– More on this Wyclef-Jean-running-for-President-of-Haiti thing. The LA Times seems to be baiting a wtf with this headline. There are also some concerns floating around:
- “First, he doesn’t know how the state works. He hasn’t any knowledge of the political parties. This is not a good thing for democracy in Haiti.”
- “Jean, who has not lived permanently in Haiti for about 30 years, doesn’t speak French, and his Creole is far from flawless.”
- “His announcing on ‘ Larry King‘ is very peculiar. I don’t think the U.S. public is voting.”
- “Who’s going to vote for that … ? What the hell does Wyclef know about politics? That’s why Aristide [a former priest] messed up the country, because they put in a preacher as president.”
– In one of this biggest philanthropy stories of all time, 40 billionaires have agreed to give at least half of their money to charity. Among the heavy-hitters are Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, George Lucas, David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, and T. Boone Pickens, who I’m pretty sure is actually just a character from “The Dukes of Hazzard.” The “catch” is that they can wait until they die to give it away. So really we should be thanking their kids and significant others, no?
– After a (totally expected) poor showing at the World Cup, North Korea’s coach, Kim Jong-hun, has been expelled from the Worker’s Party, publicly ridiculed, and forced to work construction. Now the former coach has apparently somehow “betrayed” Kim Jong-un, the Dear Leader’s youngest son. What that exactly means is unclear, but I don’t have to spell out how that might turn out for Kim Jong-hun. I guess the lesson here is don’t take a job in North Korea where there is any chance of failing in any way.
– Lastly, the Indonesian Government has undertaken the basically impossible task of banning internet porn in time for Ramadan, which starts on August 11. The effort was sparked by the release of a sex tape allegedly featuring Indonesian celebrities that could lead to jail time for the parties involved. Valens Riyadi, the guy put in charge of the outlandish plan, says he can maybe block like 10 percent of sites by that time. Hasn’t anyone one told them…?
