Police say 29-year-old Rizwan-ur Rahman who was found by a busy railroad track with evidence of head injuries committed suicide.
Drove a railroad spike into his own head, did he?
But his relatives and human rights activists suspect something much more sinister.
The federal Central Bureau of Investigation has taken up the case at the urging of the state's high court and has announced that the 23-year-old woman's father, well-known industrialist Ashok Todi, is being investigated for involvement in the death. "We don't have faith in [West Bengal] state and its agencies. We believe the federal agency is more impartial and is capable of bringing my brother's murderers to the book," said Rukban-ur Rahman, Rizwan's brother.
Since the discovery of Mr. Rahman's body on Sept. 21, demonstrations, candlelight vigils and online petitions have called for the case to be pursued, with many convinced he was killed because he was a Muslim. The anger extends to senior police officers who are suspected of complicity and the Communist-run state government of West Bengal.
Living in a Muslim ghetto but having studied in a prestigious madrassa missionary college, Mr. Rahman became a teacher at a popular multimedia institute, where he met Priyanka Todi. The two fell in love and got married, despite strong opposition from her father. In the sort of love story normally reserved for India's movie capital, Bollywood, the newlywed Mrs. Rahman left her rich parents and the life of luxury to live in a one-room home with her new husband in August.
However, according to a letter the couple sent to local police, Mrs. Rahman's father soon began pressuring them to separate and insisted his daughter return to him. In the letter, the couple expressed fears of being abducted by criminals hired by Mr. Todi and sought police help.
Mrs. Rahman eventually agreed to visit her family for a week, Mr. Rahman said in a second letter to human rights groups, but she never returned. He said police had threatened to charge him with abducting his bride. "I am convinced she is being detained in her father's custody against her wishes. Please help me get back my wife," Mr. Rahman wrote to the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) two days before his death.
#1
Living in a Muslim ghetto but having studied in a prestigious missionary college, Mr. Rahman became a teacher at a popular multimedia institute, where he met Priyanka Todi.
I believe this is one of the schools founded all over India by Christian missionaries all over India. In many cases, they are elite schools that have traditionally accepted students based on academic ability for hundreds of years.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A dentist was dancing to a song on the radio while drilling on a woman's tooth, and she wound up in the hospital when the drill bit snapped off and lodged near her eye, a lawsuit alleges. Brandy Fanning, 31, said she had to undergo emergency surgery and spent three days in the hospital because of the October 2004 mishap. The federal lawsuit filed last month against Dr. George Trusty seeks $600,000 for her medical expenses, pain and suffering.
Trusty, 57, a dentist at Syracuse Community Health Center, declined to comment, as did Dr. Ruben Cowart, the center's president and CEO. Fanning said she went to the center's emergency dental clinic after pain in a left molar started getting worse. With a root canal ruled out as an option, Trusty gave her some Novocain and began drilling to break up the tooth before extracting it, she said.
As Trusty drilled, he was "performing rhythmical steps and movements to the song `Car Wash,'" which was on the radio, according to the lawsuit. Then, Fanning heard a snap. Trusty tried to use a metal hook to pull the bit out, but that only pushed it farther up, driving it through the sinus and bone near her eye socket, the lawsuit alleged.
After first minimizing the problem, Trusty talked to an oral surgeon to set up an appointment and then told Fanning she needed to get to an emergency room immediately, according to the lawsuit. She claimed he had initially told she would likely sneeze the drill bit out, but doctors said later that if she really had sneezed, the drill bit could have blinded her left eye.
Fanning said she sued because Trusty failed on a promise to pay her medical bills. She said she still suffers facial swelling, nerve damage and chronic infections. The suit is in federal court because the health center operates under federal law.
John Woodruff, who joined Jesse Owens as black Americans who won gold medals in the face of Adolf Hitler and his "master race" agenda at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, has died. He was 92. Woodruff died Tuesday at an assisted living center near Phoenix, said his wife, Rose Woodruff.
Nicknamed "Long John" for his lengthy stride, Woodruff was a lanky 21-year-old freshman at Pittsburgh when he sailed to the Olympics and into a racially-charged scene.
On Aug. 4, 1936, he won the 800 meters using one of the most astonishing tactics in Olympic history. Boxed in by the pack of slow-paced runners, he literally stopped in his tracks, then moved to the third lane and passed everyone.
The U.S. athletes in Berlin were given oak tree saplings, and Woodruff planted in his hometown of Connellsville, Pa.
Woodruff twice served in the Army, during World War II, then the Korean War. He left the active service in 1957 as a Lt. Colonel but remained in the Army reserves. According to the National African American Registry, Woodruff commanded two battalions, one of them integrated, and was executive officer for five artillery battalions.
He and his wife moved to Arizona in 2000. Diabetes led to amputation of his once-powerful legs in 2003.
A grandson of slaves, Woodruff was born on July 5, 1915, one of 12 children of Silas and Sarah Woodruff. He won three consecutive national 880-yard titles and the national AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) 880 championship in 1939.
#1
Good catch, 'moose. How strange that Mr. Woodruff's story has not been given more airtime. Having, not just one, but two black athletes take gold in Berlin was the precise message we needed to send at that time. Rest in peace Lt. Colonel Woodruff and thank you for serving our country in so many different ways.
In a set of PowerPoint slides, a military insider jokingly explains the rank structure of the U.S. military. It's a jungle out there.
The "Jungle"
A guide to military ranks
Gazelles = 2nd Lieutenants
Although easily frightened, they have
been known to stupidly lounge in plain sight
of the "lions"
Runs at high speeds, with no purpose or direction
The slow and weak are frequently slain
Cheetah = 1st Lieutenants
Loner, feisty
Makes the occasional kill on a weaker
animal
Lions = Captains
Hunts in packs
Can bring down a larger animal with coordination
Easily slays the "cheetah"
Water Buffalo = Majors
Aging, slower beast, but --
Cannot be brought down by a single "Lion"
Hippopotamus = Lt. Colonels
Slow and cumbersome on land
Safe in own environment
Lays low to avoid enemies
Elephants = Colonels
Rules the "Jungle"
Impossible to bring down except
by his own efforts.
Sloth = Warrant Officer
Skilled in one area only
Comes around only to feed and take
care of bodily functions
Dung Beetle = NCOs
Forced to deal with the "crap" created by other animals
Ant = Contract Employee
Lowest on the food chain.
Extremely productive, but can be eliminated by even a cheetah.
Dung beetles like to play with them.
Circulating rumors claim that Lebanese singer and seductress Haifa Wehbe is shopping for an insurance policy to "cover her body" from personal injury damage.
Haifa received numerous offers from insurance companies. One company offered coverage of up to one billion dollars. Haifa is reported to be currently reviewing the offers before making a decision.
Sources close to Haifa claim the move was prompted by her horrific accident last June. While filming a music video for Hasa MA Bina Fi Hajeh (I dont Feel There I Anything Between Us), Haifa was engaged in a dangerous stunt. A small plane being filmed as part of the video crashed into the convertible she was driving, unloading a massive amount of fuel on the Lebanese sex symbol.
As the plane hit the car, glass to shattered and flew everywhere. Haifa sustained cuts to her head and the Lebanese army had to intervene to save her life.
Since Haifa heavily relies on her hip rocking, boob shaking moves to perform, critical injuries sustained by the accident could have affected her livelihood as a Lebanese sex bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Sounds very pricey, but I suspect the premiums will drop precipitously after she reaches age 30..., girth adjusted-risk reduction and all that. As an aside, her hit single "Bos El Wawa" (Kiss the booboo) is one of my personal favs.
#1
Feh! Top the exercise yard's walls with extremely high voltage electric fencing and the entire escapee problem would solve itself within a week or two.
#3
If I understood correctly, the razor wire is on top of the Olympic-record height wall, which would discourage many would-be escapees. The smart ones, anyway.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/04/2007 7:29 Comments ||
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#4
One suspects the area outside the wall is lacking in padded mats to fall gracefully onto .....
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania has been ordered to cease his duties until a church trial about accusations that he concealed a relative's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. on Wednesday that he was to "cease all episcopal, ministerial and canonical acts" as of Saturday night, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The deadline will allow Bennison to lead Saturday's annual diocesan convention.
The presentment, or church indictment, alleges that Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively" and "failed to take obvious, essential steps to investigate (the relative's) actions, protect the girl from further abuse, and find out whether other children were in danger."
A special church court is to hear the charges against Bennison sometime next year and decide whether he may resume his duties. Until that court acts, the diocesan standing committee is to assume Bennison's duties.
Bennison, 63, was rector of a parish in the Diocese of Los Angeles at the time. He has been bishop for 11 years in the Pennsylvania diocese, which has 80,000 members in Philadelphia and four suburban counties.
Bennison did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday night.
Last year, Bennison apologized to the diocese for "lack of action on my part." He told The Inquirer that he had told the relative "to leave the parish's employ" but did not report the matter to civil or church authorities because the girl's parents had not chosen to do so.
Diocesan conservatives have long criticized Bennison's liberal stances on gay marriage and gay ordination. The diocesan standing committee has sought his removal for two years, accusing him of misusing diocesan assets.
In a speech at Tamkang University the vice president said Taiwan's ties with China were cut when it was ceded to Japan in 1895.
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan is a different country from the one founded in China in 1912, despite having the same name, Vice President Annette Lu said yesterday. Arguing that it is the status quo today that "the ROC is Taiwan, and Taiwan equals the ROC, " Lu said the issue of whether the country's official name should be Taiwan or the ROC is a matter that the people in this country can take their time to deal with in the future.
`DEFINITELY NOT PART OF CHINA'
Lu made the remarks in a speech on Taiwan's international status at Tamkang University. Lu said that China cut its ties with Taiwan when it ceded Taiwan and Penghu to Japan in 1895.
Although the Cairo Declaration of 1943 called for Japan to return the territories to the ROC, the document did not bear the signatures of the leaders of the ROC, the US and the UK who attended the conference and therefore cannot be considered an official treaty, Lu said.
At the time of the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, the world had not decided upon whether Japan should sign a peace deal with the ROC government in Taiwan or with the People's Republic of China government, Lu said, noting that Japan opted to sign the treaty with the ROC government. "Both the Cairo Declaration and the Treaty of Peace Between Japan and China show that the Taiwan issue is totally unrelated to the Beijing government. Taiwan is definitely not part of China as claimed by Beijing," Lu said.
According to Lu, the history of the ROC can be divided into four phases, with the first lasting from the republic's founding in 1912 to its 1949 defeat in China's civil war. The second began in 1950 after ROC president Chiang Kai-shek moved the capital to Taipei, Lu said.
The third phase began in 1991 when then President Lee Teng-hui declared the termination of the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion to acknowledge the fact that Taiwan and China were under separate rule, she said. The fourth phase, Lu said, began in 1996 when the people of Taiwan were allowed to directly elect their president for the first time.
#2
Perhaps, but I suspect it is just negotiating. Too much for both sides to lose if it goes hot. I doubt they'd be making as much noise if there were a donk in the WH.
SENATE hopeful Pauline Hanson has accused the Federal Government of opening up the immigration floodgates to people "who have no intention of being Australian". Ms Hanson, who is running in the federal election under the banner of Pauline's United Australia Party, was campaigning on similar policies to those that won her international notoriety a decade ago, including calling for a moratorium on Muslim immigration.
Campaigning in NSW, the right-wing firebrand told website www.federalelection.com.au she was worried about the loss of Australian values, particularly as a result of Muslim immigration. "I've seen the destruction of our industry, manufacturing, our farmers, everything that is Aussie and to be proud of ... that's been lost," she said. "They've just opened up the floodgates to allow people here that have no intention of being Australian or being proud Australians.
"I've actually now called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration because I believe it's not for reasons of religious or any other reason.
"But I think it is a cultural difference to us as Australians and we must protect our own culture."
Ms Hanson, who co-founded the One Nation party, listed "Australian values" as the nation's culture, way of life and standard of living. She said if she held the balance of power in the Senate she would be willing to block legislation she did not agree with. "If it is not in the best interests of our country and the Australian people, yes I would," she said. "I wouldn't do deals and sell myself out or the people out for that.
"I would fight to make the politicians accountable to us and that's what they haven't done and that's why I'm standing again and that's why people are getting behind me in the support.
"They don't believe that there is true representation."
Ms Hanson's vote will be bolstered by the fact she has registered a party. When Ms Hanson ran for the Senate in 2004 she appeared under the line as an individual candidate - a position which historically attracts fewer votes.
#1
It's called DoctorsCitizens without Borders Ms Hanson. It's a sweeping new trend which caught on very big here in the US. Something to do with "replacement voters workers" as I racall.
As a follow-on, the Haus des Bürgers here was rented out last evening for a huge Turkish wedding reception. How Germany has changed.
#2
Hanson was in the anti immigrant game, before the GWOT. She isn't happy with ANY immigrants of color. I can take her anti-Muslim ethnocentrism; her racism won't get her many votes.
#1
I dont think the national politicos have any idea how grass roots the disgust is about this issue. Those I live around to a single person want the border closed. They want everyone to have to obey the same laws we're required to live by. Most of this country are working stiffs who dont care for an illegal to come along and underbid them in the market and take their job. I think the feds are blinded by the 'free' votes. This is going to be a watershed issue in the next presidential election.
#2
most Americans understand illegal vs legal. The "immigration advocates" try to blur that line by hinting darkly that anyone who opposes illegal immigration is against all immigrants. Cries of "racist" soon follow. I think voters will punish this tactic and anyone who panders to the real Raza racists. Tide's turning, state by state
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2007 7:43 Comments ||
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#3
I think this is one of those 'gun ownership', 'death penalty' issues that the elites [pols, policy makers, media spinners] are completely out of step with the general population. It boils down to them wanting us to accept 'our betters' ruling us rather than they understanding the fundamental principles of democracy. Their blindness to that only compounds the estrangement between the two. Any pol at any significant level who attempts to run counter to the general public sentiment has written off a large segment of the voting population and any real chance at office, with the exception of the usual suspects from Euroenclaves.
#4
Illegals have been an issue for two years, now. The problem has been the hostility of the courts to measures enacted by local communities. This is clearly starting to change, as the state-level politician are confronted with the reality of voter sentiment, and legal precedents start to build up in the necessary direction. I'm starting to think that by the 2012 election it will be a fait accompli at the national level as well.
#5
The only two types of people that I have found that appreachiate the illegals are the folks that profit off their cheap labor and the pot heads who like the weed and black tar heroin a segment of them supply to these users in the US. I hear that includes many in the ass party.
A top Malaysian minister has urged local authorities in this Muslim-majority country to immediately cease demolition of Hindu temples after a 100-year-old shrine was pulled down early this week. Works Minister and head of the Malaysian Indian Congress Samy Vellu, who is of Indian origin, said that Hindu temples built on encroached land were still being demolished despite his appeals to the various state chief ministers.
Vellu said the Indian community had no choice but to build their temples on private or government-owned land, as they did not own any land of their own to build the temples.
Referring to the demolition of the Maha Mariamman Templea in Padang Jawa on Tuesday, Vellu said it had hurt the feelings of the Hindu community in the area. Four people were reportedly hurt and dozens detained following scuffles between devotees and the city authorities over the century-old temple, the local media said.
"Temples are still being destroyed even though I have repeatedly brought the issue up during meetings with chief ministers," the minister said in a statement, the New Straits Times said today. He added that the government could not penalise those who merely wished to practise their religion and exercise their right to believe in God. "It is a well-known fact that the majority of Hindu voters, and almost the entire Indian community in fact, are Barisan Nasional (the ruling coalition) supporters. "As such, I am pleading with the government to not resort to drastic measures like demolishing temples, even though they have been constructed illegally."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Disco-dancing dentist dinged doing drilling disaster
Circulating rumors claim that Lebanese singer and seductress Haifa Wehbe is shopping for an insurance policy to "cover her body" from personal injury damage.
