#and horace obviously. they are a two in one package

[oat-pup]

happy roba day (roba day is everyday)

[zvaigzdelasas]

American Ambassador to Laos J. Graham Parsons was faced with the prospect of Pathet Lao communists running legally in the elections provided for by the Geneva Conference. Maintaining discipline, the leftists proposed a single candidate for each office. On the other side of the political spectrum, by February the rightists were running 85 candidates for the same 21 seats.[4]

The United States had pumped $202 million in foreign aid into Laos since 1955. The Pathet Lao were electioneering on a platform of peace, national unity, and a cleanup of corruption. Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa blamed Americans for inflation of the Lao kip, as well as causing governmental fraud. Worried that the non-communists who were favored by America were going to do poorly, Parsons began a crash rural aid program; he named it Booster Shot.[2] Programs were selected to give "immediate and tangible political benefits" to those Lao politicians the U.S. favored. Central Intelligence Agency officer Rufus C. Phillips was placed in charge. He hired ten man teams to carry out Booster Shot. Each team had two specialists in each of five fields—farming, schools, public works, health, and information. In contrast to the usual low-key approach that allowed credit for the aid to redound to host government, Booster Shot was high profile.[5] While the State Department had envisioned air drops from unmarked aircraft, newly arrived ambassador Horace H. Smith took charge and not only insisted on using obviously American aircraft, but on affixing U.S. symbols on the aid packages. Bulldozers were parachuted with both American and Lao flags streaming from them. Smith wanted the U.S. help to be evident to the Lao populace.[6]

[...]

While Ambassador Smith predicted the leftists would win only three or four seats,[13] communist propaganda took credit for the Booster Shot air drops. It was claimed that heavy equipment and supplies dropped in northern Laos were actually aid from the Chinese communist neighbors.[14] The Pathet Lao also claimed that the air drops were a short-lived attempt to buy votes. Given the Lao government's treatment of the peasantry, that was a compelling argument.[15] One missive read:

"You see, little villagers? Now that your votes are precious to the government, you are being showered with gifts....If the government is so rich that it can now give away these things to you, you can imagine how much the government has put away in its coffers for the past years, depriving you of your rightful share of American aid."[16]

[jwgammuto]

Monday Night Raw Review for 5/13/19

Well here we are. 6 days away from MITB, which looks like it could be a pretty good PPV. Raw has really been off the rails lately, what will the go home show for MITB bring from London? Only one way to find out with a little of The Good, The Bad, and the WTF: It can’t be any worse than last week Edition.

The Good: Sami Zayn replaces Strowman in the ladder match at MITB. Praise LBJ! This was a wonderfully brilliant decision and they even set it up in a fairly smart way. Zayn and Braun arguing along with Shane backstage about the garbage stunt ends up creating a falls count anywhere match for Braun’s spot in the PPV. Zayn gets primarily destroyed but interference from Bartender Corbin and McIntyre keep Zayn in it. Obviously these two see Braun as a threat to win so they want him out. Eventually Braun succumbs to the triple team after some solid spots and a broken Zayn makes the cover. Not only is Zayn’s skill set much more useful for a ladder match, this is a great way to utilize the heat he’s been acquiring for weeks with the crowds. I expect Braun to interfere somehow on Sunday but that’s a hell of a lot better than having to figure out how to use him in the match without letting him win or looking very weak. A rare A+ decision by WWE lately.

Becky2Moves and her opponents at MITB do the contract signing thing. This wasn’t anything epic and it was a pretty boilerplate segment for this type of thing but I like the twin blonde towers standing tall over Lynch after all her mouth running for about 10 minutes. Still impressive watching Evans fight in a sun dress and heels. How she never gets hurt is incredible. In an era where they rarely build characters well anymore, they have done an admirable job with Evans and her standing along side Charlotte just lends her more credibility. Still think Lynch should lose one belt Sunday but I can’t quite tell if that’s the plan or not or which one it would be.

Bray Wyatt transforms into an extra from The Purge. Finally we’re getting a little forward progress with this insane gimmick. It’s getting darker week to week. Now have him debut in the ring somehow at MITB. This whole Firefly FunHouse thing is insane but at least it’s unique and different. I’m willing to reserve total judgement until we see what the actual plan is. Don’t blow this, WWE.

Bartender Corbin vs Ricochet. A pretty damn good match. I know people hate Corbin and he is definitely overbooked but I stand by his solid ring work and both guys brought it here. Don’t necessarily love The One and Only’s losing streak here but the sequence that led to the End of Days was badass and Ricochet got a measure of revenge while Baron tried to celebrate on a ladder. As far as go home PPV match bookings go, this was solid.

Alexa Bliss manipulating Nikki Cross into taking her place in the fatal four way precursor to Sunday’s MITB match. Bliss is at her best when she’s pulling peoples’ strings and playing the helpless damsel who just needs a friend. Cross gets some tv time and potentially a future program with Alexa. This appears to be wins across the board. Nikki with some apparent plastic surgery, lighter makeup, and less insane demeanor was pretty off putting at first but was quickly corrected as she went to the ring and reverted back to her Sanity persona. Nikki gets the win over Natty after a strangely not terrible 4 way dance that included some pretty good work from Dana Brooke? And Naomi. It gave me a small bit of hope that the ladder match won’t be absolutely unwatchable as other women’s ones have been in the past.

Rey Mysterio vs Cesaro. Another solid match. Good chemistry between the two. Cesaro is so damn underrated. Someday. Please get this guy in a title feud. Rey looked good and was booked strong headed into his match Sunday for the US title with Joe.

The Bad: Seth Rollins and AJ don’t get a face to face for the go home show? Boo to this. Yes they’ve already had a handful of physical altercations and I’m glad they didn’t book another awful tag match or something but I kind of wanted something more than two backstage promos here. That match is going to be awesome and it deserved more attention last night.

The Revival address the USO preschool and their juvenile behavior of late. I dig Dash and Dawson getting serious, but I would have preferred a little revenge. Maybe a run in on an USOs tag match ending with a Shatter Machine to send a message for Sunday. Less talkey, no flips, just fists.

Miz TV starring Roman Reigns, interrupted by Shane O, followed the tag match nobody asked for with Lashley and Elias. Misuse across the board here. Reigns is approaching overbooked status again even though he’s in a mid card feud with Elias. He doesn’t need to be on both shows. Nobody cares. Elias needs a mic to be effective. He didn’t have one. And don’t get me started on how somebody needs to put a bullet in this Miz/Shane feud.

The WTF: Emo Rawley finally debuts with the same garbage booking he has gotten every time the company has tried to push him before. He’s an angry aggro bro. But this time he has Glacier face paint and an Ollie’s brand Reigns chest protector! It’s so depressing that so many talents want out of WWE because they can’t get decent booking and the company chooses to focus any amount of time on this punch bowl turd. Anyway, AggroBro destroys the infinitely more talented and likable Apollo Crews with a DEVASTATING combo of a chop block  (which I’m certain he learned playing Maryland football) and an Alabama Slam! Just one more reason to hate this.

How many weeks in a row are we going to have to endure this five minute Roman Reigns puff piece video package? They didn’t even change it. I get it. He’s a hero. *yawn*

Well that was a marked improvement over last week. Did Vince slip into a coma? This show was entertaining, paced well, had some interesting developments, and best of all, was consistent. It’s a miracle! This was a better go home Raw than the one for Wrestlemania. More of this please tonight. 4 stiff Hogan Belt Whips for Horace Hogan! Top Guy...impressed....and OUT!