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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110602/od_nm/us_thailand_turtles

Customs seize 451 turtles in suitcases

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai customs has found 451 turtles worth 1 million baht ($33,000) stashed in suitcases offloaded from a passenger flight from Bangladesh, the latest seizure of live creatures at Bangkok's bustling Suvarnabhumi airport.

Turtles of varying sizes worth around 2,000 baht apiece in Thai markets, and seven false gavials, a type of freshwater crocodile worth 10,000 baht each, were found on Thursday in small bags packed into cases after authorities received a tip off that a known trafficker was on his way to Thailand.

The alleged trafficker, a Bangladeshi national, did not collect the luggage and fled on arrival in Bangkok, customs officials said.

The discovery was the biggest since September last year, when 1,140 turtles were found by customs on a single day. A further 218 were seized a month later.

Thailand, which borders four countries, has seen its fair share of illegal wildlife trafficking and customs officials at Suvarnabhumi often seize reptiles and small animals in luggage.

They found a two-month old tiger cub in a bag last August, which was concealed by stuffed tiger toys and bound for Iran.

Prasong Poontaneat, director-general of Thailand's customs department, said it was likely the turtles were destined for Bangkok's Chatujak Market, a sprawling mass of 11,000 stalls and shops that has a dedicated pet section where endangered species are sometimes sold.

The market, which operates on weekends only, generates as much as 1 billion baht ($33 million) a month from some 350,000 foreign and local shoppers, according to the State Railway of Thailand, which owns the land.

Although Thailand has been at the forefront of a regional effort to combat wildlife trafficking, the country's multiple airports, sea ports and road network make it a major transit point for other destinations.

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Prasong Poontaneat, director-general of Thailand's customs department, said it was likely the turtles were destined for Bangkok's Chatujak Market, a sprawling mass of 11,000 stalls and shops that has a dedicated pet section where endangered species are sometimes sold.

The market, which operates on weekends only, generates as much as 1 billion baht ($33 million) a month from some 350,000 foreign and local shoppers, according to the State Railway of Thailand, which owns the land.

Off topic, but they need to do something about Chatujak Market. A slight bit of rain and it floods quicker than Stevies pants during happy hour.

On a lighter note, did you see Danno has grown a beard and was in the news today? ;)

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Teen Sells His Kidney for an iPad 2. Teen Now Regrets It

There's a lot of reasonable things I would trade for an iPad 2. 500 bucks, Pepsi, a stack of clothes, basically anything my life wouldn't miss. A 17-year-old kid from China was a little unreasonable—he traded his kidney.

It's a sad story but the kid, named Zheng from Huaishan City in China, wanted an iPad 2 but couldn't afford it. He said:

"I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it. A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan."

20,000 yuan is about $3,000, so he got a little more than just an iPad 2 but he's starting to feel ill as his health is deteriorating. His mother, who had no idea what her son was planning, tried to get in contact with the kidney broker but to no one's surprise, has been unable to reach him.

Now I love my iPad 2 very much but I appreciate the heck out of my kidneys more. The stakes are a little higher on who I'll give my kidneys away for and it's pretty much mother, father, sister, girlfriend. Hopefully, Zheng can bounce back from this and live a healthy life. [Shanghai Daily via Business Insider]

http://gizmodo.com/5807795/teen-sells-his-kidney-for-an-ipad-2-teen-now-regrets-it

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The stakes are a little higher on who I'll give my kidneys away for and it's pretty much mother, father, sister, girlfriend.

i thought Washira had already taken one of ur kidneys .... or was it one of ur balls !!!

i just remember it was something u didn't need and didn't use very often anyway !!!

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i thought Washira had already taken one of ur kidneys .... or was it one of ur balls !!!

i just remember it was something u didn't need and didn't use very often anyway !!!

She took one to add to her collection yes. But as a replacement I had a lotion dispenser put down there. Y'know for those lonely days !!!!

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQLVITeiwSNBpQEXXeAtTf0Ko2VBtRi9hHQBKlI0C2fJrt31_SA

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US Soldier Stops Bank Robbery

SARASOTA, Fla. – An Army staff sergeant home on leave in southwest Florida chased down a suspected bank robber and held him until authorities arrived.

Officials say Eddie Peoples was at a Bank of America branch in Sarasota with his two young sons Tuesday when a man walked in with a handgun and demanded cash from the tellers. Peoples told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune he sprang into action after the man threatened his sons.

Peoples says he left his sons inside while he ran to his rented van and blocked the suspect's car in the parking lot. The suspect got out and pointed his gun at Peoples, who twisted the man's arm, stripped away the gun and slammed him to the ground.

Sarasota Sheriff's deputies arrested 34-year-old Matthew Rogers. The gun turned out to be a toy.

America

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/240576/malaysian-women-urge-wives-to-be-whores-in-bed

Wives told to be 'whores in bed'

A group of Malaysian women launched an "Obedient Wife Club" on Saturday, urging members to be "whores in bed" and obey their husbands to curb social ills like divorce and domestic violence.

274834.jpg Newly wed couple smiles during their wedding in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. A group of Malaysian Muslim women say they will fight divorce, domestic violence and other problems - by appealing to wives to be more obedient.

Islamic group Global Ikhwan held the club's inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur, giving women tips on how to keep their men satisfied and prevent them straying.

"A good wife is perceived to be prim and proper -- you just take care of the children -- but not much is emphasised on fulfilling sexual needs of the husband. If he needs sex, obey him," Rohaya Mohamad, the club's vice-president told AFP.

Rohaya said 30 percent of the club members were in polygamous marriages while the rest were in monogamous relationships and that the club was open to non-Muslims.

"You must satisfy your husband. A good wife should be a ***** in bed," said 46-year-old doctor, whose husband has three other wives.

She said the club boasted 800 Malaysian members so far with another 200 from across the Middle East.

Over 1,000 guests and supporters turned up for the launch in a leafy suburb, held in conjunction with a mass wedding of ten couples, with the brides all members of the new club.

"If the wife is obedient, then the husband feels good and is entertained and this builds a closer relationship and greater love and no one strays," said groom Mohamad Shurahbil Amran, 23.

His bride Umuhani Lokman Hakim, 19, dressed in a golden white Arabic wedding gown, was unforthcoming when asked why she joined the club and would only say: "It is the right thing to do to keep the family together."

The club has come under criticism from Malaysian women's groups who say the onus on keeping a family together is being unfairly placed on women.

"With obedience comes submission, which may lead to domestic violence and marital rape," Women's Aid Organisation head Ivy Josiah told AFP.

"We should really be forming equality in marriage clubs," she added.

Women's rights group EMPOWER said the club was a step back for the progress of the equality movement.

"We cannot go back to caveman days where the man pulls the woman by the hair and takes her to the cave to have his way. We must recognise that women contribute a lot more than just being a sex toy," the group's executive director Maria Chin Abdullah told AFP.

Polygamy is legal for Muslims, who make up more than 60 percent of Malaysia's population, allowing Muslim men to take up to four wives.

In 2010, a study by a Muslim activist group found men in polygamous relationships find it difficult to meet the needs of all their wives and children, and that the result is often unhappy and cash-strapped families.

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Would you you like some durian?†A smile flashes across the face of Thaksin Shinawatra as he thinks of the notorious Asian fruit, famed for both its sweet taste and wrenchingly rotten smell. The former Thai prime minister has already served steamed pork balls, coconut noodles with green onion and a prawn and minced-pork curry, but he is adamant the meal will not be complete without this addition. He calls for one – thankfully it is not too ripe – and he appears content. “I always say the best Thai restaurant in Dubai is my home,†he chuckles.

The business tycoon and former owner of Manchester City football club is perhaps the world’s most famous political exile. Since being ousted from office in a bloodless coup in 2006, he has lived a peripatetic lifestyle, travelling the globe in his Bombardier Global Express jet in search of safe havens to continue his business operations and rally his supporters in Thailand. He has spent periods in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Brunei, the UK (where he complained he could not find a decent barber), Nicaragua, Montenegro and Cambodia.

Two-and-half years ago he decided to base himself in Dubai, where he lives in a comfortable villa, set on a private compound looking out to a lake and a golf course. Two luxury cars sit in his driveway, a Lexus LS 600h L and a gleaming black Jaguar, and he says he has flown 750 hours in the last 10 months. He admits he remains a billionaire.

Now, the 61-year-old is to once again be thrust centre stage in Thailand’s bitter political turmoil as the party he controls from overseas, Pheu Thai (PT), launches an election campaign before a vote on 3 July. Thaksin has appointed an inexperienced but photogenic younger sister, Yingluck, as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. A number of polls give PT an edge as it battles to beat the incumbent, Abhisit Vejjajiva, and his Democrat Party, but most observers say the outcome remains uncertain. The behaviour of the army, which has seized power on 18 occasions since the 1930s, will be crucial

“I think it looks very good. The popularity of the party and Yingluck is getting more and more,†says Thaksin, as he voices concern that his opponents may try and undermine any PT victory by other means. “Even though we are the opposition, we still have the highest number of MPs in parliament. That’s why they’re scared, [why] they might use the same tricks. But if [our opponents] were to do it again, it would mean that they don’t care [about] the world. They don’t care [about] democracy in Thailand.â€

Thaksin remains a deeply divisive figure. He has widespread support among the rural and urban poor, especially in Thailand’s north and north-east, who benefited from a series of populist measures he introduced between 2001-2006. Last year, his Red Shirts supporters filled the streets of Bangkok for many weeks as they demanded parliament be dissolved. But among the urban middle-classes and the political and business elite, he is often despised. Having been convicted in absentia of corruption in 2009 over a series of measures he took while in office which the country’s highest court said benefited his extended family, £900m of his assets were seized and his passport was revoked, forcing him to obtain alternatives from Nicaragua and Montenegro. Many consider him nothing less than a fugitive from justice.

During his time as premier, the telecommunications tycoon also faced criticism from human rights campaigners, particularly for military operations in the “war on drugsâ€, in which hundreds of civilian and dissidents were said to have been summarily executed, and for shutting down of critical journalists. In one incident at Tak Bai in October 2004, 78 men were suffocated and crushed to death after being loaded into the back of army trucks.

In the summer of 2007, when Thaksin bought Manchester City, a team whose fortunes he says he still follows, Human Rights Watch described him as a “human rights abuser of the worst kindâ€.

Thaksin insists he is seeking reconciliation. Even though his supporters earlier this year filed an application at the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking to have Mr Abhisit charged with crimes against humanity, he says the PT is ready to reach out to its opponents. “PT offers reconciliation. Even though we are the victims of this bullying, we offer this… if we win, we offer reconciliation. We don’t want revenge,†he says, sitting in a drawing room containing photographs of himself and various world leaders. “We don’t want the country to be back down any more. We want the people to be back to normal life, we want the economy to progress. We want the country to move forward.â€

At the same time, particularly after the example of the protesters involved in the Arab spring, he doubts his supporters would sit back quietly if a fairly elected PT government was not allowed to take office. (After he was ousted, two subsequent allies who became PM were forced from office by the courts, over what supporters say were politically motivated allegations.) He believes the wider world would also not tolerate more violence. He has called for international observers to participate in the polls.

“There has to be a reason. They cannot just say we don’t want you to become the government,†he tells The Independent and another international newspaper. “If [our opponents] were to do something unethical, unlawful, it’s not good for them, not good for the country, not good for the people… I really urge them to let things go according to what we call… democracy.â€

He adds, laughing: “I said that if you were to make an analysis between democracy and a man who is dressed with a suit and tie, we are now wearing a suit and tie but with slippers. If you don’t look at the feet you don’t know we are [not a] democracy. You thought we were a democracy because up here we are wearing a suit and tie perfectly. But we forgot to wear the shoes and the socks.â€

Thaksin was born in July 1949 in Chiang Mai. As a young man, he studied in the US before returning to Thailand where he served as a commander with the police force. He then started a series of business ventures, selling mobile phones and pagers, in a rapidly expanding market. It was this that gave him the wealth that helped launch his political career.

Despite comments made by PT that it hopes to enact an amnesty that would allow Thaksin to return to Thailand, he claims that having served six years as premier he harbours no ambitions to return to the office and would rather his sister took charge. “I will go home just in the case that things are settled down. I will not add any more problems for the country. If things have settled down and if I can be any [benefit] to the country then I will go. Otherwise I am quite settled abroad now. In the beginning I may feel upset but now I am settled.â€

One wonders whether the man protests too much. For all his claims about feeling settled in Dubai where the summer temperatures soar to 50C, he says he asks his children to visit at separate times so that his house does not feel so empty when they leave. He says he has now divorced from his wife, Pojaman, and that he may be unable to attend the wedding of his eldest daughter later this year. This may, of course, be part of a tactic to evoke sympathy; the former premier has previously been accused of trying to spin his image when, in 2007, he was said to have been behind a project carried out by a Thai television reporter who wrote a book, Thaksin, Where Are You, which portrayed him positively.

What appears certain is that Thaksin remains very much at the centre of Thailand’s political opposition. When we visit a nearby golf course where he hits long drives – he says his handicap varies between 14 and 24 – an aide carries a small case of faux leather that contains six different cell phones, including a BlackBerry, a Nokia and an iPhone. He has a different number for business contacts, political supporters and members of his family and each phone has a separate ringing tune so he can immediately identify who is calling.

The phones are essential for his hands-on running of his business projects, which in recent years have seen him investing in mining operations across Africa. The projects he is currently involved in include gold-mining in Uganda, coal-mining in South Africa and platinum-mining in Zimbabwe. He is looking at other mines in Sierra Leona, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana.

Yet it is obvious politics remains his passion and he relishes the contest ahead with his opponents, as much as the food prepared by his Thai cook. “The more bullying they do, the more they press me, I say ‘thanks’,†he says. “The more bad things they do, it helps my campaign.â€

Andrew Buncombe, The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/thaksin-shinawatra-exiled-in-dubai-ndash-but-still-he-dreams-of-thailand-2290805.html

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Campaigners have warned about the dangers of online game addiction after a teenager allegedly killed a seven-year-old girl for her earrings to feed his video game habit.

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Mong The Xuong, 15, confessed to luring the youngster into woods in Nghe An province in the north central coast of Vietnam, and beating her to death with a rock, Vietnamese police say.

He said he killed Anh Nhu because he did not have money to play online games at an internet cafe near his home in Yen Hoa, it is claimed.

Locals said the 9th grade high school pupil often spent hours at internet cafes every day, playing Vo Lam Truyen Ky (Swordsman Online) - a violent, massively popular multi-player game in Vietnam, based on Chinese kung fu stories.

Online Gamers Anonymous, a US-based support group for addicts, said the killing - and the level of violence used - highlighted the need for action to be taken to restrict excessive gaming.

read more here

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‘Sweet justice’ as wronged homeowners repossess bank

James Andrews, 14:03, Tuesday 7 June 2011

It's a fear at the back of the minds of millions — after you spend vast sums buying then personalising a house to turn it into your home, misfortune, rising rates or a single bad decision could see the bank take it back.

But for one couple, the injustice of such a move saw them turn the tables and gain a court order to repossess property of the bank that tried to foreclose on them.

So how did this "sweet justice" — to use the words of the lawyer representing the couple — come about? Well, in the same way it happens to thousands of normal homeowners — the bank made a mistake and then didn't pay for it as the costs rose.

How it happened

Back in 2009 Warren Nyerges — a retired policeman — and his wife Maureen Collier bought a house for $165,000 (£100,000) on the Golden Gates Estates development in Florida. But paid entirely in cash and so never took out a mortgage.

Sadly for them, the fact they had no debt on the property didn't stop the Bank of America initiating repossession proceedings against them in February 2010.

Of course, never having a mortgage in the first place meant their lawyer — Todd Allen — won, and proceedings were dropped.

But this wasn't a cost-free exercise for the Nyerges, resulting in more than $2,500 (£1,500) of legal fees. These, they repeatedly requested the bank compensate them for.

The fallout

The couple went to the courts to get their compensation. The courts agreed, and told the bank to pay them their due.

After another five months without their money, despite phone calls and letters, they simply took the next logical step and got a foreclosure order against the bank.

"They've ignored our calls, ignored our letters, legally this is the next step to get my clients compensated," Allen told CBS News.

The lawyer and two policemen, along with a moving van, then reported to the bank to collect desks, chairs computers and anything else of value — even the cash from the tellers' draws — to compensate the wronged couple.

Local reports tell us that under this pressure from the law and the media, it only took about an hour for the bank manager to produce a cheque for $5,772.88 (£3,515.11) to cover the bills the couple had built up.

"We apologise to Mr Nyerges that there was a delay in receiving the funds," the bank's written statement to the Naples News reads. "The original request went to an outside attorney who is no longer in business."

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Penis prank captured on satellite image

Crop circles might be known for their beauty and paranormal allure, but the giant phalluses etched into the field of a Hamilton high school hold no such mystique.

Fairfield College has been snapped by satellite cameras with six huge penises burnt into the grass.

The x-rated images, immortalised on the website Google Earth, were spotted by Kiwi David McQuoid while scanning the neighbourhood online looking for a property.

"At first I thought it was a large piece of artwork," he said of the shot, which shows cartoon-like phalluses of various sizes, some several metres across.

Publicity around the so-called Fairfield Phalluses has embarrassed the school's acting principal Gerhard van Dyk, who told the Waikato Times it was hard enough to deal with when the prank was pulled back in 2009.

It happened over a weekend but it wasn't until the grass died off bit by bit that phallic symbols started to pop up around the school grounds.

Every week another crude image revealed itself, much to the dismay of staff.

"There's not really much we could do about it," he told the newspaper.

"The caretaker took some more weedkiller and tried to camouflage it a bit."

Mr van Dyk never caught the culprits and the prank would no doubt have passed into schoolboy folklore had it not been captured by Google Maps.

The red-faced principal said he would be contacting Google to plead for the image's removal but an internet privacy specialist said it was difficult to get such satellite photographs changed or blurred.

Kiwis however, thought the prank was hilarious, with 70 adding mostly encouraging comments to the online story, like "Freakin brilliant!!! Love it!!! Classic piece of adolescent artwork."

One gave the artists an A+, top marks for cunning, planning, chemistry and geometry, while another said their anatomy detailing left a lot to be desired.

"I totally reckon it was actually girls," they wrote. Then came a confession: "HAHAHA!!! we did this as our 7th form prank, now it lives on! how awesome!"

- AAP

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hamilton/news/article.cfm?l_id=206&objectid=10731023

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Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

Wed Jun 8, 11:53 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – The Germans have been voted the world's "least funny nationality" in a global poll, which names Americans the funniest overall and the Spanish the most amusing Europeans, ahead of the Italians and French.

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize, followed by the Spanish in second and Italians in third.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of American novelist Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter."

The Germans won comfortably, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

Yet, the British -- whose "The Office" and Monty Python shows have become pillars of English-language humor -- learn from the Badoo poll that they are not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh out of 15 -- behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

But they ranked higher when Badoo asked the opposite question: Which nationality do you find the least funny? Here, the British ranked fourth, just after the Turks.

"I'm afraid that we don't find some of the results very funny," said Badoo's Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, who is British.

The Americans topped the poll, as the folks who brought us TV sitcoms like Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld and any number of comic greats from the Marx Brothers to Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Larry David, Ben Stiller or now Tina Fey.

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Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

Wed Jun 8, 11:53 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – The Germans have been voted the world's "least funny nationality" in a global poll, which names Americans the funniest overall and the Spanish the most amusing Europeans, ahead of the Italians and French.

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize, followed by the Spanish in second and Italians in third.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of American novelist Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter."

The Germans won comfortably, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

Yet, the British -- whose "The Office" and Monty Python shows have become pillars of English-language humor -- learn from the Badoo poll that they are not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh out of 15 -- behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

But they ranked higher when Badoo asked the opposite question: Which nationality do you find the least funny? Here, the British ranked fourth, just after the Turks.

"I'm afraid that we don't find some of the results very funny," said Badoo's Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, who is British.

The Americans topped the poll, as the folks who brought us TV sitcoms like Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld and any number of comic greats from the Marx Brothers to Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Larry David, Ben Stiller or now Tina Fey.

Proving once and for all how **** online polls are...

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