Middlebury Student Tik Root Missing in Syria

24 Mar

Tik Root Missing in Syria

A Middlebury College student has been missing since last Friday in Damascus, Syria. Tik Root ’12 was last seen at a political protest that encountered opposition from pro-government forces.

At the rally, police arrested and beat around 30 people. Root’s father believes he was among that group. Before enrolling at an independent study program in Damascus, Root studied at the Middlebury school abroad in Alexandria, Egypt. The students from that program were evacuated as the situation in the country worsened, and arrived back in the United States. Root, though, wished to return to the region and did so through an independent program.

The story has gained a lot of national attention with The Huffington Post picking it up. As someone who’s worked with Tik on several occasions, I know he’s a great guy and certainly hope for some good news as soon as possible. It’s a reminder to everyone out there that the situation in the Middle East remains extremely volatile. The State Department has opened an investigation into Root’s whereabouts.

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Steamy Pictures of Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga Parties

23 Mar

Famed Italian playboy prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is currently in hot water. He faces a slew of charges against him relating to his playboy lifestyle. Among the charges, the most serious are paying for sex for a girl under the age of 18 and using his power to help secure her release from jail. Now, The Telegraph has obtained some photographs recovered from laptops, cellphones and other devices that the prosecution included in the 20,000 page document against Berlusconi. A couple of them can be seen below.

Bunga BungBunga Bung Party

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Do Not Steal Computers From Computer Nerds

23 Mar

Several months ago a guy spotted a computer and grabbed it. Maybe he knew who it belonged to, but he most likely did not. For the computer’s owner was Mark Bao, founder of threewords.me and several other young internet startups. Bad move. The young computer whiz was able to remotely access his browser’s history.

He found lots of interestng things. Among them: photos that the thief took of himself in Photo Booth (pretty easy to spot him) and the following video. It features the thief dancing to Tyga’s “Make It Rain.” Don’t think he’ll win any prizes for that dancing any time soon.

Eventually, the thief turned himself in and actually sent Bao an email, hoping he would take down the video. He said that he had two jobs and wanted to protect his reputation. Bao declined. Congrats thief, you’re all over YouTube.

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Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79

23 Mar

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, remembered by some as much for her failed marriages as her Academy Awards, died in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure at age 79.  She succumbed early March 23, surrounded by several of her children, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Before she passed away, Taylor had been hospitalized for several weeks for this latest complication  with heart disease.

Liz Taylor won the Academy Award for best actress twice— for the movies “Butterfield 8” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” She also starred in the timeless classics “Cleopatra,” “A Place in the Sun” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” In later years, Taylor devoted herself to charity work, which included forming a foundation to fight AIDS. When seen in public over the past couple of decades, Taylor used a wheelchair but said she did so because of a chronic back injury and not because of ill health.

She was married eight times— twice to Richard Burton— and endured significant personal tragedies during her life. None of her marriages lasted more than ten years and many lasted fewer than five. Taylor is survived by four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Or, write a tribute to the actress on Facebook.

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Ann Coulter Says Japanese Nuclear Radiation Good For You

22 Mar

Ann Coulter

Gosh, have I been following the wrong news sources for the past couple of decades. Turns out, the media hysteria is to blame for me foolishly believing that nuclear radiation could have a negative impact on my body. Conservative columnist Ann Coulter wrote a story for her website called “The Glowing Report on Radiation.” In that report we learn that a growing body of scientific work actually suggests that periodic exposure to radiation helps activate your cells’ cancer fighting resources.

In an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show, Coulter did her best to defend herself from O’Reilly himself. He said that prevailing wisdom suggests we should avoid large-scale radiation, pointing to the atomic bombs as evidence of that fact. Coulter wouldn’t budge on her claims. Hmmm… well call me crazy, but I think I’m still going to stay far away from anything resembling radiation. Ann Coulter hasn’t quite convinced me yet.

 

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