This Just In...the thread for news.

[Justin]

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index....,11172,0,0,1,0

What the ****, seriously?

[Ramplate]

Wow, I thought China was the only one with a problem with Buddhists

[Justin]

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/1...8A70DX20121108

[Justin]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/op...?smid=fb-share

[Ramplate]

Originally Posted by Justin

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/1...8A70DX20121108

Originally Posted by Justin

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/op...?smid=fb-share

Do your links come with Cliff's Notes, or do we have to click on them to find the mysterious hidden messages?

[Ramplate]

NYC officer pleads not guilty in alleged plot to cook, eat women


A New York City police officer has pleaded not guilty to charges he plotted to abduct and cook women so he could eat their body parts.

Gilberto Valle entered the plea Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Authorities arrested the 28-year-old NYPD officer last month based on a tip from his estranged wife.

The FBI says it uncovered emails from Valle to an unidentified co-conspirator "discussing plans to kidnap, rape, torture, kill, cook and eat body parts of a number of women."

No women were actually harmed, and Valle's lawyer claims he was never a threat. She says the alleged plot was pure fantasy.

The jailed Valle is due back in court Tuesday for a bail hearing.

[Ramplate]

Uh-oh, here we go again...

[quote]Decree by Egypt's Mursi raises rights concerns: U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decree granting himself extended powers raises very serious human rights concerns, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay's spokesman said on Friday.

Mursi's announcement was welcomed by his allies but prompted fears among secular-minded Egyptians that the ruling Muslim Brotherhood aimed to dominate the new Egypt.

Among its other provisions, the decree states that all decisions taken by Mursi until the election of a new parliament are exempt from legal challenge. It also orders a retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak and his aides.

"We are very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt," Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva.

"We also fear this could lead to a very volatile situation over the next few days, starting today in fact."

Colville did not specify which parts were most worrying but said the decree had many aspects to it so it would take time to analyze fully.

He said Pillay's office may put out a full statement later on Friday or on Saturday.

[Ramplate]

Norway killer slams prison conditions

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik says prison officers are trying to drive him to suicide in conditions he describes as "a mini Abu Ghraib," with strict security regimes and unpredictable guards.

In a 27-page letter to prison officials obtained by the AP, Breivik writes he is frustrated that guards do not cooperate with his carefully planned daily schedule and that they serve him cold coffee. The 33-year-old rightwing fanatic also alleges he is denied a reading lamp, has restricted access to candy and is given daily strip searches.

Breivik killed 77 people in a car bombing and shooting attacks in Norway's worst peacetime massacre. He was sentenced to 21 years, which may be extended as long as he is considered a danger to society.

[Wyldstaar]

Concord, New Hampshire- Lisa Biron has been arrested and charged with transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, possession of child pornography and five counts of sexual exploitation of children after allegedly taking a teenage girl to Canada where she reportedly convinced the girl to engage in sexual activity while filming it.

Ms. Biron is part of the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization of Christian conservative attorneys who litigate to end gay marriage and abortion rights.

[Tolkien]

HaaHaaa!

Freedom of Choice 1 - Religious Nutjobs 0

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Ramplate

Do your links come with Cliff's Notes, or do we have to click on them to find the mysterious hidden messages?

Too lazy. All it takes is one click anyway--not that time consuming.

[Justin]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11...tephen-harper/

So if you ever get a chance to meet a prime minister, be sure to dress like a farmer who likes hip-hop. Stay classy Bieber.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by Justin

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11...tephen-harper/

So if you ever get a chance to meet a prime minister, be sure to dress like a farmer who likes hip-hop. Stay classy Bieber.

I wish I could un-see that picture.

Damn you, Justin. Damn you.

[Ramplate]

Fox News interview ends abruptly after author accuses channel of 'operating as GOP wing'

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

Washington, Nov. 27 (ANI): An interview on Fox News Channel ended abruptly after an author accused the network of hyping the killing of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, attack and 'operating as a wing of the Republican Party'.

The charges were made by military historian Thomas Ricks, a veteran newspaper reporter and author of 'The General', who went on Fox News to discuss the fallout from the Sept. 11 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

According to the New York Daily News, four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were killed in the assault, which has since been determined to have been a terrorist attack.

Republicans have tried to hold President Barack Obama's 'feet to the fire' regarding what he may have known regarding the sequence of the deadly events, the report said.

Pressed on the Benghazi attack by host Jon Scott, Ricks said the attack had been turned into GOP 'hype'.

Challenged on this claim, he continued by saying that "I think that the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party."

At this point, Scott very quickly and very awkwardly ended the conversation, the report added. (ANI)

[Justin]

Originally Posted by JBond

I wish I could un-see that picture.

Damn you, Justin. Damn you.

I apologize.

Honestly, I don't understand this kid. I never gave a **** about him before, but that's just classless.

[Tolkien]

The Prime Minister has since downplayed it by joking about it. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't still embarassed for that idiot showing up to such an event dressed like that. I don't care who you think you are, it's like Jay-Z showing up to greet Obama wearing a T-Shirt and Jeans... oh wait, didn't that happen too? lol.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by Justin

I apologize.

Honestly, I don't understand this kid. I never gave a **** about him before, but that's just classless.

I hear he's also a religious nut.

[Ramplate]

Life is cheap over there.

Factory owner says unaware of need for fire exits

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The owner of a Bangladesh clothing factory where a fire killed 112 people says he was never informed the facility was required to have an emergency exit, a sign of how far removed the leaders of the nation's garment industry are from issues of worker safety.

"It was my fault. But nobody told me that there was no emergency exit, which could be made accessible from outside," factory owner Delwar Hossain was quoted Thursday as telling The Daily Star newspaper. "Nobody even advised me to install one like that, apart from the existing ones."

"I could have done it. But nobody ever suggested that I do it," said Hossain, who could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Activists in the South Asian country hope the tragedy will invigorate their lengthy — but fruitless — efforts to upgrade safety standards and force stronger government oversight of the powerful industry.

The Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory in a Dhaka suburb was making clothes for Wal-Mart, Sears, Disney and other major global retailers. When a fire broke out over the weekend, many of the 1,400 workers were trapped inside the eight-story building because exit doors were locked. A fire official said the death toll would have been much lower if the factory had had an emergency exit.

An AP reporter who visited the damaged factory Wednesday found three stairways but no special fire exits.

Hossain, a former accounts manager at another garment factory, set up his own clothing business, Tuba Textiles Mills Ltd. in 2004. The Tazreen factory was one of a dozen owned by his company.

Iqbal Habib, an architect and an activist, said fire exits were mandatory in such factories. He blamed government agencies, and the local industry trade group, for not ensuring the building was up to the proper standards.

"This is not acceptable. This is a serious issue. We must deal with such things seriously," he said.

Nazma Akhter, president of the Bangladesh Combined Garment Workers Federation trade union, called for the arrest of the factory's owners and management to send a message to the industry as a whole.

"There should be a criminal case against them. It could stop the recurrence of such incidents," he said.

Labor Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju said that factories without emergency exits — or with only one such exit — will be forced to close until they upgrade their safety infrastructure. It was not clear when and how that directive will be enforced.

[Justin]

****ing finally.

U.N. Votes To Give Palestinians 'Non-Member Observer State' Status

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution upgrading Palestine to a "non-member observer state," from a "non-member observer entity."

Before the vote and in front of the assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said this was the body's "last chance to save the two-state solution."

He said despite all the violence and Israeli "aggressions" and its "occupation," Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority have insisted on harmony and have looked at the "U.N. as a beacon of hope."

"We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is Israel. Rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of a state that must now achieve its independence and that is Palestine," Abbas said.

"The moment has come for the world to say clearly: enough of aggression, enough with settlements and occupation," Abbas said.

Exactly 65 years after the General Assembly, convened at Lake Success, New York, voted to divide Palestine between a Jewish state and an Arab one, the same body voted — 138-9, with 41 abstentions — in favor of recognizing the State of Palestine.

The United States and Israel, who suffered a stinging diplomatic setback, voted against the measure, while France and Spain voted in favor.

As Mark reported earlier, this vote gives Palestinians the same status as the Vatican, but perhaps more importantly, it gives Palestinians access to other U.N. bodies like the International Criminal Court, where Palestinians could launch complaints against Israel.

The United States has repeatedly said that this was not the right way toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This resolution is not going to take [Palestinian's] closer to statehood," Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said in a briefing yesterday. "It does nothing to get them closer to statehood, and it may actually make the environment more difficult."

The resolution reaffirms the "the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine," and also declares the Palestine Liberation Organization the "representative of the Palestinian people."

The PLO and its leader, Abbas, control the West Bank, but not the Gaza Strip, which is under the control of Hamas. As The New York Times explains it, the credibility of Abbas and his Palestinian Authority has suffered, especially after the recent eight-day Israeli assault on Gaza.

"That shift in sentiment is one reason that some Western countries give for backing the United Nations resolution, to strengthen Mr. Abbas and his more moderate colleagues in their contest with Hamas," the Times explained.

Israel, which has had a relationship with Abbas but does not talk to Hamas directly, said it would take action against the Palestinian Authority in response to this vote.


Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

"I can only say that our response will be proportionate to what is ultimately a fundamental violation by the Palestinians of signed agreements," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told NPR's Philip Reeves. "I mean they committed to solving all outstanding issues through negotiations. And by going to the UN, they are doing the opposite."

Nuland said yesterday that the Obama administration was trying to get Congress to release money reserved for the Palestinian Authority, but the resolution doesn't "make it any easier."

The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor said in a speech before the General Assembly that the resolution "raises expectations that cannot be met."

Israel wants peace, he said, while Palestinians are "avoiding it." This resolution, he said, meant the Palestinians were "turning their backs on peace."

"No decision of the U.N. can break the 4,000 year bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel," said Prosor.

As the vote took place, the celebrations that started earlier today in Ramallah continued into the early morning.

Update at 5:10 p.m. ET. 'Unfortunate And Counterproductive':

Shortly after the vote, the United States Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said this resolution was "unfortunate and counterproductive."

"Progress toward a lasting peace cannot be made by pressing a green button," Rice said.

She also made clear that the resolution "does not establish a Palestinian state."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...r-state-status

[Justin]

California Marijuana Decriminalization Drops Youth Crime Rate To Record Low: Study

Between 2010 and 2011, California experienced a drastic 20 percent decrease in juvenile crime--bringing the underage crime rate to the lowest level since the state started keeping records in 1954.

According to a recently released study, much of that improvement can be credited to the decriminalization of marijuana.

The study, entitled "California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low" and released by the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, looked at the number of people under the age of 18 who were arrested in the state over the past eight decades. The research not only found juvenile crime to be at its lowest level ever but, in the wake of then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing a bill reducing the punishment for possessing a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor to simply an infraction, the drop in rates was particularity significant.

In that one-year period, the number of arrests for violent crimes dropped by 16 percent, homicide went down by 26 percent and drug arrests decreased by nearly 50 percent.
The category of drug arrests showed decreases in every type of crime; however, the vast majority of the drop resulted from far fewer arrests for marijuana possession. In 2010, marijuana possession accounted for 64 percent of all drug arrests, and in 2011, that number decreased to only 46 percent.

California's drop in serious youth crime has decreased faster than in the rest of the nation.

The study's authors discount a host of explanations as to why juvenile crime has dropped so precipitously (such as changes in the way the statistics are gathered, demographic changes, harsher sentences acting as a deterrent and other cultural factors like family connections). They assert that only two major factors explain the trend: the loosening of marijuana laws and improvements in the economic well-being of California's youth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2205997.html

[Tolkien]

Does this mean that Palestine must answer to the U.N. if they conduct any attacks against Israel from now on?

[Justin]

If anything, they should both be answering for their attacks regardless.

[Ramplate]

It means now they can sue in international court for one thing.

[Ramplate]

Afghan girl beheaded after refusing man’s marriage proposal

A 14-year-old Afghan girl was beheaded and killed in an attack by two men, one of whom apparently asked her to marry him.

The attack happened Tuesday, a day before new legislation was introduced in Congress calling on the U.S. government to take steps to help protect Afghan women and girls as the U.S. military prepares to exit Afghanistan.

Gasitina, a student, was beheaded in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province. The attack was initially reported by local media, and was confirmed by Amnesty International researcher Horia Mosadiq in an email.

The girl was fetching water when she was accosted, according to reports. The men, who have not been identified, were arrested by police. The girl and her parents had refused a marriage proposal by one of the men, according to the Amnesty International report.

This was the 15th deadly attack on a female victim in Kunduz in 2012, the human rights organization said.

"Amnesty International is very concerned about the violations against women in Afghanistan," said Cristina Finch, director of the organization's Women's Human Rights program.

Amnesty reported a similar incident in October, when a young woman was murdered and her throat slashed. In that case, the woman apparently refused to work as a prostitute.

Although it appears such attacks are increasing in frequency, it may be that the world outside Afghanistan is just beginning to hear about them, Finch said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas, introduced the Afghan Women and Girls' Security Promotion Act. If passed in its current form, the bill addresses how women's security will be monitored as the U.S. military withdraws from the country.

The bill also calls for improved gender sensitivity among Afghanistan's national security forces and recruitment of women within the ranks of those forces.

Amnesty International USA's executive director Suzanne Nossel applauded Casey and Hutchison for introducing the bill.

"As the United States military transitions out of Afghanistan, Afghan women's human rights continue to be at grave risk and demand urgent attention," Nossel said in a statement. "The fate of women will be a crucial determinant of that country's prospects for a stable and prosperous future."

In a report on Afghan violence against women, Amnesty International wrote that one of the justifications of the U.S. military going into the country in 2001 was to ensure the protection of human rights, including women's rights.

"More than 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban, modest advances have been made for girls and women in Afghanistan," the report said. "But much remains to be done. Peace talks between the Taliban, Afghan government and the U.S. jeopardize even these modest gains as the U.S. searches for a quick exit."

[Justin]

Israel Plans To Expand Settlements In East Jerusalem, West Bank

A day after the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestinians to a non-member observer state, Israel announced it had plans to expand existing settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The New York Times has the lay of the land:

"A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that the decision was made late Thursday night to move forward on "preliminary zoning and planning preparations" for housing units in E1, which would connect the large settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem and therefore make it impossible to connect the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem to Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Israel also authorized the construction of 3,000 housing units in other parts of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the official said."

The United States responded to the news, saying the move was "counterproductive."

"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and East Jerusalem construction and announcements," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said, according to Reuters. Vietor added that this makes direct negotiations harder.

This issue is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If you listened to Mahmoud Abbas' speech yesterday at the U.N., he made a reference to the 1967 borders. If the Palestinians had their way, those are the borders they would stick to. But since 1967, Israeli settlers have been building homes in what was Palestinian territory in 1967.

This is, of course, a complicated issue, but a good primer comes from the Foundation For Middle East Peace. In this PDF, it documents Israeli settlement expansion from 1967 to 2012. It documents, the end of the 2005 occupation of the Gaza Strip, but the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

There's a 2009 illustration from Le Monde Diplomatique, on left of this, that lays out the issue. It fancifully shows the West Bank as a "Palestinian Archipelago."

"The map emphasizes the lack of territorial contiguity for Palestinians caused by Israeli settlement," the FMEP writes.

The New York Times reports that Israel did not say whether expanding settlements into this area was a move intended to punish Palestinians for the U.N. resolution.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...alem-west-bank