Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Asia
Scandal in the world of sumo wrestling! The sport’s ties to organized crime has hurt its reputation greatly.
Europe
France is facing a lot of criticism over its decision to deport the Roma.
North America
President Obama ends the war in Iraq, seven years after it began.
We’ve all been subjected to the shoddily-shot home videos. The most annoying are those of a friend’s cool vacation that you couldn’t afford. Viewing such videos inevitably leave you feeling queasy (maybe with motion sickness, depending on who was trying to work the camera).
Here’s the video you’d much rather see, taken in NYC by touristy German film makers. Hat tip to Gawker.
THE BEAT OF NEW YORK from tim hahne on Vimeo.
Hey kids, entertain yourselves for a few hours. Mommy doesn’t like to play with you right now.
Is it so hard to get some good service these days? An exploration of the American customer service straight jacket.
A race for the ages and worthy or your attention: The O’Malley-Ehrlich REMATCH! Let the punches start being thrown in Maryland!
We at USDemocrazy have been looking around our office and bedrooms in search of “Honor”.
Why? Because there is sizable chunk of Americans out there who think the nation has somehow lost its “Honor “. We just trying to help them locate it.
On Saturday, a large gathering of similarly concerned Americans descended upon the National Mall in D.C. They were there on the behest of conservative radio and TV talk show personality Glenn Beck to partake in a “Restoring Honor” rally.
You might have heard of Glenn Beck because his strong stances on many issues tend to draw attention and controversy. In his D.C. speech he outlined how America could return to greatness by bringing its people closer to God, as explained by Mediaite:
…but he gave no room for dissent in the importance of America having spiritual guidance from a higher power and, possibly much more impacting than that, his insistence that organized religion specifically is the key to “restoring honor.”
While calling for such a movement in America to start, he did what he does best — divide observers and pundits. Some commentators thought his speech provided something good, others something pointless. Find out what interesting points some of the pundits are coming up with over at The Week.
Lastly, while you decide for yourself whether you think America needs its honor restored (it sounds like he’s implying that the U.S. is a teenage girl in the 1950s who has ridden in one too many car backseats with a… ahem… boy), hear what The Atlantic gathered in terms of real people who like Glenn Beck and his ideas for real reasons.
So — what do you think? Is America in store for a new wave of honor, truth, enlightenment, etc.?
Is your idea of an adventure holiday include being kidnapped and targeted for extortion?
Well, we have the vacation hot spots for you!!!
Well, actually , the US State Dept. has the list. From time to time they assemble a TOP TEN LIST of worst places to go in the world. Check it out here… and guess which country is number 1 on the List ( hint: Begins with an L and has a non ending).
Greetings friends and new-comers! The USDemocrazy team is now back in action and ready for a new challenges!
You may have noticed (we hope) our new lay out. We look forward to hearing your comments on the site and our always (okay, almost always) informative daily blog posts.
We have big plans for the months ahead. We will be starting a series of regular features including staff rating of political campaign ads, reader polls on prminant issues and our weekly cartoons and caption contests.
Come visit us often and spread the word!
Thanks to Wikicommons.
We’ve all tried to join exclusive clubs (and if you’re like US Democrazy you’ve been kicked out of most of them).
Last week South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma stated his countries goal of joining one of the newest (and hippest) clubs on the global stage, BRIC.
Not to be confused with the construction material BRIC is creatively named for its members, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. This group informally has friendly relations (and has pot luck dinners once a month).
Why is BRIC such a hip group? Well for one thing it’s members are using tons of bricks to grow their economies at impressive rates, especially China which recently became the world’s second largest economy.
The question that’s being asked is South Africa economically strong enough to join? …read more.
Africa
30 people have died in a terrorist attack in Somalia. Al-Shabab (the same organization behind the recent bombings in Uganda) claims responsibility for the attack, in which gunmen entered a popular hotel and killed everyone there.
Asia
Think your morning commute is bad? Drivers in China have faced a 10 day long traffic jam. Yes, you read that right. 10 days.
North America
This Sunday will be the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the Gulf states in 2005. Though strides toward improvement are being made, recovery is still a long process.
South America
In Chile, 33 miners have defied the odds and are alive after 17 days of being trapped in a mine. Officials say it could take 3-4 MONTHS to rescue the miners.
Budget problems? We ain’t got no stinkin’ budget problems! California unveils its brand new $578 million school complex.
D.C.: Prepare ye the way of Glenn Beck, et. al.! The Maine Tea Party has prepared a very helpful guide to navigating D.C. that’s worth your review.
It’ll cost you $80 to snap a pic with Blago. If you had a face like that, you’d charge too.
Now there's a man who can rock a hat. (Courtesy of AMC.)
It’s no secret that we here at USDemocrazy like to look good. (See our fancy new layout??) Sometimes we pick up on fashion trends, but overall we like to keep things simple.
And remember the Good Ol’ Days where guys and gals wore hats and everyone knew what to do with them when they went inside (take them off)? [Yeah, we actually don't remember those days either.] The Wall Street Journal reminded us of how simple things used to be, and how the younger folk who are embracing hats these days have just gone and made things complicated.
The article explains the gripes of dudes who have been asked to take off their chapeaux (French for “hats,” because if you say it in French, it’s classier) in places like schools, bars, and other indoor places. Pro-indoor-hat-wearers say that it’s a part of their overall ensemble and should be treated as such. Would you ask a man to remove his belt because it’s a part of an establishment’s arbitrary dress code? Not usually…
We all know fashion can get complicated… And this trend is not exempt. So, if you’re not ready to deal with stuffy etiquette rules when all you want to do is put together a super hip outfit, then you might stay away from a hat. UNLESS there’s no old ladies nearby for you to deal with.
Hmmm… This reminds of a certain super hip band dropping some super hip beats straight out of 1982. CHECK IT OUT:
It’ll only run you $14k to have Ms. Palin speak at your next event! (Bonus points if that event has to do with being a single mom!)
An Andy Myer Image
What’s the matter? Got ants in your pants? Bee in your bonnet? Or even worse, do you have BUGS in your BED??
We at USDemocrazy like to think we have upstanding hygiene (though our editor’s is a bit questionable). So it stands to reason we should have no fear of catching bed bugs, right? right??
Unfortunately… wrong. Even major retailers in New York City like Victoria Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch have had to close up shop to deal with these pesky little friends. The campus dorms, studio apartments and maybe even the very hotel room you slept in on your last vacation, have all been plagued by these wanna-be vampires.
USDemocrazy’s hometown Baltimore, MD is experiencing a swell in bedbugs and these critters have no prejudices about where they get their next meal. The plight of the bed bug is NOT solely a friend to the impoverished, but with treatments so costly they may be the population these bed bugs hurt the most.
Strong pesticides, like DDT, should not be taken to battle in this epic war. ‘Why ?’ you might ask. The answer is simple: not only are pesticides unhealthy for you, your family, and your pets, but they will be ineffective. After 50 years of bedbugs being ‘undercover’ and mainly perceived as a pest of the past, bed bugs have evolved with avengence and a strong resistance to previous chemical solutions.
Goodnight, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite America!
What do our economy and a really fat man have in common? Quite a lot according to Michael Pento (with a hat tip to Zero Hedge).
Even if that is just a bunch of Austrian assumptions (for a better explanation check out the video above) our economy is definitely not in the pink just yet.
With that comes pain and sacrifice for consumers (unless your Snooki who is the center of an insane reverse advertising war).
Economists see more than just sacrifice they see a Petri dish to be studied. One aspect that is being analyzed is what things are considered “necessities”.
Thanks to Free exchange
As pointed out by the Economist’s Free exchange:
I would not have imagined that the downturn would lead to decline of 20 percentage points in the share of those labeling a clothes dryer a necessity. It suggests that the psychological impact of recession extends well beyond those who remain unemployed.
It also seems that houses may be becoming a luxury:
Thanks to Yglesias
Houses may become a luxury but an economic downturn doesn’t have to stop you from living in a mansion for free.
Speaking from experience an abandoned mansion is a great place to blog from. Don’t take our word on it: find a mansion, fire up you laptop and drop us a comment. Writing comments is a penny pinching way to have fun.
Asia
North Korea recently joined YouTube and Twitter, using the social media platforms to mock South Korea and the United States. Interestingly, the messages are aimed at South Koreans, not at North Koreans, who are denied access to websites like YouTube and Twitter.
Europe
Ladies of Italy, rejoice! Venice is soon going to see its first female gondolier! Until recently, the trade has been limited to men due to the tradition of fathers training their sons to become gondoliers. Now, there is a course in becoming a gondolier and more women can try their hand at the profession.
Middle East
There’s another controversy involving Facebook! An Israeli soldier posted pictures of herself smiling and posing next to blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, causing an uproar among Palestinian groups. The Israeli Defense Force has released a statement disapproving the picture, but the soldier sees nothing wrong with her actions.
What the Tweet? from GOOD.is on Vimeo.
We love infographics – especially ones about media. Watch the video above, but make sure it’s full screen. There is a ton of information to catch.
GOOD and Part & Parcel put this animation together to show the breakdown of tweets. Despite a large amount of people sharing information through Twitter, most of that information is coming from old media sources like newspapers Maybe what they found isn’t shocking, but it’s interesting to consider.
We’ve heard over and over again that print media is dead, that nobody reads newspapers, and that nobody listens to the radio.
However, this information paints a different picture. People are consuming old types of media. The difference is not that old media is dying, it’s that the way humans interact with that media is changing.
Sending links to news articles or radio broadcast through tweet is a great way to peak the interest of followers. Interestingly enough, most of the tweeting is about technology.
To see a comprehensive still image of the information covered in the video, look here.
