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Lal Masjid holy man makes bail
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
and "puff" they were gone - animation of disappearing jobs
Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2009 12:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like someone nuked the blue states.
Posted by: Iblis || 04/16/2009 14:01 Comments || Top||

#2  This may be one explanation of why we got BHØ. But it doesn't seem to have helped them.
Posted by: tipover || 04/16/2009 22:15 Comments || Top||


Yankees return W. E. P. Napier books looted from Washington college.

Be sure you click on the pics to enlarge, then click again and scroll around. WOW
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2009 08:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


You don't mess with Olga the hair stylist
In what is either the weirdest Russian crime story of the year so far or a new low in yellow crime journalism,
probably both
a female hair stylist in the Kaluga region is suspected of holding an armed robber in captivity as a sex slave for two days after he unsuccessfully tried to knock over her beauty salon.

According to Life.ru, the events unfolded on the evening of March 14 as the stylist was wrapping up her shift at the salon in the Kaluga region town of Meshchovsk. The robber, a 32-year-old man identified by Life.ru as "Viktor," burst into the salon at around 5 p.m. waving a pistol and ordered all of the stylists and clients to hit the floor and toss him their money.

At this point, 28-year-old Olga, whom Life.ru describes as a "delicate" girl trained in martial arts, was apparently still standing when she offered to hand over her cash. But when Viktor tried to accept her contribution, Olga surprised him with a quick punch to the chest, knocking the wind out of him before she flipped him to the ground. Olga proceeded to tie Viktor up with a hair-dryer cord, gagged him and dragged him into a storage room.

But this feel-good moment for the good guy proved ephemeral. Things soon turned ugly, according to Life.ru. The police did not come. And after the other stylists and clients went home for the evening, Olga told Viktor to "take off his underwear" and, with apologies to John Cougar Mellencamp, let her do as she pleases, lest she call the cops, Life.ru said.

She tied him to the radiator with handcuffs covered in frilly pink fabric, gave him some Viagra and had her way with him several times over the next 48 hours. When she finally let him go on the evening of March 16, Viktor had been "squeezed like a lemon," Life.ru reported.
Posted by: Mike || 04/16/2009 06:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But did she make him wear underwear on his head? I rather suspect Mr. Viktor will decide to pursue another career path.
Posted by: trailing wife in Buffalo || 04/16/2009 9:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not sure I understand Viktor wanting to leave the situation he found himself in.

There are plenty of folks that pay big money to be tied up with a hair-dryer cord, gagged, hand-cuffed, and then humilated by a Russian woman.

Or so I've been told.
Posted by: GORT || 04/16/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "mmmmpph!!1!"
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2009 22:38 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Snakes on a Plane
Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2009 19:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Football legend John Madden to retire
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Legendary football coach and broadcaster John Madden is retiring, he announced Thursday.

"It's been such a great ride ... the NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion -- it still is," he said in a statement released by NBC Sports.

Madden, 73, was a Hall of Fame coach for the Oakland Raiders, but is best known to millions as an ebullient football commentator. He won 16 Emmy awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality, NBC said.
I see his wife on our Golf Course all the time, John's not much of a golfer. I think he prefers Bachi Ball at his restaurant in Livermore. Well done John, we've enjoyed the ride with you.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/16/2009 11:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It won't be Monday, er, Sunday night without him this fall.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2009 15:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Man, this is such a bummer... Madden's been a class act for a long time. Meanwhile, that blathering idiot Kornheiser will still be polluting the airwaves Monday nights. Ugh! Life is so not fair.

I'll never forget the time Madden was announcing some game years ago and they cut to a shot of a rainbow on the horizon following some showers. Madden of course takes his light pen and circles the rainbow--for us viewers that didn't know what one looked like, I guess!

Fortunately he finally settled down into a groove with that light pen. The first few years though he was like a 5YO with a brand-new Etch-a-Sketch!
Posted by: Dar || 04/16/2009 18:23 Comments || Top||

#3  A tribute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1v52f1TrWg
Posted by: Dar || 04/16/2009 18:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Madden's so bad, he's great. Here in SD, we have the Padre's announcer, Jerry Coleman, who's reached the same status of "We know he sucks technically, but you know what? we love him"

A classic Colemanism: "in center field, a leaping diving catch!"
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2009 22:42 Comments || Top||


CIA documents shine light on secretive Air America
No, not them. These people actually accomplished something...
DALLAS (AP) — Former naval aviator Don Boecker isn't too proud to say he was scared out of his wits on that July 1965 day in Laos when he dangled by one arm from a helicopter while enemy soldiers took aim below.

Boecker had spent the longest night of his life in the thick jungle, evading capture and certain execution while awaiting rescue. The Navy aviator had ejected after a bomb he intended to drop on the Ho Chi Minh trail exploded prematurely.

His rescuers that day, however, weren't from the American military, who couldn't be caught conducting a secret bombing campaign in Laos. They were civilian employees of Air America, an ostensibly private airline essentially owned and operated by the CIA.

Boecker, now a 71-year-old retired rear admiral, plans to tell the story on Saturday at a symposium intended to give a fuller account of an important outfit that alumni say is still misunderstood by the American public.

The University of Texas at Dallas event coincides with the CIA's release of about 10,000 previously classified Air America records, which will become part of the school library's extensive aviation collection. The CIA declassified the documents following a Freedom of Information Act request by UT-Dallas.

"These Air America documents are essential to understanding a large untold history of America's involvement in Southeast Asia," said Paul Oelkrug, a coordinator at UT-Dallas' special collections department. He said they speak to "the covert side of the Cold War." The records consist mainly of firsthand accounts of Air America missions and commendation letters from government officials, said Timothy N. Castle, a historian at the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence.

Included are accounts of the chaotic evacuation after the fall of Saigon in 1975, the investigation into a mysterious 1964 plane crash apparently caused by sabotage, and a letter from President Richard Nixon commending employees for their bravery in Laos. More documents detail the rescue of the wounded from a mountainous Air Force radar station in Laos known as Lima Site 85, where a North Vietnamese raid in 1968 killed 11 Americans. It was the largest single loss of Air Force personnel on the ground during the Vietnam War, Castle said. The survivors were rescued by Air America.

Such operations were the norm for Air America pilots, and the inspiration for the title of the symposium: "Air America: Upholding the Airmen's Bond." Between 1964-65, Air America personnel rescued 21 downed American pilots. Detailed records weren't kept after that, but "we know there were scores and scores more (rescues) through the years," Castle said. "That's the airman's bond. There is another airman who is down. Everything stops until you try to rescue them, because if it were you, you knew they would do it for you, too."

Air America's public face was that of a passenger and cargo airline that operated in sometimes dangerous places. It formed after World War II under the name Civil Air Transport, and did contract work for the Chinese Nationalists. Control of Air America eventually shifted to the CIA, which set up shell companies to disguise its true ownership. Planes kept flying scheduled passenger flights out of Taiwan, but they also began flying covert missions in Laos and South Vietnam to supply anti-communist forces. Air America also had numerous government contracts, and was involved in humanitarian work though a deal with the State Department.

One of Air America's finest — and most iconic — moments was evacuating American and Vietnamese civilians after Saigon fell in 1975. A famous photograph shows an Air America helicopter atop an apartment building as a long line of people wait to board it.

Brian K. Johnson, a former Air America helicopter pilot and past president of the Air America Association, said flight crews would race to be the first to pick up downed military personnel. These untold stories of the Vietnam War, he said, could help change Air America's image.

Johnson laments that the perception of Air America is more about heroin than heroism, due largely to the 1990 movie "Air America," starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. The film depicts the company as corrupt and its pilots as drug runners. It remains a sensitive topic among former employees. "We have done everything we can to change that perception, and I think we are getting there," Johnson said. The liberal Air America talk radio network brought new confusion, he added.

UT-Dallas was chosen by the Air America alumni group as the site of a Vietnam Wall-style plaque listing the names of the roughly 240 fallen employees.

"Most people don't even know it occurred. It was a secret society," said Boecker. "They flew in all sorts of danger ... flying every day in terrible wartime conditions. They did a beautiful job."
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 10:42 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It was designed not to cost the CIA anything, so it had to be a profit-making operation," said Leary, who has studied Air America's history. "On the other hand, it wasn't supposed to make enough money to be competition for other American airlines. So, running it was a balancing act."

Former AA President, Hugh Grundy.

Little wonder they're being outed by Barry's administration. They were highly successful, PROFITABLE and cost the taxpayers NOTHING!



Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2009 12:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Wait, that iconic helicopter in the photograph was Air America?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/16/2009 15:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, it is...

Operation FREQUENT WIND was the evacuation of Saigon as the PAVN advanced towards the city in April 1975. Air America responded to the call and initiated the largest aerial evacuation in history. The unsung heroes of the airlift were the Air America Bell UH-1 crews, who put in sterling work ferrying evacuees from around the city to either the US embassy or the Defense Attaché's Office compound. They were transporting people out to sea to awaiting aircraft carriers, refuelling on the carriers, and returning to a disintegrating Saigon.

In the period from 6 April 1975 to 30 April 1975, a total of 51,888 people were flown out of Saigon. Of these, 45,125 (87%) were flown out by Air America. On 29 and 30 April alone, 7,014 were flown out, with 5,595 (80%) evacuated by Air America. Several helicopters were lost during the evacuation due to enemy fire.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 15:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Background on the picture...

Helicopter Evacuating Crowd from Rooftop

A CIA employee (probably O.B. Harnage) helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy.
Photographer: Hubert Van Es
Date Photographed: April 29, 1975
Location Information: Saigon, South Vietnam
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 16:04 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Maghreb activists propose new marriage contract to protect women
[Maghrebia] In an ambitious plan to educate women in the Maghreb about married life, activists from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia drafted a new marriage contract that, if certified, will provide better protection for women's rights.

The idea was presented Saturday (April 11th) in Tunis at a meeting organised by the Global Rights Maghreb organisation and attended by human rights activists, members of women's organisations and legal experts. "Many women in the Maghreb region usually ignore their right to incorporate certain conditions that would protect their rights when they sign the marriage contract," said Stephanie Willman Bordat, the regional director of British NGO Global Rights. Her group operates in African, American, and Asian countries to help non-governmental organisations get the necessary legal tools to address pressing human issues, including gender equality.

The draft contract is the result of a year-long study in which more than 1400 women from different backgrounds participated. More than 70 associations and 177 lawyers contributed to the study.

The findings were alarming. "Women are suffering from complete ignorance of their rights upon signing the marriage contract," said Moroccan legal expert Saida Kouzzi.

Although the law granted women the right to add certain demands in a marriage contract, "women still consider it is inappropriate, if not disgraceful, to impose conditions on their husbands," she said. "Cultural and social reasons still control our habits and customs. Women still believe that daring to take such a step would reduce their chances in marriage."

Moreover, the study showed that some women "looked at the marriage contract as a way to have a legal sexual relationship, or, in other words, to protect the right of their children to care and inheritance and to protect their rights upon divorce," said Tunisian Amel Ellafi, who supervised a discussion workshop for women.

The draft marriage contract includes 18 articles, including guarantees against polygamy, the wife's right to work and continue her education, guarantees against domestic violence and insurance of the freedom of movement and travel. And, to raise women's awareness of their rights and present the new draft contract to Maghreb society, participants in the meeting launched a comprehensive educational campaign. The co-ordinated effort will help exert pressure on legislative and judicial authorities to accept the contract and enable civil society organisations and authorities to defend it. "This initiative is aimed at making people who are about to get married shoulder the responsibility, allow them to know and preserve the rights and duties, and behave rationally and realistically to avoid the consequences of passionate love in the face of everyday life details," said Tunisian lawyer Saida Guarrach, who participated in drafting the contract.

"It will enable women to get acquainted with the existing legislation in their countries, and how to take advantage of the positive laws thereof by imposing them as conditions included in the marriage contract," added Bordat of British Global Rights.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Translate the ketubah to Arabic.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 04/16/2009 21:23 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Hazari sent to jail in money laundering case
[Bangla Daily Star] Joynal Hazari, former Awami League lawmaker was sent to jail yesterday after he surrendered before the court in a money laundering case, filed by the Anti Corruption Commission.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Internal conflict holds back BNP reorganisation
[Bangla Daily Star] The process of reorganising the main opposition BNP is being greatly obstructed by serious intra-party conflicts between ŽreformistŽ camp, and leaders who have been convicted and are known as corrupt among the party men.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
RN Moves To Portsmouth
The Royal Navy dockyard at Plymouth is to have all of its frigate warships transferred to Portsmouth, Ministry of Defence sources have told the BBC.

Portsmouth is set to become the home of almost all the Navy's warships. Portsmouth had been expected to lose out to Plymouth as part of an MoD review to cut over-capacity and costs.

An MoD source said it "makes sense" to have all the Navy's frigates and destroyers in Portsmouth, as the city was home to the fleet headquarters.

The review, which began in 2006, looked at the three UK Navy bases in Plymouth, Portsmouth and Faslane.

BBC South has learned of the decision ahead of an official announcement by the MoD, expected in the next few weeks. At present Portsmouth is home to the Navy's two operational aircraft carriers, six frigates and seven destroyers.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now let me see ... all ships in one port. Hmm, hasn't the RN heard of Tranto and Pearl Harbor?
Posted by: JimK || 04/16/2009 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmm, hasn't the RN heard of Taranto and Pearl Harbor?

Wouldn't make any difference since the decision is made by pols and bureaucrats who's history line starts with their adolescent self awareness. Real history isn't important to these people till it bites them hard and deep in their assets.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2009 10:08 Comments || Top||


Pakistani woman guilty of imprisoning daughters-in-law in Britain
A 63-year-old woman was convicted on Tuesday of falsely imprisoning her three daughters-in-law, who moved from Pakistan with hopes of a happy life in England but were treated like "slaves and dogs". Prosecutors said Naseeba Bibi would not let the women leave the family home in Blackburn, northwest England, and made one of them work on an industrial sewing machine day and night between 1993 and 2006.

The women were brought to Britain following arranged marriages to Bibi's three sons in Pakistan, but the court heard they were subjected to beatings and abuse from their mother-in-law after they arrived. "They were treated like children, slaves or dogs by a regime of threats of force or actual force," said prosecutor Philip Boyd during the trial.

In a police statement, Nagina Akhtar, who married Bibi's son Fahim and was held in the house in Blackburn for 13 years, said: "Bibi struck me with a brush handle and slapped me across the face whenever I disobeyed her orders."

Nagina's sisters, Nisbah and Tazeem -- who like their sibling did not speak English -- told the court their lives were "made hell". Tazeem was held between 2001 and 2003, when she was left behind when the family went to a wedding in Pakistan. Nisbah was held from 2005 and 2007, only escaping when Bibi was distracted.

Nisbah's husband, Nadeem Akhtar, told police he had wanted no part of the arranged marriage, as he already had a white partner in Blackburn. He was cleared of one count of falsely imprisoning his wife Nisbah but the jury continues to deliberate on an allegation that he assaulted his wife. Bibi denied assaulting any of her daughters-in-law, or imprisoning them. She is due to be sentenced on May 29.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The sons did nothing and said nothing? Then they passively abetted Mama's actions.
Posted by: trailing wife in Buffalo || 04/16/2009 9:20 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia captures top drug lord "Don Mario"
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian police captured the country's most wanted drug lord on Wednesday, a former right-wing paramilitary who once offered his gunmen a $1,000 (667 pounds) reward for each policeman they killed. Daniel Rendon Herrera, 43, alias "Don Mario," was found alone, eating rice out his hands, hiding under a palm tree in the jungles of northern Antioquia province, Defence Minster Juan Manuel Santos said.

When he was surrounded, the once-feared cocaine baron was living "virtually like a dog, curled up and clinging to that palm tree, where he had been for two days," Santos told reporters. The portly and bearded captive had his hands bound in front of him as he got off a plane in Bogota. In a blue and brown T-shirt and loose fitting gray pants, he looked sombre and dishevelled as he was driven off to jail in an armoured car.

Rendon Herrera is accused of shipping about 100 tonnes of the drug from Colombia's Caribbean coast to the United States. Santos said he is also responsible for at least 3,000 murders. Colombia had offered a $2 million reward for information leading to the capture of Rendon Herrera, who is also wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.

Santos said informants were a key part of the nine-month operation in which police patiently penetrated the rings of security, consisting of scores of armed thugs, that once protected the fugitive. As Rendon Herrera started to feel the pressure earlier this year, he offered his gunmen $1,000 for every officer they killed.

The government hailed Rendon Herrera's capture as a victory for law and order, but experts said Colombia's thriving cocaine trade is unlikely to be disrupted for long. "Don Mario was the most important drug trafficker out there, but someone will take his place very quickly and it will be business as usual," said security analyst Pablo Casas. "His organisation is as well structured as any company, where the CEO can be replaced at any time," Casas said.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Obama: Latin America on equal footing with U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A day before embarking on a trip to Latin America, President Obama described his planned talks with Latin American leaders as discussions among equals.

"Times have changed," Obama told CNN en Español Wednesday. Referring to his planned meeting later this week with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, he said, "My relationship with President Lula is one of two leaders who both have big countries, that we are trying to solve problems and create opportunities for our people and we should be partners.

"There's no senior partner or junior partner."

Obama refused to criticize the leaders of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, who have taken measures to change their constitutions to extend their holds on power. "I think it's important for the United States not to tell other countries how to structure their democratic practices and what should be contained in their constitutions," he said. "It's up to the people of those countries to make a decision about how they want to structure their affairs."
What if they're not democratic? Will you criticize them then?
Asked how he plans to interact with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States who once described former President George Bush as the devil, Obama offered no criticism. "Look, he's the leader of his country and he'll be one of many people that I will have an opportunity to meet."
Clueless.
Though he said he believes the United States has a leadership role to play in the region, Obama qualified that role, saying, "We also recognize that other countries have important contributions and insights. We want to listen and learn as well as talk, and that approach, I think, of mutual respect and finding common interests, is one that ultimately will serve everybody."

Asked about Cuba, Obama, who recently eased restrictions on travel and sending money to the island, offered a prod and a carrot to Havana. "What we're looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates that assures that political prisoners are released, that people can speak their minds freely, that they can travel, that they can write and attend church and do the things that people throughout the hemisphere can do and take for granted," he said. "And if there is some sense of movement on those fronts in Cuba, then I think we can see a further thawing of relations and further changes."
Yet you changed our policy on money and travel without getting anything in return. Why should Fidel and Raul release political prisoners? They're getting what they want without doing so.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Obama: Latin America on equal footing with U.S.---(after I finish with USA economy)".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2009 3:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Yup, transnationalist to the core. If there's a course of action that benefits 20,000 Americans or 20,001 Bolivians, Obama will make the second choice every time.
Posted by: gromky || 04/16/2009 4:21 Comments || Top||

#3  You be wantin' change. You be gettin' it.

Three down and forty-five to go™
(months, that is)
Hat tip to Edd for the slogan.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/16/2009 6:21 Comments || Top||

#4  "What we're looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates that assures that political prisoners are released,

Not seen anything in the last 50 years, but what the hell right.

Quite frankly I've never really understood the isolation of Cuba and the shameless, arss licking of communist China, but that's just me.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2009 8:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Quite frankly I've never really understood the isolation of Cuba and the shameless, arss licking of communist China, but that's just me.

Cuba doesn't have the dosh to properly bribe the Democratic party. Obama intends to change that.
Posted by: ed || 04/16/2009 8:42 Comments || Top||

#6  "There's no senior partner or junior partner."

I'm sure you'll discuss the human wave of unemployed illegal Americans crossing into their nations taking jobs and depressing wages. Cause, you know we're so equal.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2009 8:48 Comments || Top||

#7  What if they're not democratic? Will you criticize them then?

He'll ask for pointers.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/16/2009 10:03 Comments || Top||

#8  The biggest difference between America and every part of the Americas south of it, is that they suffer from "Old Europe disease". That is, for them, wealth is not enjoyable unless everyone else lives in poverty. Food does not taste good unless others go hungry.

In America, Bill Gates has been responsible for tens of thousands of Americans becoming millionaires. But equally wealthy Carlos Slim in Mexico has only a few wealthy friends. Everyone else who works for him does so for minimum wage.

In turn, by being so determined to keep all their wealth, and deny wealth to others, they create the radical populist opposition. People like Chavez who crave to tear down the wealthy and redistribute their wealth.

But, of course, as soon as Chavez gets power, he also gets the disease, craving personal enrichment while keeping down the miserable peasants. Because unless they remain poor, his Champagne and caviar lose their flavor.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/16/2009 10:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Of course, Lula and Chavez will have no compunctions about lecturing Obama.
Posted by: DoDo || 04/16/2009 11:04 Comments || Top||

#10  He'll have no hesitation about taking their advice, either.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 13:55 Comments || Top||

#11  He's right... we're pretty much a banana republic now.
Posted by: Elmusong the Great3901 || 04/16/2009 14:09 Comments || Top||

#12  Yeah, he'll probably come back wanting some sashes and sprockets. All them cool despots got some, why not me?
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 14:28 Comments || Top||

#13  Hi, Fred! How ya' doing?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/16/2009 15:38 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Deploys the Black Sea Fleet
Russia has sent an official notification to NATO's general secretary, Hoop Scheffer, proposing that "all upcoming military exercises planned in Georgia should be postponed or canceled."

The Black Sea Fleet has now deployed all 22 ships, which is getting some attention in the region because regional news reports have noted the Russian military exercises taking place in the Caucasus since the political turmoil and protests began last week in Georgia. There has been a lot of discussion over the past several days, mostly unverified hearsay and internet chatter, of movement of Russian troops towards the Russian-Georgian border and into Abkhazia as part of those exercises. Those rumors were confirmed today when an EU monitor told Reuters "it had registered Russian reinforcements at the boundaries between Georgian-controlled territory and South Ossetia and Abkhazia."

A confidential assessment compiled by EU diplomats in Georgia and seen by Reuters said the Russian reinforcements included tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and "Grad" multiple-rocket launchers.

"Thus the situation at the ABL (administrative boundary line) remains in flux and volatile as Russian/South Ossetian forces continue to establish new facts on the ground," said the the assessment, dated April 13.

This afternoon, the Eurasia Daily Monitor also noted the chatter in the region, and weighed in on the unfolding events.

It is important that the Russian military acknowledges its mobilization and forward deployment of troops and ships. At present, it is impossible to know precisely how many additional army units have been moved within striking distance of Georgian territory. However, the composition of the naval force that disembarked from Sevastopol is not secret, since the Ukrainian authorities must be informed. It seems to be larger than the force that was deployed against Georgia last August. Four large amphibious landing craft left Sevastopol last week, while in August 2008 only two were reportedly deployed to insert a regiment of marines into Abkhazia in the small port of Ochamchira, close to the border with Georgia (Vlast, August 18). The marines were later deployed in the invasion of Western Georgia.

The report goes on to note:

After the war, Georgia disbanded its navy, handing over its surviving ships to the local coast guard. The Russian naval flotilla lead by "Moskva" will not find any opposition at sea, but the deployment of a large amphibious force formed of thousands of marines armed with heavy weapons on board is a threatening sight. The low capacity narrow roads leading from Russia into Georgia (one into Abkhazia and another leading into South Ossetia) create immense logistical problems in rapidly deploying large military contingents into Georgia if Moscow opts for a "humanitarian intervention" to bring about "regime change." The insertion of a sizable marine force with heavy weapons was used last August to bypass the clogged up overland routes and this could prove important again. The Russian military knew beforehand the exact timing of its pre-arranged invasion and fully controlled the pre-war armed provocations by the South Ossetian forces, whereas in the present crisis the situation is much more volatile.

The Jamestown Foundation's Pavel Felgenhauer has a fantastic record when it comes to observing military activity in that region. Just prior to the breakout of hostilities last year, he wrote an article regarding the Russian railroad troops that had completed to connect Russia with Abkhazia. These railroads were used within 10 days of his article to supply the Russian military forces that moved into that territory, thus removing Georgian rule. Last month he noted that with spring melting the snow and ice that prohibits any military activity between Russia and Georgia, Russia's political influence into Georgia was sure to follow. He was right.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2009 20:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
PLA Navy admiral: China to develop sophisticated marine weapon systems
Large surface combat ships, supersonic cruise aircraft, high-speed intelligent torpedoes ... These are a few sophisticated marine weapons China plans to build.

"The Navy will move faster in researching and building new-generation weapons to boost the ability to fight in regional sea wars under the circumstance of information technology," Navy Commander Admiral Wu Shengli told Xinhua in an exclusive interview-- one week ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.

In addition to ships, aircraft and torpedoes, long-range missiles with high accuracy, submarines with superb invisibility and endurance and electronic weapons and facilities are also on the Navy's agenda. He said the Navy would have more equipment for offshore repair, high-seas dispatch, large-scale rescue and supply among others.

According to Wu, the Navy will incorporate the capacity for non-war military actions to the integrated construction of the army's power, especially emergency offshore search and rescue and anti-terrorism activities.

Since 2003, President Hu Jintao has repeatedly inspected the country's Navy and made suggestions on its construction. "The navy force should be strengthened and modernized under the guidance of the Deng Xiaoping Theory and the 'Three Represents' to serve the country and its people more effectively," said Hu when meeting with representatives of the navy's 10th Party congress on Dec. 27, 2006.

China has huge strategic benefits in sea areas and current threats to our country's security come mostly from the seas, said Hu, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission. He urged the Navy to achieve sound and fast development and enhance the defensive operations with information technology.

Admiral Wu Shengli said regrouping the army system, optimizing army structure and distribution in battlefields were among the issues for more discussion during the new round of the Navy construction.

In 2009, the Chinese Navy would continue its missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast to protect merchant vessels against spreading piracy. The Gulf of Aden is one of the world's busiest shipping routes, in which about 1,000 Chinese vessels pass through each year.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 10:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Large surface combat ships, supersonic cruise aircraft, high-speed intelligent torpedoes

Obviously, the PLAN is building out its coastal navy capabilities and has no interest in near peer conflict with some other naval power. This will, however, put the fear of God (or Mao) into those danged pirates.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/16/2009 12:03 Comments || Top||


Economy
China spending its hoard of $ on commodities
"China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. The Chinese [States Reserves Bureau has been] buying raw materials because it is a much better way to use their $1.9 trillion of reserves. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure for 50 years." The beauty of recycling China's surplus into metals instead of US bonds is that it kills so many birds with one stone: it stops the yuan rising, without provoking complaints of currency manipulation by Washington; metals are easily stored in warehouses, unlike oil; the holdings are likely to rise in value over time since the earth's crust is gradually depleting its accessible ores. Above all, such a policy safeguards China's industrial revolution, while the West may one day face a supply crisis.
If I had a trillion or so $ laying around, I'd probably do the same thing. I sure wouldn't buy stocks or bonds.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  China can edge out anyone when it comes to a competition. We should watch and learn.
Posted by: GirlThursday || 04/16/2009 4:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, let them eat copper.
Posted by: rammer || 04/16/2009 6:49 Comments || Top||

#3  It's not a case of learning, GT. It's a case of national and social will.

And when you have a big stockpile of critical commodities laid in before massive inflation hits the world (and especially the US) economy, plenty of people will line up to sell you food.
Posted by: lotp || 04/16/2009 6:53 Comments || Top||

#4  And when you have a big stockpile of critical commodities laid....

You are prepared to enter into conflict or go to war without immediate concern for sanctions or blockades.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2009 8:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Why hold a depreciating asset ($) whose underlying value is the paper it is printed on?

Btw, China has overtaken the US as the world's largest car market, yet their import duty is 25% (reduced to 25% for WTO entry) even though they are the world's low cost producer. In the US, import duties are 2% and the 3 domestic manufacturers are going bankrupt with more than a million jobs lost to imports. Just one data point out of thousands.
Posted by: ed || 04/16/2009 8:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes, let them eat copper.

Without copper and steel and oil, all we have to grow food in is The Dust Bowl.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/16/2009 9:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Smart.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2009 11:40 Comments || Top||


Chrysler-Fiat talks intensify, Saturn deal eyed
Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne turned up the heat on talks with struggling U.S. automaker Chrysler on Wednesday as General Motors Corp confirmed a possible taker for its Saturn network.

An investor group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC and some Saturn dealers has approached GM about buying the assets of the Saturn brand and distribution network.

In late March, the U.S. auto task force rejected the turnaround plans of Chrysler and GM, telling Chrysler it had until April 30 to cement the alliance with Fiat and reach deals to cut its labor costs and debt. GM was given until the end of May to make much deeper cuts and make them far quicker than the automaker had envisioned if it wants to hold the $13.4 billion of U.S. government emergency loans it received and additional support.

Marchionne said he saw no reason why Fiat and Chrysler could not complete a proposed alliance by the end of April, a target set by the U.S. auto task force that must decide whether to provide more government aid to the Detroit automaker. "I intend to reach a good conclusion," Marchionne told reporters at a news conference in Zurich, adding that Fiat has other options as well.

Marchionne, in an interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper published on Wednesday, said a deal on the partnership had only a 50-50 chance of succeeding because of lack of progress in talks between Chrysler and union leaders. The Canadian Auto Workers union said on Wednesday that it plans to resume talks with Chrysler on Monday that have been stalled since the beginning of April. Those talks are crucial to Chrysler completing an alliance with Fiat.

Chrysler has until the end of April to forge an alliance with Fiat to qualify for long-term U.S. and Canadian government aid. The deal hinges on Chrysler securing concessions from its unions in Canada and the United States as well as an agreement with those who hold Chrysler's first-lien loans.

SATURN TAKER?
GM confirmed discussions with the investor group on Saturn and said that it had been in talks with others on the sales of the distribution network and other automakers about supplying vehicles to Saturn. It plans to update Saturn dealers on the progress of the spinoff this week or next week.

The group proposes to turn Saturn and its 440 existing U.S. and Canadian dealerships into a diversified distributorship that would start by sourcing vehicles from GM and eventually offer those from other automakers. GM has proposed to move forward with its Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brands in North America, either spinning off or closing Saturn along the way with 2011 as the last model year for the brand.

Separately, railroad operator CSX Corp, a major vehicle hauler in the United States, hopes for special vendor status if GM or Chrysler is forced into bankruptcy. "If any of the automakers go bankrupt, then we are hopeful that we'll get critical vendor status," CEO Michael Ward told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Left Wing Reporter from Left Wing CNN shows her Left Wing A$$
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/16/2009 10:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What does the term "truth in advertising" means to you GolfBravoUSMC?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2009 11:36 Comments || Top||

#2  During the segment she (Susan Rosgen) also stated that the anti-tax Tea Parties are anti-government, anti-CNN and "highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network, Fox."[4]. She alleged that there were no African Americans at the protest and that the coverage was, "not really family viewing"

Didn't take long for the race card to be flipped. Pelosi flipped it again yesterday when she said tea party goers were "Astroturf" or the wealthiest Americans.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2009 11:50 Comments || Top||

#3  G:
I came up with my headline after carefully reviewing the CNN segment using my "White-bread", "AstroTurf" "Fox News watching", "Right Wing Extremist eyes. Perhaps I jumped to my conclusion without properly considering Ms. Rosgen's dedication to professionalism. /sarc
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/16/2009 12:41 Comments || Top||

#4  CNN is not a news outlet.
Posted by: newc || 04/16/2009 12:41 Comments || Top||

#5  CNN is to news outlets as my toilet is to food outlets, same output.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/16/2009 12:46 Comments || Top||

#6  ...like the French ruling class averting their eyes from the citizenry during a major financial crisis in 1789. None of the usual drivel of trying to 'understand' or 'why to they hate us' meme. They admit by their narrative they haven't read Sun Tzu's admonitions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2009 12:56 Comments || Top||

#7  The way to deal with these people is when they come up, tell them "Sorry, I only talk with human journalists. You don't qualify."
Posted by: Silentbrick || 04/16/2009 13:03 Comments || Top||

#8  I freely admit to being anti-CNN, dissembling cork-soakers that they are.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/16/2009 13:05 Comments || Top||

#9  And...I guarantee she is totally oblivious. The religious, leftist-zealots are guilty of the very thing they accuse the right-wing.
Posted by: anymouse || 04/16/2009 13:13 Comments || Top||

#10  LoL@ Lefty Zealot Reporter. She cut him off in the middle of his first point to argue lefty talking points with him.
Posted by: Mike N. || 04/16/2009 16:59 Comments || Top||

#11  The MSM such as the local channel 9 along with the Denver Post coverage here in Denver was much the same as the CNN crap.
Wonderful hearing our voices out in the open. The joke mostly was that we didn't know how to attend a protest, we were too inexperienced compared to the left leaning types that protest everything and are real pros.
These blantant lies being promoted as news, all I can say is that they need to be held accountable, and possibly fined for the damage they do to the truth.

Jan at library, modem broken ;(
Posted by: Chunky Thineting4486 || 04/16/2009 17:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Stay classy CNN!
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/16/2009 18:02 Comments || Top||

#13  I think the title was spot on. I'm not sure what the "truth in advertising" remark is about.
Posted by: Jefferson || 04/16/2009 18:16 Comments || Top||

#14  The same woman propagandist that equated Bush with Hitler and the devil. The woman ought to be prosecuted for impersonating a reporter.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/16/2009 18:16 Comments || Top||

#15  Hell, John - she ought to be prosecuted for impersonating a human.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/16/2009 18:51 Comments || Top||


Partial Tea Party Attendance Report
230 reports in. 441,639 in attendance. State by state list at link. Source website cited for city by city data.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 04/16/2009 11:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There are a lot of gaps. Detroit is not listed, except for Troy, but Thousands rally at Metro area 'Tea Parties'
Posted by: ed || 04/16/2009 11:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Ed: my local micro-metropolis, State College, didn't get listed for Pennsylvania, either - I'd guess somewhere slightly north of 200 for that one. This is probably just a sampling.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/16/2009 15:31 Comments || Top||

#3  There were at least 700 Tea Parties and with just 230 being counted so far -- that number is about to get huge!
Posted by: Sherry || 04/16/2009 15:50 Comments || Top||


Perry fires up anti-tax crowd
Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"

An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall -- one of three tea parties he was attending across the state -- that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

Perry repeated his running theme that Texas' economy is in relatively good shape compared with other states and with the "federal budget mess." Many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package.

Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that. "There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

Perry is running for re-election against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a fellow Republican. His anti-Washington remarks have become more strident the past few weeks as that 2010 race gets going and since Perry rejected $550 million in federal economic stimulus money slated to help Texas' unemployment trust fund.

Perry said the stimulus money would come with strings attached that would leave Texas paying the bill once the federal money ran out.

He said he believes he could be at the center of a national movement that is coordinated and focused in its opposition to the actions of the federal government.

"It's a very organic thing," he said. "It is a very powerful moment, I think, in American history."

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, also Republicans, have been outspoken against the federal economic stimulus spending and were supportive of tea parties in their states.

The protests, organized throughout the country by conservative groups and talk show hosts, were held on the federal income tax deadline day to imitate the original Boston Tea Party of American revolutionary times.

Conservative syndicated talk show host Glen Beck broadcast live in San Antonio from outside the Alamo, a legendary symbol of Texas independence, with crowds packing the small plaza. Many waved signs or carried little yellow flags that read, "Don't tread on me." A local barbecue chain gave away free cups of iced tea.

Mike Smart, a 51-year-old oil field worker from West Texas, held up a white handwritten sign that said, "I'll keep my freedom, my $ and my guns. You keep the change."

"I just want the government to stay out of my way. I won't get in their way if they don't get in mine," said Smart, who described himself as conservative but not a Republican.

Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bravo. Interesting to see someone as mainstream as Perry invoke the idea of secession. Even more interesting the policial ground he seems to be attempting to stake out.
Posted by: AzCat || 04/16/2009 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Goodhair talks a good game but it is pure demogoguery, designed to mollify the "little people" for whom he can scarcely disguise his contempt when he thinks the media aren't around. He is strictly a big business Republican and has proven it over and over. He took office on a promise to hold down property taxes. He did but only for business, residential rates continued to rise exponentially until the bubble burst last year. He pushed through the mandatory HPV vaccination (the "slut shot")which would have brought millions to the pharmaceutical companies with whom he is notably cozy. He is the leading proponent of the Trans-Texas corridor, which would be the largest eminent domain seizure in US history and which would be built and run by a Spanish company. How's that for limited government?
He is not the "common man." He is a redneck aristocrat and has all the arrogance of that class and then some. He was videotaped browbeating a state trooper who dared to stop his unmarked Suburban and issue his driver a warning, or start to, before the governor jumped out and intervened. He held up funding for the state's junior college system because the junior college board neglected to meet with him personally and pay homage, thereby bruising his ego.

Next year's election will really be decided in the primary, since the Texas Democrat party is a wholly owned subsidiary of ACORN and everyone knows it.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 04/16/2009 6:43 Comments || Top||

#3  He let it be known that he wanted to talk at the San Antonio Tea Party, but we turned him down flat. It was one of our early rules - no politicians as speakers.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 04/16/2009 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Damn him for requiring the HPV shot! I mean who wants to prevent cervical cancer! Slut shot?! Is there a retard shot? My biggest problem with Texas is all of the creationist horse-shit that has been going around. There's your retard shot right there.
Posted by: Flineter Hapsburg6785 || 04/16/2009 13:12 Comments || Top||

#5  "Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, ..."

yeah, so how'd that work out for you the last time around....?

Posted by: Yankee Redneck || 04/16/2009 14:12 Comments || Top||

#6  One word Yankee: Pantex.
Posted by: ed || 04/16/2009 15:15 Comments || Top||

#7  There were three guys waving full-size "Don't Tread on Me" flags at the State College, PA rally. One of them whapped me in the face with his, although he was good enough to apologize for having done so.

If the Texicans were serious about secession, they'd be waving the state flag, not the "Don't Tread on Me" & the Stars & Stripes.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/16/2009 16:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Texas is the only state I've ever been to where I've noticed the state flag flying all by itself. Great big Lone Star flags on giant poles.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2009 16:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Y'all seem to forget Texas HAS THE RIGHT TO SECEED, as Texas was an independent Nation before Statehood. (And the USA can't do shit about it.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/16/2009 17:23 Comments || Top||

#10  Y'all seem to forget Texas HAS THE RIGHT TO SECEED, as Texas was an independent Nation before Statehood. (And the USA can't do shit about it.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/16/2009 17:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Not quite, RJ. Texas has the right to devide into at least 3 states but the Civil War ended any chance of Texas seceeding.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/16/2009 18:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Millions to vote as India goes to polls
[Bangla Daily Star] Capping weeks of an acrimonious campaign, India heads for the first phase of staggered parliamentary elections tomorrow amidst indications of yet another fractured mandate and coalition government.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
Muslim organization issues fatwa on ringtones
[Al Arabiya Latest] Clerics from a Muslim organization in the north Indian city of Kanpur have issued a fatwa (religious decree) against people using verses from the Quran as ringtones on their mobile phones.

" If the phone rings and an aayat can be heard in the toilet, it is a sin,"
Senior cleric Ghyasuddin
A panel of clerics from Jamia Asharaf-ul-Madaris objected to the use of aayats (verses from the Quran) as ringtones, arguing that people answer calls midway, leaving the verse incomplete.

The panel also disapproved of people who put their phone on vibrate during prayer services and denounced the use of phones while in the bathroom.

If the phone rings and an aayat can be heard in the toilet, it is a sin," Ghyasuddin, a senior cleric with the Islamic group, told the Press Association.

Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about a Michael Jackson song?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2009 18:32 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Iranian scientists claim they have cloned a goat
Their eqivalent of Japanese girl robots...
ISFAHAN, Iran – Iranian scientists have cloned a goat and plan future experiments they hope will lead to a treatment for stroke patients, the leader of the research said Wednesday. The female goat, named Hana, was born early Wednesday in the city of Isfahan in central Iran, said Dr. Mohammed Hossein Nasr e Isfahani, head of the Royan Research Institute. "With the birth of Hana, Iran is among five countries in the world cloning a baby goat," said Isfahani, an embryologist.
Oooooh, Hana, you temptress you...
In 2006 Iran became the first country in the Middle East to announce it had cloned a sheep. Two and a half years later, that animal is healthy, the institute said. The cloning of sheep and other animals could lead to advances in medical research, including using cloned animals to produce human antibodies against diseases, Isfahani said.
Yeah...ummmmmmm...for "antibodies" and...stuff.
He said his institute's main aim in cloning the goat is to produce medicine to be used to treat people who have had strokes.
Yeah. "Medicine"! That's the ticket! Uh-huh...you silky haired minx.
Iran's cloning program has won backing from Shiite Muslim religious leaders, who have issued decrees authorizing animal cloning but banning human reproductive cloning. A majority of Iran's nearly 70 million people are Shiite Muslims.
...and now they can all have girlfriends.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/16/2009 09:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Their eqivalent of Japanese girl robots...


Too bad mods aren't eligible for the 'Snark of the Week' award, that one is a sure winner!
Posted by: Steve White || 04/16/2009 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Why's the goat looks like the researcher?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2009 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  The true connoisseur goes for camel.
Posted by: ed || 04/16/2009 11:41 Comments || Top||

#4  "The true connoisseur goes for camel"

Sorry Ed, they're 'for the masses'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/16/2009 14:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Hello, Dolly!
Posted by: Perfesser || 04/16/2009 14:45 Comments || Top||


Reinventing the Wheel - Military Apps?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  cool!
Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2009 1:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder if that would be good for maneuvering through tight urban streets, or maybe even for getting out of mud pits.
Posted by: Jonathan || 04/16/2009 7:31 Comments || Top||

#3  This would greatly assist parallel parking.
Posted by: Kofi Flomotch5556 || 04/16/2009 9:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thailand: Hunt for 10 protest leaders
[Straits Times] POLICE hunted on Wednesday for 10 leaders of an anti-government movement after combat troops quashed violent demonstrations in Thailand's capital. An arrest warrant also was out for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

A day after red-shirted protesters burned buses and seized intersections in clashes with police, soldiers and residents that left two people dead and 123 injured, their leaders called it quits and urged the remaining 2,000 die-hard demonstrators to go home. The swift and unexpected resolution headed off the possibility of a confrontation with heavily armed troops massing around the demonstrators' encampment near the seat of government. Dispirited protesters quietly boarded government buses watched over by soldiers.

But few expected it was the end of a rural-based movement that has shown the ability to mobilize 100,000 protesters and derail a weekend regional summit in its campaign to oust a government dominated by urbanites and to force new elections.

Charnvit Kasetsiri, a prominent Thai historian, said the 'political convulsion' may be over for now, but the underlying tensions between the rural poor and urban elite highlighted during the demonstrations remain. 'The government has underestimated the wrath of rural and marginalised people and that is partly why they have not made enough effort to reach out to heal the rift. Without addressing that, this is not going to be the last riot,' he said.

But at least for the time being, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, an Oxford-educated politician whom many regarded as too soft to handle crises, appears to have gained in stature while many Thais are denouncing Thaksin for inciting his followers to lawlessless by calls for a 'revolution.'

Three of the protest leaders were in police custody, metropolitan police spokesman Suporn Pansua said, and the Bangkok Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for 11 others, including Thaksin, who fled into exile last year before a court convicted him of violating a conflict-of-interest law.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


MŽsiaŽs Wong wonŽt quit
[Straits Times] A MALAYSIAN opposition lawmaker embroiled in a scandal over leaked photos of her sleeping partially naked reversed her decision to leave politics on Wednesday.

The opposition People's Justice Party had urged Elizabeth Wong, 37, to keep her seat in the central Selangor state legislature following her return from an extended leave after photos of her sleeping at home surfaced on the Internet in February.

Wong had previously offered to resign, saying she wanted to avoid a political mess for her party even though she insisted she hadn't done anything wrong.

On Wednesday, she announced she would keep her post, adding that her 'only wish is to serve my constituents and the state to the best of my abilities.'

'I have been stripped bare publicly - both figuratively and literally - by force and against my will,' Wong said in a statement. She stressed that if she 'chose to retreat into silence, (it) would in turn indirectly affect women, especially women politicians.'

News reports have said the photos were believed to have been taken by her ex-boyfriend without her knowledge last year. Police are searching for the man, who has allegedly left Malaysia since the scandal broke.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Thai govt revokes ToxinŽs passport
[Bangla Daily Star] Thailand's government has revoked the personal passport of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra following several days of demonstrations that paralysed Bangkok, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the passport was revoked on Sunday when a national state of emergency was declared in the face of protests led by Thaksin supporters who wish to unseat the current prime minister.

On Tuesday, a Thai court issued arrest warrants for Thaksin and 13 other protest leaders.

The government had already revoked the former leader's diplomatic passport.

The state of emergency continued yesterday with soldiers continuing to patrol key intersections in the subdued streets of the capital a day after the violent demonstrations came to an abrupt end.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
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trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2009-04-16
  Lal Masjid holy man makes bail
Wed 2009-04-15
  Pak police told to give Talibs a free hand
Tue 2009-04-14
  Zardari officially surrenders Swat
Mon 2009-04-13
  Somali insurgents fire mortars at U.S. congressman
Sun 2009-04-12
  Breaking: Captain Phillips Freed
Sat 2009-04-11
  Holbrooke reaches out to Hekmatyar
Fri 2009-04-10
  French attack Somali pirates, free captured yacht
Thu 2009-04-09
  500 killed in Lanka fighting
Wed 2009-04-08
  Somali pirates seize ship with 21 Americans onboard
Tue 2009-04-07
  B.O. makes surprise visit to Iraq
Mon 2009-04-06
  Today's Pakaboom: 22 dead in Chakwal mosque
Sun 2009-04-05
  North Korea space launch 'fails'
Sat 2009-04-04
  Six dead in Islamabad Pakaboom
Fri 2009-04-03
  Air strike kills 20 Talibs in Helmand
Thu 2009-04-02
  Ax-wielding Paleo kills 13-year-old Israeli boy

Better than the average link...



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