Author: Alexander Abad-Santos

The Gay Boy Scouts Are Still Impossible

Reuters

What seems like progress from the top-down may reveal the problem with Boy Scouts from the inside-out: its first official coming out party is still a microcosm of discord on gay acceptance, especially in Christian America, no matter what polls say today or the Supreme Court declares in a few weeks. Here's a survey of the reaction so far.

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 16, 2012

Anthony Weiner's Maybe Mayoral Run May Include Confessional Interview

In day two of the still theoretical political rehabilitation of Anthony Weiner, his wife, Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton, has taken a leading role, pushing for, according to the New York Post's sources for her husband to give a Bill Clinton-like tell-all interview.

Comments | 709 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

Jennifer Lopez Is Leaving 'American Idol'

The rumors you've heard are true. Ryan Seacrest has confirmed via Twitter, because that's how people do things now, that Jennifer Lopez will not be returning to American Idol

Comments | 1,003 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

The New York Times' PG-13 Story About R-Rated Language

The New York Times had a pretty exciting story on its hands about a London trial featuring a expletive-laden on-field argument between soccer stars Anton Ferdinand and John Terry, but the paper's high standards turns a NSFW cluster-cuss into the most sterile argument ever.

Comments | 1,033 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

Angela Merkel Will Fight for Germans' Right to Circumcise

Hot on the heels of uniting Germany's Jewish and Muslim communities under one common cause, Cologne's circumcision ban has found another enemy—the German government. 

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

Why We Should Think Twice About Non-Browning Apples

Sorry. No, thanks. We'll take a little bruising and browning over the Arctic Apple--a genetically buffed super fruit designed to give you perfect-looking apple slices every single time. 

Comments | 2,231 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

How Jose Antonio Vargas Learned to Use a Semicolon

Life has been pretty complicated for Jose Antonio Vargas--that happens when you've spent your life lying about your immigration status. What came easier, it seems, was the very complicated art of writing, which Vargas tells Buzzfeed's Michael Hastings he learned studying The New Yorker.

Comments | 1,194 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 13, 2012

Poor Newt Gingrich May Never Have Power

How did we not know this sooner? In a Washington Post op-ed today, Newt Gingrich reveals that he was a victim of Derecho, the freak occurrence of thunderstorms that ripped and ruined power grids in the Washington, D.C. area two weeks ago, and found out living without power was absolutely terrible. 

Comments

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Catching Kangaroos Seems Pretty Easy; 'The Dark Knight' Goes Pee-wee

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 690 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Social Media Power Rankings: Durex Knows People Like Orgasms

Jack Daniels and Sears got all patriotic on us, while Durex was just Durex and rode a sexy idea up the ranks.

Comments | 1,008 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Nancy Pelosi: U.S. Olympic Uniforms Should Be Made in the U.S.A.

It's not Ralph Lauren's silly berets or the double-breasted jackets, which the U.S. athletes will don during the opening ceremony of London's Olympic Games, that are rubbing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi the wrong way. It's the fact that they weren't American made.

Comments | 517 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

German Circumcision Ban Unites Muslims and Jews

A regional German court's ban on circumcision has been met with agreement by Jewish and Muslim organizations united in denouncing it.

Comments | 483 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Biden to NAACP: 'Election Will Come Down to Character, Conviction, Vision'

After Mitt Romney's boo-filled warmup act yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden took the stage at the NAACP's annual convention in Houston today and brought down the house. 

Comments | 1,137 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Mexican News Offices Need Some Bulletproof Glass

Well this is terrifying: Apparently two Mexican new agencies were peppered with gunfire and grenades this week--the thanks they get for reporting on an organized crime ring. 

Comments | 172 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 12, 2012

Saudi Arabia Will Send Two Women to the Olympics

Congratulations are in store for judo competitor Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar for being the first female athletes that Saudi Arabia will send to the Olympics. 

Comments | 655 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

SQIRLS on 'Girls' and One 'Excellent Horse-Like Lady'

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 265 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

America's Olympic Uniforms Are Still Made in China

If the berets and double-breasted young Republican look that the U.S.'s Olympic athletes will be wearing during the opening ceremony in London aren't doing it for you sartorially, we'll give you one more reason to hate these things. Ralph Lauren had these duds made in China--just like four years ago. 

Comments | 9,173 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

Suicide Bombing in Yemen's Capital Is Becoming a Disturbing Trend

Reports out of Yemen say a suicide bombing attack on police cadets in the capital of Sanaa has claimed the lives of at least eight and wounded 15 others, suggesting that Sanaa may be becoming al Qaeda's favorite suicide bombing target. 

Comments | 278 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

Thailand Goes Soft, Pardons Royal Insulter from the U.S.

It's obviously a relief that Thailand pardoned Joe Gordon, a U.S. citizen who translated parts of a banned biography, The King Never Smiles, about Thailand’s King Bhumibol on his blog.

Comments | 118 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

Lesbians Will Have Their Own Super PAC

Laura Ricketts, daughter of TD Ameritrade's Joe Ricketts, the man made briefly famous for his dashed "metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln" anti-Obama ad, is launching a Super PAC of her own called LPAC, a lesbian Super PAC that already has supporters in Jane Lynch and Billie Jean King.

Comments | 1,032 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 11, 2012

Now That the Higgs Has Been Found, Who Will Win the Nobel Prize?

Let's face it, the biggest and most important physics discovery in the past 30 years is old news. So let's move on to the next sexiest physics mystery, who exactly is going get science's biggest prize for the Higgs boson discovery?

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

Cookie Monster Takes a Bite Out of 'Call Me Maybe'

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

Kim Jong-Un's Lady Friend Probably a Married Singer

It seems that South Korean intelligence sources have figured out who exactly that mystery woman showing up with Kim Jong-Un at all his important events. Her name is apparently Hyon Song-wol, but North Koreans know her as the illustrious front woman of the Bonchonbo Electronic Music Band.

Comments | 9,120 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

Mexican Drug Tunnels Just Get Better and Better

Ventilation, electric lights, and wagons so your arms don't get tired from carrying all those drugs—those wonderful upgrades were found in a drug-smuggling tunnel from Sonora, Mexico to Arizona by the Mexican army this week.

Comments | 4,701 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

PFGBest's Missing $220 Million Shows We Didn't Learn from MF Global

Stop us if this sounds familiar: at PFGBest, a well-regarded, Iowa-based brokerage specializing in futures and foreign exchange trading, more than half of the customer funds are missing, its own funds are now frozen, and no one knows what anyone did with the missing $220 million.

Comments | 517 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

BuzzMedia Kicks It Old School, Acquires Spin

The BuzzMedia family just got bigger, glossier, and paper-ier (for now) as the pop culture network that boasts some of the Internet's best time-sucking blogs just announced the acquisition Spin magazine today.

Comments | 345 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 10, 2012

China Turned Michelangelo's David into Porn

In one of the more amusing and intriguing stories of Chinese censorship, it appears state-run China Central Television just couldn't decide whether or not Michelangelo's David was classified as porn, so they decided to pixelate the statue's famous junk.

Comments | 3,511 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 9, 2012

Super Golden Friends Forever; 'Fifty Shades: The Musical'

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 544 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 9, 2012

What Comes After Higgs Boson?

Now that Higgs boson discovery afterglow has faded, what are physics fans going to talk about?  Well, the Nobel Prize for starters.

Comments | 1,733 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 9, 2012

Florida Covered Up the Worst Tuberculosis Outbreak in 20 Years

What happens if you're facing the worst tuberculosis outbreak the CDC has seen in 20 years? If you're Florida Governor Rick Scott, it involved covering up the fact, signing laws shrinking the state's Department of Health, and shutting down the hospital where TB cases had been treated for the past 60 years.

Comments | 20,763 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 9, 2012

Pakistan Isn't Proud of Its Contribution to Higgs Boson

In any other country, we'd wager that the late Abdus Salam would be a national hero: He's a Nobel laureate in physics and laid the groundwork for the biggest physics discovery in the past 30 years--the Higgs boson. That isn't the case in Pakistan, where he's been wiped from textbooks and history for not being fundamentalist enough.

Comments | 7,567 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 9, 2012

Palestinian President Approves Arafat Autopsy

Days after an Al Jazeera investigation found traces of radioactive polonium in the belongings of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, this conspiracy theory has jumped into legitimate, diplomacy-threatening territory with Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly approving Arafat's exhumation.

Comments | 498 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

This Is How You Super Moonwalk; Old People Show Us the Dubstep

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 1,575 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

This Week's Social Media Power Rankings: Konami Cracks Your Summer Code

Konami figured out you like soccer, while Chrysler and MLB tapped into their fanbases to rule the social media scene this week. 

Comments | 345 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

AP Summer Intern's 'Accidental' Death Is Being Disputed

Not that this makes the news of 22-year-old journalist Armando Montano's death in Mexico City any less sad or offers any closure for his family and friends, but the Mexico Attorney General's Office believes he died by accident.

Comments | 786 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

Middle East Diplomacy May Rest in Arafat's Dirty Underwear

While we're riveted at the idea of someone possibly poisoning Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with radioactive polonium and implications this could have on the already strained Israel-Palestine conflict, we have a smaller question: Why is Suha Arafat holding onto her late husband's old underwear? 

Comments | 862 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

What Is Killing Cambodia's Kids?

There's disturbing news out of Cambodia, where the World Health Organization has ramped up its efforts to figuring out the mystery disease that has, so far, claimed the lives of at least 61 children in the country. 

Comments | 2,301 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

Scott Peterson Won't Be Executed Anytime Soon

Eight years ago a jury sentenced Scott Peterson to death for murdering his wife and unborn son. Yesteday, he filed an appeal to the California Supreme Court which, thanks to a backlog, could take months, if not years to resolve. 

Comments | 3,087 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 6, 2012

China No Longer Afraid of Lesbian Blood

China caught up with the rest of the world this week by eliminating a 14-year ban on blood donations by lesbians. Most gay men, on the other hand, are still not welcome to donate.

Comments | 345 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

The Only 'Kiss From a Rose' Cover You'll Ever Need

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 2,002 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

The Unscientific Things That the Higgs Boson Taught Us

We're not even going to try and explain the significance of the Higgs boson discovery observation, but we did an find a lot of non-sciencey things that the Higgs boson taught us, which is a lot easier than explaining gammas, sigmas, and hadrons.

Comments | 4,578 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

The Huffington Post Also Got Snookered By Wall Street Journal Fabricator

Yalie Liane Membis got a lot of attention for making up people and quotes during her very brief Wall Street Journal internship, but it turns out she fabricated during her college writing career too, which eventually stung The Huffington Post.

Comments | 7,759 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

Pontiff, Can You Spare a Dime: Vatican Has $19 Million Deficit

Yes, these days even the Vatican is in the red--even with a €50 million gift from the Vatican bank. 

Comments | 2,908 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

Zoos Need to Get Better at Turning On Cheetahs

Picky females playing hard to get, overly-aroused alpha males striking out, and a culture of casual sex--no this isn't a your sad, typical bar scene, it's what cheetah-breeding zoos have to deal with to save this endangered cat. 

Comments | 362 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 5, 2012

WikiLeaks Might Not Even Know What's In 2.4 Million Syrian E-mails

While we're no doubt excited about the 2.4 million e-mails from Syrian politicians, officials, and companies that WikiLeaks says it's releasing today, we're more interested in exactly how anyone will find any juicy stuff in an ocean of documents. 

Comments | 317 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 3, 2012

Beating Novak Djokovic: Never Forget Three-Fingered Steve

Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.

Comments | 456 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 3, 2012

Did CERN Just Pull Back Hot Higgs-Slip Video?

What's one thing CERN scientists can do to pique interest in their maybe-spoiled, already-hotly anticipated Higgs boson announcement tomorrow? Leak a video possibly confirming discovery, then promptly take it away.

Comments | 4,081 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 3, 2012

Mermaids, Zombies, UFOs: The U.S. Government Denies Everything

Our world just got a little less magical today, as we found out that the U.S. government has denied the existence of mermaids. 

Comments | 5,863 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 3, 2012

Andy Griffith Has Died at the Age of 86

Andy Griffith, a television legend, died in his home this morning according to close friend and former University of North Carolina President Bill Friday.

Comments | 4,626 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jul 3, 2012

Assad Wanted to Shoot Down Turkish Plane Because He Thought It Was Israeli

Today the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad told the Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper that he totally regrets shooting down the warplane. But really, what does regret mean to a dictator like al-Assad? 

Comments | 862 Views

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App