Monday, August 31, 2009

Man Says Argument over Alcohol Led to Crushing Wife's Neck...


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Nabeel Khan told the court that he never meant to kill his wife

Wife murderer given life sentence
A man who murdered his wife in an attack in front of her nine-year-old son at their Dundee home has been jailed for a minimum of 15 years.

Nabeel Khan, 44, who admitted the lesser charge of culpable homicide, was convicted of murdering consultant pathologist Dr Iffat Kamal, 39.

He was found guilty after a trial which heard from Dr Kamal's son, Areeb.

The nine-year-old saw Khan crushing his mother's neck in the hallway of their home last December.

The trial heard that Dr Kamal had been screaming and trying to get free.

Khan only stopped his attack after Areeb twice shouted at him to stop, by which time Dr Kamal had lost consciousness.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Khan was given a life sentence.

He was told that he must serve at least 15 years in prison before he can apply for parole.

His trial at the High Court in Perth heard that he put his arm around his wife's neck during an argument at their home in Simpson Court.

“ This was an unprovoked, persistent attack upon your wife who was smaller, lighter and weaker physically than you ”
Lord Hardie
Dr Kamal died 10 days later in Ninewells Hospital, where she had worked.

Khan told the trial that he had never meant to kill his wife of three years but had lost his temper. He said he was deeply ashamed of what he had done.

The court heard that the couple's three-year-old son and Areeb, Dr Kamal's son from a previous relationship, were both in the house at the time of the attack.

Khan was convicted of murdering his wife by seizing her throat, compressing it and restricting her breathing until she was unconscious.

Lord Hardie said Dr Kamal seemed to have been a "successful, dedicated pathologist".

He told Khan that allegations he made about her drinking were "no more than an attempt to discredit her and to justify or mitigate your actions in taking her life".

He said there were other "more plausible" explanations for the arguments in their marriage.

"Your wife was a professional, successful person who appeared to be the principal breadwinner in the house," he said.

"You had a gambling habit and told a psychiatrist you lost £17,000 in spread betting and also used her credit card for spread betting while she was in India. She was obviously unhappy about that.

"This was an unprovoked, persistent attack upon your wife who was smaller, lighter and weaker physically than you."

Lord Hardie also recommended that Khan be deported if and when he is freed from his sentence.

his nose and ears were cut off by Islamic fundamentalists as punishment


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A 40-year-old Afghan farmer tries to recover after his nose and ears were cut off by Islamic fundamentalists as punishment for casting a vote in the recent election.







Mutilated Afghan farmer regrets going to vote
Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:03pm IST

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Lal Mohammad, a 40-year-old Afghan farmer, was one of millions of people who defied Taliban threats against voters and set out to cast his ballot in this month's presidential election. But he soon regretted his defiance.

Fighters ambushed Mohammad as he was walking to a polling station and cut off part of his nose and his ears.

The Taliban vowed to disrupt the Aug. 20 vote, threatening reprisals against voters and staging scores of rocket attacks and several bombings across the country on election day.

The threats and violence failed to stop the election from taking place, but they do seem to have hurt turnout in some areas, especially the Taliban heartland in the south.

Mohammad, speaking haltingly in a hospital in the capital, Kabul, described how militants stopped and searched him while he was on his way to a polling booth.

They beat him with the butt of an assault rifle after they found his voting card.

Then they took out a knife.

"I saw one reaching my nose with a knife. I asked him to stop, but it was useless," Mohammad said.

"I regret very much getting the card and going to vote."

Election officials have reported scattered incidents in which militants cut off voters' fingers stained with indelible ink.

The ink was meant to prevent multiple voting but it also helped the militants pick out people who had cast their ballots.

A Taliban spokesman denied before the election that an order had been given to mutilate voters.

Mohammad described how he lay bleeding and unconscious for several hours, coming to only after a man from his village spotted him and put him on the back of a donkey.

But with no proper health care facility in remote Dai Kundi province, Mohammad travelled for three days over mountain tracks and dirt roads by donkey and car to reach the capital.

After answering some questions, Mohammad, apparently exhausted, slumped back onto his hospital bed.

Like two thirds of Afghans, Mohammad does not read or write.

He said he did not even know who was running for office when he went to vote but had been excited by the prospect of casting a ballot to help choose a president.

A doctor said Mohammad needed plastic surgery and weeks for his treatment and recovery.

Mohammad said he hoped the government would look after his family until he got better.

'The wages of sin are death'– Junkie dies, media cries


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DJ AM, who battled drug habit, found dead in NYC
By COLLEEN LONG and NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, Associated Press Writers

Saturday, August 29, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(08-29) 08:12 PDT New York (AP) --

DJ AM, the celebrity disc jockey who publicly acknowledged his history of drug addiction and had filmed a reality show in which he offered to help other addicts, was found dead in his apartment. He was 36.

Police found a crack pipe and prescription pills in the Manhattan apartment, said a law enforcement official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Paramedics had to break down the door before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweatpants, in his bed around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, the official said.

A friend had called police to say he was unable to get into the home in the trendy SoHo neighborhood. There was no evidence of foul play, and a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Last year, he was badly hurt in a South Carolina plane crash that killed four people and seriously injured rock musician Travis Barker.

DJ AM, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, had openly discussed past addictions to crack cocaine, Ecstasy and other drugs, addictions so bad he once tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head — but the gun jammed. However, he claimed he had been drug-free for years, even swearing off cigarettes.

His spokeswoman, Jenni Weinman, said the circumstances surrounding his death were unclear. She pleaded for privacy for his family.

In October, MTV was to debut his reality show, "Gone Too Far," in which he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers. In a recent AP interview, he talked about holding a crack pipe for the first time in years for the show and said he felt as though he had an angel on his shoulder for surviving so much turmoil.

"There's no better way to remember what it was like when I was at my bottom than to see someone at their bottom," he told the AP.

MTV did not have an immediate comment on whether Goldstein's show would air, but said in a statement that it "was honored to support him as he helped young people battle their own addictions."

Goldstein was a deejay for hire who performed at Hollywood's most exclusive parties and was admired by music aficionados. He also was famous for relationships with reality TV star Nicole Richie, the daughter of singer Lionel Richie, and with actress-singer Mandy Moore.

Goldstein was critically injured last September when a Learjet crashed on takeoff in Columbia, S.C. The plane was transporting Goldstein and Barker, a drummer for the pop punk band Blink-182, after a performance; the pair had formed the duo TRVSDJ-AM.

Barker and Goldstein were burned, though Barker was injured more severely. Goldstein had to get skin graft surgery, but about a month later he was performing again, joining Jay-Z on stage.

At the time, he told People magazine he was grateful to survive.

"I can't believe I made it," he said. "I've prayed every night for the past 10 years. There's a lot more to thank God for now. ... I was saved for a reason. Maybe I'm going to help someone else. I don't question it. All I know is I'm thankful to be here."

Goldstein rose to fame several years ago as highly sought-after DJ whose beats kept the dance floor packed and clubgoers hypnotized. He was known for his deft mashups, a blend of at least two songs, and performed not only in clubs but on grand stages, appearing earlier this year at the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif.

He was to be one of the playable characters in Activision's "DJ Hero," a rhythm video game from the makers of "Guitar Hero" that uses a turntable-shaped controller. The game is set for release Oct. 27.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of DJ AM," said Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs for Activision. "We hope that his work on the game will be a fitting tribute to his creative spirit and musical talent."

Representatives for Moore and Barker didn't immediately return telephone messages seeking comment on the DJ's death, but other celebrities and fans instantly shared their reactions on Twitter, where "RIP DJ AM" was the No. 1 topic Friday.

"I'm stunned. Rest in peace Adam," singer-songwriter Josh Groban posted.

"I'm sorry to loved ones," musician and video director Pete Wentz wrote. "So unexpected."

Singer John Mayer wrote: "We're supposed to lose our friends to time, at an age when we're ready to agree to the terms of having lived a long life. Not now."

Goldstein was on Twitter just three days ago. He said he had just wrapped filming of the MTV series in Connecticut and was on his way to Atlantic City, N.J., to DJ. He also posted a lyric from the hip-hop legends Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five: "New York, New York. Big city of dreams, but everything in New York ain't always what it seems."

Media and onlookers flocked to his apartment, creating a frenzied scene; flowers had been placed outside the entrance.

Fellow DJ Scott Schroer, known as Scotty Boy, said he went to the apartment after he heard the news to check for himself. He said he had known Goldstein for 10 years and had worked the turntables with him last week at the Palm in Las Vegas.

"He was the first to really be eclectic in the mashup scene," Schroer said. "He mixed rock and roll with hip-hop. He was a pioneer."

Schroer said Goldstein had been sober since he met him. When asked about the prescription pills, he said: "If you were just in a plane crash a year ago, I'm sure you would have prescription pills, too."

Soviet files show Kennedy sought deal with Andropovto undermine Reagan


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Ted Kennedy's Soviet Gambit
Peter Robinson, 08.28.09, 12:01 AM ET

Picking his way through the Soviet archives that Boris Yeltsin had just thrown open, in 1991 Tim Sebastian, a reporter for the London Times, came across an arresting memorandum. Composed in 1983 by Victor Chebrikov, the top man at the KGB, the memorandum was addressed to Yuri Andropov, the top man in the entire USSR. The subject: Sen. Edward Kennedy.

"On 9-10 May of this year," the May 14 memorandum explained, "Sen. Edward Kennedy's close friend and trusted confidant [John] Tunney was in Moscow." (Tunney was Kennedy's law school roommate and a former Democratic senator from California.) "The senator charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Y. Andropov."

Kennedy's message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. "The only real potential threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations," the memorandum stated. "These issues, according to the senator, will without a doubt become the most important of the election campaign."

Kennedy made Andropov a couple of specific offers.

First he offered to visit Moscow. "The main purpose of the meeting, according to the senator, would be to arm Soviet officials with explanations regarding problems of nuclear disarmament so they may be better prepared and more convincing during appearances in the USA." Kennedy would help the Soviets deal with Reagan by telling them how to brush up their propaganda.

Then he offered to make it possible for Andropov to sit down for a few interviews on American television. "A direct appeal ... to the American people will, without a doubt, attract a great deal of attention and interest in the country. ... If the proposal is recognized as worthy, then Kennedy and his friends will bring about suitable steps to have representatives of the largest television companies in the USA contact Y.V. Andropov for an invitation to Moscow for the interviews. ... The senator underlined the importance that this initiative should be seen as coming from the American side."

Kennedy would make certain the networks gave Andropov air time--and that they rigged the arrangement to look like honest journalism.

Kennedy's motives? "Like other rational people," the memorandum explained, "[Kennedy] is very troubled by the current state of Soviet-American relations." But that high-minded concern represented only one of Kennedy's motives.

"Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988," the memorandum continued. "Kennedy does not discount that during the 1984 campaign, the Democratic Party may officially turn to him to lead the fight against the Republicans and elect their candidate president."

Kennedy proved eager to deal with Andropov--the leader of the Soviet Union, a former director of the KGB and a principal mover in both the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the suppression of the 1968 Prague Spring--at least in part to advance his own political prospects.

In 1992, Tim Sebastian published a story about the memorandum in the London Times. Here in the U.S., Sebastian's story received no attention. In his 2006 book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, historian Paul Kengor reprinted the memorandum in full. "The media," Kengor says, "ignored the revelation."

"The document," Kengor continues, "has stood the test of time. I scrutinized it more carefully than anything I've ever dealt with as a scholar. I showed the document to numerous authorities who deal with Soviet archival material. No one has debunked the memorandum or shown it to be a forgery. Kennedy's office did not deny it."

Why bring all this up now? No evidence exists that Andropov ever acted on the memorandum--within eight months, the Soviet leader would be dead--and now that Kennedy himself has died even many of the former senator's opponents find themselves grieving. Yet precisely because Kennedy represented such a commanding figure--perhaps the most compelling liberal of our day--we need to consider his record in full.

Doing so, it turns out, requires pondering a document in the archives of the politburo.

When President Reagan chose to confront the Soviet Union, calling it the evil empire that it was, Sen. Edward Kennedy chose to offer aid and comfort to General Secretary Andropov. On the Cold War, the greatest issue of his lifetime, Kennedy got it wrong.

Peter Robinson, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a former White House speechwriter, writes a weekly column for Forbes.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

'More people were killedat Chappaquiddick than at Three Mile Island'


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'More people were killed at Chappaquiddick than at Three Mile Island' - car bumper sticker says it all

By Gerald Warner World Last updated: August 26th, 2009

“Senator, you were expelled from Harvard for cheating, then you left a woman to drown in your car at Chappaquiddick. What makes you think you have what it takes to be President?” That was the opening question of an interview with the late Senator Edward Kennedy during his unsuccessful bid to secure the Democratic nomination for the US presidency. It might equally now serve as an obituary.

The answer to that embarrassing question, of course, can be given in one word: entitlement. The Kennedy dynasty has long assumed a divine right to high office and privilege that accords ill with the spirit of the American constitution. We saw it yet again, earlier this year, with the attempt to shoo-in the totally inexperienced Caroline Kennedy as successor to Hillary Clinton representing New York in the Senate. It failed: the Kennedy clan, as used to be said of effete Chinese dynasties, has exhausted the mandate of heaven.

Now that Edward Kennedy has died, the liberal establishment and its media acolytes have the onions in the handkerchiefs to orchestrate a show of grief over the loss of a “great leader”, as Barack Obama ludicrously termed this discredited playboy. No doubt the modernist Catholic Church in America will bury this indefatigable proponent of federally funded abortion with full honours. Despite his having led a life of extravagant degeneracy, the liberal “Catholic” caucus of the Pelosi/Biden orientation will fervently claim him as their own.

In Britain, Kennedy will be remembered for his championing of IRA terror, on the same knee-jerk anti-British principles that inspired his father, Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, to support Hitler. Yet Kennedy was awarded an honorary knighthood, just as America gave him its Presidential Medal of Freedom. What for? For being a Kennedy, of course. The Kennedy humbug was incisively deflated by a Republican bumper sticker that memorably claimed: “More people were killed at Chappaquiddick than at Three Mile Island”. Another succinctly said: “No one drowned at Watergate”.

What is it that motivates people in so-called democratic societies to create reverential myths around hollow idols with feet of clay? America is the one country on earth where only the rich are socialists. That East Coast tribe will now indulge in false hero worship and wild hyperbole about a man who, if his surname had been anything other than Kennedy, would have provoked widespread distaste and social ostracism. This time, the liberal elite is burying not just an individual but the political aspirations of a dynasty whose objectives were incompatible with the best interests of America.

The Last of The Kennedy Dynasty


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I came across this from Constitution Watchdog... Enjoy!







As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the "canonization" of
old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media.

They are saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let's get a couple things clear
& not twist the facts to change the real history.

1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead
of two. Oops! The man can't count to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador
to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that President Bush received).

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris , never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his “education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four
times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with
his headlights off after dark.. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing! As far as anyone knows, he never passed a bar in his worthless life. He always made sure he got a snoot full.

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash and hospitalized for several months. Test results
done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980's when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond. He swam to shore and walked back to the party passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew - that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight.
Since the accident Kennedy's "political enemies" have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne's family received a small payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's family paid their attorney's bills.... a "token of friendship"?

7. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights,
increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors, and is widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism". In his very first Senate roll he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries..

8. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in
immigration up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of what is right. What a pompous ass!

9. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous, and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than "great American". "A blonde in every pond" is his motto. Let's not allow the spin doctors to make this jerk a hero – how quickly the American public forgets what his real legacy is. So now this useless drunk ended up being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by a Marxist.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Sisters Tortured for Leaving House without Permission...


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One killed as brothers torture sisters
Saturday, August 22, 2009


MULTAN: Two brothers allegedly tortured their three sisters, leaving one of them dead and injuring two others here on Friday, police said.

SHO New Multan police Arshad said that Asad and Shahid attacked their sister Shumaila (24) after she spent a few days at the house of their relatives without their permission. They also tortured Nyla and married sister Shehla when they tried to help Shumaila.

While Shehla saved her life along with her kid by locking herself inside a room after receiving a head injury, the two accused kept torturing Shumaila and Nyla and used a plastic strip to strangulate them.

Some neighbours informed the Rescue 1122 and the three girls were rushed to the Nishtar hospital. However, Shumaila died on way to the hospital. Nyla has received serious injuries, SHO said, adding that Shehla, who was out of danger, has stated that her two brothers had tortured them. Meanwhile, a senior police official ordered to seal the house to protect evidence. The accused were not arrested till the filing of this report.

Obama Hopes to See Temple Mount Under Muslim Control...


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Obama Plan: Temple Mount Under Arab-Muslim Sovereignty
Elul 3, 5769, 23 August 09 05:31by Gil Ronen(Israelnationalnews.com)


The Middle East peace plan that United States President Barack Obama will unveil soon involves the creation of a Palestinian Authority state by 2011 and the transfer of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem [presumably including the Temple Mount – ed.] to Arab-Muslim sovereignty, Saudi newspaper Al-Ukaz has learned.

According to the report published Sunday in Al-Ukaz, the Obama plan also includes the following elements:

Some parts of eastern Jerusalem [presumably Neveh Yaakov, Pisgat Ze'ev and the like - ed.] would be transferred to Israeli control.
There would be an international presence in the Jordan Valley and other parts of Judea and Samaria.
The Palestinian Authority terror organizations would be disbanded and turn into political parties.
The large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria would not be dismantled.
The fate of smaller Jewish settlement areas would be decided in a three-month-long negotiation period.
A reporter for the Saudi newspaper received the information from Hassan Harisha, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Authority Parliament. Harisha told him that the U.S. has handed over a draft of the peace proposal to the PA and other Arabs for their perusal.

The plan also calls for Judea and Samaria to be demilitarized and for its airspace to remain under Israel control. Israeli-Palestinian Authority security coordination would be strengthened, and the Palestinian Authority state would not be allowed to strike military treaties with other countries in the region.

An “agreed number” of Arab refugees would be absorbed in the Jordan Valley area and in other parts of Judea and Samaria – especially in the area between Ramallah and Shechem.

An international fund would support the refugees and Israel would release Palestinian Authority prisoners three years after a diplomatic accord is signed.

Will he lay out a blueprint?
The Saudi report notwithstanding, the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl estimated Sunday that Obama will not go so far as to present a blueprint for a peace settlement, despite being urged to do so by several Arab governments.

"As the U.N. General Assembly meets in late September, Obama aims to announce the opening of a new negotiating process between Israelis and Palestinians, along with 'confidence-building' steps by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and a number of Arab governments," the columnist wrote. Obama "will probably lay out at least a partial vision of the two-state settlement that all sides now say they support, and the course that negotiations should take. More significantly, he intends to set an ambitious timetable for completing the peace deal -- something that will please Arabs but may irritate Israel."

Obama poll numbers keep falling


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Originally published 04:45 a.m., August 24, 2009, updated 01:11 p.m., August 24, 2009
Obama poll numbers keep falling

Matthew Mosk and Christina Bellantoni THE WASHINGTON TIMES

President Obama set out for a weeklong family vacation Sunday facing the first stiff headwind of his presidency, with public polls showing his popularity has dipped as he has attempted an overhaul of the nation's ailing health care system.

A series of national surveys has confirmed what was becoming clear as large groups of protesters rallied outside the speeches and town-hall events the president hosted last week in Western states.

The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll released Sunday showed that 41 percent of voters strongly disapprove of Mr. Obama's performance as president, compared with 27 percent who strongly approved. Rasmussen said those numbers are the worst ever for Mr. Obama. The 14-point gap between the two numbers is more than double the six-point difference in the Rasmussen poll as recently as Thursday.

The total of "disapproval" responses, of whatever strength, topped the approval numbers by 51 percent to 48 percent.

Using unusually strong language to describe the developments, borne out in a host of polls over the past week, political analyst Charlie Cook said in an e-mail to his subscribers that "the situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and congressional Democrats."

"We believe it would be a mistake to underestimate the impact that this mood will have on members of Congress of both parties when they return to Washington in September, if it persists through the end of the congressional recess," Mr. Cook wrote.

Joseph Pounder, a Republican campaign consultant who recently left the staff of the House Republican leadership to work for a gubernatorial candidate in Texas, said the turn of events has been both surprising and rejuvenating for Mr. Obama's political opponents.

"It's been a real bad summer for a White House that was supposed to rock everyone's world," Mr. Pounder said.

August polls have been unkind to Mr. Obama since 2007.

Doubts beset his primary campaign in August 2007, Mr. Obama said, recalling a period when he trailed his Democratic rival by 30 points. Last August, Sarah Palin took the nation's political main stage. "The media was obsessed with it, and cable was 24 hours a day [saying] 'Obama's lost his mojo,' " the president told a group of supporters. "You remember all that?"

Democratic activists said that Mr. Obama's election last fall provides ample proof that he is capable of overcoming gaffes and bad poll numbers. Whether he will do that this fall, though, remains clouded by a health care debate that is staggering in its complexity.

Deputy press secretary Bill Burton said the administration has long recognized that it could see dents in the widespread support the president garnered when he first took office if it undertook an initiative as potentially divisive as health care reform.

"If getting health care reform done were a matter of making easy decisions and doing politically popular things, it probably would have gotten done a long time ago," Mr. Burton said.

Those dents were clear in recent polling conducted jointly by The Washington Post and ABC News.

That poll said that 49 percent of Americans now express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency. Forty-nine percent say they think he will be able to spearhead significant improvements in the health care system, down nearly 20 percentage points from before he took office, the poll reported.

Some congressional Democrats have conceded in recent days that they are worried about the toll the health care battle is taking. Their own numbers have dropped alongside the president's, and there remains no clear coalition forged to get health care done by the president's fall deadline.

Gallup reported that its polling has found public approval of Congress at its lowest reading since February. Gallup's Aug. 6-9 survey found 31 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing while 62 percent disapprove.

Still, not everyone is convinced that Democrats should be sounding alarms.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, said his party's leaders have recognized for months what they are facing - the historical track record suggests the party in power almost always loses seats during its first midterm test.

But he said Republicans in Congress are miscalculating by aligning themselves with what he called "the pitchfork crowd," parading with posters of Mr. Obama's face smeared with an Adolf Hitler mustache.

Those tactics "are going to boomerang" before the health care debate has ended, Mr. Van Hollen said.

"If Obama has shown anything, it's that he's Mister October - that's when he makes his comebacks after a rough patch," said Phil Singer, a Democratic consultant who runs Marathon Strategies.

Mr. Singer, who served as a combative top press aide to the Clinton campaign against Mr. Obama in 2007 and 2008, said it would be a "huge mistake" to bet against the president.

He predicted that White House aides - nearly all of whom worked for Mr. Obama during the election - would kick into campaign mode when the American people emerge from summer vacations and re-engage with politics and policy. Mr. Singer also dismissed the troubling early polls for congressional Democrats, such as a Cook Report survey released Friday suggesting the party could lose more than 20 seats in 2010.

"Two years ago, polls showed Hillary Clinton was going to be president," he said, laughing.

ADHD drug abuse rampant among teens, study shows


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ADHD drug abuse rampant among teens, study shows
By Lindsey Tanner ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, August 24, 2009

CHICAGO Calls to poison-control centers about teens abusing attention-deficit drugs soared 76 percent over eight years, sobering evidence about the dangerous consequences of prescription misuse, a study shows.

The calls were from worried parents, emergency-room doctors and others seeking advice on how to deal with the problem, which can be deadly. Four deaths were among cases evaluated in the study.

Kids taking attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder drugs to get high or increase alertness may not realize that misuse of the drugs can cause serious, sometimes life-threatening symptoms, including agitation, rapid heartbeat, extremely high blood pressure.

"They say, 'It's FDA approved, how dangerous could it be?' " said Steve Pasierb, head of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, based in New York.

In the study, researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center evaluated 1998-2005 data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers. During that time, nationwide calls related to teen abuse of ADHD drugs, specifically stimulants, increased from 330 to 581 yearly, and there were four deaths. Overall, 42 percent of teens involved had moderate to severe side effects and most ended up getting emergency-room treatment.

The true number of teen abusers who have bad side effects is likely much higher, because many cases don't result in calls to poison-control centers, said study author Dr. Randall Bond, medical director of the hospital's Drug and Poison Information Center.

The surge, from 1998 to 2005, outpaced calls for teen substance abuse generally. It also paralleled an 86 percent rise in ADHD medicine prescriptions for youths ages 10 to 19, from about 4 million to nearly 8 million during that time.

"It's more bad news on an entrenched problem," Mr. Pasierb said. His nonprofit group was not involved in the study. Its own research suggests that about 19 percent of teens have abused prescription drugs including medicine for ADHD.

Government-sponsored surveys suggest that teen abuse of stimulants including ADHD drugs has declined in recent years.

The new study was for release Monday in the August edition of Pediatrics.

Mark Stein, a psychiatry professor and ADHD expert at University of Illinois at Chicago, said abuse typically involves crushing and snorting the pills, which speeds up the effects and can produce a buzz or sense of euphoria - along with dangerous side effects.

Children who develop serious side effects should be taken to the emergency room, where sedatives can be used to treat the problem, Mr. Stein said.

The study lacks information on whether abusers were teens with ADHD, but anecdotal evidence suggests many are not.

Mr. Stein said the study should not deter use of ADHD drugs in teens who really need them, particularly because there's evidence that kids with ADHD who don't get medication are at risk for abusing illicit drugs.

Woman tortures, kills disabled man


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Phoenix woman admits torturing, killing disabled man
More Phoenix Local News
10:43 AM Mountain Standard Time on Friday, August 21, 2009
3TV and azfamily.com


PHOENIX -- In a jailhouse interview with 3TV's Marissa Wingate, a Phoenix woman admitted killing a man confined to a motorized wheelchair after torturing him for days because he was a "snitch."


Angela Simpson, 33, told 3TV she promised Terry Neely sex and drugs in order to get him to come to her North Phoenix apartment.

Once there, Simpson said she beat Simpson with a tire iron, hammered a nail into his head, pulled his teeth and strangled him with a television cord.

"You made him watch it through a mirror?" Wingate asked.

"Yes, I did," Simpson replied calmly. "He needed to see what he deserved."

Wingate describe Simpson as articulate and straightforward. When Wingate asked her why she killed Neely, the answer, to Simpson, seemed simple.

"I don't want my children or the people I consider family to be in a place where there are snitches," she said.

Neely lived in an assisted-living home not far from Simpson's apartment and often rode around in his motorized wheelchair. Simpson admitted that she barely knew Neely, but she did consider him a snitch.

"He told on a righteous person years ago," she said. "He told me that."

"I beat him to death. ... I killed him and cut him up," she said.

Simpson told Wingate she dismembered Neely's body and stuffed it into a trash can, which she then torched. The burning trash bin was found outside a North Phoenix church on Aug. 5. Police arrested Simpson for the murder on Aug. 19.

Simpson, who was already in jail when police caught up with her, told Wingate this is not the first time she's killed.

"I believe informants and child molesters should be killed ... period," she said.

Simpson said she was "kind of relieved" that police arrested her. She also said she takes medication and might be considered mentally ill.

"I think something's wrong with the world that I live in, but, according to other people, yes, somethiing is wrong with me."

Wingate asked Simpson if she felt guilty about Neely's death.

"Guilty? For ridding the world of a snitch? No, I don't feel guilty," she answered.

Police make arrest

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police say they have made an arrest in the brutal murder of a man whose body was dismembered and stuffed into a trash can that was then set on fire.

Investigators say Angela Simpson, 33, was behind the killing of Terry Neely, whose body was found on Aug. 5.

Simpson reportedly thought Neely was a snitch working with law enforcement.

She told police that she lured Neely inside an apartment near Peoria and 12th avenues by offering sex.

Once inside the apartment, police say Simpson began beating Neely with a tire iron and hammer. She also pulled out his teeth and strangled him with a television cable.

She said she tortured Neely for three days.

According to autopsy results, Neely sustained multiple blunt-force head injuries and a 3-inch nail had been driven or hammered into his brain. He was also stabbed approximately 50 times, his throat was sliced and he was dismembered.

Simpson admitted that she dismembered Neely and placed him in a trash can. She borrowed a car and drove to a church at Ninth and Peoria avenues and set the trash can on fire.

Simpson allegedly committed a robbery along with Edward McFarlan, better known as "Cracker" last week. He reportedly told his apartment complex manager about the gruesome murder but threatened to kill him if he told polilce.

ORIGINAL STORY

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police have released the name of the murdered man whose body was found in a burning trash can in the backyard of a Phoenix church earlier this week.

According to investigators, Terry Neely, 46, was living at an assisted-living facility. With the help of surveillance video, detectives have determined that the last time Neely was seen alive was when he left the facility in his motorized wheelchair on Aug. 2 at about 8 p.m.

Police have confirmed that Neely's body had been paritally dismembered when it was found stuffed in the trash can in the area of Ninth and Peoria avenues Wednesday morning. He was later identified through fingerprints.

Neely's motorized wheelchair was not found at the scene. At this point, police do not know where it is.

Phoenix Police investigators are asking for assistance in finding the motorized wheelchair -- click here for a photo -- and any information regarding his death. If anyone has any information about this incident or saw Mr. Neely with someone on Sunday evening they are encouraged to call the Phoenix Police Department, Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS. For Spanish, call 480-TESTIGO.

ORIGINAL STORY: Man's body found in burning garbage can at Phoenix church

PHOENIX -- Investigators have identified a body found in a burning garbage container early Wednesday morning.

Fire crews were called out to the Covenant of Grace Church at Ninth and Peoria avenues at about 5 a.m. to deal with a garbage can that was burning in the back parking lot.

As they were dousing the flames, firefighters spotted a badly charred body stuffed inside the garbage can.

So far, investigators only say the victim is a 46-year-old white male. There is the possibility that the body had been dismembered. Police, however, have not yet confirmed that.

Church officials are stunned by the gruesome discovery made on their ground.

"It's upsetting to us," said Pastor Leonard Griffin. "We are sad for the family of the victim. We have no idea who the person was or what the situation was. We're here as a lighthouse for the community to try to help spread the peace of God here. We just hope we can take this tragedy and try to turn it into something positive and good for the community."

According to church officials, there was an event last night at about 9:30, but everybody who was there has been accounted for.

It's very early in the investigation and at this point, detectives have very little to go on. They're not even sure how long the body might have been in the garbage container. Investigators are trying to determine if the body was dumped at the scene or if the victim was actually killed there. His name has not released pending next of kin notification.

Investigators are asking for help from the community. If anyone saw or heard anything, or has any information about this incident, they are encouraged to call the Phoenix Police Department, Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS. For Spanish, call 480-TESTIGO.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Pregnant Christian Dragged Naked in Pakistan...


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Lybia Plans to Execute 220 Illegal Immigrants...


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Nigerians protest Lybia’s plan to execute 220 Nigerians
By Uduma Kalu
Saturday, August 8, 2009




Nigerians all over the world have reacted to alleged plans by the Libya plans to execute 220 Nigerians for immigration violations. To save the Nigerian from death, Nigerians in the diaspora have therefore asked the country embassy in Lybia as well as the federal government to intervene saying that already, 30 have been executed by the Libyan authorities.


They have also sent out email accounts of Nigerian embassy officials in Lybia for people to force the embassy to intervene. Already, Sudanese embassy officials are aid to have protested to Lybia against the execution of their citizens. Nigerian government is yet to act.


Reports came yesterday that by today, over 220 illegal immigrants in Libya mostly Nigerians may be executed. It said that out of this number, 30 were allegedly executed in the early hours of Thursday in the prison yard in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.


Among the Nigerian illegal immigrants awaiting execution in Libya is a 37-year-old Benedict Ukoma Jude from Imo State who was arrested along with other Nigerians for entering the country without

valid documents.


The arrested Nigerians are said to be kept separately from other nationals from Ghana, Niger, Cameroun ,Algeria and Mali just as the Nigerians are said to being dehumanized before their alleged execution. An official of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja however was said to have reported that the Nigerian government was not aware of such development.


But the Benedict Ukoma Jude who spoke from his prison cell in Libya Thusrday said most Nigerian illegal immigrants were arrested in the desert while trying to cross to Europe. Benedict, denied being involved in any criminal activity in Libya, adding that the illegal aliens were arraigned before a court after the arrest, and that the charges against them were read to them in the language they could not understand while the judicial officers feigned

not to understand English.


He alleged that the Libyan authorities have been killing illegalaliens in batches since last week, stressing that the remaining prisoners would be executed tomorrow as over 10 Nigerians were amongthose executed Thursday.

2,000 Guns Confiscated Under Conn. Seizure Law


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2,000 Guns Confiscated Under Conn. Seizure Law

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ―



Police in Connecticut say they've now seized more than 2,000 firearms under a 1999 law that allows authorities to confiscate guns from people they suspect might harm themselves or others.

A report prepared for the state legislature says state and local police seized 2,093 guns from October 1999 to May 2009.

Seymour police used the law last year to take three guns away from a local man after his co-workers reported that he threatened to blow up his workplace. Police searched his computer and discovered he visited Web sites dealing with murders, violence and workplace shootings.

The gun seizure law was passed a year after a disgruntled Connecticut Lottery worker shot four top lottery officials and himself to death at the agency.

___

Information from: Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com

Muslim sentenced for role in plot to kill Jews,attack military bases


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Monday, August 17, 2009
Man sentenced for role in plot to kill Jews, attack military bases
He is 4th to be sentenced from prison-founded group that also wanted to attack airline at LAX.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced to 70 months in prison today for his role in a domestic terrorism plot to wage war on the United States by attacking Jewish synagogues and military bases.

Hammad Riaz Samana is the fourth member of Jami'yyat Ul-Islam Is-Shaheeh, or JIS, a prison-founded group that wanted to make a political statement that also had plans to attack the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and El Al Israel Airlines at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Samana was 21 when he was charged in the case in July 2005, along with the cell's mastermind, Kevin James, and members Levar Haley Washington and Gregory Patterson.

The group committed armed robberies of 11 gas stations, including two in Fullerton, to buy weapons and gear for the attacks. Authorities said gas stations were chosen as targets because of the symbolism of the oil.

Samana had a smaller role in the plot, and conducted computer research on the terrorism targets, and was the getaway driver for one of the armed robberies, according to U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney at today's sentencing hearing.

Carney acknowledged he was imposing a substantially lighter sentence on Samana than those given to the other men.

Washington is serving 264 months in prison, while James was sentenced to 192 months and Patterson was sentenced to 151 months, Carney said.

But Samana warranted a lighter sentence because he suffered from mental health issues, the judge said. Samana suffered from schizophrenia at the time of the crime.

"In light of Samana's mental health issues at the time of the offense, such a disparity is warranted and justified,'' Carney said.

Samana pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of conspiracy.

Contact the writer: 714-834-3773 or rsrisavasdi@ocregister.com

Thousands quit AARP over health reform


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WASHINGTON, August 17, 2009
Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Reform
Tens of Thousands Don't Like the Health Care Overhaul

(CBS) CBS News has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's position on health care.

Elaine Guardiani has been with AARP for 14 years, and said, "I'm extremely disappointed in AARP."

Retired nurse Dale Anderson has 12 years with AARP and said, "I don't wanna be connected with AARP."

Many are switching to the American Seniors Association, a group that calls itself the conservative alternative as CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Last week alone, they added more than 5,000 new members. Our camera was there Friday when the mail came.

Letters were filled with cut-up AARP cards.

"I think that probably the seniors are most upset with cuts in Medicare," said ASA President Stuart Barton.

The American Seniors Association is flat-out against President Obama's plan, which calls for $313 billion dollars in Medicare cuts over ten years. The AARP is widely viewed as supporting the President.

Last week, Obama told a town meeting in Portsmouth, NH, "We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors."

The AARP called the President's statements "inaccurate," saying it hasn't endorsed any plan or bill.

Some were left with the feeling that AARP was waffling.

"I feel they're supporting it through the backdoor, and telling members that they're not through the front door," said Guardiani.

"AARP has not endorsed any plan at this point," said Cheryl Matheis, AARP VP for Social Impact.

Yet the AARP's Cheryl Matheis couldn't find anything to quibble with, including the Medicare cuts which she says will not affect benefits.

"We haven't seen provisions in legislation yet, so we're going to reserve judgment until we see them," said Matheis.

Meantime, the AARP's image suffered with this town meeting already seen by hundreds of thousands on YouTube.

Faced with skeptical questions from the audience, the AARP representative ends the meeting abruptly. When the discussion continues, she pulls the plug on the microphone.

AARP says for a group with 40 million members that adds hundreds of thousands each month, losing 60 thousand is just a drop in the bucket. But to the much smaller American Seniors Association it's a flood.

British health care: Woman gives birth on pavement


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Woman gives birth on pavement 'after being refused ambulance'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:56 PM on 17th August 2009


A young mother gave birth on a pavement outside a hospital after she was told to make her own way there.


Mother-of-three Carmen Blake called her midwife to ask for an ambulance when she went into labour unexpectedly with her fourth child.

But the 27-year-old claims she was refused an ambulance and told to walk the 100m from her house in Leicester to the city's nearby Royal Infirmary.

Her daughter Mariah was delivered on a pavement outside the hospital by a passer-by, just before ambulance crews arrived.

Today the Trust that runs the hospital said it would look into any complaint made about the advice and care the 27-year-old received.

Ms Blake said she started going into labour at about 7.15am on Sunday, August 2.

She said: "I phoned up the Royal Infirmary, it's just across the road, and they said to go into a hot bath, and then to make my way over there.

"I went into the bath and realised she was going to come quickly. I didn't think I'd be able to make it out of the bath, so I phoned the maternity ward back and told them to get an ambulance out.

'They said they were not sending an ambulance and told me I had had nine months to sort out a lift.'

Experienced mother Ms Blake today said she knew she had to get herself out of the bath and try to get to the hospital.

'The friends with me would have had no idea what to do. I knew at that point that she was nearly here so I had to get out of the house,' she said.

'I thought if I got across the road then at least somebody would be able to help me.

'I left the house and got to the end of the close, but there was no-one around to help.'

Eventually Ms Blake and her friends enlisted the help of a physiotherapist who happened to be passing on her way to work.

She dialled 999 and helped deliver baby Mariah while waiting for emergency services.

She even helped remove the cord from around the tot's neck, Ms Blake said today.

She said: 'I don't really remember much after that. Mariah was born, then the paramedics arrived then after that the midwives arrived. I think I went into shock.

'It's just lucky that the physio was there.'

Ms Blake said despite the happy ending she was upset she was told to make her own way to the hospital as, being an experienced mum, she knew she did not have the time.

Today a spokeswoman for the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said: 'We are disappointed that Ms Blake was not happy with the advice and care she received and will of course investigate any complaint.

'We are pleased that both Ms Blake and her daughter are well and healthy.'

British swimming pools imposing Muslim dress codes


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Swimmers are told to wear burkinis
British swimming pools are imposing Muslim dress codes in a move described as divisive by Labour MPs.

By Patrick Sawer
Published: 9:00PM BST 15 Aug 2009



Under the rules, swimmers – including non-Muslims – are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.

Instead they are told that they must comply with the "modest" code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees.


The phenomenon runs counter to developments in France, where last week a woman was evicted from a public pool for wearing a burkini – the headscarf, tunic and trouser outfit which allows Muslim women to preserve their modesty in the water.

The 35-year-old, named only as Carole, is threatening legal action after she was told by pool officials in Emerainville, east of Paris, that she could not wear the outfit on hygiene grounds.

But across the UK municipal pools are holding swimming sessions specifically aimed at Muslims, in some case imposing strict dress codes.

Croydon council in south London runs separate one-and-a half-hour swimming sessions for Muslim men and women every Saturday and Sunday at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre.

Swimmers were told last week on the centre's website that "during special Muslim sessions male costumes must cover the body from the navel to the knee and females must be covered from the neck to the ankles and wrists".

There are similar rules at Scunthorpe Leisure Centre, in North Lincolnshire, where "users must follow the required dress code for this session (T-shirts and shorts/leggings that cover below the knee)".

In Glasgow, a men-only swimming session is organised by a local mosque group at North Woodside Leisure Centre, at which swimmers must be covered from navel to knee.

At a women-only class organised by a Muslim teacher at Blackbird Leys Swimming Pool, Oxford, to encourage Muslim women to learn to swim, most participants wear "modest" outfits although normal costumes are permitted.

The dress codes have provoked an angry reaction among critics who say they encourage division and resentment between Muslims and non-Muslims, putting strain on social cohesion.

Ian Cawsey, the Labour MP for the North Lincolnshire constituency of Brigg and Goole, said: "Of course swimming pools have basic codes of dress but it should not go beyond that.

"I don't think that in a local authority pool I should have to wear a particular type of clothes for the benefit of someone else. That's not integration or cohesion."

Labour MP Anne Cryer, whose Keighley, West Yorkshire constituency has a large number of Muslims, said: "Unfortunately this kind of thing has a negative impact on community relations.

"It's seen as yet another demand for special treatment. I can't see why special clothing is needed for what is a single-sex session."

Muslim swimming sessions are also held at a number of state schools around the country. At Loxford School in Ilford, east London, a local Muslim group organises weekly sessions for Muslim men, with the warning that "it is compulsory for the body to be covered between the navel and the knees.

"Anyone not adhering to the dress code or rules within the pool will not be allowed to swim".

The practice of holding special Muslim swimming sessions has led to non-Muslims being turned away.

David Toube, 39 and his five year old son Harry were last year refused entry to Clissold Leisure Centre, in Hackney, east London, after being told the Sunday morning swimming session was for Muslim men only.

Council officials later said staff had made a mistake and both Mr Toube, a corporate lawyer, and his son should have been admitted.

After discovering the rules at Thornton Heath one Croydon resident, 34-year-old Alex Craig, said: "I think it is preposterous that a council should be encouraging this type of segregation over municipal facilities.

"Surely if Muslims want to swim then they should just turn up with their modest swimwear at the same time as everyone else."

Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, last night condemned the practice. He said: "This kind of thing is extremely divisive.

"Non-Muslims see these extremist demands as an example of Muslims wanting things to fit into their lifestyle, when there aren't similar things organised for Hindus, Buddhists or Jews.

"It also puts moderate Muslims in an awkward position as it suggests, wrongly, that they are not devout enough, simply because they choose not to cover themselves in a shroud in a pool."

A press officer at Croydon council, which introduced Muslim-only swimming in 2006, claimed that the wording on the website was a mistake and the dress code should be regarded as a suggestion rather than a requirement.

The website was late changed to remove the reference to the dress code.

However, an official at the leisure centre said the dress code remained compulsory.

Earlier, defending the segregation policy, a Croydon council spokesman said: "We appreciate that certain religious groups, such as Muslims, have strict rules on segregation for activities including sports, so in response to requests from the local community, we have been running these sessions at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre."

FCC 'diversity' chief to regulate talk radio?


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Top Senate Republican Fears FCC's 'Diversity' Chief May Use 'Back Door' to Regulate Talk Radio
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By Matt Cover


(CNSNews.com) – In a letter sent last week to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Sen. Charles Grassley (R.-Iowa) said he is concerned that the FCC's new "diversity" director, Mark Lloyd, may seek to regulate talk radio through the "back door."

Grassley, who expressed his concerns in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday, said he was concerned that the new diversity chief would implement a back-door return of the “Fairness Doctrine,” a now-defunct policy which mandated that broadcasters devote equal airtime to both sides of controversial issues. A return to the Fairness Doctrine would spell the end of opinionated talk radio.

“Taken together, these statements represent a view that the FCC needs to expand its regulatory arm further into the commercial radio market,” Grassley wrote. “I am concerned that despite his statements that the Fairness Doctrine is unnecessary, Mr. Lloyd supports a backdoor method of furthering the goals of the Fairness Doctrine by other means.”

Grassley said he “strongly disagreed” that government needs to regulate radio any further, saying that greater government involvement would not provide for a greater diversity of views on the airwaves.

“Simply put, I strongly disagree with Mr. Lloyd,” said Grassley. “I do not believe that more regulation, more taxes or fines, or increased government intervention in the commercial radio market will serve the public interest or further the goals of diversifying the marketplace.”

Grassley’s concerns arise from an paper Lloyd co-authored for the liberal Center for American Progress entitled, “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio.”

In this paper, Lloyd and his fellow co-authors laid out what they say are the “structural problems” of the nation’s radio regulatory system that they believe explains the success of conservative talk radio. The authors said these problems should remedied by increased government involvement.

“Our conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system,” the report said, “particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcast, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules, including the requirement of local participation in management.”

Lloyd and his co-authors rejected the idea that the Fairness Doctrine alone could solve these problems, arguing that the Doctrine must be part of a more sweeping regulatory effort aimed at curbing the influence of today’s political talkers.

“[T]he Fairness Doctrine was never, by itself, an effective tool to ensure fair discussion of important issues,” the report stated.

“The Fairness Doctrine was most effective as part of a regulatory structure that limited license terms to three years, subjected broadcasters to license challenges through comparative hearings, required notice to the local community that licenses were going to expire, and empowered the local community through a process of interviewing a variety of local leaders [about whether a station’s license should be renewed],” it added.

The report recommended that the government implement ownership caps, limit license terms, allow local interest groups to lobby against a broadcaster, and fine those station owners who “fail” to meet these requirements, with the funds going to support their public broadcasting competitors.

“[A]ny effort to encourage more responsive and balanced radio programming will first require steps to increase localism and diversify radio station ownership to better meet local and community needs,” the authors wrote.

“We suggest three ways to accomplish this: Restore local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations,” the report read. “Ensure greater local accountability over radio licensing. Require commercial owners who fail to abide by enforceable public interest obligations to pay a fee to support public broadcasting.”

Lloyd explained these requirements in a companion piece he wrote for CAP’s Web site entitled, “Forget the Fairness Doctrine.” There, Lloyd summed up his approach to regulating talk radio.

“Equal opportunity employment policies. Local engagement. License challenges,” he wrote. Explaining the fees broadcasters might face, he wrote that “commercial radio station owners either play by the rules or pay. In other words, if they don’t want to be subject to local criticism of how they are meeting their [new] license obligations, they should pay to support public broadcasters who will operate on behalf of the local community.”

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Genachowski rejected the idea that the FCC should be policing political speech.

“I don’t think the FCC should be involved in censorship of content based on political speech or opinion,” he told the Senate Commerce Committee.

Grassley told CNSNews.com that he wants Genachowski to keep his word and refrain from implementing Lloyd’s ideas.

“I took the new Chairman at his word when he told me prior to his Senate confirmation that he wouldn’t support any effort to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine,” the senator said. “Mr. Lloyd’s writings imply that the FCC can use power it already has to implement the goals of the Fairness Doctrine without actually reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.”

“These writings and the appointment of Mr. Lloyd to Chief Diversity Officer at the FCC could contradict the assurance I got from Chairman Genachowski,” said Grassley. “I expect Chairman Genachowski to keep his word and affirmatively state on the record that he’ll oppose the Fairness Doctrine, or any other regulatory efforts that could achieve the goals of the Fairness Doctrine.”

Calls to the FCC for comment were not returned before this story went to press.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

59-Year-Old Israeli Murdered on Beach by Arab 'Hooligans'...


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Netanyahu 'appalled' by suspected lynch

Corpse of 59-year old man assaulted Friday night while walking with his wife, daughter on beach is last in seven murders to have occurred over two weeks; 10 suspects have been arrested
Avi Cohen


A body was found early Saturday in an Israel Electric Corporation facility in north Tel Aviv. Police say it belongs to a 59-year-old man, Leonard (Arik) Karp, who was assaulted Friday night along with his wife and daughter at the Tel Baruch beach.



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch about the murder Saturday evening and said he was appalled and concerned about the case.



Netanyahu ordered the minister to increase police activity against hooliganism and to expedite indictments in the case, the last of seven murders to have occurred in Israel over the course of just two weeks.




Police forces have arrested 10 suspects so far, residents of the Arab local council of Jaljulia and the city of Petah Tikva. Police said they would appeal for a gag order against the publication of the suspects' photos in order to refrain from compromising a future lineup.



Several of the suspects were arrested in the Horashim Forest in a state of intoxication.




One of the suspects, a 17-year old girl from Petah Tikva, was led by officers to the scene of the crime in order to recount the incident. She said the suspects had beat Karp after he voiced a comment to them.




She said she had tried to separate between the sides when conflict ensued. Her attorney said later that any confession she gave to police was void as officers had prevented her from meeting with a lawyer before taking a statement.






A police investigation revealed that the man, who lives in the area, was sitting with his wife and 25-year-old daughter on a bench at the beach, when a group of young people arrived at the area.




According to the mother and daughter, the youths made a comment about Karp's daughter and he responded, prompting them to attack the family members.



At a certain stage, the mother and daughter began fleeing the area. Some of the assailants ran after them, while the other continued beating the father. The father managed to escape a short distance, but the youths chased him and allegedly drowned him in the water.



The two women, who lost eye contact with the father, called the police and Magen David Adom rescue services.

Commander David Gez told reporters that the police had received a report about a brawl at the Tel Baruch beach at around 12:30 am, and that a force dispatched to the area discovered two injured women who told them that they had been beaten and that the father had gone missing.




"We operated forces to locate the missing man, and at the same time located the suspects, all about 20 years old," the police commander said. "All leads are being looked into. We then searched for the husband with the help of a helicopter and many police officers.




"This is a serious act of hooliganism, and we will enforce our presence in the area. The Israel Police are deployed in order to prevent such acts, and that is how we managed to locate the suspects within such a short time."



Commander Ilan Mor, of the police's Tel Aviv district, told Ynet that "in a case like this, in which someone tries to create a provocation, an arrest should ideally be made a minute before an incident breaks out".




"In dozens of cases it happens and this time we weren't successful. It's a frustrating feeling. I think last night was a failure when you look at the outcomes, but we will move on," he added.




Other police officers categorized the attack as a freak occurrence difficult to prevent due to the secluded area in which it took place and the alacrity with which the situation deteriorated.




Mor claims that from an operational standpoint police acted properly. "The final test should be how quickly police cars arrived and suspects were arrested," he said. "Police cars reached the scene in less than five minutes after receiving the call."





The mother was evacuated in light condition to the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. The police launched an extensive search for her husband, and dozens of police officers were dispatched to the Tel Baruch beach.




A body believed to belong to the man was later found floating at an Israel Electric Corps. harborage near the beach. It was transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.



Amnon Meranda contributed to this report

Slumlords get share of $81 million stimulus


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Slumlords get share of $81M stimulus, despite code violations on buildings
BY Tina Moore DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, August 16th 2009, 4:00 AM
Sipkin/News


Stacey Jordan in her Crown Heights apartment. Her landlord received federal bail-out funds but has not fixed violations in apartments.
Sipkin/News
Including such glaring problems as a broken front door lock.

Some of the city's worst landlords are sharing in $81 million in federal stimulus money - even though their buildings are riddled with housing code violations.
Since March, millions of dollars have been doled out to buildings where tenants have repeatedly complained of rats, roaches, faulty elevators, lack of heat and flaking lead paint.
Millions more will follow.
The problem is that the Recovery Act distribution makes no distinction between good landlords and bad ones.
As a result, landlords - regardless of the number of serious housing code violations they've racked up - are allowed to pocket stimulus money without being forced to make repairs.
Seven properties that have received - or been promised - taxpayer dollars would qualify for a Slumlord Watch List proposed by City Councilman Bill de Blasio, a Daily News review found.
"There's something really wrong with landlords that make it on this list. ... They certainly shouldn't be getting stimulus money," said de Blasio, who is running for public advocate.
"The stimulus is supposed to create jobs. I'm concerned that we're going to have to watch [this] very closely."
The seven properties that would make his list are slated to get more than $1.5 million in federal stimulus money this year.
To make de Blasio's list, properties with 35 units or more must average at least two "hazardous" or "immediately hazardous" housing code violations per unit.
One property that qualified was 234 Herkimer St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn.
The 138-unit building had 374violations, including mold, water leaks, missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, broken floors, mice and lead-based paint. The building's owner, Restore Housing Development, is to get $270,602 in stimulus cash.
The owner of an apartment building on Morningside Ave. in Manhattan got a boost of $630,000 in Recovery Act funds despite 132 violations. Problems included an inadequate supply of heat, peeling paint, exposed electrical wires and roaches.
That building fell just short of making de Blasio's list, with 104 of the most serious violations in 53 units - slightly less than two dangerous violations per unit, records show.
So did a Bronx apartment building that is getting $1,514,016 despite 110 violations - 90 of them tagged dangerous.
The 49-unit building was cited for a leaky roof, roach and mice infestations, moldy ceilings, and broken toilets and tubs, records show.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defends giving stimulus money to properties with housing code problems.
Regional spokesman Adam Glantz said without Recovery Act money, HUD would have to cut back on housing subsidies under a program called Section8.
To qualify for stimulus money, landlords had to be in "immediate or potentially serious financial difficulty," HUD said.
The agency said the Recovery Act includes measures to "protect those in greatest need," along with promoting job creation and economic growth.
HUD was unable to say how many jobs have been saved or created with the emergency distribution of this taxpayer money.
Real estate mogul Naftali Frankel got $465,312 in Recovery Act funds for his properties, including $39,782 for a building at 1569-1583 Prospect Place in Crown Heights.
The city has 203 open violations against Frankel at that property - 170 deemed "hazardous." After two unsatisfactory HUD reviews, Frankel was forced to hire a new management company.
"I am the owner, and I take good care," Frankel, 83, said in an interview. He insisted he and the new managers are addressing issues such as upgrading security cameras and replacing the broken front door.
He said tenants often made it difficult to make repairs by not being home for appointments. Of the stimulus dollars, Frankel said, "Whatever has to be fixed will be fixed."
One of Frankel's Prospect Place tenants has her doubts.
Stacey Jordan said she cried in April when her kitchen ceiling collapsed because of plumbing problems in units above hers.
A section of the floor became soggy because of flooding in the basement. About a dozen floor tiles are missing, and the area feels soft enough to put a foot through.
The management company installed Sheetrock over the collapsed ceiling after she called repeatedly, but hasn't returned to sand and paint, records show.
The city gave Frankel 12 violations for a "broken or defective wood floor," a ceiling in need of further repair, mold and mice.
As Jordan spoke, her son, JJ, bounded past like any exuberant 10-year-old on summer break.
"Be careful!" Jordan yelled out. "I'm afraid he's going to fall through the kitchen floor," she said. "It's real weak. I don't want to live like this. I pay my rent."
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer wants landlords to use stimulus cash to fix violations.
"That's how you create jobs, that's how you make the building worth more," he said. "That's how you stimulate the economy."
tmoore@nydailynews.com