Bhutto assassination

An ugly action like this doesn't really bode well for Pakistani elections soon... Seems sometimes that both Pakistan and India sentenced themselves to years of difficulties politically, at least in terms of finding themselves a consistent and democratic leader, since partition. At 54, Benazir Bhuitto was killed earlier today at a rally in Pakistan. Needless to say, world attention has been drawn-- and even the US presidential wannabes are weighing in. Here's the basic info:


Pakistan's Bhutto Dies in Attack
By PETER WONACOTT
December 27, 2007 12:53 p.m.


ISLAMABAD -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed today in an apparent suicide attack in the military garrison town of Rawalpindi, according to her aides.

The death of the opposition leader plunges Pakistan into fresh turmoil, jeopardizing the country's planned return to a civilian-led democracy through elections scheduled for Jan. 8 and depriving President Pervez Musharraf of his most powerful potential ally in the battle against Islamic extremists.
The Pakistani opposition leader was killed in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi. Video courtesy of Reuters. (Dec. 27)

Ms. Bhutto was killed after addressing a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, outside the capital of Islamabad. As she was entering her car, Ms. Bhutto was struck in the head and neck with pellets that exploded from a vest worn by the bomber, according to Tariq Azim, former deputy minister of information, who said he had been briefed on the incident from Pakistan's ministry of interior.

Ms. Bhutto, who was 54 years old, was rushed to a hospital where she died from her injuries. More than 20 others died in the blast, and about 45 were injured according to Mr. Azim, who called it a "sad and tragic day for Pakistan."

Before the rally, Ms. Bhutto had met with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the end of his two-day visit here and told him that if she is elected prime minister she will work with him to fight terror. "We, too, believe that it is essential for both of our countries, and indeed the larger Muslim world, to work to protect the interest of Islamic civilization by eliminating extremism and terrorism," she said after their meeting.

Although her killers haven't been identified, political analysts and members of Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan's Peoples Party, or PPP, suspect Islamic militants, who attempted to assassinate her on her return to Pakistan in October and who have condemned her for support of a crackdown on pro-Taliban and pro-al Qaeda radicals and her perceived close relationship with Western powers, particularly the U.S.

Some PPP members are also blaming President Musharraf's government for the attack on Ms. Bhutto, alleging that Islamist militants have close ties to some members of Pakistan's military intelligence service. The party itself hasn't specifically blamed the government or any Islamist group.

As a claim from an al Qaeda-affiliated group zoomed around the Internet, a U.S. official said the claim was "plausible" but unconfirmed. "Militant groups would be in anyone's group of suspects," he added.

If that claim proves to be true, he said, it could strengthen Mr. Musharraf's hand in countering terrorism in the tribal areas, but the official said, "It's simply too early to draw any concrete conclusions."

New Framework

The incident puts Mr. Musharraf, a close U.S. ally in Washington's war on terror, in a tight political corner.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel issued a statement saying: "We condemn the acts of violence which took place today in Pakistan." He added that President Bush himself would make a statement later in the day from his home in Texas. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters the attack "demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy."

In recent days, many senior Bush administration officials were expressing optimism in the direction Pakistan was taking politically, banking on the power-sharing relationship emerging between Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Musharraf.

"It's nothing but bad news, as far as U.S. interests in Pakistan are concerned," said Paul Pillar, a former senior Middle East analyst at the CIA.

Ms. Bhutto, he said, was "the closest thing to a U.S. friend that we had" despite the post-9/11 relationship the U.S. had established with Mr. Musharraf. She represented an alternative to Mr. Musharraf's authoritarian rule, while still maintaining a willingness to work with him, Mr. Pillar said.

At least 20 people were killed in the attack.

Now, some analysts are warning her death will trigger an outpouring of antigovernment sentiment that will endanger other political campaigns and likely force the elections to be postponed. "It will be extremely difficult to hold elections now," says Hasan-Asakari Rizvi, a political analyst in Lahore and recently a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. "There will be violence, and clashes with security forces," he said.

Pakistan's Army Spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the country's police were able to handle the security situation. He said that he wasn't aware of any talk of martial law. However, incidents of street violence have already occurred in Pakistan's commercial capital of Karachi, where some roads were blocked Thursday evening amid the sound of gunfire.

Some supporters questioned whether Ms. Bhutto was given adequate protection in Rawalpindi, which has also been the target of several recent suicide attacks. Ms. Bhutto had been the target of another suicide bomb during her tumultuous Oct. 18 homecoming to Karachi. An estimated 140 people died after a blast occurred near her vehicle.

Mr. Azim, the former government minister, said Ms. Bhutto had held several peaceful campaign rallies before the blast. But added, "There's no such thing as 100% full-proof security against suicide bombing."

Return From Exile

Ms. Bhutto returned from eight years in exile after reaching a deal with Mr. Musharraf to help guide the country toward civilian rule. But any prospective political alliance fell apart after the government declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, detaining thousands of her supporters and thwarting her attempts to lead protest rallies. She was put under house twice, in two different cities. But in recent weeks, she's been largely able to campaign freely -- though under the constant threat of attacks from Islamic militants.

After Thursday night's bombing, people poured into the streets. In Rawalpindi, people vented their rage and grief by pounding on passing cars.

Ms. Bhutto's death is a huge loss for the PPP, one of the nation's largest grassroots political organizations that was once headed by her father, Zulifikar Ali Bhutto, who served as prime minister in the early 1970s. He was arrested by the military and then hanged in 1979, leaving the party mantle to his daughter. She would go onto serve as prime minister twice. But both times -- once in 1990 and later in 1996 -- her government was dismissed amid allegations of corruption.

It's unclear who will now take the mantle of the PPP and possibly run for prime minister in Ms. Bhutto's place.

"In this very personalized politics that prevail in Pakistan, one half of that is gone," Mr. Pillar said. "The Pakistan Peoples Party will still be around, but there is no one quite to fill her shoes."

During her exile, a new generation of PPP leadership was emerging. But there have been charges that Ms. Bhutto marginalized these new voices upon her return.

Ms. Bhutto's chief political rival during the 1990's, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's other two-time prime minister, also returned from exile recently. They both found common ground in their opposition to Mr. Musharraf and emergency rule. After emergency rule was lifted, Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif agreed to lead their parties into next month's national parliamentary elections.

Impact for the U.S.

The U.S. could support a number of new approaches now inside Pakistan. One would be to reach out to some of the PPP's younger leadership in the hope that they could successfully lead the party in next month's election. The other would be to back Mr. Musharraf if he decides to declare martial law, potentially leading to the postponement of the elections.

U.S. officials have voiced repeated concerns that Pakistan's political turmoil could undermine counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda and the Taliban. In recent months, Islamist militants have increased attacks across Pakistan and gained control of territories normally outside their traditional stronghold along the Afghan-Pakistan border. They have also targeted major political figures representing both Mr. Musharraf's government and the opposition.

Intelligence agencies are "monitoring the situation," said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the director of national intelligence, who referred other questions of the White House and State Department.
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TIMELINE
• Bhutto Promises to Crack Down on Militants11
12/25/07
• Blast in Pakistan Tests Stability12
12/22/07
• Inside Pakistan's Drive to Guard A-Bombs13
11/29/07
• Bhutto Tells Musharraf to Resign14
11/14/07
• Bhutto's Reaction to Blast May Set Path for Pakistan15
10/20/07
• Bombs Target Bhutto Procession in Pakistan16
10/19/07
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--Jay Solomon in Washington, Zahid Hussain in Karachi and the Associated Press contributed to this article.

Felizes Y Prosperos, y'all

Merry and Happy to the blogueros y blogueras out there. It's been a trying last month of 2008, ant not just politically. I've been waiting all year for this year to end, hopefully go out like a lamb, too. Of ocurse, we made it worse by adopting a 4-yr old dog-- but fortunately a small one, barely there. Ofc ourse, she's hyperactive, is miss Bette Marlene Guayabera Miranda Bear-Puppy, but well, what can you expect with those names?

Paz y felicidad! And more on topic posts later, I promise...

TC

Scottsdale expands! And not just physically!

Something for me to smile about in AZ...

Scottsdale extends equal employment protection to LGBTQ community

And post somewhere ELSE if you have an issue with law abiding and tax-paying American citizens of any stripe being protected from morons.

Even more fun than the naked people at the Scottsdale Chevron! Scottsdale is the place to BE, man! :p

Prison and Hate Crimes! (Get your attention?)

Scroll down to the bottom if you just wanna see how many Klan members might be in your backyard...

According to Reuters today:

THE number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to US taxpayers and society, researchers said in a report calling for a major justice-system overhaul.

To make its case for reducing the US prison population the report cites examples ranging from former vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby to a Florida woman who was sentenced to two years' jail for throwing a cup of coffee.

Produced by the JFA Institute, a Washington criminal-justice research group, the report recommends shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalising recreational drugs as steps that would halve the prison population, save $US20 billion ($A22.3 billion) a year and ease social inequality without endangering the public.
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You can see the whole Reuters article HERE

Now, what does that have to do with hate crime? Well, according to The Ass. Press,

"Hate Crimes Up Nearly 8 Percent in 2006
Monday November 19, 2007 6:46 PM

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hate crime incidents in the United States rose last year by nearly 8 percent, the FBI reported Monday, as racial prejudice continued to account for more than half the reported instances.

Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental disability. That was up 7.8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005.

Although the noose incidents and beatings among students at Jena, La., high school occurred in the last half of 2006, they were not included in the report. Only 12,600 of the nation's more than 17,000 local, county, state and federal police agencies participated in the hate crime reporting program in 2006 and neither Jena nor LaSalle Parish, in which the town is located, were among the agencies reporting. ..."

You can read more on this at
Guardian UK (why is it the Brits grab them stories so fast?)

You can get a 2 year sentence for assault with a coffee cup in a traffic jam. but around here and in other states, burn a cross and laugh your ass off. It doesn't seem to be of great interest to run down hat crimes, perhaps because it's still a sore spot with people who believe a crime is a crime. If that were true, we'd have Murder and nothing else for that crime. Why nuance it? Because people themselves commit the crimes for various reasons. As is noted later in the article, "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase in hate crimes."

Is that true? I know cops have a hell of a job in this country, but FBI should seem to have more figured out. Or maybe not. They are a gov't agency.

To find out how your state or area stacks up in terms of potential hate crimes, go to The Southern Poverty Law Center's hate Map. It's a revelation.

How the boys across the way do it: Burma

Is it fair to compare nationalist-idiot fervor along the lines of "America! Love it or Leave It!" to a horrifically violent SE Asian regime in Burma/ Myanmar? Maybe not. But I sometimes wonder how much longer we have to wait in this country for "reeducation" or "repatriotizing" camps spring up to ensure all "Amurrcans" think, walk, and act the same, even as we celebrate individuality. Monks in Burma tried to protest oppression and government scamming, and it's gotten wildly out of control. What would happen if we marched on DC again?

I guess it might seem I'm stretching the definition of solidarity here far outside Arizona, but sometimes i think that while we like to claim being First World, we're actually heading into some dark times. I'm not sure the imminent elections are enough to make me optimistic, either. When simplicity and duplicity are the dominant Cities of our country, I'm not sure we're headed down the right path.

You can also check out the info at : WITNESS

Reuters Monday November 19 2007
By Neil Chatterjee
SINGAPORE, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations called on Myanmar on Monday to move towards democracy after facing criticism and sanctions from the United States and Europe.

The Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) said Myanmar should work with the United Nations on democracy and release political detainees, but barred U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari from briefing a summit in Singapore.

The grouping has criticised sanctions on Myanmar and rejected calls for its suspension from ASEAN, prompting some Western officials to put in doubt economic deals.

International division over military-ruled Myanmar, after its September crackdown on pro-democracy protestors, has also overshadowed the group's plan to sign a charter on Tuesday that also aims for free trade and economic integration by 2015.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the Philippines might not ratify the charter if Myanmar did not commit to democracy and release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who met a senior junta official on Monday but is detained.
"Until the Philippine Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the ASEAN charter," Arroyo said in a statement.

The top U.S. trade negotiator, Susan Schwab, said a free trade deal between Washington and ASEAN was unlikely because of "the political situation".

"The credibility and reputation of ASEAN has been called into question because of the situation in Myanmar. Business as usual can't be business as usual," Schwab told reporters.

"It's impossible to imagine a free trade agreement with ASEAN in the near term given the political situation."

SANCTIONS
The United States expanded its sanctions against Myanmar's rulers in October and the Senate voted unanimously on Friday to urge ASEAN to suspend Myanmar. The European Union adopted sanctions on Monday against 1,270 firms in Myanmar.
But ASEAN has criticised the sanctions, while members Vietnam and Laos told Reuters they had no plans for democracy. The group said Myanmar had to work for a peaceful transition to democracy and address economic problems.

Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said: "Most leaders expressed the view that Myanmar could not go back or stay put. The process of national reconciliation has to move forward and the U.N. plays a vital role in this process."
Singapore banned all outdoor protests on Myanmar but small groups of international students briefly defied the ban.

Diplomats say the ASEAN charter, which gives the group a legal identity, means that the current option of excluding Myanmar from deals will end.
Free trade talks between ASEAN and the European Union could also stall. Together the U.S. and EU account for 27 percent of ASEAN's exports and a third of its inward direct investment.

Japan, one of the strongest U.S. allies in Asia, said on Monday that it was neither for nor against the sanctions.

"We do not want to side with our U.S. ally nor with Singapore on this. The Japanese position is more nuanced," a Japanese government official told reporters in Singapore, adding Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda would demand an explanation for the killing of a Japanese photographer by Myanmar soldiers. (Additional reporting by Koh Gui Qing, Vivek Prakash, Daryl Loo and Geert De Clercq; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

You can also check ou tthe BBC site:Burma, with video

The pot fiasco.

I'm sure this is all over the blogosphere, but HELL... it's like a new world order, 1984 without the snappy attempts to remake English. This is doubleplus ungood.
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POT AND DEPORTATION
A Catalina High School student was busted for possession of marijuana at school last week. When police and the boy's parents showed up, the parents admitted the whole family immigrated to the U.S. illegally.

Police called Border Patrol, which they say is standard procedure. The teen, his brother and both parents have now been deported.

Tuesday the boy's friends at Catalina High School took to the streets, angry at the way it all went down.

They marched from the high school to downtown Tucson in protest.

Over the several mile walk, they march, chant and carry protest signs in support of a classmate sent back to Mexico.

"Yeah it makes me mad," says student Erick Quintero.

"We're protesting because they took one of our classmates," says student Joddy Borrego.

TUSD superintendent Roger Pfueffer says he planned to talk with TPD about what happened.

"The police are required to enforce laws, but we're asking immigration laws be not enforced on our campuses," Pfueffer says.

Border patrol says it doesn't raid schools or churches, but if another law enforcement agency calls, they respond and enforce the law.

"In this instance we were called to assist TPD who were in the presence of the first young man," says Border Patrol Agent Richard DeWitt.

TPD says it's looking at changing its policy where it would still contact Border Patrol but would not ask the federal agency to respond to a school.

"I really need to emphasize we didn't not go out there looking to enforce illegal immigration issues. We were there because criminal activity on the part of the juvenile we took proper action, followed our policies," says TPD Assistant Chief Roberto Villasenor.

Tom "Bust em all now!" Tancredo strikes again...

Tancredo being... well, Tancredo

Well, let us not in the days of wonder forget ol' Tom "Turncoat" Tancredo, he of the virulent anti-immigrant stance. Polling no doubt in the low negatives for the GOP, he unleashed the following move:
Candidate Calls for Raid on Immigration Bill Event

By JULIA PRESTON NYTImes
Published: October 24, 2007

Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a Republican presidential candidate whose fierce opposition to illegal immigration is the center of his campaign, contacted the immigration service yesterday demanding that agents raid a senator’s news conference.

The afternoon event on Capitol Hill was held by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the leading sponsor of a bill that would give legal status to illegal immigrants who are high school graduates, if they attend college or serve in the United States military for two years. The bill is scheduled to come up for an important procedural vote in the Senate this morning.

Mr. Tancredo announced yesterday morning that he had contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency, calling for the arrest of illegal immigrants he said would attend the news conference.

“If we can’t enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?” Mr. Tancredo said in a statement.

Participating in the news conference were three immigrant students who would benefit if Mr. Durbin’s legislation passed; two were born in Germany, and one was from Costa Rica. All were in the United States on temporary legal status, said Joe Shoemaker, Mr. Durbin’s spokesman.

Mr. Shoemaker said the senator was surprised and offended by Mr. Tancredo’s effort.

“Congressman, have you no shame?” Mr. Durbin said in a statement, indirectly comparing Mr. Tancredo to Senator Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist hearings in the 1950s.

A spokeswoman for the immigration agency, Kelly Nantel, confirmed that officials had received a letter from Mr. Tancredo and were reviewing it. She said the agency took no action yesterday.
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Now Goddess only knows what he would say if it WASN'T an election cycle. Of course, when isn't it an election cycle. This pedacito de mierda del GOP truly stuns in his capacity for vileness. He manages to simplify immigration and citizenship to a tiny core of xenophobic hate. The son of an orphaned Italian immigrant, Tancredo has been oddly dismissive of his background in terms of his immigration stance:

"Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, one of the fiercest critics of efforts to legalize immigrants, said his orphaned father was about 11 when he arrived at Ellis Island from Italy around the turn of the 20th century and made his way to the Rocky Mountains.

Mr. Tancredo pondered a bit when asked whether his immigrant background had played a role in shaping his views. Then he thought back to his mother's parents, also from Italy.

"I certainly think back on the fact that their greatest desire was to be Americanized," Mr. Tancredo said. "This desire to cut with the old and attach to the new, speak English, stuff like that. If there was anything, maybe that was an influence."

STUFF LIKE THAT?

Ay, que pendejismo....