Teh interesting (non-PHL-related) news stub thread

[Fox]

A lot of people also seem to share that view.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/abs/20091124/tp...61bf7.html

"It [gov't] is beholden to the support, especially during election time, from people like [the] Ampatuans," Julkipli Wadi, University of the Philippines’ Islamic Studies professor, told ANC mornings.

Wadi said the Arroyo administration does not have "enough political will" to disarm the Ampatuans, which the government should have done a long time ago to prevent election-related violence in Maguindanao.

[Grim]

A very sad (but real) tale of Dubai as it was, as it is, and as it will become.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/com...64368.html

EDIT: Some of my thoughts on the subject. The article really hit me. Is it because I'm partly to blame for participating in a materialistic world-view?

http://bluemechaoxide.net/blog/2009/12/0...-of-dubai/

[J.E_Magog]

More sadness. Making less than $100 a day is pretty low. I bet I was making moar when I was 67789879089099

Tough Times for Anime's Animators
http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/t...25C1F71EA1

[NiX]

That really is sad. To think I wanted to be an animator when I was a kid. The in-betweeners probably have it much worse.

Funny that we don't have a thread about the Maguindanao BS here. That's fine though, since we hear enough about it already. And we'll all just feel extra frustrated when the case just gets left hanging.

[Grim]

Iran whistleblower died from drug-laced salad

CAIRO – A 26-year-old doctor who exposed the torture of jailed protesters in Iran died of poisoning from a delivery salad laced with an overdose of blood pressure medication, prosecutors say. The findings fueled opposition fears that he was killed because of what he knew.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether his death last month was a suicide or murder, Tehran's public prosecutor Abbas Dowlatabadi said, according to the state news agency IRNA.

The revelations of torture against prisoners in Iran's postelection turmoil angered even government supporters and deeply embarrassed the country's clerical leadership and security forces.

Much of the abuse took place at Kahrizak, a prison on Tehran's outskirts where hundreds of opposition protesters were taken. Several there died, and the facility became so notorious that Iran's supreme leader was forced to close it down.

Ramin Pourandarjani, a doctor at Kahrizak, later testified to a parliamentary committee and reportedly told them that a young protester he treated died from severe torture. He said he was also forced by security officials to list the cause of death as meningitis, according to opposition Web sites.
Pourandarjani died on Nov. 10 in mysterious circumstances, with authorities initially saying he was in a car accident, had a heart attack or committed suicide.

Forensic tests showed that the doctor died of "poisoning by drugs" that matched doses of propranolol found in a salad that was delivered to him, Dowlatabadi said Tuesday. "A large number of these pills must be used for a person to pass away from them," he said.

Propranolol is used to treat high blood pressure, rapid heart rate and tremors, and can be lethal in high doses.

The restaurant delivery man told investigators that he gave the salad directly to Pourandarjani and described how the doctor took it from him at the door of his room, then closed the door behind him, Dowlatabadi said. The delivery man is not under arrest, he said.

Last week, Iran's top police commander, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, insisted the death was a suicide. He said the doctor faced criminal charges over failure to fulfill his duties to treat the detainees and killed himself in despair in a courthouse lounge. The police chief said a note was found with the body.

But the police chief, speaking more than a week after the death, only highlighted the mysteries.

His comments were the first and only public word that Pourandarjani had faced any charges — or that he had died in a courthouse. The IRNA report on the prosecutor's announcement did not say where the doctor was when the salad was delivered to him.

One pro-reform lawmaker dismissed the claims and suggested a link to the prison torture.

"It is impossible to accuse him of suicide," said Masood Pezeshkian, the pro-opposition Web site Roozonline reported Wednesday. "The idea of suicide by someone who had no problems and no serious disease — and was present during the events at Kahrizak — seems questionable to us."
The doctor's father, Reza-Qoli Pourandarjani, told The Associated Press last month that he didn't believe any of the causes of death given so far by the government. But he didn't go as far as accusing anyone of killing his son.

"Just the night before his death, my child talked to me on the phone, it was around 8 or 9 p.m. He sounded great, very dignified, displaying no sign of someone about to commit suicide," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Tabriz in northwestern Iran.

"He was even full of hope" and making plans with friends, the father said.

The next day, the elder Pourandarjani received a call from a Tehran security official informing him that his son was in a car accident with a broken leg and needed his consent to have surgery. When he traveled to Tehran, "we found out that that wasn't the case," the father said.

Several opposition Web sites raised concerns that Pourandarjani was killed because he knew details on a number of torture victims at Kahrizak, including 24-year-old Mohsen Rouhalamini, the son of a prominent conservative figure. Rouhalamini's death in late July was the main factor raising anger among government supporters over the abuse.

In his testimony, the doctor told the committee investigating abuse that Rouhalamini was brought to him at Kahrizak "in a dreadful state after being subjected to extreme physical torture. He was in a critical state," the opposition Web site Mowjcamp said, citing parliament officials.

Pourandarjani said that after the youth's death, "officials in Kahrizak threatened that if I disclosed the causes of the wounds of the injured at Kahrizak, I would not be able to live," the site reported.

Hundreds of protesters and opposition activists were arrested in the crackdown on protests following the disputed June 12 presidential election, in which the opposition says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory was fraudulent. The opposition says at least 69 people were killed while the government has confirmed around 30 deaths.

More than 100 protesters, activists and pro-reform opposition have been on trial, accused of fueling the protests and being part of a plot to overthrow the government.

[NiX]

At least they do it discreetly over there.

[J.E_Magog]

It's really hard to enforce "democracy" without making a mess of things.

[NiX]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/20...?page=full

We aren't far off from MGS4.

[Abdul]

The man who appeared in the picture bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the men who showed up near my homestead a week ago, asking if I had a permit for expanding my herd of goats. That was just ridiculous! Here in Khapalpakhstan, we have no need of permits or anything to maintain a herd of goats. All that is required if you wish to enlarge your herd is steal the animals from the owner while he is asleep.

Such ignorance. These foreigners just arrived here a few weeks ago when our government asked for foreighn support and they think they own the place. At least they should try to understand our customs more before talking to us about our animals. But not to worry, my clansmen and I are meeting tonight at 10pm in the secret temple underneath the village circle in order to discuss our clandestine plans to throw them out of Khapalpkhstan!

[NiX]

Yahoo slips.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12/08/...ers-leaks/

I think it's safe to assume that it's not only Yahoo doing this.

[Twin-Skies]

Solon seeks to criminalize same sex union
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnew...-sex-union

MANILA, Philippines--Describing it as “highly immoral, scandalous and detestable,” a lawmaker on Monday called for the criminalization of gay marriage.

In proposing House Bill 6919, Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr. said same sex union “would snap the remaining strand of our moral values.”

Abante, a pastor and chairman of the public information committee, said there is no specific provision yet in the Revised Penal Code penalizing persons who enter in same sex marriage or those who solemnize the marriage.

“While there is no documented same sex marriage yet in our country, the absence of clear legislation serves as an invitation to same sex marriage,” he said.

Violators face 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of not more than P150,000, according to the bill. It also provides a 12-year jail term and a fine of P100,000 for anybody who misdeclares or hides his or her true sex for the purpose of securing marriage license.

Any person who issues marriage license or who solemnizes the same sex union faces an imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of not more than P100,000.

Hmm, as a Manila resident, I will not be voting for him come May 2010. I will not entrust my area's future to bigots.

[Grim]

A couple of blog posts about the current Philippine political situation which I think you all should read at least once. They're really good.

The first is a response to PDI opinion writer Conrado de Quiros' support of Noynoy Aquino, written by a JR dela Cruz, a graduate of the UP College of Law.
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/paul-fa...oynoy.html

The second is a well-written and well-thought out response to the current level of political (im)maturity we have in the country.
http://viewerdiscretionisadvised.wordpre...straw-man/

[Twin-Skies]

Thanks for the links man - I read both of them.

I still plan to vote for Noynoy honestly, on account that I have seen his performance in last week's presidential candidates debate, and I thought he handled himself quite well compared to the other presidentiables.

Especially compared to Erap, who sounded like he was drunk during the whole proceedings.

[Grim]

Especially compared to Erap, who sounded like he was drunk during the whole proceedings.

Everyone's better when compared to Erap. But yes, voting with a clear mind and honest intentions is all anyone could ever ask of anyone.

[clonezero]

Do anyone have any news of the guy who replaced BF as the head of the MMDA I hear the dude's doing a good job of fucking up everything BF did.