The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:40:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Scary Jews Trying To Kill Ousted President Of Honduras http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/scary-jews-trying-to-kill-ousted-president-of-honduras http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/scary-jews-trying-to-kill-ousted-president-of-honduras#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:40:27 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/scary-jews-trying-to-kill-ousted-president-of-honduras Get him, Jews!Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, currently ensconced in that country's Brazilian embassy, claims that Israeli mercenaries are trying to poison him with radiation and toxic gas. "Israeli government sources in Miami said they could not confirm the presence of any 'Israelis mercenaries' in Honduras," but they would say that, wouldn't they?

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]]> Get him, Jews!Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, currently ensconced in that country's Brazilian embassy, claims that Israeli mercenaries are trying to poison him with radiation and toxic gas. "Israeli government sources in Miami said they could not confirm the presence of any 'Israelis mercenaries' in Honduras," but they would say that, wouldn't they?

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/scary-jews-trying-to-kill-ousted-president-of-honduras/feed 8 Pope's Wrist Fallible And Other News http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/popes-wrist-fallible-and-other-news http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/popes-wrist-fallible-and-other-news#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:05:20 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/popes-wrist-fallible-and-other-news Not good enough! I want Saturday NOW.My usual Friday attack of Let This Week Be Over Syndrome came early this week (if you're scoring at home, here's exactly when it happened), and I'll try to gut it out and take you through the rest of the day, but man am I finding it hard to care. Still, here are a couple of things you might be interested in.

  • Delivering a sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared that the country was in crisis; the speech was not televised out of fear that he would do exactly that.
  • Eight people were killed in Jakarta when two hotels were bombed. "Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president of Indonesia, likened the perpetrators to 'death spreaders,' or Dracula."
  • The situation in Honduras is still in flux. Amid protests, curfews, and negotiations, ousted President Miguel Zelaya is threatening to return next week.
  • There is not going to be enough of the swine flu vaccine to save us from ALL DYING.
  • The Pope fractured his wrist.

Okay? Let this week be over already!

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]]> Not good enough! I want Saturday NOW.My usual Friday attack of Let This Week Be Over Syndrome came early this week (if you're scoring at home, here's exactly when it happened), and I'll try to gut it out and take you through the rest of the day, but man am I finding it hard to care. Still, here are a couple of things you might be interested in.

  • Delivering a sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared that the country was in crisis; the speech was not televised out of fear that he would do exactly that.
  • Eight people were killed in Jakarta when two hotels were bombed. "Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president of Indonesia, likened the perpetrators to 'death spreaders,' or Dracula."
  • The situation in Honduras is still in flux. Amid protests, curfews, and negotiations, ousted President Miguel Zelaya is threatening to return next week.
  • There is not going to be enough of the swine flu vaccine to save us from ALL DYING.
  • The Pope fractured his wrist.

Okay? Let this week be over already!

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/popes-wrist-fallible-and-other-news/feed 7 China, Honduras, Italy: Everything's Falling Apart http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/china-honduras-italy-everythings-falling-apart http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/china-honduras-italy-everythings-falling-apart#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:15:13 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/china-honduras-italy-everythings-falling-apart Riots In ChinaWhat's that? You'd like some actual news? Okay, here are a few quick updates on some of the stories we've been following recently.

  • China: "Thousands of Chinese, many wielding sticks, clubs and knives, marched today through Uighur neighborhoods of the northwestern city of Urumqi chanting 'blood for blood' and singing the Chinese national anthem. Chinese police and paramilitaries deployed by the thousands struggled to contain escalating tensions in the worst outbreak of ethnic violence the country has seen in years. The marchers, who appeared to be ethnic Han, the majority in China, were demanding revenge for rioting by the Turkic-speaking Uighurs on Sunday in which 156 died." The New York Times profiles Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled Uighur businesswoman accused by the Chinese of "masterminding" the riots.
  • Honduras: "Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday just over a week after he was toppled in a coup that has pushed the Central American state into international isolation. The high-profile meeting with Washington's top diplomat will shore up support for Zelaya after troops foiled his attempt to fly back into Honduras on Sunday and clashed with his followers in the capital city. At least one person was killed." The interim government in Tegucigalpa remains defiant, even in the face of the country's suspension from the Organization of American States.
  • Liberia: This one's kind of a shocker for me, since I've held her in high esteem-or as much esteem you can hold for someone when you don't really know much about a country and its politics-but: "Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended Monday that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf be banned from holding public office for 30 years because of her alleged role in a civil war. In its final report, the panel investigating Liberia's successive 1989-2003 civil wars included Sirleaf's name in a list of people it accused of being 'the financiers and political leaders of the different warring factions.'"
  • Italy: As leaders of the Group of 8 prepare to meet in L'Aquila, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is worried about further scandalous revelations concerning his conduct. Oh, and earthquakes. Actual earthquakes.
  • And here at home, both California and New York continue their pathetic descents into insolvency and farce.

So, yeah. Aren't you happy you asked?

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]]> Riots In ChinaWhat's that? You'd like some actual news? Okay, here are a few quick updates on some of the stories we've been following recently.

  • China: "Thousands of Chinese, many wielding sticks, clubs and knives, marched today through Uighur neighborhoods of the northwestern city of Urumqi chanting 'blood for blood' and singing the Chinese national anthem. Chinese police and paramilitaries deployed by the thousands struggled to contain escalating tensions in the worst outbreak of ethnic violence the country has seen in years. The marchers, who appeared to be ethnic Han, the majority in China, were demanding revenge for rioting by the Turkic-speaking Uighurs on Sunday in which 156 died." The New York Times profiles Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled Uighur businesswoman accused by the Chinese of "masterminding" the riots.
  • Honduras: "Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday just over a week after he was toppled in a coup that has pushed the Central American state into international isolation. The high-profile meeting with Washington's top diplomat will shore up support for Zelaya after troops foiled his attempt to fly back into Honduras on Sunday and clashed with his followers in the capital city. At least one person was killed." The interim government in Tegucigalpa remains defiant, even in the face of the country's suspension from the Organization of American States.
  • Liberia: This one's kind of a shocker for me, since I've held her in high esteem-or as much esteem you can hold for someone when you don't really know much about a country and its politics-but: "Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended Monday that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf be banned from holding public office for 30 years because of her alleged role in a civil war. In its final report, the panel investigating Liberia's successive 1989-2003 civil wars included Sirleaf's name in a list of people it accused of being 'the financiers and political leaders of the different warring factions.'"
  • Italy: As leaders of the Group of 8 prepare to meet in L'Aquila, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is worried about further scandalous revelations concerning his conduct. Oh, and earthquakes. Actual earthquakes.
  • And here at home, both California and New York continue their pathetic descents into insolvency and farce.

So, yeah. Aren't you happy you asked?

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/china-honduras-italy-everythings-falling-apart/feed 4 Honduras Denies President's Attempt To Return http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/honduras-denies-presidents-attempt-to-return http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/honduras-denies-presidents-attempt-to-return#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:08:48 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/honduras-denies-presidents-attempt-to-return
Continuing chaos in Honduras, as a plane carrying deposed President Manuel Zelaya was refused permission to land by the interim government there. According to the Wall Street Journal, it's all America's fault, although the paper's position is pretty much always "Blame America first" when there's a Democrat in the White House, so, you know, nothing new there.

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Continuing chaos in Honduras, as a plane carrying deposed President Manuel Zelaya was refused permission to land by the interim government there. According to the Wall Street Journal, it's all America's fault, although the paper's position is pretty much always "Blame America first" when there's a Democrat in the White House, so, you know, nothing new there.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/honduras-denies-presidents-attempt-to-return/feed 0 Honduras Coup: Further Developments http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/honduras-coup-further-developments http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/honduras-coup-further-developments#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:15:08 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/honduras-coup-further-developments Castro, Zelaya, Chavez: A picture that will give the American right an aneurysmAgainst all odds-particularly since it is competing with the untimely passings of Billy Mays, Michael Jackson, and Fred Travalena-the Honduran coup story is becoming the Little Central American News Item That Could. (Jon Stewart even did a bit last night.) Anyway: Amid clashes between soldiers and citizens protesting the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, leaders from Latin America's left and right joined together to condemn the coup; Zelaya claims he will return to the country on Thursday. For more background on Zelaya, read Alvaro Vargas Llosa's Times op-ed, which predicts that whatever happens, the coup will bolster Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and Nikolas Kozloff's Counterpoint piece, which, in true Counterpoint fashion, suggests but does not definitively support U.S. involvement in the coup. Coming from very different places, both pieces show Zelaya as a scion of the Honduran establishment who underwent some sort of ideological conversion midway through his term. This whole thing is pretty fascinating to me! So get set to hear more about it in the coming days.

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]]> Castro, Zelaya, Chavez: A picture that will give the American right an aneurysmAgainst all odds-particularly since it is competing with the untimely passings of Billy Mays, Michael Jackson, and Fred Travalena-the Honduran coup story is becoming the Little Central American News Item That Could. (Jon Stewart even did a bit last night.) Anyway: Amid clashes between soldiers and citizens protesting the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, leaders from Latin America's left and right joined together to condemn the coup; Zelaya claims he will return to the country on Thursday. For more background on Zelaya, read Alvaro Vargas Llosa's Times op-ed, which predicts that whatever happens, the coup will bolster Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and Nikolas Kozloff's Counterpoint piece, which, in true Counterpoint fashion, suggests but does not definitively support U.S. involvement in the coup. Coming from very different places, both pieces show Zelaya as a scion of the Honduran establishment who underwent some sort of ideological conversion midway through his term. This whole thing is pretty fascinating to me! So get set to hear more about it in the coming days.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/honduras-coup-further-developments/feed 5 The Americas: Trouble Down South http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-americas-trouble-down-south http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-americas-trouble-down-south#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:57:58 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-americas-trouble-down-south Much like George W. Bush after 9/11, we don't pay a lot of attention to the countries to our south unless something's going on with the cocaine supply. But there were a couple of interesting things that happened this weekend which you might want to know about.

Argentine President Christina Fernandez saw her ruling party lose its majority in the country's lower house amid discontent over the economy and what is widely considered to be her ineptitude and recalcitrance in the handling of same. Even more embarrassingly, her husband Nestor Kirchner-her immediate predecessor as president and the George Wallace to her Lurleen-was defeated in a Buenos Aries congressional race. The Kirchners are part of the leftish faction of the country's Peronist party; even though voters reacted mainly to local issues, expect to see this spun as some kind of repudiation of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez by the American right.

Also expect to see yesterday's coup in Honduras spun the same way. (The Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady, who makes it difficult for even those of us who are sympathetic to the Venezuelan anti-Chavists to offer our full support, is already on the case.) They've got a better argument here: President Manuel Zelaya attempted to hold a referendum aimed at allowing him to serve a second term; the army and the Supreme Court rejected it. With tensions mounting, the army stormed the presidential palace and exiled Zelaya to Costa Rica; he was still in his pajamas. The coup has been condemned pretty much everywhere but in the pages of the Journal, but it's too early to tell how this one's gonna play out.

Okay! Feel smarter? Good. Now we can go back to talking about Michael Jackson.

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]]> Much like George W. Bush after 9/11, we don't pay a lot of attention to the countries to our south unless something's going on with the cocaine supply. But there were a couple of interesting things that happened this weekend which you might want to know about.

Argentine President Christina Fernandez saw her ruling party lose its majority in the country's lower house amid discontent over the economy and what is widely considered to be her ineptitude and recalcitrance in the handling of same. Even more embarrassingly, her husband Nestor Kirchner-her immediate predecessor as president and the George Wallace to her Lurleen-was defeated in a Buenos Aries congressional race. The Kirchners are part of the leftish faction of the country's Peronist party; even though voters reacted mainly to local issues, expect to see this spun as some kind of repudiation of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez by the American right.

Also expect to see yesterday's coup in Honduras spun the same way. (The Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady, who makes it difficult for even those of us who are sympathetic to the Venezuelan anti-Chavists to offer our full support, is already on the case.) They've got a better argument here: President Manuel Zelaya attempted to hold a referendum aimed at allowing him to serve a second term; the army and the Supreme Court rejected it. With tensions mounting, the army stormed the presidential palace and exiled Zelaya to Costa Rica; he was still in his pajamas. The coup has been condemned pretty much everywhere but in the pages of the Journal, but it's too early to tell how this one's gonna play out.

Okay! Feel smarter? Good. Now we can go back to talking about Michael Jackson.

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