at http://www.pigfaceboy.co.uk Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pigfaceboy A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris. Music by “Pig With The Face Of A Boy” Written and performed by DONALD NEWHOLM and DAN WOODS, with MALCOLM GAYNER & ROBIN HARRIS Photographed by TIM JORDAN Costumes by LUCY NEWHOLM Production assistant NICOLA LINCÉ Special thanks to JAMES LAMONT and REMY LAMONT Produced by CHRIS LINCÉ and DAN WOODS for the ‘Musical Comedy Lab\’ Directed, animated, and edited by...
Continue reading...Does Ross Douthat think Pro-Gay is Pro-Family?
Andrew Sullivan reads Ross Douthat and likes what he sees: I’m stretching things a bit, I know, but it\’s interesting to see Ross praise what he calls David Cameron’s “pro-family” impulses – especially by supporting married couples in the tax code, something I also support. The Lib-Dems have largely quashed this for now. But Cameron’s pro-family agenda specifically and emphatically included gay couples. In fact, his entire argument was that we should not distinguish between gay and straight, but focus on core values – like commitment and responsibility. This is the argument I’ve been making for twenty...
Continue reading...No Hipsters in China, Part 2
Via The New Yorker. Goo: Somewhere over the Pacific, Pabst Blue Ribbon began putting on airs. That reliably blue-collar Milwaukee lager, later adopted by unbearable hipsters on the coasts, has turned up in China. And P.B.R., best known in the U.S. for being the cheapest beer on the grocery-store shelf, has—like so many expatriates before it—taken the move as an opportunity to change its image. For a beer, that appears to involve an elegant glass bottle and a fantastically ridiculous price tag. One bottle: forty-four dollars.
Continue reading..."There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong."
British Prime Minister David Cameron today apologized in Parliament for the events of Bloody Sunday, after Lord Saville’s inquiry was finally completed and released. From the Guardian: The prime minister told a sombre Commons: “The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.” “Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly. The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of our armed forces and for that, on behalf of the Government – and indeed...
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