Word: sept
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...past year was besieged by yellow- and red-shirted protesters, forcing three successive administrations to abandon their offices. "We just have to make sure that only a small minority of people who are bent on violence or making chaos will not be able to cause trouble." Yet by Sept. 20, with dissent bubbling up across the nation, the mild-mannered Prime Minister was reduced to pleading with various political factions to display a little gentlemanliness: "We can express different opinions," he said in a televised address. "But we are all Thais. Please don't hurt each other...
...power in the first place. A seemingly minor scuffle over who should be the next national police chief has riven the alliance. Abhisit's bid to avoid potential demonstration violence by invoking the country's Internal Security Act, sending thousands of soldiers onto the capital's streets on Sept. 19, drew barbs from some coalition members. The PM freely admits the difficulties the nation and his administration are facing - but it's not as if Thailand is teeming with potential leaders who could do a better job than Abhisit has. "We're feeling growing pains," he acknowledged to TIME...
...other unity-building efforts have fallen flat, like a project announced by the PM's office on Sept. 15 to induce all Thais to sing the national anthem every evening for a month and a half. The initiative faced ridicule in the national media, but it was presumably designed to placate the nationalist army faction to whom Abhisit's administration is beholden. Thailand also continues to court international criticism for the strict application of lèse-majesté laws that dissuade open discussion of the royal family and succession issues. Under Abhisit's tenure, the number of high-profile...
Tough Talk You report that Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the new head of NATO, is a Dane with a tough, no-nonsense style who will sort out NATO in Afghanistan [Sept. 14]. Why, then, does he say, "We would very much like to see further contributions from the European side"? A tough, no-nonsense style would be to say, "France and Germany, your troops are no use behind a hedge 500 miles away from the fighting - get them where the action is." Bob Wydell, Oswestry, England...
...Popularity - Not! Re your glowing report on "popular" Republican Senator Charles Grassley and his efforts in the health-care debate [Sept. 14]: I'd like to tell the rest of the story. When Grassley talked about "pulling the plug on Grandma," he also pulled the plug on much of his support. The backlash has been tremendous, as evidenced partly by the many recent articles and letters in the Des Moines Register. Lifelong Republicans have vowed never to vote for him again. Iowa ranks third in the nation in percentage of people over 85 and, no doubt, in Medicare recipients...