Politics
About 350 people gathered in the gymnasium of Trinity Baptist Church on St. Clair Avenue for a town hall meeting with officials from PACT, an acronym which stands for Partners Achieving Community Transformation. An elderly man named William Potter asked the speakers why Black homeowners in the community should have any faith in partnership with the Ohio State University when it has made little progress in the enrollment of Black students.
An official with OSU who was present said the university leads the Big Ten in enrollment of Black students. He said OSU's numbers on that front look better when we include the regional campuses.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- One of Thailand's most powerful politicians has denied accusations that "he was drunk" in Parliament, prompting a lively public debate about alcohol use by politicians and the legal limits on reporting such allegations.
The fearsome, combative Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, in his early 60s, is not a person to be trifled with.
Consider, for example, his job:
Mr. Chalerm is helping to lead an ongoing investigation into bomb blasts in Bangkok on Valentine's Day involving a group of Iranians during their alleged failed plot to assassinate Israeli diplomats.
He is also investigating an arrested dual citizen Swedish-Lebanese man who allegedly stockpiled explosive material near Bangkok earlier this year for Hezbollah terrorists.
Another case being worked by Mr. Chalerm involves the unsolved killing of 10 Chinese on the Mekong River in October during an alleged international methamphetamines smuggling attempt.
Mr. Chalerm wants to build a fence along part of Thailand's border with Burma, to stem the import of methamphetamines and heroin into this country.
The fearsome, combative Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, in his early 60s, is not a person to be trifled with.
Consider, for example, his job:
Mr. Chalerm is helping to lead an ongoing investigation into bomb blasts in Bangkok on Valentine's Day involving a group of Iranians during their alleged failed plot to assassinate Israeli diplomats.
He is also investigating an arrested dual citizen Swedish-Lebanese man who allegedly stockpiled explosive material near Bangkok earlier this year for Hezbollah terrorists.
Another case being worked by Mr. Chalerm involves the unsolved killing of 10 Chinese on the Mekong River in October during an alleged international methamphetamines smuggling attempt.
Mr. Chalerm wants to build a fence along part of Thailand's border with Burma, to stem the import of methamphetamines and heroin into this country.
The predictable "blowback" is underway in post- Qaddafi Libya. The events in February underscore the chaos wrought by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) illegal coup in the former Italian colony of Libya.
The first week in February, the New York Times ran the headline "Qaddafi’s Weapons Taken by Old Allies, Reinvigorate an Insurgent Army in Mali." Mali’s foreign minister told the Times that "The stability of the entire region could be under threat." The dormant Mali rebel movement, the Tuaregs insurgents are assaulting towns in the northern Mali desert. The Tuarges is in possession of anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, and other weapons that were part of the former Qaddifi military arsenal.
This should come as no surprise since ABC News reported last October 13 that former Qaddifi regime handheld missiles were popping up at Egyptian bazaars and the price for heat-seeking shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles had dropped from $10,000 to $4,000.
A follow up report by ABC News noted that out of the 20,000 portable shoulder-launch surface to air missiles, 15,000 remain unaccounted for.
The first week in February, the New York Times ran the headline "Qaddafi’s Weapons Taken by Old Allies, Reinvigorate an Insurgent Army in Mali." Mali’s foreign minister told the Times that "The stability of the entire region could be under threat." The dormant Mali rebel movement, the Tuaregs insurgents are assaulting towns in the northern Mali desert. The Tuarges is in possession of anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, and other weapons that were part of the former Qaddifi military arsenal.
This should come as no surprise since ABC News reported last October 13 that former Qaddifi regime handheld missiles were popping up at Egyptian bazaars and the price for heat-seeking shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles had dropped from $10,000 to $4,000.
A follow up report by ABC News noted that out of the 20,000 portable shoulder-launch surface to air missiles, 15,000 remain unaccounted for.
The media's ability to confuse celebrity "news" with war and economic disaster grows stronger.
As North Korea ramped up its threats to attack South Korea, CNN reassured its viewers that a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula would have "no effect whatsoever" on its Whitney Houston coverage. (The Borowitz Report)
Whitney even in death outranks fighting in Syria, wherever that is. Right wing preachers distract their electorate (congregations) by linking God to political issues.
TV appeals by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell sucked millions of dollars from their flocks. God spoke to them, they said. "God may have allowed what the nation deserved because of moral decay," Falwell warned. "God wants you to succeed in business," he preached. (Quest for Power: The Origins of the New American Right, film by Landau and Frank Diamand 1982)
As North Korea ramped up its threats to attack South Korea, CNN reassured its viewers that a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula would have "no effect whatsoever" on its Whitney Houston coverage. (The Borowitz Report)
Whitney even in death outranks fighting in Syria, wherever that is. Right wing preachers distract their electorate (congregations) by linking God to political issues.
TV appeals by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell sucked millions of dollars from their flocks. God spoke to them, they said. "God may have allowed what the nation deserved because of moral decay," Falwell warned. "God wants you to succeed in business," he preached. (Quest for Power: The Origins of the New American Right, film by Landau and Frank Diamand 1982)
The great Republican Contraceptoversy of 2012 further proves the decline of old line GOP moderatism. REPUBLICANS, the so-called "business" party, should be the first to acknowledge that an unintended pregnancy's cost to society is WAY HIGHER than the price of some pills. Republicans, oh yeah, the so-called champions of pro-life, should be first to concede that the more CONTRACEPTION availability, the less ABORTIONS. Unless of course this party's moderate wing is so bent by the religious right, it is no longer allowed to diiferentiate between the two.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Three Iranians who were arrested for allegedly setting off clay-like C-4 bombs in Bangkok on Valentine's Day, pasted more than 50 signs printed with an Arabic word describing "baked clay" pinpointing more than 27 sites including near the American Embassy, police said on Monday (Feb. 20).
Panicked residents in central Bangkok telephoned police on Monday to report additional sightings of identical signs attached in plain view to electricity poles, billboards, traffic signs, walls and elsewhere, including some sites where multiple signs appeared.
Locations included near Soi Ruam Rudee, which is an upscale two-lane road leading to the nearby rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy, police said.
Some police said the signs appeared to map a mile-long route leading to the JW Marriot Hotel, off Sukhumvit Soi 2, which is a couple of blocks from Soi Ruam Rudee and a popular venue for U.S. diplomats, executives, tourists and other nationalities.
Israel said Iran was plotting to assassinate Israeli diplomats in Bangkok by using "magnet bombs" which could be attached to envoys' vehicles.
Panicked residents in central Bangkok telephoned police on Monday to report additional sightings of identical signs attached in plain view to electricity poles, billboards, traffic signs, walls and elsewhere, including some sites where multiple signs appeared.
Locations included near Soi Ruam Rudee, which is an upscale two-lane road leading to the nearby rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy, police said.
Some police said the signs appeared to map a mile-long route leading to the JW Marriot Hotel, off Sukhumvit Soi 2, which is a couple of blocks from Soi Ruam Rudee and a popular venue for U.S. diplomats, executives, tourists and other nationalities.
Israel said Iran was plotting to assassinate Israeli diplomats in Bangkok by using "magnet bombs" which could be attached to envoys' vehicles.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Police hunted on Friday (Feb. 17) for a fifth alleged terrorist who may have taught three arrested Iranians how to bomb Israeli diplomats in Bangkok, and released a photo showing the trio celebrating with Thai girls at a sleazy beach resort before bungling their plot.
"The additional suspect is a 52-year-old Iranian man, Nikkhahfard Javad, who was seen leaving the house hours before the blast," said Bangkok Metropolitan Police Deputy Commander Anuchai Lekbumrung on Friday (Feb. 17), referring to the Iranians' bomb-packed house which exploded on Tuesday (Feb. 14), apparently unintentionally.
Thai media said police suspected Mr. Javad was a bomb-making instructor, who allegedly helped the three younger Iranian men build so-called "magnet bombs" with C-4 explosives which could be stuck on the exterior of vehicles belonging to Israeli embassy personnel in Bangkok, but the plot failed.
A photograph published on Friday (Feb. 17) identified Mr. Javad as a stocky, graying, slightly balding man with a moustache and close-cropped beard arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
"The additional suspect is a 52-year-old Iranian man, Nikkhahfard Javad, who was seen leaving the house hours before the blast," said Bangkok Metropolitan Police Deputy Commander Anuchai Lekbumrung on Friday (Feb. 17), referring to the Iranians' bomb-packed house which exploded on Tuesday (Feb. 14), apparently unintentionally.
Thai media said police suspected Mr. Javad was a bomb-making instructor, who allegedly helped the three younger Iranian men build so-called "magnet bombs" with C-4 explosives which could be stuck on the exterior of vehicles belonging to Israeli embassy personnel in Bangkok, but the plot failed.
A photograph published on Friday (Feb. 17) identified Mr. Javad as a stocky, graying, slightly balding man with a moustache and close-cropped beard arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
On two occasions in my life I found myself living close to the South China Sea. The sea became my escape from life's pressing responsibilities. But there is no escaping the fact that the deceptively serene waters are now also grounds for a nascent but real new cold war.
China takes the name of the sea very seriously. Its claim over the relatively massive water body – laden with oil, natural gas and other resources – is perhaps 'ill-defined', per the account of the BBC (Nov 3, 2011), but it is also very serious. Countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are uneasy but are caught in a bind. China's growing regional influence – to some, perhaps 'encroaching hegemony' – is an uncontested fact of life. To challenge - or balance - the rising Chinese power, these countries face a most difficult choice: accepting China's supremacy or embracing an intractable American return to the region. The latter option is particularly worrisome considering the US's poor military track record throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
China takes the name of the sea very seriously. Its claim over the relatively massive water body – laden with oil, natural gas and other resources – is perhaps 'ill-defined', per the account of the BBC (Nov 3, 2011), but it is also very serious. Countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are uneasy but are caught in a bind. China's growing regional influence – to some, perhaps 'encroaching hegemony' – is an uncontested fact of life. To challenge - or balance - the rising Chinese power, these countries face a most difficult choice: accepting China's supremacy or embracing an intractable American return to the region. The latter option is particularly worrisome considering the US's poor military track record throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Malaysia arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 15) an alleged member of an Iranian bomb-making gang who plotted to assassinate Israeli diplomats, one day after he fled Bangkok where their house exploded and another Iranian had destroyed his own legs in a bungled blast while battling police.
Thailand meanwhile searched on Wednesday (Feb. 15) for a woman identified as an Iranian named Rohani Leila, 32.
She allegedly had rented the now-damaged house where the four suspects stayed, a few blocks from Iran's government-run Cultural Center in an upscale neighborhood where many Thai Muslims live.
The man arrested in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, allegedly used an Iranian passport, number M20305701, which identified him as Masoud Sedaghatzadeh.
Mr. Sedaghatzadeh was born in Tehran on February 12, 1981, and the son of Abbas Sedaghatzadeh, according to a published scan of the document. (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Third-Iranian-suspect-arrested…)
Thailand meanwhile searched on Wednesday (Feb. 15) for a woman identified as an Iranian named Rohani Leila, 32.
She allegedly had rented the now-damaged house where the four suspects stayed, a few blocks from Iran's government-run Cultural Center in an upscale neighborhood where many Thai Muslims live.
The man arrested in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, allegedly used an Iranian passport, number M20305701, which identified him as Masoud Sedaghatzadeh.
Mr. Sedaghatzadeh was born in Tehran on February 12, 1981, and the son of Abbas Sedaghatzadeh, according to a published scan of the document. (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Third-Iranian-suspect-arrested…)
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Israel and the U.S. issued emergency warnings after a suspected Iranian bomb-maker blundered by exploding his rented safe-house and challenging police in Bangkok's streets, resulting in injuries to four civilians and accidentally blowing one of his own legs off.
Three explosions erupted in Bangkok in the afternoon on Valentine's Day, one month after Thailand arrested a Lebanese-Swedish man for allegedly stockpiling chemicals in a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok to create explosives.
Security forces were investigating if the two alleged bomb-making incidents were related.
"The attempted terrorist attack in Bangkok proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to perpetrate terror," Israeli Defense Minster Ehud Barak said on Tuesday (February 14), hours after Thai police seized the bloodied bomber amid shrapnel and debris on a busy sidewalk while pedestrians gawked in horror.
Mr. Barak, who visited Bangkok on Sunday, made the comments in nearby Singapore.
Three explosions erupted in Bangkok in the afternoon on Valentine's Day, one month after Thailand arrested a Lebanese-Swedish man for allegedly stockpiling chemicals in a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok to create explosives.
Security forces were investigating if the two alleged bomb-making incidents were related.
"The attempted terrorist attack in Bangkok proves once again that Iran and its proxies continue to perpetrate terror," Israeli Defense Minster Ehud Barak said on Tuesday (February 14), hours after Thai police seized the bloodied bomber amid shrapnel and debris on a busy sidewalk while pedestrians gawked in horror.
Mr. Barak, who visited Bangkok on Sunday, made the comments in nearby Singapore.