Philippine Coast Guard shoots Taiwan fisherman, Taiwan fights back

A Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead by the Philippine coast guard! Now Taiwan and the Philippines are flipping out over the shooting. It all started when a Philippine coast guard ship opened fire on a Taiwanese fishing boat, as if they were a bunch of pirates! The next thing you know, President Ma Ying-jeou is swearing revenge and Philippine president Noynoy Aquino is insisting that the fisherman was so totally over the line. Meanwhile, all this fighting is just muddying the water and giving China a prime opportunity to bite off some more South Sea islands. ENGLISH:

Associated Press Twitter hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

The Associated Press said its Twitter account was hacked and a fake tweet was sent out saying explosions occurred at the White House and Obama was injured. AP suspended their Twitter account and advised that all tweets should be ignored until further notice. The fake tweet sent at 1:07pm ET said, “Breaking: Two Explosion in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The US markets reacted almost immediately to the tweet and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 150 points, but quickly bounced back after news of the hack. It seems that hackers gained access to the AP account after a phishing email was sent to several AP reporters from the email account of…

Online shopping? You may need to pay online sales tax

The Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill that would require online retailers to collect sales tax when it comes to online shopping purchases, is making its way through the Senate. Currently, only retailers with a physical presence within the state have the right to collect sales tax. Supporters of the bill include brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy Co Inc and Sears. The bill is also supported by Amazon, the largest online retailer. Amazon initially was against the tax in 2011, but now supports it after it agreed to pay taxes in several states including California. Opponents of the bill, EBay being the largest, say the bill will excessively burden online retailers, who haven’t had to…

Religion in China: Government cracks down on superstition

Religion in China is a tricky subject and it’s about to get much trickier thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s newly announced stance on religion. According to Reuters, China is trying to convert it’s nearly 100 million religious believers in to atheists. Wang Zuoan, the head of China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs took to a public forum to discuss the government’s stance on religion. Wang Zuoan, the head of China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs took to a public forum to discuss the government’s stance on religion. According to Zuoan, “For a ruling party which follows Marxism, we need to help people establish a correct world view and to scientifically deal with birth, ageing,…

Bassem Youssef and Jon Stewart cause some Twitter Troubles

Jon Stewart’s support of Bassem Youssef after the Egyptian comedian got locked up for making fun of the president of Egypt was well done, passionate and expected. What was unexpected, however, was a Twitter fallout between the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and Egyptian officials. The U.S. Embassy made the mistake of tweeting a link to The Daily Show’s video which angered Egyptian officials and Islamists. The embassy tried to correct the mistake by taking down their entire twitter page. Tisk, tisk. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo was cool for 2.5 seconds when they tweeted a link to the Daily Show’s awesome defense of Bassem Youssef an Egyptian TV host and satirist. The clip shows Stewart’s…

North Korea missiles ‘ready to strike’ US: Kim Jong-un

North Korea has put its missile units on standby ready to attack US bases in South Korea, the Pacific and the US after Washington revealed it has flown B2 stealth bombers over the Korean Peninsula. The US move was the latest in a series of moves by Washington and Pyongyang that have seen tensions in the Korean Peninsula rise to their highest level in recent years. Kim Jong-un’s comments made at a meeting with his generals are part of North Korean efforts to show its anger at annual military exercises held by the US and South Korea. The increase in tensions follows North Korea’s third underground nuclear test in February. The UN approved new harsher…

Rand Paul talks drug crimes on Fox News Sunday

Rand Paul, the Republican Libertarian senator from Kentucky, outraged many when he said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace that while he’s not for legalizing drugs, he doesn’t think people should go to jail for nonviolent drug crimes. Paul mentioned that both former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama could have seen their lives drastically affected by drug-related arrests. Er, wasn’t there another president too? Rand pointed out that Bush and Obama were lucky. Others might say they had money. Either way, it’s pretty clear that the poor get the shaft in the US justice system. Rand Paul may have started a new trend. What are we going to see next, conservatives…

Michael Bloomberg nanny state: has the mayor gone too far?

At first Michael Bloomberg came for the trans fats. But we didn’t eat at fast food restaurants, so we didn’t say anything. Then Michael Bloomberg came for the salt. But we only use pepper, so we didn’t say anything. Then Michael Bloomberg banned food donations to city homeless shelters. But we are not homeless, so we didn’t say anything. Then Michael Bloomberg came for the baby formula because he wants moms to breastfeed. But we are not newborn babies, so we didn’t say anything. Then Michael Bloomberg restricted painkillers at city hospitals. The poor will just have to suffer a bit, he said. Then he came for our 16-ounce sodas, forcing everyone to buy two….