S. Korea to Apply Sanctions Against Iran

South Korea may be hiding behind the United States to explain their support for the sanctions against Iran, but they certainly do have their own reasons for desiring these sactions considering their close location to North Korea.

South Korea imposes independent sanctions on Iran.
By SANGWON YOON (AP) – 5 hours ago

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said it will ban many financial dealings with Iran and impose other penalties as part of a U.S.-led campaign to enforce sanctions against the country over its disputed nuclear enrichment program.

The measures announced Wednesday by Seoul add to new, unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S., Europe and others to pressure Iran to return to negotiations on its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is peaceful but critics say is a quest to develop atomic weapons that could spark a Middle East arms race.

Seoul targeted 102 entities with the sanctions, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines plus 24 individuals , Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said Wednesday.

The measures prohibit foreign exchange transactions with the targets of the measures except with special authorization, and they also halt existing banking relations and prohibit the opening of new branches or representative offices in South Korea, Kim said. The targeted individuals are also banned from entering South Korea, Kim said.

South Korea will also heavily penalize the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat, one of the 15 targeted Iranian banks, for violating laws on foreign exchange transactions, a government statement said, without elaborating.

The Seoul branch of Bank Mellat has "facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for Iranian nuclear, missile and defense entities," the statement said.

Kim said the sanctions further reinforce United Nations resolution 1929 against Iran, the latest in a series of measures taken by the international community in an effort to halt Iran's nuclear program.

"South Korea expects Iran to join international efforts for nuclear nonproliferation and take steps to faithfully implement its obligations under the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said.

The United States welcomed South Korea's decision.

"These actions strengthen the growing international resolve to prevent proliferation and Iran's development of nuclear weapons and to press Iran to return to serious negotiations on its nuclear program and meet its international obligations," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a joint statement.

The U.N. approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in early June over accusations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapons. Iran denies its nuclear program is militaristic in nature and says it has a right to conduct uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. also independently imposed new sanctions against Iran and has urged other countries to follow suit.

So far, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Japan have joined the international campaign against Iran.

Seoul has been cautious in taking action against Iran, trying to balance its diplomatic interests with the U.S., a key ally, and its economic interests with Iran.

Iran is South Korea's third-largest trading partner in the Middle East, with two-way trade totaling nearly $10 billion last year, according to the Korea International Trade Association. It is also South Korea's fourth-biggest supplier of crude oil, accounting for 9.8 percent of its oil imports, according to the Korea National Oil Corp.

Seoul said it will prohibit new investments and contracts that could enrich Iran's petroleum and gas industry, and called on South Korean companies to exercise "restraint and caution" in carrying out existing contracts.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

Hat tip: AP.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Police Quash Tiananmen Memorials

Reported by Radio Free Asia.

China blocks efforts to commemorate the 1989 massacre in Beijing of pro-democracy demonstrators.

HONG KONG—Attempts to stage public events and protests commemorating the 21st anniversary of the military crackdown on the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square have been largely thwarted by Chinese authorities, activists said.

"The Chinese government continues to refuse to openly and truthfully address the events of June 4, 1989, and persists in its efforts to silence Chinese citizens who seek to commemorate the massacre," the nongovernment network Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said.

Activists using the microblogging service Twitter said a planned commemorative event on the campus of Beijing University, one of the centers of the student movement two decades ago, had failed owing to the presence of large numbers of state security police.

"I am at the Beijing University campus," tweeted user PKUbuzheteng Thursday. "Looking at the current situation, it seems that the protest event hasn't been able to proceed."

Twitter users had called on netizens to arrive wearing the mourning color white at the university campus on June 3 to mark the night of the beginning of the advance on the student headquarters by the People's Liberation Army.

"It seems that they have stationed one national security policeman at the gate, with others walking around the place in all directions," PUKbuzheteng wrote.

'Scuffles,' detentions reported.

And Twitter user freemoren reported "scuffles between police and bystanders" outside the Great Hall of the People and numerous government departments, including the ruling Communist Party's powerful central propaganda department.

Police in Beijing detained six artists ahead of the anniversary as they staged public memorial events for the crackdown outside the capital's Museum of Fine Arts, including a sit-in and a signature campaign, artist Zhu Yanguang said.

Earlier this week, a cartoon entered for a competition which depicted a child drawing a line of tanks stopped by a single person at the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper was removed from the paper's Web site.

"We decided pro-actively to remove the cartoon as it was being maliciously misread and misunderstood by some people, leading to a negative influence," an employee at the newspaper said.

"There was no question of being put under pressure."

But Beijing-based dissident Jiang Qisheng said the government had been obsessive about suppressing any mention of the crackdown for 20 years.

"I see the event as the massacre of poor people by an army, but the government thinks that it was right and proper to kill them," Jiang said.

"But it still won't come out and admit it."

Hong Kong criticized.

Accusing police across China of "harassing and intimidating activists against speaking out as June 4 approaches", CHRD said that at least four Beijing-based individuals are still serving jail sentences for their participation in the 1989 protests.

It added that a further three activists had been sent to labor camp last year for their attempts to mark the 20th anniversary of the crackdown, which officials refuse to discuss openly, and which left hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead and an unknown number injured.

It slammed the seizure by Hong Kong police of two replicas of the 1989 Goddess of Democracy statue ahead of memorial events, which have taken place in the territory every year, calling it "an unprecedented act of interference with the territory’s commemorative activities."

Hong Kong activists were in uproar on forums and microblogging services after the territory's Chinese University of Hong Kong refused to allow a sculpture of the Goddess to be displayed on campus, citing a need for political neutrality.

They called on people attending Saturday's memorial service in Victoria Park to carry the statue to the campus in protest after the event was ended.

Hong Kong Democratic legislator James To also hit out at the government's deportation of New Zealand national Chen Weiming, who sculpted the statue.

"The government is obviously playing dirty tricks and this must be condemned," To told local media. "I think it is playing dirty tricks."

"[I] believe that all the government has done is to suppress the June 4 remembrance activity ... I think the government is to be condemned," he said.

Hong Kong Security Secretary Ambrose Lee denied the charges, saying that the immigration authorities had acted fully in compliance with the law.

He said police had already returned the confiscated statues to the memorial organizers, the Hong Kong Alliance for the Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movement in China.

Activists watched.

Meanwhile, dozens of rights activists remained under surveillance across China, or had been warned off participating in any public events.

In Beijing, civil rights lawyer Teng Biao had been subjected to surveillance, while writer Wang Debang had received a warning.

In Xian, activist Yang Hai said police had said they would take him out of town until after the anniversary, while a second activist Zhang Jiankang hadn't been seen since being called in to "drink tea" with national security police.

In southwestern China, Suining-based dissident Liu Xianbin and Chongqing-based rights activist Mu Jiayu both reported being under surveillance on the eve of June 4, CHRD said in a statement on its Web site.

Original reporting in Mandarin by He Ping and in Cantonese by Grace Kei Lai-see. Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translated from the Chinese and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

SK To Blame NK For Torpedoing SK Ship

Oh joy. Nothing to see here. They are going to the UN to hold North Korea accountable for torpedoing South Koreans ship back in March.

Answer me this. Is North Korea not under all the sanctions there is already? Why are we even bothering to talk to these warmongers?

Here is my plan: Quietly go block by block in Seoul, South Korea and relocate the 20.5 million people that live there, and then bomb the hell out of Kim Jong Il's house, government places, electrical grids (if there is any), radio transmission places, train tracks, roads, air power, and nuclear weapons sites. PERIOD.

You may read about this in the National Review Online by Daniel Foster: ROK Officially Blames PDRK for Warship Attack.

"The Washington Post reports:

South Korea will formally blame North Korea on Thursday for launching a torpedo at one of its warships in March, causing an explosion that killed 46 sailors and heightened tensions in one of the world's most perilous regions, U.S. and East Asian officials said.

South Korea reached its conclusion that North Korea was responsible for the attack after investigators from Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States pieced together portions of the ship at the port of Pyongtaek, 40 miles southwest of Seoul. The Cheonan sank on March 26, following an explosion that rocked the vessel as it sailed in the Yellow Sea off South Korea's west coast.

Please read the whole article.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

News from Radio Free Asia 1/9/10

Below is a collection of articles and their links from Radio Free Asia. I like to learn and stay on top of the news behind the news across the ocean. I care about how other people are treated, especially when they are innocent. There is too much evil happening in this world because so few care to take a stand. This is despicable.

Two Get Death Sentences. 2010-01-08
Two Burmese defendants get death sentences for leaking news about a high-level visit to North Korea. [The rest of the story.]

Monk’s Followers Flee. 2010-01-07
Followers of an activist Vietnamese monk are forced underground. [The rest of the story.]

Returns Shock U.S. Hmong. 2010-01-07
Hmong abroad fear for relatives forcibly returned from Thailand to Laos. [The rest of the story.]

Filmmaker’s Family To Appeal. 2010-01-07
Relatives of a jailed Tibetan filmmaker hope they can afford a lawyer to appeal his sentence. [The rest of the story.]

China Jails Tibetan Filmmaker. 2010-01-06
The documentary 'Leaving Fear Behind' gets its producer a six-year prison term. [The rest of the story.]

Lead Pollution Harms Children. 2010-01-05
Villagers in southern China say authorities are trying to hide the effects of lead poisoning on their children. [The rest of the story.]

Questions on Burma Polls. 2010-01-05
Burma plans it first elections in 20 years, but will they be free? [The rest of the story.]

Jailed Dissident Appeals. 2010-01-04
A Chinese pro-democracy activist appeals his sentence for “subversion of state power.” [The rest of the story.]

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

Military, Michael Yon, RFA News

Afghanistan.
Obama congratulates Afghans on election. 8/21/09.
Nato reaffirms commitment to Afghanistan. 9/9/09.
McChrystal: Conventional strategy won't win in Afghanistan. 9/27/09.
Petraeus cites need to reverse insurgency. 10/7/09.

Iraq.
Iraqi Air Force assumes independent control of C-130 fleet. 9/30/09.
Iraqi troops disrupt kidnappers, save boy. 10/6/09.
Baghdad attacks on steady decline. 10/8/09.

Michael Yon.
Pedro Inspired the Vikings. 9/29/09.
A Story From War. 10/8/09.
Market Garden. 10/12/09.
Afghan Lunacy. 10/14/09.
Adopt-a-stan. 10/18/09.
Colors. 10/28/09.

Radio Free Asia.
Election Call From Former Aide. 9/24/09.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

News And Videos

Since I am still trying to bring my inbox into control, I am going to limit what I say. (I can talk for a long time, so I shouldn't start. *heh*)

Bloggers News.
ACLU sues America’s most popular sheriff. Hat tip: Stop the ACLU. 8/19/09.
The ACLU Thinks It Has Beaten Sheriff Joe. Hat tip: Stop the ACLU. 10/27/09.
ACLU Still Fighting George Bush! Un-freakin-believable. Then again, not so unbelievable, considering the source. Hat tip: Stop the ACLU. 10/27/09.
North Korea Shows Clenched Fist. Hat tip: Uncle Jimbo @ Blackfive. 8/29/09.
Islamists Dodge Real Debate on Terminology, by Sid Shahid. [He is the director of research and publication of AIFD.] Hat tip: AIFD. 9/2/09.
At the core of the post-9/11 "war of ideas" is the battle over terminology. It would seem that Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser struck a nerve with the powers that be at CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) when he took the Obama administration to task for its abandonment of the phrase "war on terror" and its myopic focus on al-Qaeda, rather than the broader ideology behind it. In that criticism Dr. Jasser states: [Continue reading.]

Interview.
Interview with Buzz Patterson.
David Jeffers is the father of Sgt. Eddie Jeffers who lost his life defending America in the Iraq War. Here are a few words of his:

I can’t believe the Hope Rides Alone Family Reunion Banquet is almost here! Today I had the pleasure of doing a radio interview with our keynote speaker, who carried the nuclear football for Bill Clinton, best selling author and personal friend Buzz Patterson.

Eddie is well loved and missed.

YouTube/Videos.
Video-rama. 8/20/09.
Parental Rights Amendment 10-and-2 Program. Hat tip: Parental Rights and Michael Fell. 8/23/09

New Videos from ReasonTV:
British MEP Daniel Hannan on the NHS, Enoch Powell, and His Libertarian Plan for Britain.
Author Michela Wrong on Kenyan corruption and tragedy of post-colonial Africa.

New Videos from idfnadesk:
Hezbollah Operatives attacked by Lebanese Villagers. [YEAH!]

New Videos from machosauceproduction:
Time to get ill.
It's About Time!
A Meeting With Nancy.

8.28.09 Tea Party Patriots rally. Hat tip: Sarah Bond & wwwSAC828. 9/1/09.

I started this gathering of news last night, and it is now after midnight again. Onward to the next gathering. I hope you enjoy something that I've provided for you. Have a blessed day.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Election Call From Former Aide

A former Party aide calls on Chinese to push for democracy as National Day approaches.

AFP
Bao Tong, 76, a former top aide to late Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, holds up a photo of Zhao during an interview at his home in Beijing, April 27, 2009.



HONG KONG—A former top official in China's Communist Party has called on patriotic Chinese to "return power to the people" and push for full democracy ahead of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic.

Sixty years after peasant leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China from Tiananmen Square on Oct. 1, 1949, former top Party aide Bao Tong said the Party has never admitted its mistakes.

"All of the great mistakes at a national level with far-reaching consequences were committed under the planning and leadership of the Communist Party," wrote Bao, a former aide to disgraced late Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang.

"The People's Republic of China is not a republic at all. This is a sort of pathology," he said.

"It consists in the systemic erosion of the rights of citizens to all sorts of things, including elections and private property, by the Party leadership over the last 60 years."

'Progress' under the Party.

In an essay penned from his Beijing home, where Bao has been held under house arrest since returning from a seven-year jail term in the wake of the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement, Bao poured scorn on the wave of official praise for China's progress under the Party.

"Hidden troubles shouldn't be allowed to remain packaged up in talk of 'great and mighty results,' for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all their descendants," he wrote.

Behind the talk of "prosperity" and "the rise of China" lies rampant official corruption and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor, Bao said.

"Behind the words 'hard reasoning of development' lies the plunder of natural resources and the laying waste of the environment," he added.

He delineated a "collapse of personal freedoms, religious freedom, ethnic autonomy, and freedoms of speech, protest and demonstration" behind the government's emphasis on stability.

Call for elections.

"How should a patriot show their love and concern for their country?" Bao wrote.

"By returning power to the people and building a republic," said Bao, who called on Chinese people to educate themselves about what full, direct elections actually mean.

"If we are to cash in on [promises of] democracy, openness, competition and meritocracy, universal direct elections are inevitable," he wrote.

"Otherwise that particular check will undoubtedly bounce."

"China is in dire need of a period of education and enlightenment about what is really meant by a 'republic' and what is really meant by 'universal, direct elections.'"

Bao said that no political party should be given the right to field an approved list of candidates, or to interfere with the right of any candidate to enter the field or to take up their post if they are elected.

"The legitimacy of a republic rests on universal, direct elections. It is the sacred duty of every patriotic citizen to promote universal, direct elections in which there is true competition between candidates," Bao wrote.

Chinese authorities are implementing a nationwide security clampdown ahead of the Oct. 1 National Day celebrations, closing key Web sites and discussion boards, and detaining people who try to lodge complaints in Beijing about local governments.

The anniversary comes as Beijing struggles to quell ethnic tensions in China's northwest and to silence outspoken dissidents, petitioners, and civil rights lawyers, who have been warned not to use the occasion to protest against the government.

Original essay by Bao Tong. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translated and written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Copyright © 1998-2009 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

RFA, Military, Michael Yon News

Please find below a collection of news articles I am finally getting around to posting. As they are posted, their URL shall be posted here. I hope you will enjoy some of them. Have a good day.

Radio Free Asia.
1. China: Protests? What Protests? 6/2/09.

Military.
1. Brigade leaving southern Iraq a ‘much better place’.
2. Airmen stress dignity, humane treatment for detainees. 5/28/09.
3. Petraeus: Video shows airstrikes aimed at Taliban targets. 5/29/09.
4, U.S. troops preparing to leave Iraqi cities. 6/1/09.

Michael Yon Reports From:
1. Philippines: This Mornings Photos. 6/5/09.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Talon, and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

News: Michael Yon

Secretary Gates Sets Me Straight.
Secretary Gates read my site this morning and corrected an erroneous report from me. My information was actually accurate insofar as I reported what troops were saying -- but it was in conflict with the reality.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Sets Me Straight.
29 May 2009

Secretary Gates arrived in Singapore after a 35 hour flight from Kansas. The aircraft landed several times along the way due to a technical issue that precluded in-flight refueling. But he got here. [Continue reading.]

To Alaska!
Secretary Gates has departed the Philippines and is in the air to Alaska. I stayed behind in the Philippines to cover forces who are battling terrorists here.

Secretary Gates in Singapore.
01 June 2009
Manila, Philippines

The Shangri-La security dialogue is over. Bigwigs from all over the region came to the conference, including Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. All the major media outlets piled in, such as the New York Times, AP, and dozens of others from Asia, Europe, and the United States. The dialogue is already well covered in the media, so I’ll write mostly about topics that likely will not make the press. [Continue reading.]

Close Combat and US Navy In The Philippines.
These are great pictures here and here.

Philippines.
Fly from Mindanao to Sulu this morning. Please see latest from Philippines.

Philippines.
03 June 2009
Mindanao

The southern Philippines has been a festering bed for international terrorists for decades. Direct links with al Qaeda and associated groups, such as Jemaah Islamiya (JI), are conclusively established. These groups are collectively responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people from dozens of countries. JI, for instance, was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, including my friend Beata Pawlak. [.]

He just keeps writing away, and I will keep posting them for you. Have a wonderful weekend.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.

China 20 Years Later

It didn't have to happen. Tienanmen Square. Below please find lost audios about what led up to that awful, terrifying, unforgivable day on 4 June 1989 and try to contemplate what could have been.

Zhao Ziyang Tapes Reveal Call for Democracy.
For more, go to www.RFA.org.

HONG KONG, May 14, 2009 — Twenty years after the People's Liberation Army crushed the student-led pro-democracy movement in China with guns and tanks, a former top Communist Party official has released audio recordings in which former premier Zhao Ziyang calls for parliamentary democracy for China, Radio Frede Asia (RFA) reports.

Zhao, who fell into political disgrace in the wake of the crackdown, described it in recordings as "a tragedy to shock the world, which was happening in spite of attempts to avert it."

He recalls hearing the sound of "intense gunfire" on the evening of June 3, 1989 while sitting at his Beijing home, where he was held under house arrest until his death. He concludes in extracts read from an unpublished political memoir that the only way forward for China is a parliamentary democracy.

"Of course, it is possible that in the future a more advanced political system than parliamentary democracy will emerge," Zhao said. "But that is a matter for the future. At present, there is no other."

He said China could not have a healthy economic system, nor become a modern society with the rule of law without democracy.

"Instead, it will run into the situations that have occurred in so many developing countries, including China: the commercialization of power, rampant corruption, and a society polarized between rich and poor."

Released by aide.

Zhao's former political aide, Bao Tong, who served a seven-year jail term in the wake of the crackdown, released the tapes ahead of the 20th anniversary of the violent suppression of the 1989 student movement, in which hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000, died.

"Zhao Ziyang left behind a set of audio recordings. These are his legacy," Bao wrote to RFA's Mandarin service from under house arrest at his Beijing home.

"Zhao Ziyang's legacy is for all of China's people. It is my job to transmit them to the world in the form of words and to arrange things," he said.

"Their contents have implications for a history that is still influencing the people of China to this day. The key theme of this history is reform," Bao said.

Authorities in Beijing suppressed any public displays of grief for Zhao in the days after his death on Jan. 17, 2005, detaining dozens of people for wearing white flowers in his honor or attempting to pay their respects at the former premier's home.

Zhao was openly mourned by thousands in the former British colony of Hong Kong, however, where is seen by many as a symbol of the territory's own struggle for political change.

Educating China's youth.

Bao said his purpose in releasing the tapes, which he described as "political task," was partly to educate a whole generation of young people in China who had never heard of Zhao Ziyang.

"On the mainland at the current time, this part of history has been sealed off and distorted, so it will be useful to discuss some of this history for younger readers."

"The name of Zhao Ziyang was erased from news media, books and periodicals, and the historical record within China," Bao wrote in a six-part essay accompanying the tapes, titled "The Historical Background to the Zhao Ziyang Recordings."

"Zhao wanted to address the issues of official corruption and democracy which were the concerns of most ordinary Chinese people, using the principle of the rule of law," Bao wrote of the conflict between his former political mentor and late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping.

"He wanted to instigate reforms of China's political system alongside deepening economic reforms, concentrating the attention of the whole of society onto the issue of reforms."

The Chinese authorities have already begun tightening security in and around Beijing ahead of the sensitive anniversary.

Articles and forum posts connected in any way to the events of 20 years ago are being deleted regularly from Chinese cyberspace, including an appeal for the rehabilitation of Zhao and Hu Yaobang, whose death on April 15, 1989 triggered the student movement.

Original reporting by RFA's Mandarin service. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Source: RFA.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.

China: Protests? What Protests?

Below you will find an article written by Radio Free Asia. This is the time of year they and we remember Tiananmen Square, 1989, when the Chinese government told its army to roll its tanks over the people, and they did so. What is it they were demanding of China? Freedom. Funny thing, ya know. Some people say others can't handle it while sit in the majority of our country and try to take it away from us! It will be a cold day in hell...

(Go to www.rfa.org/english/news/special/june4/ for news, essays, and never before released videos and photos of the 1989 protests.)

Paint-Throwing at Mao’s Portrait Born of Frustration, 1989 Protester Says.

WASHINGTON—China has developed tremendously over the last two decades, but “in terms of political and democratic reforms” the system is unchanged, one of three men jailed for splattering paint on Chairman Mao Zedong’s portrait during the 1989 Tiananmen protests has told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Yu Zhijian, who along with fellow paint-thrower Yu Dongyue was just granted U.S. asylum, described their high-profile May 23, 1989 act of vandalism as a product of frustration directed at the Chinese authorities and prompted by the failure of protest leaders to devise a response when Beijing declared martial law.

“Before we resorted to the violent behavior, we tried to communicate to the student leaders our assessment of the situation,” Yu Zhijian told RFA’s Mandarin service in his first interview since arriving in the United States in mid-May.

“We felt, as participants in the movement, that there should have been a plan in response to the martial law.”

“The day after we arrived in Beijing, we joined the crowd that tried to block the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] vehicles from entering the city. We talked to the students and ordinary citizens. I felt that they didn’t know where the movement was headed,” he said.

“As there wasn’t to be a ‘triumphant withdrawal,’ the leaders of the movement should have come up with relatively decisive responses. So we proposed three suggestions,” he said, including a nationwide strike and a takeover of several key buildings.

But on May 21, “when we brought our three suggestions to the Square we didn’t see any student leaders. So we gave our proposal to someone whose job was to maintain order at the Square…After that, the movement wasn’t headed in the direction that we had hoped,” he said.

Turned over to police.

And two days later, “We decided to smear Mao’s portrait with eggs containing paint. In our view, the rule by the Chinese Communists from 1949-89 was a Maoist dictatorship,” Yu said.

“The portrait of Mao Zedong symbolized the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party. We had hoped that our action would lead the participants of the movement to change course and bring the movement back from the brink of failure.”

The two childhood friends—along with a bus driver named Lu Decheng—hurled 30 eggs filled with paint at the portrait and were quickly seized by student protesters eager to distance themselves from the act and handed over to police.

Less than two weeks later, Chinese troops moved in on the protests with tanks and live ammunition, killing hundreds of people and prompting an international outcry. An official blackout on discussion of the crackdown remains in force, 20 years later.

“China has witnessed huge changes in the past 20 years. But in terms of political and democratic reforms, it is where it was 20 years ago. There has been no change whatsoever,” he said.

Mental health damaged.

Yu Dongyue¸ a former journalist and art critic, was convicted of sabotage and counter-revolutionary propaganda and handed a 20-year jail term. Lu received a 16-year jail term, and Yu Zhijian, a former teacher, drew a life sentence.

Lu and Yu Zhijian were paroled in 1998 but Yu Dongyue remained in custody because, officials said, he had never confessed to any wrongdoing. His sentence was cut by two years in 2000 and another 15 months in 2003.

Yu Dongyue is the longest-serving known political prisoner sentenced in connection with the 1989 crackdown. He spent several years in solitary confinement and was subjected to beatings and electric shocks, and friends and relatives say his mental health has suffered severely.

During an interview here, Yu Dongyue appeared vacant. He spoke haltingly and was unable to answer direct questions.

“As you can see, his mental condition is awful, just awful,” Yu Zhijian said. “Yu Dongyue spent 17 years in prison. When he was released he was a shadow of his former self. My heart ached when I saw him.”

Lu was granted asylum in Canada in 2006. Yu Dongyue and Yu Zhijian fled China through Thailand and were granted U.S. asylum last month.

Neither man would discuss the route they took to escape China, but Yu Zhijian notably cited Chinese-born human rights activist Harry Wu and his Laogai Foundation, for their assistance.

Asked how he regarded the 20th anniversary on Thursday of the June 4, 1989 crackdown, he replied:

“My heart is heavy with memories of June 4th. These memories will never be erased from my mind. It is a topic that pains me to bring up, especially when the June 4th anniversary is upon us. I am unable to sleep or eat. My mind is in turmoil. The movement 20 years ago was a noble one and it changed our lives.”

“The participants were not limited to university students. The general public—in the millions—also took part in it. In our hometown in Hunan, even the peasants stopped working in the fields. They were glued to the television. They were inspired by the patriotism and democratic spirit of the students.”

Original reporting by He Ping for RFA’s Mandarin service. Translated by RFA Mandarin service director Jennifer Chou. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Sea Of Japan Could Go From Cold To Hot In A Ballistic Moment

Those pesky North Koreans. They insist they are only going to launch a satellite into space on this rocket they plan to launch between April 4-8. Ha! So says the Navy.

We do not trust these lying cretins and with good reason. They are liars. They have yet to keep their word on anything they agree to, so you can see why we are skeptical.

As of this moment, CNN is reporting that "[t]he USS Hopper, a destroyer with the Aegis radar system aboard was scheduled for a port call in Japan in coming days, [b]ut the port call was canceled and the ship will remain in the Sea of Japan ahead of the launch, the official said."

There are two other destroyers, the USS McCain and the USS Chaffee, that will be in the waters near South Korea.

There are usually destroyers with Aegis-capability in the Sea of Japan due to North Korea's belligerence, so this is not new. What is new is that plans have been changed because of this North Korean launch. They have launched long-range missiles over the island of Japan and near the island, and Japan was angry when those incidents occurred.

So you can see why Japan and the US may feel a little hesitant to believe anything that shrimp leader of North Korea has to say. If he does decide to launch this missile, President Obama has 5 minutes or less to decide whether this is a dangerous launch or not, and he will have to give the order to shoot it down or leave it alone. Let us pray he makes the correct decision. There are people counting on us to do so. All politics aside...

Source: CNN: U.S. destroyers on move as N. Korea prepares rocket launch and/or Love America First-2.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Today I am having an open trackback courtesy of Linkfest. This means you can (track)post your best post here. Remember to link me to your article before you trackback. You don't have trackbacks available? Why not use Wizbang Stand Alone Trackback? Everyone have a nice day.

Friends I am sharing this with: Woman Honor Thyself: Judging Women by their Looks, The World According To Carl: Godly Wisdom — March 24, 2009, The Pink Flamingo: The GOP Budget Plans - House Pepublicans Are Fools, Leaning Straight Up: LSU Preseason Injury Report With a Mini-Rant, Democrat=Socialist: Rep. Nunes (R) CA Warns of Radical Environmentalist Economic Damage, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices: "Here It Is, Mr. President.", thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Cross-posted @ Talon, TCU, SGP and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

North Korea At It Again

Looming yonder...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea has positioned what is believed to be a long-range ballistic missile on its launch pad, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said on Wednesday. The official confirmed a Japanese media report. The Taepo Dong 2 missile could launch either a warhead or a satellite, the official said. What the North Koreans would be testing may not be known until an actual launch. The North Koreans have said they intend to launch a communications satellite.

Maybe they just want to be part of the 'overseas contingency'?

Source: CNN--N. Korea positions 'missile' on launch pad. CNN has a tendency of removing its 'news' articles from the web once I've sourced them. If the date is over a week or so, you'll be taking your chances on whether or not it is still good. But then again, it's only CNN. ;)

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Talon, TCU, SGP and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Chinese Dissident’s Family Defects

I have some very good news and sad news from Radio Free Asia today. One of the Chinese dissident's family was able to successfully defect to the United States. Unfortunately, they had to leave behind their husband and father who is a civil rights lawyer in China. Here is the article below.

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WASHINGTON, March 12, 2009 — The wife and children of a top civil rights lawyer under close surveillance by the Chinese authorities have arrived in the United States after walking across the border to Thailand, Gao Zhisheng’s wife Geng He has told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Geng said her daughter, 15, and son, 5, had suffered “great hardship” in China from living under virtual house arrest in their Beijing home. “I left China because my family had been under tight surveillance for a long time. We experienced —in our careers and daily life— great hardship and difficulty,” Geng told RFA’s Mandarin service in her first interview since arriving in the United States on March 11 to seek asylum.

“My daughter was unable to attend school. Because she was unable to attend school, she tried to commit suicide several times,” Geng said. “I had no place to turn. So I fled with my children.” Geng said she had left a note for Gao, an Army veteran who lost his law license after he criticized the government for its treatment of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

Gao began a rolling hunger strike among fellow civil rights activists to protest the ill-treatment of lawyers and rights activists at the hands of police and local government officials.

“I left a note for my husband that I was leaving with the children,” Geng said. “I said in my note that our daughter is miserable because she couldn’t attend school. I said I was miserable and I had to take the kids and leave,” said Geng, in tears.

Dangerous route through Thailand.

Geng and her children left China on Jan. 9 and arrived in Thailand on Jan. 16, leaving for the United States on March 10. Describing the family’s dramatic escape, Geng said they first left Beijing very quietly, unnoticed by the state security police who usually followed them.

“We could not travel by air. We took a train,” Geng said, adding that Gao was unable to accompany them because he couldn’t throw off the police on his tail.

“Eventually, with the help of friends, we freed ourselves from police surveillance and we walked to another country,” she said. Geng said friends who helped her leave China were members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

“We walked day and night. It was extremely hard. I did not even know the names of some of the towns we passed through...It was extraordinarily difficult to get us out of China. The friends who helped us escape took enormous pains, some even risking their own lives,” Geng said.

She said she hadn’t been in touch with Gao since leaving China. “On Feb. 4, when we had arrived in the second country, I heard from a friend that he had been detained. I am very worried,” said Geng, who has no idea of Gao’s whereabouts.

'Very fragile state'.

Now in the United States, Geng said she has few specific plans. “The first step is to get here and to give my daughter a chance to heal her mental scars,” she said. “She is in a very fragile state. When she feels better, I will arrange for her to get an education. It’s important to get an education.”

She said her son asked repeatedly for Gao, and whether his father had been sent to prison again. Gao’s whereabouts remained unclear for months after he was subjected to a secret trial by the authorities on unspecified subversion charges in 2006.

Lauded by China’s own Justice Ministry as one of China’s Top 10 lawyers in 2001 for his pro bono work in helping poor people sue government officials over corruption and mistreatment, Gao was once a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. He resigned from the Party in 2005.

Gao’s fortunes took a sharp downturn after he wrote an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in October 2005 urging them to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, detailing a range of abuses they suffer in custody, including torture, beatings, and execution.

Report on abuses.

In its most recent report on human rights around the world, the U.S. State Department noted that Gao’s whereabouts remained unknown. It also noted the authorities had revoked the professional licenses of several prominent lawyers, including Gao and of Teng Biao, who offered to represent Tibetans taken into custody for their role in the March 2008 Tibetan uprising in Lhasa. “Government-employed lawyers often refused to represent defendants in politically sensitive cases, and defendants frequently found it difficult to find an attorney,” the report said.

“Officials deployed a wide range of tactics to obstruct the work of lawyers representing sensitive clients, including unlawful detentions, disbarment, intimidation, refusal to allow a case to be tried before a court, and physical abuse.”

Provided by a family friend. Gao Zhistheng's wife Geng He and their children, after leaving China.

Original reporting in Mandarin by Tang Qiwei. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Written for the Web in English. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
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Articles also included in this e-mail:
North Korea Bans Foreign Cars.
Mental Health Cases Sweep China.
Buddha Images Stolen in Laos.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

NK Has Nukes; Demands On USA

It is being reported by many news outlets that North Korea now has between 4 and 7 'weaponized' nuclear weapons. The IAEA is not allowed to inspect these areas, and they now believe they have a better chance of obtaining 'friendly' and 'normalized' relations with the USA because of Obama.

For all of you people who voted for him, I would like to thank you so very freaking much. Did we not warn you of this? Oh, but your hatred for President Bush was so fierce that you lost your minds. You must have. We are at war, and you deny this fact. We cannot allow this puny punk to push around, lest others begin to think they can do the same. Oh, but you got what you, didn't ya. I hope it was worth it to you. I also hope that if there is a nuclear strike, the weapon is aimed at you.

The links for some of these articles are: Researcher: North Korea has 'Weaponized' Plutonium (FoxNews.com), US Expert Says North Korea Has 'Weaponized' Plutonium (VOA), Researcher: North Korea has `weaponized' plutonium (AP, map included), North Korea Has Enough Plutonium for 6 Nuclear Bombs, NYT Says (Bloomberg.com: Asia), and NKorea says may retain nukes, raises border tensions with Seoul (SpaceWar.com).

PS. SpaceWar.com is the ONLY one who spoke of the imminent threat to Seoul, Korea, whereas the South actually had to be put on high alert! I recommend this article, but only if you actually care about what is happening the world. My God. Did I go to sleep and wake up in the Twillight Zone? Somebody please, WAKE ME UP!

These are some good people that I know really care, and they write pretty powerful articles as well. (Not that mine is powerful. The topic, yes, my writing, no.) That is why I would like to share their posts with you: Blog @ MoreWhat.com: Open Trackback Linkfest Haven Tuesday, third world county: Quick Tip, Political Byline: Former French President Gets Pounded By His Pooch, Walls of the City: sensor ping LV, The World According To Carl: Uncle Jay Explains The News — January 19, 2009, DragonLady's World: OTA Monday 119, The Pink Flamingo: Democratic Corruption Corruption!, Leaning Straight Up: With Obama President, People Finally Care and Hollywood Is Making a Pledge, Democrat=Socialist: Inauguration 2009 Food For Thought, and Conservative Cat: I'm Back, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Cross-posted @ Talon and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Trackback URI. Digg!

Uyghur Woman Faces Imminent Forced Abortion

Below is a press release from my friend who works for Radio Free Asia, and this is a terrible repose of the condition of humanity. My hope is that abortions can be put on the ash heap of history, just as slavery, communism, nazism, fascism, child abuse, and all other atrocities done by man in the name of 'the social good'. It is far from good under any name.

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HONG KONG — Arzigul Tursun, six months pregnant with her third child, is under guard in a hospital in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, scheduled to undergo an abortion against her will because authorities say she is entitled to only two children.

As a member of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, Tursun is legally permitted to more than the one child allowed most people in China. But when word of a third pregnancy reached local authorities, they coerced her into the hospital for an abortion, her husband told Radio Free Asia (RFA). "Arzigul is being kept in bed number three," a nurse in the women's section at Gulja's Water Gate Hospital said in a telephone interview with RFA's Uyghur service. "We will give an injection first. Then she will experience abdominal pain, and the baby will come out by itself. But we haven't given her any injection yet—we are waiting for instructions from the doctors."

China's one-child-per-family policy applies mainly to majority Han Chinese but allows ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, to have additional children, with peasants permitted to have three children and city-dwellers two. But while Tursun is a peasant, her husband, Nurmemet Tohtasin, is from the city of Gulja [in Chinese, Yining] so their status is unclear. The couple live with their two children in Bulaq village, Dadamtu township, in Gulja.

Their experience sheds rare light on how China's one-child policy is enforced in remote parts of the country, through fines, financial incentives, and heavy-handed coercion by zealous local officials eager to meet population targets set by cadres higher up. "My wife is being kept in the hospital—village officials are guarding her," Tohtisin said before authorities directed him late Thursday to switch off his mobile phone. "When she fled the village to avoid abortion, police and Party officials, and the family planning committee officials, all came and interrogated us," he said. "The deputy chief of the village, a Chinese woman named Wei Yenhua, threatened that if we didn't find Arzigul and bring her to the village, she would confiscate our land and all our property."

Steep fines

On Nov. 11, Tohtisin said, an official named Rashide from the village family planning committee came to their home and escorted the couple, along with Arzigul's father, to the Gulja's municipal Water Gate Hospital. There, Tohtisin said, he was pressured into signing forms authorizing an abortion. "The abortion should be carried out because according to the family planning policy of China, you're not allowed to have more children than the government has regulated. Therefore she should undergo an abortion. This is their third child. She is 6-1/2 months pregnant now," Rashide said.

"If her health is normal, then the abortion will definitely take place. Otherwise they have to pay a fine in the amount of 45,000 yuan (U.S. $6,590)—that's a lot of money, and they won't have it," she added. Tursun's abortion was originally scheduled for Thursday, but hospital authorities said they had postponed it until Monday after numerous calls from local and exiled Uyghurs. Officials then told her husband to switch off his mobile phone and stop making calls.

Carrots and sticks

According to the official news agency, Xinhua, Uyghurs in the countryside are permitted three children while city-dwellers may have two. Under "special circumstances," rural families are permitted one more child, although what constitutes special circumstances was unclear. The government also uses financial incentives and disincentives to keep the birthrate low. Couples can also pay steep fines to have more children, although the fines are well beyond most people's means.

The official Web site China Xinjiang Web reports that in Kashgar, Hotan, and Kizilsu [in Chinese, Kezilesu], areas populated almost entirely by Uyghurs, women over 49 with only one child are entitled to a one-time payment of 3,000 yuan (U.S. $440), with the couple receiving 600 yuan (U.S. $88) yearly afterward.

China's official Tianshan Net reported that population control policies in Xinjiang have prevented the births of some 3.7 million people over the last 30 years. And according to China Xinjiang Web on Sept. 26, 2008, the government will spend 25.6 million yuan (U.S. $3.7 million) this year rewarding families who have followed the population policy.

The one-child policy is enforced more strictly in cities, but penalties for exceeding a family's quota can be severe, including job losses, demotions, or expulsion from the Party, experts say. Officials at all levels are subject to rewards or penalties based on whether they meet population targets set by their administrative region.Citizens are legally entitled to sue officials who they believe have overstepped their authority in enforcing the policy.

Congressional appeal

In Washington, Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives, appealed on Thursday to Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong to intervene. "Human rights groups and the U.S. government will be watching very carefully to see what happens to Arzigul and her family," Smith, senior member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said in a statement. "I appeal to the Chinese government not to forcibly abort Arzigul."

Tense relations

Relations between Chinese authorities and the Uyghur population have a long and tense history. Uyghurs formed two short-lived East Turkestan republics in the 1930s and 40s during the Chinese civil war and the Japanese invasion. But China subsequently took control of the region, and Beijing has in recent years launched a campaign against Uyghur separatism, which it regards as a war on Islamic terrorism. It has also accused "hostile forces" in the West of fomenting unrest in the strategically important and resource-rich region, which borders several countries in Central Asia.

Original reporting in Uyghur by Shohret Hoshur. Translated by Omer Kanat. Uyghur service director: Dolkun Kamberi. Written and produced for the Web in English by Sarah Jackson-Han. Edited by Joshua Lipes.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

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I reprinted the whole article in the belief that some people (like me) do not like to follow links. I want everyone to be aware of what is happening in the world around us. No longer is it okay to be ignorant about our neighbors suffering and their cultures. The world is just too darn small not to care. I hope you agree. Have a nice day.

Source: Radio Free Asia.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Burmese Monk Escapes Prison, Describes Torture

My Asian contact knows that I am very concerned about the plight of the Asain common people and has e-mailed me about this Monk, Ashin Panna Siri, who escaped from Lin Dan prison camp on the 15 of September. He spoke with Radio Free Asia after arriving safely in New Delhi. Here is the interview.

Escapee Describes Torture In Burma.

NEW DELHI, Oct. 1, 2008 — The only leader of Burma's 2007 Saffron Revolution to escape from a junta prison camp has described torture and backbreaking hard labor in custody, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

Ashin Panna Siri spoke after arriving safely in New Delhi following his breakout from the Lin Dan prison camp in Burma's Chin state on Sept. 15. He was a close associate of U Gambira, leader of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance, which spearheaded last year's uprising against the military junta that has ruled Burma since 1988.

"I was badly tortured during interrogation [by] agents from military security affairs [formerly military intelligence], and special branch police and conventional police," Ashin Panna Siri told RFA's Burmese service.

"I was forced to do squatting and stand on one foot while answering questions. When I couldn't answer or the answer was unsatisfactory, I was punched in the head, face, and ribs. My toes were stepped on by boots," he said.

“The military security agent was worst. He kicked my face with boots and also kicked my chest. He said he wouldn’t care if he was dismissed for using violent methods. He also put his pistol on table and threatened me.”

On Sept. 15, Ashin Panna Siri said, he scaled two barbed-wire fences to flee the camp—one of them 10 feet high and one 15 feet high. He declined to disclose any details of his flight to India .

“I climbed over both fences. My hands and arms were torn and lacerated by the barbed wire. But I didn’t care,” he said

Hard labor

Even monks handed only brief sentences for their roles in the 2007 uprising were sent to hard labor camps, a punishment usually reserved for those handed longer terms, he said.

“Conditions in these camps are far worse than in proper prisons. The food is horrible. Rice mixed with stones and sometimes with rat feces. There was almost no proper medical care and inmates had to do very hard labor,” he said.

“Our feet were chained. We had to work from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and then from 1 p.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. We had only Sundays off. It was very hard labor. We had to bring timber logs and carry them on our shoulders. We had to dig ditches, pound gravel, and mend roads,” Ashin Panna Siri said.

While he was initially detained from Oct. 18-24 in police station #1 in Monywa, he said, “High-level military officials—I believe they were the divisional commander and deputy commander—visited quite often and closely supervised my questioning to get information from me. They asked my interrogators in front of me, ‘What is the situation now? What information did we get? Get it from him by any means!’”

Ashin Panna Siri was convicted Jan. 18, 2008 of possessing foreign currency, which he acknowledges having at the time of his arrest. “The reason they didn’t charge me with political acts is that they want to deny that there are any political prisoners in Burma ,” he said.

Ashin Panna Siri hid with U Gambira after the crackdown, in which dozens were killed and thousands arrested. Arrested on Oct. 18, 2007, he spent seven months in Kalay prison before he was convicted and sent to hard labor.

Original reporting and translation by Ko Ko Aung and Nay Lin for RFA’s Burmese service. Service director: Nancy Shwe. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Friends I've shared this news with: Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Faultline USA, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Cao's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe, Beagle Scout.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Are We Paralyzed?

It appears to me that our foreign policy is one of paralysis. Why are there no back-up troops in Georgia telling the Soviets to get out? Why is Iran allowed to continue their march to successfully aquire nuclear weapons? Why does North Korea get to keep their weapons while we feed their army? Why is China given the privilege of hosting the Olympics while squashing the free speech of several free-speech countries? Why is everyone treating them with kid gloves when they are using 13 and 14 year old children when the rules demand they are supposed to be at least 16?

Because the Left-Marxists in this country and around the world do not care about such things. They only care about the destruction of America. If anyone requires more proof, just look to the United Nations. That is their tool, right? Well, they are not happy with the Soviets, but they have a veto on everything and anything we try to do to stop their invasion!

Do you hear anyone screaming that the Soviets are fighting a war for oil? Well, that's what they're doing! Have we become so whipped that we cannot see the realities of today? Is it true that we give a hoot about what other people say about us?

I'd rather they feared us the way they fear the Soviets and China! Honestly. If I were president, I would not let these things stand. Forget about the rest of the world. If necessary, kick out everyone who is not a citizen for a while. That would go very far in reducing the federal debt.

As far as what to do about every situation, I have a few ideas. First, I would make sure that North Korean government didn't get another dime. I would drop food all over their country with pamphlets encouraging them to take control of their land. As far as the standing army, I would offer them their families sustanance if they would lay would lay down their arms. If they refused, I would help move the people as far away as they could go for a while. Then I would blow up their reactors. Problem solved.

At the same time I would tell Iran to give up their weapons or face the consequences that have been awaiting them for over three decades. The same idea as with North Korea, help the people who want nothing to do with these scumbags, and the heck with the rest. When, not if, they refuse, there goes most of Iran. End of problem.

Now to address Georgia. Soviets get out or there will be war. Old Europe will no longer be a part of NATO. They are no longer an ally. They have been against us at every turn. What happened to, 'You are either with us or you are with them, but there is no middle ground here.'? They chose their side. It is time to chose ours.

There was a time when our so-called leaders used to not put up with tyrants like this in this manner. What happened? They became paralyzed by the Left and the idea that everyone has to get along. Since when?

PS. I understand my logic may be way off, and that's okay. It's the first plan I've seen so far, so I expect there to be many things incorrect with it. But at least I proposed one. Where is everyone else's?

PSS. I would also flatten Khartoum. No questions asked. No warning. They've had enough time and too many people have been murdered, raped, tortured, etc, and al Qaida is still there in the mountains. Is anyone looking there? No, they are not. Why not? Because the body created for the purpose of preventing another genocide cannot even bring itself to name what is happening Darfur, Sudan, genocide. Shall we just lay down and die for them? Make it easier? NOT ME!

THIS IS A PERSONAL RANT, AND IT DOES NOT REFLECT THE BELIEFS OF THIS SITE (the Talon). I am frustrated over the situations around the world, and it appears no one is paying attention. BTW, Pakistan's government is falling apart as of today. Watch out for something to happen over there.

Elections or no, politics should never govern foreign policy.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Today I am having a Linkfest party for all my friends, they ones I know and they ones I will come to know. If you have a post you would like to share with more people, why not trackpost it here? All you have to do is add my Permalink somewhere in your article (usually at the bottom), then trackback to it. You don't have trackbacks available? Why not use Wizbang Stand Alone Trackback. Everyone have a nice day.

Friends I have trackbacked to today through Linkfest and others who are having an open trackback party themselves: The World According To Carl - Uncle Jay Explains The News — August 25, 2008, Blog @ MoreWhat.com - Open Trackback Linkfest Tuesday, MacBros Reviews - Open Trackback Post #10, Blog @ MoreWhat.com - Dems Head to the Kook-Aid Trough.

Friends who have shared their posts for your reading pleasure:
1. third world county: Belly Laugh of the Day.
2. The World According To Carl: Lake Ella: Flooded Due To Tropical Storm Fay.
3. Beagle Scout: On the Lookout for Storms in Mississippi.
4. Mark My Words: Reasoned discourse.
5. Stageleft:. Life on the left side: Well, That Should Make Everyone Feel Safer.
6. Pirate's Cove: AGW Today: Vultures At U.N. Talks, Carbon Credits, Dems And Nukes.
7. Beagle Scout: More Hurricane Forecast Maps.
8. Beagle Scout: With Arugula in one hand, and Shield in the other, I declare myself Emperor of Denver!
9. Mark My Words: Who covers up good news?

Cross-posted @ The Talon and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

The Fog(s) Of A Coming War?

I do not understand what is going on inside of my head, but it appears (factually) that I've forgotten my responsibility to have a post ready again. It is not for the lack of trying. I have been paying very close attention to the situations in Georgia/USSR relations (ha) and the Chinese arresting journalists, protesters, and just about anyone they don't like...which is everyone.

This cease-fire agreement between Georgia and the Soviets, brokered by France's president and Condi Rice is a joke. All the Soviets have to do is move back to the two cities they first invaded inside Georgia? That's bunk.

If we do not confront the Soviets now on our terms, we will confront them later on their terms. This would include much blood and God only knows how many lives. If you do not stop an idealogue bully before they get started and they sense your unwillingness to do anything, we could end up in another world war.

I've heard people say, "The Military is stretched too thin." Oh? We have 300,000,000+ people living here, and we're stretched too thin? Let me just throw this out there. If worse comes to worse, I don't want to hear any whining from the usual suspects. I want them to line up for duty and get off the freakin' dole, or get out of America.

Yeah, I said it. What are you going to about it? This is my country, which I love, we're talking about. You don't appreciate freedom? You've never lost it. You don't appreciate liberty? You've never known its sweetness, nor appreciated it. That's right. When it comes down to saving our country against ALL enemies foreign AND domestic, it is also the duty of the sovereign individuals of our great country to pony up.

Why am I so pessimistic and dire about the situation with the USSR? (Before you ask, it is my freedom of speech to call them what they are.) Do you remember WWI and WWII? These could have been prevented. Hitler gave us many chances to stop his sorry butt. What did we do? We gave him the Olympics.

Speaking of China, why in the world did President Bush stay there when Georgia was invaded? Even more, why did he go in the first place? Does he not realize that China is also a threat to us? Does anyone remember the Cox Report? Never heard of it? It was considered Classified until May 1999, and here is the Final Report. Educate yourselves, just like I need to constantly.

Aside from the Chinese theft of our nuclear secrets, they also care not one wit towards their people. Why should we care about this? We have come to learn that if a country does not care a wit how they treat their own people, you can predetermine that they care even less how they will treat any prisoners of war. It's laughable the way people cackle at the treatment we use toward enemy combatants AS DEFINED IN THE GENEVA CONVENTION. We go too far and above what is called for as far as fairness goes. IMHO.

Another reason I hate China. Tiananmen Square. 'Nuf said.

But then again, that's just my opinion...

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

PS. I am having the Open Trackback Party over at Rosemary's News and Ideas. Thanks. ;)

Cross-posted @ The Talon and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

RFA Condemns China's Barring of Journalist

Radio Free Asia is a site I like, because they report news I won't get anywhere else. They find out the truth behind these very repressed governments. So is it any surprise their visas were denied?

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 , 2008 — Radio Free Asia (RFA) today condemned the Chinese government's apparent denial of an entry visa to an Olympic-credentialed RFA broadcaster and called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to press Beijing to honor its pledge to hold the Games in an atmosphere of openness.

“Twenty-four hours before the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing, RFA hasn’t received an entry permit for our Tibetan service broadcaster, U.S. citizen Dhondup Gonsar. We deplore this stonewalling by the Chinese authorities,” RFA president Libby Liu said.

“Withholding media credentials and visas is standard practice by governments hostile to free expression, which is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We urge the Chinese government to show the world it no longer fears uncensored media in local languages, as is fitting for an emerging world power and Olympics host,” Liu said.

“We call on the Chinese government to immediately issue Mr. Gonsar’s Olympic entry permit, and on IOC President Jacques Rogge to demand, in the spirit of free and fair competition that the Games embody, that Mr. Gonsar be permitted to cover the Olympic Games,” Liu said in a statement.

She noted that RFA has complied fully and promptly with all requirements to obtain media accreditation.

Gonsar, a journalist for RFA’s Tibetan-language service, was one of two RFA reporters to receive non-broadcast media credentials from the IOC to attend and cover the Olympic Games in Beijing. Olympic officials have said Gonsar’s accreditation will be conveyed only after the Chinese Foreign Ministry forwards it to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

I feel badly for them, but I also believe that China should never had been given the honor of holding the Olympics in the first place. Come on, Tibetan reporter? What did you think they were going to do? THEY ARE COMMUNISTS. Like tigers, they will NEVER change their stripes.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.