News Stories

[Zu Ra]

Smoke on the Skyline, makes Thailand look like a warzone .

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=123935401

[Yu Ominae]

Details are up on the attacks against the ROK Navy.

South Korea says North torpedoed ship

By Jack Kim and Jonathan Thatcher

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea accused the reclusive North on Thursday of torpedoing one of its warships, heightening tension in the economically powerful region and testing the international position of China, Pyongyang's only major backer.

South Korea said it would take "firm" measures against its impoverished neighbor, which furiously responded that it was ready for war if Seoul or its allies imposed sanctions.

A report by investigators, including experts from the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden, concluded that a North Korean submarine had fired the torpedo which sank the Cheonan corvette in March, killing 46 sailors.

"There is no other plausible explanation," their report said.

Financial markets in Seoul showed little reaction to the widely anticipated findings of the report but were watching nervously for any serious escalation in tensions.

"The key is what kind of measures South Korea will take and how North Korea will react to them," said Choi Seong-lak, an analyst at SK Securities.

"If things become violent it will affect foreign investors, but for today the impact from the result itself will be limited."

International condemnation was immediate, with the stark exception of China, which analysts say is desperate to avoid any action that might destabilize its reclusive neighbor and lead to a spill-out into in its territory.

A senior South Korean government official said previously that the attack appeared to have been in revenge for a firefight near the disputed North-South border late last year in which the North's navy was humiliated.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the contents of the South Korean investigation deeply troubling.

Both the United States and Britain gave their backing to the findings, with the White House calling it an act of aggression that was another sign of the North's unacceptable behavior.

China simply termed the sinking "unfortunate." Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai declined to comment on the South Korean report and urged stability on the peninsula.

FIRM MEASURES

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will hold an emergency meeting of his National Security Council on Friday. His government has already made clear it has no plans for a retaliatory strike of its own but will be pressing the international community to take action, probably more sanctions, against the North.

"We will be taking firm, responsive measures against the North, and through international cooperation, we have to make the North admit its wrongdoing and come back as a responsible member of the international community," Lee was quoted by his office as telling Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The report, announced in a nationally televised news conference, said intelligence had shown that North Korean submarines were likely in operation near the scene of the sinking, with similar vessels of other neighboring countries all inside their territorial waters.

"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine," it said.

The issue has plunged already icy relations between the two Koreas deeper into the freezer.

North Korea said the South's conservative government was using the incident for political gain and to further undermine ties between the two Koreas, which have yet to sign a formal peace treaty to end their 1950-53 war.

"Our army and people will promptly react to any 'punishment' and 'retaliation' and to any 'sanctions' infringing upon our state interests with various forms of tough measures including an all-out war," its official news agency quoted the powerful National Defence Commission as saying in a typically florid statement.

The issue also puts China in a tricky spot. The host of on-again, off-again regional talks to rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons program is the reclusive state's only major ally and is reluctant to penalize its government.

"It's going to be very, very difficult for China to navigate this one. The South Koreans are not particularly pleased about what China's doing," said Charles Freeman, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Seoul is already upset with Beijing, a major trading partner, for hosting North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on a rare trip abroad before the outcome of the investigation was announced.

But there have been media reports in the South that Chinese leaders may not have given the frail-looking Kim as much support as he wanted, speculating ties may now be starting to fray.

Paik Jin-hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul National University, said tension between the two Koreas was inevitable.

"North Korea has given out war threats before and they are doing this now because the situation has become urgent for them. They will try to block sanctions at all costs. In this heightened state of affairs, provocations may occur."

(Additional reporting by Rhee So-eui, Miyoung Kim, Christine Kim and Kim Yeon-hee in Seoul, Chris Buckley in Beijing, Paul Eckert and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

I won't be surprised if the DPRK Navy is responsible. Thing is, their submarines are antiquated, dating back from the Cold War years. Not much info I have on their fleet aside from what Bermudez can provide.

[Mr. DJ]

Originally Posted by Zu Ra

Smoke on the Skyline, makes Thailand look like a warzone .

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=123935401

damn man...

[MitsubishiZero]

About The South Korea battle ship thingy: seriously, you say that it is an advanced and modern ship, so it should be able to detect all kinds of torpedo and submarines that the North Koreans can throw at you. Come on, let's face it, their ships and armaments are from the Cold War and a torpedo cannot exceed a certain range. Your supposedly advanced ship should had been able to detect the existance of North Korean submarines and the torpedos, and counter-acted. Also, I find the reaction by the US very funny. Obama said he "supported the investigation" instead of the usual reaction of screaming for sanctions and apology and everything. Something is very fishy........



About Thailand: From what I can see it is like a civial war going on there now, one group of armed people fighting against the government army with real guns and bullets and M79s........and setting buildings on fire (Shopping malls, TV stations, banks etc) is just simply the acts of rebels.

[NinjaYali]

Happy Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!!!

Spoiler for Instructions on how to draw the Prophet Mohammed for great justice:

Pakistan has turned it's attention to this glorious day.

A Seattle cartoonist's satirical suggestion that Thursday be dubbed "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" has led to anything but humor in some quarters, particularly Pakistan, which on Wednesday evening shut down Facebook.

An Islamic lawyers association in Lahore, Pakistan, argued that the contest essentially equaled blasphemy, and on Wednesday won a court injunction against the social-networking site. A Facebook page promoting the cartoonist's idea (but not set up by her) had drawn upward of 71,000 members as of 11 p.m. PDT Wednesday night.

Facebook will reportedly be shut down in Pakistan for the remainder of the month.

[Azuma Denton]

An Islamic organization in Indonesia also ask goverment to press Facebook to remove the content. And some fanatic even screaming of blocking Facebook connection from Indonesia.

[NinjaYali]

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

An Islamic organization in Indonesia also ask goverment to press Facebook to remove the content. And some fanatic even screaming of blocking Facebook connection from Indonesia.

You know what the ironic thing is, I can find images of Mohammed much worse then what they put on facebook.

Anyway, enjoy the frenzy

[Kaioshin Sama]

What better way to start the day then with some good old fashioned Miss USA controversy sparked by xenophobic blog comments that come courtesy of a Fox News contributor:

Just as an aside, why does it seem like every female anchor and guest on Fox News is a power dressing (usually attractive) blonde with lip gloss on?

Please note that this is more of a rhetorical question than anything.

Edit:

A small update where Rima Fakih calls the comments by Debbie Schlussel hurtful

[Azuma Denton]

Originally Posted by NinjaYali

You know what the ironic thing is, I can find images of Mohammed much worse then what they put on facebook.

Anyway, enjoy the frenzy

Well, most of Islamic fanatics here doesnt use internet...
To them, internet means Yahoo!, Google, Facebook, local news site.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

Details are up on the attacks against the ROK Navy.



I won't be surprised if the DPRK Navy is responsible. Thing is, their submarines are antiquated, dating back from the Cold War years. Not much info I have on their fleet aside from what Bermudez can provide.

Not much as antiquated when China is supplying them with arms. They probably had 2nd hand 1990s armanent, but still nothing of at edge.

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Well, most of Islamic fanatics here doesnt use internet...
To them, internet means Yahoo!, Google, Facebook, local news site.

Genius! So let's cut the Muslim world off the internet! *sarcastic*

Although this "Draw Mohammed Day" is rather rude as an idea, the religious fanatics' response isn't helping their image either of making Islam look benevolent, nor make themselves look intelligent. Though it is funny that Iran or the Al-Qaeda hasn't made any response.

And I would suggest that whoever started this make a public address to clear up the intentions of the "day". When a million idiots decry this as blasphemy, the million idiots are still citizens of their country, and their countries still needs to run each day.

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

An Islamic organization in Indonesia also ask goverment to press Facebook to remove the content. And some fanatic even screaming of blocking Facebook connection from Indonesia.

I find it rather interesting that their government, or even that Islamic organisation, aren't doing anything about the local economy or corruption, but rather, spending time on this kind of small issues.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by MitsubishiZero

About The South Korea battle ship thingy: seriously, you say that it is an advanced and modern ship, so it should be able to detect all kinds of torpedo and submarines that the North Koreans can throw at you. Come on, let's face it, their ships and armaments are from the Cold War and a torpedo cannot exceed a certain range. Your supposedly advanced ship should had been able to detect the existance of North Korean submarines and the torpedos, and counter-acted.

Maybe if both ships were on a war footing and the South Korean ship had authorization to immediately attack and destroy the Nork ship the second they spotted it...

But the South Koreans don't want a war with the North (namely because it'd be a mess and they'd have to manage a 4th world country afterwords) so the South Korean vessel probably is not on the hair trigger alert that it'd be in a wartime situation. So the North Korean ship could conceivably get close enough to the Korean ship to fire off torpedo's with there not being enough time for the South Korean ship to respond due to them perhaps being more lax than usual.

Originally Posted by MitsubishiZero

Also, I find the reaction by the US very funny. Obama said he "supported the investigation" instead of the usual reaction of screaming for sanctions and apology and everything. Something is very fishy........

How is screaming for sanctions and apology the usual response for the Obama administration with regards to North Korea?

And I seriously doubt this is some kind of false flag incident if that's what you're implying.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

What better way to start the day then with some good old fashioned Miss USA controversy sparked by xenophobic blog comments that come courtesy of a Fox News contributor:

Just as an aside, why does it seem like every female anchor and guest on Fox News is a power dressing (usually attractive) blonde with lip gloss on?

Please note that this is more of a rhetorical question than anything.

Edit:

A small update where Rima Fakih calls the comments by Debbie Schlussel hurtful

Debbie Schlussel is a fucking bitch as usual.

[Mr. DJ]

her face hurts my eyes

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

What better way to start the day then with some good old fashioned Miss USA controversy sparked by xenophobic blog comments that come courtesy of a Fox News contributor:

Just as an aside, why does it seem like every female anchor and guest on Fox News is a power dressing (usually attractive) blonde with lip gloss on?

Please note that this is more of a rhetorical question than anything.

Edit:

A small update where Rima Fakih calls the comments by Debbie Schlussel hurtful

"They have sources that they were singing lebanese songs...
because it's a lebanese resturant"
Genius.
Where there's haters in America, there are the lovers and we need more of the lovers like that dude that breaks apart the blog report to show just how stupid it is out there.

[Azuma Denton]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I find it rather interesting that their government, or even that Islamic organisation, aren't doing anything about the local economy or corruption, but rather, spending time on this kind of small issues.

Nope nope...
To them, nation law <<<<<< religion.
As long as religion didnt forbide, then all is "halal". Law can't even stop that.
Even suicide bombers is hailed as heroes in some region of Indonesia.

And guess what. Recently, a tax officer is captured for corruption. He uses some the corruption money for building mosque and sent some of his neighboorhood to Mekkah. For what? Just so his GOD won't give him divine judgement.

And here's my personal experience. I've heard some sermon in mosque near my place that encourage all moslem people there to fight against the America and their ally. And they even curse Indonesian people that sided with Zionist bla bla.

Not that i hate Islam. But i hate narrow minded people like that. Killing people for a place in heaven? Sadly, many still believe that fairy tale in Indonesia.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Nope nope...
To them, nation law <<<<<< religion.
As long as religion didnt forbide, then all is "halal". Law can't even stop that.
Even suicide bombers is hailed as heroes in some region of Indonesia.

And guess what. Recently, a tax officer is captured for corruption. He uses some the corruption money for building mosque and sent some of his neighboorhood to Mekkah. For what? Just so his GOD won't give him divine judgement.

And here's my personal experience. I've heard some sermon in mosque near my place that encourage all moslem people there to fight against the America and their ally. And they even curse Indonesian people that sided with Zionist bla bla.

Not that i hate Islam. But i hate narrow minded people like that. Killing people for a place in heaven? Sadly, many still believe that fairy tale in Indonesia.

And I thought it is stated somewhere in the Koran that only Allah has the right to judge who goes to heaven or who gets to be the Dijjal's plaything.

Divine judgement or not, it is nonsensical to build another mosque when people out there are going hungry. These people may be religious, but they got their priorities all wrong.

[Joojoobees]

Originally Posted by Mystique

"They have sources that they were singing lebanese songs...
because it's a lebanese resturant"
Genius.
Where there's haters in America, there are the lovers and we need more of the lovers like that dude that breaks apart the blog report to show just how stupid it is out there.

"They'll use it for what? Secret bimbo attacks?"

I can't believe the utter UTTER irresponsibility of some people. You can criticize the Miss USA pageant for a lot of things. But when you start saying it is part of some conspiracy to elevate Islam, you should be locked up. That is a clear sign you have gone off your meds, and to keep your community safe, you should be LOCKED UP.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

"They'll use it for what? Secret bimbo attacks?"

I can't believe the utter UTTER irresponsibility of some people. You can criticize the Miss USA pageant for a lot of things. But when you start saying it is part of some conspiracy to elevate Islam, you should be locked up. That is a clear sign you have gone off your meds, and to keep your community safe, you should be LOCKED UP.

One of the great things about America is that people are allowed to *document* that they are batshit insane so the rest of us can "spot the loony" more easily.

[Autumn Demon]

Swedish princess continues sexist wedding tradition

[Yu Ominae]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Not much as antiquated when China is supplying them with arms. They probably had 2nd hand 1990s armanent, but still nothing of at edge.

That is possible when another Korean War is about to erupt and China wishes to help the DPRK. But when push comes to shove that China wants a peace agreement between the Koreas, they can always stop supplying them with weapons and vehicles. I guess the same goes for the Russians.

[Azuma Denton]

Just read local newspaper today.

Pakistan has blocked all access to Youtube, Wikipedia, and 450 other sites regarding Facebook incident about Nabi Muhammad.

O.o


US vows punishment for North Korea over ship sinking

Why US vows?? This is problem between two Koreans...