 |  | 
May 03, 2012 | | EXCERPT Inequality isn’t plaguing America only—the Arab Spring flowered because international capitalism is broken. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz says the world is finally rising up and demanding a democracy where people, not dollars, matter. The best government that money can buy just isn’t good enough. DECLASSIFIED Osama bin Laden still hoped to pull off one big attack, according to newly revealed documents seized during the raid that killed the al Qaeda leader. The documents were posted online by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point on Thursday. The report, titled Letters From Abbottabad: Bin Laden Sidelined, consists of letters totaling 175 pages in their original Arabic and 197 pages in English and ranging in date from September 2006 until April 2011. While later letters detail bin Laden’s disappointment in al Qaeda’s waning influence, he does take some jabs at U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, detailing a plan to assassinate President Obama that would leave the “unprepared” Biden in charge and thus put the nation in crisis. BIG MONEY It is now officially okay for Mark Zuckerberg to bathe in $100 bills. The Facebook CEO can’t help but be washing himself in cash as his company moves closer to an initial public offering, reportedly set for May 18. Sources told The Wall Street Journal Thursday that Facebook would value itself around $85 billion to $95 billion when it goes public, aiming stocks for the high-$20s to mid-$30s a share. The IPO would tower over Google’s 2004 offering of $23 billion. Initially thought to be aiming for around $100 billion, Facebook will list on the Nasdaq Stock Market and Monday is said to begin a series of meetings with investors to drive up interest. DISPATCH Now hospitalized in Beijing, away from the protection of the U.S. Embassy, dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng spoke to The Daily Beast’s Melinda Liu by phone a second time, sounding calmer and less desperate but still determined to leave the country. YIKES An ad for Popchips featuring Ashton Kutcher with his face painted brown in a depiction of a Bollywood producer was pulled on Wednesday after the ad was called racist. In the ad, Kutcher plays a number of characters who are looking for love on a dating service, and in one, he plays a Bollywood producer named Raj. After being attacked as racist, Popchips pulled the ad from YouTube and Facebook and apologized, saying the ad “was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone.” | | 
GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You’ll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast’s diverse group of contributors.  GET The Yes List Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast.
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment