A 51-year-old Chinese man leaped off of an Asian cruise ship to his death after reportedly losing more than $386,000 in the casino.

As AOL Traveler reports,

The gambler, identified as Xu, was a passenger on the SuperStar Aquarius, operated by Asian cruise line Star Cruises.

The 1,500-passenger ship was on its way back to Hong Kong after a two-day party cruise when the incident occurred, according to local news reports.

Reports state that Xu was seen at a gaming table betting after dinner but stayed at the table until around 8am. Afterwards he walked to the top of the 13-deck ship and wandered around for an hour before fatally jumping into Repulse Bay which surrounds Hong Kong Island.

The bay is known for its heavy traffic and the body has yet to be found but foul play as been ruled out by police.

Editor’s Note: This story relates to several stories of caution that most Asian country’s governments implemented prior to this year’s World Cup in South Africa, as countries such as China, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam are sadly very well-known for their gambling habits. China is a country that is very deeply-rooted in it’s gambling with lottery and casino gaming but were warned before the famous soccer event to never gamble with large amounts of money including lifesavings, cattle, or land. Story here: http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2010/06/record-betting-spree-expected-during.html

“Those who begin by burning books will end by burning people.” – Heinrich Heine

Wars begin and end with propaganda, and in the effort for hearts and minds in Afghanistan and across the Muslim world a small Christian church in Florida is doing its best to undermine U.S. interests. The Gainesville church plans to burn a copy of the Koran on Sept 11. U.S. General Petraeus warns that if the book burning goes forward it could ultimately endanger the lives of U.S. service members.

From Al Jazeera:

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” David Petraeus, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement to US media organisations.

“It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world, we are engaged with the Islamic community.”

According to the NH Register, “some Muslims are leaving town on the Sept. 11 weekend to avoid problems.”

We know how much you want to.

From Boing Boing: “I didn’t touch it.”

Update:A Petcock is a valve that controls the flow of liquid or gas. (Thanks Colin)

The US isn’t the only country attracted to conspiracy theories.

Click here for more background.

Suitcase Tiger

Authorities caught a Thai woman trying to smuggle a baby tiger in her luggage. She was passing through security on her way to Iran, when the X-ray machine picked up the animal in her suitcase. Apparently she tried to fool “the man” by camouflaging the baby tiger by placing it among stuffed baby tigers. …Cleva’ girl.

From the Bangkok Post:

The 31-year-old Thai woman, who has not been named, was arrested on Sunday night after the tiger was spotted by X-ray staff in overweight luggage destined for the cargo hold.

An official from the Wild Fauna and Flora Protection Division said the cub was drugged and placed in the bag with the toys — apparently to make it appear as if it were a stuffed animal.

“He was very calm, half asleep and half awake when we rescued him,” he said.

The cub was found at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and has since been sent to a rescue centre.

Nicole John, daughter of US Ambassador to Thailand, Eric John.

The 17-year-old daughter of the American ambassador to Thailand has fallen to her death. She was partying in a Manhattan high rise when she fell 25 stories and landed on a third story balcony.

The teen, whose father Eric John was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand in 2007, had been carousing at Tenjune on Little West 12th St. before heading to the apartment about 2:15 a.m. for a nightcap, police said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/27/2010-08-27_nicole_john_daughter_of_us_ambassador_to_thailand_plunges_to_death_from_highrise.html#ixzz0xpgw7cOf (NY Daily News)

Today, August 12, marks Her Holiness Queen Sirkit’s 78th birthday, and in the Thai tradition that shows the country’s undying love for their monarchy, they celebrate her birthday as the national holiday of Mother’s Day.

Her royal flag of beautiful blue hang throughout the country and signs that read, “chan rak mae” or “sook san wan mae” are posted everywhere to show “I love you, mom” and “Happy Mother’s Day” respectively. This tradition dates back nearly as far as their monastic system in Thailand and very respected throughout the years. But like many things in Thailand as of recently, the mold is being broken.

Unfortunately, this loving tradition is now being threatened. As much of what has happened in Thailand over the past year, threats are cause for concern, and Prime Minister Abhisit has announced that there have been threats to overthrow the monarchy of Thailand, which includes the spiritually massive figurehead, His Holiness King Bhumibol Adulayadej, the world’s longest running monarch. These threats are taken quite seriously as Abhisit has formed a special task force of over 300 to invesetigate these plots of overthrowing the royal family.

This runs contrary to the generally accepted position that royal family is universally revered.

According to the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand’s equivalent of the FBI, the current conspiracy has three main elements: the leadership, operatives and the masses.

Yanaphon Youngyuen, Deputy Director-General, Department of Special Investigation, Royal Thai Police, says: “The people involved in this conspiracy operate like this: The mastermind advances a certain ideology which forms the group’s core beliefs or they may be financial backers. These leaders include ideologues and academics, for example. Another group is the operatives. They are webmasters, or those who disseminate emails.”

The Centre to Resolve the Emergency Situation, which was established just this past April after the Red Shirt protests and riots, collabrated with the government and army to create an overview of whom may be behind these threats and they have been said to mostly be Red Shirts or have connections with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has be very outspoken about his disgreement of the monastic system in Thailand and has threatened to overthrow it in the past.

These threats come on a very auspicious date for Thais, as their beloved Queen turns 78 on Thursday, and to better understand how signficant these threats are, one must realize how revered the monarchy in Thailand is. The royal family is considered pivotal to national security with it’s most intriguing facet being the law of “Lese majeste” or insulting the monarchy, which is considered tantamount to terrorism and results in the maximum penalty of 15 years in jail for each offence.

Thailand’s oldest and most well-known (but perhaps not the most loved) beer has now reached a four-year deal  with one of the world’s most famous football clubs, Chelsea.

Chelseafc.com reported on Thursday that the football club has reached an agreement with the Thai beer to make Singha the team’s official beer. This deal makes Singha and Chelsea have a platinum partner ship and means that  the “Golden Lion” Singha logo will be seen throughout Stamford Bridge –the team’s famous stadium–  at stadium kiosks, bars, restaurants and hotels from the start of the 2010/11 season. Two of Chelsea’s key players, star-striker and golden boot holder Didier Drogba and young, fan favorite  French midfielder Florent Malouda, were pictured holding the Blue’s jersey with the name “Singha” on the back.

Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda pose with new Singha sponsorship shirt. © www.chelseafc.com

The relationship will bring an even larger number of fans from the Asia-Pacific region towards the Blue Lions of Chelsea FC, or as Thais say, ” singh naangein” (directly translated to “lion blue”). Asia has consistently been a region of the world that supports the two famous “red” clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United. Within Thailand alone, the support for these two clubs is higher than many other Asian countries aside from South Korea and Japan. With Chelsea being within the “Top 4″ of the English Premier League (which also include Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal), their reach out in Asia is extremely important, especially now as reigning 2009/2010 league champions and FA Cup winners.

Singha Beer is a product of the Boonrawd Brewery, located just outside of Bangkok. They describe their beer as a premium lager with a full body, “100 percent barley malt beer with strong hop characteristics and a rich taste”. The beer is rivaled with the perhaps more worldly renowned Thai beer, Chang.

The marketing of both beers within the world’s largest football league, The English Premier League, is now even more apparent with Sinhga’s recent agreement with Chelsea. Back in 2004 Chang was Everton’s main sponsor, and to this day their two-elephant logo is a staple in the football team’s kits (jerseys).

“Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: ‘We are excited to welcome Singha Beer as our official beer partner for the club.

‘It is the leading beer brand in Thailand and will help us to reach out to our rapidly growing fan base in Asia-Pacific. We are certain that Singha Beer will be an excellent partner for the club.’

Santi Bhirom Bhakdee, chief executive of Boonrawd Brewery added: ‘It is a glorious leap forward for Singha Corporation to join hand in hand with Chelsea Football Club, a club that thirsts for victory and accomplishment.”

Singha’s marketing plan since being introduced in the 1970′s was to be known as the beer of Thailand throughout the rest of the world, as it is sold in 50 other countries. But the fact that the company has taken a few more years to see how beneficial sponsorship is within the English Premier League, the Beer Chang logo and brand seem to take the lead in popularity outside of Thailand.

Within Thailand however, the dispute continues, with one vicious scandal worth noting. Rumor has it that the Singha company had begun a campaign to harm Beer Chang’s reputation amongst the Thai drinkers. The goal was to scare their competitor’s drinkers into believing that Chang was made with formaldehyde, hence it’s higher alcohol content. Fact of this has yet to be seen, but the rumor itself seems to be one of great talking points while in Thailand.

Not only is Kim Jong-il bat shit crazy – he’s also a sore loser who blames everyone else except himself. Who knew?

From The Telegraph:

The entire squad was forced onto a stage at the People’s Palace of Culture and subjected to criticism from Pak Myong-chol, the sports minister, as 400 government officials, students and journalists watched.

Reportedly the players were “encouraged” to blame their coach, Kim Jong-hun, for the loss. The coach was punished for his betrayal the son of Kim Jong-il and heir apparent, Kim Jong-un, after losing the “‘idealogical struggle’ to succeed in South Africa.” Jong-hun has been forced to become a builder.

“In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps,” a South Korean intelligence source told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Read more

Via AP

The demonstration at the city’s Democracy Monument was peaceful, but it was the latest sign of simmering discontent since the army cracked down May 19 to disperse a sprawling anti-government protest camp and end 10 weeks of demonstrations calling for early elections.

Rolling clashes between troops and Red Shirts killed 90 people — mostly protesters shot by soldiers — and injured more than 1,400 in the demonstrations’ final weeks.

Two grenades have exploded in Bangkok over the past week, killing one bystander and wounding 11. There have been no claims of responsibility but both are presumed linked to ongoing political tensions. Thai Media reported Sunday that an unexploded grenade was found in a sewer on the grounds of the prime minister’s office compound over the weekend.

Read more