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Nigerian Army Says Killed 3 Islamists Trying to Burn School
Today's Headlines
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1 16:36 Besoeker [1] 
2 19:44 Procopius2k [] 
7 22:10 Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division [] 
2 22:17 Shimble Guelph5793 [] 
3 19:34 Gromosing Dribble7074 [] 
2 10:25 Besoeker [] 
8 20:22 Frank G [] 
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Judge strips Righthaven of rights to 278 copyrights and its trademark
[Las Vegas Inc] Like a gunfighter with no bullets, Las Vegas copyright company Righthaven LLC no longer has any copyrights to sue over.

A federal judge in Las Vegas on Monday stripped Righthaven of whatever interests it has in its 278 federal copyright registrations as well as its trademark. Judge Philip Pro ordered that the copyrights and trademarks be transferred to a court-appointed receiver so they can be auctioned to cover some of Righthaven's debts.

Most of the copyrights to be transferred under Pro's order of Monday cover material assigned to Righthaven for lawsuit purposes by the Review-Journal and the Denver Post. Some exceptions include some sports betting material that Righthaven used in its single lawsuit that didn't involve newspaper material.

Other exceptions include two porn movies -- Ebony Amateurs Vegas Edition #10 and Ebony Princess #3 -- and a document called "The Righthaven Philosophy" that apparently spells out the company's failed plan to make money by suing over copyright infringements.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good. It was politically charged frivolous campaigning that was hurting good people.
Posted by: newc || 03/06/2012 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  But I don't ever expect to get our money back...
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 0:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Heh. The only thing that stood the challenge was betting and pr0n. Maybe they should change occupations.
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2012 0:55 Comments || Top||

#4  They know that the average American can't afford to go to Motions courts every couple of weeks, so they proffer five figure settlements, regardless of the merit of their original claims. Yah, they leverage something for nothing.

Vexatious purpose? They could drag out that issue for years. Bar associations are supposed to prevent violations of "profession ethics."

Solution? Legislative remedy requiring impartial and objective bar association investigations where a target claims bankruptcy harassment.

FYI motions (or chambers) hearings are conducted during daytime, Monday to Friday. So most targets have to seek time off work. Without reference to this mass derogation of procedural rights, a criminal organization could run a racket using similar tactics.

I once counted 42 chambers applications contested in a single case. Fees may vary, but these usually cost $500 to $1000 for court time, then there is affidavit fees, lawyars fees (sometimes for all parties), motions fees. Yah, trivial matters can incur several thousands in costs. Then there is interlocatory appeals, which could go to SCOTUS.

Your legislators need to know that there will be political costs if they permit quasi-extortion, in the name of justice.

You could fit the number of honest lawyers in a phone booth.
Posted by: Spusose Lumplump9514 || 03/06/2012 5:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Way too many occupations use the term 'profession' instead of accreditation. A real profession has an active mechanism of 'house cleaning' that has a discernible amount of turn-over and doesn't require outside prodding to act.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2012 5:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Bar associations are supposed to prevent violations of "profession ethics."

They did. The intellectual property law industry didn't like being undercut by a law firm version of ValuJet.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/06/2012 11:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Now there's stripping I can approve of. :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 03/06/2012 19:20 Comments || Top||

#8  strip these bastards of their law license and bar them from practicing . Every cent I contributed to you Fred was to keep the site running. You did that. Even if we don't get our money back, I don't regret one bit of it
Posted by: Frank G || 03/06/2012 20:22 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Green Beret Dies Trying To Save His Two Young Daughters From Fire
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/06/2012 15:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sine Pari
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 16:36 Comments || Top||


Man dies trying to set world record
[Dawn] A Sri Lankan man has died while trying to set a record for the longest time spent buried alive, police said Monday.
Yeah. People are lining up to try and beat that one.
Police said Janaka Basnayake, 24, buried himself over the weekend with the help of family and friends in a trench sealed with wood and soil in the town of Kantale, about 137 miles (220 kilometers) north of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. A local newspaper reported that the trench was 10 feet (3 meters) deep.
What's a cubic meter of earth weigh? Times about two, if it was six feet long...
Basnayake was buried at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Police said that when he was brought to the surface at 4 p.m., he was unconscious and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He's dead, Jim!
on arrival.
Kinda makes you wonder what was going through his mind about the time he realized he wasn't gonna break the record...
Dr. D.G. Costa of the Kantale hospital said a post-mortem could not determine the cause of death and further medical investigations are being conducted.
"How about suffocation, Dr. Quincy?"
"Oh, c'mon, Sam! Don't be ridiculous... Oh. Well. Maybe."

Basnayake's mother, L.D. Leelawathi, said her son had enjoyed performing unusual acts since his childhood --a liking that grew after watching movies, the Lankadeepa newspaper reported.
"Yes. He once drove a nail through his arm, right between the ulna and the radius."
"Really? What happened?"
"It hurt."

It quoted her as saying that her son had been buried alive on two previous occasions --for two and a half hours and six hours respectively.
"He was a veteran suffocator."
"Good Gawd! The depravity!

It was unclear whether there is an official world record for the longest time buried alive.
I think that record kinda just naturally runs into the record for the longest time buried dead. He's gonna have a hard time catching up to Lucy for that one.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wouldn't mind dying,
Po' Lightnin' would just have to lay dead so long
Wouldn't mind dying,
but I'd have to lay dead so long
That I wouldn't have a chance to come back here and tell my friends,
No nobody, what is going on.


-Lightnin' Hopkins "Lonesome Graveyard"
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/06/2012 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  What's a cubic meter of earth weigh?

About a 1,000 kilograms (a metric tonne)
Posted by: Phil_B || 03/06/2012 2:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Yet another "hold my beer" moment.
Posted by: no mo uro || 03/06/2012 6:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Bless his heart. :-)
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 03/06/2012 9:24 Comments || Top||

#5  It was unclear whether there is an official world record for the longest time buried alive.

But is "clear" however, that dying is LOSING!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 9:51 Comments || Top||

#6  He's still got a shot at the record for being unburied dead, though. A long shot, sure, but...
Posted by: mojo || 03/06/2012 15:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Would be ironic if they buried him in the same hole.
Posted by: Airandee || 03/06/2012 18:18 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
The big-spending businessman who ran up £203,948 bar bill was 23-year-old City whizkid
The businessman who blew £203,948 on bubbly in a single night as he entertained celebrity guests at a top hotel was a 23-year-old City whizkid.

Young financier Alex Hope splashed out £125,000 alone on a giant bottle of one of the world’s most exclusive champagnes.

He also popped the cork on lots more vintage fizz for guests including Manchester City footballers Joe Hart and Adam Johnson and Man United star Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen.

He flashed the cash at the Playground Club in Liverpool’s Hilton Hotel, which is owned by wealthy pal George Panayitou.
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 07:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Heh, I've been around money-splashers in China before. Everyone crowds around and takes the free drinks, all the while thinking "what a jerk" but it's all smiles when the host comes by.
Posted by: gromky || 03/06/2012 12:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Bet he didn't feel so smart the next day.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/06/2012 22:17 Comments || Top||


Japan Zoo Hunts for Escaped Penguin
[An Nahar] The hunt was on Monday for a penguin that scaled a prehistoric cliff sheer rock face to escape from a Tokyo zoo, and was last seen swimming in a river in the Japanese capital.

The one-year-old Humboldt penguin was snapped bathing in the mouth of the Old Edogawa River, which runs into Tokyo Bay, after fleeing its home in the east of the city in an echo of the hit animated film Madagascar.

Takashi Sugino, an official at Tokyo Sea Life Park, said the 60-centimeter bird appeared to have got itself over a rock wall twice its size and made a run for it.

"We first noticed the penguin might have decamped when the director of a neighboring zoo e-mailed us Sunday, with a photo," said Sugino.

A second picture provided by a visitor allowed keepers to identify the errant bird as one that hatched last January.

Sugino said it was not entirely clear how the creature had managed to get out of the enclosure it shares with 134 other Humboldt penguins.

"Of course it can't fly,
Oh no, of course not, perish the thought...
... and yer damned lucky it can't...
but sometimes wildlife has an 'explosive' power when frightened by something.
It's all that fish. Gives me gas, too.
Maybe it ran up the rock after being surprised," he said.

In the 2005 computer animated film Madagascar, penguins are among a group of animals that mount an escape as they are being transported.

Zoo officials were Monday scouring the area where the Tokyo penguin was last spotted in the hope of recapturing it.

"It's a bit of a struggle to catch it when it is swimming, because it swims at a tremendous speed," Sugino said. "We are hoping to catch it when it climbs up on land to sleep."
Did you check Antarctica?
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought you had drones now...
Posted by: newc || 03/06/2012 0:00 Comments || Top||

#2  You didn't see anything. Capiche?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/06/2012 0:08 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2012 0:42 Comments || Top||

#4  I've seen those Bugs Bunny cartoons--it cries ice cubes, right?
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 03/06/2012 8:15 Comments || Top||

#5  No official comment from the sea lion enclosure.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2012 11:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Ima thinkin the 134 other penguins could have easily given it a boost over such a low wall.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 03/06/2012 14:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like a kids movie.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/06/2012 21:48 Comments || Top||

#8  He escaped to go surfing.

Unfortunately Hollywood will make him escape to warn us about global warming.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/06/2012 21:49 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Hundreds of Protesters Arrested after Putin Triumph
[An Nahar] Russian police Monday placed in durance vile over 500 people protesting Vladimir Putin
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
's crushing victory in elections that the opposition denounced as illegitimate and international monitors said were skewed.

Western powers reacted warily to the prospect of Putin returning in a May inauguration to the Kremlin for a six year term from his current job as premier, urging a full investigation into the reports of violations.

Police said they placed in durance vile 250 people in Moscow and 300 in Saint Petersburg after moving in roughly to break up rallies claiming that Sunday's polls were rigged.

Some 20,000 anti-Putin protestors had turned out in Pushkin Square in central Moscow chanting "Russia Yes! Putin No!". Most of the rally dispersed peacefully but police moved in to disperse hundreds of people who refused to leave the square.

Amid frantic scenes, they placed in durance vile dozens by dragging them to waiting police vans, an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent said.

Among those placed in durance vile were Russian anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, seen in some quarters as a possible future rival to Putin, and two other opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov and Ilya Yashin.

"People were calm, but at some point police started moving in, kicking people, tearing their clothes," Yashin told independent Dozhd TV from the police van by phone.

Moscow police also roughly placed in durance vile dozens of protesters at a separate unsanctioned event near the central election commission, including the leader of the Other Russia radical opposition group Eduard Limonov.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not sure just what to think of this Red STATE electoral outcome, but I have a sense that Putie-Poot's detractors at home will help to keep things "Fair and Balanced".
Posted by: Thosh Omugum4787 || 03/06/2012 22:17 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Vietnam War History Records Aussie Alcohol Abuse
[An Nahar] An official history of the Australian military in the Vietnam War says alcohol abuse was a significant problem for troops who at times were supplied with the equivalent of more than five cans of beer per soldier daily.
Five cans of beer? Breakfast, lunch, tea time, dinner and a midnight snack. Wossamotta dat?... Oh. I see. It was only "at times."
Some Australian commanders regarded beer as a lesser evil than the illicit heroin and marijuana gaining popularity with allied U.S. troops fighting in the conflict.
Beer=a lesser evil than heroin addiction. Really.
That's according to the third and final volume of the official history of the Australian Army in Vietnam. It will be published Tuesday.
Probably to gales of laughter within Australian vets' circles...
Australian troops were barred from drinking during combat operations.
We were all barred from drinking during combat operations. Which isn't to say it didn't happen...
But binge drinking was a popular form of relaxation when troops returned to bases at Nui Dat and Vung Tau.
Define "binge."
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aussies drink? Who knew?
Posted by: tipover || 03/06/2012 2:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Wait Johnson, hold the presses. Who knew soldiers drink?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2012 5:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Vietnam is a bit of a trap. Nothing like sitting on the wide, French themed footpaths of New Cholon in Ho Chi Minh city and drinking Heineken at 80c a bottle and being waited upon by beautiful ao dai clad waitresses.
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 6:59 Comments || Top||

#4  My father's division was originally assigned to the Canadian Corps when they went into the line in Holland, which was part of Montgomery's army. My dad met a lot of Brits and Imperial troops. Respected them greatly.
A US sergeant was reputed to have said his ideal replacement was a hung over Aussie with the clap and an empty rifle.
But drink? Are we all shocked?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 03/06/2012 7:46 Comments || Top||

#5  If the troops (and contractors) could have had a beer ration in Iraq and Afghanistan and could let off a little steam, laugh a bit, perhaps the suicide rate might have been lower. I'd appreciate Dr. White's comments on this.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Ahh, the memories, there is nothing like a hot Carling Black Label after a nice hike in the Ah Sha.
Posted by: bman || 03/06/2012 10:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Ick! That crap should be illegal bman.
I used to buy a case of it for $6.00
Posted by: Sligum Hatrack9236 || 03/06/2012 10:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Or a bottle of warm Soju on a January night after standing the perimeter at a ROK Air Base for 12 hours.
Posted by: retired LEO || 03/06/2012 10:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Sometimes the binge was the only way, to getaway.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/06/2012 10:57 Comments || Top||

#10  #8 Or a bottle of warm Soju on a January night after standing the perimeter at a ROK Air Base for 12 hours.
Posted by retired LEO


Downtown "Soju" much, much better. Drinking helpers on your right and left, much, much better also :-)
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 11:04 Comments || Top||

#11  Many of us have fond memories of Carling. It would sit on the dock for months before finally being distributed. When opened it could be drunk from the can for one of the most unique beer flavors ever invented. Or you could pour it into a glass and watch the oil puddle on top, where the foam was supposed to be.

Truly a taste treat that couldn't be beat.

But the Vietnamese beer gold standard was "33" (ba muoi ba) drunk over ice. It didn't get any better than that.

Really.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 16:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Aussie beer cans are only coke-can sized! 5 would be a light warm-up for the stronger stuff. 5+ pints of "stella" and a few chasers might make it a night.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/06/2012 18:41 Comments || Top||

#13  I'm not sure about the 'Nam Era Aussie peasant swill, but the "33" on a bottle of "Rolling Rock" from Latrobe, PA, signified the year that Prohibition was repealed; 1933. They had such an acute awareness of where they stood in US history in those days. I adored at least being perched on the buffeting trailing edge of that sublime airfoil, just prior to the electronic desensitization of human-kind. Everything sucks now.
Posted by: Thosh Omugum4787 || 03/06/2012 23:09 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Two Companies Accused Of Fleecing U.S. Troops
Background of company.
A lawsuit alleges that members of a prominent Tijuana family are "defraud[ing]" American military personnel going to and from the wars in Afghanistan.

During the past four years, roughly 800,000 members of the American military have passed through the airport in Leipzig , Germany--a popular refueling stop for soldiers going to and from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Members of the armed forces who want to call home can use a pay phone service in the airport's secure military lounge. But those calls may have been costing the service members dearly: according to a recent class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Waco, Texas, the Switzerland-based company that runs the pay phone service--and its sister firm in California--have been "rigg[ing]" the phones to sometimes charge more than $40 for a call lasting mere seconds.
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 06:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like a payphone I used once in Gallup, NM.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 03/06/2012 14:49 Comments || Top||

#2  I think I know this company. A phone call from Bellingham to Lynnwood WA (about 50 miles) for about 30 seconds cost about $40. Pissed me off so much I lodged a complaint with the FCC. Their claim was that I accepted the charges w/o question (it was automated - no option to ask about the charges). They ended up dropping the charges.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/06/2012 15:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Cable & Heartless was bad enough
Posted by: Gromosing Dribble7074 || 03/06/2012 19:34 Comments || Top||


A million-dollar mortgage goes unpaid for years while couple fights foreclosure
Snip. This is getting far away from the Burg.
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 05:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 5:47 Comments || Top||

#2  The Ritters, who bought their house for $1.29 million with almost no money down, are hardly representative of the vast majority of Maryland’s distressed homeowners.

But they would be in Georgia!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 10:25 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
CJ urged to help recover 'kidnapped' Hindu girl
[Dawn] An alliance of minority parties on Sunday appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistain Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take a suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
notice of the kidnapping of a Hindu girl and order her immediate return to her parents to restore the waning sense of security in the minorities.

Speaking at a protest demonstration staged outside the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Press Club, Pakistain Minority Leaders Alliance representatives said they would launch a protest movement and stage a sit-in on March 10 if the authorities failed to recover the girl, Rinkle Kumari.

According to an uncle of the girl, Raj Kumar, she was kidnapped from her house in Mirpur Mathelo over a week ago and forced to marry Naveed Shah and change her religion. He alleged that the case was heard by a civil judge in Ghotki, but he did not allow her relatives to enter the courtroom while giving a verdict in favour of the 'kidnapper', Mr Shah.

Speaking on the occasion, Jeay Sindh Mahaz chief Riaz Chandio expressed solidarity with the minority community members and demanded arrest of and punishment to culprits involved in her kidnapping.

He said those belonging to religious minority groups, including Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, were sons of the soil. They should not feel threatened by such acts, as all Sindhis were one and that they were equal citizens and had equal rights, he said.

He said it was unfortunate that the girl was given in police custody instead of being sent to Darul Aman.

Mr Chandio announced that if "the daughter of Sindh" was not rescued and returned and culprits were not placed in long-term storage soon and punished according to law, a province-wide sit-it would be staged on Saturday.

Manohar Lal, Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
politician in the national assembly, condemned the kidnapping and forced conversion of a young girl. He urged the president to take notice of the incident.

He said Islam guaranteed protection to minorities, but such people were giving a bad name to the religion. With such incidents, a sense of insecurity was growing in the community, he said. Earlier their sons were kidnapped for ransom, but now their daughters were being kidnapped and forcibly converted, he remarked.

Jeay Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party leader Gulzar Soomro said that forced conversions were a conspiracy against Islam, which preaches love and peace and opposes use of force. He said the culprits were agents of the establishment that wanted to divide the Sindhis.

"Our patience should not be mistaken as our weakness," he warned, seeking her immediate recovery.

A Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
leader and former politician, Michael Javed, said the Quaid-e-Azam had said that the minorities would be equal citizens in Pakistain, but over the years the Quaid's message was being forgotten.

Amar Lal, a community leader, said he and the girl's uncle had met US consulate general staff a few days back and political counsellor Junaid J. Muneer had assured him that the issue would be taken up with the authorities concerned. He said he had also received a call from a former political counsellor of the US embassy in Islamabad, L.K. Robinson, who was currently in Washington. He told him that he would take up the issue with human rights
...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
organizations there.

Mahesh Singh, Mangla Sharma, Ramesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar and others also spoke.

Raj Kumar, the girl's uncle, earlier informed the gathering that on Feb 24, a few gunnies barged into her home in Mirpur Mathelo and kidnapped her at gunpoint.

He said a case was filed in a Ghotki court where he said she gave a statement about the threats she had received to convert and marry Naveed Shah or she and her entire family would be killed. He quoted her as saying in the court that she wanted to return and live with her parents.

He also alleged that the judge, in the presence of gunnies in the court, sent her to police custody rather than to her parents' home or to a shelter home. The next hearing was scheduled to be held at 11am on Feb 27, but the case was heard at 8.15am and the girl's family was not allowed to enter the courtroom, he said, adding that the judge then gave a verdict in favour of Mr Shah.

Mr Kumar urged the chief justice to take a suo motu notice of the issue and order her safe return to her parents.

Earlier, the participants in the demonstration rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud such as 'we want justice' and 'Rinkle be rescued'.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Legislation needed to end bar on women voting
[Dawn] The issue of disenfranchisement of women once again surfaced during the by-elections in several constituencies on Feb 25.

According to media reports, women were barred from voting in some areas of Mardan and Mianwali through agreements reached on local level between representatives of different political groups. The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) in its initial report stated that its observers had reported incidents of bar on women voting in NA-9 (Mardan) and PP-44 (Mianwali II) constituencies.

It also called upon the Election Commission to withhold results in the constituencies where women were barred from voting.

This issue often comes to limelight in every general and by-elections in different constituencies especially that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

So far successive governments have not taken any steps for proper legislation to check such practices. Whether it is local or general elections the practice of holding jirgas and barring women from casting votes remains a regular phenomenon.

Presently, there is no specific provision in the Representation of People's Act (RPA), 1976, dealing with the issue of disenfranchisement of women.

There are few indirect provisions which could be used for tackling this matter. Under Section 78 (2) of the RPA it amounts to corrupt practices if a person is found guilty of exercising undue influence.

Similarly, Section 81 (1) provides that a person is guilty of undue influence if he induces or compels any person to vote or refrain from voting. The RPA states that any person guilty of corrupt practice shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years or with fine or both.

In 2004 the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court pronounced that the practice of barring women from voting was unconstitutional. The court in four identical petitions had declared that barring women from political participation was against the fundamental rights, illegal and criminal.

The petitions pertained to disenfranchisement of women from the local government elections in different districts, especially Swabi.

Though the high court had dismissed the four petitions on March 17, 2004, on constitutional technicalities regarding its jurisdiction, it had clearly pronounced the practice as unconstitutional.

The petitions were filed by Ms Bakht Zarina and others in various union councils during local government elections of 2001.

The high court's bench comprising Justice Shahjehan Khan and Justice Ejaz Afzal had ruled that every citizen who was registered as a voter regardless of gender has a right to exercise their vote.

The court had observed that all such means and devices were repugnant to fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, void, illegal and even criminal. A former attorney general for Pakistain Qazi Mohammad Jamil had represented the petitioners in those cases.

"There was no cavil with the preposition that every citizen of the country has a right to form or be a member of political party as enshrined in Article 17(2) of the Constitution, which included the right to contest and participate in election.

There is also no cavil with the preposition that every citizen who is registered as a voter regardless altogether of gender has right to exercise his or her vote," the bench had observed.

The court had ruled: "There is also no cavil with the proposition that this right being inherent in every registered voter can be exercised by him or her alone and thus cannot be forgone and forsaken by an agreement entered into by any person how high-so-ever he may be, therefore, no means or devices including threats of dire consequences or agreements amongst the candidates for election to an office can curb, curtail or fetter it."

It had ruled that employment of such means by any person irrespective of his status and stature in the society would be illegal and punishable under the law.

A Berlin-based organization, Democracy Reporting International (DRI), has last year compiled a report "No Voice: the exclusion of women from voting" in which the issue was discussed and several recommendations were made for checking it.

The DRI proposed that the law could explicitly require the ECP to annul polling station and entire constituency results where there was evidence that attempts had been made to dissuade women from participating. It recommends that the law could explicitly provide for tribunals to disqualify a returned candidate if there is evidence that the candidate or their election agent or any other person with their connivance participated in preventing, or attempted to prevent women from voting.

The organization further suggests that the law could state that where female turnout is below a certain percentage, election results will be annulled. Similarly, it is added that the provinces could review their legislative frameworks for local government elections to consider incorporating similar measures in their respective drafting and reform processes.

Legal experts believe that parliament should legislate on this women-specific issue. Moreover, the role of ECP and civil society groups is also important in creating awareness among people of those areas where women are normally barred from casting vote.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Old Joke
Lord why did you make women so beautiful,
Ans, So you would love them.

Lord why did you mane them so stupid,
Ams, So they woukd love you.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/06/2012 10:57 Comments || Top||


Shahbaz elected PML-N Punjab president
[Dawn] Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz on Monday elected Shahbaz Sharif as a president of its Punjab chapter, DawnNews reported.

"I don't find myself capable enough for the job, but I will try my best to perform my job in best possible way," Sharif said after he was elected for the post.

The meeting of general council of the party was held here during which party officials were selected.

A five-member committee presided by Ghaus Ali Shah announced the results.

The party chief Nawaz Shairf while addressing the gathering said that the change is coming soon.

Meanwhile,
...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell...
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
congratulated Sharif on his unopposed election as the President of Pakistain Mohammedan League (N), Punjab.

Gilani in a message expressed best wishes for Sharif and hoped that he would continue making efforts for the strengthening of democracy.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Science & Technology
Computer hacking group LulzSec brought down by own leader
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 12:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hope the leader has a good life insurance policy....
Posted by: Barbara || 03/06/2012 19:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Nah, the community doesn't play by those rule. Now his credit rating, bank account, public records are possibly dog chow. He could have securely backed that up with a Carbonite account. Oh, wait, never mind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2012 19:44 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
23 Somalis on Trial in Tennessee for Sex Slavery
Posted by: tipper || 03/06/2012 10:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tennessee’s Middle District, Ed Yarbrough, told the newspaper that Somalis have a “cultural thing about testifying against each other.... That’s what I’ve been told.”

Shocking, shocking I tell you! I for one demand Ed Yarbough APOLOGIZE immediately for that obviously racist comment!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Easy
1) All in court at the same time
2) Excuse the Jury
3) Throw in a grenade
Case closed.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/06/2012 10:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Why do we let these people into our country? Does anybody know of any good reason?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/06/2012 11:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Nanny state voters ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2012 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  It will be very interesting to see what penalties they are facing, along with witness tampering and intimidation, which is the only one mentioned.

Of the 30 arrested, it is also important to note, none of them have turned to testify against the others, as they are believed to be members of the same gangs.

If the government wants to, it can utterly nuke them. Federal anti-slavery, racketeering, RICO criminal, and there are even state charges for slavery which in many cases are more severe than the federal charges.

Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/06/2012 11:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Nanny state voters ?

Catholic Charities. The US Gov pays them for each Somali.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/06/2012 22:00 Comments || Top||

#7  There's a few towns in Tennessee you can move the trial to and never hear about this group again. They certainly would never trouble anyone for sure.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division || 03/06/2012 22:10 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2012-03-06
  Nigerian Army Says Killed 3 Islamists Trying to Burn School
Mon 2012-03-05
  Gunmen massacre 21 policemen in Iraq attacks
Sun 2012-03-04
  Sherpao escapes suicide attack in Charsadda
Sat 2012-03-03
  African Union troops say seize major al Shabaab base
Fri 2012-03-02
  39 Dead as Syrian Army Seizes Baba Amr and Rebels Withdraw 'Tactically'
Thu 2012-03-01
  Syrian rebels pull out of Homs after siege
Wed 2012-02-29
  Singapore: Iran assassination plot against Israeli Defence Minister Barak foiled
Tue 2012-02-28
  Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years
Mon 2012-02-27
  Congressmen Attacked on Mount of Olives
Sun 2012-02-26
  Afghan interior ministry employee sought in NATO killings
Sat 2012-02-25
  Yemen gets new president after 33 years
Fri 2012-02-24
  Air strke kills al-Shaboobs
Thu 2012-02-23
  Ansar as-Sunna Chief Arrested on Syria-Iraq Border
Wed 2012-02-22
  Hugo has new tumor
Tue 2012-02-21
  Afghans rescue 41 child suicide bombers

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