Around The World

Occasionally, we will feature a news rundown for the day. Today's is the second installment of many.

AT HOME:

Up North, in the land of the free: New Yorkers are planning to march on the homes of wealthy individuals because those people are "hording money." Being rich is evidently OK if you're Kayne West or Russell Simmons though. (New York has one of the highest tax rates in the United States but, evidently, not high enough for these folks).

Westward, in the land of the progressive free: The Governor (Democrat, Jerry Brown) is using veto powers to ensure that police and other government officials can tap your cell phone WITHOUT a warrant (meaning review where you've been, what you've searched online, who you have communicated with via text, email or in voice mails, etc., etc., etc.). Freedom from oppressive government in CA is a non-sequitur.

In Pittsburgh, land of the technologically advanced? Bows and arrows still settle quarrels.

In the U.S. at large, land of the Orwellian future: We are looking into a "Minority Report" type system to predict crimes with psuedo-science by monitoring the general public's behavior. In the government's defense, they said it won't capture "personally identifiable information," yet the system monitors blink rates, breathing rates and speech patterns (basically, only things that a person, individually, would do)... Oh and they said the same thing about airport scanners but that turned out to be a lie. Remember?

OVERSEAS:

Abroad, in the land of peaceful Islam: Afghani Muslims have burned down the last Christian church. The State Department could not find a single, public Christian church or school in the country. Also, their government (run by warlords who we paid off) is doing well despite rampant accusations of fraud, bribery and corruption.

Also abroad, in the land of SUPER Peaceful Islam: Egyptian Muslims continue to burn down Christian churches and kill Coptic Christians. This was more or less advocated by the prior government but has now been put into action by the current population. The law is not being enforced to protect these individuals but who cares they're Christians, right?

Also, Also, abroad, in the land of classical civilizations: Greece is going the way of Rome (marching toward self-destruction) but may be bailed out... Again.

In the Middle East, the land of the gender equality: Iranians have elected to put a woman in jail for one (1) year with ninety (90) lashes to remind her that she belongs in the kitchen and not in public making social commentary. However, if you're a male and criticize the President, they advocate for restraint... or something like that. Maybe Ahmadinejad was saying that public figures should be lashed also not just student activists? I don't know, nothing in Iran makes sense.