You Won’t Believe What This Singer Let Her Child Do on a Plane

A furor has erupted in Vietnam over a famous singer who let her son urinate in an airsickness bag on a plane.

A shot of the Vietnamese singer who allowed her son to urinate in a plane’s airsickness bag.

A furor has erupted in Vietnam over a famous singer who let her son urinate in an airsickness bag while seated on a Vietnam Airlines plane, rather than using the lavatory. The airline wrote about the incident on its own blog, explaining that urine splattered onto the newly delivered plane and that the chief steward approached the passenger, who “pretended not to hear him.”

The incident was originally reported by a fellow passenger, who posted details on Facebook, referring to the singer as “L.Q.,” along with a photo that disguised the singer’s face. The internet quickly figured out the singer’s identity as Lệ Quyên.

This following post described the incident in detail. Here is the translation:

“On board this beautiful A350 which still has that new plane smell (currently at 9000m, so you can still use the lavatory), one beautiful female passenger in Seat 11B, with 10 fingernails painted in 10 colors, dressed very fashionably, tore open a vomit bag for her son to pee in, splashing everywhere. Chief Steward asked why not go into the lavatory. Dirtying the plane, but the passenger didn’t even want to look/acknowledge the Chief Steward. Truly insane, peasants flying on a plane... DEATH BECOMES ME (communicating an “OMG” moment)... THIS LADY IS A VERY FAMOUS SINGER... ONE OF THE HIGHEST PAID PEOPLE IN VIETNAM... SHOULD I UPLOAD THIS PHOTO...”

Tưởng niệm Quốc Hận: 20-7-1954! - Hàn Giang Trần Lệ Tuyền

Tưởng niệm Quốc Hận:

20-7-1954!

Hàn Giang Trần Lệ Tuyền

“Đây phương Nam, đây ruộng Cà Mâu no lành, với tiếng hát êm đềm trong suốt đêm thanh…”. Dẫu cung đàn đã xưa, lời nhạc đã cũ; nhưng sẽ không bao giờ trở thành xưa cũ, khi chúng ta, những người dân của nước Việt Nam Cộng Hòa đã một thời được sống trong cảnh thanh bình, tự do, no ấm; vì thế, hôm nay, chúng ta, dù mái tóc đã phai mầu, nhưng mỗi lần lướt đôi tay trên chiếc dương cầm, hay trên những cây đàn tuyệt hảo của đầu thế kỷ 21, thì có lẽ trong chúng ta, dễ mấy ai quên đi những chiếc phím ngà xưa cũ của những cây đàn Mandoline của thế kỷ trước, với bài hát Trăng Phương Nam, để rồi có thể có nhiều người sẽ rưng rưng, khi vọng tưởng về những năm tháng thanh bình xưa đã mất, và không bao giờ tìm thấy lại, dù một lần nào nữa!

Hôm nay, ngày 20 tháng 7 năm 2012; để tưởng nhớ đến một ngày đất nước đã bị chia cắt, phân ly! Người viết muốn nhắc lại một bài đã viết trước đây: Kể từ khi nước Việt Nam Cộng Hòa rơi vào tay cộng sản, thì người Việt tỵ nạn chúng ta chỉ còn biết và tưởng niệm ngày 30/4/1975, là ngày Quốc Hận. Nhưng ngược thời gian trở về cuối thập niên 1950, và đầu thập niên 1960. Khi Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm, Người đã khai sinh ra Thể chế Cộng Hòa Việt Nam, thì người dân miền Nam đã từng tưởng niệm Ngày Quốc Hận là ngày 20/7/1954. Ngày ấy, theo hiệp định Genève, đất nước đã bị Cộng sản Bắc Việt và Pháp chia cắt thành hai miền bởi giòng sông Bến Hải. Miền Bắc do Hồ Chí Minh cai trị, với những cuộc “cách mạng” máu đổ đầu rơi, con tố cha mẹ, vợ tố chồng. Rồi “cách mạng văn hóa” làm cho không biết bao nhiêu người đã phải chết thảm, hoặc bị tù đày, tàn hại đến cả một đời người, mà đến cả sóng nước của giòng sông Bến Hải cũng phải khóc hờn ai oán:

“Con sông Bến Hải từ độ chia hai,

Đêm đêm nó khóc than hoài

Hờn căm cộng sản chia hai nhịp cầu

Lớn lên từng đợt u sầu

Bao giờ Nam-Bắc nhịp cầu sang ngang

Bên đây đời sống thênh thang

Bên kia kiếp sống điêu tàn xác xơ

Ruộng đồng lúa mọc lơ thơ

Máu pha nước mắt ngập bờ tre xanh!”

Trong khi đó, tại miền Nam, dưới sự lãnh đạo của Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm đầy lòng nhân ái, Người đã sống một cuộc đời thanh bần, liêm khiết, quên mình, để tận hiến cho Quốc Gia và Dân tộc. Như mọi người đã biết, vào thời kỳ ấy, Nền Cộng Hòa Việt Nam còn non trẻ, lại còn thêm loạn sứ quân cát cứ, và không được đồng minh và quốc tế viện trợ như Việt Nam Cộng sản hiện nay. Nhưng Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm đã xây dựng được một nước Việt Nam Cộng Hòa tự do, phồn thịnh. Từ thành thị cho đến thôn quê, nơi đâu cũng được sống trong cảnh thanh bình, no ấm.

“Tiên thiên hạ vi ưu, vi ưu - Hậu thiên hạ vi lạc, vi lạc”; đó là, cách Sống của cố Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm. Bởi vậy, cho nên chính vì xót đau cho những cảnh đời lầm than, đau khổ của đồng bào đang ở bên kia Vĩ tuyến, nên Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm và là vị Tổng Tư Lệnh đầu tiên của Quân đội Việt Nam Cộng Hòa đã có chủ trương Bắc Tiến. Nhưng tiếc rằng, con đường Bắc Tiến chỉ mới ở bước đầu, thì vị Tổng Thống đã có công nghiệp khai sáng Nền Cộng Hòa Việt Nam đã đi vào lịch sử.

Những điều ấy, đã được Thi sĩ Vũ Hoàng Chương viết thành những vần thơ, vì cứ ngỡ rằng “Từ nay trăm họ câu an lạc-Đàn khúc đầm Dao, rượu chén Quỳnh”, và với ước mơ Bắc tiến, để có một ngày “trở lại Cố đô- Đại định Thăng Long, một bóng Cờ”. Người viết xin chép lại những vần thơ của Thi sĩ Vũ Hoàng Chương, để mọi người cùng “chiêm nghiệm” như sau đây:

“Lò phiếu trưng cầu, một hiển linh

Đốt lò hương, gửi mộng bình sinh

Từ nay trăm họ câu an lạc

Đàn khúc đầm Dao, rượu chén Quỳnh!

Có một ngày ta trở lại cố đô

Lưỡi lê no máu rửa Tây Hồ

Trên tầng Chí Sĩ bàn tay vẫy

Đại định thăng Long, một bóng cờ”.

Nhưng không riêng Thi sĩ Vũ Hoàng Chương, mà Nhạc sĩ Lam Phương cũng đã viết thành một ca khúc Chuyến đò Vĩ tuyến, và đã đi vào Nhạc sử:

“Đêm nay trăng sáng quá anh ơi

Sao ta lìa cách bởi dòng sông bạc hai màu

Lênh đênh trên sóng nước mông mênh

Bao đêm lạnh lẽo em chờ mong gặp bóng chàng

Vượt rừng vượt núi đến đầu làng

Đò em trong đêm thâu sẽ đưa chàng sang vĩ tuyến

Phương Nam ta sống trong thanh bình

Tình ngát hương nồng thắm

bên lúa vàng ngào ngạt dâng

Ơ... ai... hò ...

Giòng sông mơ màng và đẹp lắm

Anh ơi ai nỡ chia đôi bờ

để tình ta ngày tháng phải mong chờ

Hò... hớ .... hò .... hơ ...

Em và cùng anh xây một nhịp cầu

Để mai đây quân Nam về Thăng Long

Đem thanh bình sưởi ấm muôn lòng !

Sương khuya rơi thấm ướt đôi mi

Tim em lạnh lẽo như chiều đông ngoài biên thùy

Ai gieo chi khúc hát lâm ly

Như khơi niềm nhớ cuộc từ ly lòng não nùng

Bùi ngùi nhìn cách xa ngàn trùng

Giờ đây em điêu linh nơi quê nhà đang chìm đắm

Bao đêm thổn thức dưới trăng ngà

Hồn đắm say chờ đón ngày anh về sưởi lòng nhau”.

Nhưng than ôi! Những hoài bão, những ước mơ, mà chắc của rất nhiều người; đặc biệt nhất, là những đồng bào của Miền Bắc đã đành phải nuốt nước mắt khi quyết định phải vào miền Nam để tỵ nạn Cộng sản. Và chỉ có chính họ, mới thấu được những nỗi đau thương khi phải rời bỏ nhà cửa, ruộng vườn, có nhiều gia đình đã phải lạc mất người thân, khiến cho gia đình của họ đành phải đôi bờ bên giòng sông Bến Hải và cầu Hiền Lương, với ước mơ: “Bao giờ Nam-Bắc nhịp cầu sang ngang”, và “anh cùng em xây một nhịp cầu, Để mai đây quân Nam về Thăng Long, Đem thanh bình về sưởi ấm muôn lòng”.

Những nỗi đau thương của đồng bào miền Bắc, vào thời điểm sau ngày 20/7/1954 ấy, tại miền Nam ít ai hiểu thấu; nhưng cho đến sau ngày 30/4/1975, thì những người Việt Nam tỵ nạn Cộng sản thực sự, và khi bước xuống những con thuyền mong manh để vượt biển, hoặc chạy trốn khỏi đất nước trên những con đường rừng; chỉ đến lúc đó, khi ngoái nhìn về nơi cố quốc, thì họ mới thấy lòng quặn thắt, mới thấu được những nỗi đau của đồng bào miền Bắc ngày xưa, khi không còn con đường nào để chọn bằng con đường phải ra đi!

Ôi! Những dòng nước mắt nào đã rơi rơi trên suốt con đường từ Bắc vào Nam, và những dòng nước mắt nào đã rơi xuống những bãi biển, rơi trên những con thuyền đã đưa người ra khơi, để đi tìm sự sống trong cái chết, và đã có biết bao nhiêu người đã phải bị vùi chôn dưới đáy nước, hay đã vĩnh viễn bỏ mình ở các trại tỵ nạn xa xôi!

Làm sao nói hết được nỗi đau; bởi vì tất cả những ngôn từ của nhân loại không làm sao diễn đạt cho vừa với những vết thương, những nỗi đau đớn quá kinh hoàng, và những mất mát, mà không có bất cứ một thứ vật chất nào có thể bù đắp, mà mãi mãi sẽ không bao giờ quên được, và trong số người ấy, đã có rất nhiều người là đồng bào miền Bắc đã từng đứt ruột rời bỏ tất cả, để vào Nam tỵ nạn Cộng sản, những tưởng rằng đã chạy thoát; đâu có ngờ rằng, mình sẽ phải chạy giặc tới hai lần, và trong số ấy, cũng có nhiều người đã vĩnh viễn không bao giờ còn nhìn thấy lại chốn cũ, làng xưa!

Giờ đây, kể từ ngày Quốc Hận: 20/7/1954; 58 năm dài đã trôi qua, với bao nhiêu những biến cố tang thương, dâu bể, dù là người miền Bắc hay người miền Nam, và dù một lần, hay hai lần bỏ xứ ra đi, sống đời tỵ nạn trên những đất nước tạm dung, hoặc ngay cả những đồng bào tại quốc nội; nhưng hôm nay, với hệ thống thông tin toàn cầu, với những hình ảnh, và những thước phim tài liệu hoàn toàn trung thực, thì có lẽ đa số đồng bào đã biết được cuộc sống tương đối tự do, no ấm, thanh bình của đồng bào tại miền Nam dưới thời Đệ Nhất Việt Nam Cộng Hòa: 1954-1963; thì chắc chắn sẽ thấy được công nghiệp của Người đã khai sáng Thể chế Cộng Hòa Việt Nam, và rồi sẽ bồi hồi thương tiếc cho tất cả những gì đáng phải trân-quý, đáng phải gìn giữ; nhưng bây giờ đã mất, để rồi mãi mãi chỉ còn biết tìm lại qua dư âm của những lời ca, tiếng nhạc và những vần thơ năm cũ:

Đẹp thay Chính Thể Cộng Hòa,

Vui thay tiếng hát câu ca thanh bình.

Cộng Hòa như ánh Bình Minh,

Như giòng nước mát như tình lúa xanh.

Pháp quốc, 20/7/2012
Hàn Giang Trần Lệ Tuyền

"Chinese Invasion" Sydney, Australia

Rally against the Chinese real estate invasion!

Chinese buyers don't want your house,

they want the land

Australia is under attack from greedy foreign intruders who are rapidly acquiring Australian residential property pricing locals out of the market. Aussie battlers are being pushed to the fringes of our cities while foreign intruders are reaping the benefits of hard working previous generations. The price of housing in Sydney and Melbourne has skyrocketed crushing the dreams and aspirations of young Australian families who are increasingly dispossessed. The new dispossessed or forgotten people will one day be remembered as the ‘stolen generation’ priced out of the market by invading overseas Chinese colonising our suburbs and cities.

The Australian dream of owning a residential home is rapidly becoming a distant memory due to the drastic increase in mass third world immigration coupled with foreign ownership. Housing affordability has become a smashed due to foreign buyers snapping up property at our expense.

In particular Chinese foreign ownership of residential property and assets is pushing the Australian prospective homebuyer to the fringes of society living in compromised living arrangements competing against foreign forces invited here by the policies of the major political parties who ignore the plight and struggles of young families seeking to progress up the economic ladder.

Struggling & isolated Aussie families:

Australians are feeling alienated and isolated in areas once considered safe and cohesive. Not only are Australians becoming a ‘stolen generation’ due to being priced out of the housing market, our families and children are feeling a loss of identity and community.

The ‘Aussie Dream’ has been shattered due to the greed of government, foreign speculators and invaders who are colluding together to ethnically cleanse suburbs of Australian families. Many of these hard working families are now trapped in a rental cycle struggling to pay over-priced rents competing against foreign intruders.

Segregated Chinese ghettoes:

Over the past ten years, Australia’s Chinese born population has more than doubled having an obvious impact on housing, jobs and schools. Chinese immigration has created a parallel society with Chinese preferring to live in areas with large Chinese populations creating segregated ghettoes. Chinese are increasingly turning to Chinese speaking property agents who are more than obliging to contravene Australian foreign investment rules in the pursuit of greed and conquest.

Chinese nationals are Australia’s largest foreign buyers of residential property and farms with recent figures showing over 20% of new residential property in NSW and Victoria sold to foreign nationals but contrary to the lies perpetrated by real estate agents (pimps) and government officials, they’re not just buying expensive properties. New figures reveal that around 70% of all sales to foreign buyers were below the $1 million mark.

Housing Bubble to Burst:

Australia is experiencing its worst housing bubble ever having the most indebted housing sector per capita in the world. An insatiable Chinese appetite for limited residential property has created a debt bubble as local families increase borrowings in the hope of securing a home. National mortgage and household debt has skyrocketed to over $1.9 trillion making the US sub prime collapse look like a walk in the park when our housing bubble bursts.

In particular, the Sydney property market has reached new unsustainable highs with the median Sydney house price now standing at $914,000 smashing local home ownership rates and creating more unproductive debt.

Illegal Occupation:

According to the FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) foreign nationals are not allowed to purchase residential property yet China has become Australia’s biggest source of approved foreign investment after a $12.4 billion splurge on real estate last year. Fat cat Treasurer Joe Hockey said the new figures was evidence Australia was “once again, open for business”. Indeed, ‘open for racial replacement or genocide of the Australian people’.

Thousands of Australian homes have been illegally embezzled and occupied yet the FIRB enforcement of foreign investment rules has been virtually non-existent with only two residential real estate purchases rejected last year.

Treasonous Politicians:

A recent parliamentary committee confirmed that local buyers were being squeezed out of the residential property market by foreign investors, particularly from China. The review found there were serious gaps in the enforcement of foreign investment rules.

Never before have we witnessed such treason from our elected politicians who have remained largely silent while the Australian Dream slips further away from working families. The plight of struggling Australian families ethnically cleansed from their suburbs highlights the treason and preference that our self-serving politicians give to foreign intruders over locals.

Genocide Demographics:

The economic impact of foreign ownership coupled with large scale Chinese immigration means more Australian workers are being displaced. Chinese residential property ownership means more immigration resulting in increasing competition for diminishing affordable housing, scarce jobs and university places. The effect of this invasion is far reaching with locals being pushed to the fringes, competing against Chinese workers who are known to work for less resulting in fewer jobs for locals and their children.

Demography is destiny, and with the full support of the major parties, Australia is undergoing a drastic demographic change. Traditional Australians are becoming strangers in their own land with many of our suburbs being turned into third world ghettoes riddled with crime, social friction and impending real estate bubble collapse. Current trends indicate Australians will become a minority in their own land within the next 30 years if present invasion figures continue.

Party for Freedom is a grassroots patriotic political party that represents the forgotten people. We need your support on the 30th May in sending a strong message to the Chinese government and Chinese nationals that their residential property purchases (ownership) in Australia is not welcome.

Pls. bring Aussie flags, and placards expressing your opposition to Chinese nationals raiding the local residential property market.

Facebook discussion group: https://www.facebook.com/events/697645543694220/

Where: Chinese Consulate,
              39 Dunblane Street, Camperdown
Date:     Saturday 30th May 2015
Time:    12 noon to 2pm
Meet:    Front of Chinese Consulate
Info: Nick Folkes ph: 0417-679972

Donations for new placards:

Account: Party for Freedom Inc.

BSB number: 032 078

Account number: 656866

Bank: Westpac Bank

https://www.partyforfreedom.org.au/2015/05/11/rally-against-the-chinese-real-estate-invasion/

Holy Cow: Men offers Obama livestock for daughter

Kenyan man offers livestock to wed Barack Obama’s daughter Malia

All smiles ... Then-Senator Barack Obama waves to supporters at a caucus rally in Des Moines, Iowa, after winning the Iowa Democratic presidential caucus in 2008. Surrounding him is wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha. Source: AP 

A KENYAN lawyer has reportedly offered US president Barack Obama 50 cows and other assorted livestock in exchange for his 16-year old daughter Malia’s hand in marriage.

Felix Kiprono said he was willing to pay 50 cows, 70 sheep and 30 goats in order to fulfil his dream of marrying the first daughter.

“I got interested in her in 2008,” Kiprono said, in an interview with The Nairobian newspaper on Tuesday.

At that time President Obama was running for office for the first time and Malia was a 10-year-old.

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her. I have shared this with my family and they are willing to help me raise the bride price,” he said.

Kiprono said he intended to put his offer of marriage to Obama and hopes the President will bring his daughter with him when he makes his first presidential visit to Kenya, the country where his father was born, in July.

Father and daughter ... Barack Obama adjusts a flower behind the ear of his eldest daughter Malia as they walk

 on Kailua Beach during their vacation in Hawaii in 2008. Source: AP 

Obama’s Kenyan grandmother, who is in her early 90s, still lives in western Kenya, home to a number of the president’s relatives.

“I am currently drafting a letter to Obama asking him to please have Malia accompany him for this trip. I hope the embassy will pass the letter to him,” he said.

The young lawyer, whose age was not revealed, said he had already planned his proposal, which would be made on a hill near his rural village.

Marriage proposal ... US President Barack Obama with wife Michelle, daughters Sasha (then 7) and Malia (then 10)

greet arrivals at food bank at St Columbanus Catholic Church on the South Side of Chicago in 2008. Source: AP 

Kiprono said that as a couple he and the young Obama would lead “a simple life”.

“I will teach Malia how to milk a cow, cook ugali (maize porridge) and prepare mursik (sour milk) like any other Kalenjin woman,” he said.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/world/africa/kenyan-man-offers-livestock-to-wed-barack-obamas-daughter-malia/story-fnh81gzi-1227370659435

Hộ Nghị Á-Phi tại Bandung, Indonesia 2015

Opening the Afro-Asian Summit in Indonesia in 2015

President Obama Speechless

Toddler's Tantrum Leaves President Obama Speechless 

Well, someone's not very happy about meeting President Barack Obama.

A toddler visiting the White House in April for Passover dinner had a fit and threw herself down on the Red Room's carpet – right at Obama's feet.

Source: https://twitter.com/BenjaminFMoser/status/601437345733185536

Australia could host B-1 bombers

Australia is reportedly in talks with the US over hosting B-1 bombers in the Northern Territory.

B-1 Bombers are on their way to Australia.

Australia considering hosting US Air Force airplanes, military analyst says

by John Kerin and Lisa Murray

A top military analyst believes Australia and the US may be holding discussions about hosting the supersonic B1 bomber in northern Australia, where it could threaten Chinese ships menacing US allies in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon on Friday was forced to contradict one of its own top officials who said the US would be "placing additional Air Force assets in Australia … including B-1 bombers and surveillance aircraft".

Australia and the United States have been talking about expanding aircraft and ship visits to Australia as part of efforts to strengthen the alliance that includes extra marines in the Northern Territory.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute defence analyst and Defence white paper consultant Dr Andrew Davies said it was "well known Australia and the US were discussing such issues".

"This may have been a case of an official getting out ahead of the negotiations ... it is not inconceivable that discussions over expanding links to include regular visits by B1 bombers have taken place," he said.

Dr Davies said he attended a defence conference where a senior Royal Australian Air Force officer said airbase runways in Northern Australia would need to be modified to accommodate larger US aircraft.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was unaware of any US plan to base B1 bombers in Australia and the Obama administration had told him the US defence official had "mis-spoken".

He said he saw the US-Australia alliance as an overwhelming "force for stability" in the region.

"Our alliance is not aimed at anyone," he said on Friday. "It's an alliance for stability, for peace, for progress, for justice and it's going to be a cornerstone of the stability of our region for many decades to come."

Assistant US defence secretary David Shear outlined the plan to a Congressional hearing in Washington on Friday, suggesting the move would act as a deterrent to "China's destabilising effect" on the region.

He told a special Congressional hearing on the South China Sea that the basing of aircraft in Australia was in addition to the doubling of US marines bound for Darwin from their current base in Japan.

"So we will have a very strong presence, very strong continued posture throughout the region to back our commitments to our allies," Mr Shear said.

Later the US embassy in Canberra said on Twitter: "Contrary to reports, and to correct the record, the US has NO plans to rotate B-1 bombers or surveillance aircraft in Australia."

The B1 Bomber is the backbone of the US Airforce long-range strategic bomber fleet. It can deliver 84 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs against adversaries and is now deployed in the US campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee called on the hearing to respond to concerns about China's construction of artificial land masses, including runways, in the South China Sea.

The retreat comes just days after a US navy combat ship completed its first ever patrol of waters near the hotly contested Spratly islands and indicated plans to beef up surveillance of Chinese construction projects in the area.

Angry response from China

Washington's moves prompted an angry response from China, which urged the US to clarify its position.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a press conference in Beijing that the country was "extremely concerned".

"We think the United States has to issue a clarification about this," Ms Hua said. "China has always upheld freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, but freedom of navigation does not mean that foreign military ships and aircraft can enter another country's territorial waters or airspace at will."

The USS Fort Worth Littoral Combat ship was closely monitored by People's Liberation Army warships, according to an article published on the American Navy's website. Reports in the Chinese media said the warships monitored Fort Worth's patrol closely and followed the ship until it left the area.

Defence analyst Rory Medcalf said the US decision to indicate greater surveillance of disputed territory in the South China Sea showed it had run out of "risk-free" options. There is increasing evidence China has ramped up its construction activities across the Spratly archipelago over the past year, creating islands and building ports, fuel storage depots, accommodation and possibly two airstrips.

The extreme scenario is that China is building a series of island fortresses across six reefs, enabling it to refuel warplanes and support a large number of troops.

More likely in the short-term is that the islands will be used as posts for intelligence gathering and supporting maritime activities and housing a limited number of military personnel.

US secretary of state John Kerry will meet Chinese political leaders, including President Xi Jinping, this weekend in Beijing.

The Defence Department spokesperson insisted that military cooperation between Australia and the United States is "not directed at any one country."

However the spokesperson did not dispute the report that the US plans to deploy B-1 bombers and surveillance aircraft to Australia and declined to answer specific questions about any such deployments.

"The specifics of the future force posture cooperation are yet to be finalised," the spokesperson said. "Details are subject to continuing discussions between Australia and the United States. A range of different US aircraft already visits Australia for exercises and training. Increased cooperation will build on these activities."

Specifications
Primary Function:	Long-range, multi-role, heavy bomber
Builder:	Rockwell International, North American Aircraft
Operations Air Frame and Integration:	Offensive avionics, Boeing Military Airplane; defensive avionics, AIL Division
Power Plant:	Four General Electric F-101-GE-102 turbofan engine with afterburner
Thrust:	30,000-plus pounds (13,500-plus kilograms) with afterburner, per engine
Length:	146 feet (44.5 meters)
Wingspan:	137 feet (41.8 meters) extended forward, 79 feet (24.1 meters) swept aft
Height:	34 feet (10.4 meters)
Weight:	Empty, approximately 190,000 pounds (86,183 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight:	477,000 pounds (214,650 kilograms)
Speed:	600+ mph (Mach .92) @ 500 feet 825 mph (Mach 1.25) @ 50,000 feet
Rotate and Takeoff Speeds:	210 Gross - 119 Rotate kts / 134 kts Takeoff 390 Gross - 168 kts Rotate / 183 kts Takeoff
Landing Speeds:	210 Gross - 145 kts 380 Gross - 195 kts
Range:	7,455 miles, unrefueled 3,444 miles with normal weapons load
Ceiling:	60,000 feet (18,000 meters)
Crew:	Four (aircraft commander, pilot, offensive systems officer and defensive systems officer)
Armament:	NUCLEAR CONVENTIONAL 84 Mk 62 84 MK82 30 CBU 87 30 CBU 89 30 CBU 97 12 Mk 65 PRECISION 30 WCMD 24 JDAM 12 GBU-27 12 AGM-154 JSOW 12 TSSAM
Date Deployed:	June 1985
Unit Cost:	$200-plus million per aircraft
Inventory:	100 total production 92 total current inventory Active force, 51 PMAI (68 actual) ANG, 18 PMAI (22 actual) Reserve, 0 AFMC, 2 (Test)

Con rể Nguyễn Tấn Dũng mua sân vận động ở Los Angeles, Hoa Kỳ

Los Angeles: Theo những tin tức vừa công bố hôm thứ ba ngày 19 tháng 5, Henry Nguyễn, con rể Việt cộng, Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, đã chủ tọa lễ khánh thành việc xây cất cầu trường túc cầu cho đội cầu tân lập The Los Angeles Football Club tại thành phố Los Angeles.

Ông Henry Nguyễn cho biết cầu trường 22 ngàn chỗ sẽ là một “vương cung thánh đường” so với các cầu trường túc cầu khác trong hiệp hội túc cầu Bắc Mỹ MLS.

Ông Henry Nguyễn là một thành viên trong tập đoàn chủ nhân của đội cầu,và cũng là người được đặc quyền khai thác hệ thống tiệm bán đồ ăn McDonald’s ở Việt Nam.

Nhưng đặc biệt, Henry Nguyễn là con rể của thủ tướng Việt Cộng Nguyễn tấn Dũng, và số tiền của ông có, chắc quý đọc giả cũng thừa hiểu nguồn gốc từ đâu tới. NO COMMENT.

Source: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/05/19/lafcs-henry-nguyen-our-stadium-will-be-one-cathedrals-soccer

LAFC's Henry Nguyen: Our stadium will be "one of the cathedrals of soccer"

LOS ANGELES – Southern California's newest Major League Soccer club unveiled its plans for a new stadium Monday that it promised would be a “cathedral” for soccer while helping to revitalize what has traditionally been one of Los Angeles' more troubled neighborhoods.

The privately financed $250 million complex on the site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena, next to the Coliseum in Exposition Park, will include a 22,000-seat stadium that the Los Angeles Football Club – its current name, although that could change – will call home when it kicks off in 2018.

Managing partner Henry Nguyen described the planned facility as “an intimate, really tight, urban, sound-box stadium.”

“We want it to be one of the cathedrals of soccer in this country and around the world,” he said at a press conference at the proposed stadium site on Monday. “The great opportunity here is that LA is the world city, and this is the monument to the world's game here.”

“We want to be an Old Trafford [Manchester United's stadium] or a Camp Nou [Barcelona's stadium],” he told reporters later. “We want to build that kind of not only environment, but landmark.”

There are still a few hoops to jump through – an addendum to an existing environmental impact report will be required, as well as approvals at the state, city and county level – but club president Tom Penn said that the hope is to break ground in 10 months.

It would take two years to demolish the Sports Arena, which has been in use since 1959, and construct the new facility, the first major open-air stadium within city limits since Dodger Stadium opened 53 years ago.

“This makes us real and it gives us roots and really defines what we're all about,” Penn said. “Including our name, our colors, everything, it had to come from where we were going to be. So to be authentically LA, right here downtown, was very important to us.”

LAFC originally intended to begin play in MLS in 2017, but the timeline for stadium development forced them to delay their entry by a year. Nguyen, who heads a deep-pocketed and big-name ownership group that also includes sports and entertainment mogul Peter Guber, US World Cup champion Mia Hamm Garciaparra, and NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson, acknowledged some disappointment with the delay, but noted that it was necessary.

“I think we'd all like to get started as soon as we can, but these processes take time,” he said. “We're fortunate that this site has an environmental impact report that was already completed, but that doesn't mean that we've got a clear, unobstructed path forward. We still have a lot of work to do, and that's going to take time.

“We're very fortunate with the city council and the mayor's office and the management of Exposition Park here, I think everybody's leaning forward and supportive of getting this done, but there's still a lot of things that we've got to make sure that we do the right things.”

Monday's festivities, just west of the historic peristyle end of the Coliseum, included speeches by Guber, Johnson, Hamm Garciaparra and her husband, former baseball star Nomar Garciaparra.

Johnson said there were “about four or five” other locations in Southern California that LAFC considered, “but we wanted to be here.”

Nguyen noted that the Coliseum could be used for big games – “We expect one day our clasicos [against the LA Galaxy] to draw 80,000, 90,000 people,” he said – but stated there were no plans to play there should there be delays in acquiring approval for the complex or in its construction.

“We only have one chance to make a first impression, and we want to do it in our new stadium and new home ...,” he said. “There is no Plan B for me right now. It's got to be Plan A all the way, we've got to open here in March '18. Obviously, things will evolve, and we'll adapt to it if they do evolve.”

“We've got a lot of champions here,” noted Johnson, who starred for the Los Angeles Lakers and is part of the Los Angeles Dodgers' ownership group. “USC football, the Lakers not too far away, all of that. And we want to be part of that champions row, right around the corner.”

There has been significant refurbishment to the north of Exposition Park, around the USC campus and with L.A. Live, and the aim is to extend that to the south, where the new stadium will sit.

“What Staples Center did for downtown, this will do for South Los Angeles,” Johnson predicted.

“It's just a natural kind of next step in the evolution of development and revitalization of the downtown corridor here,” Nguyen said. “The Figueroa corridor is something that's been talked about, even for decades, and now we have an opportunity to be one of the southern gateways or landmarks of this corridor.”

Plans for the complex include restaurants, retail, offices and conference space, plus a world football museum, and the club plans to create a plaza between the Coliseum and the new facility that will help breed an environment similar to that outside the stadiums in Seattle and Portland. Nguyen said there's interest in creating something similar, from the Metro subway station at the northern end of Exposition Park, to the Sounders' march to the match.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who also spoke on Monday, credited the status of the ownership group in getting a deal finalized.

“This is a very deeply connected local ownership group,” Garber said. “When you have Magic and Peter Guber and Mia Hamm and Nomar sitting down and talking about what they want to do in the community, people pay attention. They have the financial capacity to privately fund the stadium... It's why we needed to make a change [with the second Los Angeles franchise], and that change has been very positive for MLS, very positive for the city.”

China want to hide...

China warns US plane to leave airspace over disputed islands

TV crew witnesses exchange between Chinese naval operator and US pilots over South China Sea as tensions rise in region over contested reefs

China’s navy has issued multiple warnings to a US surveillance aircraft to leave the airspace over artificial islands Beijing is building to strengthen its claims over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

 A satellite image of what is claimed to be an under-construction airstrip in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Photograph: DigitalGlobe/AFP/Getty Images

The messages, witnessed by a US TV crew aboard the P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft, came soon after the Pentagon said it was considering military patrols in the region and amid concerns that Chinese activity was raising the risk of a confrontation between Washington and Beijing.

CNN reported that a Chinese naval vessel issued eight warnings to the US plane on Wednesday, in an apparent effort to establish a no-fly zone near the artificial islands. When US pilots pointed out that they were flying through international airspace, an exasperated Chinese radio operator responded: “This is the Chinese navy … you go!”

The exchange is an indication of what could lie ahead if the US decides to send military aircraft and ships to the area, where China is locked in a battle of wills over ownership of reefs with the Philippines and several other countries.

The incident occurred in the skies above Fiery Cross reef, where China has triggered international anger with the construction of an early-warning radar station and other military facilities on reclaimed land.

Nation building: extending Mischief reef

TV footage taken from the aircraft showed construction and dredging activity on the newly built islands, together with a strong Chinese naval presence. Experts believe the islands, which include a 3,000-metre-long runway, could be fully operational by the end of the year.

Capt Mike Parker, commander of US surveillance aircraft deployed in Asia, said he believed the aircraft had been challenged by a nearby Chinese vessel.

“We were just challenged 30 minutes ago and the challenge came from the Chinese navy,” he told CNN. “I’m highly confident it came from ashore, this facility here,” he added, pointing to an early-warning radar station on Fiery Cross Reef.

Ambitious Chinese reclamation work has added to tensions around the Spratly archipelago, where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have competing territorial claims. The area includes vital commercial shipping lanes responsible for annual trade of about $5tn (£3.2bn).

China claims 90% of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits. Earlier this week, the US deputy secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned that Chinese land reclamation work was damaging stability in the region and could even lead to conflict.

“As China seeks to make sovereign land out of sandcastles and redraw maritime boundaries, it is eroding regional trust and undermining investor confidence,” he said. “Its behaviour threatens to set a new precedent whereby larger countries are free to intimidate smaller ones, and that provokes tensions, instability and can even lead to conflict.”

In response, the Pentagon is considering sending military aircraft and ships to the area to ensure freedom of navigation around China’s growing number of artificial islands. “We are considering how to demonstrate freedom of navigation in an area that is critical to world trade,” a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The US and its allies have a very different view than China over the rules of the road in the South China Sea.”

Beijing says it will not stop reclamation work, with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, describing its sovereignty claims as “hard as a rock”.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/21/china-warns-us-plane-to-leave-airspace-over-disputed-islands

Australian cattle were slaughtered with sledgehammer in Vietnam

Investigation launched into claims Australian cattle were slaughtered with sledgehammer in Vietnam

Man prepares to slaughter cow

Animals Australia footage shows cattle being slaughtered with a sledgehammer in Vietnam abattoir.

Animals Australia has included this photograph, taken inside a Vietnamese abattoir last month, in its complaint to the Department of Agriculture. Photo: Animals Australia

By Anna Vidot, Dan Conifer and staff

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey says the Government will not overreact to claims Australian cattle have been slaughtered with sledgehammers in Vietnam.

Australia's live export trade is caught in a fresh controversy, with Animals Australia saying it has "shocking and distressing" footage showing animals having their skulls repeatedly smashed at an abattoir in Vietnam's north.

The animal rights group is yet to release the vision but lodged a complaint with the Agriculture Department last week.

Speaking in Darwin this morning, Mr Hockey said the live trade export industry would not be completely shut down due to animal cruelty complaints in one region.

"Frankly if there is one country or one place that is actually undertaking an inhumane treatment or terrible treatment of animals, then it is proper to react to that one instance," he said.

"But you don't close off the food supply to many countries where they have very low income, or don't have the supply of protein, on the basis of a single report alone.

"That was the mistake the previous government made, we are not going to make that mistake. We are going to investigate that thoroughly."

Animals Australia launched an investigation in Vietnam "after admissions by industry representatives in April that thousands of Australian cattle had been slaughtered outside approved supply chains," a statement from the animal rights group said.

"The killing of cattle and buffalo through repeated blows to the head with a sledgehammer is the traditional method of slaughter in Vietnam."

Vietnam has quickly grown to become Australia's second largest live export market for cattle, with Animals Australia saying 178,000 animals were exported there last year.

Animals Australia said there had been eight complaints over the past two years about the killing of cattle in Vietnam.

Agriculture Department investigating three potential breaches

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said reports of cattle being killed with sledgehammers in Vietnam, outside of approved abattoir facilities, were first raised months ago by the live export industry itself.

In March, industry notified the Department of Agriculture of several incidents. The department then launched three investigations, which are ongoing.

It is not clear whether the images released by Animals Australia relate to instances already identified by industry.

Mr Joyce said self-reporting by livestock exporters proved the system is working, and the industry was serious about addressing welfare breaches in its export markets.

He also said Animals Australia should reveal when it first became aware of the incidents it reported to the Government.

"I imagine they've known about it since March [too]; do they release things for humanitarian effect or for media effect?" Mr Joyce asked.

"We knew about this because the industry itself has reported on it, and we are making sure that our investigations go through the proper process.

"If prosecutions need to take place, they will."

Pastoralist Murray Grey from Western Australia's Pilbara region sends 40 per cent of his cattle to Vietnam and was relieved to hear the Government had pledged to keep the trade going.

"We're very concerned to hear of any mistreatment, but there's a zero tolerance now from exporters, or from Australia, for anything like that happening," he said.

"And if it is true there's been a breach of ESCAS [Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System] protocol, those importers will be scratched straight off the import list and won't be receiving Australian cattle again."

RSPCA calls for live cattle trade with Vietnam to be suspended

The RSPCA said there had been problems in Vietnam for some time.

"The Government is doing nothing to stop more cattle going into that market," RSPCA chief scientist Bidda Jones said.

Australian animals are traced to their final slaughter destination under the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme.

The RSPCA said the scheme was not working for Vietnam and exports needed to stop until it was working.

"This is a serious problem, we should not be allowing more cattle to be exported until these issues have been sorted out," Dr Jones said.

"An assurance scheme that provides no assurance is not effective and not working."

Travis Dillon, the acting chief executive of agribusiness RuralCo, said the live export industry was a growing part of the company and the latest incident was not a good look.

"For us, our understanding is it's definitely not our animals involved at all, but any stories like that are not good for the industry and the investigation will continue into that," he said.

"But clearly it's not what we want to see."

New rules will prevent use of sledgehammers: industry

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council (ALEC) said it had identified the issue of Australian cattle leaving approved supply chains in Vietnam and ending up in "very basic slaughterhouses".

The industry body said it was rolling out six tough new measures, including CCTV in Vietnamese feedlots and abattoirs.

"We have to stamp out any idea that it's easy to remove livestock from our supply chains, we don't stand for it," ALEC chief executive Alison Penfold said.

"These new conditions that exporters put in place six weeks ago make it very clear to anyone who breaches our conditions they will not receive Australian livestock," she said.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-19/australian-cattle-killed-with-sledgehammers-in-vietnam/6482106

Have your say:

xanh 1:55 PM on 20/05/2015

Joe Hockey's crude emotional blackmail about denying protein to 'the poor' in Vietnam is wrong. Those who can afford imported beef are not the poor. There is wealth in Vietnam (Bentleys and Rolls Royces can be seen on the streets) and a large middle class. This is as crude as their "coal is good for poverty" line they get from the current coal industry campaign (they haven't sunk to using Ebola like one of the coal companies yet though.) Neither coal, nor the live animal trade, are charities. I don't like the live animal trade - it is inherently cruel. And why live trade to a country with no religious reason for it (as flawed as the religious reason is). Vietnam and lots of Asia is perplexing as to the poor treatment of animals, it is a major blind spot there. That is a cliche with more meaning than Hockey's "help the poor by selling them expensive meat and coal". Animals don't get any ethical status in the cultures, I guess, although some people differ in that. Although it seems in exporters and politicians, at least, Australians are as cold to the suffering. There has to be a proper response. We are told endlessly there are standards and rules, but everywhere they fail and fail. It isn't good enough and a strong government response is correct. Refuse the live trade to Vietnam. There is no reason for it, but we know it produces animal cruelty well beyond normal farming and slaughtering and that is proven now.

dpete 2:07 PM on 20/05/2015
Yes, imported beef is an expensive luxury item in Vietnam that is irrelevant to the 'supply of protein' for all but the wealthy. In northern Vietnam where this story comes from, you can also find restaurants that offer dog meat as an expensive delicacy. We can't do much about that from here, but we can do something about our exported cattle.
wildfire2013 4:50 PM on 20/05/2015
"Vietnam and lots of Asia is perplexing as to the poor treatment of animals, it is a major blind spot there." I take your point xanh. It's interesting how as we bear witness to the horror coming out of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse we can point fingers at Vietnam for possible cruelty to animals. Some criticize them and other south eastern Asian countries for eating dogs yet we eat kangaroos. Don't get me wrong I detest cruelty to animals or humans but we should be careful about how we put our fingers as it were. I would like all animals to be treated humanely and with respect. I wonder whether maybe this method that is purported to being used in Vietnam may also be due to the developing country status of Vietnam. Maybe it's a bit rich of us to expect Vietnam to be ABLE to afford to implement all the standards a rich country like Australia has. Maybe I'm wrong in that statement but whilst I am horrified at the notion of using a sledgehammer on an animal I am also more than aware of our own double standards.