Aki Ra: Former Khmer Rouge Soldier Disarms Landmines By Hand

Aki Ra was barely old enough to walk when he was conscripted into Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge as a child soldier. At the age of five, instead of learning the alphabet, he learned to plant deadly land mines in the ground. As he grew, he became adept at the Khmer Rouge’s deadly guerilla warfare tactics, and planted thousands of explosive-laden mines in the soil. He had no choice in the matter.

 

Ra regretted what he had done during his time in the Khmer Rouge—and he vowed to spend the rest of his life making it up to his fellow Cambodians. He remembered where he had buried many of the landmines, and knew how to quickly and safely disarm them. So, armed only with a metal detector, a small pocketknife, and several other small tools, he began locating land mines on the ground and disarming them by hand.

Watch Aki Ra disarm landmines in this video.

So, for more than 20 years, Ra has traveled through the Cambodian countryside, disarming thousands of active mines and leading safety education programs for villages. Though the mines are filled with TNT and could detonate at any second, Ra has never been injured in his work.

Aki Ra: Former Khmer Rouge Soldier Disarms Landmines By Hand | Gimundo | Good News... Served Daily

Cenk Uygur: Capitalism's Achilles Heel: The Cassano Loophole

There is a glitch in the system. Alan Greenspan famously said after the collapse that he had "found a flaw" in his free market ideology. He added, "Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief."

Well now the shock has worn off. And what have we done about it? Absolutely nothing. The flaw Greenspan is referring to is what I call the Cassano loophole in the system. And apparently Greenspan has learned nothing from it because in his testimony this week, he said he did nothing wrong as the Cassanos of the world robbed us blind.

Jospeh Cassano was the head of AIG's Financial Products Unit. They are the ones that made about a trillion dollars worth of bets in credit default swaps. They lost. Except because of the Cassano loophole, they won.
When they lost the bets, their company was devastated. Completely and utterly bankrput. The failure was so large, it promised to drag down the rest of the global economy with it. This forced the government to step in and cover their losses. So far, the United States taxpayers have put in $182 billion to keep AIG afloat.
So, what happened to Cassano? This was all his idea and his team that brought on this collossal collapse. Well, he was fired! Great, justice served.

Oh, did I forget to mention one thing? He received $35 million in bonuses when he was let go. Can anyone in their right mind explain that? Imagine you bankrupt your company and nearly the entire world economy with it - and they give you a $35 million bonus?

Cenk Uygur: Capitalism's Achilles Heel: The Cassano Loophole

Channeling Earth: Rivers Seen From Space | Wired Science | Wired.com

Beautiful satellite images of earthly delights!

Check the links at the bottom of the post for:


# Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space
# Stunning Views of Glaciers Seen From Space
# Erupting Volcanoes on Earth as Seen From Space
# Asteroid Impact Craters on Earth as Seen From Space
# Sublime Sand: Desert Dunes Seen From Space
# Huge Holes in the Earth: Open-Pit Mines Seen From Space"

Channeling Earth: Rivers Seen From Space | Wired Science | Wired.com:

A Stimulus Plan For Small Business - Forbes.com

"Okay, let me get this straight: The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy reports that 27 million small businesses in the U.S. account for half of the gross national product and employ more than half of the workforce, and Washington figures $30 billion in loan support and some tax credits will get things done.

What's that, $1,100 per company? Wow, where do we sign up!"

A Stimulus Plan For Small Business - Forbes.com: