News of the Day for 5.17.10

• Low voter turnout in yesterday's elections in Hong Kong as pro-democracy advocates seem to be fighting a losing war against political indifference. 
• Robot officiates at Tokyo wedding - because that's how they swing in ol' Japan.
• China gradually restores internet access to Xinjiang after it was cut off following last summer's rioting.
• Hello Kitty is losing its adorable cotton candy luster.
• Shanghai wants folks to stop wearing their jammies out in public.
• The Guardian explores British women's ballooning breasts. Only The Guardian.....
• For whatever it's worth, the new Miss USA is Lebanese American Rima Fakih from Michigan.
• In defense of non-Latin script in web addresses, and 百度 (Baidu).
• Boston University students get graduation ceremony, 40 years later. BU's probably expecting an alumni donation in return.

A special news section......YouTube celebrates its 5th birthday! Big Bang fans celebrated by storming the site to watch their latest MV Tell Me Goodbye. Supposedly, the average visitor only spends 15 minutes a day on this site; clearly I am not the average visitor. And that is why this news merits added attention. Without YouTube...well, I clearly would be a lot more productive. Anyway, check out their birthday channel with guest appearances by YouTube stars over the years. I also just watched Conan O'Brien's contribution which included 5 of his favorite videos. Funny haha.

Fare thee well, Labour.

Alas, a gritty Gordon Brown didn't do the trick. (Actually an April Fool's Day poster. And they forgot the comma. How common.) Good thing there was a wellspring of euphoria from the 2008 election that has basically buoyed liberals in every political confrontation from America to the UK since then. All I'm going to say about that right now, since it's 6:30a and I haven't slept, is that Nick Clegg ought to be satisfied with himself.

News of the Day for 5.13.10

• Robert Mugabe wants to send an ark of animals to Dear Leader. Definitely can't make up this kind of crazy.
• (Women) marrying men 7-9 years younger could find their life expectancy decline. Of course this doesn't take into account that if my husband is Taeyang, that is so damn worth it.
• Friendships could ease depression among elderly.
• A reporter for The Guardian suggests that what South Africa really needs is an IKEA. Um...yes, nothing like cheap, mass produced furniture in neon colors to get your country on the right track.
• Nepali butler inherits some pricey Manhattan property.
• The Terracotta Army expands.
• Rural China is not reaping the benefits of the country's economic boom.
• Hawai'i's Health Department workers get relief from new law limiting requests for President Obama's birth certificate.
• The Navy's new policy allowing women aboard submarines troubles current and former servicemen, who clearly don't see the irony when speaking about the camaraderie that includes 'man hugs and bottom pats'.

News of the Day for 5.12.10

• WTF is going on in China?! Another round of school attacks leaves 7 dead.
• On 2nd anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, those still missing are officially declared dead.
• China wants to end internet anonymity.
• April car sales in China slide.
• North Korean soccer fans may face World Cup blackout after the two Koreas fail to reach a broadcasting deal.
• Everyone gets a share of crazy elections. Now it's the Philippines' turn.
• Poor South Africans not feeling boost from World Cup.
• Some Sudanese children are too hungry to learn.
• Arizona's neighbor, New Mexico, takes divergent approach to illegal immigrants.
• Working overtime can lead to heart problems.
• More nuts may mean lower cholesterol.
• A phone call from mommy can be as comforting as a hug from her.
• The internet is running out of addresses.
• Speech bubbles may aid hearing in noisy places and make you look like an astronaut.

News of the Day for 5.10.10

• Convicted murderer in China is freed after supposed victim is found alive.
• China's unique marriage between state and capitalism.
• Malaysia comes together in an attempt to create a full-length crowd-sourced film.
• Is technology destroying music?
• Chinese teachers on exchange adjust to American life.
• Young people are increasingly attentive to online privacy.
• A young artist goes nameless.
• The irrational exuberance of early adopters.
• Top 20 baby names for 2009. Someone remind me why this should matter to me.

News of the Day for 5.7.10

• China posts an alarming increase in energy use over the last 6 months, prompting worries amongst both the Chinese leadership and the international community.
• New York grannies gather every Wednesday to protest America's wars.
• Formspring, a networking site popular with the Justin Bieber crowd, allows kids to let loose, anonymously, on friends and classmates.
• New research revives the debate about whether Neanderthals and humans mated.
• Exploring the role of a doctor's gender in patient care.
• Scientists struggle to create meaningful tsunami alert systems.
• HBO's documentary about slain UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello recalls the man that one writer likened to a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy.
• Summer movie guide for Hollywood films.

News of the Day for 5.4.10

• Keep your toddlers away from TV if you value their health and education.
• Taiwan opens a tourism office in Beijing, its first on the Mainland.
• An inter-religious custody battle brews in Malaysia.
• China rejects press passes for HK's pro-democracy Apple Daily.
• Robert Ebert has issues with 3-D. Tell 'em, Bob!
• Kids more attracted to pretty fruit.
• Get enough sleep or you might die.
• The American right swings between black and immigrant fury.

News of the Day for 5.3.10

• The art of plastic food in Japan.
• One Egyptian MP tries to revive the galabeya, the country's traditional dress.
• Taiwan executes 4 men under pressure from victims' families.
• May Day pictures from around the world.
• 90 year old woman hits hole in one. Hooray!
• Asian Americans - get tested for and vaccinated against Hepatitis B.
• Ping pong gaining popularity in the UK.
• Digital pilgrimages to the shrine of St. James. What would Chaucer say?!
• Knowing her place: Maid Marian in Ridley Scott's new film.

News of the Day for 5.2.10

• Exercising in 'green' space not only improves your physical health but also your mental health.
• Mammoths' hemoglobin acted as 'anti-freeze' and helped them to survive in frigid temperatures.
• Shit and waste a good tea makes.
• Roller coasters may lead to temporary hearing loss.
• South Korea seeks retaliation for naval attack.
• American media returns the favor and dissects the UK election.
• Thailand goes to every length to push a message, including tv shows.
• Apparently there were May Day clashes next door in Macau. Should use TVB.com to watch the evening news instead of MC Jin's Big Boys Club.
• Men read maps, women remember routes.
• Television is the cockroach of media - it persists through everything and others should take note.

News of the Day for 5.1.10

Happy May Day!

• Retired generals warn that fat kids are a threat to America's security.
• Britain's German soldiers in World War II.
• Why we talk shit behind each others' backs.
• Malawi aims to ban polygamy under Muslim protests. (The last quote by a Muslim representative is particularly revealing.)
• Researchers begin to examine the effect of technology and social networking on the nature of children's friendships.
• Marketing Toy Story 3. The article says that Disney is targeting a group of 'core fans' - who were about 3 years old when the first movie came out. That makes me feel frighteningly old.
• Bootlegging in Sharia-ruled Sudan.
• Spate of school attacks leaves Chinese wondering why.
• An extensive study of tornadoes is underway in the American midwest with hopes of improving warning systems and forecasting.
• Science gets the shaft in UK elections as well.

News of the Day for 4.30.10

• A British man attempts to duck Big Brother for one month.
• Pennsylvania man fined for illegally shooting a bear after luring it with loads of donuts and pastries. What a waste of donuts and pastries.
• Australia attempts to introduce the world's most stringent cigarette packaging regulations by banning branding.
• Shanghai's World Expo is yet another attempt for China to demonstrate it's growing influence. More from the NYTimes.
• Dutch Muslim women at society's forefront.
• Bigot-gate causes panic among Labour's upper ranks, but in the Prime Minister's defense, the woman did ask where '[a]ll [those] Eastern Europeans...[were] flocking from'. Um, try Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, the Guardian impresses with headlines and calls last night's debate 'the X Factor for ugly people' and explores the candidates' inner ape. Elections are fun!

News of the Day for 4.29.10

• Arizona's ridiculous new law spurred by an immigration non-crisis.
• A deeper look at the two Koreas and now the sunken warship that threatens to divide them further. Would North Korean involvement indicate Kim Jong-Il's weakening power? Also, China's rising stake in Korean affairs.
• Chili peppers for pain relief.
• Gordon Brown faces bigot-gate.
• UK's white ruling class.
• Ghana's invention workshop, via BBC's From Our Own Correspondents. (One of my favorite radio programs/podcasts.)
• Happy Meals may get the boot in Santa Clara.

News of the Day for 4.28.10

• China lifts HIV/AIDS travel restrictions ahead of World Expo.
• Tail of Denmark's Little Mermaid's journey to the Shanghai Expo.
• China loses 2000 Olympic bronze medal for fielding underage athlete. Surprised? No.
• China aims to tighten internet controls in order to prevent leaks of 'state secrets'. 
• French president Nicolas Sarkozy visits China.
• South Korea mourns naval disaster deaths and treads lightly around the issue of North Korean involvement.
• That whole thing Asian thing about personality and blood type, this time in Japan.
• Glue, eggs, and smoke bombs - that's how Ukraine's Parliament gets shit done. Take note, Congress!
• Chechen president accused of ordering the kidnapping of an exile who was later killed during the botched abduction.
• Affirmative action that makes a difference for Indian women.
• Nancy Drew's iron grip on women in power. This quote in particular caught my attention: "Girls who read, especially voraciously, are not the girls most focused on popular culture." I beg to differ.

News for the Day for 4.27.10

• The curious relationship between chocolate and depression.
• The curious relationship between the religious and celibacy.
• The curious relationship between Playboy and the Hollywood sign. 
• The curious relationship between chimps and death.
• The curious relationship between quolls and cane toads.
• The curious relationship between landfills and deodorant.
• The curious relationship between Taiwanese politicians and the mafia.
• The curious relationship between Brazilian cowboys and life.
• The curious relationship between Russian adoptees and a Montana ranch.
• The curious relationship between the Pentagon and PowerPoint.
• The curious relationship between Chinese hospitals and doctors.
• The curious relationship between public radio and classical music.
• The not-so-curious relationship between health and a balanced diet.

News of the Day for 4.26.10

• Papal condoms, gay marriage blessing, singing with the Queen? Re a memo for Pope Benedict's upcoming visit to the UK, someone in the British Foreign Office is clearly out of touch with the Catholic Church. (UPDATE: That someone turns out to be a 23 year old Oxford graduate. Smart kids.)
• Sandstorm season in northern China. I can say from experience, this blows [groan].
• Japanese rally to kick the US off Okinawa.
• Stephen Hawking warns against contacting aliens.
• The BBC investigates the cost of virginity in the Arab and Asian world.
• Controversial book airs Samsung's dirty laundry.
• After several years of reading Britain's take on US elections, a Times article dissecting the recent television debates in the British election.
• Anti-yoga yogis increasingly reject the consumer, personality cult-driven nature of yoga.

News of the Day for 4.24.10

• Yea! Just what China needs - a car show!
• Sunbeds can be addictive. So when will research show that whitening creams have a similar effect?
• Naps + dreams can aid in learning. No word yet on what dreaming about Korean pop stars helps anything.
• It's 2010, but good ol' racism is still chugging along. A story about a white family on vacation in Florida who insisted they not be served by 'people of colour' or anyone 'with a foreign accent'. It clearly did not occur to them that they, in fact, have a foreign accent when visiting the States.
• Malcolm Tucker, the master of the F-bomb and fictional character on the f-ing hilarious political comedy The Thick of It, provides a weekly election briefing over at the Guardian. It is fucking brilliant.

News of the Day for 4.22.10

Happy Earth Day!

• Thailand continues to explode.
• Jail terms in a corruption case that led to the collapse a Shanghai building - intact.
• Taiwan's religious festivals draw Mainlanders and, while they won't resolve political issues, do help to improve ties between the two countries, or political entities if you prefer.
• Scam! Brain training games don't actually train your brain.
• Some vibrant pictures of Borneo wildlife.
• Not exactly Face/Off as a Spanish farmer in his 30s received the world's first full face transplant.
• The Chinese love affair with odd English phrases.
• Amazing new pictures of the sun. Also check out NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory for more goodies.
• Japan's poverty problem.
• Elections! Not quite the battle royale of 2008, but the fight is getting testy over in Britain. Tory candidate David Cameron got egged by some hoodie yesterday, which surprisingly did not happen to either McCain or Palin, that I can recall.

News of the Day for 4.20.10

Now for some grown-up news.

• Report shows a sharp increase in hi-tech crime.
• Internet's popularity in Indonesia offers an outlet for activists but creates concern for the government.
  
• Increasingly, Chinese use the internet for entertainment. Surprise? No.
• Barack Obama may golf more than W., but the rest of the world doesn't seem to mind.
• White House opts for low-key approach to improving Muslim American relations within the country.
• UK animal shelters will no longer accept strays and unwanted pets. Bob Barker was right - spay and neuter!
• Research finds that human shoppers move inefficiently, unlike more 'competent species' such as ducks and geese.
• Tete-a-tete between the world's top female climbers - Spain's Edurne Pasaban and South Korea's Oh Eun-sun.
• Surgeon cuts accidentally cuts off testicle. Read at your own risk.

News of the Day 3.16.10

Articles like this one are the real reason I started this blog: Plant prefers poo. My maturity is devastating.

Some actual news, sort of.

• Zebra licks hippo. (Okay, not actual news.)
• The 'basket of goods' measures Brits' spending habits. Turns out they like lipgloss and Guitar Hero, among other things.
• The editors of The Sunday Times put together a list of the world's 12 sexiest cities. Not one city in Asia made the list? Come on, I know there are a lot of dirty holes over here, but it's a big fucking continent. And I thought I didn't get out enough.
• My brother says I'm anti-technology. I say I just don't want people in my business 24/7.
• My mum forced me to take an Egyptian art class when I was 7. We saw mummies up close and personal and it freaked me out. And since I try not to discriminate, Chinese mummies give me the willies too.
• NCAA men's bracket. Go Irish! Please win and help me recoup some bragging rights.

News of the Day 3.13.10

• Two Korean families give up the internet for a week in a BBC experiment.
• Apollo astronauts do not react favorably to Obama's cutting of the moon program. A perspective on a time when traveling to the moon was cool, or at least funded.
• Taiwanese justice minister quits in protest over lack of support for a permanent end to the death penalty.
• China puffs its chest and warns Google to behave. Meanwhile, a driver-blogger-heartthrob pushes his luck with the government whilst walking along the Great Firewall.
• Stress is fucking up our kids.
• America's shift to a majority non-white country is accelerated by the shrinking numbers of white women of child-bearing age.
• The FCC announces plans to beef up America's internet infrastructure so that it can finally join the rest of the world.