"Gorgeous day at the Surry Hills Festival" (Posted by @dministry)
April 17, 2009
Thai protest leader shot
Per BBC News, the "yellow shirt" protest leader of the People Alliance of Democracy (PAD), Sondhi Limthongkul, was shot and wounded on Friday. In 2006, his protest demonstrations ousted the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Local Twitter users in Thailand react:
A couple Twitter users discussed the possible identity of the assassins.
Local Twitter users in Thailand react:
matthew_hunt (Bangkok, Thailand) Sondhi shot in his car; driver badly hurt. But I thought Sondhi and his Manager Co. were bankrupt - how can he afford a driver (or car!) ??
wetfdstamp (Chiang Mai, Thailand) So Sondhi's shooters, for 5 minutes sprayed auto-rifle fire into an immobilized car from close range and DID NOT KILL HIM?? ....HOW??
hongsyok (Bangkok, Thailand) This is a week that Thailand made headlines news globally everyday. The incident this morning ensures that there will be more to come.
georgebkk (Bangkok, Thailand) Police say 84 bullets fired from M-16 and AK4 rifles were found at Sondhi's assassination attempt scene
sucha (Bangkok, Thailand) No one, red/yellow-shirted people, deserve death although he is Sondhi. Action must be taken against the assassination. wish he is alright.
nkoleszar (Bangkok, Thailand) #Sondhi's condition now called "serious" but his life is not in danger. Well, not from these injuries, anyway. #bangkok #PAD #thailand
A couple Twitter users discussed the possible identity of the assassins.
piriya (Bangkok, Thailand) BTW, that last one was about how Sae Dang denies Sondhi's assasination attempt, saying that nobody use a pickup truck to do stuff like that.
smartbrain (Pathumthani, Thailand) Gen Kathiya (#redshirt) says that it was the Abhisit government who gunned down Sondhi as pro assassins don't use pick-up trucks.
Twitter reacts to Obama releasing Bush torture memos
Per guardian.co.uk, U.S. President Barack Obama released top secret memos that allowed Bush-era CIA interrogators to torture terrorist suspects. In an attempt to move forward, Obama will not be prosecuting the offenders but has ended their interrogation programs.
Twitterers spread the word about the memo release:
Many Twitterers are debating whether Obama should absolve the crimes. Most call for accountability.
Several Twitterers also respond to MSNBC Keith Olbermann's critique of Obama's decision.
Twitterers spread the word about the memo release:
mhasko (Pittsburgh, PA) Obama releases 4 Bush-era memos about CIA torture, very little redacted. Read for yourself what our country did http://tinyurl.com/c4wzkv
stumbling_eric (Undisclosed) Woah. You can read some of the Bush Torture Documents online now. Thanks President Obama!... http://su.pr/2zqtgj
MalaproposDame (Undisclosed) Obama ends CIA interrogation program-crazy! http://tinyurl.com/c8ktjl(thanks, @whoissuresh
KatyinIndy (Undisclosed) RT @tweetdej: RT stephrosendahl Ex-CIA Director, Hayden: Obama endangers security w/memo release http://tinyurl.com/c84xun #tcot #sgp #hhrs
Many Twitterers are debating whether Obama should absolve the crimes. Most call for accountability.
pir8dave (New England) Upholding the laws on the books is a duty of the President. Obama is wrong on torture prosecutions. http://bit.ly/4aevVY
cscannella (NYC) Obama letting this torture go is going to to cast a shadow on anything positive he ends up doing with his presidency.
MonroeAnderson (Chicago, IL) Some change, Obama's wimp out on CIA torture is incredibly disappointing.
JAEsselink (Waterford, MI) @GStephanopoulos I am disappointed in Pres Obama closing his eyes to the torture done in our name. Now it will be stain on the USA forever.
Lemurs_Meerkats (Undisclosed) Torture = Bad! So, no Obama Love this week [from @katharinehay] b/c of this: http://tinyurl.com/dclo6y
HumanityCritic (Virginia Beach, VA) Maybe I'm wrong here: As much as I want to see them jailed, prosecuting Bush officials would cripple Obama's presidency. What do you think?
mumbly_joe (NYC) Or, if we absolutely must protest Obama, the fact that these guys are getting a free pass? WE CAN'T MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT RESOLVING THE PAST
Several Twitterers also respond to MSNBC Keith Olbermann's critique of Obama's decision.
FakeVirginia (Virginia) Keith Olbermann says President Obama is wrong on the Bush torture memos. http://bit.ly/S8vIt Could this be something the #tcot crowd likes?
kjpilot (Gramercy Park, NYC) I think Obama is right - no good to be gained by pursuing former Bush administration over the torture memos. Sorry to Keith Olbermann.
BrandonPickens (Undisclosed) Olberman is urging Obama to prosecute BUSH with war crimes and to keep the fight going NO MATTER WHAT! I find new ways to hate Olby everyday
yellowgnife (Decatur, GA) Listening to Olbermann giving hell to Obama for not prosecuting Bush. Like thats going to happen phtltht.
1,500 Indian farmers commit suicide this year
Per the Independent, more than 1,500 farmers in India have committed suicide on account of bad crops and considerable amounts of debt. Residents of villages producing bad crops insist the government should step in and take low water levels and the high suicide count into consideration when planning policies, according to the article.
The article states that 1,500 farmers conducted a mass suicide, however the report was misleading, as these did not occur all at once as is suggested. Twitterers tried to clarify the story through alternative sources, then commented on the report.
The article states that 1,500 farmers conducted a mass suicide, however the report was misleading, as these did not occur all at once as is suggested. Twitterers tried to clarify the story through alternative sources, then commented on the report.
SanjayJha (New Delhi, India) #farmersuicides For more accurate detail on farmers sucicide in Indian state please visit http://tinyurl.com/d5h369.
arnoldyb (New Delhi, India) #India "Mass suicide" of farmers in Chhattisgarh seems to be an annual stat, not 1,500 farmers quaffing kool-aid all at once. Still, sad.
Azbats (Tallahassee, Fla.) @mcantelon @charenton @liberationbc The 'mass' is misleading but the suicide rate is 4 farmers a day due to this. http://tinyurl.com/d5h369
RickVoorhees (Colorado) How to balance news abt India's farmers. Unfathomable http://tinyurl.com/cqe35p
MaryCateOMalley (So. Calif.) What a tragedy 4 all humanity: 1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India http://twurl.nl/vvq73y
cfrew (Baltimore, Md.) An Unacceptable Loss:
My guts coiled when I read the headline on the Huffington Post: "1,500 Farmers in India C.. http://tinyurl.com/c2o8zd
Ashton Kutcher becomes first on Twitter to 1 million followers
American actor Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) became the first Twitter user to reach 1,000,000 followers, beating out CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) and Britney Spears (@britneyspears) to the mark in a race closely watched by the Twitterverse in recent days.
The race to one million had been monitored by hundreds of blogs and news outlets, including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, CNN, and ABC News.
Kutcher will celebrate the milestone live on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday. He has said that Oprah will send out her first ever tweet during the broadcast using the Twitter name @Oprah.
Kutcher passed CNN for the first time Thursday before CNN regained the lead after an on-air shout-out by personality Anderson Cooper. But Kutcher fired back with this tweet and his own broadcast via UStream.TV:
Here's a screenshot from the UStream broadcast of Kutcher watching with wife Demi Moore when he had reached 995,000 followers.
The Twitterverse celebrated the milestone.
The race to one million had been monitored by hundreds of blogs and news outlets, including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, CNN, and ABC News.
Kutcher will celebrate the milestone live on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday. He has said that Oprah will send out her first ever tweet during the broadcast using the Twitter name @Oprah.
Kutcher passed CNN for the first time Thursday before CNN regained the lead after an on-air shout-out by personality Anderson Cooper. But Kutcher fired back with this tweet and his own broadcast via UStream.TV:
aplusk I'm am live on ustream now if CNN is gonna fight it out on tv I'll fight it out on the web http://ustream.tv/ashton
Here's a screenshot from the UStream broadcast of Kutcher watching with wife Demi Moore when he had reached 995,000 followers.
The Twitterverse celebrated the milestone.
berryanarchy @aplusk This is kinda exciting and it's good to see a celeb be a real person on webcam too
petervizel Hey @aplusk CONGRATULATIONS!! You DID IT!! You ARE the MAN on the MOON!!!! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c)
PaulJGorzkowski @MCHammer @kingsthings @aplusk CNN didnt stand a chance. Congrats Ashton!
justicenathan Hey @aplusk goosebump time! twitter revolutionised! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c)
johnhall702 Hey @aplusk CONGRATS!!! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c)