Everyone hates Barbie. Is it because she’s tall, leggy and disproportionately well-endowed? Or is it because her lashes are permanently curled to perfection and is always matched up with the incredibly good looking Ken? Banish the biatch from shelves for good (or at least hide them behind a bunch of much uglier toys). Do what you gotta do, Iran—this pernicious piece of Western culture is eroding morality codes everywhere!

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Numbers released this week revealed that a record-breaking number of American households are  living below the poverty line. The poverty rate spiked to about 15%, or 46.2 million people nationwide- the highest amount since The Census Bureau began collecting the data 52 years ago. Minorities were hit even harder, and the numbers don’t take into account the millions and millions who are struggling just above the poverty line. Let’s hope the too-quickly rising rate reverses soon.

Iran announced they would release and pardon the two American hikers who were being held since they accidentally crossed over the border from Iraq in 2009. The two (pretty cute…) men, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, had previously been sentenced to 8 years in prison for what they claimed was an innocent mistake, but what Iran claimed was intentional spying. President Ahmadinejad called the move a “humanitarian gesture” out of the goodness of his heart, but there are some other theories floating around about why he really decided to release them. Some say he might be hoping for PR before his upcoming visit to the United Nations, others think they might’ve never planned on keeping the prisoners for 8 years at all. Either way, the two fine fellas will be returning stateside soon.

Netflix’ stock value dipped sharply this week, after more and more subscribers dropped their memberships due to a summer price hike. A combo plan that allows customers to receive one DVD by mail and stream any available shows or movies jumped $6 a month, or $72 a year. That increase, which Netflix bet would have little or no effect, has led to an expected 590,000 cancelled subscriptions by the end of the quarter. The last time they ended a quarter with fewer subscribers than when they started was in 2007, and back then it was only a 55,000-member drop. In response to the mass Netflix exodus, the company has split in two. Netflix will be a streaming-only company, while the new start-up Qwikster will be a DVD-by-mail service.

Pic o’ the Week:

(AP / Ward Howes)

Thousands of visitors to an airshow this Friday watched in horror as a World War II fighter plane took a nosedive into the crowd, killing the pilot and 8 others. 96 others were treated for injuries at the hospital.

Iranian student protesters targeted by government.

Poor Piano Man got dumped.

Everything I know I learned from hip hop.

Someone’s talkin smack about Will Smith.

Lindsay Lohan and Paris will do anything to get back in the tabs.

OMG we need these shoes.

See where the most porn in enjoyed….

Amy Winehouse returns to London. The Caribbean celebrates.

Flirting 2.0

Ms. North Dakota arrested in Iran for buying a bottle of wine.

Thank god there are cute exercise clothes out there.

Jack Osbourne’s mustache make him looks like….

That’s what she said. On Twitter.

Your Facebook status can get you fired.

NYU supports unions...and not companies who don’t.

Maybe Miley should consider more appropriate clothing for a jog with her boyfriend….

You enjoying all that snow, Northeast?!

Sex is….awkward.

On Tuesday, the United States and Czech Republic signed the first part of the controversial missile defense system pact. Russia responded with a warning that if the US and Czech Republic go ahead with the system it will be forced to react with military means. The US maintains that the system is aimed at the Middle East, not Russia.If the US gets its’ way, by 2012 the shield will be operable—consisting of a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

In Other News:

Also on Tuesday, the White House officially apologized to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after a major diplomatic screw-up. In the official press kit distributed to reporters accompanying the President to the G8 summit, Berlusconi was referred to as a man, “hated by many”, “known for governmental corruption and vice”, and as a “political dilettante (amateur)”.

Apparently the bio was taken directly from the Encyclopedia of World Biography. Berlusconi is one of Bush’s few friends in Western Europe and a key supporter of the Iraq war. Read More »

It’s your daily dose of Kandy Korrespondent!

International tensions are building up once more over Irans’ nuclear program. On June 1st, the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany agreed to offer Iran various incentives in return for the halting of its uranium enrichment program. They also warned, however, of punitive measures should Iran refuse the proposition. During his farewell travels throughout Europe, President Bush made sure to keep the threat of action against Iran in the news. He discussed the adoption of harsher measures against Iran with each world leader he met.

Despite these efforts, on Saturday Iran voted once again to continue its’ uranium enrichment program—sending a clear message to the rest of the world that it will not be bought off nor intimidated.

In response, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday that he and other EU leaders will begin to freeze the assets of Bank Melli– Iran’s largest bank. In anticipation, Iran pulled $75 million out of Europe.

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It’s time for the news with Kandy Korrespondent!

For those of you who may have thought this year’s presidential race couldn’t get any crazier: Meet Mr. Bob Barr! Former Republican congressman, Bob Barr said on Monday that he would run for President as part of the libertarian ticket. He was part of the Republican Revolution in 1995 and gained notoriety for his role in the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton. He left the Republican party in 2004 and became a Libertarian in 2005 as a result of his growing disillusionment with the civil liberties-eroding Patriot Act. His entrance into the race as a third party candidate may siphon off extreme right-wingers from the McCain platform.

Also on Monday, President Bush told the BBC that the US has plans to strengthen Lebanon’s army to enable it to disarm Hezbollah. At least 60 have died in clashes around Beirut this past week. Read More »

The much-touted Beijing Olympics more and more seem like an awful nightmare amidst the continuing Human rights fallout. This is the first of three articles examining China’s Human Rights Record.

Visit Beijing—What do you see?

Skyscrapers

Fashion (America’s Next Top Model filmed their last season there)

Entrepreneurs

Money, Money, MONEY!!!

Stand in the middle of the city and you could be in New York, Tokyo, Berlin, or Sydney.

This is not your parent’s China…or is it?

Your parent’s China was ruled by the infamous Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist People’s Party. As you probably remember from your Cold War history, Mao’s China, like Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, flagrantly violated human rights.

Chairman Mao’s death in 1976 ushered in a slow yet steady drive towards economic reform that many hoped would correspond to political reform as well.

Events on June 4, 1989 shattered such hopes. Read More »

In this country we tend to take everything for granted. Blaming everyone else when something goes wrong rather than take responsibility ourselves is not the way to go about solving the problem. It is time to stop blaming the politicians and big corporations and take a stand. Don’t buy another gas automobile. If you are like me, out shopping for your first non-mom-and-dad purchased car, now is the time to grow up.

If Americans really cared about the war in the Middle East, global warming and our enormous foreign trade deficit, than now is the time to stop buying new automobiles until they produce an alternative car to fossil fuel. This is a matter of simple economics (one of the few classes I dominated).

This simple action would put a huge dent in the three issues mentioned above. Americans currently use over 15 million barrels a day of crude oil, over 9 million is gasoline. Blame whatever Texan you like, but the reality is that this money will largely go to countries who hate us. If we all stood together and refused to purchase any new cars unless they ran on non-fossil fuel engines, we could make a real difference.

The phrase “bigger is better” does not just apply in the bedroom, it applies to American culture. Bigger homes, bigger meals, and bigger cars….so is the world really ready to downsize, travel less or make the effort to use alternative fuel? There are a lot of alternative fuel options, some vehicles use electric, others can run on water, hydrogen and even types of grass, but how accessible are these methods to the American public? How many people do you actually know who drive a car that runs on an alternative fuel method? Read More »

With SNL’s Digital Shorts the only reason people tune in these days, Andy Samberg can do no wrong when it comes to pushing our buttons and making us laugh.

That said, did you see “Iran So Far” yet?? If not, where the hell have you been? Holy crap, Fred Armisen’s dean-on impression of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is so strangely lovable, especially in that red dress. Samberg’s goofy grin and pseudo seriousness is…refreshing to say the least (ahem, Weekend Update…).

“Iran So Far” is definitely going viral (as much as “Dick in a Box”?) in a big way, but we here at College Candy are getting the ball rolling on causing another one of Samberg’s skits from Saturday night to make a splash on You Tube. Read More »