Wednesday, November 03, 2010
US to spend $511 million to expand Kabul embassy...
The U.S. government will spend $511 million to expand its embassy in Kabul, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday, describing the work as a demonstration of America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan.
"We make this commitment by commemorating the recent award of a $511 million contract to expand the U.S. Embassy here in Kabul," Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said during a ceremony at the construction site that marked the formal announcement of the contract.
"We're going to get a day when that embassy's up and there's not going to be these barriers out there, there's no barbed wire, there's not going to be all kinds of obstacles out there," Eikenberry said. More...
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"We make this commitment by commemorating the recent award of a $511 million contract to expand the U.S. Embassy here in Kabul," Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said during a ceremony at the construction site that marked the formal announcement of the contract.
"We're going to get a day when that embassy's up and there's not going to be these barriers out there, there's no barbed wire, there's not going to be all kinds of obstacles out there," Eikenberry said. More...
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Lured by online ad, man loses car, cash and best friend.
James Jefferys went online looking for a new set of rims for his car.
It's a trip that left him bruised, battered and broke — and one thing that was stolen that day was more precious than money.
Jefferys — "shocked and filled with fear — calls it the most frightening day of his life.
He went to an Oak Cliff home to buy rims for his classic car, a sale he had arranged through the craigslist Web site. More + video...
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It's a trip that left him bruised, battered and broke — and one thing that was stolen that day was more precious than money.
Jefferys — "shocked and filled with fear — calls it the most frightening day of his life.
He went to an Oak Cliff home to buy rims for his classic car, a sale he had arranged through the craigslist Web site. More + video...
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Germans wary of new eID cards...
Germany a country with a history of gathering reams of information on its citizens. While the modern German government may have little in common with the old regimes that were so feared by citizens, the fear of giving the government too much personal data lingers.
Citizens are concerned over new eID cards that the German government is set to start issuing. The new cards use technology inside that stores personal information like birth date, where the person was born, address, and a photo along with fingerprints if the person volunteers them. German authorities say that the new eID cards will allow the card owner to sign documents digitally and to identify themselves online allowing them to "increase the safety and convenience of e-business and e-commerce" according to the German government. More...
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Citizens are concerned over new eID cards that the German government is set to start issuing. The new cards use technology inside that stores personal information like birth date, where the person was born, address, and a photo along with fingerprints if the person volunteers them. German authorities say that the new eID cards will allow the card owner to sign documents digitally and to identify themselves online allowing them to "increase the safety and convenience of e-business and e-commerce" according to the German government. More...
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Mumbai forestalls potential threat to Obama ... falling coconuts!!!
MUNICIPAL authorities in Mumbai have removed coconuts from trees around the city's Gandhi museum in case any of them fall on US President Barack Obama when he visits, an official says.
"The coconuts were falling off, so we requested the local authorities here to remove the remainder," said Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, the executive secretary of Mani Bhavan. More...
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"The coconuts were falling off, so we requested the local authorities here to remove the remainder," said Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, the executive secretary of Mani Bhavan. More...
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China turns to yoga for ''spiritual renaissance''
China looks to yoga to bring about "spiritual renaissance" for a calming influence on the people troubled by effects of globalisation and rapid economic changes, said a top Chinese official, as Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar opened his ''Art of Living'' centre here.
"We hope to extend cooperation for your contribution for the health of our people. We want to extend our support," Chen Hao Su, President of the state-run China Peoples Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries told the Indian Guru during their meeting here today.
China wants to bring about "spiritual renaissance" to back up its economic success and look to yoga to bring about calming influence on the people, many of whom were troubled by effects of globalisation and rapid economic changes, he said. More...
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"We hope to extend cooperation for your contribution for the health of our people. We want to extend our support," Chen Hao Su, President of the state-run China Peoples Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries told the Indian Guru during their meeting here today.
China wants to bring about "spiritual renaissance" to back up its economic success and look to yoga to bring about calming influence on the people, many of whom were troubled by effects of globalisation and rapid economic changes, he said. More...
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For the first time, an albino has been elected in Tanzania...
An albino has been elected as an MP in Tanzania for the first time.
"This win is a victory not only for me but also for all the albinos in this country," Salum Khalfani Bar'wani, from the opposition Cuf party, told the BBC.
Albinos have suffered widespread persecution in Tanzania, where witch doctors say magic potions made with albino body parts can bring good luck. More...
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"This win is a victory not only for me but also for all the albinos in this country," Salum Khalfani Bar'wani, from the opposition Cuf party, told the BBC.
Albinos have suffered widespread persecution in Tanzania, where witch doctors say magic potions made with albino body parts can bring good luck. More...
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80-year-old Saudi marries 14-year-old girl...
A Saudi old man aged above 80 years has married a 14-year-old girl and is refusing to divorce her unless she pays him back his wedding money, the Saudi Ajel Arabic language online paper reported on Wednesday.
The bride’s father, Showan Ateen, said his daughter had been forced to marry that man from the southwestern town of Sabya but that she has not moved in with him yet. He did not say who forced her to marry him. More...
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The bride’s father, Showan Ateen, said his daughter had been forced to marry that man from the southwestern town of Sabya but that she has not moved in with him yet. He did not say who forced her to marry him. More...
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- My mother goaded me to have sex with my child bride...
- She's only 10, but she's been married, raped, divorced!!
- 12-year-old child-bride in Yemen dies giving birth...
- Yemen's child brides, the Nujood Ali story...
- The 11-year-old Indian girl who said "No" to marriage...
- Saudi court refuses to annul 8-year-old girl's marriage to 58-year-old man...
Vietnam police charge blogger with libel...
A popular society blogger in Vietnam has been charged with libel for describing a deputy minister's son as a womanizer linked to underworld figures, police said Tuesday.
But police declined to specify whether she was charged with libeling the son, the deputy minister, or other parties, saying the investigation was not complete.
Police filed charges Monday against Le Nguyen Huong Tra, 35, who was arrested October 23. In a blog post dated October 21 and subsequently taken down, she had written that police official Nguyen Khanh Trong, son of Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Khanh Toan, was romantically linked to several models and actresses, and was "respected" by gangsters. More...
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But police declined to specify whether she was charged with libeling the son, the deputy minister, or other parties, saying the investigation was not complete.
Police filed charges Monday against Le Nguyen Huong Tra, 35, who was arrested October 23. In a blog post dated October 21 and subsequently taken down, she had written that police official Nguyen Khanh Trong, son of Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Khanh Toan, was romantically linked to several models and actresses, and was "respected" by gangsters. More...
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Harry Potter blamed for India's declining owl population!!!
Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blamed fans of boy wizard Harry Potter for their role in the dwindling number of wild owls.
He said that Harry Potter books and films featuring his feathered friend Hedwig are popular in India and had contributed towards the demise of owls.
Mr Ramesh said there had been an increase in people wanting to buy them from illegal bird traders. More...
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He said that Harry Potter books and films featuring his feathered friend Hedwig are popular in India and had contributed towards the demise of owls.
Mr Ramesh said there had been an increase in people wanting to buy them from illegal bird traders. More...
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US to spend $200m a day on Obama's Mumbai visit...
The US would be spending US $200 million (Rs 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city.
"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.
About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.
"Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity. Source...
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"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.
About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.
"Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity. Source...
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The future looks bleak for Barack Obama...
The extent of the kicking the Democratic party has received in the mid-term elections will be clear by the time you read this. America has been concentrating in recent days not on who would win – that seemed obvious – but on how big the Republican gains would be among the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, the 36 Senate seats, the 37 governorships and the 6,118 seats in state legislatures being contested. There is a more striking consideration, however: why has the Obama phenomenon imploded with the force it has, just two years after the President’s stunning triumph? For it is so mighty a fall that it is something of an achievement. More...
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British author Alan Shadrake faces jail in Singapore...
The British author Alan Shadrake faces a possible prison term after a court in Singapore today convicted him of challenging the integrity of the city state's judiciary in a book criticising its use of the death penalty.
Shadrake, 75, faces a custodial sentence, a fine, or both, for contempt of court when Singapore's high court sentences him next week.
Singapore's constitution does not specify a maximum penalty for the crime, according to reports, although prosecutors are reported to have demanded a prison term of between three and six months and an unspecified fine. More...
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Shadrake, 75, faces a custodial sentence, a fine, or both, for contempt of court when Singapore's high court sentences him next week.
Singapore's constitution does not specify a maximum penalty for the crime, according to reports, although prosecutors are reported to have demanded a prison term of between three and six months and an unspecified fine. More...
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Tuesday, November 02, 2010
India's Irom Sharmila has been on hunger strike for 10 years but is largely ignored by the media...
Irom Sharmila's struggle to get the Armed Forces Special Act (AFSPA) out from her state of Manipur has entered its tenth year on Tuesday.
The Iron Lady of Manipur as she is often called has been on a fast for the last ten years protesting against the AFSPA that is in place in parts of Manipur and the north east and gives the Army and the paramilitary forces the power to shoot or arrest on mere suspicion. Sharmila's fast began 10 years ago after an incident involving the Assam Rifle in Malom.
A Gandhian on a modern day satyagraha. Sharmila's battle isn’t just against the AFSPA but the cycle of violence the state finds itself in. More...
See also: TAPTA - Spirit of Sharmila
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Girl in Paris falls from 6th.floor, bounces off cafe awning and gets caught by a doctor!!! Wow!
French media are describing as a "miracle" the unscathed survival of an 18-month-old girl who fell from a sixth-floor apartment.
The girl was left unattended by her parents when she somehow fell, then bounced off the awning of a cafe below.
She had a further stroke of luck when a passing doctor saw her fall and caught her before she hit the ground, witnesses were quoted as saying. More...
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The girl was left unattended by her parents when she somehow fell, then bounced off the awning of a cafe below.
She had a further stroke of luck when a passing doctor saw her fall and caught her before she hit the ground, witnesses were quoted as saying. More...
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Grandmother slept with 200 toyboys and likes sex parties!!!
Sex-mad grandmother Carol Bone claims she has slept with more than 200 men after joining 13 dating websites.
Miss Bone, 62, has had two years of one-night stands even though she suffers from arthritis and back pain.
Her favourite men are those aged in their 30s or 40s, and she also likes sex parties and meeting couples. More...
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Miss Bone, 62, has had two years of one-night stands even though she suffers from arthritis and back pain.
Her favourite men are those aged in their 30s or 40s, and she also likes sex parties and meeting couples. More...
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- Duke student's sex 'powerpoint presentation' goes viral...
- I've had sex with 5000 men in nine years!
- ...serial lover sleeps with 1000 men!!!
- 84-year-old Nigerian dude has 86 wives!!!
- Ted Kennedy: I slept with more than a thousand women...
- The sexual healer who has slept with more than a thousand men!!!
How much is US "intelligence " spending to protect you from terrorists?
(...)
In recent years, we have become accustomed to reading reports of enormous government spending — billions, trillions, gazillions. These numbers mean practically nothing to ordinary people. Out here in peasant-land, we have trouble enough in trying to figure out how we’ll pay a $400 bill for the electricity used in August.
So, let’s try to bring the “intelligence” spending into comprehensible focus by using a little arithmetic and asking a few questions.
(...)
Moreover, the so-called intelligence gathering that the government bankrolls so lavishly is aimed in great part, not at Muslim madmen, but at you and me. The government’s banks of super-computers and legions of apparatchiki are busily gleaning data on your telephone calls, Internet messages and Web searches, financial and other business transactions, and virtually everything else that touches your life in a way that can be snatched into data banks by soulless bureaucrats and techno-flunkies. Yet, while every nook and cranny of your privacy is being invaded, at your expense, you are being assured that these official crimes are all legitimate means of protecting you from grave, impending harm. Should we also believe in fairy tales and ghost stories? Full story...
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In recent years, we have become accustomed to reading reports of enormous government spending — billions, trillions, gazillions. These numbers mean practically nothing to ordinary people. Out here in peasant-land, we have trouble enough in trying to figure out how we’ll pay a $400 bill for the electricity used in August.
So, let’s try to bring the “intelligence” spending into comprehensible focus by using a little arithmetic and asking a few questions.
(...)
Moreover, the so-called intelligence gathering that the government bankrolls so lavishly is aimed in great part, not at Muslim madmen, but at you and me. The government’s banks of super-computers and legions of apparatchiki are busily gleaning data on your telephone calls, Internet messages and Web searches, financial and other business transactions, and virtually everything else that touches your life in a way that can be snatched into data banks by soulless bureaucrats and techno-flunkies. Yet, while every nook and cranny of your privacy is being invaded, at your expense, you are being assured that these official crimes are all legitimate means of protecting you from grave, impending harm. Should we also believe in fairy tales and ghost stories? Full story...
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Spanish women are the world's greatest online flirts!!!
Step aside sleek Parisiennes, fun-loving Britons and sultry Italians: Spanish women are the world's greatest flirts, according to an online study released by a dating website on Tuesday.
Spanish women are the most likely to "make the first move" with a man, according to the social network Badoo.com, which studied "flirtation behaviour" based on 90 million romantic contacts made on its site in a month.
The resulting "World Flirtation League" ranked 20 countries by the number of contacts with a man initiated by the women in each country. More...
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Spanish women are the most likely to "make the first move" with a man, according to the social network Badoo.com, which studied "flirtation behaviour" based on 90 million romantic contacts made on its site in a month.
The resulting "World Flirtation League" ranked 20 countries by the number of contacts with a man initiated by the women in each country. More...
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French activists fear Iranian woman may be stoned Wednesday...
French human rights activists campaigning for the freedom of a Iranian mother who was convicted of adultery say they fear she could be stoned to death as early as Wednesday.
"Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani could be threatened with execution tomorrow," said a statement Tuesday from the French magazine "La Regle du Jeu", which is run by Paris' best known philosopher, Bernard-Henri Levy.
Ashtiani's supporters planned to hold a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy later Tuesday, to protest what they see as Tehran's unfair trial and inhumane punishment of the 43-year-old mother-of-two. More...
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UK government to impose Orwellian-style surveillance...
The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition is pushing ahead with plans to allow Britain’s security services and police to spy on the activities of every citizen who uses a phone or the Internet. The secret services and police will have unlimited powers to track every single phone call, email, text message and website visit made by anybody in the UK.
The plans were contained within last month’s “Strategic Defence and Security Review” in which the government stated, “We will introduce a programme to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework.”
(...)
The powers that the government are proposing to, have never been achieved by any regime in history, even in dictatorial states such as fascist Germany. The technology for doing so did not exist. Such a vast snooping operation against the population would require that each of the communication service providers (CSPs) in the UK be legally bound to collect and store all personal data records for at least a year and allow the security services and the police access to them at all times. It has been estimated that the cost of such an operation would be in excess of £2 billion. Full story...
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The plans were contained within last month’s “Strategic Defence and Security Review” in which the government stated, “We will introduce a programme to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework.”
(...)
The powers that the government are proposing to, have never been achieved by any regime in history, even in dictatorial states such as fascist Germany. The technology for doing so did not exist. Such a vast snooping operation against the population would require that each of the communication service providers (CSPs) in the UK be legally bound to collect and store all personal data records for at least a year and allow the security services and the police access to them at all times. It has been estimated that the cost of such an operation would be in excess of £2 billion. Full story...
Don't miss:
- By 2017, all of us will be micro-chipped cattle...
- 10 ways we are being tracked, traced and data-based...
- Secret human RFID implanting how and why (video)
- Iris scanners create "the most secure city in the world".
- Internet Eyes, the website that allows you to snoop and denounce shoplifters for a reward!!!
One in four young Australians has a tattoo...
ONE in four young Australians has a tattoo.
An image of a Japanese Koi fish painted in orange ink on the arms, an Italian love phrase scrawled across the ribcage, or praying hands on the chest are hits with 16- to 30-year-olds across Sydney.
Most parents hate them and recruitment agencies tell young job-hunters to cover them or risk missing out on a job - but Generation Y's love affair with tattoos is exploding. More...
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An image of a Japanese Koi fish painted in orange ink on the arms, an Italian love phrase scrawled across the ribcage, or praying hands on the chest are hits with 16- to 30-year-olds across Sydney.
Most parents hate them and recruitment agencies tell young job-hunters to cover them or risk missing out on a job - but Generation Y's love affair with tattoos is exploding. More...
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Girls in the Cameroon get their breasts ironed to make them less attractive...
(...)
One afternoon, however, I saw something impossible to ignore. Unaware that one side of her tank top had slid off her tiny shoulder, a young girl standing in the crowd next to my car clutched a bottle of nuts under one arm and waved to me with the other, revealing a long, wide scar where a small nipple or budding breast should have been.
My eyes darted from the girl's missing breast to her big brown eyes and back to her chest. She disappeared in the distance as I drove away. The encounter revealed to me that a Cameroonian tradition I had heard vague whispers about might actually exist: breast ironing, in which women flatten adolescent girls' developing breasts, intending to protect the girls from the dangers of sex, consensual or otherwise. Full story...
Watch the video here...
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One afternoon, however, I saw something impossible to ignore. Unaware that one side of her tank top had slid off her tiny shoulder, a young girl standing in the crowd next to my car clutched a bottle of nuts under one arm and waved to me with the other, revealing a long, wide scar where a small nipple or budding breast should have been.
My eyes darted from the girl's missing breast to her big brown eyes and back to her chest. She disappeared in the distance as I drove away. The encounter revealed to me that a Cameroonian tradition I had heard vague whispers about might actually exist: breast ironing, in which women flatten adolescent girls' developing breasts, intending to protect the girls from the dangers of sex, consensual or otherwise. Full story...
Watch the video here...
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Militants destroy yet another girls’ school in Pakistan...
Another girls’ school has been destroyed in the Mohmand tribal area of northwest Pakistan, after unidentified militants detonated it with explosives, local officials said.
With this attack in Saagi area of Saafi sub-district, the number of schools destroyed by insurgent militants in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan has increased to 59 so far, Xinhua news agency reports.
Militants have destroyed over 250 schools in the entire region during the past couple of years. More...
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With this attack in Saagi area of Saafi sub-district, the number of schools destroyed by insurgent militants in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan has increased to 59 so far, Xinhua news agency reports.
Militants have destroyed over 250 schools in the entire region during the past couple of years. More...
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The sex ring in China where girls had "training course" and had "hooker test..."
Police in Beijing have cracked a gang suspected of forcing nearly 100 women into sex slavery after giving them a "training course" and requiring them to pass a "hooker test", state media said on Tuesday.
At least 20 people have been arrested for allegedly forcing the girls to train as prostitutes and sending them to bathhouses, karaoke bars and massage parlours to work, the Global Times reported, quoting the police.
The gang was reportedly led by a 32-year-old man called Xie Zhaobin, who posted job ads in small newspapers in several Beijing districts last year, claiming to be looking for receptionists and PR workers, it said. More...
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At least 20 people have been arrested for allegedly forcing the girls to train as prostitutes and sending them to bathhouses, karaoke bars and massage parlours to work, the Global Times reported, quoting the police.
The gang was reportedly led by a 32-year-old man called Xie Zhaobin, who posted job ads in small newspapers in several Beijing districts last year, claiming to be looking for receptionists and PR workers, it said. More...
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600 people arrested in India for protesting against nuclear plant...
World's largest nuclear park is planned in Jaitapur, in Ratnagiri district on the coast of southern Maharashtra. The park would comprise up to six large nuclear reactors bought from the French nuclear giant- Areva. In addition to the inherent hazards of nuclear power, the project threatens the livelihoods of about 10 000 farmers and fishermen and their families.
Today, more than a thousand local people have taken action against the project, voluntarily risking lengthy arrest and further legal consequences. The message is clear – they want their land and their fisheries, not paltry compensation offered by the nuclear company. 600 people have already been loaded into police buses and hauled into jails. About 700 more still continue the peaceful protest, risking arrest. More + photos...
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Today, more than a thousand local people have taken action against the project, voluntarily risking lengthy arrest and further legal consequences. The message is clear – they want their land and their fisheries, not paltry compensation offered by the nuclear company. 600 people have already been loaded into police buses and hauled into jails. About 700 more still continue the peaceful protest, risking arrest. More + photos...
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Woman busted in Yemen for role in cargo plane bomb plot, was 'set up'
A woman busted in Yemen for sending explosives through the mail targeting Chicago synagogues was set up, her lawyer said on Sunday.
According to NBC News, Hanan al Samawi's lawyer claims she was nabbed by authorities because her telephone number was on the packages loaded with explosives.
However, the attorney argues that the fifth-year computer science student was not involved and the phone number was intentionally left to make her a suspect. More...
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According to NBC News, Hanan al Samawi's lawyer claims she was nabbed by authorities because her telephone number was on the packages loaded with explosives.
However, the attorney argues that the fifth-year computer science student was not involved and the phone number was intentionally left to make her a suspect. More...
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Is there life after death?
If there is, fine. If there isn't, so what? That's fine too.
When asked what he thinks happens when you die, Clint Eastwood responds, "I haven't the foggiest idea."
Generally, when Clint Eastwood wants you dead, you're dead. But in "Hereafter," the new movie directed by Eastwood, death is only the beginning.
"It's the one unknowable thing, isn't it, in terms of what happens to us when we die?" Couric asked.
"Exactly - and nobody's in a rush to find out," he replied. More...
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When asked what he thinks happens when you die, Clint Eastwood responds, "I haven't the foggiest idea."
Generally, when Clint Eastwood wants you dead, you're dead. But in "Hereafter," the new movie directed by Eastwood, death is only the beginning.
"It's the one unknowable thing, isn't it, in terms of what happens to us when we die?" Couric asked.
"Exactly - and nobody's in a rush to find out," he replied. More...
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The scandal of Britain's seized children...
Britain's social workers took a beating again last week. On the orders of the children's minister, Tim Loughton, full versions of two harrowing case reviews of the Baby P tragedy were published. They found fault not only with Haringey's social workers but with lawyers, the police and health professionals, Under pressure from social workers, reviews of two similar cases in Yorkshire are still being kept under wraps. Meanwhile, an Ofsted report found that 119 children died or suffered serious injury last year through social workers' failure to intervene.
Still largely hidden from view, however, is that other scandal, in its way just as disturbing, in which the failure of our child protection system is the very opposite: the seizure of thousands of children a year from loving homes, for no good reason. More...
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Still largely hidden from view, however, is that other scandal, in its way just as disturbing, in which the failure of our child protection system is the very opposite: the seizure of thousands of children a year from loving homes, for no good reason. More...
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Monday, November 01, 2010
India accused of abuses after clashes in Kashmir (video)
Just about the only people around here who have got anything positive to say about the violence in Kashmir this summer are the folks at the Olympic Cricket Shop.
It's not that anyone is playing cricket in Srinagar, the capital of India's most northern state, Jammu and Kashmir. It is probably too dangerous for that. Clashes between rock-throwing Kashmiris and the police take place on a near daily basis.
Instead local journalists, who service a surprisingly vibrant newspaper scene, have been turning up at the "Olympic" to get themselves protected. Cricket helmets, chest protectors and leg-pads are a good way to absorb the force of flying rubble or the impact of a police truncheon. More + video...
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It's not that anyone is playing cricket in Srinagar, the capital of India's most northern state, Jammu and Kashmir. It is probably too dangerous for that. Clashes between rock-throwing Kashmiris and the police take place on a near daily basis.
Instead local journalists, who service a surprisingly vibrant newspaper scene, have been turning up at the "Olympic" to get themselves protected. Cricket helmets, chest protectors and leg-pads are a good way to absorb the force of flying rubble or the impact of a police truncheon. More + video...
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Raped Libyan lesbian seeks asylum in France...
Nessma Faraj, a Libyan girl who was arrested, raped and returned to her family which tried to force her into marriage after she announced on the internet that she is gay, has arrived in Metz travelling via Italy on a Schengen visa. France has authorised her to request asylum in the country. In fact she should have asked for asylum in Italy, the first country where she arrived. She only stayed in Italy for a few hours however, because France had decided to resolve the case using the sovereignty clause in the Dublin convention which regulates asylum requests since 1990. More...
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What ants do to aspartame...
I had heard of a woman who made up ant poison from aspartame, and since we in Florida were being invaded by ants, I decided to make up some ant poison of my own. I decided the best way to get them to eat it was by mixing it with raw honey. I mixed roughly 3 or 4 parts raw honey to 1 part aspartame and put it out in a toy baby saucer for them.
Sure enough, pretty soon, the saucer was FULL of dead ants. More...
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Sure enough, pretty soon, the saucer was FULL of dead ants. More...
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Australian jailed for addressing magistrate as "mate"
Apparently it's okay for Jon Stewart to address Barack Obama as "dude" but not so okay to call an Australian magistrate "mate..."
QUEENSLAND's Chief Magistrate has been urged to introduce anger management courses for members of the judiciary after a man was jailed for addressing an Ipswich magistrate as "mate".
Thomas John Collins was sent to the cells after twice calling Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin "mate'' during a hearing last week.
When Magistrate McLaughlin objected ordering Collins to address him as ``sir or your honour'', the defendant replied "okay mate'' and was sent for a stint in the cells. More...
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QUEENSLAND's Chief Magistrate has been urged to introduce anger management courses for members of the judiciary after a man was jailed for addressing an Ipswich magistrate as "mate".
Thomas John Collins was sent to the cells after twice calling Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin "mate'' during a hearing last week.
When Magistrate McLaughlin objected ordering Collins to address him as ``sir or your honour'', the defendant replied "okay mate'' and was sent for a stint in the cells. More...
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Facebook and Twitter killing off social skills?
Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are killing off good old fashioned 'people skills', it has been claimed.
Researchers found sites which encourage 'limited character' sentences are affecting peoples' confidence in holding face-to-face conversations.
They're also blamed for many of us losing the ability to use 'body language' to convey thoughts or feelings and a growing reluctance to chat to strangers. More...
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Researchers found sites which encourage 'limited character' sentences are affecting peoples' confidence in holding face-to-face conversations.
They're also blamed for many of us losing the ability to use 'body language' to convey thoughts or feelings and a growing reluctance to chat to strangers. More...
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India: Land of many cell phones, but where are the toilets?
The Mumbai slum of Rafiq Nagar has no clean water for its shacks made of ripped tarp and bamboo. No garbage pickup along the rocky, pocked earth that serves as a road. No power except from haphazard cables strung overhead illegally.
And not a single toilet or latrine for its 10,000 people.
(...)
It is a country buoyed by a vibrant business world of call centers and software developers, but hamstrung by a bloated, corrupt government that has failed to deliver the barest of services.
(...)
Yet U.N. figures show that only 366 million Indians have access to a private toilet or latrine, leaving 665 million to defecate in the open. Full story...
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And not a single toilet or latrine for its 10,000 people.
(...)
It is a country buoyed by a vibrant business world of call centers and software developers, but hamstrung by a bloated, corrupt government that has failed to deliver the barest of services.
(...)
Yet U.N. figures show that only 366 million Indians have access to a private toilet or latrine, leaving 665 million to defecate in the open. Full story...
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War with Iran would save economy! What???
An insane proposition, slaughtering innocent people to "save" the economy! WTF!
Washington Post political correspondent David Broder has kind words for President Barack Obama in in his opinion column Sunday, arguing that it isn't the president's fault the economy is stuck in reverse.
But the four-decade-plus veteran of Washington politics offers a startling solution to the president's political and economic woes: March off to war with Iran.
The president, who is "much smarter" and "more inspirational" than any of his opponents, could benefit from a confrontation with Iran because it would strike up a war machine that would pull the US out of economic stagnation, Broder argues. More...
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Washington Post political correspondent David Broder has kind words for President Barack Obama in in his opinion column Sunday, arguing that it isn't the president's fault the economy is stuck in reverse.
But the four-decade-plus veteran of Washington politics offers a startling solution to the president's political and economic woes: March off to war with Iran.
The president, who is "much smarter" and "more inspirational" than any of his opponents, could benefit from a confrontation with Iran because it would strike up a war machine that would pull the US out of economic stagnation, Broder argues. More...
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When the daughter of MI6 boss goes on Facebook with Saddam's golden Kalashnikov...
To the casual observer she might look like nothing more than a drugs baron’s moll, happily flaunting her wealth and power.
Yet, astonishingly, the girl with the golden gun is the daughter of Britain’s spy chief Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6. More...
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" I was raped by a priest "
A British woman spoke out about her rape ordeal at the hands of a priest, during a protest by clergy sex abuse victims near the Vatican.
Sue Cox, 63, from Warwickshire, was among around 100 survivors from a dozen countries, including Italy, the US, Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia, at Sunday's candlelit protest.
Italian paramilitary police blocked a boulevard leading to the Vatican to prevent marchers reaching St Peter's Square, but later allowed two protesters to leave letters from victims at the Holy See's doorstep. More...
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Sue Cox, 63, from Warwickshire, was among around 100 survivors from a dozen countries, including Italy, the US, Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia, at Sunday's candlelit protest.
Italian paramilitary police blocked a boulevard leading to the Vatican to prevent marchers reaching St Peter's Square, but later allowed two protesters to leave letters from victims at the Holy See's doorstep. More...
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Soccer coach in India forced players to strip and dance!!!
The team members from an Under-16 football team from Gujarat have alleged harassment at the hands of their team manager who, they say, asked them to strip.
The team captain, 15-year -old Ishan says after the tournament was over on Friday night, their drunk team manager, Hiren Rathod, forced some of them into a room asking them to strip and dance.
"Three of us managed to get out but he abused and forced us back. We again made an attempt and fled from the room, called the authorities and our parents for help," Ishan said. More...
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The team captain, 15-year -old Ishan says after the tournament was over on Friday night, their drunk team manager, Hiren Rathod, forced some of them into a room asking them to strip and dance.
"Three of us managed to get out but he abused and forced us back. We again made an attempt and fled from the room, called the authorities and our parents for help," Ishan said. More...
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Hotels in Goa to take photos of tourists as security measure...
In Goa tourists will not be the only ones capturing treasured moments on their camera. Now, as a security measure, hotel managements in the tourist state will be snapping a quick picture of every guest that checks into the hotel.
"Photos of all guests checking into the hotel may be clicked at the reception counter and kept for record," a Goa police advisory recently issued to hotels in the tourist state says.
The advisory also insists that hotels should not entertain "walk-in guests" (without reference or pre-bookings) and allow visitors for hotel guests no further than the reception. "Visitors wanting to meet guests should not be allowed to go to the guest's room but the guest should be asked to meet the visitor in the lobby/reception itself. All visitors must be given a visitor pass," the advisory states. More...
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"Photos of all guests checking into the hotel may be clicked at the reception counter and kept for record," a Goa police advisory recently issued to hotels in the tourist state says.
The advisory also insists that hotels should not entertain "walk-in guests" (without reference or pre-bookings) and allow visitors for hotel guests no further than the reception. "Visitors wanting to meet guests should not be allowed to go to the guest's room but the guest should be asked to meet the visitor in the lobby/reception itself. All visitors must be given a visitor pass," the advisory states. More...
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- Goa fumes as hot bhabhi Savita is lured by sea...
- Scandal in Goa as drug dealer boasts of police...
- Australia's airport porn checks cause problems!!!
- Australian tourists "shocked and violated" by...
- More "security" outrage for passengers at airports...
- Austrian girl in India refused medical aid because "not VIP," her friends groped and molested...
Unanswered questions in the Yemen terror scare...
In what has become a regular feature of American public life—especially on the eve of major elections—the airwaves were taken over Friday by breathless reports of a new terror threat. It is impossible to determine how much is fact and how much is fiction in the ever-expanding claims being made regarding two packages from Yemen allegedly containing high explosives and addressed to two synagogues in Chicago.
But the very fact that the decision was made, undoubtedly at a very high level, to give such massive media coverage to the alleged plot—before any concrete details were being reported and entirely on the basis of unsubstantiated claims made by, for the most part, anonymous officials—is sufficient reason to adopt a highly skeptical attitude. More...
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But the very fact that the decision was made, undoubtedly at a very high level, to give such massive media coverage to the alleged plot—before any concrete details were being reported and entirely on the basis of unsubstantiated claims made by, for the most part, anonymous officials—is sufficient reason to adopt a highly skeptical attitude. More...
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