Time vs Newsweek: provocative covers stir controversy

Last week Time magazine’s cover brought the breastfeeding and attachment parenting debate into the national spotlight. This week it was Newsweek’s turn to stir up controversy, with its cover on the First Gay President. Time magazine not only brought attention to the attachment parenting movement, it also inspired conversation on using provocative images and copy to revive the ailing print industry. Many critics are calling this issue a “stroke of genius” and “an example of print well done,” including magazine expert Samir Husni. Newsweek came out with its controversial copy and image combo just a few days later, with similar results. The cover featured a tight shot of President Obama with a rainbow-colored halo above…

Romney apologizes for high school bully pranks

Mitt Romney is being attacked by liberals after the Washington Post ran an article about how he bullied a gay classmate who didn’t fit in at his high school. Five of Romney’s classmates from the exclusive Cranbrook prep school, including classmates who participated in the bullying, say Romney led other boys as they held down the classmate — who had returned from spring break with bleached blond hair — while Romney gave him a haircut. Romney taunted another closeted gay student by yelling “Atta girl!” in English class, the story says. Romney apologized after the article was published for pranks he led that “might have gone too far,” though he says does not remember that…

Putin elected to third term as Russian president

For Vladimir Putin, the third time is not the charm. Putin’s inauguration for his third term as Russia’s president came as a disappointment for many Russian citizens. On May 7, Putin swapped places with Dmitri Medvedev, who will become Russia’s prime minister. Moscow was eerily quiet as Putin made his way to the inauguration. Just a day earlier, 20,000 protestors flooded the streets to voice their dissatisfaction. According to The Economist, Putin had it cleared out to ensure a smooth transition. Putin first became president of Russia in 2000 and held on to the role for two terms. As required by law, he stepped down in 2008 and Medvedev took over as president. Some think…

Philippines, China in South China Sea standoff

China and the Philippines have been locked in a month-long standoff at Scarborough Shoal, a small uninhabited reef in the South China Sea. The standoff is part of a larger regional struggle for control of several small, possibly oil-rich island chains in the region. Incredibly, though China’s southernmost tip is Hainan Island, it claims almost the whole of the South China Sea as its own. Meanwhile, Chinese oil company CNOOC has begun exploring for oil in another disputed island chain. Anti-Chinese sentiment is beginning to swell. Who is going to tell the Chinese just how ridiculous their claims are? ENGLISH:

North Carolina gay marriage ban puts pressure on Obama

The 2012 election is approaching, and gay rights is the third rail for President Obama and the Democratic Party. Obama needs money from gay donors but can’t afford to alienate Democrats opposed to gay marriage. Opinion polls show Americans overall are becoming more favorable to gay marriage, but less so in the key swings states of Florida, Virginia and Ohio, which have constitutional bans on gay marriage, and North Carolina, which banned gay marriage on Tuesday. North Carolina became the 30th state to ban gay marriage when voters approved Amendment One, which prohibits not only gay marriage but also voids all other forms of domestic unions from carrying legal status. Roughly 70 percent of black…

Socialist Hollande wins French election

Francois Hollande was elected president of France in the 2012 French presidential election Sunday, becoming France’s first Socialist president in 17 years. Hollande defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on promises to reassess austerity deals aimed at solving Europe’s financial crisis in favor of pro-growth remedies, and to increase taxes for the rich. The results of the French presidential election were echoed in Greece, where voters also punished pro-austerity parties in the polls, and are a major rejection for Franco-German led belt-tightening under former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Is the end of “Merkozy,” the Franco-German partnership that has enforced the austerity regime, a good thing? Leave your thoughts in the comments below….

Immigrants pwn natives on American civics

Immigration reform? How about education reform first? The Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University reports that just 64 percent of native-born Americans could pass the naturalization test immigrants must take to become a US citizen. Immigrants applying for citizenship pass the simple civic literacy test at a rate of 97.5 percent according the the survey, released last week. We stopped people in Times Square last week and asked them some of the the questions. For the answers, watch the video: 1. Who is Susan B. Anthony? 2. Name a U.S. territory. 3. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? 4. How many US senators are there? 5. Who is…

Chen Guangcheng’s escape, F-16s rile US-China relations

US-China relations are in a lurch after high-profile Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng escaped to the US embassy and Washington announced it may sell F-16s to Taiwan — just days before a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Last week, Chinese lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng, who is blind, climbed over his wall to escape from house arrest. Chen Guangcheng then somehow managed to get from Shandong province, all the way in eastern China, to Beijing, where the activist found refuge in the US embassy. Now the Obama administration has announced it is considering selling F-16C/D fighter aircraft to Taiwan. China is not happy. Should the US…