United States
More Tornadoes
- Tornadoes slammed Massachusetts, killing 4 people and causing fairly widespread damage
Romney Officially Launches Campaign
- Mitt Romney (former Governor of Massachusetts) has official announced his plans to run for President in 2012 after a failed attempt in the 2008 Republican primaries.
- His main problems to overcome will be the health care law he passed while Governor was basically the model of Obama's plan, which Republicans obviously dislike (although there wasn't the fervent debate, town halls and angry tea baggers the national plan saw). And while being relatively socially conservative he is a Mormon which will be an issue for the Evangelical south to vote for him in the primaries.
Rep. Weiner's Weiner
- Supposedly someone hacked Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account and one of his followers (who happens to be a college-aged girl) a picture of "someone" from the waist down in tight grey briefs.
- The girl, who lives across the country, said she follows his twitter account because she respects him, but has never met him nor has she ever been to DC or NY.
- Weiner has said they are investigating who hacked his Twitter account and vehemently denies sending the picture, but when asked if the picture was, in fact, of him, he skirts the issue saying pictures are easy to doctor nowadays and he can't say with certitude that the picture isn't of him.
- This is hilarious.
- Also, the day after he got upset with the press constantly asking him about the incident he apologized for being a bit "stiff" (ba-dum-CHING!) with reporters.
International
China Hacking Gmail
- Gmail said a sophisticated hacking attempted targeted the gmail accounts of journalists, US officials, military officers and Chinese dissidents. They did not directly blame China's government, but said the attacked originated in China, and given the targets it seems likely it was more espionage than random hacking.
- China rejected the claim, saying it was "unacceptable" to blame China for the attempt.
E. Coli Outbreak
- A new, toxic and highly infectious strain of E. Coli has broken out in Germany with several cases reported around Europe from people who had visited Germany. They don't know the source yet, but Spanish Cucumbers have been suggested and a few countries have banned fresh fruit and vegetable sales from the entire EU as a result.
Bosnian Genocide General Arrested
- Ratko Mladic was finally arrested in Serbia, 16 years after he was first indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide. He was in charge of the Bosnian Army and responsible for the killing of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the town of Srebrenica.
- During a recent poll 51% of Serbs did not want him to be extradited to The Hague to stand trial and 40% still viewed him as a "hero". But the arrest has much wider implications since Serbia is seeking membership in the EU and this is seen as a step towards that goal in that Serbia can no longer be accused of housing a perpetrator of genocide.
MENA
- More violence has erupted in Syria and the regime continues to crack down on protestors using military vehicles and equipment, while calling for dialogue.
- Yemen violence also continues as the calls for the President to step down in 30 days is now being resisted by the President and is does not go far enough for the protestors.
- Light(-ish) protests in Egypt erupted again in Tahir square because they feel the military is not being quick enough with the reforms of the revolution.
Completely off-topic but an article I found interesting (it may take a bit to get used to his writing style): http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2011/05/second_life_is_a_second_chance.html
As reported by Jason Van Thiel.
