Wednesday, September 30, 2009

JUST THE GUY WE NEED TO CLEAN UP CONGRESS


Farmer wins TV for killing record number of rats in Bangladesh.

Mokhairul Islam, a 40-year-old farmer, has won a colour TV after being named the most successful rat killer in Bangladesh.

The 40-year-old farmer disposed of 83,450 rats from January to September — more than double the number notched up by last year’s winner, according to the Bangladeshi Agriculture Department. Proof of his accomplishment came in the form of 83,450 rat’s tails delivered by Mr Islam to local officials.

“Rodents are the most feared enemy for farmers, so it is an honour to win this prize,” he said.

He used traps, poison, electric barriers and flooding. “The rats ravage our farms. I’ve seen it time and time again, first-hand. If I see one, I don’t even stop to think. I just go for it and kill it. I’m saving myself and my livelihood,” he said.
The competition aims to reduce the damage done to crops in the impoverished land, with an estimated 6.5 million rats killed this year. The Government estimates that as much as 10 per cent of Bangladesh’s annual harvest of rice, wheat and potatoes is devoured by rodents.

A plague of rats in the southeastern Chittagong region last year led to famine in remote villages, forcing the World Food Programme to distribute aid to 120,000 people for four months after they were reduced to eating wild roots.

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

VICTORY! AMERICAN HERO 1ST LT. EHREN WATADA UNITED STATES ARMY















First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
With little fanfare the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.

Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge under "other than honorable conditions."

Joseph J. Piek, Fort Lewis spokesman, said, "This is an administrative discharge, and the characterization of Lt. Watada's discharge is not releasable under the privacy act."

Watada, 31, told the Star-Bulletin in a phone interview yesterday that he was "glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on."

"The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome."
Watada said he was "thankful to the people from all walks of life that supported me and agreed with my stand."

In May, Watada won a significant legal victory when the U.S. Department of Justice dropped efforts to retry him. The Army had wanted to appeal U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle's decision last October that a second court-martial would violate Watada's constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Following the Justice Department's decision, the Army made it clear the only course available to Watada is what the Army calls "resignation for the good of the service in lieu of general court-martial," Watada said yesterday.
Watada could either voluntarily resign or be forced out with a discharge "under other than honorable conditions."
Watada said the result would be the same, except it would take longer if he was forced out.

Ken Kagan, one of Watada's Seattle attorneys, said last night, "Lt. Watada had previously tendered his resignation on more than one occasion, and each time, it was rejected. This time, however, it was accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat Lt. Watada in a courtroom."
Kagan described Watada as "a hero and a patriot. Lt. Watada took a lonely stand as a matter of conscience, never attempted to spread discord within the ranks and never sought to evangelize about his ethical convictions. More importantly, he never disparaged the service and the sacrifices made by countless other soldiers and officers who obeyed their orders. He realized that each member of the armed forces must make her or his own decision, according to the dictates of conscience, just as he did. He always understood it to be an intensely personal decision.
"It is our belief that history will treat Lt. Watada far more favorably than the United States Army sees fit to regard him now."

Watada said he turned in his resignation papers in July, and they were approved by the commanding general at Fort Lewis and sent to his higher headquarters. Watada learned of the Army's final approval on Sept. 16.
Watada said that he does not know whether he will stay in the Pacific Northwest, where he attended Whitworth College, or return to the islands.

Before he was charged, Watada, an artillery officer, had requested to be assigned to Afghanistan instead of Iraq and even offered to resign from the Army. Both requests were denied.
Initially, Watada was charged with missing the 2nd Infantry Division's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team's deployment on June 22, 2006, considered by the Army as the most serious charge, and conduct unbec- oming an officer.

Watada participated in anti-war rallies here and on the mainland and held numerous interviews denouncing Bush. Two of those activities were the basis of the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. Conviction on all counts would have meant six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
One of his biggest supporters was his father, Bob Watada, who retired to farm in Eugene, Ore.
"I am very happy he is getting out," the elder Watada said, "and getting on with his life.
"I firmly believe he did the right thing. I supported him all the way, and I continue to support him."

Watada's first court-martial ended in a mistrial in February 2007 when military judge Lt. Col. John Head believed that Watada did not understand the terms of a plea agreement. He had been charged with denouncing President George W. Bush and the Iraq war and refusing to join his Stryker brigade unit when it deployed.

The mistrial occurred before Watada's attorney could put on a defense.
To block a second court-martial, Watada's attorneys sued in U.S. District Court.

The Army had been contemplating prosecuting Watada for his anti-war sentiments, citing statements against the war and Bush that were not part of the original court-martial. Watada could have been court-martialed for conduct unbecoming an officer for making those statements.
However, Piek said yesterday, the last two remaining specifications under Article 133, conduct unbecoming an officer, have been dismissed.
Watada, who has been working a desk job since the mistrial, was supposed to have been discharged on December 2006, but his legal proceedings have kept him at Fort Lewis' I Corps.

The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team served three combat tours in Iraq.
Original Source.

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