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More than 80% of Pakistanis view the Taliban and Al Qaeda as a critical threat to the country, according to an opinion poll released Wednesday, marking a turn in public opinion that stands to bolster the army's ongoing offensive against militants close to the Afghan border. The findings will be welcomed by Washington, which is pressing Islamabad to take the fight to insurgents blamed for scores of bloody bombings in nuclear-armed Pakistan in recent years as well as attacks on NATO and US troops in Afghanistan. The army has been battling militants in the Swat Valley in the country's northwest...

Posted: Jul 02, 2009 at 1326 hrs IST New Delhi: Certain religious leaders on Thursday strongly disapproved of the Delhi High Court judgement which legalised gay sex among consenting adults. "This is absolutely wrong to legalise homosexuality. We will not accept any such law," Jama Masjid Imam Ahmed Bukhari said. He also critcised the government for trying to amend the Indian Penal Code to scrap section 377 that criminalizes homosexuality. "If the government makes such attempt to scrap the Section 377, we will oppose it strongly," Bukhari said. All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahli...

Pakistan's army has deployed troops to a stretch of the Afghan border to stop Taliban militants fleeing a major U.S. offensive in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman said Thursday. Nearly 4,000 U.S. Marines plus 650 Afghan forces moved into Afghanistan's Helmand province early Thursday to take on the Taliban in one of their strongholds. Pakistani and US officials have expressed concern the American troop build up in southern Afghanistan could push the militants across the poorly guarded and mountainous border into Pakistan. "We've mustered more troops from the other areas of the border" to deploy opposite the Helmand region, said Maj....

15 Must-Have Web Apps for Students June 28, 2009 in Tips and Tools Welcome! If this is your first time here, you may want to subscribe to get updates in your RSS feed reader. Thanks for visiting! This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. For more from Karen, check out her blog about Online College Courses, or follow her on Twitter. College students are increasingly reliant on computers – and, for many of us, that means spending tons of money software that we’d rather not use anyway. The reality, though, is that there are a ton of great, free...

President Barack Obama on July 29 addressed an “LGBT Pride” reception at the White House, characterizing opponents of homosexual political issues as holding fast to “worn arguments and old attitudes.” One critical observer said the event aimed to placate the president’s donors but was “insulting” to mainstream Americans. The president began his comments by saying “Welcome to your White House.” Praising what he considered the “extraordinary progress that we have made,” he said there were “unjust laws to overturn and unfair practices to stop.” “[T]here are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors or even family members and loved ones, who still...

THE missing actor in the tragic and gruesome story of Iran since the stolen election of June 12 has been the Western human rights lobby. Where is it?... ...Apart from ethnic Iranians, there has hardly been a single demonstration in any Western capital in support of the Iranian democrats. Yet isn't there a class, in Australia and in the rest of the West, of people deeply concerned about human rights? The class that Robert Manne and Judith Brett call the moral middle class?... What about the groups explicitly dedicated to human rights?... ...David Menashri, one of the great authorities in...

Troops told to stop Taliban pursuit if civilians are at risk KABUL, Afghanistan — Beginning Thursday, American soldiers in Afghanistan will be under orders to back down when they're chasing Taliban fighters whenever they think that civilians might be at risk. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal , the top commander in Afghanistan , will issue the directive as part of an effort to cut down on civilian casualties, which have enraged the Afghan government and residents. Instead of calling in air support or firing into civilian homes where Taliban fighters have sought refuge, commanders will be instructed to reach out to...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is leading New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine 45 percent to 39 percent with 15 percent undecided, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll conducted June 22-29. The margin of error is 3.5 points. That’s somewhat closer than a Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday in which Christie led 51 percent to 41 percent, but Fairleigh Dickinson’s Peter Woolley says “Even though it’s early in the campaign, it is remarkable that a Republican is running ahead in New Jersey.”

This was inspired by an exchange on Moonbattery, although for quite a long time I’ve been thinking about this. Left-wing progressives seem to care only about the “freedom” to do whatever they want to whoever they want in the bedroom. Once you step outside the bedroom, most every aspect of your life should be subject to the iron hand of the progressive state: 1.The Freedom to keep what you earn and spend it as you please. 2.The Freedom to take risks, and live with the consequences. 3.The Right to participate in the political process by donating money to causes you...

People who get California IOUs People California pays in cash Grants to aged, blind or disabled persons University of California People needing temporary assistance for basic family needs Public Employees’ Retirement System People in drug prevention, treatment, and recovery services Legislators, legislative employees, and appointees Persons with developmental disablities Judges People in mental health treatment Department of Corrections Small Business Vendors Health Care Services payments to Institutional Providers

Amnesty International’s annual report condemns Israel for its treatment of Palestinian Authority Arabs while only briefly noting atrocities attributed to the Hamas terrorist organization. Both the IDF and a watchdog on fair media research called the report findings biased and unethical. Amnesty International issued Thursday its annual report, condemning Israel and PA Arabs for disproportional violence during Operation Cast Lead. The human rights watchdog blames Israel for killing over 1,400 PA Arabs in Gaza and wounding 5,000 others. The report blames the IDF for repeatedly breaching the laws of war by “by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian...

One nation is being ruled by a regime sworn to our destruction, who've maintained power by fraud and deceit, murdered their own citizens, and thrown their own rule of law out the window - the other is a small constitutional republic trying hard to hold fast to its founding document and rule of law in the face of a criminal executive in cahoots with foreign powers and strong international pressure by those foreign powers. We've made it clear we're intervening in one situation, and not meddling in the other- can you guess which one?

Researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland have created nanocapacitors capable of both high power concentrations and large storage capacities. Traditionally, capacitors offer high levels of power discharge and batteries offer large amounts of storage but this is the first time scientists have managed to combine both properties in the same device, albeit one too small to be practical.   Arrays of capacitors shown in an electron micrograph overlaid onto a diagram outlining their design (Credit: A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland) The new battery system, developed by Gary Rubloff and his team...

Byron York is on to Barney Frank, who’s hand has been caught in the cookie jar, AGAIN. When President Obama announced on June 9 that some financial institutions would be allowed to repay Troubled Asset Relief Program dollars, he said the massively expensive TARP bailout had made money for the federal government. “It is worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these [TARP recipients], the government has actually turned a profit,” the president said. Indeed, TARP supporters have long held out the hope that the program might be profitable.

One of our favorite callers makes an appearance tonight, and he's full of irritation about EC's lack of attention to his pet issue...

So we’ve seen a few ways to save on water when it comes to washing clothes, but none quite so efficient as the Xeros machine. Instead of using gallons of water, the Xeros machine depends on polymer beads that when combined with a small amount of H2O, enough to get the beads damp, they attract dirt away from the clothing. The beads are good for hundreds of washes and according to its inventor, Stephen Burkinshaw, the machine uses 90% less water than a traditional washing machine and 40% less energy once you account for the reduction in drying time since...

Two big exchanges are courting ever smaller clients. Is this the return of the Amex? In an attempt to gain and hang onto new listings in this rough market, two major exchanges have made some concessions to the economy either temporarily lowering listing standards or offering services to tiny, private companies. NYSE Euronext is lowering its standards for stocks that can trade on the exchange, extending its temporary suspension of the $1 minimum stock price until the end of July. It is also trying to permanently have a $15 million minimum 30 day average market capitalization standard for companies trading...

The Queen is to honour the families of Britain's war dead with a new award in her name. Those who have lost loved ones on the frontline or in terrorist attacks will be presented with the Elizabeth Cross. In a radio message to the armed forces on the British Forces Broadcasting Service the Queen said: 'I greatly hope that the Elizabeth Cross will give further meaning to the nation's debt of gratitude to the families and loved ones of those who have died in the service of our country.'

Cash-strapped executives round the world have looked on with envy as China's banks laid open their vaults this year, pouring trillions of yuan into Chinese businesses. China seems to be the one place where thousands of companies desperate for financing have been able to secure it. Just one catch: Almost all those companies are government-owned. Many of China's private entrepreneurs are still starving for cash, and those who have been trying to muscle into government-dominated business sectors are getting their comeuppance. State-owned enterprises are, the entrepreneurs say, eating them alive, acquiring private competitors at fire-sale prices or squeezing them out....

HELD AL-QUDS: The Israeli navy on Tuesday boarded and seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists that was heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade, a military spokesman said. "In the last hour an Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded and took control of the cargo boat 'Arion' ... as it was illegally attempting to enter the Gaza Strip," the spokesman said late in the afternoon. The military said the ship, which was sailing under a Greek flag, was the same vessel known as the "Spirit of Humanity", which was sailing to Gaza to protest the Israeli blockade on...