Tag Archives: pakistan

Britney Spears’ Boobs Need Our Help

I don’t normally like to interfere in other people’s business, but Britney Spears ‘ boobs just don’t look as happy as they did when they were in their bikini on vacation in Hawaii. They look trapped in this top, struggling to breathe and having an all around bad day. Does the Red Cross cover this kind of thing or did all my cash go to Pakistan?

ABC Works to Rehabilitate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s Reputation After Pining for George W. Bush

ABC News set out Monday night to rehabilitate the reputation of the iman behind the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, Feisal Abdul Rauf, trying to discredit criticism of him from the right as Sharyn Alfonsi portrayed him as a model of religious tolerance who condemns suicide bombers, terrorism and Hamas and who deserves admiration because he “eulogized Daniel Pearl.” The night before, in a Sunday World News story on protests over the mosque, ABC expressed sudden respect for former President Bush as reporter Linsey Davis used him to undermine opponents: “In an attempt to make a clear distinction between Islam and terrorism, within days of 9/11 President Bush went to a mosque.” Alfonsi generously began with how “he candidly discussed his beliefs with Barbara Walters for her 2006 special on Heaven” where he promised her “the Jews, the Christians, whoever believes in God and does good will be saved.” As for whether “one man’s suicide bomber is another man’s martyr?”, Alfonsi assured viewers: In his book, the imam wrote: “The truth is that killing innocent people is always wrong and no argument or excuse, no matter how deeply believed, can ever make it right.” Playing a clip of Rauf saying “United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened” on 9/11, Alfonsi noted that’s why “critics called him a terror sympathizer,” but, she countered, “a spokesman for the imam tells us the comments were, quote, ‘taken out of context.’”   She concluded with another endorsement for Feisal Abdul Rauf’s character: And while all of the imam’s writings and interviews are now being thoroughly examined, many critics have overlooked one of his more memorable speeches. The imam actually eulogized Daniel Pearl, the journalist murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan, and, Diane, he asked forgiveness for what’s been done in the name of Islam. Sawyer chirped in: “That’s right, he was there at that memorial.” A couple of columns with facts and concerns ignored or dismissed by Alfonsi: From the August 23 New York Post, “ Rauf: a moderate? Beware imams’ doubletalk ,” by Hoover Institution media fellow Paul Sperry. And from National Review online over the weekend, a piece by Andrew C. McCarthy: “ Which Islam Will Prevail in America? That is the real question at hand in the Ground Zero mosque debate .” Sunday night, anchor David Muir announced: “Tonight, we take you to the protest, and we take you back to the days right after 9/11 when then-President Bush offered his own words about Islam.” From that story: LINSEY DAVIS: In an attempt to make a clear distinction between Islam and terrorism, within days of 9/11 President Bush went to a mosque. FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, SEPT 17, 2001: That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. DAVIS: But in recent weeks, many prominent Republicans have suggested otherwise… Earlier on Sunday: “ Amanpour on One-Sided This Week: ‘Profound Questions About Religious Tolerance and Prejudice in the U.S .’” The story on ABC’s World News from Monday, August 23, transcript provided by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth: DIANE SAWYER: Back here in New York, several hundred people spent Sunday in loud and dueling protests about the mosque near Ground Zero – for and against. The head of the mosque is on his third stop in the Middle East sent by the U.S. to spread a positive word about being Muslim in America. And Sharyn Alfonsi asked some more questions today about who he is.      SHARYN ALFONSI: He candidly discussed his beliefs with Barbara Walters for her 2006 special on Heaven. BARBARA WALTERS: Do only Muslims go to Heaven? IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF: The fundamental thing is you must accept God. You have to believe that there is a creator. The Jews, the Christians, whoever believes in God and does good will be saved. ALFONSI: Rauf, who watched his father, a Muslim scholar, pioneer interfaith dialogue in the 60s in New York, went on to do the same thing after the September 11 attacks. Rauf was the imam – or head priest – of a New York mosque just 12 blocks from Ground Zero. WALTERS: Do you believe that a suicide bomber goes to Heaven? RAUF: One of the things that we are taught is never to say somebody will go to Hell or somebody will go to Heaven. It is up to God to decide. WALTERS: So one man’s suicide bomber is another man’s martyr? RAUF: Well, the expression that I’ve heard is, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s hero.” ALFONSI: But, in his book, the imam wrote, “The truth is that killing innocent people is always wrong and no argument or excuse, no matter how deeply believed, can ever make it right.” He’s been praised for being moderate. But it was this interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes after the September 11 attacks that has drawn scrutiny. RAUF: I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened, but United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. ALFONSI: Critics called him a terror sympathizer. But a spokesman for the imam tells us the comments were, quote, “taken out of context.” He went on to describe the mistakes the CIA made in the 1980s by financing Osama bin Laden and strengthening the Taliban. And what about claims that the imam sympathizes with Hamas? Asked if the State Department was correct to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization: RAUF CLIP #1: I do not want to be placed, neither will I accept to be placed, in a position where I am the target of one side or another. RAUF CLIP #2: The targeting of civilians is wrong. ALFONSI: And while all of the imam’s writings and interviews are now being thoroughly examined, many critics have overlooked one of his more memorable speeches. The imam actually eulogized Daniel Pearl, the journalist murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan, and, Diane, he asked forgiveness for what’s been done in the name of Islam. SAWYER: That’s right, he was there at that memorial. Good to see you tonight, Sharyn. Thank you.

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ABC Works to Rehabilitate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s Reputation After Pining for George W. Bush

The Craziest Mike Tyson Quotes Of All Time

The Craziest Mike Tyson Quotes Of All Time added by: chandu

Non-Believers Giving Aid – Support Haiti, Pakistan and Humanity!

Richard Dawkins organization to support people in need… no matter what country they reside in. The situation in Pakistan is grave. The UN estimates that 20 million people have been affected by the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory, with tens of thousands of villages entirely under water. 8 million people are in need of immediate assistance, including food and medical aid, and 4.6m of these have been left without shelter. With 700,000 hectares of crops destroyed or under water, severe food shortages are inevitable and this, together with concerns about outbreaks of cholera and other potentially fatal diseases, is leading aid agencies to warn that the death toll is likely to rise dramatically. You can find out more about the crisis from the Special Report on the BBC News website. Non-Believers Giving Aid and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science are once more partnering with M

Andrea Mitchell Blames American ‘Prejudice’ For Paucity Of Donations To Pakistan

You ee-vil Americans.  You haven’t contributed enough to Pakistani flood relief.  And now you’ve been busted by Andrea Mitchell, who knows why you’ve been so miserly.  It’s prejudice.  Prejudice I tell ya! View video here if not visible at right. Mitchell teased her prejudiced-Americans theory at the top of her MSNBC show this afternoon, then trotted it out while talking with Ann Curry, who is in Pakistan.  How over the top was Andrea?  Even fellow lib Curry had to gently talk Mitchell down, suggesting there was another very good reason why Americans would be cautious about sending money to Pakistan . . . ANDREA MITCHELL: Even before the president waded into that mosque controversy, a new poll shows a growing number of Americans wrongly believe that President Obama is a Muslim.  This as prejudice against Muslims in America might be contributing to a charity gap toward flood victims in Pakistan. And a bit later, while speaking with Ann Curry . . . MITCHELL: We’ve been looking at incredible pictures, Ann, while you’ve been talking about this, of this flooding. Secretary Clinton, the State Department, has announced, is going to be announcing a Pakistan relief fund, and the hope I’m told is that that will somehow validate it for Americans.  The incredible numbers are, in the early days of this disaster, only $50,000 was texted in for the Red Cross and other relief organizations to the State Department in answer to their appeal, in comparison to $34 million after the disaster in Haiti,  which tells you that the prejudice against Pakistan is pretty profound. ANN CURRY: Well, I think that’s right. I think that part of that may also be that Americans, and people all around the world, given the state of the world today, are concerned that money given to these flood victims in Pakistan could end up in the hands of extremists , like the Taliban. Getting schooled on hard-nosed realpolitik by Ann Curry? Ouch!   Let’s summarize Andrea’s view of her compatriots: Americans are a prejudiced lot, as proved by the fact that we haven’t donated nearly as much to Pakistan as we did to . . . the overwhelmingly black population of Haiti. Got it.

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Andrea Mitchell Blames American ‘Prejudice’ For Paucity Of Donations To Pakistan

Have You Attended/Will You Attend a Town Hall Meeting During the Recess?

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Have You Attended/Will You Attend a Town Hall Meeting During the Recess?

Russell Simmons on CNN: Christians Bombed the WTC in 1993?

Russell Simmons, founder of the hip-hop label Def Jam, bizarrely and inaccurately claimed during an interview on Wednesday’s Larry King Live on CNN that perpetrators behind the first World Trade Center attack in 1993 were Christians: ” If you’re blaming Muslims for the attack on 9/11, then you need to change your mind. We didn’t- did we blame Christians at the first World Trade attack? We didn’t ” . Host Larry King brought on Simmons to discuss the controversy over the New York City mosque near Ground Zero. He appeared immediately after an interview of New York Governor David Paterson, who attempted to negotiate with the planners behind the mosque in order to get its site moved. King first asked the entrepreneur to respond to the governor’s efforts. He unequivocally supported the proposed worship space: ” We should make every effort not to move it . I think it’s critical that we recognize that we built this country on religious tolerance and on religious freedom. And so, if we want to penalize the two billion Muslims because of the actions of a few, then we have to examine the way we look at each other and all religions. So I think it would be a terrible idea to move the mosque .” Later, during the second segment of the interview, King played a clip of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich expressing his opposition to the proposed mosque, and prompted Simmons to respond. The “hip-hop pioneer,” as the CNN host earlier labeled him, lamented not only the Speaker’s opposition, but the wider opposition to the project in general, and proceeded to make his false claim: SIMMONS: Well, I’m sorry he feels that way. It’s sad in this day and time that Americans who built this country on interfaith respect and dialogue would think that- he could think that, and- I’m sorry, not only that he thinks that, that he has support . It’s very- it’s saddening that we have this kind of belief system….The fact is we were attacked by al Qaeda, and not by Islam, and the fact is, there are hundreds of millions of law-abiding, respectful Muslims, and American Muslims are respectful, and they build this country, and they’re an important part of this country, and if we can’t respect them, then we don’t deserve the respect that we can’t give them. We don’t- in other words what we give to others is what we get for ourselves, and there’s- it’s a terrible state that we’re in, that we can have this kind of discussion. That we’re even talking about this. Again, it was not politicized for years. They’ve been working on this for a long time, and the fact that they’re making- that there is such opposition, and there’s so many people who have lost people in the World Trade [Center], who are supportive of this, and they’re not being promoted. There’s a lot of dialogue about some people are sensitive and who- but, again, like I said, if you are- if you’re blaming Muslims, then you need to change your mind. If you’re blaming Muslims for the attack on 9/11, then you need to change your mind. We didn’t- did we blame Christians at the first World Trade attack? We didn’t, and I think it’s insane and it’s wrong-headed. It creates a negative- cycle of negativity . One wonders if he was thinking about the Oklahoma City bombing, which was perpetrated by a Catholic-turned-agnostic. In any case, the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 was committed by Ramzi Yousef , the nephew of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was aided by several other Islamic radicals. Yousef later plotted to assassinate Pope John Paul II and blow up several airliners over the Pacific Ocean before he was arrested in Pakistan in 1995. Earlier, the CNN host asked Simmons, “Isn’t there a reasonable solution?” Simmons, who is also a contributor to the left-wing Huffington Post website (where he f irst expressed his support for the mosque ), spouted a series of liberal talking points, not only on the mosque, but on American domestic and foreign policy: SIMMONS: Muslim-Americans and other Americans are fighting to free Muslims. But we’re saying that we can’t have Muslims have a religious center or a community center in the community where two- there are two churches. There’s the holocaust museum- or the Museum of Tolerance, and we can’t have a mosque there. That says something very bad about the state of America today. Even if there’s a discussion- for me, is- it’s hurtful. But the two billion Muslims who are watching us now are being hurt …. The fact is al Qaeda attacked us, not the Muslim religion, and if Islam didn’t attack us, we can’t hold them all accountable, and if someone had- if someone believes that they hold ill will towards the whole Muslim faith because of it, then they’re wrong …. It’s a center that is open to everyone, and I think we should respect their plans. In fact, we should support their plans, and that’s been my opinion, as the chairman of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and Rabbi Marc Schneier who’s also the chairman of the World Jewish Congress. The whole group of us who promote religious tolerance, who know how important it is, because if we don’t promote religious tolerance, then we could create- we already have created, after 9/11, a very negative reaction, when, in fact, we had our chance to promote world peace. After 9/11, with all the compassion that was given to us, we threw a lot of it away, and I think now is an opportunity for us to turn it around, and promote a relationship with the Islamic world that makes good sense, not one that’s based in fear and ignorance . [H/t:  NewsBusters user dronetek ]

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Russell Simmons on CNN: Christians Bombed the WTC in 1993?

Augmented Reality iPhone App Points You to Every Nearby London Bike-Share Hub Nearby

Screenshots via Reg Hardware Might augmented reality on smart phones bring a whole new interest in using public transportation? Well… it is really, really darn cool . Anyone who feels intimidated or frustrated by navigating a transportation system like the Tube in London, or subway and bus systems in any metropolitan area, could find confidence in

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Augmented Reality iPhone App Points You to Every Nearby London Bike-Share Hub Nearby

At Least 20% of Pakistan is Underwater (Video)

Photo via Weather.com After weeks of persistent flooding, the UN now estimates that at least a full one-fifth of Pakistan — a nation of 170 million people — is underwater. And the New York Times reports that estimate is probably lowballing the full extent of the damage. 1,600 people are believed to have been killed, and 14 million have been either forced out of their homes or been impacted in some way. The tragedy has gotten so out of h… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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At Least 20% of Pakistan is Underwater (Video)

The Hidden Tragedy of the CIA’s Experiments on Children | t r u t h o u t

Bobby is seven years old, but this is not the first time he has been subjected to electroshock. It's his third time. In all, over the next year, Bobby will experience eight electroshock sessions. Placed on the examining table, he is held down by two male attendants while the physician places a solution on his temples. Bobby struggles with the two men holding him down, but his efforts are useless. He cries out and tries to pull away. One of the attendants tries to force a thick wedge of rubber into his mouth. He turns his head sharply away and cries out, “Let me go, please. I don't want to be here. Please, let me go.” Bobby's physician looks irritated and she tells him, “Come on now, Bobby, try to act like a big boy and be still and relax.” Bobby turns his head away from the woman and opens his mouth for the wedge that will prevent him from biting through his tongue. He begins to cry silently, his small shoulders shaking and he stiffens his body against what he knows is coming. Mary is only five years old. She sits on a small, straight-backed chair, moving her legs back and forth, humming the same four notes over and over and over. Her head, framed in a tangled mass of golden curls, moves up and down with each note. For the first three years of her life, Mary was thought to be a mostly normal child. Then, after she began behaving oddly, she had been handed off to a foster family. Her father and About the same time Dr. Bender was conducting her electroshock experiments, she was also widely experimenting on autistic and schizophrenic children with what she termed other “treatment endeavors.” These included use of a wide array of psycho-pharmaceutical agents, several provided to her by the Sandoz Chemical Co. in Basel, Switzerland, as well as Metrazol, sub-shock insulin therapy, amphetamines and anticonvulsants. Metrazol was a trade name for pentylenetetrazol, a drug used as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant. High doses cause convulsions, as discovered in 1934 by the Hungarian-American neurologist and psychiatrist Ladislas J. Meduna. Metrazol had been used in convulsive therapy, but was never considered to be effective, and side effects such as seizures were difficult to avoid. The medical records of several patients who were confined at Vermont State Hospital, a public mental facility, reveal that Metrazol was administered to them by CIA contractor Dr. Robert Hyde on numerous occasions in order “to address overly aggressive behavior.” One of these patients, Karen Wetmore, received the drug on a number of occasions for no discernible medical reason. During the same ten-year period in which Metrazol was used by the Vermont State Hospital, patient deaths skyrocketed. In 1982, the FDA revoked its approval of Metrazol. Here it should be noted that, during the cold war years, CIA and Army Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) interrogators, working as part of projects Bluebird and Artichoke, sometimes injected large amounts of Metrazol into selected enemy or Communist agents for the purposes of severely frightening other suspected agents, by forcing them to observe the procedure. The almost immediate effects of Metrazol are shocking for many to witness: subjects will shake violently, twisting and turning. They typically arch, jerk and contort their bodies and grimace in pain. With Metrazol, as with electroshock, bone fractures – including broken necks and backs – and joint dislocations are not uncommon, unless strong sedatives are administered beforehand. A November 1936 Time mag. article seriously questioned the benefits of Metrazol, citing “irreversible shock” as a “great danger.” The article described a typical Metrazol injection as such: “A patient receives no food for four or five hours. Then about five cubic centimeters of the drug [Metrazol] are injected into his veins. In about half-a-minute he coughs, casts terrified glances around the room, twitches violently, utters a horse wail, freezes into rigidity with his mouth wide open, arms and legs stiff as boards. Then he goes into convulsions. In one or two minutes the convulsions are over and he gradually passes into a coma, which lasts about an hour. After a series of shocks, his mind may be swept clean of delusions…. A patient is seldom given more than 20 injections and if no improvement is noted after ten treatments, he is usually given up as hopeless.” The Army, the CIA and Metrazol | This is just important sections go read whole thing! Army CIC interrogators working with the CIA at prisoner of war camps and safe house locations in post-war Germany on occasion used Metrazol, morphine, heroin and LSD on incarcerated subjects. According to former CIC officer Miles Hunt, several “safe houses and holding areas outside of Frankfurt near Oberursel” – a former Nazi interrogation center taken over by the US – were operated by a “special unit run by Capt. Malcolm S. Hilty, Maj. Mose Hart and Capt. Herbert Sensenig. Eventually, CIC interrogators working in Germany would be assisted in their use of interrogation drugs by several “former” Nazi scientists recruited by the CIA and US State Department as part of Project Paperclip. By early 1952, the CIC's Rough Boys would routinely use Metrazol during interrogations, as well as LSD, mescaline and conventional electroshock units. Metrazol-like drugs are still used in interrogations today. According to reports from several former noncommissioned Army officers, who served on rendition-related security details in Turkey, Pakistan and Romania, drugs that produce effects quite similar to Metrazol are still used in 2010 by the Pentagon and CIA on enemy combatants and rendered subjects held at the many “black sites” maintained across the globe. Observed one former officer recently, “They would twist up like a pretzel, in unbelievable shapes and jerk and shake like crazy, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.” In 2008, at the behest of US Sens. Carl Levin, Joe Biden and Chuck Hagel and in reaction to a March 2008 article in The Washington Post, the Pentagon initiated an Inspector General Report on the use of “mind-altering substances by DoD [Department of Defense] Personnel during Interrogations of Detainees and/or Prisoners Captured during the War on Terror.” It is not known if the investigation has been completed. Among the more famous recent cases of the use of drugs upon prisoners concerns one-time alleged “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla, who had originally been accused of wanting to set off a “dirty bomb.” The government has gone to great efforts to keep the public uninformed as regards use of drugs on prisoners. In an article by Carol Rosenberg for McClatchy News in July 2010, Rosenberg reported that, when covering the Guantanamo military commissions trials, when the question of “what psychotropic drugs were given another accused 9/11 conspirator, Ramzi bin al Shibh, the courtroom censor hits a white noise button so reporters viewing from a glass booth can't hear the names of the drugs. Under current Navy instructions for the use of human subjects in research, the undersecretary of the Navy is described as the authority in charge of research concerning “consciousness-altering drugs or mind-control techniques,” while at the same time is also responsible for “inherently controversial topics” that might attract media interest or “challenge by interest groups.” added by: toyotabedzrock