The widower of slain former leader

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The widower of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto will succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan after winning a landslide election victory Saturday.

Unofficial results announced after separate votes in the federal and provincial assemblies showed Asif Ali Zardari winning an overwhelming majority.

Pro-Zardari lawmakers, some in tears, shouted "Long live Bhutto!" as the figures came in. The couple's two jubilant but tearful daughters, one carrying a portrait of their late mother, smiled and hugged friends in the gallery of the National Assembly.
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But Saturday also brought a brutal reminder of the threats to the nuclear-armed nation's stability, when a suicide car bomber killed at least 30 people near the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The blast destroyed a police checkpoint, collapsed several shops nearby and left a three-foot crater in the road. Civilians dug frantically with their hands in hopes of finding survivors.

In other violence in the region, 24 people were killed after residents of villages tired of a "reign of terror" by Islamic militants foiled a militant kidnap attempt, then were attacked, the military said.

A military statement said residents of the town of Tehsil Matta, some 100 miles north of Peshawar, decided to fight back against militants operating in the area. They launched an attack Friday night to prevent a suspected plan to snatch a village elder accused of supporting the government.

Six of the would-be kidnappers were killed. The militants later returned en masse, and ensuing clashes left 15 residents and three more militants dead, along with scores of people injured, the military said.

Already head of the main ruling party, Zardari becomes one of the most powerful civilian leaders in Pakistan's turbulent 61-year history. Last month, he marshaled a coalition that forced longtime U.S. ally Musharraf to quit as head of state.

Zardari, a novice leader untested on the international stage and stained by past corruption allegations, takes over at a critical time for the volatile, nuclear-armed Muslim nation of more than 160 million.

Pakistan's economy is crumbling, and Saturday's attack was the latest in a string of suicide bombings usually claimed by Islamic militants who have steadily gained strength since Pakistan joined the U.S. war on terrorism in 2001.

Washington is pressing Pakistan hard to eradicate Taliban and al-Qaida havens near its border with Afghanistan. An American-led ground attack said to have killed at least 15 in Pakistani territory Wednesday sparked outrage and embarrassed Zardari's party.

U.S. reaction
Rob McInturff, a State Department spokesman, extended congratulations to Zardari.

"Our position has been and has long been that we support the democratic process in Pakistan and we hope the government will focus on the challenges facing the country and the needs of its people," McInturff said.

Government ministers hailed Zardari's expected victory as a triumph for democracy nine years after Musharraf seized power in a military coup.

Musharraf, a former general, stepped down from the army last year, but only after imposing a state of emergency to fend off legal challenges to winning another term, this time as a civilian head of state.

Zardari says he will give some of the powers accumulated by Musharraf back to Parliament, but has not made clear how far he will go, sustaining concern that one strongman is replacing another.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Saturday's bombing was an attempt to upset the progress of a country riven by ethnic and sectarian divides toward a more stable democratic federation.

If a reported Taliban claim of responsibility proves correct, "They'll have to pay for it," he said.

Like his late wife, Zardari is generally considered a pro-West liberal, and he is not expected to change Pakistan's commitment as an ally in the U.S. war on terrorism despite the recent raid and suspected U.S. missile strikes along the border.

Zardari and senior party officials have matched Musharraf's tough line against terrorism, insisting the battle against militants is Pakistan's own war. But a key test will be how much clout Zardari wields over Pakistan's powerful military, which has failed to halt the Taliban's rise in the nation's northwest despite stop-start battles.

The president has the power to dissolve Parliament and appoint army chiefs, and chairs the joint civilian-military committee that controls Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Sara Palin proudly described herself as Pit ball with lipstick

by Nath_BC

Sara Palin proudly described herself as Pit ball with lipstick. Is that what America needs, after eight years of Bush Cheney administration, a self proclaimed vicious bitch in a Vice President? Have the Americans or indeed not have enough of that? Do we need another four more years? Given John McCain’s age and the state of his health, who will keep her on a leach if god forbid she becomes the president by default and that is very likely. Not that McCain can likely reign in on her in his old age. She is extremely dangerous not only to the America but also the rest of the world being clearly loose cannon with zero experience in the world affairs and without any inclination to learn and understand the rest of the world, especially the delicate art of diplomacy and co-cooperation. She is know it all and promises to use the Military might of the USA to get her way, including the nuclear arsenal, as that is what she claims God wants.
She promises extensive social engineering, impose her extreme religious views, ban abortions including in case of incest and rape. She considers that to her direct calling from God. Such extreme views have been responsible for the assassinations by her likeminded religious zealots of Doctors whose only crime was to perform legal medical procedures, namely terminate unwanted pregnancy. She is opposed to abortions and that is admirable as no woman is for abortion, but she is also opposed to sex education that may help reduce unwanted pregnancies and thus need for abortion.
What kind of mother is she? What kind of values did she teach her daughter? Did she give her any information on birth control and STD? Or was she too busy with her own career? Any woman can produced kids but it takes a real woman to raise responsible kids and that type of mother Sara Palin was defiantly not. She has learned nothing from unwanted pregnancy of her own teenage daughter, to whom she was neglectful mother, as she is neglectful of her five months old baby with Dawn syndrome. Her passion is producing children, moose hunting, and perusing her political career, but not putting family first in her list of priorities.
As to her ethics, she has none. Like John McCain, it turns out that Sara Palin brings her own contradictions, she was for the “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska and bosom buddy of the corrupt Senator from Alaska but the she became against all that to gain political advantage. While she was pretending to fight corruption she was secretly instructing the man her sister was having custody battle to be fired and she lied about it, except she got caught on tape. How typical of Bush/Carle Rove like behavior.
Republicans are going Gaga over the selection of Sara Palin but then they represent ever decreasing fringe extreme of America. It is hard not to notice that less than two percent of delegates at the republican convention are of African Americans or other minority, rest are all whites, when whites represent barely fifty percent of the American population. Is it any wonder that the Republicans are so out of touch with the electorate? Their party is dominated by special interest groups and extreme fringe right and intolerant religious demagogues. In Sara Palin they have found their poster Pit ball with lipstick, a proudly self described vicious bitch.

IOWA INTERSTATE TO OPERATE STEAM FOR FLOOD RELIEF:

On October 18-19, 2008 the Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) will operate Railroad Development Corporation’s (RDC’s) 2 QJ-type steam locomotives on 2 days of special events for the benefit of The Salvation Army’s efforts to assist communities through its territory impacted by June’s flooding. A variety of rail-oriented events will be held, with the City of Rock Island acting as host and coordinator of the event. On Saturday, October 18, a double-headed freight train will leave Iowa City for Rock Island, with the objective of setting “a new record for steam-hauled revenue tonnage in the 21st century.” Upon arrival at Rock Island, the locomotives will then be split to operate passenger excursion shuttles east to Silvis, Illinois, and west to Walcott, Iowa. The day’s events will culminate with a private evening dinner trip for special guests, with catering to be provided by RDC “celebrity chefs” from Pittsburgh, Cedar Rapids, Peru and Guatemala. Finally, on Sunday, October 19, a one-way limited excursion train will operate from Rock Island to Iowa City, accompanying the QJs back to their home in Newton, Iowa. RDC and IAIS Chairman Henry Posner III commented, “By October, the economic impact of the flooding experienced in June will have been long forgotten. Iowans don’t like to complain, and it is their nature to deal with problems in a spirit of self-reliance, but in this case we would like to remind the greater community that there have been thousands of lives disrupted, and that they should not be forgotten.” IAIS President & CEO Dennis Miller commented, “Although it has taken us some time to recover from our flood damage, we have not forgotten the many people who also suffered losses and were assisted by The Salvation Army. We hope these events will help to replenish their much needed funds in order to continue their valuable service to our communities. All proceeds from the events will be donated to The Salvation Army.” Additional details, as well as ticketing information, will be available at the end of August via the City of Rock Island’s website, www.rigov.org. At that time a joint press release will be issued by the City of Rock Island, IAIS and RDC. Founded in 1984, IAIS is a regional carrier operating over 550 miles between Omaha, Nebraska, and Chicago, Illinois, with connections to all Class 1 carriers. In May 2008, IAIS won the Gold Harriman award in recognition of its performance as the safest Class 2 (medium-size) railroad in the USA in 2007. IAIS is a subsidiary of RDC, a privately held Pittsburgh-based railway management and investment firm, focusing on “Emerging Corridors in Emerging Markets.” For more information on IAIS and RDC, please visit: www.IAISRR.com and www.RRDC.com. (Iowa Interstate - posted 9/05)