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31 May 2010 11:11

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World: In Pakistan, a bunch of jets nail a bunch of militant hideouts

  • 42+ insurgents were killed in
    the attacks today
  • 18+ militants were injured in the
    attacks in the Orakzai region source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2010 10:10

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World: Asian countries still upset about “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day”

  • pakistan After being blocked for nearly two weeks, the country is ready to open Facebook’s floodgates again – minus the controversial pages.
  • bangladesh On Sunday, the country enacted a temporary ban on Facebook to get rid of the pages; they made it clear it was only to hide the pages.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 May 2010 11:37

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World: A very deadly situation in Pakistan, complete with hostages

Two mosque suicide bombings in the city of Lahore have left more than 70 killed and police attempting to stop an awful hostage situation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2010 10:25

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World: Pakistan’s a nation of young, social-networking-loving people

  • 170M the population of Pakistan, which is more than just the Taliban
  • 25M the number of people currently on the Internet in Pakistan
  • 60% the share of the population currently under 25 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2010 10:13

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Politics: Additional comments on “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!”

  • It’s a noble cause, but right now it feels like trolling. Look, we think free speech is great and want to encourage it, but this whole controversy feels like an excuse not to defuse a free speech issue, but to amplify it. In that NYT article we just posted, there was a quote from Twitter which sort of said it all. “One day,” the user said, “they will ban breathing in Pakistan.” You want to promote free speech? Fight for this guy, who just wants to watch a clip of a dog riding a skateboard. Don’t fight against him. Enable him. People like him will eventually encourage the cause you’re fighting for if you help him out. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2010 09:46

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World: Pakistan’s Facebook ban extends to YouTube, but not Twitter

Thanks to the high number of Mohammed depictions on the video site, they had to shut that down, too. Again, this was a good idea because … source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2010 10:10

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U.S., World: Attorney General: Pakistani Taliban behind Times Square plot

  • last week Almost immediately the Pakistani
    Taliban claimed responsibility for
    the failed Times Square attack.
    Then, later, they denied it.
  • “this week” On the Sunday talk show, Attorney
    General Eric Holder pinned the
    attack on them. We’re waiting for a
    reversal of the claim. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 May 2010 22:21

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U.S.: Data dump: Vital statistics on Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad

  • Is Faisal Shahzad a weird amalgamation of terrorism and the financial crisis? The Times Square suspect, who admitted to being a lone wolf today (whether or not you believe that is another question), was a financial analyst who lost his job during the financial crisis. He was also Pakistani-born and had a family who was forced to move back to the country after they lost their home. In the midst of that drama, he somehow became radicalized. Here’s some info on the dude you probably didn’t know.
  • 04/17/09 he became a U.S. citizen
  • two number of kids he has; his family (including his wife) now live in Pakistan
  • 11 number of years he had been floating between the U.S. and Pakistan
  • $273k original value of the
    home     his family lost to
    foreclosure last year
  • » His education: Shahzad, like many immigrants, first came to the U.S. on a student visa in 1998, and followed it through with a computer science degree from the University of Bridgeport in 2000 and, later, an MBA in 2005.
  • » His career: From 2006 until June of last year, he was working as a financial analyst for the Affinion Group, which has a shady business history, according to Wikipedia. It’s not clear whether he quit or was fired. Neighbors claimed that he worked on Wall Street.
  • » His financial state: He owed too much money on his Shelton, Conn. house, so he told the broker to let the bank take it, and told him he was moving back to Pakistan. He had been living in his new apartment in Bridgeport for just a couple of months. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 10:35

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U.S.: Times Square incident: Faisal Shahzad says he acted alone

“OK, this is where that car bomber dude lives. Scan the place for munitions, stat!” Shahzad was caught thanks to a traced cell phone call. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 00:49

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U.S.: Early details on Shahzad Faisal, Times Square bombing suspect

  • one Faisal is an American citizen of Pakistani descent. He’s one of two suspects being looked at.
  • two He was arrested while trying to leave the country. He was at JFK Airport when he was caught. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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