'Red Shirt' to run for Thai government

A THAI protest leader accused of terrorism was released from prison briefly to apply to run in a by-election seen as a key test of the opposition's prospects of success in nationwide polls.

Kokaew Pikulthong, a senior "Red Shirt" involved in the mass rally in Bangkok that ended last month, will stand against incumbent Panich Vikitsreth of the ruling Democrat Party in the July 25 vote in the capital.

A Thai court last week granted permission for Kokaew, the candidate of the main opposition Puea Thai Party, to be released temporarily from Bangkok Remand Prison to register to challenge Panich, a vice foreign minister.

Mr Kokaew, who has not been convicted of any crimes relating to his role in the two-month-long street protest, was later returned to detention, but is expected to seek permission to be released again to campaign for votes.

The Red Shirts' rally, which at its peak attracted up to about 100,000 people demanding immediate elections, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 90 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1900 injured.

Enraged protesters set fire to dozens of major buildings after the army crushed the demonstration by the mostly poor and working class Reds with an assault on their vast fortified encampment in central Bangkok on May 19.

The Red Shirts were campaigning for elections they hoped would oust the government, which they view as undemocratic because it came to power with the backing of the army after a court ruling threw out the previous administration.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva proposed November polls in a bid to end the crippling protests, but shelved the plan because the Reds -- many of whom seek the return of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- refused to disperse.

Mr Abhisit, whose government was elected by parliamentary vote in 2008 and enjoys support among the Bangkok-based elite, must call nationwide elections by the end of next year at the latest.

Many of the Red Shirt leaders are in jail facing terrorism charges for their roles in the unrest. The government has rejected the opposition's call for a state of emergency to be lifted in the capital for the by-election.
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/red-shirt-to-run-for-thai-government/story-e6frfku0-1225885303084?from=public_rss

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Lambert has no complaints

Paul Lambert: Admits his side we well below their best in their 3-0 defeat at Sunderland

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Norwich manager Paul Lambert confessed that his side were well below par in their 3-0 defeat away at Sunderland.

First half goals from Fraizer Campbell and Stephane Sessegnon put the Black Cats in control before an own goal from Daniel Ayala in the second half put the gloss on a comfortable night for the north-east club.

The defeat brought the Canaries six game unbeaten run to an abrupt end and Lambert had no complaints after the game.

He told Sky Sports: "We were second best all game, we never got going at all, that's the honest assessment.

Better team

"We were beaten by the better team on the night.

"We started ok, but Sunderland got a foot hold in the game. The opening goal was a terrific strike and the second was poor from our point of view but If I'm being honest we were well beaten.

"I'm glad we never gave up, that's probably the most pleasing thing,

"But the lads have done well over the course of the season and hopefully we can put that one to be and go again on Saturday."

Source: http://www1.skysports.com/news/12040/7473200/

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Golfer Phil Mickelson -- I Have No Bastard Son!

Golf pro Phil Mickelson says he has NOT been sinking his putts where it doesn?t belong ? and now he?s sicking his lawyers on the people who?ve plastered the Internet with accusations he fathered an illegitimate child.

Mickelson was pissed when he learned some jerkwad or jerkwads using the screen names ?Fogroller? and ?Longitude? had been posting scurrilous claims about him and his wife on a message board ? which implied the Mickelsons are BOTH screwing around on each other Tiger Woods-style.

Phil claims he was able to track the I.P. address to an Internet service provider in Quebec. And now, he wants a Canadian judge to force the ISP to hand over any information which could identify the mystery poster ? so Phil can tee up a defamation suit against the offender. �

In the docs, the San Diego golf champ claims the allegations are vicious and absolutely untrue -- and worries the claims could damage his ?impeccable reputation.?

Source: http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/01/golfer-phil-mickelson-lawsuit-bastard-son/

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What's on your mind? No, wait. We know

Researchers say the study would advance understanding of how the brain represents and processes language. Picture: ThinkStock Source: Supplied

• Technique records, decode patients' brainwaves
• Then it translates the electrical activity into words
• We knew you were going to read this story

A MACHINE capable of deciphering people's thoughts could become a reality thanks to a breakthrough by US neuroscientists.

Researchers from the University of California-Berkeley developed a technique to record and decode patients' brainwaves and translate the electrical activity into words.

"This is huge for patients who have damage to their speech mechanisms because of a stroke or Lou Gehrig's disease and can't speak," Professor Robert Knight, coauthor of the study, said today. "If you could eventually reconstruct imagined conversations from brain activity, thousands of people could benefit."

The study involved 15 volunteers who were undergoing neurosurgical treatments for epilepsy or brain tumours. The Berkeley neurosurgeons placed electrodes in their temporal lobes to record activity and pinpoint the seizures.

They then recorded five to 10 minutes of conversation and used the data to reconstruct and play back the sounds the patients heard.

"There is some evidence that perception and imagery may be pretty similar in the brain," coauthor Dr Brian Pasley said. "If you can understand the relationship well enough between the brain recordings and sound, you could either synthesize the actual sound a person is thinking or just write out the words with a type of interface device."

As well as raising the hope of giving a voice to those who cannot speak, the researchers said that the study would advance understanding of how the brain represents and processes language.

"This research is a major step toward understanding what features of speech are represented in the human brain," Knight added.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/what039s-on-your-mind-no-wait-we-know/story-e6frfro0-1226260054344?from=public_rss

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Snooki -- I'm NOT Pregnant ... and Stop Calling Me Fat!

Snooki is calling radishes on a report that she's pregnant.� She says not only is she not pregnant, she's insulted by the insinuation she's fat.

Snooki went on the Opie & Anthony radio show this AM and said the media outlet that reported the story is just like one of the bullies who terrorized her in high school.

Snooki groused that she's lost a lot of weight so the pregnancy rumor simply makes no sense.

Snooki had a message for the outlet that reported the story -- "I hate you."

Source: http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/01/snooki-not-pregnant/

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Radiation blamed for space failure

Russia's ambitious mission to bring the first sample of the Martian moon Phobos back to Earth. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

THE head of Russia's space agency said that cosmic radiation was the most likely cause of the failure of a Mars moon probe that crashed to Earth this month, and suggested that a low-quality imported component may have been vulnerable to the radiation.

Vladimir Popovkin also said a manned launch to the International Space Station is being postponed from March 30 because of faults found in the Soyuz capsule.

The statements, released today, underline an array of trouble that has afflicted the country's vaunted space program in recent months, including the August crash of a supply ship for the space station and last month's crash of a communications satellite.

Since the end of the US space shuttle program last year, Russian craft are the only means to send crew to and from the ISS.

The unmanned Phobos-Ground probe was to have gone to the Mars moon of Phobos, taken soil samples and brought them back. But it became stuck in Earth orbit soon after its launch on November 9. It fell out of orbit on January 15, reportedly off the coast of Chile, but no fragments have been found.

The failure was a severe embarrassment to Russia, and Popovkin initially suggested it could have been due to foreign sabotage.

But today he said in televised remarks that an investigation showed the probable cause was "localised influence of heavily radiated space particles."

Popovkin later announced that a March 30 planned launch of three astronauts to the space station will be postponed "likely until the end of April" because of problems with the capsule. He did not specify, but the state news agency RIA Novosti cited the director of Russia's cosmonaut-training program as saying leaks had been found in the capsule's seals.

It would be the second significant postponement of a manned Russian launch in the past year. The August crash of the supply ship pushed back a manned launch to the ISS because the booster rocket that failed in the crash was similar to the ones used in manned missions.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newscomaumostpopularworldndm/~3/UuGfaOosOos/story-e6frfku0-1226258942469

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'Bird man' faces court for sitting in tree

A MAN in southwestern China who lived in a eucalyptus tree for more than three months to protest the planned demolition of his home is being tried for disturbing public order.

Chen Maoguo was dubbed the "bird man" for his tree-top sit-in last year in the Chongqing region, staged to protest what he considered inadequate compensation for the razing of his home, the Yunnan Information News said.

His home was one of many to be knocked down to make way for a shopping mall in Fengjie county.

However, his unusual protest beginning last August attracted crowds and media attention, leading to his arrest in November for disturbing public order, said the report, posted on the popular Chinese web portal Sina.com.

During his demonstration, Mr Chen pulled all of his food, water, clothing and other needs up by rope into the small makeshift shelter he constructed in a eucalyptus tree, it said.

The report said Mr Chen was to appear in a local court today. It did not say how old Mr Chen was, or what penalties he could face.

Land seizures, often involving corrupt officials and businesses eyeing real estate profits, have been a growing source of unrest in China.

The problem stirred an uproar last year as a property boom and resulting rash of mass evictions caused a number of violent clashes, protests and even suicides by stubborn homeowners.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/bird-man-faces-court-for-sitting-in-tree/story-e6frfku0-1225885245007?from=public_rss

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