International University of America,London
"Beware".
I was shocked to learn that anyone can purchase a degree, Bachelors or Masters from online dubious universities without having to complete the course of study for as much as 3000 pound sterlings.
Some of our unscruplous politicians grabbed this golden opportunity and bought their way into the august house such as National Assembly of Pakistan.
Corruption is always linked to third world countries like Pakistan. however, In this "SCAM" of selling fake degrees, entities belonging to countries like USA, Canada, UK & Great Britain are involved.
International University of America is one of such dubious online university conferring degrees to individuals without verifying their previous record of education. IUA has issued Bachelors degrees to people who have not even finished high school.
IUA claims that they are operating in Australia, Great Britain, Canada and USA, it is further claimed by this university that degrees awarded by them are recognised/accredited by the departments of education in all of the above mentioned countries, which is totally misleading and incorrect.
Some of the Parliamentarians have alreday been disqualified for producing dubious/fake degrees acquired from such universities and casesw of others are being proceeded in the Election Tribunals constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
IUA does not exist in the United States of America, Canada and Australia. It was operating from a flat in London but since the official inquiry has begun, IUA has shut down their operation and moved from their previous address. IUA has also closed their web site to avoid legal repercussions.
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan too does not recognise this university or qualifications awarded by them.
This article is purely in public interest so that innocent education seekers are not robbed and fraudsters brought to the book.
[Defs,uk, deus and Australia]
=================================
Dacoits free 20 hostages, 2 remain in captivity
SUKKUR The law-enforcement agencies after a four-day struggle succeeded in getting released 20 hostages, including three women and two minor girls, on Sunday. Sources in Guddu told The News that the release of the hostages took place after hectic negotiations -- with the permission granted by IGP Sindh Rana Maqbool Ahmed.
The IGP is encamped at Guddu for the last four days and some influentials of the area, including MPA Saleem Jan Mazari, Mir Sunder Khan Sundrani, Mir Hakim Ali Sundrani, Khalid Bharchundi, Jan Muhammad Loher, Deedar Khoso and others, participated in the negotiations.
Sources said that the dacoits had placed their terms and conditions for the release of the dacoits. A source close to the negotiators told The News that the dacoits demanded the release of Ghulam Rasool Shaikh alias Commando, who was in jail and allegedly involved in the kidnapping of the Japanese engineers.
However, the IGP -- who was supervising the operation -- told The News on telephone that the hostages were released under tactical pressure of the police during the last four days. He said in the past the police had failed to apply professional tactics. He said that the operation would continue till the recovery of every hostage. Those responsible persons would be arrested dead or alive, he added.
According to police officials, they gave the dacoits assurance that cooperation would be extended to them. The dacoits first demanded ransom and also the release of Commando Shaikh, but the IGP turned it down. He said that if the hostages were not released, a major operation would be launched which would cause irreparable loss to them.
Accordingly, the dacoits released the hostages in groups. First the family of Hindus was released in a boat near Nagwah, Ghotki district, and two hostages in all were released in small groups of four or five hostages at different sites. Now only four hostages were in the custody of the dacoits. It is expected that they will be released in the night or by early Monday morning.
However, the IG contradicted any precondition. It is known that Kamal Faqir Shaikh was leading the gang of 50 dacoits, who were engaged in committing heinous crimes in the area. Police had been launching operations in the area in the past, but failed to overcome them.
The hostages recovered were identified as Haq Nawaz s/o Akram Pathan, Maher Khan s/o Muhammad Aslam, Ghulam Rasool s/o Allah Rakhio, Mir Aslam s/o Shah Khan Khattak, Khudadad Khan s/o Khudai Rahim, Ashfaq Hussain s/o Nisar Hussain, Muhammad Irfan s/o Sarwar Khan, Daresh Mal, Rekha w/o Ashok Kumar, Sania d/o Ashok Kumar, Sapna d/o Nanak Ram, Sheela w/o Inder Lal, Priyanka d/o Inder Lal, Ghulam Nabi s/o Ghulam Rasool, Ghulam Abbas s/o Koro, Muhammad Khan s/o Mohsin Khan, Muhammad Sharif s/o Ahmed Shah.
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Posted by mukhtiar ali on Mar 30, 2004
=================================
Saleem Jan Mazaris degree challenged
By our correspondent
SUKKUR: A Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarian (PPPP) leader on Friday challenged the graduation degree of Saleem Jan Mazari, an MNA from Kashmore in Jacobabad district.
Mir Imran Khan Bijarani, a member of the PPPPs central committee, said that he had sent a memorandum to the Election Commission of Pakistan, in this regard. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said that along with the memorandum, he had also sent a letter from the concerned authorities in the USA, UK, and Australia that there was no university named the International University was registered in the education sector in the USA, UK or Australia; therefore it could not issue any degree.
He said that it was also verified from all the cities and the education department of Pakistan that such a university had been never registered with the education department. He said that after such verification, Saleem Jan Mazari, who claimed himself a graduate of that university, had no right to sit in the national assembly. Mir Imran Khan Bijarani demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan to cancel the membership of Mazari and conduct by-election for the seat.
=====================================================
Persecution in Pakistan
Living in fear
By Imdad Soomro
24 Apr 2003
The Hindu communities in Sindh are victims of the terrible law and order situation which remains under the control oflocal influentials, writes Imdad Soomro.
Khahi, a city near Shikarpur, once a business hub of the Hindu community in Sindh, is now deserted. "The city was known for its flourishing business of cotton and cloth materials, when the local businessmen used to trade with the neighbouring cities of Jacobabad and Sukkur," reminisced an 80-year-old resident of the area. Along with this one time peaceful city there are many others nearby, inhabited by the Hindu community, which have lately been targeted by dacoits, patharidars and robbers, forcing most to leave their ancestral homes and property for safer areas.
For the residents of upper Sindh, especially Hindus, these are terrible times. In the hub cities of this community - Jacobabad, Thul, Kashmore and Shikarpur - you will find a majority of the community all set to leave their native cities. "Most of us want to shift to bigger cities now," says Bacha Ram Sewhani, a naib president of the Hindu panchayat Jacobabad. He was robbed a week ago in the middle of the city. Having lived for centuries in Sindh, the Hindu community now feels victimized. "Only in the last four months, some 25 people of our community have been kidnapped in the Thul, Kashmore and Kandhkot talukas of Jacobabad district," says Ramesh Laal, a rice mill owner.
For safety, the Hindu business community living in these areas relies on, and is at the mercy, of the sardars. It was disclosed that the Hindu businessmen pay dunn (a sort of ransom) to the influential sardars of the area. "We have no other way of protecting ourselves except to pay dunn to the sardars of several tribes," confessed Laal.
In Thul, almost 80 per cent of the business conducted by Hindus is carried out in collaboration with the sardars. Many sardars also receive financial assistance from Hindu seths during elections, this serves as a reciprocity that also ensures their security.
Last year, a Hindu seth Ashok Kumar of Rohri was kidnapped by a dozen dacoits and released only after a deal was struck with an influential of the area. "We possess no weapons, and have no strong baradari (tribe). How can we be protected without the cooperation of local sardars?" questioned a young Hindu seth who wishes to remain anonymous.
Though the law and order situation has affected everyone living in the area, it is particularly bad for the Hindu community because it has left their homes and businesses vulnerable. "They are both socially and financially insecure," says Eshaware Laal, president of the Hindu panchayat in Sukkur. But he sees hope and feels optimistic about the joint electorate system. "We will have elected representatives who will surely address the grave dangers we are facing," he adds.
The first shocking incident of kidnapping occurred in the year 2000 near Kashmore, in which 12 women including two from the Hindu community, were kidnapped by the gang of the notorious dacoit Kamal Fakeer Shaikh. As a matter of respect to women, it is widely believed that even dacoits in Sindh bow their heads before the women and never allow gang-members to insult them. Paro Chandio, a renowned dacoit during General Zia's time, was well known for his treatment of women. He held them in the samerespect as that of a mother or sister. He also helped finance several poor families with their daughters' marriages.
In the Kashmore kidnapping incident all the Muslim women were released but the two young Hindu women of Thul were kept in the panahgah (hiding place). The Sukkur divisional administration during the time, reportedly intervened and 'pressurized' the then PML MPA Sandra Saleem Jan Mazari and Chief Sardar Sunder Khan Sunderani who went into the forest for the girls' recovery.
"The Hindu women were freed after paying a heavy ransom," an insider disclosed. This was the first ever incident of its kind in the history of such dacoities, that have taken place in Sindh and they caused anguish to the Hindu community throughout Sindh. "I have only one remorse and feel guilty that those women were kept in my hiding place," confessed Kamal Fakeer, who was arrested recently in Thatta district. While talking to local reporters he exposed that it was not him who kidnapped the women, but another gang had been responsible for the kidnapping and they had handed them over to him (Fakeer). After the frightening incident, many families opted to migrate to India to their relatives and many others left for Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. "There are visa problems these days, but once they are resolved we will have no other alternative but to leave," said Kishan Laal, general secretary Hindu panchayat, Jacobabad. He alleged that it is the sardars who foster these dacoits and criminals. "But the locals and neighbours are our friends and they are there with us in trying times,"he maintained. "Cases of robberies and kidnappings have increased nowadays," said Babu Maheesh, president of the Hindu community and a businessman. "The administration and police are cooperating with us but we still face great difficulties." He said everyone suffers from the difficult situation of law and order in these parts of the district but the Hindu community has beenparticularly targeted.
There is a need for mutual support and understanding of the local influentials if peace is to prevail otherwise the situation could worsen.
=========================================
Non-Graduate Parliamentarians
Condition of graduation may hit heavyweights
KARACHI, Jan 25: The condition of graduation for contesting in the national and provincial assemblies' elections will put a large number of politicians in Sindh out of the political arena.
Although the decision has been welcomed by people from all walks of life, except the urban-based political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Jamaat-i-Islami, almost all the leading political parties, including the PPP and the PML, have criticized the government's decision.
According to the PPP, there is no guarantee that a graduate member of the parliament will be a sincere representative of the masses than a non-graduate.
A spokesman for the party, citing examples of the well-known social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi, asked how could he be a member of the assemblies after imposition of the condition, despite his being a renowned sympathizer of the people.
A Jamaat-i-Islami spokesman welcomed the decision but opined that the minorities would be the ultimate looser due to the restoration of joint electoral system and because of the condition of graduation to be a criterion for contesting the polls. However, lauding the decision, the spokesman said it should have been taken much earlier, as there must be some set standards for the public representatives.
"There is no match between the two members - the under-matriculate and the highly qualified one," he added.
A survey shows that besides the PPP stalwarts, the graduation condition will put a large number of independent politicians in Sindh in an awkward situation.
The political bigwigs of Thatta - Eijaz Ali Sherazi and the incumbent Nazim of Thatta, Shafqat Ali Shah Sherazi, more than two-time elected MNAs Babu Ghulam Hussain Memon and Ghulam Qadir Malkani - will not qualify the condition, while the heavyweight and the ever-winning candidate from Dadu, Kotri and Sehwan, Malik Asad Sikandar is also a non-graduate.
According to observers, Malik Asad Sikandar will suffer more as his brothers are so young that he will have to place his friend Pir Bux Khaskheli in the forefront.
Twice-elected MNA from Dadu, Haji Mohammad Bux Jamali, is too a non- graduate politician.
Sardar Babul Khan Jakhrani, Agha Ghulam Ali Buledi, Sardar Sher Mohammad Bijarani, Hakim Ali Sundarani, Sundar Khan Sundarani, Mir Mehran Khan Bijarani, Saleem Jan Mazari and Ali Nawaz Shehlani - the heavyweights of Jacobabad district - are also non-graduates, leaving the political field open for Sardar Manzoor Panhwar, Naseer Khoso, Muqeem Khoso, Mir Imran Khan Bijarani, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Eijaz Jakhrani, Sudham Chand and Mir Hassan Khoso to show their muscles.
The political field in Shikarpur district is also open for the new-comers as the bigwigs of the district, Sardar Himmat Kumario, Babul Khan Bhayyo, Moulana Abdullah Pahor and Siraj Shah Amroti, are reportedly non-graduates. The linchpin of election politics of Ghotki district, Sardar Ali Gohar Khan Mahar, is also a non-graduate, while Ahmed Yar Shar, Raheem Bux Bozdar and Mian Mitho also do not qualify the new condition.
A similar situation is being witnessed in district Sukkur as Ghulam Mustafa Bozadar, Maulana Murad Halejvi also fall in the list of non-graduates.
Come to the Khairpur district, where Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Bashir Bhaban, Faqir Bakht Heesbani, Mohammad Ali Bhaban and Pir Gul Shah also fall in the category of non-graduates, clearing the way for Qaim Ali Shah, Ghous Ali Shah, Zafar Bilal, Javed Shah, Pervez Ali Shah, Naeem Kharal, Manzoor Wassan, Sadruddin Shah and Raja Sain to continue their politics without any hurdles.
The hard-boiled and time-tested politicians of Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar districts - Noor Mohammad Shah Jeelani, Mir Hayyat Talpur, Khair Mohammad Bhurgari, Ghulam Mohammad Khaskheli, Ghulam Mohammad Lat, Gul Mohammad Memon, Jadam Mangrio, Arbab Amir Hassan, Arbab Ataullah, Syed Mardan Shah - also do not qualify the condition.
The Jatoi family of Naushehro Feroze seems to be lucky as all the active political figures of the area, including Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, his sons and nephew are educated. Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Murad Ali are also highly-educated personalities of their constituencies, while Rahmatullah Beehan and Raza Mohammad Dahri are reportedly non-graduates.
Ghafoor Nizamani, Bashir Halepoto and Mir Allah Bux Talpur of Badin district also fall in the list of non-graduates, paving the way for Fahmida Mirza and other new-comers, while Abdus Sattar Bachani and Latif Mangrio are also non-graduates.-PPI
============================================
Dacoits free 20 hostages, 2 remain in captivity
SUKKUR The law-enforcement agencies after a four-day struggle succeeded in getting released 20 hostages, including three women and two minor girls, on Sunday. Sources in Guddu told The News that the release of the hostages took place after hectic negotiations -- with the permission granted by IGP Sindh Rana Maqbool Ahmed.
The IGP is encamped at Guddu for the last four days and some influentials of the area, including MPA Saleem Jan Mazari, Mir Sunder Khan Sundrani, Mir Hakim Ali Sundrani, Khalid Bharchundi, Jan Muhammad Loher, Deedar Khoso and others, participated in the negotiations.
Sources said that the dacoits had placed their terms and conditions for the release of the dacoits. A source close to the negotiators told The News that the dacoits demanded the release of Ghulam Rasool Shaikh alias Commando, who was in jail and allegedly involved in the kidnapping of the Japanese engineers.
However, the IGP -- who was supervising the operation -- told The News on telephone that the hostages were released under tactical pressure of the police during the last four days. He said in the past the police had failed to apply professional tactics. He said that the operation would continue till the recovery of every hostage. Those responsible persons would be arrested dead or alive, he added.
According to police officials, they gave the dacoits assurance that cooperation would be extended to them. The dacoits first demanded ransom and also the release of Commando Shaikh, but the IGP turned it down. He said that if the hostages were not released, a major operation would be launched which would cause irreparable loss to them.
Accordingly, the dacoits released the hostages in groups. First the family of Hindus was released in a boat near Nagwah, Ghotki district, and two hostages in all were released in small groups of four or five hostages at different sites. Now only four hostages were in the custody of the dacoits. It is expected that they will be released in the night or by early Monday morning.
However, the IG contradicted any precondition. It is known that Kamal Faqir Shaikh was leading the gang of 50 dacoits, who were engaged in committing heinous crimes in the area. Police had been launching operations in the area in the past, but failed to overcome them.
The hostages recovered were identified as Haq Nawaz s/o Akram Pathan, Maher Khan s/o Muhammad Aslam, Ghulam Rasool s/o Allah Rakhio, Mir Aslam s/o Shah Khan Khattak, Khudadad Khan s/o Khudai Rahim, Ashfaq Hussain s/o Nisar Hussain, Muhammad Irfan s/o Sarwar Khan, Daresh Mal, Rekha w/o Ashok Kumar, Sania d/o Ashok Kumar, Sapna d/o Nanak Ram, Sheela w/o Inder Lal, Priyanka d/o Inder Lal, Ghulam Nabi s/o Ghulam Rasool, Ghulam Abbas s/o Koro, Muhammad Khan s/o Mohsin Khan, Muhammad Sharif s/o Ahmed Shah.
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Posted by mukhtiar ali on Mar 30, 2004
====================================
Saleem Jan Mazaris degree challenged
By our correspondent
SUKKUR: A Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarian (PPPP) leader on Friday challenged the graduation degree of Saleem Jan Mazari, an MNA from Kashmore in Jacobabad district.
Mir Imran Khan Bijarani, a member of the PPPPs central committee, said that he had sent a memorandum to the Election Commission of Pakistan, in this regard. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said that along with the memorandum, he had also sent a letter from the concerned authorities in the USA, UK, and Australia that there was no university named the International University was registered in the education sector in the USA, UK or Australia; therefore it could not issue any degree.
He said that it was also verified from all the cities and the education department of Pakistan that such a university had been never registered with the education department. He said that after such verification, Saleem Jan Mazari, who claimed himself a graduate of that university, had no right to sit in the national assembly. Bijarani demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan to cancel the membership of Mazari and conduct by-election for the seat.
=================================================
Persecution in Pakistan
Living in fear
By Imdad Soomro
24 Apr 2003
The Hindu communities in Sindh are victims of the terrible law and order situation which remains under the control oflocal influentials, writes Imdad Soomro.
Khahi, a city near Shikarpur, once a business hub of the Hindu community in Sindh, is now deserted. "The city was known for its flourishing business of cotton and cloth materials, when the local businessmen used to trade with the neighbouring cities of Jacobabad and Sukkur," reminisced an 80-year-old resident of the area. Along with this one time peaceful city there are many others nearby, inhabited by the Hindu community, which have lately been targeted by dacoits, patharidars and robbers, forcing most to leave their ancestral homes and property for safer areas.
For the residents of upper Sindh, especially Hindus, these are terrible times. In the hub cities of this community - Jacobabad, Thul, Kashmore and Shikarpur - you will find a majority of the community all set to leave their native cities. "Most of us want to shift to bigger cities now," says Bacha Ram Sewhani, a naib president of the Hindu panchayat Jacobabad. He was robbed a week ago in the middle of the city. Having lived for centuries in Sindh, the Hindu community now feels victimized. "Only in the last four months, some 25 people of our community have been kidnapped in the Thul, Kashmore and Kandhkot talukas of Jacobabad district," says Ramesh Laal, a rice mill owner.
For safety, the Hindu business community living in these areas relies on, and is at the mercy, of the sardars. It was disclosed that the Hindu businessmen pay dunn (a sort of ransom) to the influential sardars of the area. "We have no other way of protecting ourselves except to pay dunn to the sardars of several tribes," confessed Laal.
In Thul, almost 80 per cent of the business conducted by Hindus is carried out in collaboration with the sardars. Many sardars also receive financial assistance from Hindu seths during elections, this serves as a reciprocity that also ensures their security.
Last year, a Hindu seth Ashok Kumar of Rohri was kidnapped by a dozen dacoits and released only after a deal was struck with an influential of the area. "We possess no weapons, and have no strong baradari (tribe). How can we be protected without the cooperation of local sardars?" questioned a young Hindu seth who wishes to remain anonymous.
Though the law and order situation has affected everyone living in the area, it is particularly bad for the Hindu community because it has left their homes and businesses vulnerable. "They are both socially and financially insecure," says Eshaware Laal, president of the Hindu panchayat in Sukkur. But he sees hope and feels optimistic about the joint electorate system. "We will have elected representatives who will surely address the grave dangers we are facing," he adds.
The first shocking incident of kidnapping occurred in the year 2000 near Kashmore, in which 12 women including two from the Hindu community, were kidnapped by the gang of the notorious dacoit Kamal Fakeer Shaikh. As a matter of respect to women, it is widely believed that even dacoits in Sindh bow their heads before the women and never allow gang-members to insult them. Paro Chandio, a renowned dacoit during General Zia's time, was well known for his treatment of women. He held them in the samerespect as that of a mother or sister. He also helped finance several poor families with their daughters' marriages.
In the Kashmore kidnapping incident all the Muslim women were released but the two young Hindu women of Thul were kept in the panahgah (hiding place). The Sukkur divisional administration during the time, reportedly intervened and 'pressurized' the then PML MPA, Saleem Jan Mazari and Chief Sardar Sunder Khan Sunderani who went into the forest for the girls' recovery.
"The Hindu women were freed after paying a heavy ransom," an insider disclosed. This was the first ever incident of its kind in the history of such dacoities, that have taken place in Sindh and they caused anguish to the Hindu community throughout Sindh. "I have only one remorse and feel guilty that those women were kept in my hiding place," confessed Kamal Fakeer, who was arrested recently in Thatta district. While talking to local reporters he exposed that it was not him who kidnapped the women, but another gang had been responsible for the kidnapping and they had handed them over to him (Fakeer). After the frightening incident, many families opted to migrate to India to their relatives and many others left for Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. "There are visa problems these days, but once they are resolved we will have no other alternative but to leave," said Kishan Laal, general secretary Hindu panchayat, Jacobabad. He alleged that it is the sardars who foster these dacoits and criminals. "But the locals and neighbours are our friends and they are there with us in trying times,"he maintained. "Cases of robberies and kidnappings have increased nowadays," said Babu Maheesh, president of the Hindu community and a businessman. "The administration and police are cooperating with us but we still face great difficulties." He said everyone suffers from the difficult situation of law and order in these parts of the district but the Hindu community has beenparticularly targeted.
There is a need for mutual support and understanding of the local influentials if peace is to prevail otherwise the situation could worsen.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Has Taken the name Esther...wears a red thread" > D *** NGED PENN STATE PIZZA SUBS, D *** NGED CARS PLUS COMMERCIALS! And the winner of the Black Madonna versus White Madonna OWG lightsaber duel is ...Angelina Jolie and her Chinese=Asian tattoos???
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
After 2012, quakes will start becoming GLOBAL MAGNITUDINAL, not merely local or regional. Science articles argued this last week that when the Sun begins its swellings, the rock of planet Earth will remain but no life will exist on the rock. *THEOLOGICAL QUESTION FOR THE VATICAN > Does destroying the asteroid-comets to save life in near term in LT actually ends up destroying life.
Nawaz Sharif is being denied outside contact in Jeddah, and all communication links to Sharif Palace have been severed and no one is allowed to meet him, Dawn News reported on Saturday. According to the channel, opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who arrived in Jeddah on Friday, tried to meet Sharif but failed. Authorities outside Sharif Palace did not even allow Fazl to call Nawaz on his cell phone, the channel added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
That's some great political asylum the KSA is running there. Got the asylum part right, it seems...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/16/2007 9:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Saudi Hospitality
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 9:16 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Could it be that the royals are beginning to rethink their strategy of pouring gasoline on the fire? Or is it that the Saudis realize how Sharif might help destabilize things enough where we'd finally have the perfect excuse to start mopping up Pakistan's madrassas their terror factories?
The sole suspect in the radiation poisoning death of a former KGB agent announced plans to run for parliament Sunday on the ticket of a pro-Kremlin ultranationalist party.
Of *course* he is. Sheesh.
Andrei Lugovoi, another former KGB officer who met with Alexander Litvinenko at a London hotel bar on Nov. 1 hours before Litvinenko fell ill, told state-run Russia Today television that he had no desire to go into politics but changed his mind because of British accusations. Now a Moscow businessman who runs a private security agency, Lugovoi said Sunday that he would be No. 2 on the list of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party in December's parliamentary elections.
Britain has identified Lugovoi as the main suspect in the death and and demanded his extradition. Russia has rejected the demand, saying its constitution forbids it, and Putin has called the demands a vestige of British "colonial thinking." Lugovoi has dismissed the accusations and accused British authorities of hurting his business interests. "I was a businessman, but no longer, thanks to the disgusting policy of British prosecutors which led to this political hysteria," Lugovoi told Russia Today. "With the situation being highly politicized by British opponents, I find myself in the midst of a political wave of interest in me."
Zhirinovsky, a flamboyant politician who heeds the Kremlin's orders, said his party congress would confirm Lugovoi's position on the party list on Monday. He dismissed British charges against Lugovoi as "an attempt to organize provocations against our citizens," the Interfax news agency reported.
The European Commission gave a lukewarm reception Thursday to French demands to set up a group of "wise men" to debate the EU's future as a condition for not blocking membership talks with Turkey. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that the call by French President Nicolas Sarkozy was "interesting" but that "it would be independent work, which would not replace the decisions of (EU) institutions. It doesn't mean that the institutions couldn't listen," he said.
France has put the brakes on Turkey's membership talks but Sarkozy has said he would not block the discussions if a group of "wise men" was established by 2009 to debate the goals and ambitions of the EU over the next two decades. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was also cool on the demand last week, saying that the union already had a "long debate" on its future expansion last year.
Turkey began EU accession negotiations in October 2005 but it has only managed to open four of the 35 chapters, or policy areas, that all candidates must complete to join. Croatia, which began talks the same day, has opened 12.
Croatia doesn't have a bunch of holy men running things.
Turkey's talks are expected to last at least a decade, with no guarantee of membership at the end of it all. The process has been hampered by Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot ships and planes.
Among other things.
"What kind of things?"
"Things."
#2
Turks killed more Europeans than anyone, until Hitler. And the country is lead by an Islamofascist government that bribes voters with Euro money, and promises of easy emigration.
#3
Perhaps Sarkozy is just trying to get Europe to militate towards a position that an Islamic country like Turkey simply isn't welcome at all. Hey, I can dream.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, paying a visit to his ancestral homeland of Hungary, Friday sought to improve ties with central Europe damaged in a row in 2003 over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. "The European Union is not made up of small and big countries, of ones that have the right to speak and others that have the right to keep quiet. There is equality in rights and responsibilities," Sarkozy told reporters after meeting with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom.
Sarkozy's comments referred back to controversial remarks made by his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who in 2003 said countries of the former Soviet bloc, now part of the EU, had "missed a good opportunity to keep quiet" when they lined up to support the U.S. attack. Those remarks caused a cold spell in relations between the newly joined EU countries and France.
Sarkozy said Hungary was a "special country" for him because he is the son of a Hungarian immigrant. Sarkozy's father Pal left Hungary after World War II. "For me Hungary is a special country because of my paternal family and also because of the key role [Hungary] played in the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989," Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy's trip is focused on the future of the European Union, ahead of France taking over the EU presidency in the second half of 2008. Both France and Hungary are keen on securing a deal on a new EU treaty, aimed at streamlining the way the 27-member bloc works. The vast reform treaty is meant to replace the now-defunct constitution, which was voted down by French and Dutch voters in 2005 referenda. A EU summit on the treaty will be held in Portugal next month.
Sarkozy is scheduled to give a speech in parliament after meeting socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. The French leader will meet with the main right-wing opposition party leader, Viktor Orban, and attend the wreath-laying ceremony in memory of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising. Although he speaks no Hungarian and has had little contact with the country, many here are proud that the son of a Hungarian immigrant made it all the way to the Elysee Palace, the seat of the French presidency.
While Sarkozy himself emphasized his immigrant origins during the presidential campaign saying it was his work ethic that permitted him to rise to the pinnacle of French politics he is reportedly not keen on exhibiting his Hungarian roots. French daily Le Figaro, citing an unnamed Hungarian diplomat, reported Friday that Sarkozy had insisted that there be no special focus on his Hungarian origins during his visit to Budapest. During a trip in 2004 to Budapest when he was economy minister, Sarkozy was presented with archives of his family history, translated in French, which he left in his hotel room, according to Le Figaro.
I suppose an insurance system like this might be OK, but only as a fallback to keep emergency costs from spiraling above health maintenance costs, and as long as the private system remains in place to push technology forward. If people don't have enough money to afford a reasonable premium for this plan then perhaps if they don't have dependents who will suffer without them then they can do community service or something. It would encourage them to get a job if they aren't already motivated to do so.
Hillary Clinton, offering a new prescription for providing all Americans with health-care insurance, is seeking to avoid a repeat of her first, failed bid to revamp the system. While Democratic presidential rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama released health-care plans several months ago, the issue is more complex for the senator from New York.
Clinton's previous disasterously failed effort gives her a voice of authority on health-care coverage now, with 65 percent of Americans in a July Gallup poll expressing ``a great deal'' or ``a fair amount'' of confidence in her on the issue. That's more than any other White House contender. At the same time, it evokes memories of the bureaucracy-laden, 1,342-page proposal that critics still call ``Hillarycare.''
I read parts of that. It was socialized medicine, pure and simple.
``It's very tricky for her,'' said Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ``But she's not going to get elected president unless she can get through to people on health care,'' said Bob Laszewski, a Washington health policy analyst.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The two problems Hillary cannot get around: (1) another large government-run regulocracy which will turn into a boondoggle (2) forcing healthy people who need no medical care to pay huge amounts for caring for the ill.
#2
so basically, I'll end up paying more than I do now, for an ineffectual and bureaucratic system which will make my health decisions for me. F*ck that
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 11:16 Comments ||
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#3
All the whiners want immortality at the expense of everyone else. Who decides who gets what in the end. If Canada, the Netherlands, et al are any example, the AARP crowd are in for a rude awaking when 'extraordinary' measures are removed from the program list. You know the year plus waits for surgery or treatments which are readily available now [hoping they'll die off before they add more to the cost of business the budget]. If you thought insurance bean counters had no heart, wait till you see government bureaucrats [from the people who've given you the American education system and the Bureau of Indian Affairs].
#4
The Unions would be big benefactors with any comprehensive government plan. With the unions' aging member workforce (and steadily declining membership), they're going to be in a world of hurt with the union self-funded health care systems as the current workforce retires and the 'negotiated retirement health-care benefits' kick in. The larger unions are hemorrhaging $$ now just to provide health benefits AND fund their 'candidates'.
If the AFL-CIO says it's a good thing, then I'm highly suspicious.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/16/2007 13:06 Comments ||
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#5
Billary will say anything-ANYTHING to get elected. There is no integrity with the Clintons.
As long as he stays in his field, the parts of this article that I managed to read made sense. I wonder if he buys into the concept of the Dollar Hegemony. I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems like if the US spreads its debt out across the world, then the entire world has a stake in keeping the dollar in the proper shape. Am I wrong? Greenspan seems to dislike lots of debt.
Alan Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman for 18 years and was the leading Republican economist for the past three decades, levels unusually harsh criticism at President Bush and the Republican Party in his new book, arguing that Bush abandoned the central conservative principle of fiscal restraint.
While condemning Democrats, too, for rampant federal spending, he offers Bill Clinton an exemption. The former president emerges as the political hero of "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World," Greenspan's 531-page memoir, which is being published Monday.
#1
The man who allowed the major subprime crisis to occur, one a monkey could have foreseen, now sets his sites on foreign policy.
Greenspan, the man who made himself look good during his brief tenure by printing money keeping the interest rates artificially low.
Yes, the Iraq war was about oil. What about it? We don't need to worry about countries that don't threaten our national interests, now do we? The world is a cruel place. Energy makes it less cruel. I'm sick of people pretending that the oil, coal and nuclear, the fuel which keeps us warm, fed and in the lap of luxury is to be treated as some sort of evil.
Due to the pollution which clogs our lungs and poisons our water, I too hope we soon have clean energy sources. But in the mean time, I'm glad I don't have to go down to the river to pound my laundry and I'm glad I don't look sixty by the time I am 30 due to starvation and exposure.
This is just more of the limo liberals enjoying the fruits of modernity while whipping themselves as if it somehow shields them from their good fortune.
Greenspan gave a good party. We all had a good time. Now we are going to have to suffer the hangover and suppport the unwanted children born from our good time.
Yeah, you were the cool parent, Greenspan. But now we have to live with the mess you encouraged us to embrace. Soon, we will grow up and realize you weren't as great as we thought you were at the time. Deal with it. No, EMBRACE it and get the f*&^ off the stage. We need to grow up and move on.
#2
CW, you're a kindred spirit.
Greenspan is projecting his own failure on to Bush. "Fiscal Restraint"?? AG kept interest rates artificially low for years. AG bears a great degree of responsibility for the economic mess the US is just entering. "he predicts that the U.S. gross domestic product will be 75 percent larger than it is now" but after correction for inflation the growth will amount to little.
Indian television dramas and stage and music shows, which have witnessed several bans in Pakistan, are now being beamed here again and are becoming quite popular. The TV channels were allowed to broadcast in March - after President Pervez Musharraf sacked the chief justice - in an apparent attempt to switch people's interest from politics to popular channels from India.
Once privately owned television channels in Pakistan started giving extensive coverage to the chief justice, cable operators were asked to start relaying Indian channels. In the process, TV dramas like 'Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thee', 'Thodi Khushi Thoda Gham' and 'Ik Ladki Anjani See' ended up becoming big hits in Pakistan.
Some Pakistani channels objected to the government move, saying it would be a blow to their advertisement revenue. But the government refused to back off, pushing local television channels to bring in Indian stars and characters to their shows.
'Salam Namaste' is one such programme on AAJ television in which popular Indian film stars and singers are invited. GEO has started a morning with Nadia Khan where Indians are frequently invited to attract audiences in Pakistan. Likewise, ARY frequently arranges music and stage shows in the United Arab Emirates with Indian music and film stars and these shows are telecast by ARY. All these shows are recording in Dubai, which has become a major media centre.
TV channels in Pakistan have also started programmes similar to 'Indian Idol'.
'We are pushed into such programmes by the government,' said the head of the advertisement department of a mainstream channel. Requesting anonymity, he said: 'This is our compulsion to air (Indian style) programmes and shows to attract advertisers.'
He said his channel alone was losing 30 million rupees monthly since the government allowed free transmission of Indian channels. 'Advertisers prefer to invest the same amount in the Indian channels. On the other hand, satire and comedy programmes have become popular in Pakistan, and almost every show has an Indian character. AAJ television's '4MAN Show' had a look alike of Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and his Indian counterpart Lalu Prasad.'
In one show on GEO television, Ghinwa Bhutto, the widowed daughter-in-law of former Pakistan prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who is of Lebanese origin, was shown asking Congress president Sonia Gandhi for some tips to win popularity -- and majority seats -- in parliament!
Ghinwa Bhutto contested several seats in the 1997 general election but could not win any. In 2002 she was disqualified for being an under-graduate. Now she has done her graduation and would be leading her Pakistan People's Party (PPP)- Shaheed Bhutto group in the coming elections.
'With the country swinging from one crisis to the other, television programmes provide a good break to viewers,' said a marketing manager of Dhoom television.
'With Pakistani channels showing live events like the chief justice's rallies, his speeches, the Lal Masjid attack and Nawaz Sharif's return to the country, we need shows to attract the advertisers,' said another marketing person.
The military regime allowed private channels in 2001. Now it can neither ban these channels nor does it want to give them the freedom to openly criticise the military regime and President Pervez Musharraf. To 'contain' them, sometimes cable operators are instructed to not show specific channels. And sometimes the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issues notices to channels. And at other times the channels get attacked by law enforcement agencies and political groups.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 07:29 ||
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#1
Poor pakiwaki teevee station loses millions of $$$. Seems all those muzz housewives would rather watch liberated Indian women living the good life as portrayed in Indian soaps than watch some bearded asshole in thick glasses mutter about monkeys and pigs. Who Knew?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/16/2007 9:01 Comments ||
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#2
"Fetch more bread and circuses to distract the restless natives!"
Pakistan Peoples Party chairwoman Benazir Bhutto has said that the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leadership, including Chaudhry Shujaat, does not want to see democracy restored in the country and has blamed them for failure of talks with the government. In an interview with Sindh TV, Bhutto said the PML-Q does not want to see democracy restored if it means the PPP would come into power. She said the PPP was willing to form a coalition government with other parties of similar views for an amicable restoration of democracy. She expressed the hope that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) would not create any hurdles on her arrival, as there was a possibility of power sharing with the MQM following general elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Israeli Police will question Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week on allegations that he tried to help billionaire friends in the sale of Bank Leumi before becoming prime minister, Channel 10 reported Saturday. Police will question Olmert for several hours on Monday in Jerusalem, at his residence or office, Channel 10 TV reported. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld and a spokesman for Olmert did not immediately comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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I was surprised to find this belonged in 'Non-WoT' but it seems to (unless it's Blue-on-Blue misfire by the Halliburton weather machine.) It sounds an awfully lot like the crash not long ago in Indonesia though, including the pre-landing 'bang', so I have this nagging suspicion about sabotage.
BANGKOK, Thailand - A passenger plane filled with foreign tourists crashed Sunday as it tried to land in heavy rain on the island of Phuket, splitting in two and bursting into flames, officials said. At least 74 people were killed. The budget One-Two-Go Airlines domestic flight OG269 was carrying 123 passengers and seven crew members to Phuket one of Thailand's leading tourist destinations from the capital, Bangkok.
Survivors described their escape from the airplane's windows as fires and smoke consumed the plane. "I saw passengers engulfed in fire as I stepped over them on way out of the plane," Parinwit Chusaeng, a survivor who suffered minor burns, told the Nation television channel. "I was afraid that the airplane was going to explode so I ran away."
An Irish survivor, identified as Sean, told of being badly burned on his arms, legs and back as he escaped the flames. Speaking to TITV from a local hospital, he said he knew something was wrong even before the flight landed. "You could tell when it was landing it was in trouble," he said. "It was making a noise, this bang."
Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand, said weather played a part in the crash. "The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed," he said. "It was torn into two parts."
#1
Local authorities indicate 87 dead (but some reports of just 80 bodies) - the number 74 evidently referred to the total number of passengers that were of Thai nationality.
At this point, all indications are that this accident is not terrorist-related. The accident happened after wheels touched down.
Condolences to all who lost loved ones, and may those who perished rest in peace.
#4
I'm in Phuket at the moment. There was heavy rain and gusty winds at the time of the crash.
The tropics don't get strong winds like temperate regions do. The wind gusts were mild by N American or European standards but unusual here. Hard to see how the winds caused a problem, unless the pilot was inexperienced.
#2
Millions, according to Harry Reid (D- Stupid Partisan)
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 21:12 Comments ||
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#3
The link goes to Drudge, but goes to OJ ARRESTED
Big deal.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2007 21:35 Comments ||
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#4
As of this moment it's just text, not a link. But give it time and it will be a link. Then we can check out all the juicy details and see if they live up to the title!
#5
Did you scroll down, Redneck Jim? It's a squib in the righthand column. But I gave the whole thing, as I said above. There is no independent article as yet at any of the major news vendors: AP, UPI, AFP or Reuters.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The European Commission gave a lukewarm reception Thursday to French demands to set up a group of "wise men" to debate the EU's future as a condition for not blocking membership talks with Turkey. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that the call by French President Nicolas Sarkozy was "interesting" but that "it would be independent work, which would not replace the decisions of (EU) institutions. It doesn't mean that the institutions couldn't listen," he said. 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, paying a visit to his ancestral homeland of Hungary, Friday sought to improve ties with central Europe damaged in a row in 2003 over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. "The European Union is not made up of small and big countries, of ones that have the right to speak and others that have the right to keep quiet. There is equality in rights and responsibilities," Sarkozy told reporters after meeting with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom. 
Pakistan Peoples Party chairwoman Benazir Bhutto has said that the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leadership, including Chaudhry Shujaat, does not want to see democracy restored in the country and has blamed them for failure of talks with the government. In an interview with Sindh TV, Bhutto said the PML-Q does not want to see democracy restored if it means the PPP would come into power. She said the PPP was willing to form a coalition government with other parties of similar views for an amicable restoration of democracy. She expressed the hope that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) would not create any hurdles on her arrival, as there was a possibility of power sharing with the MQM following general elections.
