Why Ban Ki-moon is the world's most dangerous Korean

I have been saying that Ban Ki Moon is a pariah since last year and finally the media has taken notice...


http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/19/nowhere_man



"....though, Ban Ki-moon appears to have set the standard for failure. It's not that Ban has committed any particularly egregious mistakes in his 2½ years on the job. But at a time when global leadership is urgently needed, when climate change and international terrorism and the biggest financial crisis in 60 years might seem to require some—any!—response, the former South Korean foreign minister has instead been trotting the globe collecting honorary degrees, issuing utterly forgettable statements, and generally frittering away any influence he might command. He has become a kind of accidental tourist, a dilettante on the international stage."

Think Again: Asia's Rise

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/22/think_again_asias_rise?page=0,0

Don't believe the hype about the decline of America and the dawn of a new Asian age. It will be many decades before China, India, and the rest of the region take over the world, if they ever do.

PORTRAITS OF INSTABILITY---Haunting images from the world's most fragile states

Absolutely stunning look at the world you don't see on CNN...the real front lines of struggle...
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/22/portraits_of_instability

Fatal neglect: The magnitude of crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is staggering. Some 45,000 people die every month, the International Rescue Committee estimates, putting the total dead since 1998 at 5.4 million -- more than in any conflict since World War II. All but 0.4 percent of the deaths come from preventable diseases and malnutrition -- a phenomenon that has arisen due to horrid conditions in displacement camps that lack infrastructure, basic supplies, and proper medical care. The displaced children seen here, in a camp in eastern Congo, are among the 1 million displaced from North Kivu province alone.

THE KING IS DEAD

Michael Jackson, Pop Icon, Is Dead at 50

LOS ANGELES — For his legions of fans, he was the Peter Pan of pop music: the little boy who refused to grow up. But on the verge of another attempted comeback, he is suddenly gone, this time for good. Michael Jackson, whose quintessentially American Tale of celebrity and excess took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and failed plastic surgery, was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at U.C.L.A. Medical Center after arriving in a coma, a city official said. Mr. Jackson was 50, having spent 40 of those years in the public eye he loved....read more at New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/arts/music/26jackson.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

and..
http://www.tmz.com/

MADDONNA CAN'T STOP CRYING OVER JACKSON

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE....'WE HAVE LOST A GENIUS'

LIZ TAYLOR....TOO DEVASTATED TO COMMENT

Myanmar's secret military tunnel network

Missiles and nuclear technology, counterfeiting money and cigarette smuggling, front companies and restaurants in foreign countries, labor export to the Middle East -- North Korea has been very innovative when it comes to raising badly needed foreign exchange for the regime in Pyongyang. But there is a less known trade in service that the North Koreans have offered to its foreign clients: expertise in tunneling. A fascinating new glimpse of this business has now been revealed in secret photos from Burma.
North Korean technicians have helped them construct underground facilities where they can survive any threats from their own people as well as the outside world. It is not known if the tunnels are linked to Burma's reported efforts to develop nuclear technology -- in which the North Koreans allegedly are active as well.... read more from this article....




http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/06/12/200906120027.asp

See videos of Myanmar's secret military tunnels here....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFCa3iuKLg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fenglish.aljazeera.net%2F%2Fnews%2Fasia-pacific%2F2009%2F06%2F20096258138855326.html&feature=player_embedded

The $134 BILLION Bond Fiasco

Well if you want the 'hyped' version of this story read this link...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a62_boqkurbI

One theory...is that the bonds were manufactured in N. Korea and used to buy weapons...
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/06/24/2009062400686.html

"U.S. says $134B bonds seized in Italy are 'clearly fake' ".....Says another article....

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090618/usays-134b-bonds-seized-italy-are-lsquo-clearly-fake-lsquo.htm

But my guess is that these are fakes....just like the ones found in the Philippines in 2001....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1180171.stm

The Hidden Pyramids of Peru

http://www.sprword.com/videos/caralpyramids/

One of my favorite documentaries...absolutely astounding from beginning to end...Enjoy.

A Peruvian site previously reported as the oldest city in the Americas actually is a much larger complex of as many as 20 cities with huge pyramids and sunken plazas sprawled over three river valleys, researchers report.

Construction started about 5,000 years ago — nearly 400 years before the first pyramid was built in Egypt — at a time when most people around the world were simple hunters and gatherers, a team from Northern Illinois University and Chicago's Field Museum reports in today's issue of the journal Nature.

The society and its people — known only as the Andeans — persisted in virtually the same form for 1,200 years before they were overrun by more warlike neighbors. That is the longest time any known ancient civilization survived, according to archaeologist Jonathan Haas of the Field, who led the expedition. The results greatly expand understanding of how complex states began in the Americas. They found no evidence of military fortifications or weapons. But they did find cotton, fishing nets, and cocaine.

IT'S WAR!!! Mexico Under Siege

Awesome map of the Mexican Drug War...
http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/interactive-map

And...this is an amazing gallery...
http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/multimedia-gallery/

In December of 2006, Mexico's new President Felipe Calderón declared war on the drug cartels, reversing earlier government passiveness. Since then, the government has made some gains, but at a heavy price - gun battles, assasinations, kidnappings, fights between rival cartels, and reprisals have resulted in over 9,500 deaths since December 2006 - over 5,300 killed last year alone. President Barack Obama recently announced extra agents were being deployed to the border and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Mexico today to pursue a broad diplomatic agenda - overshadowed now by spiraling drug violence and fears of greater cross-border spillover. Officials on both sides of the border are committed to stopping the violence, and stemming the flow of drugs heading north and guns and cash heading south.

World hunger 'hits one billion'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8109698.stm
One billion people throughout the world suffer from hunger, a figure which has increased by 100 million because of the global financial crisis, says the UN.

Stats: Every year 30 million people die of hunger.
Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger...75% are children.

20,000 Migrants a Year Kidnapped in Mexico En Route to U.S.

Central American migrants being held in captivity react as Mexican Army soldiers, unseen, enter to liberate them in Reynosa, Mexico, late Tuesday, March 17, 2009. More than 50 migrants were being kept in captivity by a kidnapping gang in order to extort their families in exchange for their freedom. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
Read full article here...

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=337418&CategoryId=10718

Manipulating the MTV Generation...great article!

A thoroughly interesting interview about how the media is manipulating the MTV generation... here's an excerpt...

"And there's another development that I think is significant. If you look back at the youth markets of, say, the 1940s and the 1950s and the 1960s, you're struck by a very important difference, in that the figures who tended to be admired by those masses were somewhat older. Kids admired James Dean. Some like Brando. Elvis Presley looked like he was around 20. The Beatles were in their early 30s. The rock musicians of the 1960s and 1970s were a little bit older. They weren't peers of 13- and 14-year-olds.

Now, the young tend to be presented always and everywhere with what is, in a way, the most seductive thing there is, and that's a mirror. There's a mirror held up to them all the time. It's the mirror as constructed by advertising and TV, but it's the mirror that tells you that you are all there is to be, or you could be, if you bought what we have to sell." ......Read complete interview here...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/interviews/crispinmiller.html

Mark Crispin Miller is a media critic, professor at New York University, and the author of Boxed In: The Culture of TV.

Watch the Frontline documentary "Merchants of Cool" here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

North Korea warn of Nuclear War

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090614/D98QDSOO0.html

Korean Central News Agency, claimed the U.S. has 1,000 nuclear weapons in South Korea. Another commentary published Saturday in the state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. has been deploying a vast amount of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan. North Korea "is completely within the range of U.S. nuclear attack and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world," the Tongil Sinbo commentary said.

The BEST of JAPAN

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/11/best-of-japan-series.html
A great selection of photos and little known facts of Japan...for example....
Q. I have long wondered why Japan is called 'Japan' in English. I know why Korea is called Korea, despite it being Hanguk in Korean, can you enlighten me about the etymology of 'Japan'--why not 'Nihon'?

A. The word Japan probably comes from Portuguese or Dutch. Sailors, traders and missionaries from Portugal were the first westerners to visit Japan and they were already calling the country 'Zipangu' or "Jipangu" because they had heard the country called 'Jihpenkuo' in northern China. Another theory is that the word comes from the Dutch word "Japan", which is taken from "Yatpun", the name for Japan which is used in southern China. Because the name was given before the days of political correctness, the Portuguese and Dutch had little interest in using the Japanese words, "Nippon" or "Nihon".

Most expensive cities to live in for Expats-2009

http://www.eca-international.com/showpressrelease.aspx?ArticleID=6940

Scroll down to the bottom of the article for the results...cheers.

Iraq conflict has killed a million, says survey

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30488579.htm

Another story that missed the news because of Obamination

NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/22/nato.nuclear

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials are considering a first strike nuclear option to be used anywhere in the world a threat may arise.

"Another important story that seems to have been missed during the Obamination of the world!"

A World Enslaved

t r u t h o u t | A World Enslave

"There are now more slaves on the planet than at any time in human history. I saw it firsthand. In a Bucharest brothel, for instance, I was offered a mentally handicapped, suicidal girl in exchange for a used car. But for every one woman or child enslaved in commercial sex, there are at least 15 men, women, and children enslaved in other fields, such as domestic work or agricultural labor..."

Foreign Policy Magazine

Biggest Military Spenders

The Muslim World

American journalists get 12 years of hard labor in North Korean Prison

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8089290.stm
US President Barack Obama has said he is "deeply concerned" by North Korea's reported sentencing of two US journalists to 12 years' hard labour.

Although I think they are brave journalists, I also think they were naive to think that they could just sneak into a police state, do some interviews and then sneak out again. I don't believe that they were still in China and North Korean soldiers crossed the border and snatched them. Based on the journalist's previous stories, (Iraq, skinheads and LA gangs) they were mavericks when it came to reporting. Like I said, I think they are brave but you also have to understand the consequences and face reality...North Korea is a no-go zone.

"Money as Debt " Documentary

Take 45 minutes out of your day and enjoy one of the best documentaries I've seen on money and society... Very interesting...Enjoy!
http://www.sprword.com/videos/moneyasdebt/

Why a Federal Reserve Note is not worth a Dollar.

Why a Federal Reserve Note is not worth a Dollar and the Federal Reserve Vs JFK. very interesting read...
http://www.geocities.com/tthor.geo/debasedmoney.html


Great documentary---Money and Debt

http://www.sprword.com/videos/moneyasdebt/

The Federal Reserve Vs Congress--The War Begins...

"Anyone who can create a trillion dollars out of thin air is more powerful than any president."

Great video of Congressman Ron Paul's demand for transparency of the Federal Reserve...
1. http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=464

Next, the Federal Reserve fights back by hiring former Clinton and Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson...

2. http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE55460K20090605


Lastly, if you're very interested...an online book detailing the sordid history of the Federal Reserve. Chapter 6, which outlines the "London Connection," is particularly interesting....
3. http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

Nature, Nurtured

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/29/arts/salgado-slideshow_index.html

Sebastião Salgado, the Brazilian photojournalist, has been traveling to remote, sparsely populated jungle and desert locations for his ecological work in progress “Genesis.”

China bridge jumper 'gets a push'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8064867.stm

A man threatening to commit suicide by jumping from a Chinese bridge was approached by a passer-by who shoved him over the edge, local media say.

Welcome to Monterosso

An awesome look at one of Italy's most picturesque seaside towns...a great break from reality...enjoy.
http://www.webvisionitaly.com/category.php?id=291&ref_genre&ref_item=376

Mad journalism disease – more contagious than swine flu?

Mad journalism disease is now raging through the media. According to a report in the Guardian, Mexico's swine flu outbreak has moved to potential "Armageddon" status. There is simply no limit to the hysteria that scientists and their allies are able to generate round a health scare.

People dying from wars, accidents and even routine diseases such as Aids and MRSA get no coverage. The death rate from flu, even in Mexico, is still at about the normal rate. Yet the mention of the words death and virus in the same sentence is enough to wipe all proportion from the reporting mind. Any risk, however minuscule, is worth an Armageddon headline. It is a field day for scaremongers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/30/swine-flu-media

Many, many free documentaries....

http://www.sprword.com/mustwatch.html

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."

An invention that could change the internet forever

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/an-invention-that-could-change-the-internet-for-ever-1678109.html

http://www.wolframalpha.com/index.html

What does a trillion dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...A billion dollars...A hundred billion dollars...Eight hundred billion dollars...One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like?

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Drug wars and the balloon effect

Why have billions of dollars and thousands of anti-narcotics agents around the world failed to throttle the global traffic in cocaine, heroin and marijuana? Blame wrong-headed policies, largely driven by the United States, and what experts call the balloon effect.

Squeezing a balloon in one place makes it expand in another. Destroy drug crops in one region and cultivation moves to another. Cut a supply route in one place and...
Read More:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/03/26/drug-wars-and-the-balloon-effect/?rpc=60

1500 Indian farmers commit MASS suicide

Absolutely tragic...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/1500-farmers-commit-mass-suicide-in-india-1669018.html

What is Wisdom?

Very interesting video about "What is Wisdom?"
www.andrewzuckerman.com

Half of us have one month of cash cushion if laid off

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008898320_scared21.html

How to Find The Guy or Girl of Your Dreams

http://www.zencollegelife.com/2009/03/20/how-to-find-the-guy-orgirl-of-your-dreams/

The War on Terror is a Hoax

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02042009.html

If America were infected with terrorists, we would not need the government to tell us. We would know it from events. As there are no events, the US government substitutes warnings in order to keep alive the fear that causes the public to accept pointless wars, the infringement of civil liberty, national ID cards, and inconveniences and harassments when they fly.

Some more from my favorite economist...Peter Schiff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweLBpE4mso

Haiti: A mud eating population warns the world

At a corner street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, a sweets vendor takes 5 cents from a schoolgirl and hands her what looks like a disk-size biscuit. The young girl breaks a portion and nibbles hesitatingly away. Her stomach hurts after having her third helping for the day, but Marie-Yvonne has to “fill it with something (…) because it hurts even more without anything inside”, which is why she got “the mud cake instead of candy”. She will go for another portion of mud cake before sundown.

http://en.afrik.com/article15328.html

US court authorises Nigerian death suit against Pfizer

http://en.afrik.com/article15244.html

Halliburton convicted of Bribing Nigerian Officials

Employees of Halliburton Inc., a United States energy services group, after an intensive investigation have been charged with acts of bribing Nigerian officials.

The investigation stems from the construction of a giant liquefied natural gas plant on the Nigerian coast near Port Harcourt that began in 1996 and received a boost last year when former Halliburton Inc. executive, Albert J. Stanley pleaded guilty to orchestrating $180 million in bribes to senior Nigerian officials.

http://en.afrik.com/article15228.html

Studies Find that TV Coverage of Iraq Invasion Heavily Sanitized'

http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032040993sanitized

A study by George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs examines the 600 hours of war coverage by the nation’s broadcast news organizations between the coverage of the first strikes (see March 19, 2003) and the fall of Baghdad (see April 9, 2003). The study shows that of the 1,710 stories broadcast, only 13.5 percent show any images of dead or wounded civilians or soldiers, either Iraqi or American.

The End of America

An excellent short documentary with Naomi Wolf on the end of civil liberties in America.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2009/jan/14/naomi-wolf-end-of-america

Why we SHOULD NOT forgive and forget BUSH...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/opinion/16iht-edkrugman.1.19427087.html

8 in 10 corporations have tax havens.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan/16/report-over-8-in-10-corporations-have-tax-havens/

Can we trust Chinese Products?

In barely three decades, the communist basket case once known as "Red China" has become the epicentre of globalisation.

In the 1980s, when China began to open its economy to the outside world, Chinese exports rose on average by 5.7 per cent a year.

By the 1990s, that figure grew to 12.4 per cent, soaring to 20.3 per cent between 2000 and 2003, and hitting 26.7 per cent in 2006.

read more:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/09/200891973553488448.html

Why are we happy?

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

Brave Palestinian Girl

Brave Palestinian Girl confronts armed Israeli soldiers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQyIKyd2gqA

CNN censors Peter Schiff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1Gq_SXXZE

HIV could be eliminated in a decade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20081125/eu-med-stopping-hiv/

Roadside Bomb

Giant roadside bomb in Iraq, check it out.
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=25298