The news can be such a mixed bag... the smallest stories make the biggest headlines... (anyone else feel there are more important things than Michael Jackson's trial right now? yes. thankyou.)


bah but our country aggrevates me.
Our countries are developing a proposal for the G8 that will eliminate 100 percent of that debt," Bush said.

But the U.S. president has opposed key elements of a 10-year, $25 billion British plan that would commit donor nations to double their aid to the poorest African nations.

In a compromise, Bush pledged an additional $674 million for "humanitarian emergencies" in Africa.

Bush's response to Blair's push for more aid for Africa received a mixed response, with aid agencies saying the amounts promised were inadequate.

Jonathan Glennie, a senior policy analyst from Christian Aid, told the UK's Press Association the deal on debt was "very good news for some of Africa's poorest countries and it is definitely a move in the right direction."

But he added: "The sum of $674 million is a drop in the ocean compared to what Africa really needs."

*sigh* bah.

And then, of course, there's the usual cheering news from China...
"This decision will enable those in power to control online news and information much more effectively."
[...]
A report released by the OpenNet Initiative in April called China the world's leading censor of the Internet and said the government employed thousands of officials and private citizens to monitor and control online content.
[...]
"The authorities also hope to push the most outspoken online sites to migrate abroad, where they will become inaccessible to those inside China because of the Chinese filtering systems," Reporters Without Borders said.

At least there was something to make me a bit happy.. not every politician's blind to the bullshit they usually surround themselves with.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday defended his recent harsh criticism of Republicans, including his observation that they are "pretty much a white, Christian party."

Dean noted that he, too, is a white Christian. But he said the GOP is too narrow in its scope and the Democratic Party is far more diverse.
[...]
"I think this country has a purple heart, not a red heart or a blue heart," [Sen. Joe] Biden [D-Deleware] said. "If we can't bring this (country) together, man, boy, we're really in deep trouble."

This is just cool.. not that I'm huge on Bach, and I doubt the recording will be anything all that terribly interesting, but.. that's just fecking cool.

And this..just.. *shivers* (well, I'd been thinking of writing a ghost story for awhile....)
Though what interested me most was the comment of the person who found it in their yard at the end of the article... "But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."