Reactions to story from http://cbsnews.com
Video Allegedly Shows India Terror Arrest
http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/ 2008/ 12/ 01/ world/ ma...A grainy cell-phone video obtained by CBS News allegedly shows the moments that police in Mumbai arrested the only living suspect in the 60-hour terror rampage which began last Wednesday and eventually left 174 people dead.
Reactions / posts that link to this article
- Author unknown
Weak Judiciary & Indian Society Evils
http://drdivas.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/weak-judiciary-india...Posted by: abc on: December 25, 2008 In: dr. abdul Comment! By Dr. Abdul Ruff Many countries far and near have some spacial attraction for India for reasons known only to themselves, but India remains one of the rotten terror states that occupies Kashmir against global opinion and is ill-focused on Muslims, neighbours and spreads false propaganda about its democratic and secular credentials that the global media propagate on cash basis. India is keen to improve its global status by becoming a close ally of USA, the global terrorists. India suffers from all sorts of societal evils on account of several factors; judiciary’s inherent weakness is a major issue. An incompetent judiciary in a civilised world can cause havoc to the various institutions of any society. Judiciary’s importance for a society cannot be easily disputed as their judicious decisions are vital for the proper development of a given society. In every society, secular, democratic, autocratic and totalitarian, some people are more important and more powerful than the rest and hence are not affected by general rules and laws meant for common people. Ruling elite, rich business magnets, top officials, top politicians are among those who enjoy the confidence of the government and hence are kept out of frame legal structure and are free to do whatever they feel good for themselves. Since bribery is an accepted phenomenon in Indian life, rich trader class bribing the political class and government officials and also finance the legislators and parliamentarians right from the poll campaign, are also exempted from all legal problems as they are taken care of by the government agencies. Although it is only the head of the state officially enjoys immunity from legal actions, many of these sections also claim and enjoy the same unofficially. However it is the corpus of security personnel who are totally law-free citizens of the country and this “security’ function offers them the right to kill or torture the people the state dislikes. Inefficiency A vibrant judiciary promotes environment for high academic excellence, while weak judiciary, for whatever reason, would considerably reduce or undermines it all together. But judiciary’s role is generally restricted by other important pillars of the society. Police and military personnel have an important place in every system, including liberal democratic, and their actions are above any legal jurisdiction and are being used by the ruling class for own advantages and common people are only secondary to them. Military people are obviously placed higher than the police as the former serves the state government. There are instances when military personnel are detained by policy on wrongful actions, but they are released by the military forces by getting the central government offices intervene on their behalf. The illegal or immoral actions of military or police are nullified by the central government. Judiciary, defined and determined by political undercurrents, under the prevailing circumstances, remains a mere onlooker of deep political actions. State controlled Judiciary, in order to save its own interests, generally, takes sides with the state agencies and endorses the state (inclusive terrorist) actions of the security forces. Rampant corruption has become reality of every society because of corruption in every section including judiciary. While the judiciary at times finds fault with corruption and huge money “transfers”, but when it comes to their own cases, they protect themselves. This has been happening quite openly in India . Judges generally enjoy respect in the society because they being the ultimate lawmakers protect the nation from evil forces and, if they want, could even the law breakers of the society. They decide the fate of every individual in the country or province with their judgement delivery affecting the lives of people. The rotten sate of affairs in India and other so-called democracies and secular setups got obtained because the system suffers from the judicial lacunae since they consider protection of the state agencies as the priority matter. There have been instances of lawyers bribing the judges and politicians “getting hold” of the judges, apart from the usual government interferences. The Judges at every level, as a result, try their best to help the corrupt politicians and the powerful; rare is a judicial officer who does not bow to the ruling class or the state rogues of India . Unilateral Claiming a special status, the Judges in India refuse to declare their assets and want to hide their wealth and money making. Terming the details of the judges’ wealth as “personal information” which cannot be made public, the Supreme Court recently informed the CIC, that there is no law, which makes the declaration of the Judges assets mandatory. Judges do not wish, to let the citizens know, how they increase their assets. It sounds illogical, if not anti-democratic. Chief Justice of US Supreme Court John Marshall had once said: “Power of Judiciary lies not in deciding cases, nor in Imposing sentences nor in punishing for contempt, but in the trust, faith and confidence of the common man”. The RTI Act was introduced to check corruption, by opening up information to citizens. Unfortunately the Information Commissioners entrusted with the job of overseeing the proper implementation of the act, are trying to sabotage the act. In this highly volatile and terrorized world, where the anti-Islamic forces and their originating nations torture or kill the defenceless Muslims by branding them as terrorists, the new revelations show the just opposite being the crude fact, in Indian case. That is radical Hindu terrorists and militants harbouring ill feelings and spreading hatred towards Muslims are involved in terrorist activities with aids from state and central government agencies, most importantly the military. Hindu fanatics have plated bombs in various Indian towns but the media in India with their wide investigative journalistic networks have not detected anything about Hindu terrorism, they are mischievously harbouring fictitious news items and hurl “terrorist charges” against Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir as if they have complete water-proof evidence for that. Deficiency Political and bureaucratic classes determine the place of judiciary. Largely corrupt and self-centered politicians and bureaucrats make the judiciary vulnerable and corrupt. A corrupt judiciary cannot heel the societal ailments properly. Judges are noble professionals and they are entirely different from lawyers or barristers and cannot be seen as high level pick-pockets or frauds by the common people. Judiciary goes by the “notes” they receive from the government agencies on major cases they deal with and don’t exercise their real power independently to bring out the truth about a case, especially in “terror” related cases. In rare cases, truth is discovered quite late when the innocent convicts have suffered sufficiently under the boot of the terror security and intelligence forces. With the latest revelation about military promoting terrorist attacks in Indian towns and Indian media loyally toeing the lines reserved for them by the intelligence agencies, the conditions of Muslims generally and Kashmir Muslims in particular could be best imagined now. Not only the Indian terror forces occupying Jammu Kashmir have killed thousands of freedom seeking defenseless Kashmir Muslims, they have also meticulously planned the terror attacks by supplying the “materials” to Indian “spots”. In modern days with the advent of advanced technology, judges are supposed to know the latest remote techniques for information sharing and troubling creating for the people, being employed by government and private agencies. One doubts if many judges know about the remote mode operations to make rains or move clouds by the government agencies, possibly by the defense personnel. Similarly there are so many remote machines available to ordinary people to do surveillance and watching activities. Judges pretend to unaware of the existence of any such hidden mechanisms or machinations form state or non-state agencies causing all problems for the society. In deciding a case on merits of the issue, the judges should know the remote gadgets that are operated in a hidden manner by state agencies violating, seriously, the basic rights of individuals. There are devilish remote machines to make noises, create terror dreams, and make terrorist actions on living beings and the like. It is a matter of shame that caste and, creed and religion plays crude role in selection and promotion of judges in democratic-secular India . Every step is ensured to see only Hindus become judges and only one of them becomes the chef justice of India . Corruption, nepotism and favoritism thus remain the hall mark of judiciary too. Under these circumstances one can visualize the justice part of the Indian judiciary and this explains why grand Babri Mosque tragedy destroyed by the militant Hindu terrorists in 1992 is yet not resolved by the judiciary. Judges are appointed by the ruling party and their government and these judges depend solely on the politicians and bureaucrats for their onward march in their profession. Nepotism, Crime & Dominance: A case study In a notoriously caste-ridden country like India , the select powerful castes dominate the country’s administration. It is a known phenomenon, unfortunately, that the judges behave like authoritarian leaders who pursue their own agenda by being in high seats. They are corrupt and encourage rivalries and tensions in the society. Judges lower their status by compromising on principles for favours and benefits. A former chief justice of AP High court who also was an acting governor of Andhra Pradesh, belonging to the most powerful caste Reddy, got his own daughter in a federal government educational institute in Hyderabad (CIEFL) to become a professor in German with a flawed language and pronunciation. She is a militant like person who thrashes teachers on the campus. Invariably, a Reddy becomes chief-minister of AP and Reddys are specially sent to USA and other Western nations to study and employment. Reddys occupy important positions in administration, judiciary, police and other important domains that control the entire state. In fact the Reddys occupy the chuck of Indians living in USA and West. Andhra Reddys who constitute not even 4 % Telugu population, are the richest class having spread their poisonous tentacles every where in the province as well as country and control the entire AP state through all possible mechanisms. The fact that Reddys are the most powerful in Andhra Pradesh has been capitalized by her and other at the institute to influence the police and judiciary in AP. Today, the CIEFL, started to train school teachers of English has been controlled by extremists and people with criminal records. The current director, originally form Delhi University , had assaulted teachers and had cases in courts of sexual harassment by female teachers. The Manmohan government with Arjun Singh from MP as Human resources minister has chosen him to direct the notorious CIEFL. This small institute is known not for its academic excellence, with its almost zero output, but vicious circles and gangs that the director manipulates to keep himself safe. Any one who does not agree with the gangs is kicked out physically and handed over to police for punitive measures by the courts. (This writer has been one among the victims at this horrid CIEFL who were forced to seek voluntary retirement and yet is denied their benefits after agreeing to for that) The state criminals in CIEFL are protected by the police, court and the state and central agencies while the government is least bothered about the educational standards, except the reports about terrorism in India and abroad. One can visualize the standards of higher educational institutions in India . But the judges should have stayed away from influencing the offices for the selfish ends. Indian government seems to have supplied remote gadgets to some of the inmates of the residential campus of the CIEFL, who, in the name of security, are keen to watch what their neighbors are doing in their bedrooms. That is academic standard of this higher educational institute. With the falling standards of judiciary, the higher educational standards also fall significantly as they have become the certificate issuing agencies on prescribed (plus extra) charges for job purposes in India and abroad. Indian government is eager to make this retched CIEFL a university now. If judiciary takes decision to promote wealth making efforts of the lawyers and judges, how can the universities and institutes be properly organized and effectively used by the public? Post-script India remains one of the glaring examples of how mischievous media networks, insensitive bureaucracy and irresponsible judiciary could irreversibly damage the societal institutions. Interestingly, the media-cum-intelligence networks, focused on painting Muslims as “evils” and “terrorists” in India tolerated by the terrorist but “innocent” India, pass on judgments on terrorist attacks taking place in the country by placing the blame on Muslims and declaring an organization taking responsibility for that. Judges who read such news reports generally fix the prima-facie accordingly, placing Muslims as culprits and Hindus as “sufferers” in a pre-emptive manner. The latest Mumbai blasts case is no different as the media-intelligence has already passed a judgment involving Muslims with an organization readily accepting the blame (this time Pakistan was not named immediately as before, thank God) and the stunt by former colonizer UK in recalling their cricket boys is not a new story for the world, either! Indian Apex court has ruled that judges need not declare their assets. Judiciary conversely states that judges can accept bribes and make wealth of their choice, but, unlike their counterparts in military, executive, legislature, intelligence, police and media, judges are above law and cannot be questioned about their hidden wealth made in profession or other wise. That being the judicial state of affairs, is Judiciary above law? Are judges above Law? Independent judiciary also means freedom to distort facts to protect the state terrorism? Only an efficient judiciary can be productive and responsive to the changing mood of the society and guide the nation by its righteous rulings. Kashmir genocide has been going on for decades by Indian terror forces mainly because Indian government has taken the support of the judiciary for granted. Judiciary should shoulder the prime responsibility for the poor state of affairs in India and worsening the fate of Indian Muslims as well as Kashmiris. The active, though hidden from public view, nexus among the executive, security, intelligence and media have harmed the lives of Muslims in Kashmir and India , but when the judiciary joins the nexus, in order to protect their own “future”, the situation becomes quite torturous. That has indeed happened to Muslims around. They are under state siege and have no hopes whatsoever. All these years judges also said Muslims produced by the government agencies are “terrorists” and hence they should be watched carefully and this converse suggestion emboldened the state agencies to torture the Muslims, more so the Kashmiris. The slow revelations about the Hindu priests abetting terrorism with the support of anti-Muslim Indian media has clearly exposed Indian mind-set pretty clear about its inhuman and terrorist intensions and terror activities. That is to say Indian state is engaged in terrorist activities and Muslims take the blame. Where is the UN? Where is UNSC? Where are the global Human Rights activists? And what the ICJ in The Hague and judiciaries of these democracies are doing? When will the Grand Babri Mosque be rebuilt in India at the original site where it stood before being pulled down by the Hindu terrorists? What is the fate of Afzal Kashmiri who was trapped on falsified charges in Parliament attack, which seems to a slate terrorist act, and has requested the India government to kill him also like other thousands of Kashmiris, in stead of torturing him in Indian jails? Higher education suffers because of the vicious circles operating in academic circles and also nexus between academics, politics and judiciary that encourages criminality in educational institutions. Favoritisms, nepotism, bribery are core to Indian system.. Awards, merits and other honors are obtained by nefarious means today. A few pro-India statements, close links with corridors of power and research projects on terrorism related subjects would earn them a vice-chancellor’s or UGC chair any where in the country. In provinces, the political equations and pro-ruling affiliations- and not the educational merits and academic excellence - decide the eligibility of persons for such positions and foreign returned people related or known to the higher ups are preferred for any posts. Judiciary is unable to intervene in these important matters deciding the fate of the society in significant ways. Do Indian judges, then, think their role in India is fixed by the rulers for ever and, under the circumstances, they should only concerned about their own affairs and onward promotions? Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Justice Denied: Are Indian Judges above Law?How India’s Poor Fight Left & Right e –Voice Of Human Rights Watch – eCROSS-EXAMINATION OF CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA
- Author unknown
Welcome to the New, Tough India!
http://quirkyindian.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/welcome-to-the-...The Indian government has got really tough with the sole surviving Mumbai-attack terrorist it has in its custody. In a ruthless move designed to hurt, they have put him on an all-vegetarian diet. That’ll teach the bastard! While they’re at it, how about learning something from Guantanamo Bay? To really show all those wannabe terrorists out there that India means business – and that they’ll suffer beyond their wildest imagination if they ever dare target India again – why don’t we subject Kasab to some music? Specifically, a strict regimen of Himess Bhai, Bappida and Altaf Raja, coupled with vegetarian food, should not only break the prisoner completely, but would be the most powerful deterrent India has against terrorism. Sometimes I can be so evil, I scare myself.
- Author unknown
Geo Pakistan TV: Mumbai terrorist Amjal Kasab confirmed as Pakistani “resident”
http://culpering355.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/geo-pakistan-tv...Geo TV, a Pakistani television network, has reported that Ajmal Qasab, a.k.a. Mohammed Ajmal Qasab, is a resident of Pakistan: FARID KOT: Ajmal Qasab, allegedly involved in Mumbai attacks and presently in Indian custody, is a resident of Farid Kot, Pakistan. Geo News team that arrived in Farid Kot to investigate this, started inquiring the local people about Ajmal Qasab. Most of the people seemed unwilling to speak. However, a man or two confirmed that Ajmal Qasab’s father Amir Azam Qasab used to sell ‘Pakora’ in the area while his son Ajmal Qasab worked in the crop fields. It was investigated that Ajmal Qasab ran away from home four years ago because his father failed to provide him new clothes on Eid as his son desired. That’s admirable investigative reporting. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Video Allegedly Shows India Terror ArrestPakistani Town Roiled by Alleged Link to Mumbai Suspect
- Author unknown
How To Win Elections, The Hindutva Style!
http://wondersofpakistan.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/how-to-win...Signs of An Attempted “Soft Coup” in New Delhi by Ahmed Quraishi With a traumatized nation and an apparently paralyzed government, millions of secular ideologues and Hindu nationalists are executing a ’soft coup’ in New Delhi to bring to power the hawks who want to pursue America’s agenda of grooming India as a regional policeman, sort out Pakistan and confront China. India will self-destroy in the process. India’s military and intelligence has been penetrated. The man who uncovered the plot, Hemant Karkare, the antiterrorism chief of Mumbai police, was the first target of the mysterious terrorists. Patriotic Indians need to wake up and save their country. Preliminary signs emerging from India’s power center, New Delhi, paint a picture of an unstable situation. Security is already compromised. But a bigger story is taking place in New Delhi, not Mumbai. There are disturbing signs that India, a nuclear-armed nation of a billion people, is witnessing a ’soft coup’ attempt involving secular rightwing ideologues and Hindu nationalists. Exploiting the fears of a traumatized nation and a government caught sleeping at the wheel, a core group of rightwing ideologues within India’s military, intelligence and political elite are trying to overthrow Manmohan Singh’s government. The plan apparently is to help the rise of rightwing elements in power and firmly push India to a confrontation with Pakistan and some other countries in the region. The objective of this core group is to see India emerge as a superpower closely allied with the United States. They are excited about American plans for India as a regional policeman and have no problem in confronting China and Pakistan to achieve this status. They think time is slipping and they don’t want a hesitant political leadership in their way. Already the instability in the wake of Mumbai attacks is being exploited to start a war with Pakistan. The fact that this will also help U.S. military that is facing a tough time in Afghanistan appears to be more than just a coincidence. In the very first hours of the Mumbai attack, the unknown terrorists were able to achieve a singular feat: the targeted murder of Hemant Karkare, the chief antiterrorism officer in the Indian police. The man was responsible for exposing the secret links between the Indian military and Hindu terror groups. His investigation resulted in uncovering the involvement of three Indian military intelligence officers in terrorist acts that were blamed on Muslim groups. At the time of his murder, Karkare was pursuing leads that were supposed to uncover the depth of the nexus between the Indian military and the sudden rise of well armed and well financed Hindu terrorism groups with their wide network of militant training camps across India. Curiously, a CCTV camera has caught on tape one of the unknown terrorists when he arrived with his group at their first target: a train station. The man, dressed in a jeans and a black T-shirt and carrying a machine gun [see picture below], is wearing an orange-colored wrist band very common among religious Hindus. As a comparison, a recent picture of a Hindu militant activist taken during an event this year is shown on the top where the militant is wearing a similar band. A CCTV snapshot of one of the Mumbai terrorists, wearing the sacred Hindu armband and carrying a machine gun. Right, below, a picture of a typical member of Hindu terror groups, wearing the same armband. The band is sacred to fundamentalist Hindus who believe wearing it shows devotion and brings good luck from gods. An aggressive advertisement campaign has already begun across India urging a scared population to rise against the government.On Friday, front-page ads appeared in several newspapers in Delhi showing blood splattered against a black background and the slogan “Brutal Terror Strikes At Will” in bold capital letters. The ads signed off with a simple message: “Fight Terror. Vote B.J.P.” The Indian, the Pakistani and the international media has not woken up yet to this ’soft coup’ taking place in New Delhi. Some observers and journalists are beginning to catch its first signs. This is how a New York Times reporter, Somini Sengupta, has characterized it today: “Mr. Singh’s government had lately hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party with evidence that its supporters, belonging to a range of radical Hindu organizations, had … been implicated in terrorist attacks. Indeed, in a bizarre twist, the head of the police antiterrorism unit, Hemant Karkare, killed in the Mumbai strikes, had been in the midst of a high-profile investigation of a suspected Hindu terrorist cell. Mr. Karkare’s inquiry had netted nine suspects in connection with a bombing in September of a Muslim-majority area in Malegaon, a small town not far from Mumbai. “ Evidence is emerging that Karkare knew he was facing the prospect of a violent death because of the investigation he was pursuing. What Karkare probably didn’t know is that his elimination would come in such a perfectly executed operation.Only hours before Karkare’s violent death, his close friend, retired Colonel Rahul Gowardhan, received an envelope. Karkare called him to say he was sending him a confidential letter. This is how Times of India has reported the story:Just some hours before that, Karkare had sent a letter to him in an envelope which had some “personal” content. “Hemant had called me up on Wednesday,” said Gowardhan, a top official with MSEDCL. “As I was in a meeting, we decided to postpone the talk. He hung up saying he would be sending me an envelope. When I wanted to know the content, he told me to just read the letter that’s inside it. I returned home and read it. I cannot share the content of the letter with anyone,” said Gowardhan. The highly sophisticated nature of the attack in Mumbai, lasting for almost 60 hours, diminishes the chances of a foreign invasion and increases the possibility that influential elements in Indian intelligence and Hindu militant organizations might have helped orchestrate this incident, pretty much like they did in the Sept. 29 Malegaon attack, in which they tried to simulate a Muslim terrorist group. In that attack, in which three Indian military intelligence officers have been arrested, the objective was to provoke a Muslim backlash that could justify a massive state crackdown against minorities.Observers are already seeing how the hawks within the Indian establishment and Hindu militant organizations have seized the initiative from a paralyzed government. The Indian army and intelligence are already penetrated. Now the real culprits are channeling the fears of a traumatized people toward Pakistan. India is on the same path today that the Bush administration hawks took the American nation on after 9/11. But this time, patriotic Indians have the benefit of hindsight. They should stop the secular warmongers and Hindu militants from hijacking their country. The future of the entire region depends on it. Ahmed Quraishi is a Pakistani writer, TV Anchorman and a Political Commentator © 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
- Author unknown
Who is creating terror?
http://datacluster.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/who-is-creating-...I copied this from Yahoo! News, an article from Hindustan Times. The buck stops where? Wed, Dec 3 02:35 AM As Mumbai recovers from the carnage of last week, the predominant emotion on the streets is not sorrow or despair. What comes through most strongly is the anger of its citizens. And frankly, how could they not be angry? Their city has been brutally ravaged, their iconic landmarks targeted, their people used as gun fodder. Anger is a natural response in the circumstances. What surprised me, though, was the target of that anger. Their rage wasn’t directed at the terrorists. No one was raving and ranting about these murderous fanatics who had tried to destroy everything we hold dear. Nobody was asking, “How dare these people target us?” or “What do they want from us”, or even “Why do they hate us so much?” No, all the anger was focused on our politicians. They were the ones being berated for having betrayed us; being attacked for having let us all down. They were the ones being flayed for allowing this to happen. At a certain level, this response was understandable. In times of crises, when we feel helpless, we tend to turn on authority figures whose job it is to protect us. And certainly, there is no doubt that the politicians did fail. What was alarming was the way this outrage was expressed: in terms of civil disobedience with people threatening not to vote, not to pay their taxes. As everyone from Page Three celebrities to movie stars lined up in front of TV cameras to have their say, one thing rapidly became clear. Our reaction to a terror strike was to hit back hard - not at the shadowy perpetrators of this massacre but at the politicians who we blame for having turned India into a soft State. As I watched these images being played out on the TV screen, I flashed back to the last time people were out on the streets in a similar manner, protesting a terrorist strike against India. The year was 1999 and terrorists had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane - IC 814 - and flew it to Kandahar in Afghanistan. They demanded the release of some of their fellow murderers languishing in Indian jails in exchange for the lives of the passengers. How do you think the government responded? Did it refuse pointblank to engage with the hijackers? Did it refuse to allow its citizens’ lives to be used as currency by the terrorists? Did it announce that India would never negotiate with terrorists or give in to their demands? Of course, it didn’t. And we all know why. It was because the people were out on the streets demanding that the government give in to these demands. We all remember the scenes of sheer hysteria played out in the media. Relatives of the hostages weeping outside Race Course Road, shrilly demanding that their loved ones be brought back no matter what the price, their pleas and anger magnified by the news channels that provided them the oxygen of publicity round the clock. The government of the day capitulated to the pressure of its people and the then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh flew out to Kandahar with three terrorists who were released in exchange for the hostages. Since then, one of the released terrorists, Maulana Masood Azhar, is back fomenting hatred against India in his jihadist-recruitment speeches. And another, Omar Sheikh was later implicated in the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. In retrospect, the decision to release these terrorists shames us all. But can we repudiate our own culpability in this shameful episode? At no point did we, the people of India, ever tell our government in unequivocal terms: do not give in to these terrorists. Never ever did we tell our government to take a tough stand. Yes, India has exposed itself as a soft State where dealing with terrorists is concerned. And the politicians must take the blame for that. But we the people must bear some measure of responsibility for having helped create this soft State. Let’s not forget that at the end of the day, a government is only as strong as its people. After going through this article, I wonder who is creating this terror?
- Photo of towleroad
News: Mumbai, Pilot Whales, Britney Spears, Scuba, Pregnant Man
http://www.towleroad.com/2008/12/scuba-dive-in-t.htmlA grim first look inside the Taj Hotel following the weekend's deadly terrorist siege in Mumbai. The owner of the Taj said the hotel had temporarily increased security following a warning they received. The Big Picture offers some powerful and troubling photos. Hostages were reportedly tortured. Photographer who took photos of terrorist says he wishes he had a gun rather than a camera. This video allegedly shows the final living terrorist beaten and arrested. Condoleezza Rice heads to India. Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire wins big at British independent film awards (Bifas): "...the story of a Mumbai teenage boy who astounds all around him by doing well on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire quiz show, won best film, best director and best newcomer for its British lead." Pregnant man Thomas Beatie and family go international. Scottish women targeted in homophobic gravel attack: "Police say the happened at around 2am yesterday morning as the pair made their way along Duke Street towards Lochend Road following a night out. The women, aged 34 and 35 were then subjected homophobic abuse by two men who were walking in the opposite direction. The men then picked up gravel from the ground and threw it. One of the women had gravel thrown directly in her face before both men ran off towards Leith Links." Britney Spears goes on the record, brings Circus to X-Factor. Scientists: Blueberries can improve memory. Nature/nurture argument for homosexuality to be informed by forthcoming study of twins. Scuba dive in the middle of the Utah desert. Judge rules murder of gay man in Australia not homophobic: "The court had heard Fleming, 35, and the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sharing a beer at a Narrabeen toilet block while sheltering from a storm. Fleming, a 'gentle, childlike man' with Asperger’s Syndrome later approached the youth with his trousers down and attempted to hug him. NSW Supreme Court justice David Kirby said the killing was the result of a failure of communication. 'He feared that he may be raped or sexually assaulted,' Kirby told the court as he handed down the sentence. 'He says, and I accept, he is not homophobic.'" Gay penguins segregated at China zoo after urge to father children leads them to steal eggs. No doubt the wingnuts will be all over this story. Tampa, Florida area sees shift in attitudes toward gay people: "The gay and lesbian community that left Ybor City in the early 1990s is returning to play a key role in its resurrection. A local salsa instructor is satisfying a growing interest in a class for gay and lesbian dancers. And in Palmetto, the nation's first gay and lesbian retirement community is appealing to people nationwide seeking a slice of Florida paradise. Perhaps no sign of support is clearer than the election of Kevin Beckner, the county's first openly gay commissioner. He defeated Brian Blair, a supporter of the county's ban on recognizing gay pride." British rugby league adopts stance against homophobia: "League officials say posters and logos carrying the message, 'Some people are gay. Get over it!' will be displayed at rugby league grounds, in programs and fan areas, as a bid to promote LGBT integration in the sport. Ben Affleck shaves his head. More than 150 pilot whales die in mass stranding in Tasmania. Gay Catholic's book ruffles frocks at Boston church. Secret behind Tina Fey's scar revealed. Norman Mailer writer's colony to launch in May in Provincetown: "Still in its planning stages, the center, to be funded entirely through private donations, is scheduled to host at least seven weeklong seminars next summer, as well as monthlong fellowships and other events. And that's just the first season, Schiller said. Colony organizers include an advisory board of noted authors, among them Günter Grass, Joan Didion and Doris Kearns Goodwin. They are still planning the curriculum for the fall and winter seasons...The summer seminars, which will begin in May and end in August, will range in theme from first-person journalism to documentary filmmaking." Huffington Post raises $25 million in new capital from OAk Investment Partners. Warrant out for Polish man suspected in homophobic UK attack.
- Photo of Emily
Video Allegedly Shows India Terror Arrest
http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2008/12/021...Grainy cell-phone video obtained by CBSNews shows the moments before police in Mumbai arrested the only living suspect in the 60-hour terror rampage that began last Wednesday and eventually left at least 170 people dead.
- Photo of usatnews http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/12/news-roundup-re...
Posted by Mike Carney at 08:21 AM/ET, December 01, 2008 in Today's papers and sites | Permalink | Comments (0) | Recommends
More rising blog posts
Business »
Is The Stock Market Cheap?-
Lifestyle »
Sociology is Almost Ready to Acknowledge Genetics 3 -
Politics »
1,000 St. Louisans Pack the JCC to Show Support For Israel -
Technology »
Manage Amazon EC2 With New Web-Based AWS Management Console -
Entertainment »
Square Enix to distribute Ubisoft games in Japan -
Sports »
National Championship Game Under Way
More rising news stories
Business »
Atlanta Journal: Hard Times Find Replica of White House for Sale-
Lifestyle »
Has Pakistan Outwitted India? -
Politics »
Op-Ed Columnist: The Dominion of the Dead -
Technology »
More names mentioned for NASA post -
Entertainment »
Ugly Betty's Ana Ortiz Is Pregnant -
Sports »
BCS is a political football in 2009