Karaoke Blast: Birthdays and Bombs

My niece turned 7 this weekend. Her favorite birthday gift? A karaoke machine. She's a pop star in the making (BTW - I'm not sure that's such a good thing, I was raised with all boys - we played things like Rat Patrol and Combat. We also would stick firecrackers in the cowpies lying in the back field, light them and then run like hell. My feminine side emerged somewhat later in life- ha-ha.)

But, it was to fun to watch as she and her little friends were having a blast singing and vamping at her birthday pj party.

It was probably about the same time they were having another kind of blast at karaoke bars in Thailand...

Suspected Muslim insurgents launched simultaneous attacks across four provinces in southern Thailand, killing six and wounding at least 50, an army spokesman said. The attacks yesterday evening were the first time the insurgents have struck all four of the enflamed provinces – Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla – at the same time, said army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprote. Triggered by digital watches, 29 bombs rocked the predominantly Muslim deep south, most of them set to explode between 7.15pm and 8pm, he said. The targets were karaoke lounges, hotels, schools, petrol stations and power grids.

The insurgency is insane:
A sizable number of yesterday’s bombings were against karaoke lounges, which are regarded as decadent by the Islamic rebels. At least two schools were burned down.

And then there's this:
Violence in the south has been escalating in recent months despite a major policy shift by the military-imposed government, which is trying to replace an earlier iron-fisted approach in dealing with the rebels with a “hearts and minds” campaign.

More than 2,000 people have died in the four provinces since the insurgency erupted in 2004, fuelled by accusations of decades of misrule by the central government. The insurgents have not announced their goals, but are believed to be fighting for a separate state imbued with radical Islamic ideology.

This last sentence actually made my head spin....gee, ya think???? Go ahead, you can say it. Come on. Put your lips together and just say it. I know you can...

SHARIA!