He is inside a safehouse somewhere. He sure is not inside some cave, cut off from civilization. He has all the basic amenities. He might even be in comfortable circumstances. He could be in an urban, perhaps a semi-urban setting.
He could be in a safehouse in the mountains. He could be in Afghanistan, he could be in Pakistan. Extremely few people know where he is. Perhaps his immediate bodyguards and his second in command Zwahiri know. Noone else even inside the Al Qaeda knows.
Only human intel will get him. I am reminded of how Peru's Gonzalo was caught. He was living in a safehouse in the capital city itself.
Human intel is his tool. Technology will not cut it.
It is curious Bin Laden emphasizes "ideas" whereas Bush seems to emphasize "bombs and bullets." Should it not be the other way round? Can the American nation sell the idea of democracy to the billion plus Muslim population? Such that they clamor for democracy and rise up in large numbers on their own? That is the only way.
"Osama Bin Laden is a guy who makes documentaries." -- Fidel Castro
In The News Crocker, Petraeus Say Iraqis Moving to Ease Sectarian Tensions Bloomberg Nepal's Biggest Party Reunites With Breakaway Group Before Vote Bloomberg Nepali Congress's plan for a republic is different to the ``people's republic'' proposed by the Maoists, said Shushil Koirala Mexico Leader Visits India's Tech Hub The Associated Press Bangalore on Tuesday to get a feel for the success of its outsourcing companies, and to encourage them to invest more in Mexico. .... Wipro Ltd., India's third-largest software company, said it would open a development center in Monterrey, Mexico, catering to clients in North America, Latin America and Europe with bilingual staff. ..... set a target to more than double trade to $5 billion by 2010. .... Two-way trade totaled only $1.8 billion in 2006 — less than 1 percent of each country's trade with the rest of the world. .... Calderon is the first Mexican president to visit India in 22 years. ..... also toured the facilities of Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Biocon Ltd., India's top biotechnology company. ..... Last month, Infosys Technologies set up a Latin American subsidiary and opened a software development center in Monterrey that can accommodate more than 250 engineers in a single shift. Wipro Opens Facility in Mexico PC World Wipro to hire 100 for Mexico software unit Reuters India Wipro Announces New Global Development Center in Mexico NDTV.com Nawaz Sharif's lawyers mount challenge against deportation The Sunday Times Bin Laden Wants 'Caravan' of Martyrs Forbes The Hunt for Osama Bin Laden, Year SixABC News To mark today's Sept. 11 anniversary, al-Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, released another video of Osama bin Laden. This time he is heard reading a message over images of the burning World Trade Center. ...... Also on the video is an on-camera message from Abu Mus'ab Walid al-Shehrine, one of the twin tower hijackers, taped before the attack. .... comes just days after another video of bin Laden, the first one since 2004, was released. .... Asked about the hunt for bin Laden, members of the Pakistani government, military and analysts respond with weariness and exasperation. ....... "It's like finding a needle in a haystack" ..... bin Laden may be in one of Pakistan's or Afghanistan's cities ....... "They have bombed so many villages that every village has become an enemy. Now the troops cannot move in a convoy safely. Invariably they are attacked. That shows that if you don't win the hearts and minds, how can you win cooperation in trying to locate your enemy." ......... "If someone has broken al Qaeda's back, it is Pakistan because we have captured or killed more than 700 al Qaeda elements." ...... Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto grimly cautioned. "Unless we face the threat within from militants and extremists, Pakistan could be threatened from implosion within" she told ABC News, an implosion that would wreak havoc on the war on terror. The Britney brand is busted MSNBC the girl was petrified. She’s not only lost sight of herself as a person, but her confidence on stage is gone, too. ..... the “Hollywood ‘Fo” — Paris, Nicole, Lindsay and Britney — ..... a less than stellar comeback performance. ..... looked really bad ... looked like “an old school hoochie” .... she couldn’t get her lips in sync with the audio track. .... She kind of looked like a harpooned circus elephant that kept trying to move and groove because the show must go on. ..... when she’s stepping out of limos with no panties — like she reportedly did again on Monday .... For the past two years her every move has been recorded by the paparazzi, the stalkarazzi and even respectable mainstream news outlets who are just lying in wait ready for Spears to screw up again so she can be today’s news. ....... With Lindsay in rehab, Paris lying low and Nicole recovering from her 82-minute stint in jail, the media scrutiny is even more intense for Spears. ...... her once brilliant career is in the toilet. .... now the brand is busted and Spears doesn’t have anyone around her who can tell her how to fix it. ...... The eye drops she popped in her eyes to control her allergies just before hitting the stage made her appear dazed and confused. ....... vetoed the magic act she had worked on all week with Criss Angel because it was “too complicated.” Also, Spears was reportedly unhappy that she was unable to do her vocals live as she had planned. ...... Spears, 25 ...... confidence is the one thing you can’t buy. The only way you can get it back is to reach inside yourself, yank it out, tweak it Sen Craig seeks to undo sex-related guilty plea Reuters Can Oprah really push Obama to new heights? Chicago Sun-Times Celebs, politics often don't mix, but this could be different ..... $3 million or so to his campaign coffers and a prime-time amount of attention. ..... Oprah has clout beyond any other media star. ..... Her syndicated show has been consistently the highest-rated talk program in U.S. television history. It attracts about 7 million viewers -- three-quarters of whom are women. ...... While many women's magazines struggle for circulation, Oprah's O flies off the shelves ..... George W. Bush's approval ratings went up when he sat on Oprah's couch in front of the cameras during the 2000 campaign. Web searches for Obama increased by 358 percent after his appearance on her show on Oct. 18, 2006, according to Time Magazine. ........ for Oprah to come out in such vocal support of Obama, stating that not only will she invite no other presidential candidates on her show, but she will also actively campaign for him. She is relying on her moral import, her record of undertaking good works and her enormous constituency of devotees. ...... A lot of people find that listening to Oprah has helped them make better choices in their lives ...... Fred Thompson .... His first official campaign speech lacked passion, conviction and any vision of what he would do if elected president. ..... Thompson is 65, six years younger than John McCain, but he looked much more aged ... his announcement was lackluster and anti-climactic. .... even before his announcement, his speeches were "a succession of conservative cliches interspersed with long pauses." ..... One long snore for Republicans looking for a candidate to ignite the race. Inside Oprah's Barack partyChicago Sun-Times About 150 wore gold armbands allowing them to drive directly onto Oprah's Montecito land and attend a post-event private dinner. .... no one -- even the super-special 150 -- were allowed inside Oprah's 23,000-square-foot mansion. All of the festivities were held outside in various partially tented parts of her 42-acre estate. ..... No cameras were allowed, but VIPs got their photographs snapped with Winfrey and the Obamas -- and the photos were already framed for the VIP dinner guests as they departed. ...... Seated at two long rectangular tables of 75 each, guests at the VIP dinner certainly were well-fed. Served family style, platter after platter of courses kept coming, including a seafood risotto, two pasta courses, meatballs, Swiss chard greens, chicken and beef dishes, grilled endive and finally a five-part dessert course! ....... Oprah invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision, saying she and Obama are ''miracle examples of the opportunities that should exist and now do exist for African-American leaders in our country.'' Obama himself started on a lighter note, joking that his wife Michelle told him not to talk too long, so as not to cut into Stevie Wonder's time. ........ Obama also got personal, speaking of health care, saying he would never forget watching his mother die of ovarian cancer, not ''focused on reviewing her life, but instead worrying about paying her hospital bills.'' Bihar’s rivers of sorrow The Statesman Teenagers blinded by mob in Bihar NDTV.com Mexico's President Calderon visits India's top technology companiesInternational Herald Tribune Mexico, India plans to double tradeThe Statesman Girl, 14, fled abuse, 'mind control' of polygamy CNN She describes her father's 19 wives as second-class citizens in the household .... She left behind 19 mothers, 74 siblings, and a father she says could never remember her name, even though he repeatedly molested her. ...... a culture she says was oppressive for young women. ..... the polygamous sect ... "Probably the worst part of the whole theology," she said, " is the treatment of women and teaching women that they are not equal to men." ...... followers of Jeffs -- the President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) -- freely practice polygamy ....... The FLDS broke more than a century ago from the mainline Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, over the practice of polygamy. ...... The Mormon church, which gave up plural marriage more than a century ago ...... "There was a tremendous amount of abuse in our home," Hammon said. "It happened on a daily basis and there was all kinds: sexual, physical, emotional, mental. My brothers were sexually abusive. Some of my mothers were physically abusive." ....... He began sexually abusing her before she turned 5, Hammon said. He even tried to molest her on his deathbed when she was 13 ...... he had to ask me my name every time he saw me. ...... 'What is your name and who is your mother?' ..... one who was 16 when she married a 62-year-old man ..... "Her posture was just excellent and she had a beautiful face and smile... and then I watched her deteriorate after she got married and I watched her go through so much emotional pain and that was what I felt was in store for me if I got married," she said. ....... Hammon described her father's wives as second-class citizens in the household who became shells of themselves the moment he came into the room. She called it mind control. Her mother had more than two dozen nervous breakdowns ....... Almost two decades later, the memories of her childhood haunt her. Hammon said she doesn't date much. ...... This system is a well-oiled machine, there's always going to be somebody to step up and take his place. Microsoft Office vs. Google Apps: Latest Skirmishes PC World especially for companies who have lots of employees who don't have their own PCs (such as workers on factory floors). .... ten questions Microsoft says that enterprises should ask themselves before switching to Google Apps Premier Edition .... Long term, though, there's every reason to think that Office's deskbound foundation is going to feel more and more archaic. ...... why Office doesn't have any straightforward way to save documents to the Internet so they're available anywhere. ..... Apps represents the future of office-productivity software. Some Web-hosted suite is going to cut dramatically into Office's market share over the next few years...though I'm entirely prepared to believe that it might be a Web-hosted suite from Microsoft that does the job. Bachchan sees new chances in English movie Reuters India Amitabh promotes The Last LearNDTV.com This is Amitabh's best performance after BlackIndiaFM But the eruption came when Amitabh arrived. .... I thought he could never top BLACK, but in this one, he's truly a revelation ..... This is clearly Amitabh's movie. His character is extremely crass, very intelligent, and extremely direct. He showers the praise of Shakespeare and the transition he makes from being a theatre actor to a Hindi film actor is well etched. This is not a Bollywood movie with singing and dancing. This is a serious film which is mostly in English. This is Amitabh's best performance to date. He should sweep all the award shows next year for best actor. ...... Siddharth first had to woo Harish from the comforts of his retirement, and the interaction between the two yields some of the film's most delightful scenes. The impatient young auteur attempts to win the trust and collaboration of the aged performer, who sits raging against the modern world from the sanctuary of his study. Sporting a silver mane, Bachchan is irresistible here - vain, forceful and impetuous. He trumpets the superiority of Shakespeare over anything cinema can create. And yet, the movies hold out a new challenge. ...... Once he agrees to act in the film, The Last Lear becomes a captivating reflection on the comparative artifices of stagecraft and cinema. As the outsider in the cast, Harish is hilarious in dismissing movie fakery. His theatre skills are grander. Standing on a hillside, he teaches Shabnam how to project her voice clear across a valley to the next hill. Why is Ramu being picked on for Aag: Amitabh Sify he [Varma] wants to do Time Machine with Abhishek and me .... On the personal front he is happy to have Aishwarya as his daughter-in-law, but says that nobody can take his daughter Shweta's place. ..... I got the Legion of Honour from the French government ..... the National award for Black and another doctorate from Leeds University ..... I don't look at the lows as bad things. They're a part of life. Yes, there has been political victimisation, court cases and so on. ..... We were all playing roles when the camera was switched on. Once it was off we were a family again. ..... As an actor, I've the liberty to try as many characterisations and apply my craft to as many characters as possible ..... Because of my age I'm able to do character roles. .... At 65, these are the kind of roles I'm getting. If people want to see me doing such unexpected roles, I'm fine. Otherwise I'm out of a job. ..... How can you forget your past? I don't. I love my past. Amitabh Bachchan enjoyed doing the role of Babban Apun Ka Choice Soccer: Argentina humbled New Zealand Herald Argentina slumped to a humiliating 11-0 loss to Germany in the opening match of the women's soccer World Cup, the worst defeat in the tournament's history. CBS challenges Janet Jackson breast fineTelegraph.co.uk February 2004, when 90 million Americans watched the singer Justin Timberlake pull off part of Jackson's bustier, briefly exposing one of her breasts. Apple May Join Google And Bid On Wireless Spectrum InformationWeek, NY 2007 is rapidly shaping up to be one of the most interesting years in the history of the wireless industry. ..... held Jan. 16. The winners will get rights to use the spectrum that analog TV broadcasters are handing back to the government in 2009, given their mandated move to digital television. ..... Dubbed "beachfront property" by the Federal Communications Commission ...... Signals at the 700-Mhz spectrum, for example, could provide far faster Internet access than today's cellular or even Wi-Fi networks, and the signals can easily pass through buildings and work glitch-free, even in lousy weather. ..... they believe in open networks or open access. ...... Apple and Google both stand to gain by forcing the carriers to open their networks. They also stand to gain by making the wireless industry more competitive and by lowering the cost of mobile broadband data service. The more people using 3G at affordable rates, the more money both Apple and Google stand to make. Apple ponders $9bn bid for wall-busting wireless iNetworkRegister The idea of Apple running its own broadband network certainly captures the imagination, but The Reg can't see it happening. ...... Apple has more than enough cash for a bid, but maintaining a nationwide wireless network doesn't exactly play to its strengths - hardware and software innovation - and this sort of a low-margin, hassle-heavy operation could put a strain on the rest of the company. ....... "open access" to the spectrum, which would give consumers the freedom to attach any device and any application. You know, the same freedom we have on the anything-goes wired internet. Is Apple looking to be a wireless operatorSan Francisco Chronicle FAQ: Inside the High-Stakes 700-MHz-Spectrum AuctionWired News Google Space Is Cooler Than Cool PC World built-in flight simulator Australian Watchdog to Scrutinize Google's Purchase of DoubleClick Wall Street Journal Google Docs mobile now available? ZDNet Round Trip Wall Street Journal Nawaz Sharif's triumphant return to Pakistan ended with a fizzle yesterday. Only a few hours after landing in Islamabad, the former Prime Minister was shuttled into a waiting aircraft and shipped back to Saudi Arabia. ..... Mr. Musharraf's choices are quickly narrowing. He can either declare martial law or move toward an alliance with Ms. Bhutto. Pakistan's ex-premier back in exileChicago Tribune "They stormed in like bees," said Amjad Malik, a British lawyer for Sharif who accompanied him on the plane. "There was a big hoo-ha. Mr. Sharif may have been hurt, I'm not sure. I'm very worried about his well-being." ...... "The decision to deport him runs contrary to the Supreme Court's decision," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington....... Cell phone coverage was blocked around the airport after the government jammed the networks. Thousands of police, commandos and other security forces set up blockades, using barbed wire, trucks and tractors. ....... 4,000 opposition members had been detained in the run-up to Sharif's return. General’s long view could cut debate short MSNBC Bush policy to bequeath Iraq to successorLos Angeles Times Al Qaeda: often foiled, still globalChristian Science Monitor a resilient and still deadly organization. ..... extremist Islamic jihadists remain a persistent and evolving threat. Al Qaeda's central leadership has rebuilt, while a ring of loosely affiliated terror franchises have arisen in Europe, Asia, and Africa ....... "To us, war is a finite undertaking with a clear beginning and a clear end," says Brian Jenkins, a senior adviser to the president of RAND Corp. in Arlington, Va. "To our jihadist foes, war is a perpetual condition." ..... "But our enemies appear still to think this is a war of bombs and bullets, instead of ideas. Remember this: Our task is not to win. Our task is to build an army of believers." ....... In the tape, Mr. bin Laden, among other things, rejected capitalism, criticized the political moves of the US Democratic party, and urged Americans to adopt Islam if they want an end to the war in Iraq. .... "From their perspective the world is going their way. It was a very confident speech ......Al Qaeda's leadership continues to plan high-impact plots ...... and will likely push harder to place operatives in the US. ...... Al Qaeda central still has operational committees, and a central ruling council. ...... Osama bin Laden himself has not attended this council in two years .... in the end, Al Qaeda's leadership may be most focused on the long term. ..... but in spreading its ideas and maintaining ideological zeal among believers ...... Measurements of progress don't matter, in this view. War is life. ...... For Al Qaeda, "this is a struggle against evil that it will continue until that evil is eliminated or judgment day, whichever comes first" ...... "They can inspire handfuls of young men to take a destructive ... course of action. But there is no mass response to their exhortations" The Oprah Factor and Obama New York Times she could have Mr. Obama as a regular guest on her show, but leave out the other candidates .... the first presidential candidate Ms. Winfrey has ever endorsed, and the fund-raiser at her home exhibited her clout, at least in Hollywood circles, by drawing Cindy Crawford, Sidney Poitier and Chris Rock. Poll Update Clinton leads Obama by 20 Blogger News Network Clinton to Return $850000 Raised by HsuForbes Obama, Clinton trail Edwards in Texas Democrats' straw pollDallas Morning News Edwards wins Texas Democratic informal "ePrimary"Reuters Barack 2, Hillary 0; Bishop backs Obama Atlanta Journal Constitution Barack Obama Hosts California Women for Obama Kick-offAll American Patriots More from last night's Dem debate MSNBC Dems Agree on Iraq, ImmigrationThe Associated Press Democrats Reach Out to Hispanic VotersNew York Times Sharif return prompts government crackdown Guardian Unlimited faces the prospect of arrest or deportation ..... The government has banned political rallies, arrested hundreds of opposition officials and declared an airport "terror alert" in an effort to scotch plans by Sharif supporters for a rousing welcome. ...... In Islamabad, Mr Sharif's supporters planned giant rallies to converge on the airport as he arrives. "The government's knees are shaking," said a spokesman, Ahsan Iqbal. "Gen Musharraf is already defeated." ...... On arrival in Islamabad, Mr Sharif plans to go by road to his political heartland in Lahore in a giant motorcade intended to further undermine Gen Musharraf. The general has several options, none of them palatable. He could have Mr Sharif bundled on to a plane and flown to Saudi Arabia, as he did when his brother Shahbaz tried to return in 2004. But that would trigger a fresh confrontation with the supreme court, which ruled on August 23 that Mr Sharif has an "inalienable" right of return. The most likely course may be arrest. Last week the courts revived corruption charges against Mr Sharif and a murder accusation against his brother. But arrest would almost certainly trigger protest and violent unrest. ...... Ms Bhutto says she will announce her own return date to Pakistan on Thursday. Sharif boards plane to return to PakistanReuters Al-Qaida says it carried out Algerian bombings Guardian Unlimited US official calls bin Laden "virtually impotent" Reuters How Osama bin Laden Escaped death 4 times after 9/11Canada Free Press he as been wanted by the superpower for more than a decade. ..... Sometimes he dodged the world's most sophisticated satellite systems and dangerous missiles by his own cleverness, and at other times it was only luck which saved him from enemy strikes with only minutes to spare. ....... a female spy was able to notice the unusual movement of many important Arabs in Kabul ...... bin Laden reminded that this was the third interview I had with him. He informed me that I made some translation mistakes in the article published after my first interview, but said he had found no evidence of any misrepresentation. He was hopeful, he said, that I would not misrepresent him on this interview. More than 20 al Qaeda leaders were also present in the small room where were taking tea. Conversation on that day proved that most of them were of the view that the US-backed Northern Alliance was moving close to Kabul due only to the support of General Pervaiz Musharraf, who was providing air bases to Americans in Pakistan. ........ He claimed that the place in Kabul where I met his "Sheikh" had been bombed just 15 minutes after our departure, but luckily "Sheikh" and others also left that place immediately after us and nobody was harmed. Muhammad smilingly told me: "Brother, you missed Martyrdom with us". ...... It was then that he told me the whole story of how he and his "Sheikh" had survived the carpet-bombing of the US Air Force for many days running in the Tora Bora Mountains of Eastern Afghanistan. It wasn't until the third week of December 2001 when bin Laden and his fighters broke the circle created by Americans with the help of Haji Zahir, Haji Zaman and Hazrat Ali. The strategy of al Qaeda sometimes resembles that of the hunted in American western movies. A huge number of al Qaeda fighters entered into the Kurram tribal area of Pakistan from Tora Bora--but Osama bin Laden headed off in a different direction with a small group. ......... Eyewitness Muhammad was also part of that group. Some Chechen and Saudi fighters provided them a cover of gunfire and they walked the whole night towards the safety of Paktia. A top Afghan security official, Lutfullah Mashal confirmed to me later that Osama bin Laden escaped to Paktia from Tora Bora in December 2001. Mashal followed him secretly. He claimed that Osama bin Laden entered North Wazirastan from Paktia. He spent some time there and then moved to the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan, province of Khost. Mashal is now working with President Hamid Karzai and he is sure that the Americans missed the capture of bin Laden in Tora Bora because they were not ready to deploy their own forces on the ground. Americans depended more on a Northern Alliance commander, Hazrat Ali--but this man betrayed them. According to highly reliable Afghan sources, Hazrat Ali provided safe passage to al Qaeda after getting lots of money from them. Hazrat Ali incidentally is a member of the Afghan Parliament these days. ........ Osama bin Laden remained underground throughout the entire year of 2002. He and his colleagues were always on the run. They kept changing their hideouts again and again. They were determined to save their lives, and because of that, during this chapter they were not fighting. It was until April of 2003 that the World's Most Wanted man was to surface again in Afghanistan, after the US invasion of Iraq. He called a meeting in the Pech Valley of Kunar province and delivered a hard-hitting speech, in which he announced his plans to resist America in Iraq. He said: "Get Americans in Iraq before they get us in Afghanistan". He declared that Saif ul Adil would be in charge for organizing resistance in Iraq, and advised him to contact Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who was hiding in Iran at the time. Bin Laden started addressing small gatherings of his comrades in Kunar, as well as in Paktia. One of his daughters-in-law died during childbirth in the in Kunar Mountains. There was a big gathering at the funeral of his daughter-in-law. Local Afghans came to know about the death and started visiting the homes of some al Qaeda fighters, who had married in Kunar. The news of these events reached the ears of the Americans. The Americans launched an operation in Kunar, but once again Osama bin Laden escaped towards the south before the bombing had started in Pech Valley. ........ It was late in 2004 when bin Laden found himself surrounded by British troops in the Southern Afghan province of Helmand. bin Ladin had been hiding in a mountain area with three defense lines. Highly placed diplomatic sources revealed to this writer recently in Kabul that the British forces were very close to taking Osama bin Laden--dead or alive. He was besieged for more than 24 hours only to manage to dodge one of the world' best equipped armies—escaping with his life yet again. According to details gathered from some Taliban sources in Helmand, the British forces broke two defense lines of al Qaeda in an area of five kilometers. One-to-one fighting was about to start, but daylight ended and the darkness of night provided some welcome relief to al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden wanted to fight on the frontline, but his colleagues stopped him. Hot arguments were exchanged. bin Laden was angry, but Abu Hamza Aljazeeri convinced him to make a try for escape. They placed many rockets with timers, aimed at two different directions, as a deception. They decided to break the enemy encirclement, heading in the third direction with a group of foot fighters. That group was providing cover to bin Laden. Most of the fighters lost their lives, but the escape plan succeeded. Osama bin Laden slipped from British hands with Abu Hamza Al Jazeeri and some other fighters. These sources denied some reports that bin Laden had ordered his guards to shoot him if he were near arrest. The al Qaeda sources claimed that he does not believe in suicide, it is easier for him to sacrifice his life in battle against the enemy till the last bullet and his last drop of his blood have been spent. ....... Osama bin Laden is facing lots of "in house" restrictions since the Helmand episode. This is still another secret of his survival. Rather than relying on his own instincts, he believes in accepting the majority opinion of his colleagues. The majority of them advised him to restrict his movements, not to use satellite phones and to concentrate more on planning rather than fighting on his own. He was even advised to issue messages only on very important occasions. ....... Dr. Ayman al Zawahri. This Egyptian doctor is constantly in touch with his leader, but they are living separately. Dr.Zawahri spends more time in Pakistani tribal areas, while Osama bin Laden still feels that Afghanistan is safer for him than Pakistan. ....... many Taliban leaders in the East and South of Afghanistan proudly narrate the stories of their meetings with the most wanted man in the last three years. ....... Before 9/11, al Qaeda was operating only in a few countries, now it is operating in more than 62 countries with active cells in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Malayasia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Uruguay, Ecuador, Mexico, USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia. ....... His real strength is bad US policies. ..... The United States provided him relief by attacking Iraq without finishing the war in Afghanistan. More Muslims have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than Americans killed on 9/11. The whole Muslim world is now burning in the raging fire of anti-Americanism, and Osama bin Laden is the only beneficiary of this situation. He is still determined to stage more 9/11's, with attacks bigger than the previous one. His sympathizers claim that it's not only America that is on his hit list. Al Qaeda is also capable of attacking other Western countries. The United Kingdom and Italy are the most possible targets ........ like Poland ..... Any new 9/11-like attack may ignite an ultimate clash of civilizations. That's what Osama bin Laden wants. ...... He changed the world six years ago and he can again push the world towards a grand clash with another massive attack. Bin Laden likely lives in comfy safehouse, intel experts sayNew York Daily News Osama Bin Laden isn't hiding in caves. He's almost certainly living in a cozy compound in Pakistan guarded by a few loyal fanatics ..... he skulks across some of the most hostile terrain in the world ...... a 26-minute, anti-U.S. diatribe. .... In the jagged peaks of the Afghan-Pakistani border, a good Bin Laden hideout typically would be a simple adobe house surrounded by a high mud-brick wall ....... "He's probably living in a fairly comfortable, though Spartan, compound somewhere in northern Pakistan" ..... President Bush and Vice President Cheney long perpetuated the legend that Bin Laden was living in a cave to support their claims the terror mastermind had been neutralized. "Look, it's hard to plan, plot and attack if you're running or hiding in a cave," Bush said at a GOP fund-raiser last October. ...... Bin Laden is more a ghost than a bat. ..... he "never stayed anywhere more than a few days .... Bin Laden likely has stayed put in a new hideout with a tiny band of die-hard bodyguards, not an army of them. ...... "If and when he moves," a senior U.S. intelligence official told The News, "it's with a handful of people to keep the footprint small and not attract attention." ..... consensus that he's protected by Pakistani tribesmen or government agents in tribal areas and communicates by courier, using "cutouts" who don't read the message or know its author ..... Recent fighting in Afghanistan with foreign fighters pushed out of Pakistan suggests Al Qaeda has run out of payoff money ..... One of Bin Laden's likely protectors is famed mujahedeenJalaluddin Haqqani, a Pashtun ally and Taliban military genius. Haqqani maintains the outer ring of his security while loyal Arabs make up the inner ring, a counterterror agent in Afghanistan told The News. Obama's family tree:Warriors, presidents & thieves Chicago Sun-Times White House hopeful Barack Obama already has presidential timber in his family tree: He is distantly related to three U.S. presidents. ...... four centuries ago, his great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-grandfather was a respected warrior and leader in eastern Africa. ..... Obama -- who has seven half-brothers and half-sisters spread across more than 10,000 miles -- has ancestors who were born in Kenya, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands .... Obama's heritage is a key part of his public persona. ...... in his 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote speech, Obama said he was "grateful for the diversity of my heritage." ..... Obama has ancestors who were slave owners. But unlike many African Americans, he is not known to have any who were slaves. ...... He's distantly related to three U.S. presidents -- Harry S Truman, George W. Bush and George Herbert Walker Bush -- as well as to Vice President Dick Cheney. ..... "With presidents with New England ancestry, you will find a lot of them are related to one another." .... Bush and his father, for instance, are distantly related to 16 other presidents. And Franklin Delano Roosevelt shared ancestors with 17 others. ...... "I didn't find too many unusual things," said Rae Janette McCurry Marshall, 77, who is a first cousin, twice removed, of Obama. "The most unusual was that Sen. Obama is in our family. We never had anyone that famous." The New Al-Qaeda Central Washington Post core leadership -- dubbed al-Qaeda Central by intelligence analysts -- has grown stronger, rebuilding the organizational framework that was badly damaged ...... by drawing on lessons learned during 15 years of failed campaigns to destroy it ..... in the past 18 months, no major figure has been killed or caught in Pakistan. ....... fundraising, recruiting and training ...... the most effective propaganda machine ever assembled by a terrorist or insurgent network. ...... Today, al-Qaeda operates much the way it did before 2001. The network is governed by a shura, or leadership council, that meets regularly and reports to bin Laden, who continues to approve some major decisions ........ About 200 people belong to the core group and many receive regular salaries ..... Most leaders are based in Pakistan ...... "We're looking at an organization that is extraordinarily adept at succession planning. They were built to survive, like the Afghans were against the Russians." ..... the search for al-Qaeda's leaders in Pakistan has hit a wall. Shah said information concerning their whereabouts has grown scarcer and less reliable ....... inner core has absolutely stopped using electronic technology to communicate with each other ...... On Jan. 30, 2006, two weeks after the Damadola missile strike, al-Qaeda released a videotape on the Internet in which Zawahiri taunted his pursuers. "Bush, do you know where I am?" the Egyptian radical said. "I am among the Muslim masses!" ....... ability to swiftly replace fallen or captured commanders. ....... veteran jihadists who have fought in Afghanistan and conflicts elsewhere for decades. ...... and organized a failed plot to overthrow Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi in the mid-1990s. ....... North Africa .... al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. ..... Much remains unknown about the internal workings of al-Qaeda Central. As with the old Soviet leadership in the Kremlin, U.S. analysts scrutinize public statements issued by the network for clues on who wields influence. ....... In 2005, al-Sahab released 16 videos. This year, it has produced four times that number. Quality has improved markedly, with most videos now including subtitles in several languages and sometimes 3-D animation. ....... Al-Sahab can now record and release videos with astonishing speed. ..... videos are routed through a chain of couriers who hand-deliver them to computer gurus ...... "They've created breaks in the distribution chain, both electronic breaks and human breaks." ....... many places along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have been effectively taken over by foreign militants, mostly Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens and Arabs. ...... Asad Durrani, a retired chief of Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence bureau, said it would take more than military intervention to capture al-Qaeda leaders. ...... Durrani said U.S. bombing campaigns along the Afghan-Pakistani border had thoroughly alienated civilians who otherwise might help root out al-Qaeda commanders. "The first instinct you Americans have is military power -- dropping bombs," he said. "This was absolutely 100 percent guaranteed not to succeed, and it's continued that way for the past six years." ...... He said it would take a concentrated, methodical approach to find bin Laden and his deputies, relying on human intelligence and simple detective work. ...... "If they are there, sit back, be patient," Durrani advised. "The good hunter hunts on foot." Former Denver mayor joins Obama campaign United Press International
Among Top Officials, 'Surge' Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting Washington Post making the case to keep as many troops as long as possible to cement any security progress. ..... argued instead for accepting more risks in Iraq, officials said, in order to have enough forces available to confront other potential threats in the region ...... "Bad relations?" said a senior civilian official with a laugh. "That's the understatement of the century. . . . If you think Armageddon was a riot, that's one way of looking at it." ......... managing a remarkable conflict within his administration, mounting a rear-guard action against Congress and navigating a dysfunctional relationship with an Iraqi leadership ...... the story of these months is one of trying to control the uncontrollable .... the floor was going to break politically ..... "slow failure." .... The strategy would never work, Bush aides knew, unless Maliki stepped up. ....... the prime minister's intentions and abilities to take on Shiite militias. .... Bush instituted videoconference calls with Maliki every two weeks, prodding him to seek accord among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions ..... the tribes resented al-Qaeda's efforts to ban smoking and marry local women to build ties to the region. ....... when such an alliance occurred, it bubbled up from the ground with no Washington involvement. ........ the extra brigades flowing to Iraq had stretched the military close to the breaking point. .... the longest overseas combat deployments since World War II. ...... Fallon was also derisive of Iraqi leaders' intentions and competence ..... Fallon signaled his departure from Bush by ordering subordinates to avoid the term "long war" -- a phrase the president used to describe the fight against terrorism. ....... Bush became aggravated by Maliki's inability to forge agreements to address grievances fueling sectarian strife, such as allowing low-level members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Partyback into government, passing a law governing oil revenue distribution and setting provincial elections. ....... if you change the prime minister, then any prospect of progress on the political front stops completely while they try to form a new government." ...... "There's no Nelson Mandela in Iraq," Crocker, the ambassador, told colleagues back in Washington. "Saddam killed them all." ...... codifying 18 benchmarks set in war-funding legislation ...... help the prime minister and other leaders reach consensus. ...... the Maliki government pressed the Americans to sit down with Iranian officials .... Rice, according to the official, told Crocker that it "wasn't your lane," adding, "I'll work it back here. That's not your problem." ...... Rice overcame resistance from Cheney for talks with both Syria and Iran ....... the talks led nowhere ....... Rice had established 10 provincial reconstruction teams around Iraq to work with local officials rather than rely on the ineffectual central government ........ seek local deals similar to those in Anbar through reward money and nonlethal aid such as radios, clothes and telephones. "Reconciliation is local," he wrote, "and there is no one-size fits all solution to this complex problem." ....... Lute briefed the president at 7 a.m. every day ..... organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out ways of selling the surge. ........ From the start of the Bush plan, the White House communications office had been blitzing an e-mail list of as many as 5,000 journalists, lawmakers, lobbyists, conservative bloggers, military groups and others with talking points or rebuttals of criticism. ........ the Iraqi political situation remained a mess. ...... Bush understood that the "breathing space" had yielded little political reconciliation. As summer wore on, Bush grew blunt in his conference calls with Maliki. As one aide recalled, "He would say, 'Hey, you told me you were going to do X, Y and Z. What happened? Are you going to get agreement on these key pieces of legislation or not?' " Osama is in Chitral: US experts Pakistan Dawn the Al Qaeda chief also has sympathisers in that area. “They have a code of hospitality for guests, and they’ve probably also gotten a fair amount of money from bin Laden ...... bin Laden is surrounded by bodyguards armed with surface-to-air missiles and good intelligence. ...... “I think it’s quite likely he has a very good early warning system (and) that there are perimeters set up so people know who’s coming and going in the area that he’s living” .... “If you look at the territory, it is impossible to find any single person up there, and we don’t have enough people to do it, and we respect Pakistan’s sovereignty. I guess they’re not going to go into Pakistan.”
Oprah Hosts Obama in Star-Studded Event The Associated Press Winfrey draws rich, famous to Obama bash Chicago Tribune CBS Poll: Oprah's Support May Help Obama 31% Say Talk Show Host's ...CBS News Thirty-one percent of registered voters say that most people they know would be more likely to vote for Obama for president because Oprah has endorsed him ...... Thirty-one percent of registered voters who consider themselves Republicans and 27 percent of voters who consider themselves Independents said the endorsement would make people more inclined to vote for Obama. Obama's San Francisco visit aimed at women San Jose Mercury News everything about the fundraiser rally was designed to showcase the Illinois senator as a candidate trying to break out from under the shadow of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. ...... California Women for Obama ..... when you walk away, when you set your sights a little lower, then the same old politics win every time ..... George Bush and Dick Cheney may have perfected divisive special-interest politics; they may have turned it into an art form. But they didn't invent it. It was there before they got to Washington ...... three-quarters of Democratic voters back a presidential candidate who calls for changing the system, while only one-quarter cited experience ...... they should not vote on who "plays the game best. It has to be who puts an end to the game-playing." ...... "He's won me," said Leslie Leslie, of Mill Valley. "I felt he was speaking from the heart." Obama Asks Women to Risk Backing HimThe Associated Press Obama, hoping to make inroads with women voters, urged an overwhelmingly female audience on Friday to risk supporting him ..... about 3,000 die-hard Democrats at an event launching the California chapter of Women for Obama ...... Obama said he would not be a perfect president but will tell people where he stands and ask what they think. ...... That's what they are counting on, that you will be too scared, that you will walk away, that this will seem too risky, this call to action ...... Obama promised that ending the war in Iraq would be his first act as president if it is not done before then and said that he looked forward to engaging in dialogue the leaders of nations hostile to U.S. policies. ..... "It does not make us look tough to not talk to other countries. It makes us look arrogant," he said. Obama jabs Hillary Clinton on health care in San FranciscoSan Francisco Chronicle cast himself as a champion of women's rights ..... before a crowd of mostly women. ..... "I'm lucky enough to live ... with three women for Obama in my house," he joked, referring to his wife and two daughters. "I don't always get this reception." ..... a box lunch of water, a roast beef sandwich, a brownie and an apple ...... he won cheers and several standing ovations by acknowledging the importance of female voters and pounding issues that are on the top of many of their minds. ......... "Women have always made the difference in every election," he told the crowd, "and this year, your voice, your hope will be the deciding factors in forging a new future for America." ...... Obama is trying to stake a claim for Democratic female voters - a constituency aggressively courted by Clinton, who has amassed a 30-point lead in state polls. ....... Obama's state co-chairs, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Controller Laura Chick ...... Author Ayelet Waldman of Berkeley, who graduated in the same Harvard University law class as Obama, backs his run for president over Clinton, although she said, "I've been a feminist my whole life, and I was raised on Betty Friedan."She said she would like to see the Democratic candidates on "an Obama-Clinton ticket." ...... "I'm waiting for him to be something different than a great face and story." A Streetwise Veteran Schooled Young Obama New York Times includes one glaring episode of political miscalculation. ..... was a 38-year-old state senator .... Mr. Rush’s name recognition started off at 90 percent, Mr. Obama’s at 11. ..... Then President Clinton endorsed Mr. Rush. ... it was ‘the Black Panther against the professor.’ ..... his impatience with the frustrations of his state Senate job; his outsize confidence; his fund-raising powers; his broad appeal; and his willingness to be what Abner J. Mikva, a former congressman and supporter, calls “a very apt student of his own mistakes.” ........ “He was blinded by his ambition,” Mr. Rush said. “Obama has never suffered from a lack of believing that he can accomplish whatever it is he decides to try. Obama believes in Obama. ....... Not long after getting “my rear end handed to me,” as he later put it, he ran successfully for the United States Senate ......a period of virtual Republican lockdown. ..... In February 1999, Mr. Rush lost the mayoral primary to Mr. Daley, getting just 28 percent of the vote. ...... Almost all of Mr. Obama’s support initially came from whites ....... Reform is not the most compelling issue to people who don’t have a job ..... “Less than halfway into the campaign, I knew in my bones that I was going to lose. Each morning from that point forward I awoke with a vague sense of dread, realizing that I would have to spend the day smiling and shaking hands and pretending that everything was going according to plan.” ........ “He went to Harvard and became an educated fool. ...... Obama was seen as an intellectual, “not from us, not from the ’hood ....... a function of class, not race ....... Mr. Clinton — after a personal request from Mr. Rush — overrode his own policy of not endorsing candidates in primaries. ...... Cardinal Richard Cushing: “The cardinal said to him, ‘Jack, you have to learn to speak more Irish and less Harvard.’ I think I recounted that anecdote to Barack. Clearly, he learned how to speak more Chicago and less Harvard in subsequent campaigning.” ....... a gradual progression of Barack Obama from thoughtful, earnest policy wonk/civil rights lawyer/constitutional law expert to Barack Obama the politician, the inspirer, the speaker ....... Rush, still stung by Mr. Obama’s challenge to him, endorsed a white candidate in the race ....... Obama won the general election with the biggest margin ever in an Illinois Senate race. ....... Obama’s ambition has found its audience, he said. ..... “I think that Obama, his election to the Senate, was divinely ordered,” Mr. Rush said Edwards Slams Clinton on Health Care The Associated Press How She Would GovernMSNBC "You bring change by working within the system," Clinton finally declared on Labor Day weekend. "You can't pretend the system doesn't exist." ..... Hugh Rodham's dutiful daughter stayed up late finishing homework assignments and kept Barry Goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative" on her bookshelf. While others in her generation were turning on, tuning in and dropping out, she was running for student-body president at Wellesley College and applying to law school at Yale. As a young First Lady charged with getting her husband's health-care plan through Congress, her attempts to circumvent The System nearly cost both Clintons their political lives. She found redemption in the Senate by keeping her head down and playing by the rules. ........ "I am much more experienced in dealing with my own government and understanding both its potential and its limitations." The System, in other words, is where the action is, where the real possibilities for change are, and that is where Clinton wants to be. ..... She has outperformed her rivals in almost every debate and has presided over a remarkably disciplined and effective presidential campaign. ....... At times, she has displayed an ideological rigidity and insistence on loyalty reminiscent of the incumbent. At times, she has acted with near-Nixonian secrecy and seemed to fall victim to paranoia. But she has also shown a Bill Clinton-like capacity to adapt to her surroundings and accept that in politics, the perfect is always the enemy of the good. ....... Hillary Clinton arrived in Washington with a sense of righteous purpose. ...... In developing her policy, the First Lady was clinical and unflinching. "She was going to push it as hard as she could and was not willing to compromise" ....... The First Lady listened politely but did not heed the senator's advice. Moynihan, who'd had a hand in every major domestic-policy initiative since Nixon, simply didn't understand. ....... Clinton's own secretary of the Treasury and OMB director had major concerns about the First Lady's plan. .... Hillary's plan was too big, too unwieldy. ...... Hillary the purist had learned that in Washington, nothing is total except defeat. Some veterans of the health-care wars shudder at the notion of "President Hillary." ........ Chastened and defeated, Clinton plotted a retreat from the front page. ....... the Whitewater scandal. The president felt distracted and put upon; his wife felt persecuted. In many senses, she was. Years before she would coin the phrase, an anti-Clinton right-wing conspiracy had already grown vast. ........ As first lady, Clinton sometimes acted paranoid and saw enemies where they did not really exist. One eternal villain was the press. ......... The hunted Hillary put a high premium on loyalty. To the predominantly female coterie of aides who staffed the First Lady's office, Clinton was a giving, generous boss who always remembered birthdays, always wrote encouraging "job well done" notes, always called when a loved one died. Her husband's West Wing devolved into the petty jealousies of boys on the playground. But Hillary's aides in the East Wing kept their mouths shut. To this day, no close Hillary aide has written a tell-all memoir. ........ Early in the campaign, some in New York's Democratic Party concluded that the candidate was too polarizing to make headway in conservative upstate New York and should focus solely on boosting her margins in New York City and its surrounding suburbs. But Clinton was eager to wade into unfriendly territory. ........ The new Hillary even found ways to make use of her old nemesis, the press. ....... Clinton described the president's transgressions as "sins of weakness." His actions had their roots in childhood, where Bill had lived through "terrible conflict" between his mother and grandmother. "A psychologist once told me that for a boy being in the middle of two women is the worst possible situation," Clinton was quoted as saying. "There is always the desire to please each one." ........ Other executive-branch veterans who'd found second homes in the Senate, like Robert Kennedy, had quickly tired of all the drudgery and quaint traditions. Clinton loved it. Having paid the price for acting too boldly and quickly, she was eager to dive into the small-detail stuff. ...... how Trent Lott, who wondered if "maybe lightning will strike" before Clinton could take her Senate seat, came to admire her low-key manner. How Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who'd served as a manager of the impeachment case against Clinton's husband, worked closely with Clinton on veterans issues on the Armed Services Committee. ........ for all the bipartisan back-patting she gives herself, she has no transformative piece of legislation to show for it. ........ she is a more pragmatic thinker than the obstinate Hillary of health-care days ...... in her early days in the Senate, it was taken for granted that Clinton's greatest political imperative was to boost her hawk credentials. ...... she had to prove that she could be as tough as any man ........ classic Hillary: disciplined, efficient and loyalty-obsessed. ...... in meeting after meeting Clinton can be counted on to ask silent participants what they think. ....... "It's 'The Hills Have Eyes'." ...... 15 years inside The System have made her a fervent believer in the strong, smart management of American power. ..... "She's tougher than he is. She's not going to advertise that during the primary process. But everyone who knows her knows that." ...... the details of her thinking, and the ways in which she makes decisions, are so little understood. Analysis: Clinton Gambles With 'Change'The Associated Press eight years as White House first lady, seven as senator from New York, and 12 as Arkansas first lady ..... After the failure of her health care initiative in 1994, Clinton's visibility as an adviser to her husband was considerably diminished for the remainder of his two terms. But while she was publicly attending to the official duties of the first lady, she also kept her hand in policy matters. ...... her best known Senate vote — to authorize the U.S. military invasion of Iraq in 2002 — is evidence of a tendency to follow conventional wisdom rather than stand for principle. Edwards Hits Hard at Clinton Over Lobbying Washington Post Edwards heighten attack on Clinton over health plan, lobbyistsWAVY-TV Edwards takes on special interests, hits ClintonWCAX Clinton draws fans to Michigan Ave. Chicago Tribune at 11:57 a.m. -- almost a full fashionable half-hour late -- sparking spontaneous applause and cheers from the rather bedraggled-looking crowd. ..... Clinton's visit, initially scheduled for 90 minutes, was extended to about three hours to accommodate the line of fans, which by midmorning snaked through all four floors of the Borders at 830 N. Michigan Ave., weaving through row after row of books and CDs. ...... Clinton worked through the line, operating in his customary efficient-yet-affable style, shaking hands with his right as he signed with his left. ..... when he asked what he thought was a relatively simple question: Do college students have a role in changing the world? ..... "It was unbelievable; he went into good detail, he talked about the difference in how times have changed," Bolohan said. "I was expecting him to push me away eventually, but he kept talking ... to know that my opinion mattered to him is quite important." Fans sold on Clinton's 'Giving'Chicago Sun-Times Clinton meet and greetChicago Tribune US studies Bin Laden video, CIA warns of Al-Qaeda plots AFP bin Laden apparently says there are two ways to end the Iraq war. ..... "The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you," bin Laden says ..... The second is to do away with the American democratic system of government, ABC said, adding the video was about 30 minutes long. ..... the Central Intelligence Agency warned that Al-Qaeda was plotting fresh attacks on the United States designed to inflict massive casualties. ..... the transcript contained references to Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in the French presidential elections in May and to the Iraq war in 2007 suggesting that it was made recently, and that bin Laden is still alive. ..... "People of America: the world is following your news in regards to your invasion of Iraq, for people have recently come to know that, after several years of tragedies of this war, the vast majority of you want it stopped. "Thus, you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose, but the Democrats haven't made a move worth mentioning. On the contrary, they continue to agree to the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there." ..... "the reeling of many of you under the burden of interest-related debts, insane taxes and real estate mortgages; global warming and its woes." ...... "To conclude," bin Laden says, "I invite you to embrace Islam." ..... Al-Qaeda was planning new, large-scale attacks on US targets. .... "Our analysts assess with high confidence that Al-Qaeda's central leadership is planning high impact plots against the American homeland" ...... "Al-Qaeda is focusing on targets that would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant economic aftershocks" Bin Laden Video Is Recent, Makes No Threats, US Official Says Bloomberg Hurricane Felix death toll hits 130 for Nicaragua Reuters Oprah fundraising bash for Barack Obama Telegraph.co.uk Former Clinton Official Backs Obama New York Times Federico Pena, a former mayor of Denver who also served as Energy Secretary in the Clinton administration ..... “I have come to conclude that Barack Obama has the depth of judgment that our country needs to usher in a new era of global leadership,” Mr. Pena told ...... “For me, judgment and wisdom are far more important than experience. But frankly, I like the experience that Senator Obama has.” ..... “I have a number of friends who are running for president,” he said. ... Pena said he beleives Senator Obama would be best able to unify the country and offer a fresh start - “unincumbered by the past” - unlike any other Democratic candidate. Pena Backs ObamaBaltimore Sun Clinton rates as 'coldest' in Gallup survey, but isn't far behind ... USA Today Amazon and Google Want to Mind Your Read Motley Fool Amazon is hoping to launch a standalone hardware-software ecosystem with its Kindle program, while Google just wants to sell you online books. ..... sell complete books in digital form. E-books: Can Amazon and Google make them work?ZDNet Google will start charging customers for full online access to digital copies of books. Publishers will set prices and share revenue with Google. ...... few people read more than one book at a time. Google opens doors to My Library Bizjournals.com a site to organize users' libraries and let visitors browse their titles. .... My Library, which lets users create a list of links to books and articles, rate and review them, and share them with others. Google allows customers to build online book librariesDallas Morning News Google plans to put "all the world's books" into digital form .... It now has 27 partners, including Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Japan's Keio University. Brief: Google Book Search offers new ways to search booksComputerworld Please retire, Mr Bachchan! Business Standard Amitabh Bachchan Was Recently In New York, Speaks Of Family Matters SantaBanta.com Bin Laden to Release Video, Al-Qaeda Says Washington Post the images would be the first of the terrorist network's leader in nearly three years. ..... his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin Laden's beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks. ..... since the last verified bin Laden video in October 2004, there have been many new videos promoted on radical Islamic Web sites but none of them has materialized Nepal Crown Prince Suffers Heart Attack The Associated Press Paras, 35 Giuliani Documentary Being Released The Associated Press an "online viral video campaign" .... The videos attack Giuliani by saying he failed to prepare New York City for a major disaster, he ignored sick ground zero workers after the terrorist attack and he profited financially from his association with the tragedy after leaving office in 2001. ...... therealrudy.org .... Greenwald said each video cost about $40,000 to make and that fundraising helped pay for the series, which will be posted on YouTube Congress poring over evidence of limited progress in Iraq KSBY Luciano Pavarotti: A Tenor Like No Other The Associated Press Out of Iraq, Some Common Ground Wall Street Journal Obama Critiques Clinton The Associated Press Clinton is too cautious and too conventional to bring real change to Washington. Fugitive's Fundraising Talent Put Him on Democrats' A-List Washington Post whose success at raising money had propelled him into the upper echelon of Democratic politics. ...... In the past four years, Hsu raised more than $1.2 million for Democratic causes and candidates ....... there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest stemming from a 15-year-old felony theft conviction. ...... For many people who crossed paths with Hsu in politics, his disappearance has left them wondering if they ever really knew him. ...... arrived in the United States in 1969 ..... Once Hsu made that first imprint as a big donor, other campaigns quickly came knocking. ........ Hsu's attraction from a fundraising perspective is that he delivered and did so consistently ..... $23,000 in direct contributions Hsu made to Clinton's presidential campaign, her Senate reelection and her political action committee. The campaign did not plan to return any money Hsu raised from other donors. Oprah and Obama could be powerful combo on the road to the Oval Office The Canadian Press she might appear in TV ads and hit the campaign trail in support of the first African-American to have a decent shot at the White House. ..... Her talk show reaches 8.4 million viewers a day, many of them the critical female voters between 25 and 55 who tend to vote in large numbers. ...... She has a monthly magazine, a weekly newsletter and a website. She just launched a satellite radio channel. ..... Many see Winfrey levelling the playing field by adding the kind of celebrity clout that Bill Clinton brings to his wife's campaign. ..... saying he has the power to transform politics. .... he's the only presidential candidate she'll have on her TV show, saying it would be "disingenuous" to invite anyone else. Oprah Winfrey may have larger role in Obama campaignCNN Oprah's star to shine for ObamaSydney Morning Herald Nepal Airline Sacrifices Two Goats to Sky God in Face of Aircraft ... FOX News Nepal Airlines Sacrifices Goats to Fix Plane—and It WorksGizmodo.com 2 Goats Killed for Broken JetThe Moscow Times Poll: Clinton, Giuliani Least Religious The Associated Press Bihar showcases Buddhist heritage to promote tourism DailyIndia.com Study: US Should Lower Profile in IraqForbes Panel Calls for US Troops to Reduce 'Footprint' in IraqWashington Post accuse the police of abducting Sunnis from checkpoints, shooting them without reason and terrorizing the population. 'Another big tsunami may hit India' Times of India Syria fires on Israeli war planes AFP Tension rises after Syria opens fire on Israeli planesGuardian Unlimited New twist to Syria-Israel tensionBBC News Why Google is Building a Phone PC World wireless spectrum, devices, and content ..... when it comes to mobile phones Yahoo and Microsoft are way ahead of Google. ..... Microsoft is even mulling the possibility of creating its own mobile phone based on the Windows Mobile OS. ..... Google phones that could be priced as low as $100. .... Google has built prototype cell phones, to be mass-produced by multiple hardware manufacturers ....... Google hopes to attract new customers with low upfront and monthly wireless costs. Supplementing monthly fees would be ads delivered via the handset. ...... Google watchers are convinced the company is creating a mobile operating system or platform. ..... In 2007 the mobile advertising market will be worth $450 million ..... only 15 percent of mobile phone users have browsed the Web using their cell phone ...... Analysts expect mobile search and surfing to become even more popular in the years ahead. ...... Google hopes to change the attitudes about mobile Web access. Google Wiki May Arrive TodayWebProNews Jotspot, the wiki company Google picked up in October 2006. ...... Jotspot may have been moved to use the same underlying technology as Google Page Creator. ..... Jotspot/Google Wiki and possibly Google Presentations .... In June, Google acquired Zenter, an Australian-based online slide presentation company. Google, Others Gear Up to Introduce Office Apps PC World Google launched Docs & Spreadsheets at last year's conference, and some observers expect Google to release new wiki and presentation applications in the next day or so. ....... Business Essentials, which includes asset tracking, project management, a recruiting manager to organize the hiring process better, a company directory, sales lead management, employee time-off trackers, and activity dashboards. Nokia To Launch WiMAX Handsets Red Herring The next generation of Nokia’s Internet Tablet will feature the long-range wireless broadband technology known as WiMAX, the latest push by the Finnish cell phone maker to develop an all-in-one handset. ..... it had already signed a deal with U.S. carrier Sprint to make the new tablets available to subscribers in the first half of 2008...... the day when people are carrying computers in their pockets and not phones,” said Nokia vice president Ari Virtanen. ..... Convergence between mobile phones and computers will continue and Nokia will lead the trend by approaching it both from the mobile phone and computer ends ...... Computer maker Apple’s entry into the phone market may have hastened Nokia’s decision to go public, as may have reports of similar plans by other computer related companies such as Google and Microsoft.
Baby on AB’s mind Times of India Bachchan sahib has plans of gifting the temple with a 3.5 kg silver mouse..... 'Main murti banakar dena chahta hoon'. .... Unhone jald se jald dadaji banneki ichcha vyakt ki hai....He had prayed for Abhishek's wedding. When Amitabh Bachchan was unwell, Abhishek and Jaya Bachchan had come to pray for his good health. He had also come here with Amar Singh when he had land problems in Uttar Pradesh. Light at the End of the Subprime Tunnel BusinessWeek the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets will delay the market's eventual recovery by at least a few months. ..... the core of the problem is subprime adjustable-rate mortgages that were originated in 2005 and 2006, when lending standards became extremely lax. .... default rates also ticked up for ARM loans issued to prime borrowers—that is, those borrowers considered most likely to repay. ..... Home prices have rarely fallen on a national basis since the Depression of the 1930s. India's 50 Most Powerful People Michael Dell 'not involved' in accounting fraud Register Dell boss denies knowledge of bonus scamSydney Morning Herald Wildfire smoke dissipating from Bay Area skies San Francisco Chronicle US youth records highest suicide rate growth in 15 years in 2004 People's Daily Online American Girls' Suicide Rates SpikeThe Associated Press Suicide Rises in Youth; Antidepressant Debate LoomsNew York Times a debate of many years about the safety of drugs prescribed for depression ..... the reason for the increase is the decline in prescriptions of antidepressant drugs like Prozac to young people since 2003, leaving more cases of serious depression untreated ...... untreated depression was a risk factor for suicide. .... 4,599 suicides in Americans ages 10 to 24 ..... “These are rare events, suicides Political Battle Surrounding Spitzer Lands on Fla. Law Firm's Doorstep Law.com (subscription), CA In the latest spat in between Democratic New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Republican state Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, the protracted brass-knuckles political battlea threatening profanity-laced message was left on the voice mail of Spitzer's father, Bernard. ...... noted Republican political operative Roger Stone Jr ..... Lawyers representing Spitzer's octogenarian father claim Stone left the anonymous message on his Manhattan office phone. They claim they traced the number to Stone's Manhattan apartment phone number -- a number also used by the New York office of consulting firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler Consulting Group LLC. ....... Stone denies making the call. ..... The allegations led to Stone resigning from his consulting gig with the New York Senate Republicans. ..... Stone, 55, claimed to have worked for Richard Nixon's re-election committee and worked as a campaign strategist for Ronald Reagan. He also worked for President Bush during the 2000 Florida recount and real estate mogul and television reality show star Donald Trump during his campaign to prevent gambling in New York. Stone, who lives in Miami Beach, worked with Rothstein's partner and law firm co-founder Stuart Rosenfeldt on Reagan's first presidential campaign. ........ Most recently, Stone has been advising the New York state Senate Republicans on how to go on the offensive against Gov. Spitzer. ........ A vitriolic battle between the two camps has been escalating in Albany. The state Senate's investigatory committee launched an investigation into whether Spitzer's top aides used the New York State Police to tail Bruno when he used a state government aircraft to travel from the state capital to New York City. ....... On Aug. 6, a message was left on 83-year-old Bernard Spitzer's work voice mail threatening him with a subpoena and possible jail time for a $4.3 million loan he made to his son during his unsuccessful campaign in 1994. ......... "There is not a goddamn thing your phony, psycho, piece-of-shit son can do about it," the voice on the phone message reportedly said. "Bernie, your phony loans are about to catch up with you. You will be forced to tell the truth and the fact that your son's a pathological liar will be known to all." ...... "Why would I do such a thing?" Stone said in an interview with the Daily Business Review this week. "I pride myself on a Nixonian-type discipline to achieve my goals. There's a difference between playing up to the rules and playing over the rules." ...... His Web site, the Stone Zone -- which is sponsored by the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm -- calls the allegations "Spitzer's ultimate dirty trick." He said he has contacted the FBI's former voice analyst to determine if the voice mail was his voice or was created through audio software. ....... Stone initially accused his landlord, who was a fundraiser for Spitzer, of making the apartment accessible to allies of the governor. ..... He said it's possible the call was made to appear that it came from his number. ...... He also initially claimed he was at a play that night. He later retracted that statement when he realized the theater was dark the night in question. ....... Stone's angry retort on his Web site, however, also echoes the allegations made to Bernard Spitzer on his voice mail regarding the illegal loan. Scott Rothstein called Stone "brilliant" and a "force to be reckoned with." He said his colleague is not unethical and definitely not stupid. ..... The New York Times quoted Stone saying the number also belonged to Rothstein Rosenfeldt and Adler's consulting group. .... "It was not the first time I've seen our firm's name next to Mr. Stone's, nor would it be the last," Rothstein said. "I just looked to make sure they spelled the law firm's name right."
