So, I normally try to say something passably clever or at least summarize what’s going on, but my brain’s on vacation. I’ll just offer up this vague disclaimer. These are just the things that caught my eye. Not everything that’s happening. Maybe not even the most important things, but still they’ve intrigued me/upset me/made me smile.
MegaUpload
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom appears in New Zealand court (Boing Boing)
United Nations
Russia and China Veto Syrian Resolution (The Moderate Voice)
Afghanistan
Children Freezing to Death: Another Horrific Side of the Afghanistan War (The Moderate Voice)
Bulgaria
Bulgarian MPs wear Guy Fawkes mask for ACTA session (Boing Boing)
Canada
Debunking the record industry shill who said that his amendments to Canada’s proposed copyright law are no big deal (Boing Boing)
Muslim man’s motivational text to colleagues leads to terror probe (Boing Boing)
Canada’s new SOPA-style copyright bill could shut down YouTube (Boing Boing)
China
Three Tibetan herders burn themselves alive in protest (Boing Boing)
Communist tablet? (Boing Boing)
Two Tibetans shot dead, another self-immolation, as China’s dissent crackdown continues (Boing Boing)
Czech Republic
Czech Government Suspends ACTA Ratification (TechDirt)
Egypt
Islamists Win 70% Of Seats In Egyptian Parliament (The Moderate Voice)
India
Porn in parliament ends ministers’ careers (Boing Boing)
Salman Rushdie Cancels Appearance at Jaipur Literary Festival Due to Assassination Threat (Writers Write)
Iran
Iran attacks internet access on Islamic Revolution anniversary (Boing BOing)
Iraq
(UPDATED) Yet Again, No Accountability For Marines In Iraq (The Moderate Voice)
Ireland
Irish journalist humiliates EuroBank technocrat who won’t stop ducking hard questions (Boing BOing)
Japan
Foreign journalist claims corruption, brutality, death threats from Japanese airport officials (Boing BOing)
Inside the Fukushima exclusion zone: the photography of Satoru Niwa (Boing Boing)
Mexico
Mexican Banda bandits blamed for school tuba thievery (Boing Boing)
Candidacy tests Mexico’s culture of machismo (Yahoo News)
Romania
Romania’s prime minister doesn’t know why he signed ACTA, Czech Republic’s out (Boing Boing)
Russia
Julian Assange to host Wikileaks TV show on Kremlin-funded Russian cable network (Boing Boing)
Sweden
Unexplained 60 meter object resting at the bottom of the Baltic Sea near Sweden (Boing BOing)
Syria
Report: Assad’s Office Hacked, Password Was ‘12345’ (Talking Points LiveWire)
United Kingdom
Stephen Fry on the techno-cluelessness of English judges (Boing Boing)
English plainclothes police officer follows himself for 20 minutes (Boing Boing)
Fred Goodwin is no longer a knight (Boing BOing)
Undercover UK cops infiltrated environmental groups, seduced women in the groups, fathered children with them, abandoned them (Boing Boing)
Insane English copyright ruling creates ownership in the idea of a photo’s composition (Boing Boing)