A fast food restaurant in America says it has received huge support after renaming its French fries, in protest at France’s opposition to the United States’ stance on Iraq. They’re calling them “freedom fries” instead. The idea came from renaming German things in protest during WWI (frankfurters became hot dogs, sauerkraut became German cabbage). I think it’s retarded, personally. Can’t we just call ‘em “fries” like we’ve been doing anyway? And if I hear one more French toast joke….
Snow storms and freezing gales are hampering efforts to retrieve bodies and search for clues at the site of Iran’s worst air crash. The 284 crash victims were members of an elite military unit. “There has been a series of disasters in Iran involving mainly Russian-built planes. Up to half of Iran’s transport aircraft are believed to be of Russian design, and correspondents say they have a poor safety record. US sanctions have left Iran increasingly dependent on an ageing fleet, acquired from the former Soviet Union. Three of them have crashed in the past two years, killing an estimated 200 people.” I hope we don’t expect help from Iran. But on the other hand, how is this all our fault? We’re not pouring enough of our money into their economy so the poor state of their military is because of us? Are there other countries involved in these sanctions? Not to detract from the tragedy of having 284 people die in a plane crash.
As Koreans numbly digested the latest numbers on victims of subway fire here on Tuesday ? 125 dead, 146 injured and dozens missing ? recordings of victims’ final cellphone calls added to the sense of horror. The arsonist was a former taxi driver with a history of mental problems who had gotten much worse after suffering a stroke a couple years ago. He wanted to die, but not die alone, so he took a milk carton full of gasoline on the subway and lit it up. They were able to see him on a security camera. What a horrible way to die.
