News and Politics // Current

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5 days ago

Mr. Clean Goes To Court, Pleads the Fifth

Household cleaner giants want to keep chemical ingredients secret. For more than a year, Procter & Gamble, Colgate... more

love_is_my_religion
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Topless Sledging Competition

A group of killjoy town hall officials in Germany are determined to nip a sledge race in the bud - on the grounds that all the... more

bigredkev
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Girl buried alive in honor killing in Turkey

Where is the outrage against this culture? Where are the pathetic excuses who call themselves "feminists" in the... more

jimmysemens
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CEO announces resignation with twitter haiku

Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathon Schwartz has announced his resignation in the form of a Twitter Haiku. It read: Today's my... more

sophosthegreat
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Muslim fundamentalists should "drink wine to learn tolerance"

Philosopher Roger Scruton, 65, has urged "lunatic fundamentalists who have set their heart on giving Islam a bad name"... more

sophosthegreat
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Third of Britons Think Peter Grffin is Leader of BNP

A new study reveals that one third of Britons mistakenly think that Peter Griffin is the current leader of the BNP. When asked... more

sophosthegreat
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Jon Stewart takes the hot seat with Bill O'Reilly (Video)

Tackling Bill O'Reilly on his home turf is never easy, yet Jon Stewart more than held his own last night. In a vigorous,... more

Future_America
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Jon Stewart tussles with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News (Video!)

Tonight, Jon Stewart told Bill O’Reilly that the “no spin zone” ringleader had become the voice of sanity on the... more

jeffissleeping
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Straight Talking - Herbert Hainer CEO & President , Adidas

Like everyone, Adidas is feeling the pinch. Q2 2009 results were down – though better than expected – and all eyes are... more

JFunnell
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Religious group have apparently specific idea of what gay adopting couples look like

When a Florida judge awarded custody of a 1-year-old boy to the foster family he’d been living with, saying the boy... more

richjm
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British Man, Turns House Into Reptile Aquarium

Chris Weller, a former civil servant with a license for dangerous animals, has spent around £20,000 in converting his house... more

Mcellie
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India Offers To Resume Talks With Pakistan

The Huffington Post reports that talks between the two were put onto hold by India, after the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.... more

Mcellie
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MPs told to repay £1.12m but expenses inquiry cost £1.16m. Great.

Good news Britain, a full list of repayments the nation's greedy MPs have been asked to make has been published in a report... more

richjm
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British Scientist Claims We're All Aliens on Earth

The human race began as microbes brought to Earth by comets millions of years ago according to a British scientist, The Sun... more

rodstradamus
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Pet owner killed by dogs after saving them from death

A Slovenian who saved his three dogs from being put down for attacking humans was himself mauled to death by them, police said on... more

TravG73
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Genocide charge now possible for Sudan's al-Bashir

The International Criminal Court will again consider charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur, after an... more

JanforGore
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Global throwdown: Somali pirates vs. North Korea

An awesome confluence of rogue actors:
The MV Rim was seized in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally recommended transit corridor patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition, said Cmdr. Anders Kallin of the EU Naval Force. The MV Rim has not had any communication with maritime authorities, but Kallin said an American warship, the USS Porter, and a helicopter from American warship USS Farragut confirmed the seizure of the ship to the EU. The 4,800-ton ship is owned by White Sea Shipping of Libya. It is carrying unknown cargo and the number and nationalities of the crew are not known. The seized ship was heading toward the Somali coast and warships were monitoring the situation, the EU Naval Force said.

It really kind of can't get any better than that, can it? The old Axis of Evil vs. the new Axis of Instability. Even Libya is involved! I mean maybe we could add "They announced it on Twitter and submitted a YouTube question to Obama from the open ocean." But no seriously, the only way this story could get any better was to throw a little Al Qaeda in it. Oh, what's that? A link between Somali pirates and Al Qaeda? Do tell, Foreign Policy magazine:
Somalia has two big scourges these days: Islamist milititas that run most of the country (and are linked to al Qaeda) and piracy off the coast....But what if the two scourges are linked?...Last December, a Canadian intelligence report indicated that Shabaab was in fact training pirates for their "duties." Further reporting from Jane's (summarized here) notes how taxes are levied on the pirates' booties. Yes, the pirates and the Islamists are definitely in cahoots.

All kidding aside, these sorts of links are worrisome. As global connectivity becomes more accessible, it's not hard to imagine a world in which there truly is an "Axis of Instability" aligning terrorists, religious militants, pirates, drug gangs, etc. It's a concern the DEA has put forward in their (alebit dubious) theories about Al Qaeda and the FARC. Let's just hope that the hostage negotiations between North Korea and the Somali pirates don't turn into partnership talks. An awesome confluence of rogue actors: The MV Rim was seized in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally... more