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Iranian protesters rally as Arab unrest spreads
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
The tweets of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
"Protestors! Clear the streets at once or we will be forced to blast Fran Drescher's cackle over the Ayatollah's massive 'sound system!'"
Posted by: gorb || 02/14/2011 15:45 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Union demonstration in Nouakchott for higher wages
[Ennahar] Three unions among the most important of Mauritania organized on Saturday in Nouakchott a march followed by a rally to demand the government pay for improvements and the opening of negotiations between social partners.

The three unions had deposited with the government and management, January 19, a platform of demands including higher wages, the abolition of tax on wages and improvement of social security system.

"We remain mobilized until the opening of these negotiations," warned the president of the General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CGTM), Abdallahi Ould Mohamed, alias Nahah.

The union has warned the authorities against "negative blockages and stubbornness in the face of social demands which the Tunisian and Egyptian authorities have harvested the bitter fruits."
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by country
Unrest has spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Here's a look at what has happened -- and what is happening -- in various countries.
Posted by: gorb || 02/14/2011 14:48 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  GLEN BECK said it this AM > the MIDDLE EAST = ARAB WORLD INSTABILITIES wrought by the covert andor PDeniable collusion between Radical Islamists + Communists + Socialists, Anarchists, etal. agz the regional influence of the US, Western democratic capitalist system WILL ULTIMATELY BE WROUGHT AGZ THE ENTIRE WORLD.

IIUC, HIS GLEN-NESS = strongly inferred that the on-going MIDEAST "PEOPLE/COLOR REVOLUTIONS" = PRO-DEMOCRACY MASS PROTESTS IS A COVER/DIVERSION FOR DE FACTO RADICAL MUSLIM REGIONAL, later WORLD?, CONQUEST [Global Caliphate + Global Sharia].

DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM, HOPE-N-CHANGE, + MODERNISM NOW = ISLAMIC GOVT-STATEHOOD, GLOBAL CALIPHATE, ANTI-DEMOCRACY + ANTI-TOLERANT SHARIA, etc. LATER.

-------------

ION FREEREPUBLIC > VIOLENT CLASHES BREAK OUT IN SAUDI ISLAND [Nation-State] NEIGHBOR BAHRAIN, HOME OF THE US FIFTH FLEET.

As adjunct to ...

* SAME > A NOT-EL-BARADEI IAEA: IRAN IS "STEADILY ENRICHING" URANIUM.

* DRUDGEREPORT > PRAVDA > FIDEL CASTRO:US WOULD LOSE A CONVENTIONAL WAR AZG IRAN, as any US-Allied Option(s) to wage [Limited]NucWar agz Iran is now TOO LATE = OBSOLETE given Iran's ever-expanding state of HEU processing.

The "Jasmine" Protests breaking out in Bahrain is right next door to US-BASE-TOO-FAR QATAR + future "AMERICAN DUNKIRK" in IRAN???

Lest we fergit, NOSTRADAMUS QUATRAIN > "NONE SHALL SEE THE POWERS OF ASIA DESTROYED UNTIL THE SEVEN/SEVENTH HOLDS THE LINE".

[1960's = 1980's Oliver Stone's "PLATOON" + MTV's "WHITE RABBIT" [Jefferson Airplane]. TEXAS-SIZED ASETROIDS, etc. here].

Iff the Arab-Muslim World + Muslim Dmeocracy falls to [post-"Jasmine"]Radical Islam, US-VS-CHINA is Asia-Pacific will becom US-CHINA-VS-NUCLEAR-ISLAMISM/RADIC ISLAM in Asia-Pacific.

Read, GUAM-WESTPAC.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/14/2011 20:21 Comments || Top||


Saudi king 'losing mental ability'
[Iran Press TV] Soddy Arabia's ailing monarch has reportedly experienced a major setback in his recovery process, showing signs of mental deterioration.

Citing Western intelligence sources, the US daily World Tribune said on Friday that the 86-year-old Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud was suffering from back and heart ailments as well as signs of dementia.

The king has been recovering from two operations in the United States in late 2010.

The news came after last Thursday's rumors about his death, which was only followed by an increase in the price of oil.

Saudi opposition sources announced that Abdullah has died on February 9 at his home in Morocco. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal, however, said on the following day that the monarch was in 'excellent shape.'

The intelligence sources said Abdullah's medical condition had deteriorated sharply over the last few days. "He has suffered a major medical setback," said one intelligence source, stressing that he was not in danger of imminent death.

King Abdullah tried to rally US support for former Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak's continued stay in power despite a popular Revolution in Egypt, urging the removal of the 30-year-long Egyptian leader's regime.

There are unconfirmed reports that he began fitting while talking on the phone with US President Barack B.O. Obama regarding the fate of Mubarak, who is a close friend of King Abdullah.

"These efforts certainly didn't help his health and probably harmed recovery," the source said.

Mubarak handed power over to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces on Friday, giving in to 18 straight days of pro-democracy demonstrations.

After the victory of the Egyptian Revolution, similar demonstrations began in Arab countries including, Soddy Arabia's neighbors Yemen and Jordan.
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This could be troublesome. His top four potential replacements are also old and in ill-health, which means the younger princes will also strongly vie for the job.

The Iranians mumble that "prophecy" holds that Abdullah will be the last Saud king before the arrival of the 12th Imam. Though how much this is a recent contrivance is a good question.

In any event, things should get entertaining.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/14/2011 12:27 Comments || Top||


Couples find novel ways to celebrate Valentine's Day
[Arab News] While some retail outlets in the Kingdom have geared up for Valentine's Day only to be warned by the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to remove items that are red, many couples have devised novel ways to celebrate Feb. 14 by exchanging other types of gifts.

Instead of exchanging red roses or balloons, couples are now exchanging jewelry, perfumes, chocolates and other gifts, in addition to having dinner in some of the city's most popular restaurants.

"I have already bought my wife a gold and diamond bracelet and have reserved seats at a local restaurant to celebrate," said Amjad, a 28-year-old Saudi who recently got married.

He added that if celebrating Valentine's Day can bring a couple's relationship closer, then it is well worth it given the high rate of divorce in the Kingdom.

Restaurants in Jeddah have been reporting a 90 percent increase in reservations for Monday evening. Many expect a very busy night as couples and families celebrate Valentine's Day.

"Our restaurant, Il Siciliano, has been booked for the evening of Feb. 14 over three weeks ago," said Mohammed Al-Madani, executive managing director of Al-Maddahia Group, which owns the restaurant.

Other restaurant owners said that although some diners might be celebrating Valentine's Day on Monday night, they cannot refuse to book patrons who wish to come in on that day. Requesting to know why they are dining on that day would be unacceptable, they said.

Perfume sales have also increased by at least 20-25 percent, said Orjwan Al-Sewaidi, who operates a wholesale shop for designer perfumes in Jeddah's downtown area.

"Many couples, as well as singles, have been coming in to purchase gifts such as perfumes and cosmetics ahead of Valentine's Day," said Mohammed, a salesman at a shop.

However,
The infamous However...
according to a new survey from Yahoo Maktoob Research, although 80 percent of people in the GCC and MENA region surveyed said they are planning to arrange a special day, evening or weekend for their partner on Valentine's Day, only one in three couples in the Arab world admit to celebrating the holiday due to regional, religious or governmental restrictions.

"People enjoy rallying around holidays and celebrations, so it's interesting to hear why they choose to go out of their way to make these seasonal occasions special," said Tamara Deprez, head of Yahoo Maktoob Research, adding that traditions and personal beliefs play a huge role in the decision to celebrate or not.
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Islam doesn't stand a chance against "St. Female Passive-Aggressive Day". Most women are biologically compelled to demand oaths of loyalty from their males.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/14/2011 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  In the U.S. we apparently have a pre-Valentine on the 13th for mistresses, or so I read yesterday. How do that handle it with multiple wives in Saudi Arabia? Because to me that candle-lit, intimate dinner at that exquisite little restaurant when two of my sister-wives are along for the ride... and somehow I can't imagine those famously virile Saudi husbands handling two or three such dinners on one evening very well.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/14/2011 21:34 Comments || Top||

#3  PIMF!! How do they, not that.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/14/2011 21:35 Comments || Top||


Britain
UK to allow same-sex marriage in church
[Emirates 24/7] Britain plans to allow same-sex unions to be celebrated in places of worship, removing a key legal distinction between homosexual civil partnerships and heterosexual marriage, newspapers reported on Sunday. The move would lift the ban on religious ceremonies for the registration of gay unions imposed when Britain legalised civil partnerships six years ago.

The government may also propose scrapping the legal definition of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, allowing gay men and women to call their partners husbands or wives, the Sunday Times said.

Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone will launch a consultation on the issue next week, the Sunday Telegraph said.

Critics say restricting homosexuals to civil partnerships rather than marriage is a form of discrimination, even when, as in Britain, there little or no difference in the legal rights conferred. If passed into law the plan would bring Britain closer to countries such as the Netherlands and Canada where gays can legally marry.

The issue touches on religious sensitivities and will add to pressure on the Anglican Church of England, which is split between traditionalists and liberal priests on the subject.

Britain's Quakers are keen to celebrate same-sex unions as marriages, while the Liberal Judaism organisation already has Jewish rituals for same-sex partnerships. The Roman Catholic Church and Islam only sanction marriage between a man and a woman.

Civil partnerships, introduced in Britain in 2005, cannot legally be conducted in a place of religious worship, and cannot contain any element of religious service.
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  goodo, let the people choose their own path to happiness. Whatever floats the boat

i'd be campaigning for the right to gay divorce more to the point. in my experience gay men are the most fickle partners of all.
Posted by: anon1 || 02/14/2011 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Might be a lot of money in that -- imagine the volume if you were a "gay divorce" lawyer.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 02/14/2011 16:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Question: does this leave it up to the particular church as whether to host the ceremony, or are all churchs (or other holy buildings) forced to allow marriage no matter the participants?

I'd heard that within 3 days of the first legal gay union there was a filing for divorce.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/14/2011 18:03 Comments || Top||

#4  The Roman Catholic Church and Islam only sanction marriage between a man and a woman.

Well, they DO say that politics makes for strange bedfellows...
Posted by: Secret Master || 02/14/2011 18:16 Comments || Top||

#5  "The Roman Catholic Church and Islam only sanction marriage between a man and a woman."

As soon as this is implemented, we need a homosexual couple to show up at the biggest mosque in London (with suitable police protection and TV cameras, of course) claiming to be moslem and demanding the resident iman perform their marriage ceremony posthaste.

Hilarity would ensue.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 02/14/2011 19:10 Comments || Top||

#6  "The Roman Catholic Church and Islam only sanction marriage between a man and a woman."

To be more specific, the Bible and the Koran condemn homosexuality. The Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church are the most adherent to the Biblical laws and statutes, while Islam is adherent to the Sura.
Posted by: Butch Slereter2061 || 02/14/2011 21:35 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Made In Germany For Russia’s Army
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/14/2011 18:23 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korean embassies beg foreign govts for food aid'
North Korea has ordered all its embassies to appeal to foreign governments for food aid in a sign of growing desperation in Pyongyang, according to diplomatic sources.

This direct approach to foreign capitals, launched in December, is highly unusual for the insular and totalitarian regime, which normally negotiates deliveries of food assistance with international organisations such as the World Food Programme.

The WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation has begun a food needs assessment in North Korea, but the WFP said that last year it managed to raise only a fifth of the budget it needed for its North Korean aid programme.

That shortfall may be one of the reasons Pyongyang is trying a direct approach this year, observers said. But well-informed official sources in the region said that the regime was also having problems feeding the army, and wanted to build up a stockpile to fulfil promises of a "year of prosperity" in 2012 to mark 100 years since the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founding ruler of the Democratic People's Republic, and the 70th birthday of his son, the current leader, Kim Jong-il.

"This year, all 40 North Korean embassies have been ordered by Pyongyang to ask governments for food. They have each been given a quota," an Asian diplomat said.

Another Asian official said the order appears to have been given in December: "Kim Jong-il has told his embassies to get as much rice as possible."

In November the WFP and FAO warned that the majority of North Korea's people faced continued hunger this year after harvests were affected by unusually bad weather.

The Foreign Office confirmed that the North Korean embassy in London had approached the government seeking food aid.

"Any decision we make will be based on assessments currently being made of the country's food needs," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

The WFP/FAO needs assessment is expected to be published in the next few weeks. Marcus Prior, the WFP's spokesman in Asia, said: "North Korea has had a severe winter and a poor vegetable harvest and there could be an impact on the spring harvest."

A European official said he did not expect the evaluation to justify the declaration of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, but Greg Barrow, a WFP spokesman in the organisation's Rome headquarters, said it was too early to judge the outcome.

"The mission got under way today. They are just going out in the field. Nobody knows yet what it will say," Barrow said. "We will distribute as much as we can get funding for, but at the moment we are 80% underfunded."

The WFP demands direct access to food distribution points in the North Korea countryside as a condition for handing over the food -- something Kim Jong-il's secretive government has historically been reluctant to grant. Diplomatic sources suggested that this may be another reason the North Koreans are approaching foreign capitals directly.

North Korea has been hit by repeated famines in recent decades, particularly when bad weather has exacerbated the effects of inefficient collectivist farming practices and a shortage of mechanisation. The situation was particularly acute in the mid-1990s, when between 600,000 and more than 2 million people are believed to have died.

China, which has long served as North Korea's food supplier of last resort, faced its own food crisis as a result of a sustained drought, and that may have an impact on Beijing's food deliveries.

In last year's assessment of North Korean food needs, in the wake of a similarly severe winter, the WFP and FAO estimated the country had produced about 5 million tonnes of rice and other staples.

The state imported about 300,000 tonnes commercially, leaving a food deficit of half a million tonnes. However, the WFP's focus on children and pregnant and nursing mothers helped to ensure that overall rates of malnutrition declined. Anticipating that food production was likely to improve, the two UN food agencies recommended that the international community pay for another 305,000 tonnes to meet the needs of North Korea's 5 million most vulnerable people.

Pyongyang's isolation has deepened after the collapse of international talks aimed at persuading Kim Jong-il to curb his nuclear and missile programme. South Korea has also suspended all but emergency humanitarian deliveries after a string of incidents along the two countries' maritime border.

In November, North Korean forces shelled a South Korean island, Yeonpyeong, killing two marines, in one of the worst clashes since the Korean war ended without a peace treaty in 1953. The South's military was placed on its highest non-wartime alert.

Military talks aimed at defusing tensions between the two countries broke down on Wednesday, with no date set for any further meetings.
Posted by: || 02/14/2011 10:30 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Massive Population Lifts Nation's Growth
China's rise as the world's second-largest economy highlights a new postindustrial reality: Population counts as much as productivity in determining economic power.

Since the industrial revolution, that hasn't been the case. The productivity of workers in the U.S., Britain, Germany and Japan not only made those countries rich, but it also made them the world's largest economies despite having far smaller populations than China and India.

China's rapid growth over the past 30 years has pulled hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty and turned China into the world's factory floor. But China's per capita gross domestic product is still just $4,300, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is largely because of the country's population of 1.3 billion that China is moving to the top ranks of economic powers.
On Monday, it formally surpassed Japan when Japan reported its 2010 GDP.
Posted by: tipper || 02/14/2011 04:08 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  China's rapid growth over the past 30 years has pulled hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty and turned China into the world's factory floor.

Not that anyone in the Dead Stream Media or academia would acknowledge the first 30 years of communism-socialism abjectly failed in pulling hundreds of millions out of poverty. There's a lesson to be ignored.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/14/2011 7:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Communism's last gift to China is yet to be realized. The One Child policy means that China will be old before it is rich. And they might just get a diversionary war as a special added bonus.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/14/2011 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  "It is largely because of the country's population of 1.3 billion that China is moving to the top ranks of economic powers."

No, it's largely that our companies and chattering class freely gave all our technology, factories, and jobs to them and left the west as a hollow, bankrupt shell.
Posted by: Javins3089 || 02/14/2011 12:49 Comments || Top||

#4  What #3 Javins3089 said!
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/14/2011 13:05 Comments || Top||

#5  One child policy w/ a heavy emphasis on males. Many females did not make it past the ultrasound or the trip to the woods right after birth. Gonna be a lot of single males over there.
Posted by: tipover || 02/14/2011 14:08 Comments || Top||

#6  No.. because Free Trade is not Fair Trade.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/14/2011 14:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Protectionism will work this time honest....

/idiot.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/14/2011 17:49 Comments || Top||

#8  Gonna be a lot of single males over there.

Lot of single males in East Asia (and the West), too. I don't understand where journalists get this strange idea that single males in China = war. Apply this idea to males stateside (~50m unmarried out of a population of ~150m), and the absurdity emerges.

China could go to war, not because of demographics, but for the same reason that Imperial Japan and Germany previously went to war - a combination of imperial glory and territorial aggrandizement. Note that Germany's dead from WWI was 2m out of a total population of about 30m men. Did this shortage of men discourage Hitler from waging WWII?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 18:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Protectionism will work this time honest....

Weirdly enough, protectionism probably wouldn't be as negative for the US (the world's major importer) as it would be for China (the world's major exporter), given that the countries most seriously hurt by the Great Depression were the US and Germany (both export powerhouses at the time). The real problem with a knock-down drag-out trade war is that it could lead to actual war. The Great Depression has been posited as one of the causes of WWII. What countries cannot achieve via trade they might attempt to achieve via war. Given China's aggressive territorial moves despite its blistering rate of economic growth, it would be interesting (and perhaps nightmarish) to see what might happen if a wide-ranging trade war not only muzzled that growth, but resulted in a 1/3 contraction of its economy. If history has taught us anything, it's that gender gaps don't cause internal unrest - unemployed males with no income do. (Of course, if China sets up a welfare system, that might keep a lid on things).
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 19:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Having written the above, a reciprocal tariff policy might not be a bad thing. In essence, the average tariff levied by China on US goods exported to China could be levied by the US on Chinese goods exported to the US. The beauty of such a policy is that it is in no way worse than what the Chinese are doing, and the numbers are transparent to both Chinese policymakers and the Chinese public.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 19:15 Comments || Top||

#11  The official tariff is only part of the story, I suspect. The government subsidizes appliance purchases for people, but probably only for Chinese manufactured goods. It subsidizes raw material costs for _Chinese_ manufacturers... out of the massive expansion of their money supply they've undertaken in the last decade.

They have been good little mercantilists, and they've gotten a lot more out of their government interventions in their economy than we have gotten from ours, tariffs completely aside.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/14/2011 19:48 Comments || Top||

#12  If you can find a copy, read "Tuf Voyaging" it describes the china situation Perfectly.

(That's Why I LOVE REAL Science Fiction, It's really Sociology with the names changed)

It's so perfect it looks like the chinese Empire with the serial numbers filed off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/14/2011 20:33 Comments || Top||

#13  If you can find a copy, read "Tuf Voyaging" it describes the china situation Perfectly.

India has 90% of China's population and only 40% of the land. India also has a higher unemployment rate. The problem with China is that it has always been an aggressive imperialist that denies in its traditional writings that it is an aggressive imperialist. Its worldview is certainly that of an aggressive imperialist. Note that India has a higher (!) male-female sex ratio at birth than China, despite the lack of Indian compulsory population control measures, so we can look forward to an India with an even more lopsided male-female ratio than China.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 21:07 Comments || Top||

#14  The problem is one of definitions - what we consider Chinese imperialism, the Chinese considered the restoration of China's rightful place in the world. This is more or less how Muslims consider Islam to be a peaceful religion - what we consider warlike activities, they consider efforts to bring peace to the world.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 21:11 Comments || Top||

#15  what we consider warlike activities, they consider efforts to bring peace to the world.
Instead we just try to appease these jerks and surrender all our ancestors have accomplished.

I don't see China or the Muslim's looking at the other side of the coin.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/14/2011 21:33 Comments || Top||

#16  fine, I consider Manifest Destiny to carry over to the deserts of Mongolia. Who are the Chinese to oppose my vision?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/14/2011 22:00 Comments || Top||

#17  We can look forward to an India with an even more lopsided male-female ratio than China.

I wouldn't say that I'm "looking forward" to either.
Posted by: Secret Master || 02/14/2011 22:01 Comments || Top||

#18  I wouldn't say that I'm "looking forward" to either.

India's gender ratio at birth is probably influenced by (1) the practice of expensive dowries to the groom at marriage and (2) the lack of a government-organized old age pension scheme, which means that the Indian tradition of sons caring for parents in their dotage (and of daughters-in-law neglecting their parents) makes having a son an indispensable part of a comfortable retirement. The Chinese tradition of the bride price (where the bride's parents get a large payment from the groom upon marriage) actually makes daughters somewhat less of a burden on a family's finances. You've heard of a wedding ring costing a month's salary. Six months' salary for a Chinese bride price is not unheard of.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/14/2011 22:28 Comments || Top||


Economy
Why are Cities Broke? Retired San Jose Top Cop gets $1/2 Million in Cash last year
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/14/2011 10:45 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  News story
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/14/2011 11:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Each state needs to amend their constitutions to cap all retired pay for which they finance to the average income of the states' tax payers. It also becomes an incentive for the public employees to make the average tax payer's income grow if they want their pensions to grow.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/14/2011 13:48 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm okay with a reasonable pension. If I were governor here's what I'd do:

1) end all defined benefit pension plans for public employees.

2) start a defined contribution pension plan (e.g., 403b) for public employees. That requires a state contribution (e.g., 5% of base salary, excluding overtime, vacation time, sick leave) and a contribution from the employee (say 2-3%, though they can contribute more if they want).

3) cash out the defined benefit plans for future retirees at present net value, and move the funds into an IRA or the 403b plan -- employee's choice. Continue benefits for current retirees (one is stuck there).

Do all that and the problem solves itself.

Oh, not enough money in the underfunded defined benefits plan? Pro-rate the present net value downward as needed, and give the employee a mutually agreed chit for the difference to be cashed in the future.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/14/2011 15:39 Comments || Top||


Europe
Swiss Reject Ban on Keeping Army Weapons in Homes
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/14/2011 05:55 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Thai 'yellows', 'reds' rally on Bangkok streets
[Pak Daily Times] Thousands of Thais held colour-coded 'red' and 'yellow' protests in Bangkok on Sunday, underlining persistent anti-government sentiment and deep political divisions ahead of an election planned this year.

The 'red shirts' called for the release of 18 of their jugged leaders and their rival 'yellow shirts' demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's resignation over his handling of a long-running border dispute with Cambodia.

The rallies were staged ahead of an election that Abhisit says could take place in the first half of the year. On-off anti-government campaigns since 2005 by two groups with a history of, at times, violent protests point to a rocky road for Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

The two rallies also took place in defiance of the Internal Security Act (ISA) invoked last Tuesday and banning protests in main government and commercial areas. There was a heavy presence of riot police, but no attempt was made to block the demonstrators, who protested peacefully.

Last year saw some of the worst political violence in modern Thai history during a 10-week protest and sit-in in Bangkok by "red-shirts", most of whom support ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Gunmen clashed with soldiers on the streets and eventually the military crushed the protest. Ninety-one people were killed and more than 1,800 maimed.

Eighteen 'red shirt' leaders have been jugged since then and their supporters massed on Sunday outside the Criminal Court, which will make a ruling on a bail appeal on February 21.

"We are here to call for justice," 'red shirt' leader Thida Thavornseth told news hounds outside the court. "We're not planning to break into the court. We just want to show our support to all the leaders who are still in prison."

They later moved to the Democracy Monument in the city's old quarter, just over a kilometre (half a mile) from a small, two-week protest held by the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The government agreed to use the ISA following concerns the PAD might try to take over its offices. However,
The infamous However...
its support appears to be dwindling.

The PAD was once an ally of Abhisit's ruling Democrat Party but has turned against him in the past few months over what they see as his failure to act decisively, in particular over a border dispute with Cambodia.
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > THAILAND TO REJECT UN HELP AGZ CAMBODIA [territorial border clashes near ancient sacred Hindu Temple-plex].

Another headache = flashpoint for POTUS Bammer, as Cambodia desires formal UN mediation + resolution, but Thailand does NOT, the latter instead favoring UN "Notification" only + espec bilateral THAI-CAMBODIA direct talks.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/14/2011 0:43 Comments || Top||


Malaysian Muslims warned against Valentines Day
[Straits Times] AS COUPLES around the world ready for Valentine's Day, Islamic officials in Malaysia have warned Muslims against celebrating something 'synonymous with vice activities'.

The warning follows plans announced last week by several Malaysian states who are planning a crackdown on 'immoral acts' during Valentine's Day as part of a campaign to encourage a sin-free lifestyle.

'In reality, as well as historically, the celebration of Valentine's Day is synonymous with vice activities,' Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which oversees the country's Islamic policies, told state media.

'Islam would reject anything, even from the Eastern culture, if it contravenes the Islamic teachings,' he added.

Wan Mohamad said a fatwa (ruling) issued by the country's top clerics six years ago noted the day 'is associated with elements of Christianity,' and 'we just cannot get involved with other religion's worshipping rituals.' Jakim officials will carry out a nationwide 'Mind the Valentine's Day Trap' campaign, he said, aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day.

Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi, head of the Islamic party PAS's youth wing said on Wednesday that authorities in the opposition-controlled northern states of Kedah, Penang and Kelantan as well as central Selangor state will also carry out 'immorality checks' on February 14.
Posted by: Fred || 02/14/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ahh malaysia - so often it's forgotten what a rancid Islamofascist entity it is
Posted by: anon1 || 02/14/2011 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  idiot culture.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/14/2011 9:49 Comments || Top||

#3  'synonymous with vice activities'.

aka love & sex (except with a goat)
Posted by: Alan Cramer || 02/14/2011 10:20 Comments || Top||

#4  ahh malaysia - so often it's forgotten what a rancid Islamofascist entity it is

To be accurate, it's certain states within Malaysia.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/14/2011 23:36 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-02-14
  Iranian protesters rally as Arab unrest spreads
Sun 2011-02-13
  Saeed Al-Shihri, Deputy Leader of AQAP Dead in Yemen
Sat 2011-02-12
  Police in Aden disperse ‘day of rage’ protests
Fri 2011-02-11
  Mubarak resigns
Thu 2011-02-10
  Mubarak still there
Wed 2011-02-09
  Suleiman: Mubarak Forms Panel to Pilot Constitutional Changes
Tue 2011-02-08
  Egypt sees largest demonstrations since start of revolt
Mon 2011-02-07
  Egypt: beginning of discussions between government and Muslim Brotherhood
Sun 2011-02-06
  Mubarak resigns as ruling party head
Sat 2011-02-05
  U.S. envoy to Egypt: Mubarak 'must stay' for now
Fri 2011-02-04
  Egypt PM Apologizes for Tahrir Square Clashes, Vows Probe
Thu 2011-02-03
  Mubarak's snipers flee Cairo square
Wed 2011-02-02
  Chaos in Cairo as Mubarak backers, opponents clash
Tue 2011-02-01
  Student beaten to death in Khartoum clashes
Mon 2011-01-31
  Military moves to take control of parts of Cairo


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