death penalty

this uk woman was jailed in Laos back in August for drug smuggling... and somehow she is now 5 months pregnant. (and she could possibly face execution, although with international pressure, that is seeming much less likely now.) as the title of the linked article says, this really calls Laos's criminal justice system into question. apparently, Laos officials are opening an investigation into how exactly she got pregnant (something the rest of us learned in 6th grade health class, or from our parents if we were lucky,) and are continuing to insist that she wasn't raped or impregnated by a guard, but that she was already pregnant back when she was jailed, or some immaculate conception kinda thing...

this is kinda old news now, so many of you have probably already heard about this. several articles were posted about it; the most recent saying that the uk will bring her home to serve out her sentence there. here are some links:

this is the older link - from cnn:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/laos.british.woman.drugs.trial/index.html

the more recent link that i referenced above:
http://www.worldlatestnews.com/world-news/pregnant-british-inmate-puts-laos-justice-system-on-trial

eat one

what went wrong with the definition of Lao?

this is from the webster's dictionary.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lao

Lao pronunciation: \ˈlau\
function: noun inflected form(s): plural Lao or Laos \ˈlauz\
date: 1808 1 : a member of a buddhist people living in Laos and adjacent parts of northeastern thailand 2 : the thai language of the Lao people — Lao adjective

Lao is not a "thai language of the Lao people"

Lao is the "official language of the country of Laos"

oh well.

(thanks to chaleurn for sending this to me. i have heard of Lao and thai described in academic settings as part of the tai linguistic family, but i've never heard Lao described as a "thai language of the Lao people.") comments?

uncovering the past...

not my tagline, but from the article. see the preview below and then read the article, linked here: seattle times article link - click here!.