Thailand’s Undercover Military Operation

July 7, 2014July 7, 2014 / tellmemoreblogger / Leave a comment

The past six months in Thailand have been chaotic to say the least. At first, the judicial branch of government overthrew its political leaders and democratically elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. During this transition the opposition group led by Suthep Thaugsuban created the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) to temporarily control the country until new elections could be held. Unsurprisingly enough, this coalition did not last for long, as the country’s military ordered a coup d’état. Today Thailand is under strict rule and martial laws are being enforced daily. This is where it gets interesting.

Under the order of General Prayuth Chan-ocha, commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, any opposition to the coup d’état is punishable by law. With orders to break up any gathering of more than five people, the military has had its hands full with the task of detaining all opposition groups. Realizing that the military is on a mission to silence anyone who challenges them, the people have assembled in small groups and quietly expressed their political beliefs. Small acts of defiance like putting up three fingers or passing out sandwiches to supporters has even been prohibited by the military.

In the video above, you will see anti-military activists simply walking through a mall to assemble a resistance and then undercover military forces detaining them. In the past month, hundreds of anti-military activists have disappeared, as undercover military forces take them to undisclosed locations. Posing as security guards to disguise their military status, the militants grab any opposition activists they see and detain them immediately, never to be seen or heard from again. Meanwhile the military government has placed curfews, limited social media usage, taken full control of the judiciary, taken full control of the media and imposed martial law.

It is unclear whether or not the military intends on simply restoring order and then establishing elections, or if they plan on remaining in power. Hundreds of former politicians await their fate in prison as the military has accused and sentenced most of the former leaders to jail. The video that I posted above is one of five installments from Vice News. For more episodes you could visit their YouTube page and check out the other dispatches. I would love to hear from anyone who is from Thailand about the situation that is going on. Are you pro or anti military and why? If you know anything about the conflict that we should know please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by!

Thailand and its neighbors

Thailand on a World Map

U.S. Movie Causes Kim Jong-un to Threaten War

June 26, 2014June 26, 2014 / tellmemoreblogger / 4 Comments

How did James Franco and Seth Rogan piss off North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un so much that he threatened to declare war on the U.S.? They killed him in their movie of course. In their most recent film “The Interview”, the comedy duo finds themselves with the task of assassinating the North Korean dictator. Kim Jong-un took to the state-run news immediately and did what he does best, complain and threaten to start a war. The North Korean dictator said that he would mercilessly retaliate against the U.S. if the film was allowed to be aired. He also said that he would consider the U.S.’s approval of this type of film to be a blatant act of war and the highest form of a terrorist threat.

Above is the movie trailer for the new comedy that sparked the outrage by Kim Jong-un. It shows Rogan and Franco on a secret mission in North Korea. According to BBC News, Seth Rogan has since replied to the recent events via twitter saying, “”People don’t usually wanna kill me for one of my movies until after they’ve paid 12 bucks for it.” His comments always get a good laugh out of me. The movie which has deeply offended the North Korean leader is set to release later this year. I could only hope that Kim Jong-un has to pay “12 bucks” to watch the film which he considers “an act of war”. FYI Kim Jong-un, America makes movies about killing its own President, one of the many joys of living in a free democracy! Thanks for stopping by everyone.

North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un

Seth Rogan (Left) and James Franco (Right)

Cannibal Warlord, General “Butt Naked”

May 16, 2014June 17, 2014 / tellmemoreblogger / 5 Comments

Do you remember the last time that you ate a child’s heart so that you could be invincible in battle? Can’t recall ever doing so? Well take a look at this documentary that I found on youtube.com. The documentary was produced by Vice News, a news agency that does in depth reporting across the globe. In this documentary Shane Smith, Vice News co-founder and field correspondent, travels to the west African nation of Liberia to investigate the so called Cannibal Warlords that live there. Let me warn you that the documentary has some strong content.

After exploring several parts of Liberia, Shane Smith lands a shady interview with former General “Butt Naked.” The general, who gave himself the name “Butt Naked”, explains the origin of his name to Shane. He tells the reporter that he chose this name because of his combat strategy during Liberia’s civil war. A strategy in which he would instruct his rebel soldiers to strip down completely before battle. Once fully nude, he would have his soldiers bring an innocent child to him for ritualistic purposes. He would then cut the child’s heart out of his/her chest, while still alive, and have each of his soldiers consume a piece of it. General “Butt Naked” explained to his soldiers that this sacrifice would bring them magical powers in combat and make them invincible. Only then would the General and his soldiers go into battle, while still completely nude I should add. This ritual of sacrifice was repeated before every single battle, thus causing the needless slaughter of hundreds of innocent children during the war.

Today General “Butt Naked” spends his days preaching to his community. He converted to Christianity after the war and now preaches at churches around Liberia about his struggle with his violent past. Former victims of his cannibal rituals say that he converted to Christianity only to avoid punishment for his war crimes. So the former general’s life is now in constant danger of attack from people affected by his military past. According to him these are false accusations. He says that the reason he converted to Christianity was so that he could be a better person and more importantly a better father to his young daughter. Though he takes the full blame for his actions, he recognizes that if his parents would have raised him instead of abandon him, then he might be a different man today. That thought is what motivates him to be a better father and a better person with the help of Christianity.

I tried to put myself in his shoes and imagine what life must have been like for him in Liberia. I wonder what kind of trauma he experienced before deciding that killing children and eating their hearts was the right thing to do. Maybe he’s just a psychopath with no remorse, incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. However it seems odd to me that a person who is incapable of knowing right from wrong would choose to devote the rest of his life to Christianity seeking forgiveness for his sins. The question of whether or not this man should be executed for his crimes remains a mixed issue. Does punishing a person’s ignorance with death solve the issue of ignorance? Does not punishing this man solve the issue of ignorance? I’m not sure what the solution is, if there even is a solution, but what I do know is that this country and its people are completely foreign to me. I will pray for them and hope that change comes sooner than later…

I would love to hear from someone living in Liberia. If you are from there or have family that lives there, please reply to this blog post. I want to hear your story and know what it is like for you as a citizen of Liberia. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Post Sources

cia.gov

youtube.com

Source (Picture 1) Source (Picture 2)

15 Quick Facts about Liberia

Official Language: English (Though only 20% of the population exclusively speaks English)

President: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, since 2006 (She was reelected in 2011 with 90.7% of the total vote in her favor)

Religion: 85.6% Christian, 12.2% Muslim

Total Population: 4,092,310

Capital: Monrovia

Median Age of Population: 18 years old (U.S. median age: 37 years old)

Sanitation Facility Access: 18.2% of the total population (81.8% with no access to restrooms or sewage infrastructure)

Health Expenditures: 19.5% of GDP

Physician Density: 0.01 Physicians/1000 people (Whatever you do don’t get sick in Liberia)

Education Expenditures: 2.8% of GDP

Total GDP: $2.89 Billion U.S. Dollars (Mark Zuckerberg’s Net Worth: $26.6 Billion U.S. Dollars)

Average Annual Income (Per Person): $700.00 U.S. Dollars (Qatar’s average is the highest at: $102,100 U.S. Dollars)

Privately Owned T.V. Stations: 3

Total Internet Users: 20,000 people (That’s less than 1% of the entire population)

Transnational Issues: Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Civil Unrest, Refugee Disputes with Neighboring Countries