Author: Trent

  • In Ramadi, Fetid Quarters and Unrelenting Battles

    In Ramadi, Fetid Quarters and Unrelenting Battles

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    From the New York Times: “Let’s see, Lance Corporal Tussey, shot in the thigh. “Lance Corporal Zimmerman, shot in the leg. “Lance Corporal Sardinas, shrapnel, hit in the face. “Lance Corporal Wilson, shrapnel in the throat.” “That’s all I can think of right now,” the captain said. So it goes in Ramadi, the epicenter of…

  • Buy Nothing in Chicago

    Buy Nothing in Chicago

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    From Wooster Collective: Artist: Tano Location: Division Street Here.

  • Somali World Cup viewers killed

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    From the BBC: According to reports on a Somali news network, gunmen arrived to close down the cinema in the town of Dhuusa Marreeb in central Galgadud district, where a crowd had gathered to watch the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final. Some of the football fans began to protest and according to reports, the gunmen fired…

  • Radicals Gain Edge In Somali Capital

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    From the Washington Post: Ali Iman Sharmarke, a businessman and radio journalist in Mogadishu, said he believed the Islamic militias would lose power if they grew too strict in their interpretation of religious law. “People will hate them as they hated the warlords,” Sharmarke said from Nairobi. “The moderates will not fly with bin Laden.”…

  • Wrestling stars busted in Hanging Rock

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    From the Ironton Tribune: Robert Alex Szatowski, aka WWE and ECW champion Rob Van Dam, and Terry Michael Brunk, aka Sabu, also a former ECW champion, were pulled over on U.S. 52, near Patrick Street in Hanging Rock at about 10:15 p.m. The two were apparently driving from their performances at the Big Sandy Superstore…

  • Crisiswatch #35

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    June 2006 issue of Crisis Watch, from the International Crisis Group: Tensions and violence escalated in Israel/Occupied Territories as the Israeli military launched operations into Gaza following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants. In Sudan, implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement faltered as rebel divisions widened. Insecurity along the border between Chad and…

  • A Secret the Terrorists Already Knew

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    Richard Clarke and Roger Cressey, from the New York Times: There is, of course, another possible explanation for all the outraged bloviating. It is an election year. Karl Rove has already said that if it were up to the Democrats, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would still be alive. The attacks on the press are part of…

  • Insanity Defense

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    From the Moscow Times, Chris Floyd on Ron Suskind’s new book “The One Percent Doctrine”: But perhaps the most revealing moment in Suskind’s book is a brief vignette that captures the quintessence of Bush’s callous disregard for the American people — and the regime’s strange, preternatural calm in the face of imminent attack. In August…

  • Ullrich and Basso out of Le Tour

    Ullrich and Basso out of Le Tour

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    From the BBC: Team manager Olaf Ludwig said: “We talked to the riders several times and even have their declarations of innocence in written form. “At first we had no reason to doubt the riders’ statements, but that situation has now changed profoundly.” Ullrich, Basso and Mancebo are unlikely be the last big names to…

  • The Hidden Power

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    From The New Yorker: Most Americans, even those who follow politics closely, have probably never heard of Dick Cheney’s chief of staff David S. Addington. But current and former Administration officials say that he has played a central role in shaping the Administration’s legal strategy for the war on terror. Known as the New Paradigm,…

  • Supreme Court Blocks Trials at Guantanamo

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    AP, from the New York Times: Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent, saying the court’s decision would “sorely hamper the president’s ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy.” The court’s willingness, Thomas said, “to second-guess the determination of the political branches that these conspirators must be brought to justice is…

  • The Gangs of Gaza

    The Gangs of Gaza

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    From Magnum Photos, essay by Christopher Anderson: Tensions in Gaza and the West Bank rise as Palestinian factions begin fighting with each other and violence between the Palestinians and Israelis takes a new turn. Here.

  • Death in Somalia

    Death in Somalia

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    From the Guardian: Some people freeze, most run. I run. Away from the sound – a sharp, terrifying crack. Jesus. A militiaman’s gun has gone off accidentally, I think. A few steps up towards the speaker’s platform, away from the crowd, away from the gunshot, I glance back down. Martin Adler, the Swedish cameraman, clutching…

  • Street Kids Snap Their Way Out of the Shadows

    Street Kids Snap Their Way Out of the Shadows

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    From the Moscow Times: No one knows the name of the boy, his age, where he comes from or what diseases may be flowing through his bloodstream. His anonymity is stark and, at moments, overbearing. Seeking to help such street children overcome their invisibility, Belgian photographer Jorge Dirkx, working with Medecins Sans Frontieres, recently gave…

  • Ugandan rebel denies war crimes

    Ugandan rebel denies war crimes

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    From the BBC: Joseph Kony, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague on war crimes charges, described himself as a freedom fighter and called for peace talks. He said stories of LRA rebels cutting off people’s ears or lips were Ugandan government propaganda. He also denied his group kidnapped children.…

  • Russia 'to kill Iraq kidnappers'

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    From the BBC: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered special services to “find and destroy” the killers of four Russian diplomats taken hostage in Iraq. The head of Russia’s security services immediately pledged to see Putin’s order carried out. The Russian government confirmed the four men’s deaths this week, after an insurgent group released a…

  • NoTxt #2 Deadline Moved To July 1

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    Very cool things happening with NoTxt. Get in on #2 while you can! You will be in good company. Here.

  • New Militant Leader Emerges in Mogadishu

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    From the New York Times: Still, Hassan Dahir Aweys, of the powerful Ayr clan, has publicly told followers that God would forgive them for spilling the blood of any foreign peacekeepers who set foot on Somali soil. He has also said Somalis who hand over their countrymen to American operatives in exchange for cash are…

  • Iron Man Slows, and So Does the Industry

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    From the New York Times: “Eventually,” said Randy Phillips, chief executive of the concert promoter AEG Live, “we’re going to run out of headliners.” Accounting for the shallow talent pool, some industry executives cite the effects of MTV, which lets fans see performers without ever leaving their couch. Others blame a recording industry more focused…

  • Tragicommerce

    Tragicommerce

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    From the New York Times: Winn didn’t take that advice — at first. There was nothing cute or campy about Nagin’s remarks, and the hurricane was a deadly tragedy, not a pop-culture moment. Winn had friends who had lost everything. He understood Nagin’s tone. “That’s kind of how I felt,” he says. Gradually, however, his…