turkey

This Day in History: Benazir Bhutto

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Twenty years ago today, Benazir Bhutto became the first ever female to lead a Muslim country when Pakistan appointed her prime minister December 1, 1988.

Oldest child of Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Al Bhutto, Benazir received a B.A. from Harvard University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, later studying at Oxford. She was repeatedly to call her four years as an undergraduate in Cambridge, Mass. the four happiest of her life, as they instilled in her a deep-rooted respect for democracy.

She married in 1987, taking office a year later. She was twice accused of corruption and went into “self-imposed” exile to Dubai 10 years ago. She returned to the post last fall, only to be assassinated a couple of months later by Al-Qaeda on December 27, 2007.

Whether the corruption charges were founded on true crimes and indiscretions or not, it would be difficult to deny the fact that Bhutto is both a legendary and inspiring figure, if only because of what she represents.

…Other significant events to occur today:

1864 President Abe Lincoln gives a State of the Union address that reinforces the Emancipation Proclamation he had made a mere 10 weeks before, urging the end of slavery.

1913 Greece annexes Crete a year after the mini-Minoan island had achieved independence from Turkey following the first Balkan War.

1918 Iceland, though remaining a member of the Danish kingdom, achieves sovereignty, Transylvania unites with Romania and Serbs, Croats and Slovenes proclaim a kingdom by that name in the land that will later become the fraught Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

1934 Russia continues to replace the old-guard Bolsheviks with Stalinist henchman in another killing, this one of Politburo member Kirov.

1944 Axis power-controlled U-869, the sub that would later become the subject of New York Times riveting bestseller Shadow Divers, departs from Norway with an American Northeastern destination.

1955 Ms. Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a White man on the bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott and creating another watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement.

1981 The world officially recognizes the AIDS virus’ existence and threat, making today World AIDS day.

Amuse Bouche: Sarah Palin and Even Better Background Footage

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Sarah Palin has an interview curse—when she does a fine job, as she did for KTUU in Anchorage on Nov. 20, she gets blessed with the most amazing background action in recent history.

Slate V has the outtakes from other turkey interviews Palin has given. They’re bloody good!

Amuse Bouche: Letterman’s Top Ten Excuses For Palin’s Turkey Slaughter Interview

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

In the spirit of Thanksgiving around the corner, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin pardoned a turkey. However, during her turkey-themed interview, the cameraman catches a poor turkey being slaughtered in the background (which Palin appears not to notice) in the now-infamous video. Well, funny man David Letterman’s “Top Ten” list Monday gave Palin’s excuses for the turkey kill, which poked fun at her foreign policy (in)experience and earlier Katie Couric interview among other campaign blunders.

Daily News Roundup: Turkeys, turkeys, and more turkeys

Monday, November 24th, 2008


Turkeys don’t sedate you with tryptophan, but they may give you a superbug. Apparently, when turkey farmers dope their birds to keep them from getting sick, they may also be creating super-resilient bacteria, much the way people do when they don’t complete a full round of antibiotics. Somehow it doesn’t seem this news will stop many people from gobbling them up on Thursday, anyway.

A samurai-sword wielding assailant was shot dead in front of the Hollywood Scientology center. The guard who shot him said he was close enough to hurt them when he fired. Word is, he used to be a member, but not many details have been released, yet. The controversial, star-magnet church hit the media limelight again when anti-Scientology protesters demonstrated outside the preview of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” because Katie Holmes, wife of the religion’s most famous celebrity, Tom Cruise, has a starring role.

Kanye West gave his award to a fellow artist after he won at the American Music Awards Sunday night—among other interesting moments. Here’s the scorecard.

The first black presidency already may have sparked a rash of violence coming from white extremists. The Ku Klux Klan is making a comeback, and violent hate crimes have been on the rise in the three weeks following the election of Democrat Barack Obama, according to an L.A. Times article. Looks like to become post-racial we may yet need to iron out a few wrinkles.

Obama supporters are beginning to worry he’s not as far to the left as they hoped. Much of his future administration is shaping up to be Clinton and Bush holdovers, calling his campaign for change into question. Of course, he has chosen several close friends and associates to serve in his Cabinet or as senior advisers. And Wall Street, at least, seems to appreciate his pick for Treasury Secretary, though many of his views remain a mystery.

The Pope apparently doesn’t have much faith in interfaith conversations. In a letter to a scholar-politician, portions of which were published in an Italian newspaper, Pope Benedict XVI said “interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible,” though that hasn’t prevented the Vatican from meeting with Muslim leaders to find common positions on issues such as terrorism and religious freedom. Meanwhile, in Southern California, Jewish college students visited mosques as part of a national “twinning campaign” in which Jews and Muslims team up to fight Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Citigroup: add one more bailout to the pile. The government has approved a deal to secure about $306 billion in loans and securities and to directly invest $20 billion in the company. It was the third time in three months the government has tried to contain the unraveling financial crisis.

Hollywood’s chewing its cheeks over the same-sex marriage ban. It’s a place that has celebrated free speech and weathered the McCarthyist witch hunts. Now Hollywood insiders who supported Prop 8 are being “outed.” Film Independent has gotten flak for defending Richard Raddon, the director of the L.A. Film Festival, who donated $1,500 to the Yes on 8 campaign. And the director of a nonprofit theater organization in Sacramento resigned after complaints of his donations to the campaign.