tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66893227752186532622024-02-19T02:48:32.723-08:00lovematters - Man About TownLinks to newspapers around the world, news items not covered by worldwide news media and great shopping.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-68008796608045681832012-06-19T09:16:00.000-07:002012-06-19T19:52:52.571-07:00The Amazing Expanding Australian Whorehouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Camperdown, Australia</b> <br /><br />
<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802357993&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DiQOlYS7Yc9iSay9QttwTy1innm1GdLJtPsqQ8SvlD9EGE0Y8AYTxtgkhPL0-KPG59hutTFkSEkqy6-uMfVzXelJ1vKNU_jMRbYd_bKKCnOG524MXorf_QzJgbCWek5IQZ0ofCGscaZP/s400/australian-rules-movie-poster.jpg" title="Australian Rules - Movie Poster Shop" width="150" /></a>
<br />
The big whorehouse in this Sydney suburb is getting bigger but amazingly the whores will have to figure out how to have sex with one half of a customer.<br />
<br />
They wanted to be allowed threesomes but the new rules say they'll only be allowed an average of one and a half customers apiece.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/brothel-to-expand-but-with-new-limits-20120619-20m5q.html" target="_blank">Brothel to expand, but with new limits - <i>Sydney Morning News</i></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-18156164085685506592011-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:002013-08-03T19:39:34.239-07:00Russia Launches New ICBM<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Barents Sea<br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802008212&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJmq5dp9ywYP3BkiIykMTcPoZYkaGmOB-A8XX-J2oDY14WqM5b-0XmM8YnSB2MqR3dNXqTRaWvW7r5cdcnH8jXEYx_vufpKJ796bF4GK8krwJygr11teRUio3ClPItZiZcQO-opx4rCky/s320/misslemonsters.jpg" /></a></div>
Although everybody who is anybody launched their new fall fashions weeks ago the Russians are not embarrassed to be late to lunch with their latest launch - “The Liner.”<br />
<br />
It’s not a dramatically new textured pull-over for warm and cozy Sunday afternoons, “The Liner” is a submarine launched intercontinental ballistic missile ready willing and able to carry up to twelve warheads over 5,100 miles.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110930/167259462.html">Russia tests new ballistic missile - <i>RIA Novosti</i></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-46737501905291130512011-09-30T09:29:00.000-07:002011-09-30T09:29:20.855-07:00Canadians Against Humming<b>Calgary<br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802007978&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="402" width="270" title="U2: Rattle and Hum - Movie Poster Shop" src="https://docs.google.com/File?id=ddz3k86m_6ctzmsbds_b" /></a></div>They’ve had enough of it and they don’t want to hear it anymore.<br />
<br />
Residents of Calgary’s northern suburb – Ranchlands - have been hearing a steady hum for four years and after two years of trying to find the sound’s source all they know for sure is: Where it’s not coming from.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/Mysterious+baffles+experts+annoys+Ranchlands+residents/5479338/story.html#ixzz1ZS9RLXFo"><br />
Mysterious hum baffles experts and annoys Ranchlands residents - <i>Calgary Herald</i></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-49980030026751741992011-09-28T14:09:00.000-07:002011-09-28T14:09:49.633-07:00Bra Bridge<b>Pittsburgh</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802005875&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="221" width="148" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/bkMJCnU4UdYForh5e1GVzwgGbp1IF8kQuEc833My6Genl2gFWT0pNGDGqMRSWkmzJqhEFvMyYFegyc8APLGIszM2w00xhqToLoGU8mL4JzJ40m7LcEM" title="The Bridge - The Movie Poster Shop" alt="The Bridge - The Movie Poster Shop" /></a></div><br />
In days of yore, molten ore was transported over the Monogahela River on the aptly named Hot Metal Bridge.<br />
<br />
These days it’s a footbridge and for a week the bridge trusses are doing double-duty holding aloft 4,000 bras.<br />
<br />
It’s a worthwhile publicity stunt for breast cancer awareness in support of <a href="http://www.bebrightpink.org/">Bright Pink</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://multimedia.post-gazette.com/?ClipId=6297470"><i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i> - video</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-51282576206604153992011-09-27T13:53:00.000-07:002011-10-01T17:21:41.232-07:00Oktoberfest<b>Munich</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=443967&b=80314&m=12575&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Emooncostumes%2Ecom%2Fitem%2F30840" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="170" width="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj536sq-z_HPKkJeYgyjVm-_ToUcK5SIHznQBHjn48-FzeFsDyYse394J4ulerVOKrxfffHdzI84usHOnYt-T28htxO2CrMn27WPZIS3uVIKyBZcDYthHpmJqX0-H7k-U0bfv5QUu3kW2_9/s400/oktoberfest_beer_girl.jpeg" title="Fetching Fraulein - Moon Costumes" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The girls are wearing their traditional low-cut beer girl dresses and the men are in lederhosen. <br />
<br />
It’s beer time in the Bavarian capital. <br />
<br />
See the photos and videos of the two week drunk at Munich’s <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/wiesnweisheiten-vom-oktoberfest-ein-fisch-fuer-den-kater-1.1149996">Sued Deutsche - In German</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-12767241963202166472011-09-26T11:39:00.000-07:002011-09-26T11:39:51.720-07:00Vietnam's Smart and Pretty Contest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>Saigon</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802003180&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" title="Beauty Pageant - Movie Poster Shop" alt="Beauty Pageant - Movie Poster Shop" width="105" src="https://docs.google.com/File?id=ddz3k86m_5cwzz7xdt_b" /></a></div><br />
It’s an egalitarian pageant for college students. Girls and Boys compete and if a boy wins he gets the pageant floral bouquet.<br />
<br />
The grand prize is a year as national spokesperson for Dell Computers.<br />
<br />
Coronation is December 23 at Saigon’s Military Zone 7 Stadium.<br />
<br />
(Although the official name of Saigon is Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese still call it Saigon.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/lifestyle/education/19380/">Ngoi Sao Hoc Duong seeks beautiful, talented students - <em>Saigon Times</em></a><br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-35166225739121370012011-09-20T14:33:00.000-07:002011-09-22T08:23:14.410-07:00Iran Plans SAMs<b>Tehran</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnV7_L-GAWV7us1YSjC_PuqwQ1e7N_atdfmiwPmQYDn67D7shoapPD1ckQdFJ4WIfxJsH0Wvnd5ZSs8aRGFxMKba7dVkf5wJMGUrMER3_ihkgCdtnMXVuM-1mnaBMnyM3SwBSp1_2MAS9G/s1600/sam.jpg"imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><br />
<img border="0" height="39" width="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnV7_L-GAWV7us1YSjC_PuqwQ1e7N_atdfmiwPmQYDn67D7shoapPD1ckQdFJ4WIfxJsH0Wvnd5ZSs8aRGFxMKba7dVkf5wJMGUrMER3_ihkgCdtnMXVuM-1mnaBMnyM3SwBSp1_2MAS9G/s400/sam.jpg" /></div><br />
<br />
Back in 2007 Russia promised Iran delivery of its S-300 surface-to-air missile system but so far none of the promised launchers have shown up so the Iranians plan to go it alone with what they are billing as an “upgraded version of the Russian system.” <br />
<br />
They christened their plane killer ‘Bavar-373’ and are promoting it as a multi-tasker that will be able to launch three different kinds of missiles.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1413071" target="_blank">Iran designing new missile system similar to S-300 - <i>Mehr News</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9006290050">Commander: Iran Developing Upgraded Version of Russian S-300 - <i>Fars News Agency</i></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-82357311588293542142011-09-16T14:02:00.000-07:002011-09-16T15:33:10.340-07:001984 To Be Repealed - Big Brother Eases Up On Malays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Kuala Lumpur</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000037175203&pubid=21000000000249372" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="209" width="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4a3vT62g5sOeks1xh61ONKjNFovjRQKiAKp9LGUEK_tfgkZkNz8IEp8Q7eSleU2d-K41eB0nr3CZc1RBrCUqt8q6hIjNmAffTcmpwCkCulz7mi5jshokNsVS5oz-wygZgnA8TPC4M4ZgU/s400/1984-movie-poster.jpg" alt="1984 - Movie Poster Shop" title="1984 - Movie Poster Shop" /></a></div>It was an extra happy Malaysia Day today because on Malaysia Day Eve Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made good on campaign promises and announced that strict laws limiting freedom of speech and assembly will be eliminated.<br />
<br />
Among the laws to go away is the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 which requires all news presses to be annually licensed by the government. The new law will still require presses to be licensed but the licensing will be a one time event.<br />
<br />
Also on the skids is the hated ISI’s – the Internal Security and Banishment Acts.<br />
<br />
Malays’ freedoms will still be limited. Mass protests will not be tolerated.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/16/nation/20110916070850&sec=nation" target="_blank">Najib announces major changes in controversial laws as Malaysia Day gifts - <i>The Star</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/16/nation/20110916212053&sec=nation" target="_blank">Repeal and review of unpopular laws is widely welcomed - <i>The Star</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/NomoreISA/Article/" target="_blank">No more ISA - <i>New Straits Times</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/SuhakamwelcomesabolishmentofISA/Article/" target="_blank">Suhakam welcomes abolishment of ISA - <i>New Straits Times</i></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-64479386691358835592011-09-15T10:42:00.000-07:002011-09-16T15:36:37.575-07:00Gangster "The Russian" was an American<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Sofia, Bulgaria</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000037166281&pubid=21000000000249372" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6QWmwVBItEMmxvGMxRXPtmwxt1R6rqIIan4Fvif0tnEIoEwvL1gBFzfNkZYLJMmIoZLM9YZ2CdZ47K8qmyJdwS2w5N3WY_05uAWhy6aYDsDbTuza7_AsE_U9XCVIGnbrZeFIfW9U3N3Gm/s400/gangster-story-movie-poster-1960.jpg" title="Gangster Story - Movie Poster Shop" alt="1984 Poster" width="120" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
He was the spitting image of Curly of The Three Stooges. <br />
<br />
He was a big time dope dealer, money launderer and all around racketeer. In 2004 he was shot down in a daytime killing on the streets of Sofia.<br />
<br />
His name was Dmitrii Minev but he was known by his gang name, Dimata Rusnaka – Dimitrii the Russian.<br />
<br />
He was actually - Dmitrii the American.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132120" target="_blank">Bulgarian Top Mobster Dubbed 'The Russian' Turns out American - <i>Sofia News Agency</i></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-53182791590985727722011-09-14T10:05:00.000-07:002011-09-14T10:05:38.783-07:00Vatican’s Secret Sex Files Demanded<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>The Hague</strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sin-against-Innocents-Psychology-Spirituality/dp/0275981754?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Sin against the Innocents: Sexual Abuse by Priests and the Role of the Catholic Church (Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0275981754&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0275981754" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
The International Criminal Court has received requests by two groups to demand Pope Benedict’s Vatican hand over files concerning sexual abuse by priests that The Holy See has been hiding from public view.<br />
<br />
Both the “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and New York-based rights group Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR)” have submitted the request.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/war-crime-court-asked-to-probe-vatican-16049504.html" target="_blank">'War crime' court asked to probe Vatican <em>Belfast Telegraph</em></a><br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-53139668087752037422011-09-12T14:46:00.000-07:002011-09-12T14:46:48.838-07:00Swedish Journalists Charged with Terrorism in Ethiopian Oil Fields<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Addis Ababa, Ethiopia</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/fields-military-objectives-feasibility-study/dp/B00300G3NU?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Oil fields as military objectives a feasibility study: Prepared for the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on International Relations" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00300G3NU&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00300G3NU" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
The Chinese are drilling for oil in the disputed territory of Ogaden in southeastern Ethiopia. <br />
<br />
The desert territory runs along the Somalian border and is the traditional home of Somali nomads.<br />
<br />
It became part of Ethiopia during post-WWII British rule and remains an unofficial part of Ethiopia.<br />
<br />
The Ethiopian government and the Ogaden National Liberation Force are at war.<br />
<br />
In an attempt to cover the fight, two Swedish Journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, snuck into the country and imbedded in the ONLF. <br />
<br />
They were arrested in July and now a judge in Addis Ababa has ordered that they stand trial for terrorism under a new anti-terrorist law that criminalizes giving information about how the government fights what it declares to be terrorist organizations.<br />
<br />
Two Ethiopians were also charged under the new law.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2011/09/07/4-journalists-face-terrorism-charges-in-ethiopia" target="_blank">4 Journalists Face Terrorism Charges in Ethiopia - <i>Nazret</i></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-8192483887688371362011-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:002011-09-07T17:09:35.363-07:00Shady Deals May Cause Russian Rocket Fails<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>Moscow</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4rTzzvNeQgzw5LD_tEAwrCH80NtyUSIFVWehZ5Py4Bvx4fpU6zogsXFltK8ikIzLf7sf9xEUcyVaEtwDTflcMIzYCc4x2dPngUwqvzMizD-pelm9zQsosALRbBahSZTWMglRW57Of9wlv/s1600/russian_federal_space_agency.jpeg" /></div><br />
<br />
The Russian Federal Space Agency has had more than its fair share of crashes this year and today the agency’s Audit Chamber has discovered “serious financial violations” that “could have contributed to the recent failed launches.”<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/space-audit-finds-major-violations/443376.html" target="_blank">Space Audit Finds Major Violations - <i>Moscow Times</i></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-2038498672385666062011-09-06T19:22:00.000-07:002011-09-06T19:22:44.012-07:00Ireland's Sexy Hunky Dorys<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Kilbrew, County Meath, Ireland</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXv1H2jO4BHu5rT4Y_vABFjMgzcMonRIKDmshEux7OtCibLNxKo7Fs0HuayRAUtAe0oN1dDibHPsR1Wxhay3ARLIOm_I_8ljwROJNPtpExzWAPLVzXR63XcGjhkRnQTA3vZg4nSSQsCpXF/s320/hunky_dorys.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
Irish snack food maker Largo is at it again with sexy ads for its Hunky Dorys brand "crisps" - popcorn and potato chips.<br />
<br />
They ran the same kind of campaign last year and sales went through the roof. <br />
<br />
They’ll do it again this year parodying the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association - an all volunteer Men’s and Women’s amateur sports organization.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/gaa-silent-over-racy-hunky-dorys-ads-16045876.html" target="_blank">GAA silent over racy Hunky Dorys ads - <i>Belfast Telegraph</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/racy-hunky-dorys-ad-campaign-sparks-fury-ahead-of-camogie-final-16046167.html" target="_blank">Racy Hunky Dorys ad campaign sparks fury ahead of camogie final - <i>Belfast Telegraph</i> </a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-65753704284562330382011-09-05T09:06:00.000-07:002011-09-05T09:34:57.643-07:00Organize and Agitate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="159" width="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWmIXhP6HM3fahCvMIZotx5WgLSYR0X2yC6qSRzFUFvwrdRWF6x11pKrTlZmBxAeLRLABZT43nSxWHDA33aZzA2gWJYNBPnJsWFMkORdwEEppptn8niHpE4NnnFND92b3Xh2VMbhCJ2kht/s400/walter_reuther.bloody.jpg" /></div><b>Labor Day</b><br />
<br />
Walter Reuther knew what it would take to turn the working poor into the working middle class.<br />
<br />
He and other labor leaders organized and agitated. <br />
<br />
They took their lumps. <br />
<br />
And the American Dream was born.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>It doesn’t matter what you win at the bargaining table, if the gains can be legislated away in the halls of Congress. - Walter Reuther</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-1212416793552077982011-09-02T10:05:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:08:33.919-07:00Shanghai’s Lonely Hearts Club Troublemakers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_n52lih="113"><strong>Xuhui District, Shanghai, China</strong></div><div closure_uid_n52lih="218"></div><div closure_uid_n52lih="219"><div closure_uid_n52lih="234"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Peppers-Lonely-Hearts-Embroidered/dp/B000R1PUKW?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Beatles - Round Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Drum Logo - Embroidered Iron On or Sew On Patch" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B000R1PUKW&tag=wildccom-20" target="_blank" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000R1PUKW" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div></div><br />
<div closure_uid_n52lih="235">They’re really not supposed to but they do anyway:</div><br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_n52lih="263">Scandinavian furniture retailer IKEA provides a free coffee area in its Shanghai store and word has gotten around town that Tuesday and Thursday are meet-up days for middle age singles.</div><br />
They're trouble makers.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_n52lih="259">Although the store has a very big sign telling them all the DONT'S they're to avoid while they eye each other up; they do whatever they feel like doing. </div><div closure_uid_n52lih="259"><div closure_uid_68fu84="95"> </div><blockquote><div closure_uid_68fu84="95">Wang Chaowu, a security guard for the canteen, said members of the group often throw garbage and spit in the canteen. </div><br />
<br />
They are also extremely loud and noisy, disturbing other customers. And once when a security guard tried to get them to tone things down, he was splashed with a cup of hot coffee and seriously scalded on the chest.</blockquote></div><div closure_uid_n52lih="259"><a closure_uid_n52lih="199" href="http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=481578&type=Metro" target="_blank">IKEA becomes life of the party - <em>Shanghai Daily</em></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-13258375436334672052011-09-01T09:37:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:11:18.458-07:00Republicans Banned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_gutynb="75"><div closure_uid_vvtl1z="95"><strong>Wausau, Wisconsin</strong></div></div><br />
<div closure_uid_vvtl1z="141"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reprint-Labor-Parade-children-demonstration/dp/B004NRREVO?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Reprint Labor Day Parade, children in Child Labor demonstration, New York 1909" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B004NRREVO&tag=wildccom-20" target="_blank" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004NRREVO" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><br />
<div closure_uid_vvtl1z="112">The Labor Day parade<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004JM2T8Q" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> will be a bit smaller this year because organizers have hoisted their “No Republicans Allowed” flag.</div><div closure_uid_gutynb="76"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_gutynb="77"><div closure_uid_vvtl1z="186">Although earlier this year Wisconsin Republicans enacted anti-worker laws restricting the rights of bread winners to feed their families; one Republican had the nerve to complain about being excluded from the “family-friendly event.”</div></div><div closure_uid_gutynb="77" closure_uid_vvtl1z="142"><br />
<div closure_uid_vvtl1z="179"><a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_2d4617e6-d17b-11e0-b6fc-001cc4c002e0.html" target="_blank">GOP Politicians Banned From Labor Day Parade in Wausau - <em>Wisconsin State Journal</em></a></div></div><div closure_uid_gutynb="77"><br />
</div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-57575053452436756402011-08-30T14:33:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:12:05.531-07:00Hugo Chavez Begs for Russian Guns and Money<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_u2x34o="121"><div closure_uid_u2x34o="180"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rulers-Guns-Money-Global-Imperialism/dp/0674024427?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Rulers, Guns, and Money: The Global Arms Trade in the Age of Imperialism" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0674024427&tag=wildccom-20" target="_blank" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0674024427" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div closure_uid_u2x34o="180"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_u2x34o="180">Apparently fearful his own people will cap his ass, Venezuelan tough guy Hugo Chavez is asking Russia to loan him another cool four billion to buy more hot Russian weapons.</div></div><div closure_uid_u2x34o="121"><br />
</div><blockquote>The Venezuelan government needs new weapons to avoid the fate of the Gaddafi regime, President Hugo Chavez said in an interview last week . . .</blockquote><div closure_uid_u2x34o="126"><a closure_uid_u2x34o="171" href="http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20110829/166285499.html" target="_blank">Chavez asks Moscow for a loan to buy Russian weapons - <em>RIA Novosti</em></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-7236852820739602002011-08-29T09:44:00.000-07:002011-09-22T13:35:21.777-07:00Cambodian Workers Faint in Droves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><b>Phnom Penh, Cambodia </b></div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/We-Stand-One-International-Struggles/dp/0761346090?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="We Stand As One: The International Ladies Garment Workers Strike, New York, 1909 (Civil Rights Struggles Around the World)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0761346090&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0761346090" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><b><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0531211061" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><br />
</div>Something is not right here.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_vf4w8f="174"> Last week over 300 garment workers in two different Cambodian factories fainted. This past June, 200 fainted at another clothing factory.</div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><a closure_uid_vf4w8f="161" href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011082951316/National-news/swift-action-on-mass-faints.html" target="_blank">Swift action on mass faints - <i>Phnom Penh Post </i></a></div><div closure_uid_vf4w8f="115"><br />
Update: September 22, 2011<br />
<br />
Workers at one of the sites where workers fainted, Hung Wah Garment Manufacturing, succeeded in a wildcat strike in reaction to the refusal of a supervisor to sign-off on requests for leave.<br />
<br />
The company agreed to transfer the supervisor and the strikers returned to work.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011092251804/National-news/fainting-factory-goes-on-sick-leave-strike.html" target="_blank">Fainting factory goes on sick leave strike - <em>Phnom Penh Post </em></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-11386401999174459972011-08-29T09:06:00.000-07:002011-08-29T18:12:03.420-07:00Rick Perry: Soviet Texan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116"><b>Austin, Texas</b></div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Soviet-Military-Cossack-Ushanka/dp/B002Y3Y7D2?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Hat Russian Soviet Army Black KGB * Fur Military Cossack Ushanka * Size L" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002Y3Y7D2&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002Y3Y7D2" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116"><b><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0006HDIVK" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="116">Would-be U.S. strongman Rick Perry has the instincts of a Soviet dictator.</div><div closure_uid_rf40ja="175"></div><br />
If you want to know how he does business, don't bother trying to find out because he's not telling.<br />
<br />
<a closure_uid_rf40ja="160" closure_uid_tjaen0="95" href="http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/08/email-purges-withheld-documents-shroud-governors-office-from-public-scrutiny/" target="_blank">Email purges, withheld documents shroud Governor’s Office from scrutiny - <i>Houston Chronicle</i></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-45876446951886073652011-08-25T14:05:00.000-07:002011-08-30T09:38:05.643-07:00Emir of Qatar at Tehran Sleepover<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_r52zoe="110"><strong>Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran</strong></div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="110"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="110"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Rose-September-13-2005/dp/B002Z7IQXE?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Charlie Rose (September 13, 2005)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002Z7IQXE&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002Z7IQXE" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="110"><span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002CAIE7W" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000NQRR20" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="118"></div><br />
<div closure_uid_r52zoe="214">The go-to guy for American-Iranian back channeling, His Highness the Emir of <country-region closure_uid_r52zoe="261" w:st="on">Qatar</country-region>, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, will sleep-over tonight in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Tehran</place></city> and spend a few days schmoozing.</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120">He’s in town to re-kindle flames with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><a closure_uid_r52zoe="161" href="http://www.qnaol.net/QNAEn/Local_News/Politics1/Pages/HHtheEmirLeavesforTehran25082011.aspx" target="_blank">HH the Emir of Qatar Arrives in Tehran - <em>Qatar News Agency</em></a></div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><a href="http://www.irna.ir/ENNewsShow.aspx?NID=30535662&SRCH=1" target="_blank">Qatari emir arrives in Tehran - <em>Islamic Republic News Agency</em></a></div><div closure_uid_r52zoe="120"><br />
</div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-3035908875684408432011-08-23T14:37:00.000-07:002011-08-30T09:35:17.551-07:00Kim Jong-il Takes Russian Dip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><strong>Ulan Ude, Republic of Buryatia, Russia</strong></div><div closure_uid_mjkmj5="126" closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
<div closure_uid_mjkmj5="128"><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=081297896X" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
<span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Jong-North-Koreas-Leader/dp/0470821310?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0470821310&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0470821310" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div></div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><div closure_uid_mjkmj5="94"><strong><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004DQ9U3U" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></strong></div></div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><div closure_uid_mjkmj5="127">North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong-il got out of town this week and took the train to Russia where he enjoyed a tour of a Mil Mi-8 (helicopter) re-tooling plant.</div></div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118">Earlier he stopped at Lake Baikal but didn't hop in the very big lake because the water was too cold but he did enjoy a hot dip in a hot water pool.</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110823/166091184.html" target="_blank">Kim Jong-il visits Siberia's Lake Baikal - <em>RIA Novosti</em></a></div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_wizynn="118"><br />
</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-29306593835876034642011-08-23T09:40:00.000-07:002011-08-30T09:35:42.282-07:00U.S. Welcomes China Rising<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><strong>Chengdu, China</strong></div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/China-Rising-History-Century-Boxed/dp/6304263139?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="China Rising: The Epic History of 20th Century China (3 VHS Boxed Set)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=6304263139&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=6304263139" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></strong></div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><div closure_uid_anr665="94">U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited a high school basketball court re-built by the National Basketball Association after it was destroyed by the Wenchuan earthquake.</div></div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118">V.P. Biden answered a student's question saying:</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118">"President Obama and I want to see a rising China, we don't fear a rising China." </div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_9nnk62="118"><a closure_uid_9nnk62="167" href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7575897.html" target="_blank">Chinese, U.S. vice presidents visit post-quake restoration project in SW China - <em>People's Daily</em></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-79230807926220132672011-08-23T09:04:00.000-07:002011-08-30T09:36:02.433-07:00Bulgaria Gets Silky Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><strong>Byala Slatina, Bulgaria</strong> </div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Silkworms-Lerner-Natural-Science-Book/dp/0822595575?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Silkworms (A Lerner Natural Science Book)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0822595575&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0822595575" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119">In the early 1980's Bulgaria was the number one silk producer in Europe. It ranked fourth worldwide.</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119">Bulgarian silk production fell on hard times but now the nation intends to regain its silk making leadership with a Bulgarian-Russian financed silkworm enterprise that "will create 4000 jobs."</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7tlx9f="119"><a closure_uid_7tlx9f="159" href="http://sofiaecho.com/2011/08/23/1143127_bulgarian-russian-investors-to-put-75m-euro-into-silk-plant-in-byala-slatina" target="_blank">Bulgarian, Russian investors to put 7.5M euro into silk plant in Byala Slatina - <em>Sophia Echo</em></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-84451927548392805312011-08-19T10:04:00.000-07:002011-08-31T09:08:06.691-07:00Iraq and Iran to form Nuclear Family<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="117" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><strong><city w:st="on">Bagdad</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Iraq</country-region></strong></place></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="117" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<div closure_uid_k0fvmq="129"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-Energy-21st-Century-ebook/dp/B001RKFTXA?ie=UTF8&tag=wildccom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century: World Nuclear University Press" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B001RKFTXA&tag=wildccom-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001RKFTXA" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="117" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div closure_uid_k0fvmq="94"><place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B005DGORG4" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></country-region></place></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="117" closure_uid_k0fvmq="126" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="117" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildccom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000WOSB50" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></country-region></place></div><place w:st="on"><country-region closure_uid_4eu8zf="203" w:st="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_4eu8zf="214" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div closure_uid_k0fvmq="127">The governments of <country-region w:st="on">Iraq</country-region> and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Iran</place></country-region> will re-sign a letter of agreement to coordinate nuclear power research.</div></div><div closure_uid_4eu8zf="120" closure_uid_k0fvmq="128"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_4eu8zf="120"><a href="http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-08-14\kurd.htm" target="_blank">Azzaman</a></div><br />
</country-region></place></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689322775218653262.post-17020472815498382552011-08-19T09:29:00.000-07:002011-08-23T09:19:53.995-07:00Old News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">U.S. Buys Russian War Choppers While New Yorkers Fired<br />
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June 2, 2011<br />
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Uncle Sam has fallen head-over-heels for a voluptuous Russian and has balled up his mighty fist and smacked New York workers in the nose.<br />
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The lanky, white goateed military powerhouse has signed on the dotted line for 21 Mikoyan Mi-17V5 helicopters. <br />
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Helicopter Sale to U.S. Just the Start The Moscow Times<br />
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Meanwhile, on the Homeland: <br />
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Military helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is laying off 386 workers at its Sikorsky Military Completions Center in Big Flats, New York.<br />
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Sikorsky to lay off 386 in Big Flats Elmira Star Gazette<br />
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<div closure_uid_p0zqxk="94">Taiwan’s Troubled Tests</div><br />
January 19, 2011<br />
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He says there was no connection between the missile test firings and People’s Republic of China’s President Hu’s visit with U.S. strongman Barack Obama but Taiwan’s President, Ma Ying-jeou, is not happy with the way the missiles performed.<br />
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Nineteen missiles were launched during a multi-services exercise that was open to the press. <br />
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Six missiles didn’t make it to their targets. <br />
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Listed among the fails:<br />
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Two launches of Raytheon Sparrows didn’t get the job done. One dropped in the drink six seconds after launch and one over-shot its target.<br />
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A French MICA (Interception and Aerial Combat Missile) was launched from a Mirage fighter but also missed the bulls-eye and a Taiwanese homegrown air-to-air, Tien-chien II, hit the mark but didn’t blow-up.<br />
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President Ma wants to find out if the problems were caused by men or machines or both.<br />
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President dissatisfied with military drill performance The China Post<br />
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Exercise not related to Hu’s US visit: Ma The China Post<br />
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Taiwan missile test fizzles out Global Times<br />
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Israelis Snatch Shepherd<br />
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January 13, 2011<br />
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As if the collapse of their government wasn’t bad enough, Lebanese shepherds have to keep one eye on the flock and one watching for Israelis soldiers sneaking over the border and hauling them back to the occupied territories for a beating.<br />
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Israel kidnapped a shepherd from inside south Lebanon Wednesday, the Lebanese Army have said.<br />
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. . .<br />
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Israel kidnapped Lebanese shepherd Imad Atwi in June last year from the Shebaa Farms region. He was returned to Lebanon, via Unifil, 24 hours after going missing, with heavy bruising over his face and body. Atwi claimed Israeli soldiers had beaten him during detention.<br />
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In February 2010, shepherd Rabih Mohammad Zahra was taken from Lebanese territory by an Israeli patrol. An army communiqué at the time said that Zahra had been “severely beaten.”<br />
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Israel abducts Lebanese shepherd in south The Daily Star<br />
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Uncertainty grips Lebanon -Western powers accuse March 8 of subverting justice after government toppled The Daily Star<br />
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Update:<br />
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Israel returned the shepherd, Sharbel Khoury, to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. <br />
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Pakistan Embargos Onion Convoy<br />
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January 6, 2011<br />
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Wagah Crossing<br />
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Indians have been experiencing an onion shortage and have been lately relying on shipments from Pakistan but a convoy of 300 onion bearing trucks were stopped at the only land border crossing between India and Pakistan – Wagah Crossing.<br />
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The Pakistani government claims that the shipments to India were stopped in order to control prices.<br />
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Pakistan stops onion export via land route The Hindu<br />
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Putin’s Opposition Rounded Up<br />
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January 3, 2011<br />
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Article 31 of the Russian constitution promises the right to publically assemble for political rallies but that hasn’t stopped the government from busting unauthorized protests.<br />
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One opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, was sentenced to fifteen days in jail and another, Ilya Yashin, to five days because they participated in an unapproved rally.<br />
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Some 70 detained at downtown Moscow protest rally RIA NOVOSTI<br />
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Russian opposition leader arrested for 15 days over disobedience to police RIA NOVOSTI<br />
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Moscow court arrests another opposition leader RIA NOVOSTI <br />
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China-India Border Propaganda Fight<br />
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<div closure_uid_p0zqxk="97">December 19, 2010</div><br />
China and India have been arguing about the length of their shared border for a long time and now the Chinese government run GLOBAL TIMES stated in a footnote that the China-India border is 2,000 kilometers long (1,242 miles).<br />
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India maintains that it’s actually 3,488 kilometers (2,167 miles).<br />
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Chinese media knocks off 1,600 km from China-India border Times of India<br />
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Alleged CIA NOC Fingered in Islamabad<br />
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December 15, 2010<br />
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It started as a complaint and now the Pakistani police have a First Investigation Report (FIR) filed on a U.S. citizen named REDACTED.<br />
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The FIR alleges that REDACTED has been ordering drone strikes from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.<br />
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REDACTED is reportedly in Pakistan on a business visa rather than a diplomatic visa and, if the allegations are true, as a NOC (Non-official cover) he would be able to be arrested and charged with a crime.<br />
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REDACTED<br />
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A report from REDACTED assumes that REDACTED is in fact the CIA station chief.<br />
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REDACTED<br />
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Update:<br />
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CIA has confirmed his name is classified and it has been removed from this entry. He has reportedly left Pakistan.<br />
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Priests Unionize<br />
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December 13, 2010<br />
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Bulgarian Greek Orthodox priests who shepherd poor villages are having a tough time getting by so they asked for membership in the Bulgarian version of AFL/CIO – Podkrepa.<br />
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Podkrepa – the Confederation of Labor – is a combine made up of Bulgarian unions representing workers from a variety of trades. <br />
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Tomorrow Podkrepa will conduct a press briefing on what Google translate renders “Adoption of the Syndicate of the holy church officials.”<br />
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Bulgarian priests form trade union The Sofia Echo<br />
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South Koreans Given Counter Attack Greenlight<br />
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December 8, 2010<br />
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South Korea has been cautious in meeting violence from the North with equivalent force.<br />
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It is now ready to respond to attacks with equal or greater destruction.<br />
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The new doctrine for on-the-scene commanders is “act first and report later.”<br />
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The U.S. has promised to back-up South Korean command decisions with its own counter attacks against the North.<br />
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U.S. to join counterattack on N.K. Korea Herald<br />
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US fully backs Seoul’s right of self-defense The Korea Times <br />
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WikiLeaks – Julian Assange Has Geneva Address<br />
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December 6, 2010<br />
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WikiLeak’s Julian Assange is on the lam from the law and he needed a place to store his cash so he opted for an account with Swiss Post. <br />
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To get an account he needed to have a Swiss mailing address so he has established an official address in Switzerland’s Geneva Canton. <br />
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Update:<br />
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Swiss Post has determined that Assange lied about having a Geneva residence and has closed the account.<br />
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Assange turned himself in to London police. He was arrested and jailed in response to a Swedish criminal complaint of sexual assault.<br />
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India Test-Fires BrahMos Cruise Missile from Mobile Launcher<br />
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December 2, 2010<br />
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They’re billing it as the “World’s Best Supersonic Cruise Missile” and it had it’s first successful test launch from a mobile launcher today.<br />
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The BrahMos, manufactured by India’s BrahMos Areospace is a two-stage rocket with a range of 180 miles and can carry a deadly payload weighing about 660 pounds.<br />
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The utility killer has a top speed of 2,131 miles an hour and can be fired from planes, ships, subs and now . . . mobile launchers.<br />
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BrahMos missile test-fired successfully The Hindu<br />
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Hit Men Attack Iranian Physicists with Magnetic Bombs<br />
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November 29, 2010<br />
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Two Iranian physicists, one a laser technology specialist, were targeted by motorcyclists who attached magnetic bombs to their cars. <br />
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The attacks occured separately. Majid Shahriari was killed and Fereydoon Abbasi Davani will probaly survive.<br />
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Al Arabiya reports that the two scientists “were senior figures in Iran’s nuclear program.”<br />
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A physicist killed, another injured in terrorist explosions in Tehran Tehran Times<br />
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Ahmadinejad Blames West, Israel for Assassination of Iranian Lecturers FARS News Agency<br />
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Vice-Speaker Accuses US, Israel of Assassinating Iranian ScientistsFARS News Agency <br />
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Iranian university scholar assassinated Islamic Republic News Agency<br />
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Iran accuses CIA, Mossad of killing scientist Al Arabiya<br />
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North Korean Slave Laborers Leave Russia<br />
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November 28, 2010<br />
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Russia uses thousands of North Koreans as virtual slave laborers who are overseen by the communist dictatorship’s security forces.<br />
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The workers and their security force minders have packed up and moved back home.<br />
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Workers recalled as North Korea prepares for war Belfast Telegraph<br />
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Monaco wants a makeover<br />
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November 23, 2010<br />
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Prince Albert II wants the Principality of Monaco to change its image.<br />
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He wants Monaco to be known more for being smart and generous than exclusive and glamorous. <br />
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The principality will spend “over four million euros” on an ad campaign that will run throughout Europe.<br />
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Monaco looks to change its image The Monaco Times<br />
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Dope Peddler to Run Venezuelan Military<br />
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November 16, 2010<br />
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The U.S. Treasury Department says he’s a big time narco-thug. He says that he will not allow any opposition parties to snag power from Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.<br />
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In a thank-you-kindly move, President Chavez has ordered the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense to promote Major General Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva to General-In-Chief.<br />
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Rangel Silva has materially assisted the narcotics trafficking activities of the FARC.<br />
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Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC U.S. Department of the Treasury<br />
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Brand-new General-in-Chief has been accused of drug trafficking El Universal<br />
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Russian Spymaster in Hot Water over Double Agent<br />
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November 12, 2010<br />
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The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, is in deep do-do with the Duma because one of his spooks ratted out a Russian spy ring in the U.S..<br />
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The double, “Colonel Shcherbakov” is said to have fled to the U.S. shortly before U.S. President Obama and Russian President Medvedev met in D.C. this past June.<br />
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Probably the bigest fish netted by the F.B.I. was General Mikhail Vasenkov who, in the 1980′s, was awarded the title “Hero of The Soviet Union” for his work snooping on the U.S..<br />
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The Russian newspaper Kommersant, which broke the details on the double agent, reports that Vasenkov claims the F.B.I. broke his leg during interrogation.<br />
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Fradkov Under Fire for Spy Defection The Moscow Times<br />
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Kommersant reveals biography of exposed Russian spook RIA Novosti<br />
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Iranian Revolutionary Guards Destroy Arab Palace<br />
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November 9, 2010<br />
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There are around five million Arabs in the predominately Persian nation of Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards don’t much care for any of them.<br />
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In 1919, an Arab sheik, Khazaal al-Kaabi, built a nice little palace on a prime piece of real estate on the banks of Iran’s Shatt al-Arab waterway. <br />
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The “Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution” have been eyeing the property for some time and now it’s gone.<br />
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Iran Guards destroy last Arab prince palace al Arabiya<br />
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Contract on Bulgarian Prime Minister<br />
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November 8, 2010<br />
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Earlier this week Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the Bulgarian Interior Minister would not deny that there is a contract out on the life of the nation’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.<br />
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When a Bulgarian television reporter asked him to confirm or deny the plot existed he said, “necessary measures are being taken.”<br />
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Today the Prime Minister confirmed the report.<br />
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The plot, discovered by Bulgarian Intelligence, involves a payment of 400,000 EUROS for the Prime Minister’s murder.<br />
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Tsvetanov does not deny alleged assassination plot against Boiko Borissov The Sofia Echo<br />
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Bulgaria’s PM Confirms Assassination Plot Sofia News Agency<br />
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Bulgarian Top Cop ‘Can’t Deny’ Assassination Plot against PM Sofia News Agency<br />
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Putin-Medvedev Power Struggle<br />
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November 4, 2010<br />
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The received wisdom was that Dmitry Medvedev would be a stand-in president while Vladimir Putin waited out a constitutionally required break as president.<br />
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Now, not so much.<br />
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Medvedev is liking being president and will probably run again in 2012.<br />
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For his part Putin is miffed and his people are bad-mouthing Medvedev as a lap dog for the US.<br />
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Fray Between Putin and Medvedev to Get Uglier The Moscow Times<br />
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Vietnam’s Girl Problem<br />
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November 2, 2010<br />
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In Vietnam, it’s a bad time to be a girl at conception.<br />
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The Vietnamese ancestor worship culture holds to a “men only” rule for taking care of the family altar. And, although Vietnamese law says they’re supposed to, females are not getting their fair share of inheritances. <br />
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Because civil servants are supposed to have a limit of two children, first time parents-to-be are checking the sex of the unborn and getting rid of the girls. That has led to a significantly greater male to female birthrate among expectant couples if at least one of the two works for the government.<br />
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Abnormal sex ratio among first borns worries experts Trahn Nien News<br />
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Big Brother Will Rub Your Crotch<br />
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October 29, 2010<br />
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The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has a sexy new procedure for making sure you’re not an al Qaeda operative – they will feel you up.<br />
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According to Fitzpatrick, a female screener ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and briefly touched her crotch. <br />
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TSA to phase in new pat-down procedures at airports nationwide CNN<br />
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No word yet on whether “happy endings” are guaranteed.<br />
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China to Increase Military Ties to Russia’s and Iran’s Neighbor<br />
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October 27, 2010<br />
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The People’s Liberation Army of China has made an agreement with the government of Azerbaijan to “develop military-to-military cooperation and exchanges.”<br />
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Azerbaijan is bordered by Russia and Georgia to its north, Iran to its south and the Caspian Sea (the largest enclosed body of water on Earth) to its east.<br />
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The country splits in two at its southwest and borders both southeast and southwest Armenia. <br />
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It also shares a five and a half mile border with Turkey.<br />
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China, Azerbaijan pledge to strengthen military ties Xinhua News Agency<br />
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Azerbaijani Defense Minister to visit China Azeri-Press Agency<br />
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Bolivian-Iranian Lithium Dollars<br />
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October 25, 2010<br />
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With enough lithium reserves to supply all the world’s lithium needs for an estimated five thousand years, Bolivia has our attention.<br />
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This week Bolivian President Evo Morales is in Tehran to ask Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to chip in on the $900 million dollar investment required to get the mining and processing ball rolling.<br />
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Evo Travels to Iran, Seeks Lithium Investment Bolivia Weekly<br />
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Lithium – atomic symbol Li – is a common active ingredient in batteries and it can be used in nuclear fission and fusion reactors.<br />
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Bolivia Gets Pacific Port<br />
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October 22, 2010<br />
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The landlocked nation of Bolivia will have home port access to the Pacific Ocean for its Navy and merchant vessels on the coast of Peru.<br />
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Until its war with Chile in the 1880′s Bolivia’s western border was the Pacific Ocean but Chile won the “War of the Pacific” and Bolivia lost its ocean port and since then has had to rely on “port privileges” in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay to have ocean access.<br />
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Now, under the agreement with Peru, Bolivia will have a permanent port it can call its own. <br />
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Bolivia’s Navy To Have Access To The Pacific Ocean, Following Agreement With Chile’s Neighbor, Peru The Santiago Times<br />
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Putin’s New Chief of Staff – ‘Margarine Oligarch’<br />
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October 21, 2010<br />
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After Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff Sergei Sobyanin was sworn in as the new Mayor of Moscow, “United Russia” party Secretary Vyacheslav Volodin was named the new chief of staff for Putin.<br />
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The multi-millionaire Volodin made his fortune as an owner of vegetable oil factories and was dubbed the ‘Margarine Oligarch’ by the Russian press.<br />
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‘Margarine Oligarch’ Named Putin’s Chief of Staff Moscow Times<br />
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Cranberries to Infest Mouse House<br />
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October 21, 2010<br />
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Vacationers at Disney theme parks and on the company’s ocean liners will be seeing (cranberry) red in the near future as The Walt Disney Company and Ocean Spray have inked an agreement that puts cranberries on the menu throughout the Disney company’s properties.<br />
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Disney, cranberry growers make a deal Miami Herald<br />
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Fake Prostitutes in Israeli Storefront<br />
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October 19, 2010<br />
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Prostitution is legal in Israel and a group called the Task Force for Human Trafficking is trying to make it illegal to be a customer of a prostitute.<br />
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They came up with an attention getting publicity stunt. <br />
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They set up a storefront called WOMEN TO GO in a Tel Aviv shopping center with actresses posing as prostitutes in the store window and solicited signatures on a petition they will present to lawmakers.<br />
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Women for sale at the Dizengoff Center Jerusalem Post<br />
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According to a report published in 1997, at that time, Tel Aviv had an estimated 10,000 sex workers, mostly from Eastern Europe. <br />
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Israel Facts on Prostitution<br />
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The haredin (orthodox Jews) who crowd the Tel Aviv brothels<br />
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The Jihad Channel<br />
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October 18, 2010<br />
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Islamic satellite stations have “spread like wildfire in the Arab region” says the general manager of Al-Arabiya television, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed.<br />
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He warns:<br />
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Their aim is to incite sectarian strife, or broadcast Jihadist appeals, then to raise more money through telephone donations, under the pretext of collecting for needy Muslims.<br />
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Banning Religious Satellite Channels Asharq Alawsat<br />
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Hassan Hamidoui of Al Arabiya said earlier this month:<br />
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The increasing number of programs that offer fatwas on satellite channels, commonly known as ‘satellite fatwas,’ have lately been stirring much controversy amongst Muslim scholars and raising questions about who is authorized to issue religious edicts and what are eligible topics.<br />
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Islamic channel launches express fatwa service Al Arabiya<br />
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Islamic Satellite Channels Popularity Booming Asharq Alawsat<br />
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Russian Tanks to Roll into Venezuela<br />
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October 15, 2010<br />
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Christmas has come early this year for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.<br />
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Earlier today* it was announced Russia would build a nuclear power station in Venezuela and now the Russian News Agency RIA Novosti is reporting that Prime Minister Putin has promised the country delivery of 35 Russian tanks “soon.”<br />
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Venezuela is currently building a plant to manufacture the famous Russian “short sword” (designed for close combat) Kalashnikov assault rifle – known far and wide as the AK-47.<br />
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Russia to deliver 35 tanks to Venezuela – Putin RIA Novosti<br />
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*Russia to build nuclear power station in Venezuela Buenos Aires Herald<br />
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Get Married Or Get Fired<br />
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October 14, 2010<br />
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Shady Russian nuclear power plant baron Vasili Boiko-Veliky – “Boiko the Great” – has decreed that any of his 6,000 workers who are living with their sweethearts in a state of un-wedded bliss must hightail it to an Orthodox church and tie the knot or they will be canned.<br />
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Those who are married but did not take their vows in an Orthodox church are required to re-up in church.<br />
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Multimillionaire Draws the Line at Sin The Moscow Times<br />
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Maersk Dings Dong<br />
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October 12, 2010<br />
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Maersk – the multi-national shipping and energy corporation (A.P. Moller – Maersk Group) – has been using Dong Energy to get its natural gas into Denmark.<br />
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The company has announced it will no longer continue a relationship with Dong.<br />
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It is creating Maersk International Gas Marketing to do the job Dong has done.<br />
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Maersk takes on Dong The Copenhagen Post<br />
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Venezuela May Nationalize Cargill<br />
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October 12, 2010<br />
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The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez plans on nationalizing the U.S. agricultural powerhouse Cargill and the locally big Venezuelan food producer Empresas Polar.<br />
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Venezuelan Minister of Food Carlos Osorio has called both privately owned companies “Oligopolies” – meaning the two companies dominate the Venezuelan food industry.<br />
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“Oligopolies do not ensure food security in the country and the Bolivarian* government has been fighting for 11 years against this issue. There are two groups at odds, namely socialism and capitalism. The attacks launched by the US through its domestic lackeys have not managed to halt the passage of revolutionary laws. The Bolivarian government has made progress in the last 11 years, despite capitalist and imperialist attacks.”<br />
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Venezuela’s government considers that Polar and Cargill must be state-owned El Universal<br />
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*Venezuela is officially called the “Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”.<br />
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As we noted in Hugo Chávez Must Govern by Coalition, President Chávez can no longer govern by decree.<br />
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The new legislature may not go along with the plan.<br />
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Secret Irish “Troubles” Documents Now Online<br />
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October 11, 2010<br />
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Beginning in the 1960’s and lasting until the late 1990’s Northern Ireland suffered sectarian strife that was dubbed "The Troubles."<br />
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A United Kingdom law known as "the thirty year rule" requires secret documents declassified after thirty years.<br />
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Now, thanks to the efforts of the University of Ulster and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, many of the former secret documents concerning The Troubles are available in their original form online in .pdf format. <br />
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Declassified files from Northern Ireland Troubles placed online Belfast Telegraph<br />
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University of Ulster’s Conflict Archive on the INternet (CAIN) listed by year<br />
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Northern Ireland Timeline History on the Net.com<br />
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China – Turkey Pact May Skip Dollar<br />
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October 8, 2010<br />
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Last month in Turkey Plays Air War Games with China the cat got out of the bag concerning no-no military cooperation between China and Turkey and today, at a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced that they have initialed agreements and letters of understanding they’re billing as ‘strategic cooperation’.<br />
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In what may or may not be wishful thinking P.M. Erdoğan:<br />
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. . . said Turkey hoped the two countries could use their own currencies in bilateral trade.<br />
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China, Turkey to establish strategic cooperative relationship Xinhua News Agency <br />
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Erdoğan let it be known that Turkey also has its hopes set on an Istanbul to Beijing rail line.<br />
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(China has been planning and surveying a high speed rail line to Europe.)<br />
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Turkey, China hail ‘strategic cooperation’ amid protests Hurriyet Daily News<br />
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Iranians Buy Bucks Vietnamese Go For Gold<br />
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October 7, 2010<br />
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Earlier this week, the government of Iran began selling U.S. dollars to its citizens and now through October 12 the central bank of Vietnam will issue licenses which will allow selected companies to buy gold.<br />
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Long queues were seen on Tuesday outside several banks and official foreign exchange houses as dollars became freely available again. <br />
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Rial rebounds against dollar in sanctions-hit Iran Tehran Times<br />
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A source with direct knowledge of the licensing and quotas said nine firms were part of the arrangement, which would put the total volume somewhere between 1.8 and 2.7 tonnes [of gold].<br />
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Vietnam grants new gold import licenses, quotas Thanh Nien News<br />
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Austro-Hungarian Big Bust<br />
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October 5, 2010<br />
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Corporate HQ of Austrian Federal Railways was raided by Austrian federales at the request of the Hungarian government.<br />
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The Viennese Anti-Corruption Prosecution busted into both the company’s offices and homes of suspects in a bribery/slush fund caper. <br />
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Austrian Federal Railways is partly owned by the Austrian government and it has around 42,000 employees.<br />
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ÖBB offices raided over slush money suspicion The Budapest Times<br />
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Iran-Syria Free Trade Greenlighted<br />
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October 4, 2010<br />
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Tehran – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in town this weekend to have a sit-down with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and to receive the Iranian top medal, the Grand National Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran, from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.<br />
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After the Syrian CEO received the big blue ribbon with attached gold seal it was announced that Syria and Iran have signed “a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of an Iran-Syria free trade zone.”<br />
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Assad meets Supreme Leader in Tehran Tehran Times<br />
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Operation Hardsell – U.S. (maybe) talks Japan into buying Grumman Drones<br />
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October 4, 2010<br />
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The hints, suggestions and out-right arm twistings are wearing them down.<br />
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The Japanese military has tentatively agreed to seriously think about buying three Northrop Grumman Global Hawk drones.<br />
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If the deal makes it through the maze of the Japanese military bureaucracy, the high flying craft will give the Japanese a birds-eye view of their not-so-neighborly neighbors – China and North Korea.<br />
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Japan may buy U.S. drones The Japan Times<br />
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Witchdoctor Bewitched Government of Zimbabwe<br />
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October 1, 2010<br />
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Rottina Mavhunga is no ordinary witchdoctor, she can buy a cow for a rock and she has friends in high places.<br />
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She is now doing twenty-seven months in the slammer for tricking “Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s entire Cabinet into believing that [refined diesel fuel] was oozing from a rock.”<br />
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Witchdoctor sent to prison for duping Mugabe Daily Nation – Kenya<br />
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Turkey Plays Air War Games with China<br />
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September 30, 2010<br />
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They’re kinda sorta not supposed to do it but NATO partner Turkey did it anyway.<br />
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It snuck behind NATO’s back and played war games with the Chinese air force.<br />
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D.C. is reportedly asking questions. <br />
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Turkey conducted war games with China, news report says Hurriyet Daily News – Istanbul<br />
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Norway Sinks Israeli U-Boat Tests<br />
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September 29, 2010<br />
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Thyssenkrupp is a brand familiar to many elevator riders but elevators are not the only things that go up and down that Thyssenkrupp makes. <br />
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In 1999 Thyssen merged with the famous German military armament giant Krupp and Thyssenkrupp then merged with submarine manufacturer Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft to form ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.<br />
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The German company has been renting a Norwegian naval base for vessel testing and among the vessels are submarines sold to the Israeli Navy. <br />
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Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has declared that since Norway does not “export materials or services to countries where there is war or threat of war” the testing must stop.<br />
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Stops testing of Israeli subs The Norway Post<br />
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Meet Kim Jong-un<br />
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September 28, 2010<br />
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We gave him a shout-out last week in Kim Jong Junior Plots G-20 Meet ‘n Greet Trouble News<br />
WorldWide – WildCatViking and now everyone is talking about him.<br />
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We’ve seen his name spelled three ways: Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong-eun. No matter how his name is spelled – of the newly appointed military generals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) , Kim Jong-un is the up-and-comer.<br />
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His ol’ pop, Dear Leader Kim Jong-il was just re-elected as General Secretary of the Worker’s Party of Korea.<br />
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The younger Kim Jong was educated in the West, speaks English, tips the scales at around 200 pounds and is rumored to have heart disease and diabetes.<br />
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He has not been a prominent player in North Korean society until recently but now that he has been given the military rank of general it can be reasonably assumed he is on the fast track to a top position in the Worker’s Party of Korea.<br />
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Who is North Korean heir apparent Kim Jong Un? CTV News<br />
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Kim Jong-il’s youngest son named general JoongAng Daily<br />
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Kim Jong Il named general secretary of DPRK ruling party at crucial conference Xinhua News Agency<br />
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Kim Jong-il named general secretary of WPK China Daily<br />
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NK signals hereditary power succession The Korea Times<br />
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North Korea officially starts succession The Korea Herald<br />
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Hugo Chávez Must Govern by Coalition<br />
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September 27, 2010<br />
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Venezuelans voted Sunday for their legislators – the National Assembly – and the parties that back President Hugo Chávez did not receive enough votes to enable the controversial leader to pass laws on his own.<br />
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Venezuelans elects a multi-party National Assembly El Universal<br />
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Update:<br />
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On December 14, 2010 the National Assembly passed an “Enabling” act that will allow President Chávez to rule by decree.<br />
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National Assembly grants special ruling powers to Hugo Chávez El Universal<br />
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Japan Frees Chinese Boat Captain<br />
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September 24, 2010<br />
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China and Japan have been at odds over Japan’s arrest of Chinese boat captain Zhan Qixiong who reportedly rammed his boat into a Japanese Coast Guard vessel in the disputed waters of what the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands and the Chinese call the Diaoyu Islands.<br />
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Today the Japanese prosecutor in charge of the case said the skipper will be temporarily released because of the “potential impact on future ties with Beijing” his continued detainment may cause.<br />
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Japan decides to free Chinese boat captain Japan Times<br />
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Japan releases Chinese boat captain: NHK China Daily<br />
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Iranians Scramble to Get Film in Theaters before Oscar Deadline<br />
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September 23, 2010<br />
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The Iranian Documentary and Experimental Film Center wants the anti-war documentary “Farwell Baghdad” to be the Iranian submission for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Language Film Award but Academy rules require a movie to be released in two for profit theaters before October 1, 2010.<br />
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So, now the battle cry in Tehran is:<br />
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Hey Kids! Let’s premier a movie!<br />
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Iranian submission to Academy Awards to premiere before deadline Tehran Times<br />
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Two Argentine Newspapers Linked to “Crimes against Humanity”<br />
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September 23, 2010<br />
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From 1976 to 1983 Argentina was ruled by a brutal military junta that enjoyed the support of two media groups, Clarin and La Nacion. At the time of the takeover by the junta, both companies took control of the nation’s only newsprint company, Papel Prensa.<br />
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The government of President Cristina Kirchner has filed a formal complaint against the companies. The complaint asks the court to bring charges against two key employees of the media groups.<br />
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In a joint statement the papers counter:<br />
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“This new step confirms the institutional alarms both dailies have been sounding in terms of the government’s intention to steamroll media which do not agree with official policy”<br />
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. . .<br />
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“to link that purchase with crimes against humanity is a moral and legal aberration, utterly lacking any factual basis.” <br />
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Argentina Files Complaint Against Country’s Two Largest Newspapers The Santiago Times<br />
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Kim Jong Junior Plots G-20 Meet ‘n Greet Trouble<br />
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September 22, 2010<br />
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North Korean leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un led an “emergency meeting” of the North Korean National Defense Commission.<br />
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Radio Free Asia reports that the attendees discussed ways to keep the November G-20 meeting from taking place in Seoul.<br />
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“The defense commission regards the G20 meeting as a plot by world financial powers to isolate North Korea internationally,” RFA said. “To prevent it from happening, a concrete set of measures were discussed.”<br />
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Kim Jong-eun has plot to disrupt G20: RFA The Korea Times<br />
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Al Jazeera Photogs Pinched<br />
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September 22, 2010<br />
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Two cameramen working for Al Jazeera in Afghanistan were picked up by the International Security Assistance Force because they are suspected of working with the Taliban.<br />
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Al Jazeera countered that the arrests are “an attempt by the ISAF leadership to suppress its comprehensive coverage of the Afghan war”.<br />
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Al Jazeera slams ISAF over arrests Al Jazeera<br />
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Copenhagen Would-Be Bomber Finally Identifies Himself<br />
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September 20, 2010<br />
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On September 10 a bomb misfired and injured the attempted bomber in a restroom in the Hotel Jørgensen.<br />
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Bomb Fizzles in Copenhagen<br />
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The man who carried the bomb in a backpack had been telling authorities that he forgot his name.<br />
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Today he told them his name is Lors Doukaev.<br />
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Doukaev Admits Identity Copenhagen Post<br />
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Iran and South Korea Work-Around Sanctions<br />
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September 17, 2010<br />
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The Central Bank of Iran will establish accounts with “the Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank by the end of this month.”<br />
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Trade between the countries will continue with all transactions paid for in South Korean Won. <br />
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₩ ≈ $0.0009<br />
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Iran, S Korea find way to dodge sanctions – Iranian PressTV<br />
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Vietnamese Tax Man Taps Butt Firm for Dough<br />
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September 16, 2010<br />
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International tobacco company, British American Tobacco promised the Vietnamese that in exchange for big tax breaks the company would buy 40% of its tobacco from local Vietnamese farmers.<br />
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An audit by Dong Nai Tax Agency claims that locally grown tobacco accounted for only 4.4% of the company’s product and is now asking for $13.5 U.S. million in back taxes.<br />
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The tax agency passed the information on to the Dong Nai People’s Committee.<br />
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Tobacco firm ordered to pay over $18.2 mil in overdue tax, fines Thanh Nien News<br />
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Oil Pipeline in U.S. Fixed But Oil Not Flowing Yet<br />
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September 15, 2010<br />
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The oil pipeline “Line 6A” which supplies 670,000 barrels a day from Canada to the U.S. has been shut off since last week when it spilled 6,000 barrels in Illinois.<br />
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The Illinois leak is repaired but the oil will not begin flowing until the U.S. Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration gives its OK.<br />
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Repairs done on Enbridge’s Illinois pipeline – Calgary Herald<br />
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Iran Releases Sarah Shourd to Swiss Embassy<br />
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September 14, 2010<br />
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Accused by Iran as a spy, Sarah Shourd has been imprisoned in Iran for over a year but is now on her way home.<br />
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She was released today to the Swiss embassy in Tehran.<br />
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Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said she was released “on humanitarian grounds.”<br />
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Iran releases female U.S. detainee Tehran Times<br />
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Shourd released over health condition Iranian Press T.V.<br />
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Turks Change their Constitution<br />
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September 13, 2010<br />
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The controversial changes to Turkey’s constitution were OK’d by a national referendum Sunday.<br />
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The changes will remove travel and strike bans and increase the number of judges and give Turkish citizens more access to the courts.What will the constitutional changes mean for Turkey? – Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review – Turkey<br />
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Drones Strike Taliban<br />
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September 12, 2010<br />
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Reports are conflicting but 5 or 6 alleged Taliban members were killed by a U.S. drone which reportedly fired two rockets in the North Waziristan tribal district.<br />
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One report claims two foreign fighters were among the dead.<br />
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At least six killed in US drone strike – The Dawn – Pakistan<br />
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US drone strike kills five militants in North Waziristan – The Nation – Pakistan<br />
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Best Whorehouse in Sydney to go Public<br />
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September 11, 2010<br />
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The Stiletto Brothel – which proudly bills itself as “Simply Sydney’s Finest” – is about to become a publicly traded company.<br />
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It is due to merge with an already public Australian adult shop but before that can happen it has to become publicly listed. <br />
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Merger of sex companies is still in play Sydney Morning Herald<br />
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Bomb Fizzles in Copenhagen<br />
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September 10, 2010<br />
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It could have been bad but ended with the would-be bomber receiving treatment for burns.<br />
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The as-yet unidentified man – carrying IDs from two countries – was “in the bathroom of Hotel Jørgensen, located near Nørreport Station, the capital’s busiest commuter railway hub”<br />
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Although, apparently, the bomb’s initiator went off it did not ignite the bomb. It took the bomb squad five hours to robotically remove the backpack from the bomber and then detonate it.<br />
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No other injuries were reported.<br />
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Suspected bomber arrested The Copenhagen Post<br />
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Scientists Discover Dancing<br />
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September 8, 2010<br />
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Researchers at the University of Göttingen and Northumbria University showed women computer generated 3-D images and discovered that “men who dance vigorously with a fast-moving right knee and large, varied movements of their neck and torso are more attractive to women.”<br />
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Ladies love men with rhythm, study finds – The Local Germany<br />
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Japanese Greenpeace Sting Nets Suspended Sentence<br />
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September 7, 2010<br />
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Two Greenpeace Japan activists investigated illegal whale meat selling by placing an order and receiving the illegal meat. They turned the meat over to prosecutors hoping that there would be a criminal investigation but they were charged and convicted of the crime of receiving the meat.<br />
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Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki received a one-year suspended sentence from Aomori District Court. They plan to appeal the ruling.<br />
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Greenpeace pair guilty; no prison – The Japan Times<br />
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Putin Orders Extended Freeze on Grain Exports<br />
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September 2, 2010<br />
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Convinced that Russian grain dealers are holding onto grain in anticipation of the scheduled end to the Russian grain embargo at the end of the year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered the embargo extended until months into 2011 and possibly until the end of the grain harvest in the fall of 2011.<br />
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The Prime Minister’s news was a surprise to even the Agriculture Ministry which wasn’t aware of it until the public announcement.<br />
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Russia has had years of hard draught and raging wildfires this summer, severely straining its burgeoning grain export business.<br />
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Putin Extends Ban on Grain Exports – The Moscow Times<br />
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China Now Requires ID To Buy A Cell Phone Number<br />
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September 1, 2010<br />
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In the past, China’s 800 million cell phone users were not required to provide identification in order to get a phone number.<br />
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China is following the lead of Australia, India, Japan and Germany and now requires identification before a phone number is issued.<br />
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The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is requesting current mobile users to register.<br />
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ID required for new cell phones – China Daily<br />
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Turkey May Stop Defending Itself for Free Speech Violations<br />
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August 31, 2010<br />
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Turkey has used Article 301 of the Turkish penal code – the law makes it a crime to “insult” the government – as a defense in European Court cases involving free speech violations.<br />
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Today, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu hinted that Turkey will no longer use Article 301 as a defense in European Court cases and will try to settle those disputes out of court.<br />
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Turkey set to end defenses in freedom of speech cases – Hürriyet Daily News – ISTANBUL<br />
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BlackBerry “Gives In” – The Hindu<br />
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August 30, 2010<br />
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One of the reasons NEWS <br />
WORLDWIDE WILDCATVIKING provides links to newspapers from around the world is so readers can see for themselves what spin is put on news stories country-by-country.<br />
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Today THE HINDU – New Delhi - headlines the agreement between Blackberry (RMI) and India’s Department of Telecommunication:<br />
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BlackBerry gives in, agrees to monitoring of its services <br />
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Volcano Erupts in Sumatra<br />
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August 29, 2010<br />
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Mount Sinabung hasn’t erupted in 400 years but it had been showing signs of activity for days and had been placed on “red level”.<br />
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After midnight local time it began spewing lava and a mile high cloud of smoke.<br />
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Volcano Erupts on Indonesia’s Sumatra after 400 Years – Jakarta Globe<br />
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Mount Sinabung in Sumatra erupts – The Jakarta Post<br />
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Earlier this month a more frequently active Indonesian volcano erupted, causing fatalities.<br />
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Four Killed as Indonesian Volcano Spews Lava – Jakarta Globe<br />
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Drones Kill Four Tehreek-e-Taliban<br />
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August 28, 2010<br />
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Four members of Tehreek-e-Taliban were being tracked by U.S. drones in the Kurram tribal district of Pakistan. <br />
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When their two vehicles stopped in front of a house both were destroyed.<br />
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There are no reports of innocents hurt in the attack.<br />
The Dawn – Pakistan<br />
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Kenya Has A New Constitution – The Second Republic<br />
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August 27, 2010<br />
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Kenyans voted for a new constitution on August 4 and now they have one.<br />
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In It’s a new dawn for Kenya, and we deserve to celebrate Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki writes:<br />
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We have thus joined the countries of the world which have exercised the right to define their destiny.<br />
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In his essay Free at last, from the tyranny of the State Prime Minister Raila Odinga said:<br />
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On Friday, August 27, 2010, the old order has died and a new one born in our country. Our imprisonment in the colonial constitutional dispensation is over. The Imperial Presidency that the post-colonial regimes have created is now buried in history. A grand new republic — Kenya’s Second Republic – is born.<br />
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Iran Finds Uranium Veins<br />
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August 27, 2010<br />
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As the fuel rods are being lowered into Iran’s controversial reactor, Tehran Times is reporting that new uranium veins have been found.<br />
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“Previously, approximately a third of the country had been explored for uranium. But now, with the ample budget that the administration has committed to the organization (the AEOI), all of the country has been surveyed and some very promising veins of uranium have been discovered,” Salehi said in Tehran on Wednesday.<br />
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Tehran Times<br />
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French Will Stay in Afghanistan – Sarkozy<br />
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August 26, 2010<br />
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Responding to pressure to pull French forces out of Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a foreign policy speech:<br />
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“France will remain engaged in Afghanistan, with its allies, for as long as is necessary and for as long as the Afghan people wish”<br />
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France 24<br />
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Construction outside Jerusalem’s Green Line should continue after Sept. 26 – Lieberman<br />
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August 26, 2010<br />
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Established in the 1949 Armistice, the “Green Line” has been honored in the current building moratorium in Jerusalem but Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a radio interview (quoting The Jerusalem Post) “this situation should not continue.”<br />
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There are about 1,600 potential housing units that would be affected.<br />
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FM hints J’lem building was also frozen – The Jerusalem Post<br />
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Iran Ready to Arm Lebanon<br />
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August 25, 2010<br />
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Iranian Press TV reports that Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has declared that, if they ask for them, Iran is willing to provide the Lebanese military with state-of-the-art weapons.<br />
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British Spy Murdered<br />
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August 25, 2010<br />
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Gareth Williams, reportedly an expert decoder for the British intelligence service – MI6′s Government Communications Headquarters (eavesdropping) – was found murdered in his apartment in a posh London neighborhood near MI6 headquarters.<br />
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The reports say he was stabbed and his body was stuffed in a sports bag.<br />
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Telegraph<br />
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Irish Times<br />
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Meet Your New Taliban<br />
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August 24, 2010<br />
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How much do you remember what life was like when you were eight years old?<br />
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Matthew Nasuti of Kabul Press has offered an eye-opening analysis of how much an average-aged Afghan can remember about Taliban rule.<br />
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He also maintains that “Taliban” has a different meaning to modern Afghans than it does to Westerners.<br />
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According to the CIA’s Fact Book on Afghanistan, the median age for Afghan males is 17.9 years.<br />
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the Taliban of 2010, is not the same as the Taliban of 2001. The Taliban of today is not a reclusive monolith of rural mullahs and students.<br />
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It is a broad-based grouping of religious, tribal and nationalistic forces (provincial and cosmopolitan) that are loosely associated.<br />
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Some are the intolerant, hard-corps Taliban of old; some are simply opposed to the foreign presence; some are seeking justice for perceived American and NATO abuses; some are fighting for religious purposes; some tribal groups fight because they have been marginalized by the current warlords; some fight because the Taliban pay well; and some fight to protect their criminal enterprises.<br />
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America’s war plan founded on a fading premise – Matthew Nasuti – Kabul Press<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com