[Straits Times] FOUR of the five robbers shot dead minutes after a robbery had time to raid their victim's kitchen and enjoy the food there. During the one-hour robbery, the men took turns to feast on chicken rice, chocolate cake and ice cream at the home of Syahrin Md Jamaludin, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's political secretary. The incident occurred around 2am in Kampung Sinaran Baru, Skudai, on Wednesday.
Try the chocolate cake, it's to die for ...
Mr Syahrin's wife Huzaimah Yahya, 33, who was tied up during the robbery, said two of the criminals ransacked her home looking for valuables while two others raided the fridge and opened pots and pans in the kitchen looking for food.
Ms Huzaimah, an assistant registrar at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said she was even made to teach the robbers how to use the remote control for the two cars at her home.
'I'm grateful my three children, who were sleeping, and I were not harmed during the robbery. I even asked the robbers not to make noise as I was worried about them waking up my children,' she said.
After ransacking the house, the robbers, including the fifth man who was believed to have waited outside the house, fled in one of the cars stolen from Syahrin's house, a Proton Waja, around 3.10am. Mr Syahrin, 33, who was in Putrajaya, rushed back to Johor Baru after learning of the incident and praised police for their swift action. He added that his house was broken into two years ago as well.
Johor police chief Dept Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said police spotted the five suspects around 3.45am in the victim's car on a slip road in Kempas leading to the Pasir Gudang highway.
DCP Mohd Mokhtar said despite police ordering the suspects to stop, they rammed the back of a police vehicle and attempted to run away on foot.
Suddenly, they turned back to attack the police with a gun and parangs, and police were forced to open fire to defend themselves, he said, adding that all five suspects, in their 20s, died at the scene. The suspects also had no valid travel documents.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
5 bad guys, 5 KIA, no IDs. That's how you do a crossfire, gentlemen. Watch and learn.
The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that it will hand full operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul in 2012 as planned. Combined Forces Command in Seoul on Tuesday said U.S. Commander Gen. Walter Sharp and Deputy Commander Gen. Lee Sung-chool of South Korea visited Washington on May 4-8 to meet senior defense officials, who told them U.S. "commitment to the Republic of Korea will remain strong after OPCON transition and the transfer will occur as planned in 2012."
Although Lee told American defense officials that retired South Korean generals want to delay the 2012 transfer, the U.S. side insisted, a military source said.
It was the first time that a CFC commander and deputy commander discussed Korea-U.S. security issues with senior defense officials in Washington. The event came at Sharp's proposal. The two generals also discussed scenarios in North Korea after Kim Jong-il.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Anyone surprised by this? China is doing everything it can to penetrate our military, intel and political spheres.
A mid-level Pentagon official working for U.S. Pacific Command now faces criminal charges in an ongoing espionage investigation for allegedly providing classified information to an agent of the Chinese government. James Fondren served as the Deputy Director of Pacific Command's liaison office and had a long friendship with Tai Shen Kuo, who was arrested and charged last year for passing sensitive information onto Chinese military and intelligence officials.
Fondren and Kuo were both friends and business associates. Prior to working at the Pentagon as a civilian, Fondren served as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and retired in 1996. Two years later, according to the criminal complaint, Fondren established a consulting company in Virginia whose sole client was Kuo, a naturalized US citizen from Taiwan who lived in Louisiana and ran two companies in the United States.
Kuo is also linked to Gregg Bergersen, a former policy analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Kuo and Bergersen were arrested last February on espionage charges. Bergersen was accused of providing information on weapon sales to Taiwan and passing military communications security information to Kuo. Bergersen pleaded guilty to disclosing national defense information in March 2008 and was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Kuo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to disclosing national defense information a year ago and is currently serving a 15-year prison term.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well, not like it was troop movements or anything. But still, leaking like a sieve, thoroughly penetrated.
#3
With what is provided here, it really does not pass the sniff test. I can't help but wonder if the Bureau actually checked to see if other gov't agencies may have been involved.
#5
I'd say LTC(Ret) Fondren certainly has some very shady friends along with PACOM and Pentagon assignment which provided excellent placement and access. He's holding, or probably held at least TS/SCI access which requires reporting of foreign contacts during periodic re-investigations. Either Fondren is sublimely nieve and stupid, or the bureau has stumbled onto someone elses project. Not really enough information provided here. Definately looks like he's got some splain'n to do.
#6
TW: I agree with Besoeker. There are eighteen layers of Byzantine intrigue going on here, and what this article portrays is the "barely adequate admin disclosure".
[ADN Kronos] The Turkish gunman, who tried to kill the late Pope John Paul II in 1981, has told an Italian newspaper he wants to convert to Catholicism. In an interview with the Italian daily, La Repubblica, Mehmet Ali Agca said he wants to be baptised in St. Peter's square, where he shot and wounded the Polish pope.
Mehmet Ali Agca wounded John Paul II on 13 May 1981. He was a member of the radical right-wing Turkish group, the Grey Wolves and was captured immediately after shooting the pontiff.
The pope later, from his hospital bed, forgave his assailant.
"Once freed, I would like to be baptised. I would like to do it in front of media from all over the world, in the Vatican, exactly in front of St. Peter's Square, the place where I struck Pope Wojtyla (John Paul II)," said Ali Agca in an interview published on Tuesday.
Regarding John Paul II, Ali Agca says he remembers him as a kind human being.
"I remember the pope as the most respectable and kind-hearted human being of the 21st century. I would like to pay him a tribute in front of his tomb," he said.
When asked about how he feels in Turkey, Agca said he missed Italy, but would like to receive Portuguese citizenship.
"I am okay. Although I thought I would feel better in Turkey once I was extradited. They treat me well here, but I miss Italy and I miss freedom.
"I would like to travel, have a simple life and work...we are trying to talk to the Portuguese government. I would like to obtain citizenship there.
"In Portugal, at Fatima, there is a statue of the Virgin of Fatima which was dear to Wojtyla," he said. "Pope Ratzinger explained that the assassination attempt constituted the famous Third Secret, that is why I chose Portugal."
The Third Secret of Fatima is a prophecy believed to have been given to three Portuguese children during a series of apparitions by the Virgin Mary in 1917 on 13 May, the same day John Paul II was shot.
The text, written down more than 50 years ago by one of the children, refers to a bishop dressed in white being killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him.
However, there have been many reports about a so-called conversion by Ali Agca.
Recently in a letter to Italian weekly, Diva e Donna, Ali Agca said he would like to marry an Italian and that he had already converted to Catholicism on 13 May 2007, 26 years after the attempt on John Paul II's life.
After serving almost 20 years of a life sentence in prison in Italy, he received an official pardon from former Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2000 and was deported to Turkey.
He was then jailed at the Yenikent jail in the capital Ankara where he is serving a separate sentence for robbery and murder.
Ali Agca first claimed he was commissioned to kill the pontiff by Bulgaria on the orders of the Soviet KGB or intelligence services.
Agca later recanted, but suspicions continued about a Bulgarian connection, involving secret services of the then Communist bloc who feared the Polish Pope's influence on the global stage.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In The Third Secret by Steve Berry, the secret is that the last pope is named Benedict, a pompous and corrupt pontiff.
#2
Hey, Lumpy. Do you believe all the fiction you read?
Agca also suggested that once he is baptized he wants to then receive an honorary degree at Notre Dame.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/14/2009 9:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Jack:
No, I read fiction for entertainment but authors do a lot of research to make the plot plausible. It was just a comment, as according to the book, the third secret is one kept confidential by the Vatican, giving poetic license to Berry and in conflict with the popes' explanation.
#4
Sorry to disagree, but having attempted to kill a pope, should bar any consideration from any Catholic, I say NO BAPTISM,(Unless you hold him down till the bubbles quit rising).
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2009 14:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I feel the same way about John Hinckley, who continues to request weekends with his parents. The rule is - you take a shot at the President, you go to jail for life. Period.
#6
I never said I agreed with a request for a baptism nor do I think Hinckley deserves weekend outings. Sounds like a ploy to get inside the Vatican. Forgiveness is between Agca and God and any negotiations between them can be done anywhere, including a jail cell.
#7
Christianity is founded on the principle of forgiveness and redemption. Is that not, after all, why God sent His only Son? Pope JP2 forgave him, so, *if* the man truly wants to convert, then the opinions of rednecks and others is irrelevant.
Ummm, Mods troll droppings on aisle 7, cleanup please.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2009 17:18 Comments ||
Top||
#9
I happen to agree with AllahHatMe on the forgiveness part but not calling yall Rednecks. He isn't a troll.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/14/2009 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#10
troll droppings? It is your nick choice
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2009 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I suppose if Paul, who said that before his conversion he persecuted church members unto their deaths, could go on to write what became entire books of the New Testament, then I also suppose Agca could be baptized.
#12
I gather he wants his baptism to be as well-publicized as possible. Since he was (I gather) Muslim, this will bring the usual fatwas demanding death to the apostate. If he is serious, he is courageous.
Posted by: James ||
05/14/2009 21:30 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Luke 23:39-43 (New International Version)
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
#1
Nice. Even the display looks to be less bulky and heavy than the current systems currently shown. And if this system were installed in UAV's that might give them the situational awareness to mingle in civilian traffic.
[Straits Times] MYANMAR authorities are to charge pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids over an incident in which an American swam across a lake to visit her at her house, her party said on Thursday. US national John Yettaw was detained by police in the military-ruled nation last week for gaining uninvited access to the 63-year-old Nobel LaureateŽs off-limits lakeside residence in Yangon and staying there for two days.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be charged in connection with an American man who allegedly sneaked into her compound in Yangon where she is under house arrest, a spokesman for her party said on Thursday. Nyan Win of the National League for Democracy (NLD), quoting Suu Kyi's lawyer, said the 63-year-old Nobel Peace laureate would be moved to Yangon's Insein Prison later on Thursday. No date was set for her trial.
The charges come only weeks before Suu Kyi's current detention order was due to expire on May 27.
How convenient ...
State media reported on Wednesday night that American diplomats had been allowed to visit John Yettaw, who was arrested on May 6 after he claimed to have swam across Inya Lake and spent two days in Suu Kyi's home.
Two female companions who live with Suu Kyi in her lakeside villa, where she has spent most of her latest detention since May 2003, would also be charged, Nyan Win said. "The authorities will move Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her two female companions, Daw Khin Win and her daughter, to Insein Central Prison this morning to stand trial in connection with the American man who sneaked into her residence," Nyan Win told Reuters.
Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections only to be denied power by the military which has ruled the former Burma for more than four decades, has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years. For most of those years she has been held virtually incommunicado at her lakeside villa, with her telephone line cut, her mail intercepted and visitors restricted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yeah, good job asshole, got your idol arrested. Never give them an excuse.
In addition, he fucks things up for Americans and other foriegners who might want to go to Burma. I was thinking about it this summer, actually, but I suppose that's off now! Self-centered liberal jerk, what can you say?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
