(NECN: Hartford, CT) - People in this quiet neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut are mourning the loss of a neighbor. Beverly Eckert was on Continental Connection flight 3407 that crashed outside Buffalo.
Beverly's husband, Sean Rooney, was killed on 9-11.
She was headed to Buffalo to award a scholarship in her husband's name at the high school where they met. As co-chairwoman of "voices of September 11" Beverly fought hard to get the 9-11 commission report released, worked to get high rise building codes upgraded, kept a close watch on the prosecution of the terrorists. That work brought her to the highest offices in the nation. President Barack Obama met with her just a few days ago.
Connecticut governor M. Jodi Rell ordered the flag at the 9-11 memorial on Sherwood Isle lowered to half staff.
A sad loss, her and all the folks on that plane. Rest in peace and thank you, Beverly.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2009 00:00 ||
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As people across the world prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day, florists and toy stores in Saudi Arabia prepare to hide their red roses and romantic gifts in an annual struggle between the country's religious police and its love birds.
Toy stores have cuddly red teddy bears and candy merchants have heart-shaped red boxes of bon bons in stock, but all are hidden out of sight.
It is the annual battle between Saudi romantics and the Muttawas, or religious police, who believe that Valentine's Day is a pagan holiday not suitable for the homeland of Islam.
Like every year, imams sent out reminders of a years-old fatwa reminding people that Islam does not recognize Valentine's Day, and according to media reports the education ministry sent out circulars about the day in an effort to prevent the most vulnerable-- dreamy-eyed students --from succumbing to Westernized thoughts of romance.
Red gifts hidden
Meanwhile supermarkets have tucked away red gift items that might get them shut down for a day or two, and chocolate shops have done the same.
Two days before Feb.14 a florist in Riyadh's up market Suleimaniya district was shipping out wreaths of red roses and crimson apples in the middle of the afternoon, the time that everyone else, including the Muttawas, is at rest.
"Every year they try to stop Valentine's Day," said a Pakistani deliveryman as he packed the wreaths into a van. "The Muttawa will come tonight. If they catch me they will take all of these and destroy them."
The Muttawas--which go by the official name of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices--are only a nuisance, not a reign of terror, said a choclatier in front of his shop.
His Valentine's assortments are mixed colors -- red, blue, green etc-- so that he doesn't attract undo attention. "Sales are still good," he said, not wanting to be identified to be on the safe side.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict form of Islamic Sharia law and prohibits the intermingling of the sexes in public.
Across other parts of the Middle East, Arabs and Muslims alike prepared to celebrate the day with their significant other with many saying they do not pay heed to the religious undertones of Valentines Day and simply view it as a day to show someone you love them.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2009 00:00 ||
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Looks like the RAB has adapted to the bad publicity ...
A regional leader of outlawed New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP) was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Charbiharia village under Khoksa upazila of the district on Thursday night.
One less commie, gunned down in the middle of the street by 'unknowns'. Gee, wonder who has it in for the commies of Bangladesh?
The dead was identified as Bikash Kumar Bose, 36, son of Bipul Kumar Bose of Mulgram village in Kumarkhali upazila.
No idea where that is.
Bikash was a close associate of NBCP chief Akidil Hossain who was killed in a 'shootout' with police in February 1 last year.
A shootout, then an outlaw shot dead. Hmmm ...
According to police, a gang of 5 to 6 shot Bidkash in the chest and abdomen and left the scene. He died instantly.
Right on the spot, didn't even get time to croak 'rosebud' ...
Hearing gunshots, locals rushed to the spot and found Bikash lying in a pool of blood. On information, police rushed to the village, recovered the body and sent it to Kushtia Sadar Hospital for autopsy.
"Here's another one for you, Dr. Quincy!"
"Stack him in the back with the others, Sam."
No one was arrested in connection with the killing as of 7:00pm yesterday.
Almost as of no one had ever been there ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Putting this little F4 into his warm nest, that it might thrive and grow. I hope GreenSteve don't kill it in the cradle.
The ongoing construction at the "Banani BNP Palli" stands as a glaring example of nepotism during the four-party rule, as the then government allotted the Rajuk plots to party men, businesspersons and intellectuals loyal to it.
Former ministers, state ministers and lawmakers of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government, son of the immediate past president and pro-BNP intellectuals controversially got the plots abusing power and violating the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) rules.
Although the caretaker government initially withheld the registration process of the plots, it later allowed the allottees to go ahead with construction at the housing project popularly known as "Banani BNP Palli".
During the interim rule, only three of the 50 allottees declined the plots, say sources in Rajuk. But others have got their plots registered, while many of them have already erected six-storey houses there.
"We have already given clearance to the registered plots, for which the allottees have deposited all instalments as per the government decision," says an official of Rajuk.
Forty-five plot owners have so far completed the registration process and two more have also got the clearance after paying the instalments.
Four more plot owners who shifted their possession of plot from an Uttara project to Banani also got clearance after registration.
Earlier, Rajuk suspended the process of registration on February 26, 2007 after the military-backed caretaker government assumed power. But the authorities lifted the suspension on January 29 last year and approved construction on the plots without any public announcement.
According to rules, people having land property in the capital are not eligible to get Rajuk plots. But some of the allottees own land property in the capital.
Though applications were sought through an open announcement for the plots in 2004 and around 3,000 people applied, only influential BNP ministers, state ministers, lawmakers and BNP-leaning intellectuals got those at the fag-end of BNP rule.
Former mayors of Rajshahi and Barisal Mizanur Rahman Minu and Mojibur Rahman Sarwar, MP will be the next-door neighbours in Banani. Houses of former BNP state ministers Alamgir Kabir and Prof Rezaul Karim of Narayanganj are also next to each other.
Besides, former state ministers Fazlur Rahman Patal, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, former lawmaker Md Alauddin, and former DU vice-chancellor Prof Maniruzzaman Miah have already raised six-storey houses on their land.
Their caretakers are taking care of the under construction buildings.
Most of the allottees started the construction even before registration or paying the instalments. Some of them are behind bars but have managed to have the land registered in their names.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2009 00:00 ||
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A court in central Bosnia sentenced an imam on Friday to 18 months in jail for sexually abusing a girl during religious classes, the first such conviction of a Muslim religious official in the Balkan country.
Resad Omerhodzic was accused of taking female students to a remote mountainous village and abusing them sexually. A family of one girl filed charges against him.
"This is a conspiracy against me," Omerhodzic said after leaving the courtroom in Travnik flanked by his supporters.
"I was sentenced ... because of a media campaign." His lawyers said they would appeal.
Nobody from the girl's family was available for comment after the verdict.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2009 00:00 ||
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The conviction is because it was a girl, right?
Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, must have taken more than one short sharp shock with a cheap and chippy chopper
the beheading of a woman, after her husband -- an influential Influential and honourable
member of the local Muslim community -- reported her death to police Thursday. Which sequence leads me to believe the beheading was not the cause of death. What was? Acid bath?
Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. May she rest in peace after apparently enduring Hell on earth.
Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder. You may put him on the list -- you may put him on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed!
"He came to the police station at 6:20 p.m. [Thursday] and told us that she was dead," Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said late this morning. "Officer, I'd like to report a death in my family."
"Who wuz that?"
"My wife."
"Oh, yeah? What'd she die of?"
"Her head fell off."
Muzzammil Hassan told police that his wife was at his business, Bridges TV, on Thorn Avenue in the village. Officers went to that location and discovered her body. "Well, Dr. Quincy? Is she dead?"
"I duuno about that half of her, but this half is."
Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light. Rim shot.
The killing apparently occurred some time late Thursday afternoon. Detectives still are looking for the murder weapon. Did they search the son's room?
"Obviously, this is the worst form of domestic violence possible," Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said today. Just wait Frankie. Some one will top it.
Authorities say Aasiya Hassan recently had filed for divorce from her husband. "She had an order of protection that had him out of the home as of Friday the 6th [of February]," Benz said. Those court orders, they provide such protection. That's why there is such respect for the law. Of course filing for second degree doesn't hurt either.
Muzzammil Hassan was arraigned before Village Justice Deborah Chimes and sent to the Erie County Holding Center. I heard one day
A gentleman say
That criminals who
Are cut in two
Can hardly feel
The fatal steel,
And so are slain
Without much pain.
If this is true,
It's jolly for you;
Your courage screw
To bid us adieu,
And go
And show
Both friend and foe
How much you dare.
#1
but please do remember... do not take matters of defense in to your own hands. it is far more important to leave such matters to the duly sworn police authorities and to make every effort to be a good witness.
well, at least that is what the liberals keep telling us. wonder how well it worked out for Mrs Hassan (may she rest in peace)
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/14/2009 2:53 Comments ||
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Another highly educated, liked by all his non-Muslim acquantiances---"just a regular guy", Muslim takes the mask off.
A self-proclaimed polygamist was sentenced Friday to seven consecutive life prison terms for torturing seven of his 19 children, abusing four others and imprisoning two of his three wives. Mansa Musa Muhummed, 55, also was sentenced to additional terms totaling 16 years and eight months by Riverside County Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson III, who said Muhummed's treatment of his family amounted to "a reign of terror over defenseless children."
"If his appeals are exhausted and he does not prevail, he will die in prison," said Peter Morreale, Muhummed's attorney.
Muhummed was convicted in June of 25 counts, including torture, child endangerment, false imprisonment and corporal injury on a spouse.
At his trial, several of Muhummed's children and stepchildren testified against him, telling jurors they had been beaten, starved, strung up by their feet and forced to eat vomit and feces. Doctors had said the children were extremely malnourished, with one 19-year-old daughter weighing 56 pounds.
"I'm still having nightmares and flashbacks," said Marlon Boddie, 29. "He don't need no mercy. He don't need no type of mercy. He knew what he was doing."
Muhummed -- whose given name was Richard Boddie -- denied the charges and blamed one of his wives for the alleged abuse. He was a convert to the Muslim faith, which he said gave him the right to have multiple wives. "They need to adjust their lives as they see fit and hope and pray God has mercy on them," he said of his children. He also told the court that he accepted he may have made mistakes as a father.
He was arrested in 1999 after one of his wives slipped a 13-page letter to a postal service worker describing the abuse. Another wife, Marva Barfield, agreed to plead guilty to one count of child endangerment and testified against Muhummed. She will likely be sentenced to time served, Deputy District Attorney Julie Baldwin said.
Sentencing came nearly a decade after Muhummed's arrest. His trial followed nine years of delays in which he represented himself and changed lawyers multiple times. Earlier Friday, he sought to have his attorney removed and filed a motion for a new trial, claiming he had new evidence to help clear his name, but the judge denied the motions.
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.
As people across the world prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day, florists and toy stores in Saudi Arabia prepare to hide their red roses and romantic gifts in an annual struggle between the country's religious police and its love birds. 
