Troy Davis, convicted of the August 19, 1989 of the murder of a police officer, was executed last night in the USA. Authorities had found no murder weapon, no DNA evidence, and no surveillance tapes. But according to the residing judge there “was no substantial doubt cast on the verdict.” In other words, a potentially innocent man died yesterday.
R.E.M. has decided to unplug their instruments for good, concluding a career spanning some 30 years and having achieved record sales that topped the 30 million mark. The band made the announcement via a statement on their website yesterday and dished out praise and thanks to all their loyal fans for the years of support.
Look, it’s nice to know Apple isn’t the only company that knows how to create buzz by accidentally leaking information. Ji Lee, Facebook’s creative director, tweeted about Facebook Music, which is set to launch tomorrow. The post was quickly deleted, but not before the Internet had time to get all excited about it.
In a week that Americans’ celebrate the introduction of full equality in their Armed Forces, and wrestle over tax and economic reform, another group is trying to focus attention on the plight of millions of single, un-married Americans.
The attorney of murdered Teazer’s kingpin, Lolly Jackson has joined his former employer in the afterlife, and his transition was exceptionally violent. Attorney Ian Jordaan was allegedly kidnapped, forced to pay R2 million into the account of his abductors, and then murdered. Jordaan’s burnt out vehicle and body were found near Krugersdorp earlier today.
Disney and James Cameron are teaming up to transform a corner of the Magic Kingdom into a theme park based on Cameron’s multi-billion dollar grossing sci-fi 3D cinema-clogger, Avatar.
Nelson Mandela is a more visible world leader than Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama and the Pope. This is according to the Reputation Institute, which has done a perception assessment of 54 individuals currently considered to be global leaders. Not bad for a man who retired from presidency in the 1990s.
South Africans have one-upped the Aussies again. Brewing giant, SABMiller, has flexed its muscles and laid claim to the iconic Australian brand, Foster’s. The takeover of the Australian beer maker should be complete by the end of the year, and the price tag has been confirmed at $10,2 billion, with a bit of change for some dividends.
All 15 countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have agreed back Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to replace Jean Ping as chief of the African Union. You go, girl! Apparently the backing of a candidate from southern Africa “did not amount to geographical jostling for power within the bloc.”
Recently I was knocking back Meerlust’s new releases at a lunch. Drinking these rather scrumptious wines, we began to discuss some incredibly important issues. The things one discusses at a wine lunch – among other winos – are, of course of world importance. They solve world hunger, the middle-east issues, America’s debt, Malema, Greece, and hint toward what 42 actually means. To be honest, if it wasn’t for conversations such as these, the world would be in a worse place than it is. So on this blustery day in Stellenbosch, the question that arose was, “Can wine be art?” As I said, vital stuff.
Faces from arturo castro on Vimeo.
Watch developer Arturo Castro shows off his fancy new FaceTracker API, which allows users to harvest photographs of other folks’ faces, and project them onto their own. Here we see Castro variously becoming Vladimir Lenin, Chairman Mao, and Steve Jobs. Because, why not?
I know what you’re thinking. How can such a heavenly beverage be contributing to the current debt crisis? The answer is simple: people are still drinking beer, but they’re doing it from the comfort of their credit card bought couches. Problem is, 73 percent of jobs associated with the European beer industry are in bars and restaurants. BEEEEEER.
Remember that defunct NASA satellite that was going to fall to earth some time, they just couldn’t tell us when or where? Well, don’t worry – they’ve told us that it’s definitely going to come screaming down to the planet’s surface some time this week. This Friday, actually.
In an abrupt turnaround, the Metropolitan police have dropped their attempt to order the Guardian to reveal confidential sources for stories relating to the phone-hacking scandal. They’d hoped to force reporters to reveal confidential sources for articles disclosing information about the murdered teenager, Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked on behalf of the News of the World.
This column is really a tribute to Durban’s Number One, East Coast Radio. Thanks to those DJs and their music selection committee, I got the joke when Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson sang Forever Young. I was belting out the tunes like all the white 30-somethings when the Wedding DJs played at Oppikoppi this year. I threw out the question of the greatest one-hit wonders of all time on Twitter yesterday afternoon, and the responses were varied and colourful. This is not a compilation of the five most chosen songs. This is not a democracy. This is my list.
The upstart German Pirate Party took just under 9% of the electoral vote in Sunday’s Berlin elections, winning 15 seats in the 149-seat state parliament. For the most part, they’ve been campaigning on a platform of free Wi-Fi, free public transportation, and a lower voting age. Just like real pirates.
Take note, Steve Hofmeyer – you might think your shit is hot with all your kids spread around that side of the boerewors curtain, but if we actually measured fortune in family-size, then Luiz Costa De Oliveira, a 90-year-old farmer from Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil, could be hitting up the Forbes 500.
When imagining which words or phrases have been used most on TV during 2011, you would be forgiven for thinking “Gaddafi”, “Bin Laden” or “economic crisis” might be contenders for the top spot. You’d be wrong, though. Because in our fabulous celebrity-driven world, there are two phrases that have been much more frequently used than any of those boring “real life” issues.
Charlie Sheen has been winning for real a bit lately. He revealed on Comedy Central’s, “The Roasting Of Charlie Sheen”, that it’s the love of his family that made him realise this. He gave a touching monologue that seemed to signal he is ready to get back on the straight-and-narrow. Oh, and Steve-O ran into Mike Tyson’s fist.
Earlier today, Members of Parliament gave a thumbs up to a five percent increase on President Jacob Zuma’s salary. He will now earn close to R2.5 million per year. Zuma was also kind enough to give Members of Parliament the same 5% increase in the National Assembly.
The University of Washington has finally found a way to make us of the mental energy expended by online gamers – recruiting them to decipher the structure of monomeric enzymes, found in retroviruses like HIV, by playing an online game called Foldit. Researchers had been working on it for the past decade; the collective gamers did it in three weeks.
An Islamist insurgent radio station in Somalia is giving young children weapons as prizes for Quran recitals. It seems they are breeding mini-pirates right in Africa’s back yard.
A teenage boy who has been dubbed “forest boy” by the international media is apparently keen to go back to the bush. The boy, believed to be a 17-year-old English language speaker, handed himself over to German officials in Berlin earlier this month after walking for about two weeks. Officials describe his story as “incredible”.
As you know, two naked people together in a photograph (okay, sometimes three or four) is called pornography. But 1 000 naked people snapped together equates to “art”. And Spencer Tunick has made an entire career out of doing just that. His latest picture features 1 000 naked Israelis posing in the Dead Sea – the ocean where everything floats…
Lesego Malatsi is a young fashion designer from Soweto. The driving force behind Mzansi Designers Emporium, he has also just made his debut at London Fashion Week. By all accounts it looks like he owned the show! His clothing range was very popular on the ramp and he received high praise for his work. Make it work!
Awesome. Women on the Philippine island of Mindanao, growing tired of the continuing separatist warfare interfering in their everyday goings-on, decided to take matters into their own hands. And by hands, I mean pants. They organized a “sex strike”, which brought a quick end to fighting between the two villages.
Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 opus, Straw Dogs, stands as a monument to the psychological thriller genre to this day, and makes surprisingly thrilling fodder for a re-make.
The ratifying of the Protection of Information bill may be delayed. Opponents of the so-called Secrecy Bill – 3 000 of whom took to the streets of Cape Town on Saturday in support of the Right2Know campaign – may have claimed a minor victory in their battle against the controversial Bill. Further vigils will take place across the country tonight.
Would-be ginger sperm donators are being turned away from genetically-picky sperm banks in droves. It’s practically an orange tide of rejection. Citing “minimal” demand for the love seed of ginger-crowned males, the world’s largest sperm bank, Cryos, has been turning fanta-pantsed donor applicants away at the front door.
Do you remember the old adverts that pitted the Duracell bunny against other batteries at massive distances? Well, Panasonic is actually doing this now. They’ve designed robots, and entered them into a rather large triathlon taking place in Hawaii next month, in which homo sapiens will compete.