Readers must have heard about the case of Heather Cho, a senior Korean Air executive who, on a flight from New York to Seoul, was enraged when the purser (the flight crew chief) served her nuts the wrong way (in a bag and not in a dish) as the plane left the gate and headed for the runway.
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Stephen Colbert is a huge fan of the Hobbit world created by J. R. R. Tolkien and is familiar with the most minute aspects of it. When I saw that he was going to interview Smaug (apparently is a character in some of the books) I thought it would be someone dressed as the character and was wondering whether it would be worth watching since I am not a big fan of the books or the films. I am glad that I did because it was really something to see.
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I remember well how when cell phone usage in the US was just at the beginning stages, taking a trip to Sri Lanka and seeing cell phones all over the place, with people from all walks of life like street vendors, taxi cab drivers, plumbers, electricians, and other small scale businesspeople all using them.
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We need a break from depressing news about torture and what better than some good music?
I love these flash mobs that pop up in public spaces to play the great classical pieces. And there are few pieces more suited to this kind of street art than the last movement from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, a magnificent piece that never fails to move me however many times I hear it. And since this took place at a street fair in Nurenberg, Germany, there was the added bonus that many of the spectators actually knew the words and could join in on the choral parts.
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Torture is barbaric and immoral and goes against all civilized norms of behavior. Those considerations alone should be sufficient to not do it and prosecute those who do. But there are those who argue that that is trumped by the fact that it generates information that can prevent even worse outcomes. But there are some things that we have known for a long time about the efficacy of torture that the US senate report has made even more clear and that is that it is not useful for getting information since tortured people will tell you what you want to hear or whatever they think will stop the torture.
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Samantha Bee looks at the efforts by corporations to use a breast campaign awareness campaign to ‘pink wash’ their actions and distract people from the fact that their business actions may actually be increasing the risk of cancer. The charity Susan G. Komen that promoted using the pink color has already been accused of exploiting the campaign for its own benefit and that of its executives and this is not going to help them either
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The last few weeks we have seen reports of a massive hack into the Sony Pictures Entertainment system where the hackers seems to have seized an immense amount of confidential internal documents about everyone who was even remotely connected to the company.
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The Daily Show took aim at the Freedom From Religion Foundation that had sent a letter threatening legal action to the owner of a small restaurant Mary’s Gourmet Diner that offered a 15% discount to patrons who prayed before meals. As a result of that letter, the owner of the diner dropped the promotion. The show interviewed Dan Barker, co-president of the FFRF, about why he did this and although he was articulate and clear, he did not come off well.
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The US stands condemned in the world of public opinion as being led by war criminals and condoners of war crimes and a nation that practices the most disgusting forms of torture. You can be sure that we still haven’t been told the worst of it, since the full report has not been released and neither have the videos of the force-feeding of Guantanamo detainees.
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Another The Daily Show newcomer Hasan Minhaj, making just his second appearance on the show, spoke about how despite its history of wreaking death and destruction all over the world, and despite the depravities revealed most recently in the torture report, the US is still, and always will be, the greatest, noblest, most humane and moral country in the world, facts be damned.
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