Bin Laden’s Death Inspires Mixed Responses in Iraq find @smarterhiphop

By Munaf Ammar, Ali A. Nabhan and Jabbar Yaseen

RAMADI, Iraq – The killing of Osama bin Laden was greeted with a mixture of emotions in Iraq, a country which paid a heavy price in the U.S. reponse to the September 11 attacks.

There was relief, indifference and worries about retaliation.

Iraq was invaded in 2003 by a U.S.-led coalition looking for weapons of mass destruction that were never found. Quickly, the conflict became a magnet for jihadists fighting foreign troops and all those seen by them as apostates or infidels including the country’s newly-empowered Shiite majority and the minority Christian community.

Kidnappings, beheadings and bombings of Shiite mosques and shrines and Christian churches became the hallmarks of al Qaeda’s affiliates in Iraq in attacks that killed thousands and pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

Although al Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly weakened by the death and capture of several of its top leaders over the years, it remains a potent threat as Iraqis grapple with major challenges to their fragile democracy and hopes for a better future.

The Iraqi government, which has long blamed security failings on an alliance between al Qaeda elements and loyalists to former leader Saddam Hussein, welcomed the news hoping it would serve as a blow to extremism across the region.

“Iraqis are among those who sacrificed the most in order to eradicate terrorism,” said Ali al-Mussawi a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Jasim al-Halbousi, the head of the provincial council in Anbar said bin Laden had played a role in “the devastation that plagued” the western Iraqi province which until a few years ago served as a safe haven for al Qaeda-linked militants embracing a fanatical Sunni Muslim ideology.

Twin U.S. military assaults in 2004 against the city of Falluja, which had served as a base for foreign fighters, and a subsequent tribal-led revolt against al Qaeda-linked elements have left their marks on almost every family in predominantly Sunni Anbar.

But in the provincial capital Ramadi people had other worries on their minds.

“I personally do not care about this news, but more about my livelihood and work,” said Ammar Rajab, owner of a minimarket in Ramadi’s center.

In Baghdad’s Kadhimiya district, home to one of several revered Shiite shrines around the country that were targets of numerous bloody attacks by al Qaeda-tied extremists since 2004, the news of bin Laden’s demise was greeted with relief.

“For sure I am happy, he killed innocent people and Muslims, I hope his death will weaken and finish off al Qaeda,” said Mohammed Abdel-Razaq, a pastry shop owner.

But Wisam al-Kaabi a street vendor in Baghdad’s central Karrada district said bin Laden’s death would have no impact on the security situation in Iraq.

He said it was more a function of Iraq’s neighbors which are now roiled by internal unrest triggered by demands for democracy and openness.

“The Iraqi government does not protect anyone, but there are fewer problems when the Arab countries became weaker,” said Mr. Kaabi.

Both the U.S. and Iraqi governments have in the past accused neighboring Syria of turning a blind eye to al Qaeda militants flocking to Iraq through its borders.

Political commentator Ibrahim al-Sumaidie said Iraqis had other priorities, namely better public services and infrastructure.

“News like a summer with fulltime electricity will make Iraqis very happy and will be more important than bin Laden’s death,” said Mr. Sumaidie.

But there was less indifference among the country’s security forces which were in a state of heightened alert fearing retaliatory attacks.

“Al Qaeda in Iraq may try to carry out one or two operations in the name of revenge for bin Laden,” said Hussein Kamal, who heads the Interior Ministry’s intelligence unit.

      

Obama’s Health Care Reform Has Passed!!!! find out @smarterhiphop

 a lot of people dont wont to her this but obama said we could do this!!

We want to know what you think about this historic news.  As a baby boomer, how do you feel about the bill? Do you approve or disapprove?

Here is a summary of the bill from CBS News:

Coverage:

• Would expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.

Health Insurance Exchanges:

• The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
• Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage — effective 2014.
• Funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.

Subsidies:

• Individuals and families who make between 100 percent – 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies. They cannot be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid and cannot be covered by an employer. Eligible buyers receive premium credits and there is a cap for how much they have to contribute to their premiums on a sliding scale.

Federal Poverty Level for family of four is $22,050

Paying for the Plan:

• Medicare Payroll tax on investment income — Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
• Excise Tax — Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family’s plan.
• Tanning Tax — 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services.

Medicare:

• Closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.
• Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.

Medicaid:

• Expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four.
• Requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults starting in 2014.
• Federal Government pays 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.
• Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.

Insurance Reforms:

• Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
• Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.
• Insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent’s insurance plans through age 26.

Abortion:

• The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds.
• No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.

**Separately, anti-abortion Democrats worked out language with the White House on an executive order that would state that no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or health of the mother. (Read more here)

Individual Mandate:

• In 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people.

Employer Mandate:

• Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.

Immigration:

• Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges — even if they pay completely with their own money.

     

      

wft @souljaboy plays with the illuminati? find out @smarterhiphop

wtf wtf wtf !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!














soulja boy just tweeted a few mins ago he likes to play a game of illuminati with this twit pic ???????? 

click the picture below to find out more info !!

\\\\http://twitpic.com/4sef9u

Bin Laden was found and killed!!!! FIND OUT @SMARTERHIPHOP

President Obama praises those Americans who carried out the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, tells the families of the victims of September 11, 2001 that they have never been forgotten, and calls on Americans to remember the unity of that tragic day.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in a mountain cave on Afghanistan's border, but with his youngest wife in a million-dollar compound in a summer resort just over an hour's drive from Pakistan's capital, U.S. officials said.

A small U.S. team conducted a night-time helicopter raid on the compound early on Monday. After 40 minutes of fighting, bin Laden and an adult son, one unidentified woman and two men were dead, the officials said.

U.S. forces were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with or protected by bin Laden," a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters.

Bin Laden was finally found -- more than 9-1/2 years after the 2001 attacks on the United States -- after authorities discovered in August 2010 that the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and extremely high-security building, officials said.

They said the courier and his brother were among those killed in the raid.

"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior administration official said.

"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target. The experts who worked this issue for years assessed that there was a strong probability that the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," another administration official said.

The home is in Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.

It was a far cry from the popular notion of bin Laden hiding in some mountain cave on the rugged and inaccessible Afghan-Pakistan border -- an image often evoked by officials up to and including former President George W. Bush.

The building, about eight times the size of other nearby houses, sat on a large plot of land that was relatively secluded when it was built in 2005. When it was constructed, it was on the outskirts of Abbottabad's center, at the end of a dirt road, but some other homes have been built nearby in the six years since it went up, officials said.

WALLS TOPPED WITH BARBED WIRE

Intense security measures included 12- to 18-foot outer walls topped with barbed wire and internal walls that sectioned off different parts of the compound, officials said. Two security gates restricted access, and residents burned their trash, rather than leaving it for collection as did their neighbors, officials said.

Few windows of the three-story home faced the outside of the compound, and a terrace had a seven-foot (2.1 meter) privacy wall, officials said.

"It is also noteworthy that the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it," an administration official said. "The brothers had no explainable source of wealth."

U.S. analysts realized that a third family lived there in addition to the two brothers, and the age and makeup of the third family matched those of the relatives -- including his youngest wife -- they believed would be living with bin Laden.

"Everything we saw, the extremely elaborate operational security, the brothers' background and their behavior and the location of the compound itself was perfectly consistent with what our experts expected bin Laden's hide-out to look like," another Obama administration official said.

Abbottabad is a popular summer resort, located in a valley surrounded by green hills near Pakistani Kashmir. Islamist militants, particularly those fighting in Indian-controlled Kashmir, used to have training camps near the town.

  
    
    

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD!!! FIND OUT @SMARTERHIPHOP

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that murdered thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said Sunday.

A small team of Americans killed bin Laden in a firefight Sunday at a compound in Pakistan, the president said in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.

"Justice has been done," the president said.

Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," he said.

Few details were immediately available of the operation that resulted in bin Laden's death, although the president said none of the Americans involved was harmed.

The development came just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.

The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.

               

Rubbish? Generate gas from kitchen waste

It’s not rocket science, but basic stuff. Now your kitchen waste can provide you with free gas for an investment of just Rs 15,000.

Already, two households in Bengaluru are getting their gas through this method, which was developed in Pune a few years ago.

The State Biofuel Task Force (SBTF) is planning to take up the project on a large scale for farmers across the state.

The experts feel that any big house in Bengaluru can adopt this method to save money and get rid of organic waste.

A proposal will be sent to the state government seeking funds for installation of 10,000 such plants across the state.

In fact the SBTF plans to waive Rs 10,000 for farmers who come forward and are ready to invest Rs 5,000.

The model can be built in two days. All it needs is a cement floor and ducts to hold kitchen waste, which then requires to be compressed.

When the waste is compressed, it releases gases, including methane, in large quantities. About five kilos of organic waste from the kitchen can produce gas, which needs to be cooled for more than two hours before use.

“The local plumbers in each taluk HQ can be trained to install the model for farmers. Several farmers who are dependent on firewood for their daily fuel can get round-the-clock gas using the waste generated in their homes. About 50 such installations will be set up in each taluka by the end of this year,” said Y.B. Ramakrishna, chairman of SBTF.

The SBTF officials said that the first biofuel plants were installed in many parts of Maharashtra and under the NABARD scheme, biogas plants were installed in Hassan and Bellary.

“Thousands of farmers have switched over to kitchen waste-based biogas plants in Maharashtra. But local ideas are not always encouraged here and instead we wait for MNCs to come and set up something similar,” commented an official wryly.

Mr Ramakrishna pointed out that residents with larger spaces can try the biogas model even in Bengaluru.

“The present facility is at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Sciences and two households are already self-sufficient in getting cooking gas through their waste. There is no stench and it is a low-maintenance plant,” Mr Ramakrishna said underlining the advantages.

White House condemns WikiLeaks Guantanamo revelations

The US government said it was 'unfortunate' that news organisations had decided to publish classified information on detainees.

     

Hackers Take Down Sony's PlayStation Network find out @smarterhiphop

Hackers Take Down Sony's PlayStation Network

Hackers have managed to cut Sony off at the knees in several of the most competitive aspects of this generation of video games.

For the past five days, the PlayStation Network has been offline-making it impossible for PlayStation 3 owners to play multiplayer games, download updates to titles or use their PS3 to stream movies and music. This represents the most serious outage the service has faced since its start in 2006.

The company has acknowledged via its official blog,that the disruption was initially caused by an "external intrusion." To ensure future security and figure out exactly what happened, Sony says it turned off both the PlayStation Network and the Qriocity music service on the evening of April 20.

The company says it is not yet certain if credit card or other personal information of users was taken during the intrusion.

Sony says the attack has led it to begin rebuilding the system and it has not given an estimate when it will be back online.

"Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure," said Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications, on the blog. "Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security. ... I know [players] are waiting for additional information on when PlayStation Network and Qriocity services will be online. Unfortunately, I don't have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time."

So far, no hacker group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The rogue group known as Anonymous, which has famously launched attacks on both Gene Simmons and Hustler Magazine, was initially suspected, after it vowed in early April to target Sony after the company's legal action against a hacker who dismantled the PS3's security.

The group managed to disrupt the service with a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack earlier this month. (Anonymous attackers, using software known as "Low Orbit Ion Cannons," repeatedly pinged the company's servers. When done simultaneously by enough users, this can bring the site down-usually quickly and without warning.)

However, Anonymous denies responsibility for this incident, saying on its site, "While it could be the case that other Anons have acted by themselves, AnonOps was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened."

The outage of the PlayStation Network hits Sony at a particularly bad time from a game sales perspective. The company released last week "SOCOM 4," a multiplayer-focused action game that is traditionally one of its biggest franchises.

Additionally, the eagerly anticipated "Portal 2," which comes with a co-operative mode, also hit store shelves last week-with an integration of Valve's Steam online service into the PlayStation Network being touted as one of the chief reasons to opt for the PS3 version of the game, rather than the Xbox 360 version.

Richard Lawler, a senior editor at Engadget, summed up gamer's frustration via Twitter, writing "PS3 version of Portal 2 came with a PC version and cross-plat[form] play! Xbox 360 version comes with a working online service."

The outage gives Microsoft an advantage in the online gaming space, as its Xbox Live service has not been compromised. Unlike Microsoft, which requires a $60 annual subscription fee for access to most features of its Xbox Live service, Sony does not charge most users for access to the PlayStation Network. (A PlayStation Plus program is available, giving early access to demos, priority invitations to game beta tests and discounts on products in its online store.)

That will prevent it from having to issue substantial refunds, but that might be small consolation to users who pay subscription fees to companies like Hulu Plus and Netflix, using the PS3 to view streaming content.