Exclusion of India from East Asia deliberations.

The North Korean nuclear problem is essentially an east Asian problem. But why Russia is part of the six party talks while India is not part of the nations which are discussing and solving the problem. The nuclear armed North korea is a rogue nation according to western pandits because it
1. counter feits dollars
2. Sells missiles and missile technology to nations like Pakistan, Myanmar and african nations.
3. Kidnapped japanese and south koreans for intelligence operations(during cold war)
4. essentially a dictatorship ruled by a meghanolophic person who is unpredictable.
5. Its people do not have anything to eat and suffers from famine and lack human rights.

Its actions does not essentially affect indias security unless it sells missile technology to pakistan. But is this contention true? If american pundits are to be believed North korea is a vassal state of china and then why should it sell missiles to Pakistan which is closely aligned with China itself. Why cannot Pakistan buy them from china itself? If North is selling Missiles denied by china ;then North korea is not a vassal state of china. North Korea sells weapons and missiles for its own survival and China in my opinion DISAPPROVES OF THEM. ACTUALLY an independent thinking North which is likely to merge with south will form a credible detterent power and China is vary of it. It is china which was more interested in defanging North more than Japan itself. The conventional army of North Korea is a solid force and well trained. i think it is in Indias interest to maintain a close relationship with the North. American tend to do things for the short range interest and fail to look at unified Korea in the long run. We should have supported North,s quest for independent nuclear detterence and everyone would have noticed.The following report by Armitage just gives LIP SUPPORT TO EMERGING INDIA while actually respecting EMERGING CHINA.


ARMITAGE/NYE REPORT a view from Beijing.

The US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recently released a new report entitled, "The US-Japan Alliance: Getting Asia Right through 2020". The primary authors of the report are Richard L. Armitage and Joseph S. Nye. Like the "The United States and Japan: Advancing Toward a Mature Partnership", a report issued by Ambassador Armitage and Dr. Nye in 2000, this report continues to emphasize the importance of the US-Japan alliance and the role of Japan in the US' Asia strategy. Unlike the first report, however, which was directed specifically at correcting the Clinton's Administration's tendency to neglect Japan and strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries, the new report also addresses ways in which the alliance could have a positive influence on the future of Asia.
Half of the new report is centered on Asia until 2020. It predicts what the major Asian powers
(China, India, Korea and Russia) will look like in 2020, and touches on changes in the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia, as well as the regional integration progress. The authors say that US foreign policy in recent years has been characterized by an increasing willingness to welcome emerging powers, particularly China and India, into world leadership roles. Rarely do Armitage and Nye bring India into the strategic balance in East Asia. They suggest the United States and Japan improve their strategic relationship with India, thus promoting India's strategic status in the US' Asia policy.
The new report focuses on "the evolving structure of East Asian international relations" and dealing with the rise of China. Like the authors of the "US Quadrennial Defense Review Report" and the "National Security Strategy Report" released in 2006, Armitage and Nye are "uncertain" about the direction of China's development, suggesting that China will either become a "responsible stakeholder" or a threat to its neighboring countries. Nevertheless, the report recognizes the strategic importance of China and finds that the United States and Japan are the countries most affected by the direction of China's development. "Stability in East Asia will rest on a triangle of US-Japan-China relations," the report's authors argued. Although the United States is closely allied with Japan, Washington should "encourage good relations among all three."
With regard to dealing with the rise of China, the report finds that "a bipolar structure with only the United States and Japan facing China would be ineffective", and repeatedly calls on the US to strengthen its ties with Japan to cope with China. In recent years, the two countries have cooperated on many issues involving China, such as asking the Chinese government to improve the transparency of its military operations and opposing the lifting of a European arms embargo. Such practices will only increase mistrust between China and, Japan and the US and is not conducive to the promotion of "friendly and cooperative relations."
Armitage continues to regard the strengthening of the US-Japan alliance as essential to "shaping the future of Asia." It calls for a focus on Asia and expresses concern about China's expanding influence in the region, which may "gradually weaken" the influence of the United States. The authors encourage Japan to play a greater political and security role in Asia and recommend that the US allows Japan to become the "Britain of the Far East." They place the burden of hope on Japan, urging it to loosen "self-restraint" in military and security, become more flexible when it comes to sending troops overseas, and increase investment in arms. They also support Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
The report's emphasis on the US-Japan relationship reflects the US' "pro-Japan and anti-China" policy. The authors regard Japan as a country of "global impact" and are worried that the US has not paid enough attention to Japan. They do not want Sino-US relations to be stronger than US-Japan relations. In spite of some positive suggestions, the report is still largely ideological and continues to promote the US' position in East Asia, based on the US-Japan alliance.
By People's Daily Online; The author, Sun Ru, is associate research fellow with the Institute of American Studies under the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations

Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia(devided attention)/an Insight

Two friends who have recovered from Schizophrenia have given their input about auditory hallucinations and as Stefan is from sweden, his english may be little odd but i hope some scientists will make use of this.


, loreall p wrote:
Stefan- Ok, I highlighted all the stuff I don't fully unerstand ingreen. I hightlighted the stuff I really umderstand, and stood outto me also in blue. I highlighted the stuff in red cause I'm REALLYinterested in what you've found. The stuff in purple, I can also do,but I have found it is because my full attention is on somethingelse, like you say. What is corollary disgarge? I really think that your on to something, with the perception thearipy. I have my owntheory, I feel that, ALL human beings have heard their very own thoughts in a crowded room with many other human voices, ya know thatfamilair saying, " I can't hear myself think in here!",well I feelthat they are doing JUST THIS. When I think about it I do rememberhearing my own thoughts amongst the other voices of a crowded roombefore I ever heard any voices, their own thoughts are so loud tothem that they just don't notice that they heard them out loud! Thisis something that can be proved. Nobody, no docter, no researcher is ever going to look into this, breaking thewhole thing down as you have, no-one. I'm pleading that youmeditate, go running or something, that you can look into thisfurther... You are on to something! And you'r conclution isprovokingly interesting to me. If I understand correctly, you arereally pointing out in a thourough way that we must multitask inorder to percieve of a voice. You are so on to something that couldhelp alot of people, and I can't wait to hear from you. A smartdocter WILL listen, so if a couple shake their heads at you, move onwithout getting down. -Loreal-----
Original Message ----From: stefan andersson To: Divided attention "theory" about auditoryhallucinations...I´m considering to write to a scientist about a "theory" of mine, butI´m not used to express myself in english and I wonder if it´spossible to understand this. (I think that some of my observations is what happens when thebrain can't simultaneously give full attention to both verbalthinking and an external or internal sound which substitute the vokalof the inner voice.) "I would like to share some of my experience of auditory hallucinations and wonder if you could comment on this. I come from Sweden and was diagnosed whith paronoid schizophrenia seven yearsago. I have been hearing voices most of the time and when it was most severe I heard all my thoughts. That is I heard voices that where experienced as alien as well as my own voice (thoughts spoken outloud). The latter phenomenon has enabeld a better understanding of what is going on. For instance I could listen to a smooth sound of low volume(comming from the suroundings or recorded to ensure that there were no changes in volume) and notice that my focus on the sound was enhanced when my inner voice articulated a single vokal sound. The same thing did not happen when I listened to the sound and used my inner voice to articulate a letter producing a single stopp sound or consonante. Still strangely this sounds are incorporated in the perceived voice when combiend with vocal sounds. The consequence of that my attention was guided by all the vokal sounds of speech was that the sound no longer was perceived as smooth. Instead it was perceived with the same chages of volume that a distante voice of the real world would produce and what more if I imagined a female voice as my own I attended a diffrent sound that could match such a voice. What happens is that the vocals of my inner voice is substituted by an external sound which like when the voice is alien produces a concret sensoric sound image. The simplest explanation is that the vokal of my innervoice i used to guide attention in the same way that a memory of a tone enabels perception of the same tone at a lower volume than otherwise would be the case. When listening I also noticed a diffrence in attention between thoughts that were alien and other thoughts that were perceived as my own. It came clear to me that I gave more attention to a sound that was transformed into an alien voice than to a sound that made it possible to hear what was perceived as my own thoughts and if it´s true it doesn´t differ from what you would expect. I mean off course you pay more attention to what you hear if you think you recieve importante imformation than when you know what´s comming. Actually acouple of times I could change my own voice into an alien one by attending more to a sound, but only if it was not smooth. Manyobservations, also with recorded sounds, confirmed that the volume of the sound had to change like the vokal of a real voice if it wereto be percieved as alien. As described my own voice was synkronised with the sound that was interpreted by attention modification and when it comes to the alien voice the vocals is also synkronised by being triggerd when the volume of the sound makes at short change to a higher volume. To be more precise you have to include other speech sounds and the changes in volume actually triggers syllable by syllable into words and sentences. To make the syncronisation of the vocal of an alien voice with a changing sound possible I concluded that a combination of attention modification and tiggering is needed. My own thoughts that were spoken out loud were only disturbed when they were perceived as alien. In the beginning almost all of these sentences were abrupted and later my brain seemed to adust to this by thinking in shorter sentenses or sometimes even single words. The explanation why some senteses were abrupted came to me by paying even more attention to the sound that was interpreted and percieved as an alien voice. The result was that Icould intentionally end a sentense that without my control otherwise probably would have continued with some more words. If you do this on purpus you end up hearing the sound behinde the voice which is not the case when attention is hightend automatically. This none intended increase in attention that suposingly lays behind the ending of the sentence often follows by an imediate shift of attention to another more perifer sound that give rise to a new voice and so on.(very hard to cope when it´s like that) When the thoughts take the form of a new voice it often makes ajump and changes direction and maybe some clues to wy certain disturbances in verbal thinking sometimes occure in the "schizophrenic brain" could be understod by shifts in or hightend attention. My conclution is that divided attention explains why it is only possibly to interpret periferal sounds. This conclution could also give a possible answer to wy my thoughts become alien if the awareness of the imagined formation of the words included in normal verbal thinking competes with the sound because of the limited attentional span that is so obvious in divided attention tasks. My experience also confirms that some awareness of the imagined formation of the words is nessesary to control a thought and to perceive it as a result of ones own actions. I actualy think this is a more thorough explanation than corollary discharge.( I mean do they know for surewy corollary disgarge doesn´t work) At least it´s easier to understand "a divided attention theory". So far I have been talking about my understanding of interpretations of external sounds, but I wouldn´t be suprised if voices without an external link could be understod by applaying the same ideas like divided attention etc. To me auditory hallucinations come very close to auditory illusions common in speach perception. They arise when it is hard to hear the spoken words and fragments of none verbal sounds is nessesary to enabel the perceptual restoration to occure. (I wonder if a better understanding of speach perception, maybe another version of the motor theory of speach perception, might cast some light over auditory hallucinations. ) Many of my friends chare the experience that what is considerd to be auditory hallucinations sometimes include interpretations of external sounds. (The phenomenon EVP futher confirms the abillity ofthe human brain to interpret "white noise" when it expect to hear certain words) The state I was in earlier lasted a couple of years and made it possible to make very detaild observations. This it not possible anymore but I still blieve that my observations are valid. I now understand that it could be difficulte to verify some of my observaytions, but still I hope that somebody would give it a try.
"Stava rätt! Stava lätt! Yahoo! Mails stavkontroll tar hand omtryckfelen och mycket mer!

25th March Bangladesh day/Kissinger and indias role

1971 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) War

Last President of a United Pakistan Yahya Khan with President Richard Nixon of USA
The advice that Kissinger gave President Nixon, and Nixon's support for the Pakistani administration of Yahya Khan during the 1971 Bangladesh War, did nothing to discourage the Pakistani Army and local allies from committing atrocities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Kissinger and Nixon were well briefed on the atrocities as U.S. diplomats in the South Asia were reporting regularly to the State Department about them in unequivocal language.
On December 16, 2002, the George Washington University’s National Security Archives published a collection of American declassified documents, mostly consisting of communications between US officials working in embassies and USIS centers in Dhaka and in India, and officials in Washington DCGandhi, Sajit (ed.), The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79. These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms ‘selective genocide’Blood, Archer, Transcript of Selective Genocide Telex, Department of State, United States and ‘genocide’ (Blood telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. They also show that President Nixon, advised by Henry Kissinger, decided to downplay this secret internal advise, because he wanted to protect the interests of Pakistan as he was apprehensive of India's friendship with the USSR, and he was seeking a closer relationship with China who supported PakistanMemorandam for the Record(PDF) August 11 1971.
In June 2005 the U.S. state department declassified documents concerning the visit of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the White House. Included in the documents was a transcript of a conversation between Kissinger and President Nixon on the morning of November 5, 1971: Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969-1972 150. Conversation Among President Nixon, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), and the President’s Chief of Staff (Haldeman), Washington November 5, 1971, 8:15-9:00 a.m.
Nixon: "We really slobbered over that old witch"
Kissinger: "They are the most goddamn aggressive people around."
Nixon: "The Indians?"
Kissinger: "Yeah."
Nixon: "Sure."
Kissinger: "The Indians are bastards anyway. They are starting a war there. While she was a bitch, we got what we wanted too. She will not be able to go home and say that the United States didn't give her a warm reception and therefore in despair she's got to go to war."
Kissinger has since expressed his regret over the comments saying, "I regret that these words were used. I have extremely high regard for Mrs. Gandhi as a statesman. This was somebody letting off steam at the end of a meeting in which both President Nixon and I were emphasizing that we had gone out of our way to treat Mrs. Gandhi very cordially." On Indo-American relations Kissinger has also added that "I'm known as a strong advocate and one of the originators of close relations with China. I believe that today I am also a strong advocate of close relations with India." The newly released documents also show that Kissinger pushed for a Chinese military build up along the Indian border as the Americans feared an Indian invasion into West Pakistan. The American request for Chinese involvement in the war was, however, declined. Debasish Roy Chowdhury 'Indians are bastards anyway' in the Asia Times June 23, 2005Kissinger regrets India comments BBC 1 July, 2005

When President Kennedy in 1960 abolished involuntary admissions and mental health asylums, he hoped that Mentallyill persons and their rights will be protected and they will be able to come out of their illness in their own way with help of families and society.
The result is today mentallyill are languishing in prisons and with their rights severly curtailed due to the very reason of their sickness and not understanding what they DO.
If the richest country is treating the mentallyill in this way and what hope they have got in other less poor nations.
I want mentallyill and their carers to reflect on these issues seriously. The issue of mentalillness and disability is now controlled by LAWYERS who have no knowledge about the sickness and the pain which the families have to undergo

The following links are for carers and sufferes to see and think about solutions.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/01/10/usdom15040.htm

Shaheed Bhagath singh's letter to his father

Shaheed Bhagath singh was in the death row in lahore jail. His father out of love for his son, put up a mercy petition to the viceroy. This letter shows his love for his father but also deals with the difference in principles between them as he is an Atheist and a communist. But our youth in India should read this letter for the principles and patriotism involved.

Letter to Father reg. Petition to Special Tribunal

[When the case was in its final stage, Sardar Kishan Singh (Bhagat Singh's father), moved by fatherly love and affection, made a written request to the Viceroy and the Tribunal, saying that there were many facts to prove that his son was innocent and that he had nothing to do with Sounder's murder. He also requested that his son be given an opportunity to prove his innocence. When Bhagat Singh came to know of it he was very upset, and wrote this strong letter to his father, protesting against his move as an act of weakness and cowardice on the part of his father. The letter shows that Bhagat Singh was determined to face gallows with exemplary courage and pride.]

Oct. 4, 1930

My Dear Father,

I was astounded to learn that you had submitted a petition to the members of the Special Tribunal in connection with my defence. This intelligence proved to be too severe a blow to be borne with equanimity. It has upset the whole equilibrium of my mind. I have not been able to understand how you could think it proper to submit such a petition at this stage and in these circumstances. Inspite of all the sentiments and feelings of a father, I don't think you were at all entitled to make such a move on my behalf without even consulting me. You know that in the political field my views have always differed with those of yours. I have always been acting independently without having cared for your approval or disapproval.

I hope you can recall to yourself that since the very beginning you have been trying to convince me to fight my case very seriously and to defend myself properly. But you also know that I was always opposed to it. I never had any desire to defend myself and never did I seriously think about it. Whether it was a mere vague ideology or that I had certain arguments to justify my position, is a different question and that cannot be discussed here.

You know that we have been pursuing a definite policy in this trial. Every action of mine ought to have been consistent with that policy, my principle and my programme. At present the circumstances are altogether different, but had the situation been otherwise, even then I would have been the last man to offer defence. I had only one idea before me throughout the trial, i.e. to show complete indifference towards the trial inspite of serious nature of the charges against us. I have always been of opinion that all the political workers should be indifferent and should never bother about the legal fight in the law courts and should boldly bear the heaviest possible sentences inflicted upon them. They may defend themselves but always from purely political considerations and never from a personal point of view. Our policy in this trial has always been consistent with this principle; whether we were successful in that or not is not for me to judge. We have always been doing our duty quite disinterstedly.

In the statement accompanying the text of Lahore Conspiracy Case Ordinance the Viceroy had stated that the accused in this case were trying to bring both law and justice into contempt. The situation afforded us an opportunity to show to the public whether we ere trying to bring law into contempt or whether others were doing so. People might disagree with us on this point. You might be one of them. But that never meant that such moves should be made on my behalf without my consent or even my knowledge. My life is not so precious, at least to me, as you may probably think it to be. It is not at all worth buying at the cost of my principles. There are other comrades of mine whose case is as serious as that of mine. We had adoped a common policy and we shall stand to the last, no matter how dearly we have to pay individually for it.

Father, I am quite perplexed. I fear I might overlook the ordinary principle of etiquette and my language may become a little but harsh while criticising or rather censoring this move on your part. Let me be candid. I feel as though I have been stabbed at the back. Had any other person done it, I would have considered it to be nothing short o treachery. But in your case, let me say that it has been a weakness - a weakness of the worst type.

This was the time where everybody's mettle was being tested. Let me say, father, you have failed. I know you are as sincere a patriot as one can be. I know you are as sincere a patriot as one can be. I know you have devoted your life to the cause of Indian independence, but why, at this moment, have you displayed such a weakness? I cannot understand.

In the end, I would like to inform you and my other friends and all the people interested in my case, that I have not approved of your move. I am still not at all in favour of offering any defence. Even if the court had accepted that petition submitted by some of my co-accused regarding defence, etc., I would have not defended myself. My applications submitted to the Tribunal regarding my interview during the hunger strike, were misinterpreted and it was published in the press that I was going to offer defence, though in reality I was never willing to offer any defence. I still hold the same opinion as before. My friends in the Borstal Jail will be taking it as a treachery and betrayal on my part. I shall not even get an opportunity to clear my position before them.

I want that public should know all the details about this complication, and, therefore, I request you to publish this letter.

Your loving sonBhagat Singh

Brain health is health of the body

As one grows old , one thinks of the health of the brian and how one can avoid the dreaded alkhazemier and how one can keep one's faculty functioning.
Some useful tips have come which can help in brain health and corresponsingly general health also.
1.Get plenty of sleep. This is the most important step as brain regenerates itself during this period. It is also the first sign of mentalillness when the person is sufferring from sleeplessness.
2. Brain healthy diet. This must contain Fish, sea food, folic acid and all those food which contain Omega 3 fatty acids, anti/oxidants etc. Leafy vegetables,fruits and food rich in carbohydrates also must form part of your diet.
3. Stay mentally active. A game of bridge a day keeps the alkazhmier away is a saying worth following. But you can have your brain ticking by playing chess, crossword puzzles, suduko etc.
4.Physical exercise is a must. Anything which strengthens your heart helps your brain also
5. Stay social by using carer groups, ORKUT, email, and all those social functions like marriages,parties etc.
6.Learn to manage stress from the beginning in your school,college, workplace,marriage etc.One has to understand that stress is part of life and also part of progress. But one must know how to manage it. confiding in peer groups is also a stress buster.
7. Brain is protected by skull and one must protect it from injury by using helmets, driving carefully and all one can do using ones commonsence.
8.Avoid the standard drill of smoking, alcohol,drugs.
9. One cannot fight ones heridity and ones genes. But one must not fear it. Both my parents sufferred from diabeties and my mother never allowed three of us going near sweets. But i think it is my fathers relaxed attitude to discease which helped all of us in the long run. Uric acid and gout has got up with me but it can be faught by diet alone. Brain disceases also follows this same pattern.
10. controll all addictions. i am unable to control this addiction to internet surfing for the last 2 years. But i think i can manage if i realy want to .

Ms.Asiya andrabi's interview In Kashmir Observer on 19th march

In a recent interview in the Kashmir Observer dt 19th march, the leader of Dhuktharan -e-Millet Ms.Asiaya andrabi expressed an opinion that her son should kill George Bush and this will give her an opportunity to meet her son in Heaven.
She is a very patriotic kashmiri.
She has been fighting human rights violations in the Srinagar valley by Indian army, though sometimes her methods were not within the constitutional limits.
I want to ask her some simple questions.
1) How she is so sure that she will reach Heaven along with her son. Is not path to heaven in the hands of Allah the almighty?
2) How come killing George Bush by her son is so important to her than even killing of Indian leaders ;when George bush has not killed even a single kashmiri by himself or through his troops?
3) Is killing of Iraqies more important to her than killling of Kashmiri Muslims?
4) She is happy with the Kashmiri leader Gillani but not Mirwaiz Farooq.Why?
5) she is blaming the condition of kashmiries under indian rule is not good. What she means by good condition? Is the condition of Saudi woman who cannot drive a vehicle or vote is better than Kashmiri woman according to her?
6) KSM who owed alligiance to alqueada and claimed by his own admission as its media director , slit the the throat of daniel pearl just because he happens to be Jewish spy to satisfy the needs of Kashmiri Mujahadeen. Does she approve of it?
The problem with leaders like Asiya is that they fight for independent kashmir because the pakistani ISI told them to do it.But they will not look at the conditions of people in socalled Azad kashmir? They cannot make a TRUTHFUL ASSESSMENT. Pakistan's Zia ul haq started the war in Kashmir through its ISI to bleed India covertly and he has succeeded in this. But at what cost? Once Kashmir,s independence is obtained from India and Pakistan, then Asiyas will wail for woman of iraq,afghanistan,southern thailand,southern philipines,chechenya and all those places where some Muslims live in MINORITY.
The REAL PROBLEM IS THE MUSLIMS INABLITY TO LIVE AS A PEACEFUL MINORITY, OBEYING THE LAW OF INDIA,THAILAND,PHILIPINES ETC. She will say Sharia is supreme but why should sharia be supreme only with regard to 4 wives, triple talaq but not when it concerns the theft, interest income ,woman's mauintenance etc. Selective reasoning ,occupying government lands for prayers illegally and then demand rights for that land are some of the other issues which makes muslims to feel always VITIMISED AND LIVE IN GHETTO SYNDROME.
Patriotic Indian muslims must show the way.

The foliowing report by the author John solomon shows the penetration of TERRORISTS in southern africa. it also shows the scant attention it gets from indian authorities though most of the alqueada are trained in pakistan and funded from southern africa.

The Danger of Terrorist Black Holes in Southern Africa
By John Solomon

Al-Qaeda Operative Fazul MohammedOn March 13, a South African intelligence official warned that a number of international terrorists may be spending time in South Africa, using the country as a safehaven (South Africa Press Association, March 13). Furthermore, in October 2004, the CIA reportedly identified 29 al-Qaeda leaders serving in management and support positions operating from Pakistan and Iraq to South Africa (South Africa Press Association, October 4, 2004). Recent evidence suggests that prominent al-Qaeda financiers, facilitators and recruiters continue to operate in the generally underreported region of southern Africa. A brief historical survey of these events seems to reveal a discernible pattern that prominent global jihadis—sometimes serving as conduits between UK- and Pakistan-based networks—have used southern Africa as a possible medium through which to not only stage operations, but also secure refuge, money and recruits; all critical factors for executing attacks in support of the movement.The new terrorism, epitomized by al-Qaeda and the broader jihadi movement, enjoys a dispersed, decentralized and arguably leaderless structure, instructed and driven more by ideology, doctrine and bottom-up social networks than by any one central figure. Since headless, flat organizations and movements are difficult to destroy in the most open, accessible environments, the task becomes even greater in regions riddled with "black holes" where porous borders, swathes of ungoverned space, lawlessness and easy access to arms and illicit trade converge to create comparative advantages for terrorists seeking refuge and support mechanisms for operations and attacks [1]. These opaque corridors, coupled with information technology, afford ample space for jihadi "hubs" to move, nest and grow their networked infrastructure while retaining a quiet, threatening posture worldwide.Southern Africa exemplifies one such corridor in which al-Qaeda might utilize comparatively advantageous conditions in order to remain viably intact and active. Al-Qaeda franchises are well-placed across west, north and east Africa, with growing signs that southern Africa may have been or is a key support base. Much of southern Africa contains "terrorist black holes" where lawlessness provides terrorists with the means to develop support structures—safehouses, training opportunities, mobility and funding channels—to advance their objectives. The fact that southern Africa has played host to a number of recent incidents involving prominent al-Qaeda facilitators further indicates its use and value, and warrants a closer look at this generally underreported region. With lawlessness, government corruption and a wide-range of preferred terrorist financing methods available—minerals, gemstones, pirated products and narcotics—al-Qaeda could indeed partake in illicit and unregulated trade in southern Africa to sustain itself.MadagascarWhen Jamal Khalifa was found dead in his gemstone mine in southeastern Madagascar in late January, it was unclear which was more puzzling: the murky circumstances surrounding his death, which his brother Malek emphasized to the press, or the more alarming assertion that he was involved in the African gemstone trade (Asharq al-Awsat, February 1). Jamal Khalifa was a widely-suspected al-Qaeda financier linked to a dizzying array of terrorist operatives, plots and front organizations across the globe. Through fronts established in the Philippines, Khalifa reportedly funded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and his nephew Ramzi Youssef to execute Operation Bojinka, a plot to simultaneously destroy 12 transpacific airliners bound for the United States from Asian cities. He is notably also credited with the creation of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines (Manila Times, February 1). Since 9/11, Saudi Arabia reportedly restricted Khalifa, who is also Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, to the kingdom and the seafood restaurant that he co-owned with his brother Malek in Jeddah. The fact that an al-Qaeda suspect of this profile maintained mining interests in Madagascar and elsewhere raises questions regarding al-Qaeda's ability to capitalize on ungoverned spaces in southern Africa and beyond for its financing activities.Coincidently, less than a week after Khalifa's death, Midi Madagaskira, an Antananarivo-based daily, reported that Fazul Mohammed, a Comoros-born al-Qaeda leader, had not only survived a U.S. air strike that targeted him in Somalia, but also had been seen in Majunga, a seaside town in northwest Madagascar [2]. Mohammed allegedly directed the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. If it is true that he found safe passage from Somalia to Madagascar or the Comoros, it strongly suggests that there was an existing support infrastructure there to facilitate his movements. Another possible scenario is that he was directing fighters in Somalia while based in Madagascar or another African country.Analysts and media reports often also associate Fazul Mohammed with diamond trading in western Africa in the late 1990s. He allegedly organized and took part in a smuggling scheme in Sierra Leone and Liberia through a Senegalese trader named Ibrahim Bah who was also a close associate of the president, Charles Taylor. Coincidently, it may also be remembered that around the same time these alleged al-Qaeda diamond schemes took place, Yassin al-Qadi, another U.S.-designated terrorist financier, invested US$3 million for a 12% interest in Global Diamond Resources, a California-registered company that mined diamonds in South Africa, and another multinational gemstone operation through New Diamond Corp. Ltd., an offshore company that he controlled. While the two individuals and their involvement in the gemstone trade may not be linked, the use of diamonds for terrorist financing activities is well-known and would most likely take place in southern Africa or other parts of the continent where precious stones are mined and traded.South AfricaMadagascar is not the only example of a southern African country playing host to prominent jihadi operatives. While South Africa witnessed a spate of terrorist attacks and extremist activities in the Cape Town area by the Salafi-inspired PAGAD and Iranian-sponsored Qibla organizations in the late 1990s, there is perhaps a more worrying trend that prominent al-Qaeda operatives, with a much more global agenda, are using the state as a base of support operations. In January, the United States and the United Nations moved to freeze the assets of South African-based cousins Junaid and Farhad Dockrat for providing material and financial support to al-Qaeda [3]. The cousins illustrate how jihadi hubs—individuals with extensive social networks within the movement—can become tentacles of support that facilitate the movement of human resources and capital to perpetuate the organization.Junaid Dockrat is a dentist in Johannesburg. Professionals—doctors, lawyers, engineers—tend to be involved in terrorist financing activities more so than their non-professional counterparts and often earn enough through legitimate means to fund terrorism, making it difficult to prevent by conventional anti-money laundering measures. Junaid Dockrat allegedly transferred $120,000 to Hamza Rabia, the now deceased al-Qaeda foreign operations chief, in March and April 2004 to facilitate the movement of South Africans to terrorist camps in Pakistan. The U.S. government also listed Dockrat as a majority co-owner of Sniper Africa, a purported hunting goods store that has been designated as a global terrorist entity [4]. Junaid could have acquired these funds through his legitimate employment as a medical professional and business owner. This illustrates a key challenge and distinction for why combating terrorist financing is difficult and different from traditional anti-money laundering measures. Terrorist financing is reverse money laundering. Terrorists dirty clean money, whereas money launderers and other criminals clean dirty money. Junaid's association with his more visible cousin, Farhad, likely caused Western intelligence services to identify him.Farhad Dockrat is a Pretoria-based cleric also involved in terrorist financing and other support activities. The United States claims that he financed terrorism through a $62,900 gift he gave to the Taliban ambassador in Pakistan to be forwarded to al-Akhtar Trust, an al-Qaeda charity front. In addition, Farhad seems to be active in Salafi proselytizing networks. He heads the "lavish" Darus Salaam Mosque in Laudium, a nearby suburb, which is reportedly frequented by the Pakistani and Malavian communities (Daily Times, January 30). His son, Muaz, lectures in the adjoining Islamic college. In 2005, Farhad, Muaz and a student were detained for a number of weeks in Gambia where they were suspected of al-Qaeda membership. Dockrat claimed that he was unjustly held and insisted that he was on a religious mission across the region to exchange "Islamic educational techniques" [5]. Perhaps indicative of the effectiveness of these techniques, Farhad's former student, Zoubier Ismail, was detained with other South Africans during a raid on an al-Qaeda safehouse in Pakistan in late 2004. One pattern that emerges is an apparent South African link to jihadi operatives, often of Pakistani descent, in the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Haroon Aswat, another prominent jihadi who was active in Pakistan, though born in Gujarat, India, was detained in Zambia traveling from Zimbabwe in late July 2005 after his phone number was found on all four of London's July 7, 2005 suicide bombers. He reportedly exchanged a flurry of phone calls with each of them while he was in South Africa in the days before the attack (The Times [London], July 31, 2005). Although not conclusive, the phone calls suggest an operational relationship between Aswat in South Africa and the suicide cell in London led by Mohammed Saddiq Khan, who undertook terrorist training in Pakistan with a group of other Britons.Aswat has an extensive history of links and associations with al-Qaeda and the greater jihadi movement in and out of the United Kingdom and Pakistan and, later, the southern African region. In London in the 1990s, he was an assistant to Abu Hamza at the Finsbury Park Mosque. In 2002, the U.S. government prosecuted him for attempting to establish a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon. Apart from his possible involvement in 7/7, the United States recently linked Aswat to Mohammed al-Ghabra, a designated terrorist financier, facilitator and recruiter based in east London. In 2004, Aswat allegedly met al-Ghabra in Pakistan where al-Ghabra was engaged in extensive terrorist training. The United States also accuses al-Ghabra of recruiting and sending Britons to train and fight in Pakistan and Iraq. Aswat, al-Ghabra and al-Qaeda networks in Pakistan seem to have constituted a triangular link among training activities in Pakistan, financing activities in South Africa and operations and attacks in the United Kingdom.The case of Abd al-Muhsin al-Libi further illustrates this trend of prominent al-Qaeda operatives using South Africa as a base for terrorist support infrastructures. Al-Libi, also known as Ibrahim Tantouche, emerged in South Africa in February 2004 when he was detained for holding a fake South African passport. Later that year, British security agencies found boxes of South African passports at the home of a suspected al-Qaeda member in Britain. The passports were legitimate passports, not fakes, indicating that they were obtained illegally through a South African government official (The Star [South Africa], July 28, 2004). There seems to be a good possibility that al-Libi acquired the fake passport through al-Qaeda support structures in South Africa.Al-Libi previously directed the al-Qaeda terrorist financing fronts, the Afghan Support Committee and Revival of Islamic Society. Both operated under charity covers and diverted money to al-Qaeda that was raised for orphans who in reality were either dead or non-existent. Although his current whereabouts are not publicly known, as of November 2005 he was in South Africa, free and awaiting the outcome of a political asylum application.ConclusionWhile these terrorist activities give indication that southern Africa could offer sanctuaries for prominent jihadis to support or plot future terrorist attacks, these same events may also suggest that the U.S.-led efforts are resulting in tactical victories. Key sectors of the network seem to be emerging. Khalifa's appearance in Madagascar is worrying because it signifies that important terrorist financing mechanisms such as diamond trading may be available to high-profile al-Qaeda associates. Yet, at the same time, travel bans, asset freezes and the detainment of prominent operatives also suggest in each of the cases cited that important victories are being won. Identifying and neutralizing terrorist support infrastructures are a critical part of any successful counter-terrorism strategy. The United States' announcement that the Pentagon will create an African Central Command in 2008, while explained at least in part by energy security and balancing China, may also indicate that the United States will continue to monitor and increasingly dismantle these jihadi support hubs and prevent them from proliferating further.

The Rise of SAUDI POWER

The rise of Saudi power in Midleast and corresponding decline of US power is evident in the recent events.
1.Malliki,s days as Iraq head seems to be numbered with Allawi coming to centre stage with support from sunnies and Kurds with Saudi backing
2.Musharraf's defiance of US by sacking the chief Justice of supreme court who is considered as close to US.
3.JMB in Bangladesh ordered to kill both the Begums in Dec 2006 but not carried out due to the emergency. But still both the begums are facing the music of interim administration.
4.Even in Thailand, the Muslim army chief is foraying into southern Thailand.
5. Abbas becoming another Arafat and occupying the space of Arafat who steadfastly refused to accept 90% of the Palestinian territories. Jerusalem becoming centre point of the demand.
6.Putins visit to Saudi Arabia and demanding Iran to accept IAEA demands.
7. The recent demand by Gillani to Pakistan government to get out of Kashmir.
8. the demand by PDP to chief minister of J&K to ask for withdrawal of AF SPECIAL POWERS ACT FROM THE STATE.

This increasing assertion by SAUDIES is not being orchestrated by USA as in the recent past and world powers especially India with the largest Muslim population in the world should take note of it.

MALE RAPE

The recent killing of 5 constables by a sikkim collegue has brought out into open the question of MALE RAPE hitherto kept under wraps.
The supreme court committee appointed to investigate ragging in colleges also should look into this question of MALE RAPE. Most of the times it is rape of males which goes in the guise of ragging in southern professional colleges.
When a woman is raped, normally she is looked upon sympathetically as a victim of superior strength. in the case of MALES, the males cannot go to the society for sympathy and succour as it will question their very masculinity. Many a new entrant in colleges commit suicides after this horryfying experience. Some rediscover their MANLINESS BY raping their male juniors next year. Asort of HOMOSEXUAL cycle is created. Recently a male child of 5 years was sodomised by two adult males and then killed the boy. Madurai high court awarded death sentence to this horryfying murder to the accused. on appeal the honourable supremecourt reduced the sentence to 10 years because it is a male child and the offence is MALE RAPE!!!!!
Ofcourse male RAPE is common in Prisons due to the sheer sexual neccessity of it. The bribe one has to pay the Prison staff as well as the LIFERS in Agra prison is well documented by tehelka expose to escape MALE RAPE!!!!
This perversion is a sign of queer sexual attitude of our society which forces young army, para military personnel to stay away from woman thus curbing natural instinct but will punish them if they visit brothels and contract AIDS.
Let INDIAN SOCIETY FACE THIS FACT OF SODOMY BY FORCE AND FIND SOLUTIONS