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Amazing News Clips You Should Watch

19 Apr

This past couple of days has given some great clips from TV. Here are four of my favorite. You should take some time and watch them.

1) Fault Lines: Fast Food, Fat Profits (Al Jazeera): You probably don’t think of Al Jazeera first when you think of great news documentaries, but maybe you should. This short 20-minute documentary talks to all players in the food wars, and does a great job of explaining the problem briefly.

2) Paul Allen on Gates, Microsoft (60 Minutes): The co-founder of Microsoft has a new book out called Idea Man that offers an inside look into the founding of the world’s most important tech company. Allen seems to have an ax to grind, but you can make up your own mind. He rarely does interviews so this is a rare look.

3) China’s Ghost Cities (Dateline Australia): This short clip looks at the property bubble that’s forming in China and how many of their cities lie unoccupied. It raises bigger questions, like how long can China sustain its current rate of growth? Fascinating perspective from all sorts of people.

4) Three Cups of Tea Controversy (60 Minutes): One of the more inspiring tales of charity work in the past couple of decades may be a hoax. Greg Mortenson says that when he descended from K2 (the second highest mountain in the world), people in a small town nursed him back to health. In response, he promised to build them a school. A successful book and charity followed. It may all be false though. Incredible report and brilliant reporting.

T-Mobile Makes Viral Royal Wedding Parody Video

16 Apr

Everyone probably remembers that wedding entrance from a couple years ago that went viral. Well, telecoms company T-Mobile (until it becomes AT&T) still produces advertisements and this one is a brilliant combination of that original viral video and the a royal wedding spoof. Apparently, Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married soon.

That song is “House of Love” by East 17.

Frighteningly Real Dinosaur Terrifies Australian Schoolchildren

15 Apr

Let me just say that if this was in my school (and I was a little kid), I would probably pee my pants. Really nice job by the guy inside who operates the dinosaur. It’s one really large puppet.

Politicians Caught Red Handed Doing Dastardly Things

12 Apr

One of the great disadvantages to being a public servant is the cameras are always on you. Now, you would think that would make politicians more careful. These two incidents, however, prove that is not always the case.

1) Czech President Steals Chilean President’s Pen: Czech President Vaclav Klaus welcomed Chilean leader Sebastian Pinera to his country and held a meet and greet. At a press conference, he noticed a really nice pen that belonged to Pinera. As the cameras rolled and Peinera began speaking, he took out the pen, switched hands and then pocketed it. All without blinking an eye. He also retained a really guilty look on his face. Most baffling about the whole incident? Why Klaus decided to steal the pen at that moment and why he looked completely uninterested in what Pinera was saying.

2) Indonesian Member of Parliament Busted Watching Porn in Chamber: Again, where do you think you are? The man, who goes by the single name Arifinto, was spotted watching the sexually explicit clips as members of parliament debated a proposed constructing a new building to house the government. Ironically, Arifinto was one of the key supporters of a strict anti-pornography law that went into effect recently. Under that law, he could face years in jail for his offense. Arifinto immediately resigned from parliament and said his staunchly Islamic Prosperous Justice Party did not coerce him to resign. He claims he accidentally opened a random e-mail with the offensive content.

Arifinto Porn

Sadie B and Kol Ish Drop Amazing Parodies of Rebecca Black and Lonely Island

8 Apr

So, the last day has given much fruit. Two really funny parodies of “Friday” by Rebecca Black and “I Just Sex” by Lonely Island have emerged. Leave it to the deeply religious for parodies.

1) Just Had Chametz— Kol Ish

2) Sunday— Sadie B (whoever invented Auto Tune— the world is poorer for your work)