News Stories

[KimmyChan]

Profits jump at Virgin Atlantic -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8067640.stm

[TinyRedLeaf]

Aung San Suu Kyi denies charges

Yangon (May 26): Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi told a court today that she did not violate the terms of her house arrest by offering "temporary shelter" to an American man, John Yettaw, who swam to her lakeside home.

Suu Kyi said she was not immediately aware of the late-night visit but was informed later by her assistant.

In a rare concession by the regime, diplomats and some Myanmarese journalists were allowed to attend the trial. Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the much-criticised trial, and faces up to five years in prison. She has been under house arrest or in jail for 13 of the last 19 years, including the last six.

This was the first time she had taken the stand at her trial, which began more than a week ago, at the maximum-security Insein prison in Yangon. The case which has drawn widespread international condemnation, including those from Myanmar's neighbours in South-east Asia, of the country's iron-fisted military junta.

"I didn't," the 63-year-old replied when a judge asked her whether she had breached the restriction order keeping her at her residence.

Appearing frail and pale, Suu Kyi was questioned for less than half an hour about the incident, according to the diplomats and journalists allowed in court.

"I didn't know about (the visit) immediately. I was informed about it at 5am. My assistant told me that a man had arrived," she told the court.

She said she gave "temporary shelter" to Yettaw, and did not inform the authorities about the intrusion. The 63-year-old had earlier told her lawyers that she kept quiet about the visit for fear of landing him or the security guards in trouble.

Suu Kyi said Yettaw left her home at 11.45pm local time on May 5. "I knew only that he went to the lakeside. I did not know which way he went because it was dark," she told the court.

However, the ruling generals say the incident was a stunt designed to embarrass the government. There are signs the authorities want to bring the trial to a swift end, but the trial is widely seen as a judicial charade to justify keeping Suu Kyi locked up until after next year's election.

- BBC NEWS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

SEE ALSO: WHY IS MYANMAR'S JUNTA AFRAID OF SUU KYI?

Obama chooses first Hispanic for Supreme Court judge

Washington (May 26): United States President Barack Obama has nominated Ms Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the country's Supreme Court.

Ms Sotomayor, 54, who has now to be approved by a Senate vote, would be the first Hispanic to take the position. She would replace Justice David Souter, who announced his retirement from the top US court earlier this month.

Mr Obama said he had chosen Ms Sotomayor after an "exhaustive" process, and paid tribute to her as an "inspiring woman". He said she would bring a "depth of experience and a breadth of perspective" to the role.

If approved by the Senate, Ms Sotomayor would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current Supreme Court. Observers say any nomination made by Mr Obama is likely to be approved because the Democrats dominate the Senate.

White House officials told the Associated Press that Ms Sotomayor would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any other justice confirmed in the past 70 years.

She has been nominated to serve as a judge by both Republican and Democrat presidents. In 1991, president George H. W. Bush named her a district judge and his successor in the White House, president Bill Clinton, nominated her to the circuit court in 1997.

Mr Obama had stressed the need to appoint a justice who had life experience as well as legal capabilities.

Ms Sotomayor was raised on a housing estate in the Bronx, in one of New York City's most deprived areas. She is said to have been inspired by the Perry Mason TV series to become a judge, and was educated at both Princeton and Yale.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the US, and has the authority to strike down any state or federal law it deems unconstitutional. Each of the nine Supreme Court justices is nominated to the post for life.

Of the incumbents, four are regarded as liberal, four as conservative and one is seen as unaligned. If appointed, Ms Sotomayor is expected to be on the liberal wing leaving the political balance unchanged as Mr Souter is also a liberal.

- BBC NEWS

[KimmyChan]

Barr era ends at Irn Bru firm -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8068460.stm

[Shadow Kira01]

Hiroshima resets 'peace clock' after N. Korean nuke test

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

Hiroshima resets 'peace clock' after N. Korean nuke test

Guess they should put another clock below that. maybe days until N.Korea delivers its first load or something.

[Dominic Night]

The Nuclear test scare's me a bit. This just shows that we can't let our guard down for anything. I'm sure if something happens this might bring the world to the new WW.

Spoiler for My greatest fear:

If they nuke japan, all our anime will be gone.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Dominic Night

The Nuclear test scare's me a bit. This just shows that we can't let our guard down for anything. I'm sure if something happens this might bring the world to the new WW.

Spoiler for My greatest fear:

If they nuke japan, all our anime will be gone.

I'm sure the enthusiastic gaijin will be more than happy to replace their native "predecessors" if that happens. As I said in the other thread. N. Korea is feared only by the west, japan and korea.

[Dominic Night]

I see. Well I'm just hoping they don't do anything soon. Or that someone manages to convince them to not do anything or disarm, even though its highly unlikely.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Dominic Night

I see. Well I'm just hoping they don't do anything soon. Or that someone manages to convince them to not do anything or disarm, even though its highly unlikely.

The only way to do that is plant spies to locate nuclear facilities and send in B-2's to wipe them out. At least if it detonates, it will be in N. Korean territory. Talk about the military equivalent of Basketball's "Shot block". This military operation will be better than Ben Walllace's best blocks.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Pornographic videos flood YouTube

Didn't see this in this forum... I lol at this... anyway it mentions 4chan.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

Pornographic videos flood YouTube

Didn't see this in this forum... I lol at this... anyway it mentions 4chan.

Youtube's being too prudish these days...

[Anh_Minh]

There are alternatives to Youtube if you want something "less prudish". They have a right to want to address a larger audience... and that means no porn.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

There are alternatives to Youtube if you want something "less prudish". They have a right to want to address a larger audience... and that means no porn.

They delete videos which contain NO nudity at all. Larger audience, I guess that encompasses those who consume this kind of stuff. What they're doing by deleting videos and trying to be family friendly is actually making their audience base narrower . Flagging exists for a reason.

What happened to the WCW when it tried to be family friendly? It died. Who killed it? WWF's attitude era.

[Anh_Minh]

No, larger audiences means not getting banned from various networks for being a porn site.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

No, larger audiences means not getting banned from various networks for being a porn site.

Like I said, they delete videos with NO nudity at all. Just a few suggestive poses wearing "nice" clothing already merits a ban. I've got quite a few favorites I can no longer watch anymore, such as the race queen videos. Since when did posing in front of a camera wearing lingerie be classified as porn? I guess videos of people testing guns are classified as "promoting violence" and should be deleted too, no? I hope not. Youtube has nice videos of people firing M82 barretts, my fave gun. I hope it stays that way.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Thingle

Like I said, they delete videos with NO nudity at all. Just a few suggestive poses wearing "nice" clothing already merits a ban. I've got quite a few favorites I can no longer watch anymore, such as the race queen videos. Since when did posing in front of a camera wearing lingerie be classified as porn?

My guess is, since conservative parents learned to use the internet. Youtube's job isn't to help you... relieve tension. Or even to be particularly fair. It's to get the maximum eyeballs for the minimum headache. Controversy over what constitutes porn or not brings too much headache for not enough eyeballs, so they prefer to play it safe. I don't blame them.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Washington (May 26): United States President Barack Obama has nominated Ms Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the country's Supreme Court.

Ms Sotomayor, 54, who has now to be approved by a Senate vote, would be the first Hispanic to take the position. She would replace Justice David Souter, who announced his retirement from the top US court earlier this month.

Mr Obama said he had chosen Ms Sotomayor after an "exhaustive" process, and paid tribute to her as an "inspiring woman". He said she would bring a "depth of experience and a breadth of perspective" to the role.

If approved by the Senate, Ms Sotomayor would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current Supreme Court. Observers say any nomination made by Mr Obama is likely to be approved because the Democrats dominate the Senate.

White House officials told the Associated Press that Ms Sotomayor would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any other justice confirmed in the past 70 years.

She has been nominated to serve as a judge by both Republican and Democrat presidents. In 1991, president George H. W. Bush named her a district judge and his successor in the White House, president Bill Clinton, nominated her to the circuit court in 1997.

Mr Obama had stressed the need to appoint a justice who had life experience as well as legal capabilities.

Ms Sotomayor was raised on a housing estate in the Bronx, in one of New York City's most deprived areas. She is said to have been inspired by the Perry Mason TV series to become a judge, and was educated at both Princeton and Yale.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the US, and has the authority to strike down any state or federal law it deems unconstitutional. Each of the nine Supreme Court justices is nominated to the post for life.

Of the incumbents, four are regarded as liberal, four as conservative and one is seen as unaligned. If appointed, Ms Sotomayor is expected to be on the liberal wing leaving the political balance unchanged as Mr Souter is also a liberal.

- BBC NEWS

Was gonna post the same thing in the US politics thread but you beat me to it. Was curious to see if people are tossing up a fuss for the new candidate being;
1: A woman
2: Not white.

Been reading her background on wiki, she sounds awesome and seems to have come very very far.
(Simple case of education and hard work taking you far in life)
Don't know if appointing her will effect much in the upper class world over ther or the law system, but yay for diversity. ^^

And yay, great.
Just what we need, more negativity on japanese anime & manga culture, from the youtube stunt.
(Burn 4chan down, seriously, scum of the internet....)

As the disturbing videos were being uploaded, many viewers added them to their favourites and rated them highly.

One user believed to have uploaded some of the pornographic material videos is Flonty, whose profile states that he is 21 and from Germany.

He told the BBC: "I did it because YouTube keeps deleting music. It was part of a 4Chan raid."

4Chan is a bulletin board focusing on Japanese manga and anime but some of its more extreme sections have been described on online messageboards as "sick" and "horrifying stuff".

And thingle, it's not a mere case of youtube being prudish.
Google bought it, they own it.
The reason this caused an uproar is cause the porn was edited within kids vids and named under things like Hannah montana.

True, there's porn on millions of sites which children could easily have access to, but there is a significant difference between that and interest groups purposely tricking and delivering porn to children in a Hannah Montana package on YouTube .

Flonty says "Children will find inappropriate material around the internet anyway." The difference being is that those kids will activly be looking for porn, not having it forced into their faces by this sad little man.

That's taking their freedom away, thus lies deceit and thus lies the problem.
As amusing as it is that many favoured it and gave it max ratings, it was targeted for kids who wouldn't be searching for it in the first place.
Not all wanna see a dick pound away at a woman at max close up just for the hell of it, you know...

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

conservative parents

ahh yes, the bane of technology since 1850.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Mystique

Was gonna post the same thing in the US politics thread but you beat me to it. Was curious to see if people are tossing up a fuss for the new candidate being;
1: A woman
2: Not white.

No, the big fuss is the "shock and consternation" (only from rightwing talking heads) that she has some progressive views about the rights of employees and citizens. And (the horror!) she was appointed by a "progressive president". The rightwing was going to have a hissy fit no matter who was proposed, but the "not white woman" does mean the rightwing will have to tread carefully not to alienate the vast majority of the public.

Most people would classify her as solidly "center left" in the current US spectrum. Anyone who classifies her as "far left wing" pretty much outs themself as an extreme rightwinger. (shrug). Elections have consequences. The GOP had complete control of the system for 8 years and substantial control for 28 years .... and failed to seriously address any of their "hot button voting issues" while providing a conduit for the looting of the system by small select individuals and corporate interests - the end game of a 28 year power play.

Odd how that happens.....

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Vexx

No, the big fuss is the "shock and consternation" that she has some progressive views about the rights of employees and citizens. And (the horror!) she was appointed by a "progressive president". The rightwing was going to have a hissy fit no matter who was proposed, but the "not white woman" does mean the rightwing will have to tread carefully not to alienate the vast majority of the public.

Most people would classify her as solidly "center left" in the current US spectrum. Anyone who classifies her as "far left wing" pretty much outs themself as an extreme rightwinger. (shrug). Elections have consequences. The GOP had complete control of the system for 8 years and substantial control for 28 years .... and failed to seriously address any of their "hot button voting issues" while providing a conduit for the looting of the system by small select individuals and corporate interests - the end game of a 28 year power play.

Odd how that happens.....

When they use the term 'progressive' what are they really trying to say under their sugarcoating, by the way?
(it's a new BS sounding term for me within politics)