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bcva, bbc news
belarus, bbc news, maria ogryzlo
Ben Bernanke, federal reserve
Benazir Bhutto, sunita kureishi,
benin, tokun lawal, bbc
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berlusconi, bbc news, italy
bill clinton ,emanuel, bbc news
bill clinton, Earth day, biodun
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brazil, biodun iginla, bbc news,
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budget deficit, bbc news,
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camilla parker-bowles, bbc news
canada, bbc news, biodun iginla
carleton college, bbc news, biod
casey anthony, bbc news
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cdc, e coli, suzanne gould, bbc
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chicago mayorial race, bbc news,
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chile prison fire, bbc news
chile, enrique krause, bbc news,
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chronical of higher education, b
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climate change, un, bbc news, bi
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common dreams
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Countrywide Financial Corporatio
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Federal Reserve, interest rates,
federal workers pay freeze, bbc
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financial times, bbc news
firedoglake, jane hamsher, biodu
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france, labor, biodun iginla
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french hostages, bbc news
french muslims, natalie de valli
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gabrielle giffords, bbc news
gambia, iran, bbcnews
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heart disease, bbc news
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International Space Station , na
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iran, lebanon, Ahmadinejad ,
iran, nuclear weapons, bbc news
iran, wikileaks, bbc news
iraq, al-qaeda, sunita kureishi,
iraq, nasras ismail, bbc news, b
ireland, bbc news, eu
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israeli-palestinian conflict, na
italy, eurozone crisis
ivory coast, bbc news
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jill clayburgh, bbc news
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John Paul Stevens, scotus,
juan williams, npr, biodun iginl
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Justice John Paul Stevens, patri
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keith olbermann, msnbc, bbc news
kelly clarkson, indonesia, smoki
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le monde, bbc nerws
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Lech Kaczynski
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madoff, bbc news, suicide
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melissa gruz, bbc news, obama ad
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mexican gas explosion, bbc news
mexican's execution, bbc news
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Michelle Obama, bbc news
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middle-class jobs, bbc news
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minnesota public radio
moveon, bbc news, biodun iginla
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mumbai attacks, bbc news
myanmar, burma, bbc news
nancy pelosi, us congress, bbc n
nasra ismail, israeli-palestinia
Natalia Lavrova, olympic games,
Nathaniel Fons, child abandonmen
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nato, pakistan, sunita kureishi,
nelson mandela, bbc news
nestor kirchner, bbc news
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nobel peace prize
nobel peace prize, bbc news, bio
noreiga, panama, biodun iginla,
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npr, bbc news, gop
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ntenyahu, obama, bbc news
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Pedro Espada, suzanne gould, bbc
phone-hack scandal, bbc news
poland, maria ogryzlo, lech Kac
police brutality, john mckenna,
police fatalities, bbc news
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pulitzer prizes, bbc news, biodu
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racism, religious profiling, isl
randy quaid, asylum, canada
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republicans, bbc news
richard holbrooke, bbc news
Rick Santorum , biodun iginla, b
robert gates, lapd, suzanne goul
rod Blagojevich, suzanne gould,
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san francisco crime lab, Deborah
sandra bullock, jess james, holl
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sarah palin, biodun iginla, bbc
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science and technology, bbc news
scott brown, tufts university, e
scotus, gays in the military
scotus, iraq war, bbc news, biod
sec, judith stein, us banks, bbc
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senegal, chad, bbc news
seward deli, biodun iginla
shanghai fire, bbc news
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silvio berlusconi, bbc news
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snowstorm, bbc news
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somali pirates, bbc news
somalia, al-shabab, biodun iginl
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south sudan, bbc news
spain air strikes, bbc news
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steve jobs, bbc news
steven ratner, andrew cuomo, bbc
Strauss-Kahn, bbc news, biodun i
sudan, nasra ismail, bbc news, b
suicide websites, bbc news
supreme court, obama, melissa gr
sweden bomb attack, bbc news
syria, bbc news
taliban, bbc news, biodun iginla
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tariq aziz, natalie de vallieres
tariq azziz, jalal talbani, bbc
tea party, us politics
tech news, bbc, biodun iginla
technology, internet, economics
thailand, xian wan, bbc news, bi
the economist, biodun iginla, bb
the economsit, bbc news, biodun
the insider, bbc news
tiger woods. augusta
timothy dolan, bbc news
Timothy Geithner, greece, eu, bi
tornadoes, mississippi, suzanne
travel, bbc news
tsa (travel security administrat
tsumami in Indonesia, bbc news,
tunisia, bbc news, biodun iginla
turkey, israel, gaza strip. biod
Turkey, the eu, natalie de valli
twincities daily planet, bbc new
twincities.com, twin cities dail
twitter, media, death threats, b
Tyler Clementi, hate crimes, bio
uk elections, gordon brown, raci
uk phone-hack, Milly Dowler
uk tuition increase, bbc news
un wire, un, bbc news, biodun ig
un, united nations, biodun iginl
unwed mothers, blacks, bbc news
upi, bbc news, iginla
us billionaires, bbc news
us economic downturn, melissa gr
us economy, us senate, us congre
us empire, bbc news, biodun igin
us housing market, bbc news
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us media, bbc news, biodun iginl
us media, media matters for amer
us midterm elections, bbc news
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us military, gay/lesbian issues
us politics, bbc news, the econo
us recession, judith stein, bbc
us stimulus, bbc news
us taxes, bbc news, the economis
us, third-world, bbc news
vatican, natalie de vallieres
venezuela, bbc news
verizon, biodun iginla, bbc news
volcanic ash, iceland, natalie d
volcanis ash, bbc news, biodun i
wal-mat, sexism, bbc news
wall street reform, obama, chris
wall street regulations, banking
warren buffett, us economic down
weather in minneapolis, bbc news
white supremacist, Richard Barre
wikileaks, bbc news, biodun igin
wvirginia coal mine, biodun igin
wvirginia mines, biodun iginal,
xian wan, china , nobel prize
xian wan, japan
yahoo News, biodun iginla, bbc n
yahoo, online media, new media,
yemen, al-qaeda, nasra ismail, b
zimbabwe, mugabe, biodun iginla
|
Biodun@bbcnews.com
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Wife of Chinese Nobel winner detained in Beijing: US group
Topic: nobel peace prize, bbc news, bio
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The wife of the Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, is being detained in her Beijing home, the spokeswoman for a US based rights group said Sunday, citing a reliable source in Beijing. "She is currently under de facto house arrest back in her apartment in Beijing," said Beth Schwanke, legislative counsel for the US-based group Freedom Now, speaking of the dissident's wife, Liu Xia. Schwanke said that she learned of the arrest of Liu Xia, whom she said is being held incommunicado, from a reliable source in China. "We have a source who is able to confirm that this is absolutely accurate," she said. A second group, Human Rights in China, announced Sunday that it also had received word of Liu Xia's arrest and said in a statement that it "strongly urges the international community to press the Chinese authorities to immediately release Liu Xia from house arrest, free Liu Xiaobo, and free all prisoners of conscience incarcerated as a result of exercising their right of freedom of expression." Schwanke told AFP that after it was announced Friday that her husband had been awarded the Nobel prize, Liu's phone was taken away by Chinese authorities and she was detained. The detention took place after Liu Xia had been taken to see her husband in prison and permitted to tell him that he had won the Nobel. "She was taken there on Saturday and she was allowed to see him on Sunday," the spokeswoman said. "After she returned to Beijing they told her that she would not be allowed to leave her apartment," Schwanke said. "I understand that he cried and said that this is for the martyrs of Tiananmen Square," said Schwanke. "After that, she was taken back to Beijing and she was put under de facto house arrest," she said. "She's not allowed to leave her apartment and her phone has actually been destroyed. Liu, the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize, is a 54-year-old writer imprisoned since December after authoring Charter 08, a manifesto signed by thousands seeking greater rights in the communist nation.
Posted by biginla
at 9:45 PM BST
Israeli cabinet backs controversial Jewish loyalty oath
Topic: israeli-palestinian conflict, na
10 October 2010 Last updated at 10:38 ET Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has supported the proposal The Israeli cabinet has approved a controversial bill that would require all non-Jews taking Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state". The law, which has angered Israel's Arab minority, still has to be passed by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. A similar measure was rejected by the cabinet in May 2009. If approved, the new law will affect a small number of non-Jews who seek Israeli citizenship. Correspondents say it will mainly apply to Palestinians married to Israelis who seek citizenship on the basis of family re-unification, foreign workers, and a few other special cases. Arabs make up 20% of Israel's population. The proposal, which is being backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had been welcomed by right-wing ministers in the 30-member coalition cabinet, including ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Mr Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party made the oath the centrepiece of its campaign in the 2009 election, which eventually led to it becoming the second largest member of the governing coalition after Mr Netanyahu's Likud. Pay-off demand Israeli media reported that all five ministers from the left-leaning Labour party voted against the proposal, as did three members of Netanyahu's own Likud. Before the vote, Labour ministers had said they expected a new freeze on settlement building as a pay-off should the law come into effect. This is a key Palestinian demand in the current peace talks. Continue reading the main story Proposed citizenship oath - New wording: "I swear that I will be a loyal citizen to the state of Israel, as a Jewish and democratic state, and will uphold its laws."
- Mainly affects Palestinians married to Israelis, foreign workers, and other special cases where people seek to be naturalised as citizens
- Does not affect people of Jewish ancestry and their spouses who have the right to settle in Israel and gain citizenship under the law of return
But both Mr Netanyahu and Yisrael Beitenu denied any deal involving an extension of the partial settlement freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The recently renewed peace talks are at risk of collapse over ongoing Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank, with the Palestinians threatening to walk out unless the freeze is reinstated. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is one of Israel's key demands in any eventual peace deal with the Palestinians. To that end, Mr Netanyahu has rejected the right of return of Palestinian refugees, calling it a device to destroy the state of Israel by demography. The Palestinians, in the form of the Palestinian Authority, have agreed to recognise Israel as a state, but have rejected the demand to recognise its Jewish character. Also, the issue of requiring some citizens - mainly Israeli Arabs - to swear allegiance to a Jewish state has proved deeply divisive within Israeli society. In proposing the requirement, right-wing parties had focused on perceived disloyalty among Israeli Arabs, drawing widespread criticism as well as support. More on This Story
Posted by biginla
at 8:40 PM BST
Watch the Commonwealth Games here Live by the BBC's Biodun Iginla
Click right here
Posted by biginla
at 5:46 PM BST
Bioduniginla News
Topic: bbc news, biodun iginla, the eco
NATIONAL PUBLIC R... · 52 MINS AGO Clapping, waving and even cracking a smile, the youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il joined his father Sunday ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE WORLD NEWS » THE HUFFINGTON POST · 0 MINS AGO SAN DIEGO — Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn says he has cancer in a salivary gland.He told The San Diego ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE U.S. NEWS » THE FINANCIAL TIMES · 25 MINS AGO The organisation that runs Europe’s busiest ferry port is fighting objections from its customers and the local MP as it seeks ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE U.K. NEWS » BBC · 25 MINS AGO Hungarian workers are building an emergency dam as cracks widened in a reservoir that spilled toxic sludge last week. Comments · RT on Twitter MORE EUROPE NEWS » THE NEW YORK TIMES · 55 MINS AGO KABUL (Reuters) - More than 4,000 formal complaints have been submitted about Afghanistan's parliamentary poll, the election watchdog said on Sunday, ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE ASIA NEWS » PC WORLD · 1 HR, 12 MINS AGO Children get a start on their online identities before the age of 2, thanks to families and friends posting images and ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS » BBC · 31 MINS AGO NBA boss on global mission to sell basketball Comments · RT on Twitter MORE BUSINESS NEWS » SPORTS ILLUSTRATED · 16 MINS AGO LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- Albert Haynesworth and Clinton Portis were among the Washington Redskins inactives for their game against the Green ... Comments · RT on Twitter MORE SPORTS NEWS » REUTERS · 38 MINS AGO LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Facebook film "The Social Network" captured the top spot at North American box offices for the second ... Comments · RT on Twitter
Posted by biginla
at 5:36 PM BST
Breaking News
Topic: moveon, bbc news, biodun iginla
#cg_msg_content td, #cg_msg_content font { font-size: 10pt; }#cg_msg_content td p { margin: 0em; }#cg_msg_content p { margin: 1em 0em; }#cg_msg_content td div p { margin: 1em 0em; }#cg_msg_content .X0uMP p { margin: 1em 0pt; } After being accused of illegally laundering money from foreign corporations to pay for their campaign ads, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just announced new ads attacking progressives including Sen. Russ Feingold and Rep. Alan Grayson. We're ready to respond immediately with ads defending our Progressive Heroes. Can you chip in $5 to help out? Contribute now | | Dear Biodun,
This is an urgent request. News just broke that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—one of the biggest sources of corporate cash backing Republicans this year—has been using money from foreign corporations in India, Bahrain, and elsewhere to fund its attack ads, in apparent violation of the law.1 This explosive news could shift the course of the election if the Chamber is forced to scale back and all the right-wing candidates they're helping have to answer for this. The Chamber knows that. Their strategy is to give no quarter and hope this blows over. In the last week they've actually spent millions more on ads targeted against progressive heroes including Russ Feingold.2 So we've been up working overnight on a new emergency ad campaign aimed at those Republicans who've been benefiting from the Chamber's help and evidently from its foreign funding—and aimed at forcing the Chamber to reveal its secret contributors. We can launch these ads immediately to keep this story from dying. This is a huge opportunity but it wasn't in our election plan—so we need to raise $350,000 right away to do it. Can you contribute $5? https://pol.moveon.org/donate/stopthetakeover_chamber.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=24039-347526-MlN8rUx&t=3 The Chamber claims that it has internal systems to keep the money separate, but the new report shows that the foreign corporations donate directly to the Chamber's general fund, which is where the funding for their political attacks comes from. This would represent a shocking disregard for longstanding American campaign finance laws, all to advance a corporate, right-wing agenda of outsourcing jobs and giving huge tax breaks to multi-national corporations.3 According to the report, the Chamber is allegedly raising money from firms in "China, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and many other places." Even Russian banks and state-owned oil companies in Abu Dhabi may have contributed. The Chamber is spending more than any other group to back right-wing Republicans and attack progressives in the election. We need to fight back, and we're ready to leap into action—but first we need to know if we have enough funds. Can you contribute $5 immediately? https://pol.moveon.org/donate/stopthetakeover_chamber.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=24039-347526-MlN8rUx&t=4 Thanks for all you do. –Michael, Tim, Duncan, Marika, and the rest of the team Sources:
Posted by biginla
at 4:18 PM BST
Updated: Sunday, 10 October 2010 4:30 PM BST
Outraged, and Outrageous
Topic: islam, bbc news, biodun iginla
Top row from left: RT America; Atlas Shrugs; ABC News; Atlas Shrugs. Second row: Fox News; Canadian Broadcasting Company; Atlas Shrugs; MSNBC. Third row: CNN; Atlas Shrugs (Three photos). Bottom Row: CBS NEWS; CNN; Atlas Shrugs (2 photos). MEDIA COMMODITY Pamela Geller inspires, infuriates and influences with hyperbole as well as bikini shots. Published: October 8, 2010 PAMELA GELLER’S apartment, in the fashion of the blogosphere, doubles as her office. It is a modern full-floor unit in a high-rise on the East Side of Manhattan that could belong to a socialite or the editor of a lifestyle magazine. There is ample light and a tasteful lack of clutter. The kitchen appliances are made of brushed steel; the countertops are slate. In the earth-toned living room hangs a painting, in vibrant colors, of a woman in a swimsuit. Enlarge This Image Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times ‘I GOTTA BE ME’ Pamela Geller, 52, in her East Side apartment. It is in this genteel setting that Ms. Geller, 52 and a single mother of four, wakes each morning shortly after 7, switches on her laptop and wages a form of holy war through Atlas Shrugs, a Web site that attacks Islam with a rhetoric venomous enough that PayPal at one point branded it a hate site. Working here — often in fuzzy slippers — she has called for the removal of the Dome of the Rock from atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; posted doctored pictures of Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court justice, in a Nazi helmet; suggested the State Department was run by “Islamic supremacists”; and referred to health care reform as an act of national rape. Ms. Geller has been writing since 2005, but this summer she skyrocketed to national prominence as the firebrand in chief opposing Park51, the planned Muslim community center she denounces as “the ground zero mega-mosque.” Operating largely outside traditional Washington power centers — and, for better or worse, without traditional academic, public-policy or journalism credentials — Ms. Geller, with a coterie of allies, has helped set the tone and shape the narrative for a divisive national debate over Park51 (she calls the developer a “thug” and a “lowlife”). In the process, she has helped bring into the mainstream a concept that after 9/11 percolated mainly on the fringes of American politics: that terrorism by Muslims springs not from perversions of Islam but from the religion itself. Her writings, rallies and television appearances have both offended and inspired, transforming Ms. Geller from an Internet obscurity, who once videotaped herself in a bikini as she denounced “Islamofascism,” into a media commodity who has been profiled on “60 Minutes” and whose phraseology has been adopted by Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. FOR Ms. Geller, the battle against Park51 is only part of a much larger crusade in which she is joined by an influential if decentralized coalition that includes former generals, new-media polemicists, researchers and evangelicals who view Islam as a politically driven religion, barbaric at its core and expansionist by nature. Her closest partner is Robert Spencer, the proprietor of Jihadwatch.org. Incorporation papers for their American Freedom Defense Initiative list as founding members Anders Gravers, a Danish “anti-Islamization” activist (“Jihad is the knife slicing the salami of freedom”) and John Joseph Jay (“There are no innocents in Islam”). Their lawyer, David Yerushalmi, has sought to criminalize the practice of Islam, when defined as adherence to Shariah, Islamic religious law. This loose-knit cadre’s vision of Islam in an age of terror is not unlike a cold war view of Communism: a stealthy global threat creeping into nodes of power that must be opposed at all cost. “In the war between the savage and the civilized man,” Ms. Geller says, “you side with the civilized man.” It remains unclear how much Ms. Geller is driving opposition to the Islamic center and how much she reflects it — polls suggest most Americans oppose the project — but her involvement can hardly be ignored. Atlas Shrugs, which gets about one million unique visitors a month, helped draw thousands to protests against Park51 on June 6 and Sept. 11. Ms. Geller, supported by a divorce settlement and blog advertisements, also played an important role in winning the resignation in 2007 of Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim principal who started an Arabic-language public school in Brooklyn; brought 200 people to Ohio last year to support Rifqa Bary, a Muslim girl who accused her parents of abuse; and helped draw vociferous objectors to a hearing this summer on a since-scrapped proposal for a mosque on Staten Island. In conversation, Ms. Geller habitually refers to herself as a “racist-Islamophobic-anti-Muslim-bigot” — all one word in her pronunciation — which hints at her sense of humor and her evident frustration at her public persona. She wields a similarly broad brush against opponents, using terms like “diabolical” and “stealth jihadist” even for people like the journalist Christiane Amanpour and the Republican operative Grover Norquist. The outrageous and the solemn are deeply intertwined in her character. Ms. Geller admits to using Atlas Shrugs to test topics significant (the conflict in Sudan) and outlandish (that a young Barack Obama slept with “a crack whore”). She has taken up arms against “honor killings” as well as against a Disneyland employee who fought to wear a head scarf. She inspires laughs at sites like Loonwatch, but critics say her influence is serious: a spreading fear of Islam and a dehumanization of Muslims comparable to the sometimes-violent anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism of earlier eras. Even some of her former right-wing allies say she has gone too far. “I think she’s enabling a real bigotry — a lot of people are convinced by the propaganda she repeats like a mantra,” said Charles Johnson, who runs the blog Little Green Footballs, where Ms. Geller got her start as a frequent commenter. “Nine-eleven didn’t happen in a vacuum — it came from a long history. But when people like Pam Geller are the loudest voices out there talking about it, it drowns out everything else and makes everyone look crazy.” Like many writers, Ms. Geller is fond of what she calls her “little darlings” — rhetorical flourishes, such as accusing the imam behind Park51 of “totalitarian Khomeinism.” Asked during an interview on Sept. 28 whether these extreme constructions undermine her credibility, Ms. Geller spontaneously erupted into song. “I gotta be me,” she sang, sounding not too bad, though not at all like someone who has opined extensively about the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Iranian revolution. “I gotta be free.” “I’m serious,” she added, returning to her Long Island-accented voice. “I haven’t thought about that song in a million years. But it’s really true.” THE day last December when The New York Times first reported plans to build a Muslim community center two blocks from ground zero, Atlas Shrugs immediately objected. “I don’t know which is more grotesque,” Ms. Geller wrote, “jihad or the NY Times preening of it.” She dropped the topic until May 5, when the project — including a mosque, sports facilities and cultural programs to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims — won unanimous approval from a committee of Community Board 1. The next day, Atlas bristled with outrage. It was a “monster mosque.” It was “sort of like a victory lap” — analogous to Muslims’ reconsecrating the iconic Hagia Sophia cathedral as a mosque after conquering Constantinople in 1453. “Insulting and humiliating.” “A stab in the eye of America.” “This is Islamic domination and expansionism,” Ms. Geller declared. The only Muslim center appropriate near ground zero, she said, would be devoted to “expunging the Koran” of “incitement to violence.” (Though, she added, such a center “probably wouldn’t last two minutes without being bombed by devout Muslims.”) Two days later, Ms. Geller invited readers to protest the “9/11 monster mosque being built on hallowed ground zero,” in a post that was among the first to spread the misimpressions that the project was at the World Trade Center site and would solely house a prayer space. The next week, The New York Post took up the cause (“Mosque Madness at Ground Zero”). Fox News booked Ms. Geller on Mike Huckabee’s television program. Sean Hannity hosted her on the radio. The community board received hundreds of letters and calls from across the country; Ms. Geller had posted its contact information. She advertised its May 25 hearing, which was packed and marked by heckling (“You’re building on a Christian cemetery!”). Next, the organization she and Mr. Spencer took over in April, Stop Islamization of America, held a rally on the anniversary of D-Day, which Ms. Geller marks as the moment Park51 became a national sensation. A post about it by El Marco, a conservative blogger, “went viral,” she said, a rare instance of a big debate’s bursting on the scene without “the mainstream media telling people what to think.” Ms. Geller, though, had some suggestions. She and other bloggers quoted selectively from the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, stressing his description of United States policy as partly responsible for 9/11. They branded him a “radical Islamist.” They declared that his talks against extremism and violence were “taqiyya” — the hiding of true beliefs, religiously sanctioned for Muslims, usually minority Shiites, under hostile rule. And Ms. Geller said, without evidence, that the center’s financing might be tied to terrorists. Her assertions became common talking points for Republican leaders and other opponents. Soon, Rick A. Lazio, running for governor of New York, was calling the imam a “terrorist sympathizer.” Rush Limbaugh was describing Park51 as a “victory mosque.” Mr. Gingrich was talking about fighting “stealth jihad,” a favorite Geller phrase and the title of a book by Mr. Spencer. Over the summer, Ms. Geller, irresistibly appealing to television bookers, appeared on programs across the political spectrum as the face of opposition to the Muslim center. Her claims were disputed often enough that the liberal media-tracking group Media Matters called on stations (ineffectually) to stop presenting her as an expert. Opposition to Park51 grew — and with it, antipathy for Islam. A New York Times poll last month found that two-thirds of city residents thought the project should be relocated. A Quinnipiac University poll of likely New York State voters showed that 90 percent of Republicans — compared to 34 percent of Democrats — thought that a mosque near ground zero was wrong. And the portion of Americans with a favorable view of Islam reached its lowest ebb since 9/11 — 37 percent, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Ms. Geller said in the interview that it was “insulting to the American people” to suggest that she and her allies inspired the anger over the project. But if many people have a general unease over the idea of a mosque downtown, Ms. Geller has provided a vocabulary to express it and a framework to understand it: worries about Islam. “I have an interesting play on words sometimes,” she said. “If people like it, I think that’s great.” Jack Begg contributed research.
Posted by biginla
at 3:38 PM BST
Breaking news, analysis and opinion from Canada and the world by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Topic: canada, bbc news, biodun iginla
Kids light candles at Esperanza camp at the San Jose mine near the city of Copiapo, 800 km north of Santiago on October 9, 2010. The rescue of the 33 miners trapped in a Chilean mine is likely to start on Wednesday, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said hours after a drill shaft broke through to the trapped men. (Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images) Drilling success announced with the blast of a siren, prompting cheers, tears and embraces as relatives celebrate Oct 10, 2010 8:32AM EDT <A TARGET="_top" HREF="http://ad.ca.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh%3Dv8/3a2f/3/0/%2a/l%3B223674973%3B0-0%3B0%3B37167639%3B4307-300/250%3B36149597/36167480/1%3Bu%3D|site-theglobeandmailcom|zone-gam_news|ptf-j|pv6-n|pv5-n|pv4-n|pv3-n|pv2-n|pv1-n|pv0-n|mode-bn|loc-sec|pgsb-n|adpg-news|pp0-news|arena-gnrl|arena-gam|arena-news|cp0-n|ops-n|nc-|kw-n|pos-boxr|sz-300x250|tile-2|%3B%7Eaopt%3D2/1/51/0%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.globeandmail.com/yourbusiness"><IMG SRC="http://s0.2mdn.net/5959/300x250_YourBusiness.gif" alt="Click here for more information" BORDER=0></A> Must reads from our sections Norman Spector Three successful contractors contributed $500 each to the Conservatives on the same date Elizabeth Renzetti It requires superhuman strength to leave Made in Dagenham, the new film about a 1968 strike by female machinists at the Ford plant in London, England, without a tear in your eye Jane Taber Difficult transition for PM’s new chief of staff could have chilling effect on business leaders turned public servants Gary Mason B.C. NDP Leader’s troubles are a reminder that party can implode at any time Toronto Election Get the latest news, blogs and opinions about the municipal election and mayoral race Bruce Anderson Cash makes good positioning look brilliant but can only help so much for those struggling to connect with voters In his 61 years, the native leader transformed the James Bay Cree, set the standard on land claims and conquered his own personal demons Oct 10, 2010 8:35AM EDT Number of cases of elder financial abuse in Canada are rising, alarming, police say 9:53 AM EDT Stephen Harper's Tories have thwarted repeated attempts at reform Oct 08, 2010 8:40PM EDT Canadian Finance Minister speaks to International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington Oct 09, 2010 3:24PM EDT Marie-Lucie Morin becomes Canada’s chief representative at bank Oct 09, 2010 5:48PM EDT Multiple studies have shown that this country is far behind others in the creation of new technologies. A change in the cultural mindset of our universities and companies may be needed Oct 08, 2010 6:54PM EDT The Taliban is buckling, officials say Oct 09, 2010 9:50PM EDT Cracks in materials in reservoir wall could cause it to collapse and release even thicker sludge Oct 09, 2010 11:30PM EDT Kim Jong Un, on track to become North Korea’s next leader, attends military parade at his father’s side Oct 09, 2010 10:26PM EDT Officials working hard to ensure no white elephants will be left behind Oct 08, 2010 9:23PM EDT Police hold briefing at scene of attack, hoping to elicit tips from public Oct 08, 2010 8:50PM EDT After 40 years in the NHL, they’re still waiting for their first Stanley Cup Oct 09, 2010 1:29AM EDT The mayor says he wouldn’t change anything about his rule, and that’s why the voters want him back in office Oct 08, 2010 7:50PM EDT Front-runner unveils his financial plan; Board of Trade, past budget chiefs dubious Oct 08, 2010 9:01PM EDT Police say no one was injured when aircraft touched down on Markham road Oct 08, 2010 11:45PM EDT Supporters hope it will attract visitors and have spinoffs that help halt the city’s decline. Opponents call it a money pit Oct 07, 2010 6:13AM EDT PuppiesAcrossCanada.com operator convicted of causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal Oct 06, 2010 7:46AM EDT Protest by military mothers prompts change to the script Oct 08, 2010 8:07PM EDT Nine people detained in Port of Montreal say they didn’t know they were headed for Canada Oct 08, 2010 4:36PM EDT Fight involving nearly 30 prisoners broke out Friday night in Saskatchewan Penitentiary gym Oct 09, 2010 5:04PM EDT Man will be moved to personal care home Oct 08, 2010 4:52PM EDT Their superior eyesight and hearing means only one in three hunters actually bags one of these elusive fowl Oct 09, 2010 5:32PM EDT Coroner’s inquest says Ontario should share records about mentally ill people, recommends no charges in police shooting of schizophrenic man Oct 08, 2010 4:04PM EDT Doug Saunders Jeffrey Simpson Margaret Wente
Posted by biginla
at 3:15 PM BST
No Social Security COLA expected for 2011
Topic: social security, bbc news, biodu
WASHINGTON – As if voters don't have enough to be angry about this election year, the government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through another year without an increase in their monthly benefits. It would mark only the second year without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975. The first year was this year. "If you're the ruling party, this is not the sort of thing you want to have happening two weeks before an election," said Andrew Biggs, a former deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration and now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "It's not the congressional Democrats' fault, but that's the way politics works," Biggs said. "A lot of people will feel hostile about it." The cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, are automatically set each year by an inflation measure that was adopted by Congress back in the 1970s. Based on inflation so far this year, the trustees who oversee Social Security project there will be no COLA for 2011. The projection will be made official on Friday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases inflation estimates for September. The timing couldn't be worse for Democrats as they approach an election in which they are in danger of losing their House majority, and possibly their Senate majority as well. This past Friday, the same bureau delivered another painful blow to Democrats: The U.S. lost 95,000 jobs in September and unemployment remained stubbornly stuck at 9.6 percent. Democrats have been working hard to make Social Security an election-year issue, running political ads and holding press conferences to accuse Republicans of plotting to privatize the national retirement program. This week's announcement about Social Security benefits raises more immediate concerns for older Americans whose savings and home values still haven't recovered from the financial collapse: Many haven't had a raise since January 2009, and they won't be getting one until at least January 2012. "While people aren't getting COLAs they certainly feel like they're falling further and further behind, particularly in this economy," said David Certner, AARP's legislative policy director. "People are very reliant on Social Security as a major portion of their income and, quite frankly, they have counted on the COLA over the years." Social Security was the primary source of income for 64 percent of retirees who got benefits in 2008, according to the Social Security Administration. A third relied on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income. A little more than 58.7 million people receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income. The average Social Security benefit is about $1,072 a month. Social Security recipients got a one-time bonus payment of $250 in the spring of 2009 as part of the government's massive economic recovery package. President Barack Obama lobbied for another one last fall when it became clear seniors wouldn't get an increase in monthly benefit payments in 2010. Congress took up the issue, but a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders died when 12 Democrats and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut joined Senate Republicans to block it. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine was the only Republican to support the second bonus payment. Sanders, I-Vt., said he expects older voters to be angry when they learn there will be no increase for the second straight year. "I do think there's going to be political fallout," Sanders said. "Many seniors who are spending a lot of money on health care and prescription drugs really are going to find it hard to believe that there has been no inflationary costs to their purchasing needs." Federal law requires the Social Security Administration to base annual payment increases on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which measures inflation. Officials compare inflation in the third quarter of each year — the months of July, August and September — with the same months in the previous year. If inflation increases from year to year, Social Security recipients automatically get higher payments, starting in January. If inflation is negative, the payments stay unchanged. Social Security payments increased by 5.8 percent in 2009, the largest increase in 27 years, after energy prices spiked in 2008. But energy prices quickly dropped. For example, average gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008. But by January 2009, they had fallen below $2. Today, the national average is roughly $2.70 a gallon. As a result, Social Security recipients got an increase in 2009 that was far larger than actual inflation. However, they won't get another increase until inflation exceeds the level measured in 2008. The Social Security trustees project that will happen next year, resulting in a small increase in benefits for 2012. Social Security spokesman Mark Lassiter said the agency has no leeway to increase payments if the inflation measurement doesn't call for it. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security, has introduced a new bill to provide $250 payments to seniors, if there is no increase in Social Security. Maybe, he said, there will be more of an appetite in Congress to pass it after lawmakers hear from voters in November. "Costs of living are inevitably going up, regardless of what that formula says," Pomeroy said. "Seniors in particular have items such as uncovered drug costs, medical costs, utility increases, and they're on fixed incomes." ___ Online: Social Security COLAs: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/cola/latestCOLA.html
Posted by biginla
at 2:58 PM BST
Google News Compiled by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Topic: google news, bbc news, biodun ig
| Despite backing of key Workers' Party officials, Kim Jong-un seems to be unpopular among North Korean citizens. North Korea leader Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un attends a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the communist nation's ... Video: Raw Video: Kim Jong Il and Son Appear Together The Associated Press <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ0dXgGIwHI">Video: Raw Video: Kim Jong Il and Son Appear Together <img class="youtube-icon icon" src="http://www.gstatic.com/news/img/cleardot.gif" alt="" width="16" height="16"></a> <span class="source">The Associated Press</span> The Guardian - The Australian - Los Angeles Times - Bloomberg President Obama's new National Security Advisor spent the decade prior to joining the White House as a legal advisor to powerful interests including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, where he oversaw the ... The Associated Press - CNN - Wall Street Journal - Reuters The United States and other industrialized countries are pushing to create a broad set of economic targets that would hold key countries - notably China - more directly accountable for their currency and other policies. Washington Post - Dan Balz - 6 hours ago President Obama and Vice President Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday for another rally designed to energize Democratic voters. Register - 1 hour ago Google has built a fleet of cars that drive themselves, and over the past several months, these robotic vehicles have driven over 140000 miles on public roads, from the Pacific Coast Highway to the famous twists and turns of San Francisco's Lombard ... CNN - 3 hours ago By the CNN Wire Staff R&B crooner Solomon Burke was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. He was part of the legendary 1960s Atlantic stable with Ray Charles, Ben E. King and Wilson Pickett (CNN) -- Soul singer Solomon Burke has died at ... FOXNews - 1 hour ago Oct. 9: The new Soyuz TMA-01M is seen closing in on the International Space Station with three new crewmembers for the Expedition 25 crew in this view from a camera on the station's exterior. Microsoft will launch Windows Phone 7 tomorrow Oct. 11. Some think like Google's Andy Rubin that we do not need another mobile operating system. KOLONTAR, Hungary - Hungary raced against time on Sunday to erect a dam around a ruptured reservoir and divert a new wave of toxic sludge that threatens to overwhelm already devastated villages. The seemingly endless bartering and discussion, which could last into next year, can be unfathomable to outsiders. It's a brutal psychodrama explained by ... (CNN) -- The Torkham border crossing in Pakistan was opened for NATO supply convoy traffic Sunday morning, authorities told CNN. Trucks are free to pass once they have cleared customs, said Amjad Ali, a constable for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Los Angeles Times - 6 hours ago The man turned himself in, and investigators are still seeking a ninth suspect. The gang members are accused of attacking two teens and one 30-year-old man. Washington Post - 12 hours ago Revolutionary musician John Lennon would have been 70 on Oct. 9 had he not been killed in 1980 by a deranged fan at the age of 40. The News of Today - 44 minutes ago Posted by Brian Krassenstein on Oct 10th, 2010 and filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. USA Today - 3 hours ago Universal pulled a movie trailer Friday in which a character played by actor Vince Vaughn says to a group in corporate board room: "Electric cars are gay. The Associated Press - Alan Zibel - 10 hours ago WASHINGTON - The attorneys general of up to 40 states plan to announce soon a joint investigation into banks' use of flawed foreclosure paperwork. By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Petrol bombs and stones were thrown at police protecting a gay pride march Sunday in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, an Interior Ministry representative told CNN. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said concerns that higher capital requirements for financial institutions will reduce profits and impair economic growth are ... RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories - After nearly two decades of sputtering peace talks that have failed to bring about their promised state, the Palestinians are exploring other options. The Business Insider - 2 hours ago Ho-hum, another day, another chart showing Android's growing dominance. Nielsen says Android was the most popular OS on smartphones in the first half of the ... Sydney Morning Herald - 28 minutes ago BEIJING: When news broke on Friday that the political reformer Liu Xiaobo had won the Nobel peace prize while serving the first year of an 11-year jail sentence, I was listening to a member of China's communist aristocracy tell me how he had recently ... Phil Hughes makes plenty of noise after striking out Jason Kubel in sixth to escape one of his few jams Saturday night. Who is the hero of the Bombers' win over Minnesota to finish three-game sweep? | | Chicago Sun-Times - Dave Hoekstra - 4 hours ago - Chicago Sun-Times - Dale Bowman - 4 hours ago - Chicago Tribune - 4 hours ago American Spectator - Peter Ferrara - Oct 6, 2010 Huffington Post - Oct 6, 2010 CNN - Ashley Hayes - Oct 7, 2010 New York Times - Nicholas D. 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Posted by biginla
at 2:48 PM BST
South Sudan 'reneging on peace deal' - President Bashir
Topic: sudan, nasra ismail, bbc news, b
10 October 2010 Last updated at 08:48 ET A pro-unity demonstration in Khartoum ended in clashes between supporters and opponents Sudan's president has accused the former rebels in the south of going back on the terms of a peace agreement that ended decades of conflict. He also warned Sudan may be heading for a new war if North-South differences on some issues are not settled before a crucial referendum in January. Amid rising tension, UN envoys urged Sudan to ensure the vote on southern independence is held on time. Supporters of the two sides clashed in the capital, Khartoum, on Saturday. A crowd of several thousand northerners demonstrating in favour of unity turned on around 40 southerners who arrived at the rally. The police then joined in, beating southerners who fled the scene, witnesses said. The referendum is the result of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the 21-year civil war between North and South that left up to two million people dead. UN diplomats fear any delay could cause renewed violence. 'More dangerous' Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's comments on unity came in a speech at a conference in the Libyan town of Sirte, as reported by Sudanese state media. The Sudanese leader condemned a recent statement by Salva Kiir, South Sudan President, that he intended to vote for separation from the north in the referendum. According to the peace deal, both sides are supposed to work to make unity "attractive". One of Salva Kiir's aides told the BBC that he had simply meant that nothing had been done to make unity attractive. President Bashir said he was still committed to the referendum, but that differences had first to be settled over issues which include the location of the border between north and south, sharing oil revenues and the waters of the River Nile. According to Suna news agency, "he said a new conflict between the north and south will ensue if there was a failure to address these issues before the referendum and that such a conflict could be more dangerous than the one that took place before the peace agreement". The BBC's James Copnall says the Sudanese president's words intensify the tensions between the North and the South in the run-up to the referendum which is scheduled for 9 January. A visiting delegation of UN Security Council envoys said the timetable for January's vote was extremely tight but "doable". But the UK's Permanent Representative to the Security Council, Mark Lyall Grant, told reporters they wanted to see a concerted push to resolve the many "key outstanding issues" before a vote could be held. Salva Kiir earlier asked the UN delegation to deploy peacekeepers along the border with the north ahead of the referendum. Between eight and 10 areas along the border, including the Abyei oil fields, are still in dispute and analysts say a clash at any of them could spark off a military confrontation. Both sides have sent troops there. Diplomats said Mr Kiir's request would be considered. More on This Story
Posted by biginla
at 2:25 PM BST
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