HOW DO CHINESE SOLDIERS ALWAYS KEEP THEIR HEADS SO UPRIGHT....PINS

DAUGHTER DESERVED TO DIE

'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Two weeks ago, The Observer revealed how 17-year-old student Rand Abdel-Qader was beaten to death by her father after becoming infatuated with a British soldier in Basra. In this remarkable interview, Abdel-Qader Ali explains why he is unrepentant - and how police backed his actions. Afif Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies report

• Afif Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies
• The Observer,
• Sunday May 11 2008
• Article history

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This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday May 11 2008 on p8 of the News section. It was last updated at 18:26 on May 12 2008.

For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse.

Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British soldier in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death.

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.

Rand, who was studying English at Basra University, was deemed to have brought shame on her family after becoming infatuated with a British soldier, 22, known only as Paul.

She died a virgin, according to her closest friend Zeinab. Indeed, her 'relationship' with Paul, which began when she worked as a volunteer helping displaced families and he was distributing water, appears to have consisted of snatched conversations over less than four months. But the young, impressionable Rand fell in love with him, confiding her feelings and daydreams to Zeinab, 19.

It was her first youthful infatuation and it would be her last. She died on 16 March after her father discovered she had been seen in public talking to Paul, considered to be the enemy, the invader and a Christian. Though her horrified mother, Leila Hussein, called Rand's two brothers, Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his foot on her throat, they joined in. Her shrouded corpse was then tossed into a makeshift grave without ceremony as her uncles spat on it in disgust.

'Death was the least she deserved,' said Abdel-Qader. 'I don't regret it. I had the support of all my friends who are fathers, like me, and know what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion,' he said.

Sitting on a chair by his front door and surrounded by the gerberas and white daisies he had planted in the family garden, Abel-Qader attempted to justify his actions.

'I don't have a daughter now, and I prefer to say that I never had one. That girl humiliated me in front of my family and friends. Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman. 'People from western countries might be shocked, but our girls are not like their daughters that can sleep with any man they want and sometimes even get pregnant without marrying. Our girls should respect their religion, their family and their bodies.

'I have only two boys from now on. That girl was a mistake in my life. I know God is blessing me for what I did,' he said, his voice swelling with pride. 'My sons are by my side, and they were men enough to help me finish the life of someone who just brought shame to ours.'

Abdel-Qader, a Shia, says he was released from the police station 'because everyone knows that honour killings sometimes are impossible not to commit'. Chillingly, he said: 'The officers were by my side during all the time I was there, congratulating me on what I had done.' It's a statement that, if true, provides an insight into how vast the gulf remains between cultures in Iraq and between the Basra police the British army that trains them.

Sources have indicated that Abdel-Qader, who works in the health department, has been asked to leave because of the bad publicity, yet he will continue to draw a salary.

And it has been alleged by one senior unnamed official in the Basra governorate that he has received financial support by a local politician to enable him to 'disappear' to Jordan for a few weeks, 'until the story has been forgotten' - the usual practice in the 30-plus cases of 'honour' killings that have been registered since January alone.

Such treatment seems common in Basra, where militias have partial control, especially in the districts on the outskirts where Abdel-Qader lives.

While government security forces and British troops have control over the centre, around the fringes militants can still be seen everywhere on the streets or at the checkpoints they have erected. And they have imposed strict laws of behaviour for all the local people, including what clothing should be worn and what religious practices should be observed. There are reports of men having their hands cut off for looting and women being killed for prostitution.

Homosexuality is punishable by death, a sentence Abdel-Qader approves of with a passion. 'I have alerted my two sons. They will have the same end [as Rand] if they become contaminated with any gay relationship. These crimes deserve death - death in the name of God,' he said.

He said his daughter's 'bad genes were passed on from her mother'. Rand's mother, 41, remains in hiding after divorcing her husband in the immediate aftermath of the killing, living in fear of retribution from his family. She also still bears the scars of the severe beating he inflicted on her, breaking her arm in the process, when she told him she was going. 'They cannot accept me leaving him. When I first left I went to a cousin's home, but every day they were delivering notes to my door saying I was a prostitute and deserved the same death as Rand,' she said.

'She was killed by animals. Every night when go to bed I remember the face of Rand calling for help while her father and brothers ended her life,' she said, tears streaming down her face.

She was nervous, clearly terrified of being found, and her eyes constantly turned towards the window as she spoke. 'Rand told me about the soldier, but she swore it was just a friendship.

'She said she spoke with him because she was the only English speaker. I raised her in a religious manner and she never went out alone until she joined the university and then later when she was doing aid work.

'Even now, I cannot believe my ex-husband was able to kill our daughter. He wasn't a bad person. During our 24 years of marriage, he was never aggressive. But on that day, he was a different person.'

The mother is now trying to raise enough money to escape abroad. 'I miss my two boys,' she said. 'But they have sent a message saying that I am wrong for defending Rand and that I should go back home and live like a blessed Muslim woman,' said Leila, who is now volunteering with a local organisation campaigning for better protection for women in Basra.

One of those running the organisation, who did not want to be identified, said that Rand's case was similar to so many reported in Basra, with the only difference being she was in love with a foreigner, rather than an Iraqi.

'There isn't too much to say. Rand is dead. It is a tragedy and will be a tragedy for many other families in Iraq in the days to come.

'According to information we have been given, some from Rand's colleague, we have doubts that her love was reciprocated. We have the impression that Rand was in love, but the English soldier wasn't. But, for a girl to be paid nice compliments about her beauty and her intelligence, it was enough for her to think she was in love.

'She isn't here any more for her mother to ask any of the questions she would like to. Rand's case had repercussions because she fell in love with a foreigner. But what about the other girls murdered through "honour" killings because they fell in love with some of a different sect, or lost their virginity, or were forced to become prostitutes?'

Rand's mother used to call her 'Rose'. 'That was my nickname for her because when she was born she was so beautiful,' she said.

'Now, my lovely Rose is in her grave. But, God will make her father pay, either in this world ... or in the world after.'

MY CAT IS AFTER MY GOLDFISH.

Yesterday I caught my cat getting ready to attack my goldfish. When I told my wife she didn't believe me. So when I caught it getting ready to strike again today I took a picture.

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NOW SHE WILL HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!!!

I HOPE GOD PLAYS IN THE FA CUP FINAL

WORST COUNTRIES TO BE A WOMAN

In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain

Mar 08, 2008 04:30 AM

Olivia Ward
Foreign Affairs Reporter

The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.

But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants of our planet, the perks of the cyber age never arrived. As International Women's Day is celebrated today, they continue to feel the age-old lash of violence, repression, isolation, enforced ignorance and discrimination.

"These things are universal," says Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New York-based Equality Now. "There is not one single country where women can feel absolutely safe."

In spite of real progress in women's rights around the globe – better laws, political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack.

Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most vulnerable.

So widespread are the disadvantages that it's hard to pinpoint the worst places in the world for women. Some surveys rate their problems by quality of life, others by health indicators. Human rights groups point to countries where violations are so severe that even murder is routine.

Literacy is one of the best indicators of women's status in their countries. But Amnesty International Canada's women's rights campaigner Cheryl Hotchkiss says building schools alone doesn't solve the problem of equal education.

"There's a huge range of barriers women face to getting an education," she says. "It may be free and available, but parents won't send their daughters out to school if they can be kidnapped and raped."

Health is another key indicator, including the care of pregnant women, who are sometimes forced into disastrous early marriage and childbearing, as well as infection with HIV/AIDS. But again, statistics fail to show the whole, complex story.

"On a rural lake in Zambia, I met a woman who had not told her husband she was HIV-positive," says David Morley, CEO of Save the Children Canada. "She was already living on the edge because she had no children. If she told him, she would be kicked off the island and sent alone to the mainland. She felt she had no choice, because she had no power at all."

Putting power in women's hands is the biggest challenge for improving their lives in every country, advocates agree. Whether in the poorest countries of Africa, or the most repressive of the Middle East or Asia, lack of control over their own destinies blights women's lives from early childhood.

Here are 10 of the worst countries in the world to be a woman today:

• Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.

• Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front line. Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to look after children alone. Foraging for food and water exposes women to yet more violence. Without money, transport or connections, they have no way of escape.

• Iraq: The U.S.-led invasion to "liberate" Iraq from Saddam Hussein has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now among the lowest as families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending girls to school. Women who once went out to work stay home. Meanwhile, more than 1 million women have been displaced from their homes, and millions more are unable to earn enough to eat.

• Nepal: Early marriage and childbirth exhaust the country's malnourished women, and one in 24 will die in pregnancy or childbirth. Daughters who aren't married off may be sold to traffickers before they reach their teens. Widows face extreme abuse and discrimination if they're labelled bokshi, meaning witches. A low-level civil war between government and Maoist rebels has forced rural women into guerrilla groups.

• Sudan: While Sudanese women have made strides under reformed laws, the plight of those in Darfur, in western Sudan, has worsened. Abduction, rape or forced displacement have destroyed more than 1 million women's lives since 2003. The janjaweed militias have used systematic rape as a demographic weapon, but access to justice is almost impossible for the female victims of violence.

• Other countries in which women's lives are significantly worse than men's include Guatemala, where an impoverished female underclass faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.

In Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, few women escape the torture of genital mutilation, many are forced into early marriages, and one in 10 dies in pregnancy or childbirth.

In the tribal border areas of Pakistan, women are gang-raped as punishment for men's crimes. But honour killing is more widespread, and a renewed wave of religious extremism is targeting female politicians, human rights workers and lawyers.

In oil-rich Saudi Arabia, women are treated as lifelong dependents, under the guardianship of a male relative. Deprived of the right to drive a car or mix with men publicly, they are confined to strictly segregated lives on pain of severe punishment.

In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a vicious civil war has put women, who were the traditional mainstay of the family, under attack. In a society that has broken down, women are exposed daily to rape, dangerously poor health care for pregnancy, and attack by armed gangs.

"While the potential of women is recognized at the international level," says World Health Organization director-general Margaret Chan, "this potential will not be realized until conditions improve – often dramatically – in countries and communities. Too many complex factors, often rooted in social and cultural norms, continue to hinder the ability of women and girls to achieve their potential and benefit from social advances."

BEST COUNTRIES TO BE A WOMAN

Measures of well-being include life expectancy, education, purchasing power and standard of living. Not surprisingly, the top 10 countries are among the world's wealthiest.

1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Japan
9. Netherlands
10. France
    
    

SOURCE: UNDP Gender-related development index

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INCOME GAPS

Poverty means pain for both men and women, but throughout the world it's women who suffer the most from lack of income. In these countries, women earn less than 50 per cent of men's incomes:

Benin 48 per cent
Bangladesh 46 per cent
Sierra Leone 45 per cent
Equatorial Guinea 43 per cent
Togo 43 per cent
Eritrea 39 per cent
Cape Verde 36 per cent
Yemen 30 per cent

SOURCE: UNDP Human Development Report

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LITERACY GAPS

The better a woman's education, the better chance she and her children have of surviving economically, protecting themselves and leading healthy lives. In these countries, women's literacy rate is less than 50 per cent of men's:

Mali 49 per cent
Benin 49 per cent
Yemen 47 per cent
Mozambique 46 per cent
Ethiopia 46 per cent
Guinea 42 per cent
Niger 35 per cent
Chad 31 per cent
Afghanistan 28 per cent

Countries with women's literacy rate less than 70 per cent of men's:

India 65 per cent
Morocco 60 per cent
Pakistan 55 per cent

SOURCES: UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF

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I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.....

OR THIS

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IT'S CRASS BUT SOME PEOPLE WILL LIKE IT!!!! CLICK THE PICTURE

NEW SHOES!!!!

HOW NOT TO CATCH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

WORLDS UGLIEST DOG COMPETITION

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WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO COLIN FARRELL

Whatever happened to fabulous Colin Farrell?

With his rippling biceps and toned pecs, Colin Farrell used to look as though he would burst out of his clothes.

These days, he is in danger of disappearing inside them.

The 32-year-old Irish actor appeared worryingly gaunt while out in Spain on the weekend.

His hollow cheeks and sunken chest were in stark contrast to the form he built up to play Alexander the Great in 2004.

The actor bore an uncanny resemblance to fellow Irish celebrity, snooker player Alex "Hurricane" Higgins

Farrell's weight loss may stem from the demands of the film which he is shooting in Alicante.

He stars in Triage with Spanish actress Paz Vega and British film veteran Christopher Lee.

In the film, co-produced by the Irish Film Board, he portrays a war photographer who loses his best friend during a harrowing consignment in war-torn Bosnia during the early 1990s.

Or perhaps his new look is the result of an extreme detox after giving up his formerly hellraising lifestyle.

While living in Los Angeles the actor became addicted to hard drugs and alcohol and starred in a string of flop movies.

He also fathered a son called James, now four.

After a spell in rehab, Farrell decided to have a career break and move back to Dublin to spend more time with his son, who has a rare genetic disorder called Angelman syndrome.

He recently revealed how fatherhood had changed him immensely - and said he had mended his ways.

In the interview in February he said: "I think it only changes you if you want it to change you, it didn't change me for about two years until I curbed a certain way I was living."

THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF OUR TIME

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ARE YOU GAY

KIDS SHOULDN'T SNORT COKE

RESTAURANT'S CLOSED TODAY....HERE'S WHY

VERY NORTY QUICKIES (THEY'LL OFFEND EVERYONE)

91% of people over 60 believe that us kids show less respect to others, than they did in the past.
What do they know, the silly old fuckers.

I heard that a 97 and a 93 year old recently got married………I thought, I can’t see that marriage lasting.

I was in Sainsburys when I saw the sign saying "try something new today. "I thought, ‘that’s a good idea…so I went to Asda”.

I went to the doctors the other day and asked him to have a look at my penis. He lifted one bollock up , then the other. He rolled down the foreskin and looked at the helmet.
"Well, Mr Smith," he said "I can't see anything wrong with that at all."
"I know," I said "It's a fucking beauty, isn't it!"

I'd like to leave this world like I came into it:
Screaming, naked and covered in someone else's blood!

Viagra ... Now available in powder form to put in your tea.
Does fuck all for your erections, but it does stop your biscuits going soft!

I think Dawn French is a great actress; which is strange because I don't usually like anything Lenny Henry's been in.

What is the most stupid animal in the jungle?
A polar bear.

Amy Winehouse bumps into Jeremy Clarkson and they start to have a chat,

She says to him "I don’t fink I know you, what do you do?"

He says "Every one knows, I do Top Gear"

She says "Fucking brilliant I’ll have 3 grams".

I phoned my mate last night, I said, “Robert I heard you got robbed this morning”
He said “Yeah the robber gave me two choices, either give up your phone or suck my dick”.

I said “Jeez, what did you do?”

He said “Well we’re talking on my phone right now………

Why is my TV remote like the queue in a London benefit office?
It's long, black and doesn't work.

I went for a drink with a girl who’s got bulimia last night. I was a bit worried about mentioning her illness, but once she had a drink down her, she brought it up straight away.

When I was growing up my mum told me there were magic words that could get me anything I wanted. Those words were "please" and "thank you". Now I've grown up I've come to realise there are new magic words that can get you anything you want - be it a free home or money for doing nothing. Those words are "I am a Muslim", and “I am an Asylum Seeker”.

THIS IS LOOKING GOOD FOR NEXT SEASON, NOW WE NEED ANOTHER COUPLE OF PIECES IN THE JIGSAW.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MUMS

Celebrated around the globe, Mother's Day is an annual holiday honoring the world's online florists. In the United States, Mother's Day is observed on the second Sunday in May, but different countries insist on celebrating it on different days of the year because your moms will never be happy to simply leave well enough alone


Though, like most humans, your mom has an actual date of birth, her life did not truly begin until you, her brilliant child, passed through her birth canal and emerged from her vagina, naked and glistening with amniotic fluid. Every moment of her existence up to that point was merely prelude to your birth, and every moment since has been spent in deference to your needs and desires. Any biographical sketch of your mom would therefore most likely be more about you and your upbringing rather than about specific pre-you events in your mom's life, and really, why bother even asking, because your mom has told you, she's only the person who brought you into this world, who gave you the very gift of life, not that she expects any gratitude or anything. Your mom heaves a heavy sigh as if to say: no, everything's fine, if that's how you really feel, it's your life and she's not going to tell you how to live it, even though your mom hasn't been feeling well lately, but it's probably nothing. Oh, sure, your mom thinks it would be nice if you called, but she knows you're busy. Okay, okay, enough already, your mom, you get it.

As your mom has been known to say many, many, many times, raising children is a full-time job. However, like many your moms, it is very likely that your mom had an additional vocation that did not involve changing her ungrateful offspring's poopy diapers. Because attending to your every need requires a tremendous investment of time and energy, your mom was forced to make sacrifices that involved prioritizing child rearing over dedicating herself to a career.


Having raised you, and therefore having been present to experience every aspect of your cognitive and emotional development, your mom possesses the exquisite dick ability to push exactly those buttons that will most aggravate you. Frequently, this involves transference of guilt to you from your mom over your failure to call, visit, interact with family, earn enough money, finish school and/or obtain an advanced degree, provide grandchildren, or lead a lifestyle similar to Mrs. Weinbach's son down the block, you know, the successful doctor and such a nice boy, too.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN LORRAINE

THANKS TO philcoiinetnetau.blogspot.com/

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

NATIONAL GOOD LOOKING DAY

MRS. NORTY'S FAVOURITE COOKIE RECIPE

Mrs Norty's Cookies

1 Cup water
1 tsp baking soda
1 Cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Cup brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 Cup nuts
2 Cup dried fruit
1 bottle Gordon's Gin

Sample the Gordon's Gin to check its quality.

Take a large bowl and check the Gordon's Gin again to be sure it is of the highest quality. Pour one level cup and drink for this part of the recipe

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat some more.

At this point it's best to make sure the Gin is still okay. Try another cup to make sure it is not going bad.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruitcakes.

Pick the friggin' fruit off the floor. Mix on the turn-er. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewsciver.

Sample the Gin to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt or something. Check the Gordon's Gin. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, somefink, whatever you can find.

Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees. Don't forget to bean off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Gordon's Gin and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

DEAR GOD, HERE IS A GOOD QUESTION

MY MATES GIRLFRIEND

My mate was so happy with his new Asian girlfriend

Until she came out to meet us all, in her new mini skirt....

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