Egyptian Sheikh Says Rape Is 'Halal' -- NASA's New ATLAS Program -- BofA Get's Bailed Out...Quietly -- At Facebook: Make $1BN Profit, Get $429m Refund -- "VatiLeaks" Reveals Fractured Vatican -- 'Maker's Mark' Learns Painful Lesson -- Mississippi Ratifies 13th Amendment...149 Years Later -- Tiger Woods Joins Obama
DETAINED EGYPTIAN SHEIKH SAYS IT IS 'HALAL' TO RAPE WOMEN
 |
| Reuters |
Egypt has issued an arrest warrant on Sunday against the Salafi preacher, who recently said it was “halal” (permissible) to rape female protestors, charging him with the defamation of religion, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported.
Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,” sparked further controversy after he attacked women and Christianity.
Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,” sparked further controversy after he attacked women and Christianity.
POPE BENEDICT XVI 'LEAKED' DOCUMENTS SHOW FRACTURED VATICAN
 |
| New York Times |
VATICAN CITY — Guests at the going-away party for Carlo Maria Viganò couldn’t understand why the archbishop looked so forlorn. Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Viganò ambassador to the United States, a plum post where he would settle into a stately mansion on Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from the vice president’s residence.
“He went through the ordeal making it very clear he was unhappy with it,” said one former ambassador to the Vatican, who attended the Vatican Gardens ceremony in the late summer of 2011. “And we just couldn’t figure out, us outsiders and non-Italians, what was going on.”
AN ASTEROID ALERT SYSTEM
 |
| PopSci |
In the realm of potential planetary disasters, asteroids are among the ones to fear -- like the meteorite that hit Russia, they can inflict serious damage on Earth.
With the aid of a $5-million grant from NASA, a University of Hawaii team of astronomers is developing ATLAS, a system to identify dangerous asteroids before their final plunge to Earth.
The team is on track to build and operate an asteroid detection system that will patrol the visible sky twice a night looking for faint objects moving through space.
With the aid of a $5-million grant from NASA, a University of Hawaii team of astronomers is developing ATLAS, a system to identify dangerous asteroids before their final plunge to Earth.
The team is on track to build and operate an asteroid detection system that will patrol the visible sky twice a night looking for faint objects moving through space.
BLINK AND MISS THE NEXT BANK BAILOUT
MANY people became rightfully upset about bailouts given to big banks during the mortgage crisis. But it turns out that they are still going on, if more quietly, through the back door.
The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America, came to light just last week in court filings.
That the New York Fed would shower favors on a big financial institution may not surprise. It has long shielded large banks from assertive regulation and increased capital requirements.
FACEBOOK PAYS NO TAX FOR 2012
 |
| Bloomberg News |
Facebook will not pay any tax for 2012 despite making $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations, according to a report released on Thursday.
But Mark Zuckerberg's company will also get a multimillion dollar tax refund of around $429 million according to Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).
The refunds reportedly come from tax deductions on executive stock options and share awards.
MAKER'S MARK LEARNS A PAINFUL SOCIAL LESSON
 |
| Associated Press |
The reversal speaks to how brands often misjudge their relationship with customers, who can now vote more powerfully with their Twitter accounts than with their wallets. “What we’ve learned is that this is the customer’s brand,” Maker’s Mark COO Rob Samuels, grandson of the bourbon’s creator, said today in an interview. “It was an overwhelming response, we listened all week, and tomorrow morning we’ll immediately return Maker’s Mark to 90 proof.”
The company had emailed loyal customers on Feb. 9 to say it was lowering its proof to 84, or 42% alcohol, in order to address a supply shortage driven by bourbon’s surging popularity in the United States and certain other markets like Australia, Germany, and Japan. The announcement, first reported by Quartz, spread quickly in social media, rising from a small firestorm to an all-out backlash. The companydefended itself in interviews, saying the taste wouldn’t change, but it didn’t help.
HISTORIC OVERSIGHT CORRECTED: 'LINCOLN' INSPIRES LOOK INTO SLAVERY VOTE
Oscar-nominated “Lincoln,” which depicts the political fight to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, played a role in Mississippi officially ratifying the amendment this month — a century and a half later.
The story opens, not surprisingly, in a movie theater.
Last November, Dr. Ranjan Batra, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saw the Steven Spielberg film and wondered afterward what happened when the states voted on ratification.
TIGER WOODS JOINS VACATIONING OBAMA
PALM CITY, Fla. (AP) - President Barack Obama played golf Sunday with Tiger Woods, the White House said.
Once the sport's dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, a secluded and exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida's Treasure Coast where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together.
The White House, which has promised to be the most open and transparent in history, has prohibited any media coverage of Obama's golf outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment