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Politics
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Navy Kiss Seals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal [ICONIC PIC]
22 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Two female sailors yesterday became the first to share the traditional “first kiss” on the pier following the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. And because people are clever about these things, they took a couple of photographs modeled after that post-WW2 first kiss photo. It’s very cool.
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COSATU Would Like The ANC To Get Rid Of Provinces
21 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Well, well. Cosatu has announced that it would like the ANC to remove the current system of provinces in South Africa, saying that it is an obstacle to job creation. The organisation has said that it will lobby this at the ANC’s policy conference next year. Really, Cosatu? That can’t be the only reason…
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ANCYL Member Charged For Hitting Journalist Over Head With Brick
21 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Clifford Mohloana, a member of the ANC Youth League, will appear before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court for assaulting a journalist over the weekend. The journo, a freelancer named Chester Makana, suffered a blow to his head with a brick, allegedly brandished by Clifford. This is absolutely not ideal for anyone hoping to mend the ANCYL’s already shaky relations with the media.
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BREAKING: North Korean Military Will Share Power With Great Successor
21 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Kim Jong-un, son and heir apparent to his father’s North Korean throne, may have to share rule of the isolated country with the North Korean military and his uncle, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing has said today.
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Zeitgeist 2011: Google’s Year In Review
21 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It’s that time when all the companies that collect your data start parceling it out to tell you what the year’s really been like – we’ve already had offerings from Facebook and Twitter. What makes Google’s version – Zeitgeist – a little different is that they offer pretty particular data about South African search trends.
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Julius Malema Elected To Limpopo PEC
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Embattled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema was elected to the ANC’s provincial executive committee (PEC) in Limpopo on Tuesday with 592 votes. But what happens if his current appeal is rejected? Read on..
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North Korea Shows Kim Jong-Il’s Body On TV [PIC]
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 3 Comments
North Korean television has flighted images of the body of Kim Jong-Il lying in a glass coffin. There was also a flower-bedecked bier supporting the casket. His son and successor, Kim Jong-Un and other senior officials could be seen paying their respects.
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Smurf Town In Spain Votes To Stay Blue
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A small city in southern Spain, Juzcar, was used as the film location for the The Smurfs film, and painted blue to fit the theme. Once shooting had wrapped up, Sony Pictures offered to repaint the place – except residents voted yesterday to keep the place Smurf-coloured.
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North Koreans Weeping Hysterically Over The Death Of Kim Jong-il [VIDEO]
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
As you know, yesterday the world lost a pretty decent dictator. Understandably Kim Jong-il’s nation has been struck down with grief, bordering on mass hysteria. Check out insane footage of North Koreans grieving as if their lives depend on it – after the jump.
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Six Things You Didn’t Know About Kim Jong-Il
19 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
As the saying goes in Pyongyang, one good Kim deserves another. So, as Dear Leader’s dearest son prepares to assume the mantle of power, let’s look back at some of Kim Jong-Il’s greatest hits.
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Who is TIME Magazine’s Person Of The Year?
15 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
TIME Magazine have announced their prestigious Person of the Year, and this year there might not be enough seats in the awards venue, given the scale of their award. So, who took the title?
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The U.S. Congress Has Authorized The Pentagon To Wage War Online
15 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Well, it’s nice to see that the House and Senate can agree on something. Although in this case they’ve agreed to a provision snuck into the U.S. military’s 2012 funding bill that grants the military power to conduct “offensive” strikes online — including clandestine attacks. And won’t that be fun for everybody.
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How North Korea Stole Christmas
14 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Well, not really. But North Korea has issued a stern threat to their southern neighbours, warning of “unexpected consequences” if South Korea initiates “psychological warfare” by lighting up any Christmas trees near the north/south border. As opposed to, you know, the actual warfare initiated by the north when they shelled one of the southern islands.
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Britain Goes It Alone: The “Billy-No-Mates” Of Europe
14 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
On 9 December 2011, British Prime Minister, David Cameron emerged from 10 hours of negotiations with European Union leaders, announcing his decision to reject new European Rules on behalf of Britain. It is a move that has set Britain up for a season of icy relations with its continental cousins that may last much longer than this year’s winter.
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Google’s Updated Streetview of Fukushima
13 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
True to the pledge it made back in July to digitally archive images of the parts of Japan affected by the March earthquake and tsunami, Google has uploaded imagery of post-earthquake Fukushima to Street View. They’ve also set up a ‘Build the Memory’ website which compares before-and-after shots of the affected towns.
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Rick Perry: Parodies And Protected Posts
12 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It didn’t take long for the internet to respond to Perry’s ridiculously offensive ad. Besides over 120 000 dislikes on YouTube, here is a taste of the many fine parodies his bigoted nonsense stimulated, while his new videos have comment and rating functions blocked.
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Dutch Architects Apologise For Twin Tower Blast Look-Alike Design
12 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A highly embarrassed Dutch architectural firm has had to apologise for its design of twin skyscrapers in central Seoul, South Korea, because they look pretty much like freeze frames of New York’s late World Trade Center, as both towers exploded. The design for the luxury apartment buildings has enraged families of the victims of the September 11 attacks.
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Iran Parades US Drone, Russia And China Want To Inspect It
09 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
US officials previously confirmed that an RQ-170 Sentinel, otherwise known as a drone, did, in fact, crash land somewhere in Iran. They however weren’t keen to confirm that the footage Iran broadcast on state television yesterday was in fact real. In other news, Russia and China want to inspect the US craft.
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Red Cross Debating Whether Or Not Virtual Killing Violates International Humanitarian Laws
08 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
There’s a Red Cross committee presently debating whether or not people playing war video games should be subject to the same humanitarian laws as people involved in real wars with real people and real weapons. So far as I can tell they’re doing this entirely seriously.
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Nigeria Forges Ahead With Anti-Gay Bill, Says To Hell With Western Critics
08 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The Nigerian legislature is pushing ahead with a new bill which aims to limit gay rights, including banning gay marriage. And it’s paying absolutely no attention to Western nations’ concerns about this.
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Helen Zille Lashes Out At Independent Newspapers
07 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The DA, and Helen Zille in particular, is furious about a letter they received from Independent Newspapers, inviting the them to advertise in a special feature on the ANC’s centenary celebrations. The proposition for advertising in the supplement appeared on a letter with the Independent Newspapers letterhead alongside an ANC logo, and may be perceived as endorsement, according to Zille.
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Facebook Memology 2011: The Things People Talked About The Most This Year
07 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Facebook yesterday released a big ol’ lump of data about the most shared content of 2011, both globally and for specific countries. Osama Bin Laden’s death was far and away the most popular status update topic, followed distantly by the Super Bowl results and and the Casey Anthony trial for second and third most popular, respectively.
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Belgium’s New Leader Is World’s First Openly Gay Male Head Of State
07 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The new Prime Minister of the previously rudderless Belgium is 60-year old, Elio Di Rupo from the Socialist Party, who was sworn in yesterday. Di Rupo is also openly gay, making him the world’s first full-time openly gay male head of state. Go Belgium!
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DA launches Petition Against Info Bill
06 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The Democratic Alliance today launched an aggressive campaign to protest the current form of the draft Protection of Information Bill. The political party is calling on all South Africans to join forces and show their support against the legislation, while also planning more protests.
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Vladimir Putin Supporter Thrown Into St Petersburg River [VIDEO]
06 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
You can say a lot of things about South African politics, but the worst we do to bloody agents is chase them from our revolutionary houses. In Russia they get thrown into the St Petersburg River.
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Three SA Provinces Seeking Government Bailouts
06 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Two of South Africa’s nine provinces are nearing complete economic collapse, and they, with a third, are in need of financial bailout from central government, according to cabinet spokesperson, Jimmy Manyi. Care to guess which ones?
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Swiss Study Finds Illegal Downloading Doesn’t Actually Hurt Copyright Holders
05 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
In the wake of a worrying shift towards censorship of the internet, this is sort of comforting. A recent study conducted by the Swiss government has found that illegal downloading doesn’t necessarily negatively impact copyright holders, as many downloaders end up purchasing the products anyway – and “illegal” downloading is therefore remaining legal in Switzerland.
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New Ad Hoc Committee On Secrecy Bill Announced
02 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The committee which will shepherd the Protection of State Information Bill through to the next stage of its approval process in the National Council of Provinces next year has been announced. Parliament has elected 15 ad hoc committee members, 10 of whom are from the ANC, two from the DA and one each from Cope, the ID and the IFP.
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Assange: “iPhone, BlackBerry, Gmail Users – You’re All Screwed”
02 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Julian Assange, our go-to-source for feeling concerned about privacy, was at a panel with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism yesterday. He informed the audience that iPhone, Blackberry and Gmail users are all “screwed” – that “the reality is that intelligence operations are selling right now mass surveillance systems for all those products.”
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Hungary Have Outlawed Homeless People
01 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A new bit of legislation has just come into force in Hungary, in an attempt to deal with the large number of homeless people in Budapest. The regulation makes it a punishable offense to be homeless; the offense is punishable by a fine just under ZAR 5 000. Because, you know, that makes sense.
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