Pakistani Gangs Riot In Karachi After Politician's Murder
September 18th, 2010 by Noah
KARACHI, Pakistan — Gangs torched vehicles and a shop in Pakistan's largest city on Friday after a senior politician from the local ruling party was stabbed to death in London.
Gas stations, schools and markets in Karachi were closed and no public transport was running as news of the stabbing of Imran Farooq spread. The city has a history of political violence, and revenge attacks and acts of arson often follow killings.
Farooq was a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, one of Pakistan's major parties and the largest in the coalition governing Karachi. The MQM is also an important member of the federal government in Islamabad.
The slaying could have implications for national political stability, especially if the MQM accuses its rivals of being involved.
On Friday, an MQM leader said the party thought Farooq, 50, was killed in response to controversial statements made by the leader of party, who himself lives in self-imposed exile in London. London's Metropolitan Police said no arrests had been made and did not speculate on the motive.
Farooq's body was found in north London on Thursday with multiple stab wounds and head wounds.
The area's lawmaker at Britain's House of Commons, Matthew Offord, said police were meeting late Friday to discuss developments in the case, but said he believed that the killing was likely to have been politically motivated. "That's my understanding at the moment, and we wait to see if there's any evidence to contradict that," said Offord.
Murad Qureshi, a lawmaker on the London Assembly, the capital's municipal authority, said he also believed Farooq had been targeted by opponents. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out that this is an assassination," he said.
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Elizabeth Warren To Lead Search For New Consumer Chief, Could 'Pull A Dick Cheney'
September 17th, 2010 by Noah
In addition to being charged with forming the newly-created agency dedicated to protecting consumers from abusive financial products, Elizabeth Warren will lead the administration's effort to find the first director of the nascent unit, the Huffington Post has learned.
President Barack Obama will name Warren, a famed consumer advocate and passionate defender of the middle class, as one of his top advisers on Friday, creating a role inside the White House for the Harvard Law professor and bailout watchdog to lead the effort in forming the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
Warren, though, will not be named as his nominee for the Senate-confirmed, five-year post to lead the new entity -- at least not yet. She will, however, lead the search to find the right person. Consumer advocates and several dozen members of Congress say she's it.
"Who knows? Maybe she'll pull a Dick Cheney," said one source familiar with the matter.
Former Vice President Cheney was tapped by then-Gov. George W. Bush to lead his search for a running mate during the 2000 presidential campaign. Cheney settled on himself.
The possibility of Obama picking Warren surged in recent days after Obama heaped praise on her last Friday and called her a "dear friend." However, a day after word leaked Wednesday that Warren would be selected for this different role, news outlets including CBS News, citing the White House, reported that not only was it unlikely Warren would get the nod -- she allegedly didn't want the position in the first place. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) also said that Warren didn't want the five-year role.
Warren backers hold out hope that she remains on the short list of nominees for the permanent job, but CBS News reports that, "It is highly unlikely that Warren ... will eventually be nominated to be director of the bureau." According to CBS, Warren "is no longer on the list" for the long-term position.
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AP Poll: Republicans Pulling Further And Further Ahead Of Democrats
September 16th, 2010 by Noah
WASHINGTON — Tilted toward the GOP from the start of the year, the political environment has grown even more favorable for Republicans and rockier for President Barack Obama and his Democrats over the long primary season that just ended with a bang.
With November's matchups set and the general election campaign beginning in earnest Wednesday, an Associated Press-GfK poll found that more Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction than did before the nomination contests got under way in February. Also, more now disapprove of the job Obama is doing. And more now want to see Republicans in control of Congress rather than the Democrats who now run the House and Senate.
The country's pessimism benefits the out-of-power GOP, which clearly has enthusiasm on its side. Far more people voted this year in Republicans primaries than in Democratic contests, and the antiestablishment tea party coalition has energized the GOP even as it has sprung a series of primary surprises.
"We're definitely in a stronger position than we've been in really at any point this year," Sen. John Cornyn, who leads the effort to elect Senate Republicans, said in an interview.
Said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Turnout and enthusiasm are off the charts."
Indeed, Republicans expected turnout of 30,000 to 40,000 in Delaware on Tuesday. Some 57,582 people showed up to vote as tea party-backed Christine O'Donnell upset moderate Rep. Mike Castle for the Senate GOP nomination. By most accounts, the outcome diminished Republican chances of winning former Vice President Joe Biden's seat. But Republicans got their preferred candidate in New Hampshire as former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte fended off tea party-supported Ovide Lamontagne by a razor-thin margin.
Fueling voter anger is an unemployment rate that's hovered near 10 percent all year despite efforts by Obama and fellow Democrats to accelerate the economic recovery.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they're out of office," said independent voter Robbin Payton of Newport News, Va., reflecting just how toxic the environment is for the party in power.
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How Cute Does Violet Affleck’s Hair Look? Here’s How Your Daughter Can Get Creative With Her ‘Do
September 14th, 2010 by Noah
All eyes were on Violet Affleck and her adorable hair accessories as she and her mom, Jennifer Garner, ran errands in LA on Sept. 7.
Pulling her long hair up with a pale pink scrunchie and securing the sides with pink bows above each ear, Violet Affleck, 4, got all of her hair out of her face for a fun day in the sun. Gotta hand it to her, the shade of pink she (or her mom, Jen Garner) chose also perfectly matched her multicolored sundress. Way to go, Violet! We’ve found the perfect hair accessories to give your little girl a Violet makeover!
What little girl doesn’t want to add some fun to their outfit with matching clips and bows? Get Violet’s look with pink Scunci Girl Girls Pastel Scrunchies and Ava Grosgrain Double Baby Bows. Snap-in clips like Violet’s bows are super-easy for a tot to do on their own,but just watch out when they try to put them in your hair! A cute option for fall is The Children’s Place Plaid Hair Clips or let your daughter experiment by mixing the colors of the Goody Kids 6 Contour Clips with Flowers. You never know what kind of hair styles they’ll come up with, so have your camera ready!
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Obama Strongly Hints At Warren Nomination To Head Consumer Bureau
September 11th, 2010 by Noah
President Obama hailed his long friendship with Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren on Friday, crediting her at his new conference with the idea for what has since become the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, when asked whether she was still the leading candidate to run it. After calling her a "dear friend" and adding that he's known her since he was in law school, he strongly hinted that she would be the eventual nominee by qualifying that he was "not going to make an official announcement until it's ready."
Obama's clear emphasis on "official" left little room for doubt that the matter is all but decided. Speculation has swirled that Obama would name Warren to head the agency during the summer recess to avoid a confirmation battle. His opportunity to do so expires early next week, when Congress returns. But he could also recess appoint Warren in October, after Congress recesses to campaign for reelection.
"The idea for this agency was Elizabeth Warren's. She's a dear friend of mine. She's somebody I've known since I was in law school. And I have been in conversations with her. She is a tremendous advocate for this idea," he said. "I'll have an announcement soon about how we're going to move forward. I have had conversations with Elizabeth over these last couple of months. But I'm not going to make an official announcement until it's ready."
Obama's confidence in Warren comes as the Wall Street Journal continues its assault on her, questioning whether she could handle the job in an editorial Friday. "We hate to pick on Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, the front-runner for the consumer post, because the other candidates floated so far may know even less about banking than she does. The White House should step back and review a new list of prospects with an eye toward a healthy banking market, not merely a positive reaction from the Huffington Post," offered the Journal.
The GOP's campaign against Warren has been going on since 2009, when House Republicans attempted to amend the financial reform bill to include language preventing Warren from becoming the CFPB's chief.
Warren met on Tuesday with Obama.
Asked by Bloomberg News if he was concerned that Warren would have trouble being confirmed by the Senate, Obama said that even an appointment for dogcatcher would have trouble getting through the divided Senate under such partisan conditions.
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LAURA SAYS: Adam Brody, It’s About Time You Admitted You’re A Jackass For Dissing Kristen Stewart!
September 10th, 2010 by Noah
Adam was pretty harsh about his former In the Land of Women co-star when he said she should quit the biz and stop her complaining. Now he’s finally admitting his harsh comments were rude, uncalled for and unnecessary!
Adam Brody was a total jerk when he suggested that Kristen Stewart - who happens to be one of my favorite celebrities on the planet, PS – quit showbiz if she couldn’t take the pressure of being a celebrity. While I agree that K-Stew DOES have a certain amount of responsibility to both her fans and the media, there’s absolutely no need for one celeb to diss another – and I’m glad Adam has finally realized the error of his ways!
“I, no, I just, I, this is horrible,” the Scream 4 star told MTV while promoting his new movie, The Romantics. “It wasn’t taken out of context. I saw [the episode] and thought I sounded like an idiot. I did,” Brody admitted. “Regardless of how anyone else took anything, I would think that sounds very ungentlemanly and I sounded like a jackass.”
Yeah, you did! Couldn’t have said it better myself, in fact. As I’m sure you’ll all remember, the 30-year-old actor was referring to K-Stew, 20, when he said, “I don’t have a lot of patience for people who moan about it too much. Because there are many things you could do. It’s like, quit … you don’t need to be an actor, so it’s like if it’s that much of a problem … there’s the door.”
I’m pretty sure I know who has the problem here — and it isn’t Kristen. Still, knowing you’re a jackass is half the battle!
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Concavenator Corcovatus: 'Hunchback Hunter' Dinosaur Discovered In Spain
September 9th, 2010 by Noah
WASHINGTON — The weird world of dinosaurs has just gotten a tad more bizarre. Scientists found a nearly complete fossil of a new dinosaur that sports a noticeable hump, maybe as possible advertising.
The hump on the dinosaur's back, which was at least 16 inches tall, may have been used to help this meat-eating theropod communicate among its own species, scientists theorize. Discoverer Francisco Ortega of Spain named it Concavenator corcovatus which means "the hunchback hunter from Cuenca."
Ortega said the hump could have been used to store fat or regulate body temperature, but there is also the distinct possibility that it was used by concavenators to somehow differentiate themselves or communicate with each other. But with only one of these dinos, it's only speculation and is hard to figure out what the humps were meant to convey if they were tools of communication, he said.
Paleontologist Paul Sereno at the University of Chicago, who wasn't part of the study, thinks the only conceivable explanation is "an advertising role" because it follows similar pointy fins on other dinosaurs.
"It is an ornamental crest that helps to distinguish the individual," Sereno said in an e-mail. "Perhaps it was brightly colored, perhaps it would have been well maintained and large in strong, healthy individuals."
If that's the case, the hump could easily have been spotted from afar, Ortega said.
"It's really big," Ortega said Wednesday. "It's very, very impressive."
The 20-foot-long, two-footed dinosaur was from about 125 million years ago and was found in Spain, The discovery is reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. It is the most complete skeleton of a meat-eater yet, scientists say.
Sereno called it "a spectacular specimen, a very great discovery."
This is the only fossil of its type, but Ortega said it's unlikely to be an individual deformity and more likely to be a new type of dinosaur.
And the hump is not the only strange feature of concavenator. On its arms it has knobs that seem like proto-feathers, giving more evidence of the connection between early theropods and birds, Ortega said.
Because of the lack of scales and likelihood of feathers, Sereno said he would put this creature "at the base of the theropod (meat-eating) branch of the dinosaur family tree."
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Forget Liam -Miley Cyrus is Having A Way Hotter Love Affair – With Her New Chanel Purse!
September 8th, 2010 by Noah
Miley Cyrus sees the sites all over Paris armed with a classic French icon – a crusty baguette? NO! She’s glued to a jumbo Chanel 2.55 flap bag with every outfit from tattered tights to short shorts.
Miley Cyrus, best known for her “can’t -be-tamed” barely-dressed looks proves that classic Chanel DOES go with everything! The former Hannah Montana, who is in Paris filming LOL : Laughing Out Loud, sports her new French fave everywhere as she strolls through the city streets shopping and taking in the sights. Maybe having a classic bag offsets her other new fave, an exposed black bra? Oui, Oui! Who says 17 is too young for a $4000 bag? As long as you pair it with well -worn plaid, why not?
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Numbers 29:1: Listening to the Sound of the Shofar
September 7th, 2010 by Noah
Editor's Note: Huffington Post Religion has launched a scripture commentary/reflection series, which brings together leading voices from different religious traditions to offer their wisdom on selected religious texts. We are pleased to announce a series of reflections on scripture associated with the Jewish High Holidays with reflections by Rabbis from across the country and diverse traditions.
This is the third such series following Ramadan reflections on the Holy Qur'an as well as Christian reflections on the Gospel. Next month we look forward to having Hindu leaders offer scriptural reflections upon the occasion of Diwali.
We hope all readers, Jewish and non-Jewish will gain wisdom from the insights of our contributors during the High Holidays.
"And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a sacred assembly, a cessation from work, a Yom Teru'ah, a day of sounding the teru'ah." (Numbers 29:1)
All Jewish holy days have mitzvot, special commandments connected to them. The mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is "L'shmoah kol shofar," to listen to the sound of the shofar. The shofar is a ram's horn. The sound it makes is unpredictable, eerie, powerful, and ancient. Its connection to Rosh Hashanah is not just from the Biblical verse (above), but from the story we read on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac. There, at the very last minute before Abraham commits what for us is the unthinkable act of murdering his own son, Abraham looks up to see a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. Abraham looks up, wakes up to a different possibility, and substitutes the ram for his son. Sounding the shofar evokes that ram. The shofar calls us to wake up, to do tikkun nefesh, an accounting of our souls, and to ask for forgiveness: first from other people...and then, from God. The sound is both a challenge and a warning.
There are three sounds: tekiyah, shevarim and teru'ah. The sound of tekiyah, a long whole note, connects us to creation, revelation, and redemption. We hear that sound: we are present as the universe is created. We hear that sound: we stand again at Sinai. We hear that sound: we are partners in bringing about redemption.
It seems that the ancient rabbis knew what tekiyah sounded like because they describe it. But they are not so sure about the other two sounds. Given that Torah calls Rosh Hashanah Yom Teru'ah, the day of the sounding of the teru'ah, it was important to the rabbis of the Talmud to get the sound right. They determine the sound based on a surprising source -- a word that appears in the Book of Judges about the mother of Sisera, when she hears of her son's death: "The mother of Sisera stood at the window and ya-bev: she made the sound of yevavah [which is the Aramaic translation of teru'ah]." (Judges 5: 28)
The mother of Sisera? Remember who Sisera was? In the time of the Judges, Sisera was the captain of the enemy army that oppressed the Israelites. Why do we care about his mother?
Here is what the Talmud says: "What is the sound of teru'ah? One opinion is that... she (the mother of Sisera, upon hearing of his death) sighed and sighed and therefore the teru'ah should sound like a gasping sound, and one opinion is that she cried and cried and therefore the sound of the teru'ah should be constantly broken like uncontrollable crying." (B.T. Rosh Hashanah 33b)
Because there were two different sounds, sighing and crying, the ancient rabbis compromised and included both sounds in the shofar service on Rosh Hashanah: they called the first, shevarim, three gasping sounds, and the second, teru'ah, nine staccato sounds like crying. Both of these sounds emerge from the anguish of the mother of Sisera.
There is another tradition that links the sound of the shofar to a different mother. This midrash, rabbinic story, describes that when Sarah mistakenly heard that her husband Abraham had sacrificed her beloved only son, "Sarah began to cry, and moan the sound of three wails, which correspond to the three blasts of the shofar, and her soul burst forth from her and she died." (Midrash Pirke d' Rabbi Eliezer)
Two different mothers, one the mother of our enemy; the other, the mother of our own ancestor, Isaac. The tears of both Sarah and the unnamed mother of Sisera are in the sound of the shofar.
What are we meant to learn from linking this sound to the stories of these mothers? Perhaps the lesson is that the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah reminds us that every human being, whether our enemy or our friend, has a mother. Every human being killed, whether enemy or family, leaves a mother sobbing by a window or dying of a broken heart. We are all children of our mothers, and we are all children of God. We can't truly hear the sound of tekiyah gedolah, the long whole note signaling redemption, until we see the face of God in every human being. Perhaps that is why the Zohar, the major text of Jewish mysticism, says: "All sounds on high are included in the Shofar."
We enter the New Year with the sounds of the shofar reverberating through us. May they remind us to try to see every human being as one created in God's image. And then perhaps, this New Year will be a year of peace.
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Dance-Off! Justin Bieber & Jaden Smith Went Head To Head On The Dance Floor — Who Do You Think Won?
September 6th, 2010 by Noah
After Justin’s concert in NYC, the two BFFs got down trying to show who had the baddest moves — Justin or Jaden!
Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith may be BFFs in real life but on Aug. 31 all bets were off as the two engaged in the biggest battle of their lives — a dance-off! 12-year-old Jaden and 16-year-old Justin took to the floor at Lucky Strikes following Justin’s NYC concert to show who had the sickest and dopest moves around. While no winner was officially declared, TMZ reports Justin cleaned up the floor with his moonwalk!
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