Eeyores news and view

How's the economy? Guys, check your dumpy drawers
June 2, 2009 - 7:00am
UNDATED - Guys, how closely did you pay attention to your underwear this morning?
It may sound ridiculous, but you can tell a lot about the economy by checking out a man's underwear drawer.
The more frayed and saggy a guy's boxers and briefs, the worse the economy is.
The theory is since few people see it, underwear is the first thing men stop buying when the economy tightens.
Women's underwear isn't as good an economic indicator because the experts say women are less tolerant of wearing grungy underwear.
If you're looking for good news, underwear sales -- which declined through January -- leveled off in February and March, indicating the economy may be stabilizing.
Of course, guys, you might want to buy some new drawers before your wives and girlfriends have to make the suggestion. Hint: It could help your love life.
http://wtop.com/?sid=1687459&nid=456

Police: Man upset at military shoots 2
A Muslim convert who said he was opposed to the U.S. military shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one, police said Monday.
"This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that's why he did what he did," Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.
"He has converted to (Islam) here in the past few years," Hastings said. "We're not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.
"He saw them standing there and drove up and shot them. That's what he said."
Police Chief Stuart Thomas said Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway was killed. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville was wounded and in stable condition, Thomas said.
Police arrested Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, of Little Rock, Thomas said. The suspect was previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, he said.
The soldiers wore fatigues, had recently completed basic training and volunteered to help attract others to the military, Thomas said.
He said the gunman targeted the military but was not believed to be part of a broader scheme.
Interviews with police showed that Muhammad "probably had political and religious motives for the attack," the police chief said.
Thomas said Muhammad would be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act. He said those counts result from the gunfire occurring near other people.
Hastings said the attacker pulled up in a car outside the Army-Navy recruiting office around 10:30 a.m. and fired at the soldiers outside.
According to the Associated Press, the vehicle was stopped on Interstate 630 a short time later, and the suspect was taken into custody. Police found an assault rifle in the vehicle.
Jim Richardson, the manager at a drug store around the corner from the Army-Navy center, said people at the store didn't realize anything was amiss until they heard sirens outside.
"Nobody heard any gunshots," Richardson said.
Lt. Col. Thomas Artis of the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, which oversees the Little Rock office, said the victims were not regular recruiters.
He said they were serving two weeks in the Little Rock office.
As part of the Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program, the soldiers were sent to "talk to friends, folks in the local area. They can show the example, 'Here's where I was, and here is where I am,' " Artis said.
Artis said neither of the soldiers had been deployed for combat.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-06-01-army-recruiter-killed_N.htm?csp=34

Gates: NKorea nuke progress sign of `dark future'
SINGAPORE (AP) - North Korea's progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is "a harbinger of a dark future" and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the reclusive communist government to change its ways, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday.
He said the North's nuclear program does not "at this point" represent a direct military threat to the United States and he does not plan to build up American troops in the region. But the North's efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region, he added. At an annual meeting of defense and security officials, the Pentagon chief said past efforts to cajole North Korea into scrapping its nuclear weapons program have only emboldened it.
North Korea's yearslong use of scare tactics as a bargaining chip to secure aid and other concessions—only to later renege on promises—has worn thin the patience of five nations negotiating with the North, Gates said.
"I think that everyone in the room is familiar with the tactics that the North Koreans use. They create a crisis and the rest of us pay a price to return to the status quo ante," he said in a question and answer session after his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
"As the expression goes in the United States, `I am tired of buying the same horse twice.' I think this notion that we buy our way back to the status quo ante is an approach that I personally at least think we ought to think very hard about. There are perhaps other ways to try and get the North Koreans to change their approach," he said.
The sharp statements were echoed by the South Korean defense minister and even China, North Korea's strongest ally. They reflect fears throughout the region that last week's nuclear and missile tests by North Korea could spiral out of control and lead to fighting.
"President Obama has offered an open hand to tyrannies that unclench their fists. He is hopeful, but he is not naive," Gates said in his speech.
"Likewise, the United States and our allies are open to dialogue, but we will not bend to pressure or provocation. And on this count, North Korea's latest reply to our overtures is not exactly something we would characterize as helpful or constructive. We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia—or on us. At the end of the day, the choice to continue as a destitute, international pariah is North Korea's alone to make. The world is waiting."
The North said it would no longer honor a 1953 armistice truce with South Korea after Seoul joined a 90-plus nation security alliance that seeks to curb nuclear trafficking on the seas.
Additionally, the U.N. Security Council is drafting financial and military penalties against North Korea as punishment for the weapons testing. Similar penalties approved after the North's 2006 atomic test have been only sporadically enforced, and largely ignored by China and Russia.
"I think that the combination of their progress in developing nuclear technology, and their progress in developing multistage long-range missiles, is a harbinger of a dark future," Gates said. "What is now central to multilateral efforts ... is to try to peacefully stop those programs before they do in fact become a `clear and present danger,' as the expression goes."

This takes a smart person to figure out this is a bad thing?
Gates also warned North Korea against secretly selling its weapons technology to other outlaw nations.
Later, at what officials called the first-ever meeting among defense chiefs from the U.S., Japan and South Korea, Gates asked his counterparts to begin considering other steps against the North should it continue to escalate is nuclear program. The military leaders did not discuss specific potential actions, but U.S. officials who attended the half-hour meeting said any steps would be taken in self-defense.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said the talks "could not have come at a better time."
"North Korea perhaps to this point may have mistakenly believed that it could be perhaps rewarded for its wrong behaviors," Lee told reporters. "But that is no longer the case."
Earlier Saturday, Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the second-in-command of the General Staff of China's military, told the security forum that Beijing "has expressed a firm opposition and grave concern about the nuclear test."
The Obama administration said it planned to send a delegation on Sunday to Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and possibly Moscow over the next week to discuss how to respond to North Korea.
"The reality is that given the objectives of the six-party talks that were established some years ago, it would be hard to point to them at this point as an example of success," Gates said in response to a question after his speech.
Those countries—the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan—"need to think freshly about where we go from here."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98GR6S81&show_article=1

Alaska may be in N.Korea Missile Reach
June 01, 2009 Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has transported its most advanced missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, to a launch site on its west coast near China, news reports said today.
The reclusive communist country was also reportedly bolstering it defenses and conducting amphibious assault exercises along its western shore, near disputed waters where deadly naval clashes with the South have occurred in the past.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile had been sent by train to the newly completed missile facility of Dongchang-ni, about 40 miles from the Chinese border.
Yonhap, quoting government sources, said the missile could be ready to launch in a week or two. South Korean media have speculated that the North wants to time the launch for around June 16, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has a summit in Washington with President Barack Obama.
With the launch, Pyongyang could also thumb its nose at U.N. Security Council attempts to rein it in after last week's nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches.
U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at a news conference in the Philippines, said North Korea appears to be working on a long-range missile but it's not clear yet what they plan to do with it.
Lee, hosting a conference of Southeast Asian leaders on the southern island of Jeju, warned the North against any provocation.
"If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dares to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that," Lee said in his regular radio address. "I want to make clear that there won't be any compromise on things that threaten our nation's security."
Adding to tensions this week, the trial starts Thursday in Pyongyang of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, accused of entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts."
North Korea faced strong international criticism after its last long-range missile launch, on April 5. The North said the launch was of a rocket intended to put a satellite in orbit. That modified version of the Taepodong-2 rocket flew about 2,000 miles, crossing over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
In late April, the North threatened to conduct nuclear and long-range missile tests unless the Security Council apologized for criticizing the launch. On Friday, it threatened to take a further "self-defense" measure if the Security Council provokes it. That threat was seen as referring to an ICBM test.
In another sign that a new launch is in the works, the North has designated a large area off its west coast as a "no-sail" zone through the end of next month, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified intelligence officials.
Yonhap said North Korean troops conducted amphibious assault maneuvers along with west coast. Other media carried similar reports. South Korean defense and intelligence officials refused to comment.
On Yeonpyeong island, one of South Korea's northernmost islands near North Korea, South Korean naval boats and a warship were patrolling waters around the disputed western sea border, but no incidents were reported.
The area is rich in fish, and May and June are the crab-catching season, meaning the waters are generally crowded with commercial ships.
Experts said the missile preparations were especially significant because the North has never launched a long-range missile from the northwestern base.
Kim Tae-woo, vice president of Seoul's state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said he thinks the North chose the site because of its proximity to China, making it more risky for the U.S. to strike.
The missile being prepared for launch is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 4,000 miles, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official.
That would put Alaska within striking range.
Today, the North said again that it is being provoked by South Korea and the United States, saying that the number of spy planes operating in its airspace has risen dramatically.
"The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets perpetrated at least 200 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in May, or 30 cases more than those in the same month of last year," it said in a report in its official Korean Central News Agency.
The DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea's official name.
The North's missile and nuclear programs have been considered a top regional security concern, though the regime is not yet believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile.
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?topic=1532.0;topicseen