“It would be nice for Hollywood to have more male figures in those kinds of movies”
— Fox News TV-person Steve Doocey, disapproving of the gender bias in the Disney movie Frozen
Home | Bali Nine appeal denied
THE GIST. Two Australian members of the 'Bali Nine' - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran - have been denied a second judicial review of their death sentences in Indonesia. There is now nothing stopping their execution.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. The pair were sentenced to death in 2006 for attempting to traffic heroin into Australia. Chan and Sukumaran were allegedly the 'ringleaders' of the group of nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005. Both have tried and failed several times to appeal their sentences.
INDOPOL. Chan and Sukumaran both appealed for clemency to Indonesia's President Joko Widodo late last year. Widodo rejected their plea last week, declaring there will be "no compromise" for drug dealers.
AUSAPPEAL. Tony Abbott has appealed directly to Joko Widodo for mercy, and at this point all hopes rest on Widodo having a last-minute change of heart. That's not likely though. Apart from the fact that he has repeatedly refused leniency, he was elected last year promising a tough approach to drug-related crime, and he has a bunch of political reasons for sticking with his decision.
Abroad | ISIS burns Jordanian pilot alive
THE GIST. ISIS released a video on Tuesday showing them burn alive a Jordanian fighter pilot, who they captured while he was flying over Iraq.
NOT SAFE FOR ANYWHERE. The video is a 22 minute long propaganda piece complete with high quality production and soundtrack. It first show clips of the Jordanian military, referring to their operations against ISIS in Iraq and their co-operation with the US. The pilot - Moaz al-Kasasbeh - is then set on fire inside a large cage. It is disturbing stuff, and not recommended viewing.
REACTION. In the immediate aftermath, Jordan's King Abdullah called pilot a "hero", and promised revenge. Barack Obama said that the murder was evidence of the group's "viscousness and barbarity."
RETALIATION. In response to the murder, Jordan executed two prisoners - both of whom were already in custody on terrorism charges. Ziyad Karboli was an Al Qaeda member, and Sajida al-Rishawi was a female would-be suicide bomber, who was captured after her explosives failed to detonate. The Jordanian government was originally negotiating with ISIS to trade her for the release of the pilot, but it now seems like he was killed before those talks had even begun.
Small-talk
Mean cuisine. The owner of a vegan restaraunt in Canberra refused to kill the cockroaches in his kitchen, because doing so - "killing little insects" - would be a violation of his beliefs. The restaraunteur was fined $16,000 for a number of health code violations. The fine could have been higher, but the judge took into account the 'loss of reputation' as already punishing the business. Apparently the regular customers - i.e. 'that one Hare Krishna dude that ate there that one time' - were not impressed.
Worth it. A Texas man tried to pay his $600 tax billin tightly folded $1 notes. The poor people at the tax office refused the legal tender, and told Mr Norris to leave the premises. When he refused, he was arrested for "disrupting the operation and efficiency of the tax office", which in Texas is probably a capital offence.
Superfan. Henry Damon, a 37-year-old Venezuelan man, has cut off his own nose in order to look more like his idol - the Nazi villain 'Red Skull' from the Captain America comic book/movie. The 'body modification artist' who assisted with the nasal-ectomy insists that Damon is not insane, but rather an "excellent son, husband and father." He's the nicest nose-less red-faced Nazi you'll ever meet.
The word
Atavistic Adjective. Having the characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations: The US Presidential candidacy of Jeb Bush - George W.'s brother - is weirdly atavistic.
