Myanmar enacts military draft law

Myanmar enacts military draft law for men, women
Clad in traditional dress, ethnic Kachin people dance during their Manaw festival to celebrate their new year in Myitkyina, the capital of the Kachin State, about 1,600 kilometers (1000 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011. Military-ruled Myanmar has enacted a law that could draft men and women into the Armed Forces and mete out Prison sentences of up to five years for draft dodgers, according to an official document seen Monday. The country currently has a volunteer army. Th...

Russ Belville: Arizona Shooter Loughner Used Marijuana... So What?
As you may know by now, in a tragic act of insane violence, Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords was targeted for Assassination, but survived the point-blank gunshot allegedly fired by Jared Lee Loughner, a 22-year-old man whose rambling Internet paranoia calls his sanity into question.  Loughner also allegedly fired into the crowd, killing a 9-year-old girl (born on 9/11/2001, incidentally), a federal Circuit Court judge, a Giffords Staffer, and three others, and wounding several more.  All of us at...

Jared Loughner, Portrait of the Tuscon Safeway Shooter (ContributorNetwork)
The portrait of Jared Loughner, the accused Tucson Safeway Massacre shooter, is taking shape. Loughner, contrary to some pronouncements on and off the Internet, was not a right-wing, Tea Party acolyte of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. But interviews with former friends and acquaintances paint a portrait of a man with " ... nihilistic, almost indecipherable beliefs steeped in mistrust and paranoia," according to the AP. YouTube videos and his MySpace page contain rantings about the currency, poor ...

Tucson Shooting Update
With some 350 comments on the weekend post of the Tucson shootings, you've all clearly got a lot to say. So here's the latest: The Arizona gunman alleged to have pulled the trigger planned to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to his own words. From The Slatest blog: When the FBI raided Arizona gunman Jared Loughner's parent's home, they found an envelope in a safe that had the words "I planned ahead," "My Assassination" and "Giffords" written on it. That evidence bostered the case...

Manchin: 'I have never targeted an individual'
In the aftermath of the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, freshman Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday defended his Controversial campaign ad involving a gun. In a 30-second ad that aired at the height of the campaign in October, Manchin (D-W.Va.) was shown shooting a hole through what is supposed to be a copy of the cap-and-trade Energy Bill.  Manchin said people should not confuse his actions with those of Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of shooting Giffords (D) on Saturday. “I've...

FBI: Family of suspect in Giffords shooting blocking access to house
Source: AZCENTRAL Family members of the suspect in the Gabrielle Giffords shooting on Monday blockaded themselves into their home north of Tucson and were refusing FBI agents' entry. At about 12:25 p.m., agents began banging on the Blockade built with 4-by-4 double-thick plywood, yelling, "This is the FBI. Let us in." The Blockade is preventing access to the front porch of the home. Some agents were sent behind the house, and media representatives could hear the agents talking with someone from ...

David Frum Asks Important Question: Did Pot Trigger Giffords Shooting?
There is a fierce competition at foot to figure out who can blame the shooting in Arizona on the dumbest thing. Is it Sarah Palin’s fault because she put up a map with gun sights on it one time because she is a terrible person who hates people understanding and getting along with each other? That’s a pretty good one. But David Frum is better: “After horrific shootings, we hear calls for stricter Regulation of guns. The Tucson shooting should remind us why we regulate Marijuana....

Arizona rampage renews questions about gun screenings
By Steve Gorman Los Angeles | Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:57pm EST Los Angeles (Reuters) - The deadly Shooting Spree in Tucson, Arizona, has renewed questions about a 13-year-old U.S. system that relies on personal Background Checks at the time of gun sales to keep Firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people. Despite ample evidence that the suspect in Saturday's rampage, Jared Lee Loughner, was engaged in bizarre, disruptive behavior well before the shooting, this did not stop him from legally bu...

Berkley plans meeting in response to shooting
Rep. Shelley Berkley is planning her own meeting with constituents as a response to the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman and 19 others in Tucson on Saturday. "The best tribute I could make to my friend Gabby is to hold my own Congress on the Corner event, and that will take place this coming Friday, 9 to 11, right here in this office," the Las Vegas Democrat said Monday morning, referring to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. "I think to do less than that, to hide behind these office walls, would be a...

Ariz. Shooter Loughner Not Linked to Hate Groups
Like this Story? Share it: As Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in a Tucson Hospital after being shot in the head, investigators find evidence at the main suspect Jared Lee Loughner's house. Ben Tracy reports on the attempted Assassination. Bob Schieffer spoke with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Nancy Cordes, Jan Crawford, and Bob Orr on Jared Loughner's past, the gunman who killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. and injuring congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. This March 2010 pho...

Giffords still critical but condition encouraging, doctors say
WASHINGTON — Doctors said Monday they were encouraged that the condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has stabilized since she underwent emergency Brain Surgery on Saturday after being shot by a gunman who went on to kill six people and wound numerous others. The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, will make his first appearance in Federal Court on Monday in Phoenix. The 22-year-old college castoff and Army reject faces two counts of Murder and three Attempted Murder charges in connection with th...

Dr. Keith Ablow: The Tragedy of Mental Illness
The story of alleged gunman Jared Loughner's murderous rampage, which took the lives of six innocent Victims and critically wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will ultimately prove to be a story about how severe Mental Illness-including that linked to violence-routinely goes untreated. By all accounts, Loughner was psychiatrically ill long before he shot anyone. He was described by a High School classmate as a drug user and loner whose thoughts made little sense. You must login to comment....

Doctors: No Change In Giffords' Condition, Not Out Of The Woods Yet
Dr. Michael Lemole, left, chief of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Peter Rhee, trauma director, discuss Rep. Giffords' condition. (AP) NEXT » The medical team at University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson announced that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was shot in the head on Saturday during an apparent Assassination attempt, remains in critical condition. Chief of neurosurgery Dr. Michael Lemole said, "At this phase in the game, no change is good, and we have no change," but added, "We're ...

Myanmar parliament set for 1st session in 22 years
Myanmar's new parliament will hold its first session in 22 years on Jan. 31, state radio said Monday, an event the country's Military rulers hail as one of the final steps in its self-styled "roadmap to Democracy." The new legislature was elected in polls last year decried as unfair by the opposition parties, including that of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently freed from house arrest. The country's 1,154 lawmakers will meet in a massive new building in the remote capi...

Myanmar to convene newly elected parliament on Jan. 31+
BANGKOK, Jan. 10 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Myanmar's Military Junta announced Monday through state media that the newly elected parliament will convene on Jan. 31 as part of the government's transition to Military-backed civilian rule. In last November's General Election, the Military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party led by Prime Minister Thein Sein won a landslide victory, securing more than 70 percent of the seats in both houses of parliament. Under the Constitution drawn up by the mi...

Jane Hamsher: Sarah Palin's Political Career May Already Be Over, But If It's Not, It Should Be
I automatically recoil at the suggestion that people should be held responsible for the actions of others, especially when it comes down to the influence they supposedly have on those they've never met. It's the kind of Lieberman-esque thinking that brought us the Culture Wars, the scapegoating of Video Games and a decade's worth of Ice-T demonization. As someone who did not emerge unscathed from that ignoble period in our history, I instinctively feel that the people who trade in those kinds ...

Could Anything Have Stopped Loughner?
The shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of six and wounding of 13 others in Tucson is one of those American tragedies that threatens to be interpreted according to what one wants to believe. The shootings will be argued over and debated as more information comes forward, but what seems unavoidable is that the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was a nutbar through and through, and there was no way he could have been deterred. Arizona’s curious (to Canadians) Gun Laws that ...

ABC chief: Giffords coverage shows lack of unity
The new president of ABC News says his organization needs to work with more unity, and its weekend coverage of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' shooting proved it. Unlike rivals CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News Channel, ABC did not broadcast Saturday's false report that Gifford had died, which originated with National Public Radio. But for 10 minutes, the ABC.com website used an incorrect headline in a banner. ABC News President Ben Sherwood says he still hasn't figured out who was responsible. He says "it wa...

Afternoon Open Thread
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observe a “moment of silence” on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 10, 2011 to honor the Victims of a shooting at an Arizona political event that left people six dead. Meanwhile, doctors were cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the shooter’s principal target, US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head by the would-be assassin. Good Afternoon. As you go through the re...

Paltrow, Bush cousins victims in Arizona shooting
FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2010 file photo, actress Gwyneth Paltrow attends the 44th Annual Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn. Gwyneth Paltrow is a cousin of the congresswoman who was wounded in Saturday's shooting that killed six people in Arizona. Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is the first cousin of director Bruce Paltrow, who is the late father of "Country Strong" actress Gwyneth Paltrow. "One Tree Hill" actress Sophia Bush also has a connection to the shooting. According to a Us Wee...

The shootings in Tucson and Tea Party Derangement Syndrome
Scarcely an hour had elapsed following the senseless, tragic shootings in Tucson on Saturday before liberal commentators were providing in-depth analyses of the then-yet-to-be-named gunman’s motives. The drumbeat was as predictable as it was familiar. It was the Tea Party’s fault as well as that of its nominative leader Sarah Palin. You don't have to believe that alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, is a card-carrying Tea Party member (he evidently is not) to see some kind of connection ...

Dallas Green thanks baseball family for support
Former big league pitcher Dallas Green thanked his extended Baseball family for their support on the shooting death of his granddaughter and five others in Tucson, Ariz. Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was killed Saturday outside a Supermarket where a neighbor had taken her to meet Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded. Christina's dad is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grandfather Dallas Green managed the 1980 world champion Philadelphia Phillies. He thanked ever...

Doctor: No change in Giffords' condition
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in an attack at a Tucson political event, was unchanged Monday, and a doctor said that was positive news. "We're not out of the woods yet," said Dr. G. Michael Lemole, section chief of Neurosurgery at University Medical Center in Tucson. "At this phase in the game, no change is good and we have no change," Lemole said at a briefing on the condition of Giffords and others wounded in the Saturday shooting rampage outside o...

There Is Yet No Loughner / Far-Right Connection
It is worth stating again that there is at present no — zero — evidence that purported Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was affiliated with any Tea Party group or other mainstream conservative cause. But nor is there any reason to think that Loughner was aligned with even far-right or radical political causes.  Some people who study right-wing Militia groups and those who align themselves with the so-called Patriot movement said Mr. Loughner’s comments on subjects like the Am...

Should Congressional Staff be armed?
In the wake of the terrible Assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the Murder and assaults on so many of her constituents, some members of Congress are talking openly about their concerns for their safety and security. While this incident seems to clearly be the work of an insane individual without rational motivation (other than an obsession with Giffords which dates back several years), concerns about the safety of members of Congress for any future attacks will remain a topic of...