How many pollacks does it take to crash an airplane?

ok, this is in really poor taste, but I'm an asshole and have no respect for the dead so, come about midnight I'm going to post on this as well as all of the crazy stuff going down in BKK.

good ol' Thai democracy

Now, I realize not many people in America give a shit about Thailand, but, hey, I do. So suck it. The craziness going on down there is as entertaining as anything else going on in the world right now, so I feel like it's worth a look.
Thailand's democracy, like others that could be named, often relies on military coups to squelch popular unrest. The end result is that, much like Turkey until recent times, Thailand is a Democracy with a military veto. So, every once in a while, the military asserts itself in Thailand during times of popular unrest, or when a leader challenges its position in the established governmental order.

This offends a lot of people, and I have a lot of problems with this style as well. The army is turned loose on civilians every once in a while in a Thai style democracy, which results in civilian casualties. 25 people were killed and hundreds more injured when the military attempted to disperse the Redshirt Occupation of Bangkok on April 10th. Now granted, some of these protests were growing violent, and they were crippling Bangkok's economy, but there's never an excuse for any government to kill it's citizens. After all, what is the purpose of government except to protect the interest of it's constituents.

That is of course a wonderful axiom, but, one that is rarely lived up to. Except in America, cause our country rules. But I digress. In Thailand, that axiom is often laughable. The government is often corrupt and brutal, and when the inevitable death of the revered king Bhumibol the specter of civil strife looms over this tropical paradise. Journeyman pictures has done an incredible job in breaking down the conflict, none of my friends have any money, but if you should read this article in some 2 am drunken stupor, you should pay them if you've got any money.

China getting less bitchy

China has been toning down its recent inflammatory rhetoric according to Charles Hutzler of the Journal star. It's about friggen time is all I can say, China's been rebelling against US authority while highlighting all of the reasons why US authority has done so much good for the world for a couple of years now.

I still remember when Hu Jin Tao came to power as a pragmatic reformer. It'd sure be nice to see that guy resurface again because this attitude that the Chinese government has been putting off over the last couple of years has been stoking our own warhawks here in the US, and we don't need to give anti-market ultra nationalist reactionaries any more political ammo.

The big picture is this, Frosty US-Sino relations are bad for all parties involved. They are especially for a China which seems to have forgotten that it has a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way to go before its its government can be considered even the palest of shadows compared to that of the United states. They'll need to find a way to facilitate a peaceful exchange of power and to facilitate a free civil society before they can stand on even footing with the western liberal democracies. Until they do that the spector of violent revolution will hang over the heads of China's leaders like the proverbial sword of Damocles waiting to strike down all of the progress that's been made in the last 3 decades.

The Chinese have been threatening to kill the American goose that lays all of the golden eggs for a while now. But Americans shouldn't threat about this posturing, Chinese leaders know their country would go through a devastating regression if they disengaged from US partnership, and possibly violent overthrow of the government. But this bleak scenario doesn't seem likely. China has built a lot of momentum in the last three decades, and that's a wonderful thing. If their spoiled and corrupt government officials can pull their heads out of their collective asses for just a few more decades humanity could be in for a new golden age ... or we could all roast in nuclear fire. It all depends on how that country of 1,000,000,000 people chooses to interact with the world.

Obama Czech's Iran

Almighty sovereign messiah Barrack Obama in his infinite compassion and wisdom graced us mortals with the gift of his peace at a ceremony in a Prague castle today when he and Russian President Dmetri Mdvedev signed an important treaty on nuclear non proliferation.

The two powers who together own about 95% of the worlds nuclear weapons will still pack enough nuclear punch to end all life on planet earth, but have agreed to reduce their stock pile by about 30%. The move is being described as a foreign policy victory for both Obama and Medvedev with the end result being that America will now have much more latitude in placing restrictions on Iran in attempts to check its fledgling nuclear program. All hail Obama, all hail the new emperor of the American empire!

Where's David Duke when you need him

Now I realize that South Africa is a country with a long histroy of racial strife, but this corny little bastard seems intent on taking things to a new level. And he's not just some crack pot, he's the guy in charge of the ruling party's youth movement, Julius Malema. Radicalism and racism may be part and parcel with South African politics, but calling for Zimbabwean style land seizures after seeing how they completely shelled out the Zimbabwean economy is the quite possibly dumbest shit I have ever heard of.

Who is the one allowing this guy to brain wash the youth of South Africa? For God sakes! Won't somebody please think about the children ... alright, fuck the children, instead won't somebody please punch this guy in the face!
Time to put away the hate South Africa, because this guy is making you look very stupid.