Trade Center Site Mosque Project Talk Becomes Hot Political Debate

EW YORK — Weeks into the discussion about whether a mosque and community center can and should be built near the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, the city of New York (and the entire country) is still hotly debating the issue.

The foremost figure in American politics, President Obama himself, jumped into the fray to offer his opinion. The first-ever Arab Miss USA, the recently crowned Miss Rima Fakih, spoke of her take on the situation, according to the New York Daily News. And now that celebs as well as locals have involved themselves, the split amongst politicians is only growing.

Tensions are high surrounding the issue, there's no doubt about it. Hateful crimes against innocent Muslim Americans do happen here. And feelings between Muslims and Christians, Muslim Americans and non-Muslim Americans, are never more strained than when conversation trends toward September 11th, terrorism or the World Trade Center site.

There has been a lot of talk about separation of church and state, and other grandiose ideals that we as Americans say we support. And yet, as politicians so often do, most of those that spoke up said basically nothing, or at least nothing of any real substance or value. Those that interjected themselves into the debate, like President Obama, seemed originally to stand by the mosque in principal, but still without wholeheartedly supporting the project. Others straining to make their voices heard were extremists, denouncing the president and all other backers of the mosque project as radical Muslims or terrorists.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5725658/trade_center_site_mosque_project_talk.html

CRASH OF AIRBUS 320 OUTSIDE ISLAMABAD NOW BELIEVED HIJACKED, HEADING FOR NUKE FACILITY

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

August 29, 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan (Veterans Today exclusive) Informed sources in the Government of Pakistan have told Veterans Today that they are developing “hard evidence” indicating the Air Blue Airbus 320 that crashed July 28th outside Islamabad was a terrorist hijacking tied to rogue American security forces operating inside that country.

Sources indicate that the plane crash was an unsuccessful hijacking attempt intended to crash into the nuclear weapons facility at Kahuta, outside Islamabad. Such an attack may have been blamed on India and would likely have led to retaliation which could easily have escalated to a nuclear exchange between these two nations that have spent decades at each other’s throats.

Suspicions were raised inside Pakistan’s military and intelligence organizations when American military contractors employed by Blackwater/Xe showed up on the scene immediately after the crash, seizing the black box and “other materials.” There is no confirmation that parachutes or electronic equipment had been removed when Blackwater/Xe security relinquished control of the crash scene to Pakistani investigators.

Royal Television in Islamabad, owned by the brother of the head of Pakistan’s powerful JI (Jamate Islami), the Islamic political party, has reported that investigations are underway tying American based contractors to the planning of the attack.

Pakistan’s ISRP (Inter-Services Public Relations) has failed to confirm this but private sources indicate that an active investigation of these allegations is, not only underway but has established ties between an American group and the hijackers.

Military and intelligence officials inside Pakistan, in concert with the American embassy, are withholding all official details of the investigation and are likely to continue doing so.

This same facility had been the subject of an armed penetration by American contractors, believed to be employed by the State Department, in 2009. Four Blackwater employees, armed and possessing explosives were arrested outside the Kahuta nuclear facility in 2009. The four, driving a Jeep 4×4 and possessing advanced surveillance and jamming equipment of Israeli manufacture, were intercepted 1.5 miles from the Kahuta nuclear facility.

The four spoke fluent Pushtu and were dressed in a manner as to resemble Taliban fighters. The order for their release, given by Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik, is an issue of considerable controversy between the civilian government in Pakistan and the powerful military.

The passenger jet with 152 on board slammed into a hillside in what was believed to be Pakistan’s most serious air crash. At least 2 Americans were believed to be on board but, a month later, the US Embassy in Islamabad has left this unconfirmed. Reports received today, however, confirm that at least 5 Americans, military contractors said to be employed by Xe, may also have been on the craft but could not be identified as they had been traveling in local garb and had boarded with false identification.

Xe is an American based military and intelligence contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater and has been the subject of considerable controversy for activities inside Pakistan.

Scene of July 28 Air Crash Outside Islamabad, Pakistan

Sources indicate that the attackers stormed the cockpit in a hijacking attempt. The pilot is said to have jammed the flight controls, careening the Airbus 320 and all aboard into a hillside rather than allowing the plane to be used in a “9/11″ type attack inside Pakistan or flown into Indian air space for a repeat of the 2008 Mumbai attack.

Pakistan has, at times in error, referred to American contractors employed by the Departments of Defense, State or the Central Intelligence Agency as Blackwater. However, it is believed the majority of such employees are, in fact, members of that organization or is derivitive, Xe.

The same group, often criticized for irregularities in Iraq, has been contracted by the Central Intelligence Agency to operate Predator drones inside Pakistan, operations that have resulted in a significant number of civilian deaths and said by political leaders of several factions to do little but recruit terrorists.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/08/29/gordon-duff-americans-believed-involved-in-pakistan-air-crash-hijacking/

Pakistan army cancels US trip amid search dispute

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's military says it has canceled a trip by officers to the United States after they were subjected to "unwarranted security checks" at an airport in Washington.

A statement Wednesday said the delegation had been invited to attend a meeting at U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Florida.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported the incident took place aboard a plane before takeoff at Dulles airport on Aug. 30. It reported a disagreement had occurred between a member of the delegation and either a passenger or a flight attendant.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100901/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_us_airport_row_1

China launches war games in Yellow Sea

BEIJING (AFP) – China on Wednesday launched live-fire naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, state media said, after voicing opposition to similar war games to be staged there by the United States and South Korea.

The Beihai fleet of the navy of the People's Liberation Army will conduct a "live ammunition drill" through Saturday in waters off the eastern coast near the city of Qingdao, Xinhua news agency reported.

The report said many of the planes, vessels and battlefield weaponry to be used in the exercises were unveiled at the National Day military parade on October 1 last year, when China celebrated 60 years of Communist rule.

"This is an annual routine training, mainly involving the shooting of shipboard artillery," Xinhua said in a previous report, citing China's defence ministry.

The United States and South Korea are set to carry out a new round of joint drills in the Yellow Sea beginning Sunday, in another show of force against North Korea following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

Any military drills involving the United States in the Yellow Sea are a sensitive issue because of the area's proximity to China and the disputed maritime boundary between North and South Korea.

China has bristled at the idea of a US aircraft carrier group patrolling waters near its coast, although the US military has said the planned anti-submarine exercise would not involve a carrier.

The United States and South Korea in July staged massive joint naval and air exercises in the nearby Sea of Japan (East Sea), which also drew criticism from Beijing -- North Korea's closest ally and trade partner.

Seoul and its allies say the sinking of the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan in March was caused by a North Korean torpedo attack, but Beijing has refused to join in international condemnation of Pyongyang over the incident.

China staged its own naval, air and artillery exercises in late July, though it was not clear if the drills had been pre-planned or were in response to the US-South Korea exercises.

Last month, the South staged its largest-ever anti-submarine drill including live-fire training near the disputed Yellow Sea border, prompting a North Korean artillery barrage fired into the sea.

Also in August, the US and South Korea held annual 10-day joint war games on land that involved more than 80,000 troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100901/wl_asia_afp/chinausskoreankoreamilitaryexercise_20100901043945

Christian Extremist attacks Innocent Muslim in USA

NEW YORK — A Muslim cab driver stabbed in an alleged hate attack in New York was due to meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg Thursday.
Cabbie Ahmed H. Sharif, 43, also planned to join representatives from the New York City Taxi Workers Alliance in a press conference to call for an end to bigotry and anti-Islamic rhetoric in the debate over plans to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero.
Prosecutors charged baby-faced college student Michael Enright Wednesday with using a folding knife to slash the neck and face of the taxi's Bangladeshi driver after the driver said he's Muslim. Police said Enright was drunk at the time.

Enright once volunteered with a group, called Intersections International, that promotes interfaith tolerance and had recently filmed a documentary in Afghanistan — actions distinctly at odds with what authorities say happened inside a city taxi.

A representative of Intersections International, which supports the mosque project, called the attack "tragic."

"We've been working very hard to build bridges between folks from different religions and cultures," the Rev. Robert Chase said. "This is really shocking and sad for us."

Chase said Enright had volunteered for the group for about a year on a project that involved veterans.

He did a video project that sent him to Afghanistan for about six weeks this spring to document the life of an average soldier, Chase said. He was embedded with a unit there.

Intersections has come out in support of the mosque project, but Chase said Enright wasn't involved in that.

'I feel very sad'
NBC reporter Katy Tur said on "Countdown with Keith Olberman" that Enright showed no animosity toward Muslims when he contacted her by email to seek publicity about his documentary, which follows a U.S. soldier Enright knew.

"He just wanted to get a point across that soldiers were not getting enough attention back in the U.S.," Tur said, noting his politeness. "He didn't say anything against Muslims or their faith."

Enright filmed the documentary while volunteering for Intersections International.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance quickly used the attack to denounce "bigotry" over the mosque plans.

Sharif, who's driven a cab for 15 years, was quoted in a news release from the labor group as saying the attack had left him shaken.

"I feel very sad," he said. With the tension over the mosque, he added, "All drivers

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Source : www.msnbc.msn.com

Call phones from Gmail - Official Gmail Blog

Call phones from Gmail - Official Gmail Blog

Voice of Chile's trapped miners brings relief to families on surface

Psychologists 'happily surprised' by condition of miners after 19 days on shift foreman's strict rationing in underground bunker

A relative of one of the trapped miners lights candles at the surface. Photograph: Roberto Candia/AP

The words of Luis Urzúa came over a crackling line but were uttered with the professional calm of a man in control: "Shift foreman speaking."

The 54-year-old has become the leader of 33 men trapped deep underground in a Chilean mine for the last 19 days and, for a few dramatic moments late on Monday night, he was their interlocutor with the world.

The first audio contact with the men, who are expected to have to remain 670m (2,200ft) underground in the San José mine for another four months before they can be rescued, was initiated by the country's minister for mining, Laurence Golborne. He assured the trapped miners that a rescue team was working on their release, before asking the obvious question: "How are you?"

"We're good," replied Urzúa. "Waiting to be rescued." The foreman was drowned out as his trapped colleagues applauded, cheered and, in a spontaneous outburst that brought tears to the eyes of those on the surface, sang Chile's national anthem.

Golborne told the men that water was being sent in "doves", the nickname given to the 5ft-long capsules being used to deliver supples to the men through the single borehole that has penetrated down to their shelter. "Look, we've been drinking a bit of water," Urzúa interjected. "But we haven't eaten much lately, just the food that we have in the shelter."

That was an understatement: under Urzúa's strict regime, which includes work shifts and safety procedures, the men have survived almost three weeks on rations of just two small spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk and a biscuit every 48 hours.

Urzúa worked for years as the coach of a local football club, an experience that psychologists now cite as key in his ability to lead and motivate the 33 miners.

"We are happily surprised because they are in much better shape than we could have hoped for," said Alberto Iturra, the leading psychologist on the rescue team. "We were expecting to find a much more distressed group, without the ability to reason, with slow reactions and limited hearing and eyesight."

The men have already been trapped underground longer than all but a few miners rescued in recent history.

Last year, three miners trapped in a flooded mine in southern China survived for 25 days, and in 1983 two miners in north-eastern China were rescued after 23 days. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.

Officials remain concerned about the mental health of the miners over the months to come, and have discussed sending them antidepressants or allowing them to talk to psychologists to keep their spirits up.

Rescue teams sent down oxygen after the miners suggested there was not enough air in the stretches of the mine beneath the collapsed main shaft. They also began to drop in letters from family members and loved ones.

"Can you imagine? After 30 years of marriage we will start sending each other love letters again," said Lilianett Ramírez, whose 63-year-old husband, Mario Gómez, is among those trapped. She was first to send a letter down to her husband yesterday. "I told him to be very patient, that we're all camped out here, following his every heartbeat. That he shouldn't become desperate, and that he try to be extremely tranquil," she said.

Engineers have already worked to reinforce the borehole using a long hose to coat its walls with a metallic gel to decrease the risk of rockfalls. The lubricant also makes it easier to deliver the capsules, the first of which held rehydration tablets and a high-energy glucose gel to help the miners' digestive systems. It took an hour for the packages to reach the trapped men.

The Chilean government faces enormous logistical challenges in drilling new boreholes to provide supplies to the men and, eventually, pull them out. Rescue efforts advanced considerably yesterday as a third borehole was on the verge of breaking through to the miners, and a huge machine arrived to carve out a tunnel just wide enough for the miners to be pulled out one by one. That machine will not begin drilling for several days.

Andres Sougarret, leading the rescue effort, estimated that it would take three to four months to pull the men out. But Davitt McAteer, a former assistant secretary of the US Mine Safety and Health Administration, called that "perhaps the most conservative model".

Health officials are seeking advice from Nasa on how the 33 miners can remain sane and healthy while rescue efforts continue. According to officials at the health ministry, conditions in the underground chamber are similar to those faced by submarine crews or astronauts.

In their conversations with rescuers, each of the men reported feeling hungry but well, except for one who had a stomach problem. Despite the hardships for 33 men living an underground existence in a bunker the size of a small apartment, humour has not abandoned the men: asked what they needed, the men listed canned peaches, toothbrushes and a chela – slang for a cold beer.

Golborne sought to keep up the men's spirits, informing them that "the whole country" had erupted in celebrations after contact was made with them.

At one stage, Urzúa asked what had happened to a group of colleagues who had been at the mouth of the mine at the time of the collapse on 5 August.

Golborne's answer – that there had not been a single fatality as a result of the accident – prompted another round of excited cheers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/24/foreman-voice-of-chile-trapped-miners

UK welcomes baby girl into PM family

The wife of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Samantha, gave birth to a baby girl on Tuesday, a spokesman said, making the child only the second born to a serving British PM in more than 160 years.

'The prime minister and Mrs Cameron are delighted to announce the birth of their fourth child, a baby girl,' the Downing Street spokesman said.

'Both the baby -- who was born weighing six pounds, one ounce (2.7kg) -- and Mrs Cameron are doing very well.'

The family were a few days into their summer holiday in Cornwall, southwest England, when Samantha Cameron went into labour.

When the pregnancy was announced in March, the baby was said to be due in September.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 » 07:10am

Samantha Cameron was driven to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro by car, arriving at 8am (1700 AEST).

The couple posed for photographs on Sunday at Daymer Bay beach in Cornwall, with a heavily pregnant Samantha, 39, wearing a patterned yellow dress and a cardigan.

The Camerons already have a daughter, Nancy, six, and a four-year-old son, Arthur. Their first child, Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy, died suddenly in February last year, aged six.

The baby girl is only the second child born to a serving British premier since 1849 -- Tony Blair's son Leo was the first in 2000.

Cameron, 43, had repeatedly said he wanted to have another child after Ivan's death.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2010/08/25/UK_welcomes_baby_girl_into_PM_family_504143.html

Miss Mexico Crowned Miss Universe

The world has a new Miss Universe: Mexico's Jimena Navarrete. The 22-year-old beauty queen was crowned during Monday night's pageant in Las Vegas, hosted by Bret Michaels and Natalie Morales, beating out 82 competitors.

Watch clips from Miss Universe 2010

During the competition, Navarrete strutted on stage in a violet bikini, as well as a long, red gown before she discussed the importance of the Internet and monitoring children's usage of it during the Q-and-A part of the program.

Navarrete — who beat first runner-up Yendi Phillipps of Jamaica and second runner-up Jesinta Campbell of Australia — is Mexico's second Miss Universe. She replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela.
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Navarrete-Miss-Universe-1022146.aspx?rss=breakingnews

Pakistan's cricketers donate bonuses to floods relief

Pakistan's top cricketers have dug into their pockets to help the flood relief effort in the country.

Players and officials on the national team agreed to donate bonuses totalling $54,400 (£35,000; 4.6m rupees).

They pledged half their bonuses after beating England in the third Test last week, the Pakistan Cricket Board said.

The rare good news came as an earthquake in the Hindu Kush mountains rocked parts of the country, although there were no reports of casualties.

Tuesday's 5.2 magnitude tremor shook the Swat Valley and regions close to Hindu Kush, Zahid Rafi, director of the seismic centre at Pakistan's meteorological department, told the AFP news agency.

As flood waters were predicted to rise further in some areas, Pakistan's leaders held high-level talks aimed at preventing a mass health crisis.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government was "seriously concerned" about the potential spread of epidemic diseases in the flood-hit country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11080123

UN says 800,000 people cut off by Pakistan floods

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has launched an urgent appeal for more helicopters for Pakistan where it said 800,000 people have been cut off by the country's devastating floods and were only reachable by air.

"As monsoon floods continue to displace millions in southern Pakistan, an estimated 800,000 people in need across the country are only accessible by air," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

"More helicopters are urgently required," OCHA said in a statement Tuesday.

The worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history has already affected 20 million people in nearly a month of flooding triggered by heavy monsoon rains, and left 1,500 people dead.

Five million people have been made homeless across the country and officials have warned that millions are at risk from disease and food shortages.

"These unprecedented floods pose unprecedented logistical challenges, and this requires an extraordinary effort by the international community," said John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Marcus Prior of the World Food Programme said at least 40 additional heavy-lift helicopters were needed "to reach the huge numbers of increasingly desperate people with life-saving relief", according to the OCHA statement.

Pakistani officials have warned that the country's fertile southern plains face the risk of more flooding in the next few days as a major river threatens to burst its banks.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/UN-says-800000-people-cut-off-by-Pakistan-floods/articleshow/6430437.cms