Did hard times create the Times Square bomber?
WASHINGTON: Speculation is growing that mundane money worries and a sense of personal failure have finally sent Shahzad, right, over the edge. For answers to the mystery of what drove Faisal Shahzad to try to turn downtown New York into a fireball, a poke among the rubbish in the back garden of his former home in Connecticut offers some torn and crumpled clues.
Blowing around last week on the overgrown lawn was a discarded cache of personal mail, dumped there during a clearout when he abruptly vacated the house last year. The tale they tell, though, is not of contacts with shadowy terrorist groups or plots against the West, but a narrative that millions of ordinary Americans can identify with since the financial meltdown of 2008. One is a letter from the Connecticut Superior Court, demanding he attend a repossession hearing on his home; another is from a debt collection agency, saying he owed them more than $15,000.
A third message is friendlier in tone, but reveals just why his financial woes might have worried him so much – it is a pink greetings card addressed to him and his wife, Huma, which reads “Congratulations on your new little girl!” Just what else might have turned a seemingly normal young family man into a terrorist is still being unravelled by anti-terror police in New York, who yesterday continued to interrogate the former financial analyst over suspected links to militants in Pakistan.
A week after his botched attempt to detonate an SUV rigged with a homemade bomb in Times Square, the city remains under high alert: this weekend, police with radiation detectors were checking subway passengers” bags, and any abandoned vehicle drew the close attention of bomb squad officers. Yet as Americans wrestle once again with the perplexing mystery of so-called “cleanskin” terrorists in their midst, speculation is growing that it have been mundane money worries and a sense of personal failure that finally sent Shahzad over the edge. Former friends recall a bright, cheerful man who cared little for religion when he got married back in Pakistan six years ago, but whose personality dramatically soured from 2008 onwards – almost in tune with the darkening economic climate. “He lost his way during the financial problems,” said one friend, who asked not to be named.
Or, as one Connecticut policeman put it, in rather blunter fashion: “He got screwed by the recession just like the rest of us, only he chose to react the way he did.” It is not clear what has happened to Shahzadís Americanborn wife, Huma Mian, who bore him two children. His marriage to a US citizen had enabled him to convert his temporary US work permit into a residential green card.
Unseen since the bomb attempt, Mian is now thought to be in Saudi Arabia. There were few answers in Mohib Banda, the Shahzad familyís ancestral home 20 miles from Peshawar. Faiz Ahmad, a former village mayor, said Shahzadís closest relatives had gone into hiding. Locals who knew Shahzad said he had shown no trace of extremism and the only sign of any change came 18 months ago at a wedding. ìHe was sporting a beard and was reserved and quiet,î said Ahmad. His second cousin, Kifayat Ali, a Peshawar lawyer, said: ìShahzad comes from a very respectable family.
They are not so religious. î The portrait of Shahzad that American officials have so far pieced together remains full of contradictions and gaps. He was drowning in debt and his threebedroom family home in Connecticut, bought for $273,000, was in foreclosure. Yet it has since emerged that he was able to afford at least half a dozen trips back to Pakistan in the past 11 years. He first appeared on a US security database for bringing $80,000 into the country in cash between 1999 and 2008.
He had a business degree and his job as a financial analyst paid him up to $80,000 a year. In February 2009 he was granted a home loan of $65,000 on top of his $200,000 mortgage, even though the US mortgage meltdown had already begun. Yet by last November he was taken to court by a home heating firm that claimed he owed $793.34.
Other debts went unpaid, but after a trip to Pakistan in February he had the cash to make rent payments on a $1,150-a-month apartment and paid $1,300 in $100 bills for the Nissan sports utility vehicle that he rigged with $2,000 worth of explosives and drove to Times Square last weekend. When he tried to flee the country on Monday he also paid about $800 in cash for a oneway ticket to Islamabad.
This weekend, the hunt is continuing worldwide for whoever may have helped Shahzad nurture his grievances and ultimately put them into action. For whatever outside help he may have had, it is clear that the “sub-prime bomber”, as he might be dubbed, was nothing less than substandard in delivery. Shahzad, who has been nicknamed by the US media as “Idiot Bomber” will go down in history as arguably America”s least professional terrorist.
Not only did his device fail to explode, he accidentally left the keys to a second getaway car inside the bomb car, and also used a mobile phone number that was registered in his own name. Even the Taliban”s description of his attempt of his attempt as “brave” seems a little over-generous.
Terrorism expert Rahimullah Yusufzai points out, more committed Jihadists would have tried to blow themselves up, not a vehicle. Yusufzai added: “Shahzad, I think, had commitment but not in the way more committed militants would be operating. They would have blown themselves up, while Shahzad tried to escape.
That shows he was not fully signed up. He wanted to do harm but did not quite have the guts to take it to its conclusion.” Shahzad has told investigators that he was a “fan and follower” of the Yemen-based militant Anwar al-Awlaki. Shahzadís family is rich and well-respected. One sister is a doctor, another is a schoolteacher, and his older brother moved to Canada to work as a mechanical engineer.
Shahzad, too, moved to study in the US in 1999 to gain a degree in computer science. When he married his partner Huma Mian, a Pakistani emigre from Colorado, the wedding was notable for mixed couples dancing ñ a sign that both families had a modern outlook. Indeed, to their neighbours in the Connecticut town of Sheldon, they were just another ordinary couple pursuing the Middle American dream. “They lived well. He worked, she didn”t, and she just seemed to shop. My daughter used to play with her daughter every day and she came across as decent and genuine,” said a neighbour Brenda Thurman, 37, a restaurant worker. Distinct changes were detected in her husband by 2008, neighbours remember. There were rants about George W Bush being a war criminal, and criticism of US drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan. “They should not be shooting people from the sky. They should come down and fight,” Shahzad used to say.
During his visits to Pakistan he frowned old acquaintances for drinking whisky. “Last year when I saw him, he was changed person as he didn”t take interest in anything,” said Zaheer Khan, a neighbour in his village Mohib Banda. Psychologist James Monahan said: “By doing what he did he discredited his family and dishonoured them.
He was clearly disturbed, impulsive and immature and his anxieties spilled out against the US. He literally wanted to go out with a bang, to make a name for himself.” According to explosive experts, Shahzad even used the wrong kind of fertiliser in the device, meaning it was never likely to detonate properly. “He was trained, but he certainly did not graduate at the top of the class,” said retired NYPD bomb squad member Kevin Barry.
Man arrested over NY bomb attempt: reports
NEW YORK: Police have arrested a Connecticut man in connection with the attempted car bombing of a busy Times Square street Saturday night, NBC reported.
Shahzad Faisal, of Connecticut, was arrested within on Long Island within the last hour.
Earlier today, federal authorities said they identified a naturalized American citizen who recently returned from Pakistan as a “person of interest” in the attempted car bombing on Broadway Saturday night.
The propane-and-gasoline bomb was found Saturday in an SUV parked near a Broadway theater showing “The Lion King.””
A bomb squad dismantled it.
The area was evacuated for 10 hours. No one was hurt.
Shoaib Malik, Sania Mirza Nikkah Today
HYDERABAD :Shoaib Malik, Sania Mirza Nikkah Today, The Nikkah ceremony of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will be held today.
Watch Live Cricket
The report publish in The Daily Siasat said Pakistani Cricketer Shoiab Malik and Tennis ace Sania Mirza tie the knot today, and their Nikah ceremony will be performed after Magrib at the residence of Sania Mirza.
As per Islamic Law Nikah will be performed by Qazi Azmathullah Jafferi in the presence of both family members, relatives and some intimate friends, report said.
As earlier Sania and Shoaib told Media that marriage will be held on 15th April 2010, but after the discussion between both the families and authentication given by Qazath, it is scheduled on 9th April 2010 at the residence of Sania Mirza, report added.
The reception party is scheduled on 15th April 2010 at Hotel Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Many prominent celebrities are expected to attend the reception.
At Nikah ceremony, not only both family members but also the relatives and friends of Shoaib Malik who had come from Pakistan, will attend including Sania’s personal friends.
At the source of Qazath, this marriage is called second marriage (Aqad-e-Sani) for Shoaib Malik.
Watch Live Cricket
Shoaib Malik, Sania Mirza Nikkah Today was first posted on April 9, 2010 at 3:03 pm.
Copyright @ A Pakistan News.Com
wnba draft
April 8, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
UConn’s Charles taken No. 1 in WNBA draft
SECAUCUS, N.J. — It’s been an unforgettable 48 hours for Tina Charles.
Less than two days after helping UConn win its second straight national championship, she was selected first by the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA draft.
“It’s unbelievable, my heart is still pounding out of my chest,” Charles said. “I’m more interested what impact I’ll have on the team more than just being the No. 1 pick.”
Charles averaged more than 18 points and nine rebounds while leading UConn to an NCAA Division I-record 78 straight victories over the past two seasons.
The Sun traded with the Minnesota Lynx in the offseason to get The Associated Press player of the year, who joined Sue Bird (2002) and Diana Taurasi (2004) as the only UConn players taken with the top overall pick.
The Sun also acquired Charles’ former UConn teammate, Renee Montgomery, in exchange for Monica Wright, the second pick in the draft, and former University of Minnesota star Lindsay Whalen. The Lynx then took Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin with the third pick. Wright and Griffin got to know each other as they roomed at both the Final Four and the WNBA draft.
Chicago drafted former Rutgers guard Epiphanny Prince with the fourth pick. She was unable to attend the draft because she was playing in Turkey for Botas-Spor. Prince left Rutgers after her junior year to pursue a playing career overseas. Her mom and dad were on hand at the draft.
Jayne Appel, who guided Stanford to three straight Final Fours and the national title game this season, was taken fifth by San Antonio. She’s recovering from a sprained ankle and stress fracture on an outer bone of her right foot, and was wearing a protective boot.
Washington drafted Florida State’s Jacinta Monroe with the sixth pick.
Kansas forward Danielle McCray was taken by Connecticut with the seventh pick. She tore her ACL late in the season and won’t be able to play until August.
Oklahoma State star Andrea Riley went eighth to Los Angeles. Rounding out the first round, it was: Mississippi State’s Chanel Mokango to Atlanta at No. 9; Iowa State’s Alison Lacey to Seattle at No. 10; San Diego State’s Jene Morris to Indiana at No. 11; and Mississippi’s Bianca Thomas to Los Angeles at No. 12.
Teams will open training camp April 25, exhibition games begin April 30 and the league’s 14th season will start May 15.
uconn
April 5, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
SAN ANTONIO — Connecticut has won ‘em all this season, and Stanford has won ‘em all except a game against the Huskies.
So it’s only fitting that the women’s national championship comes down to a rematch between them.
“I personally just want to play the best,” UConn star Maya Moore said. “I want to be challenged, I want to compete, and Stanford has proven themselves to be that team.”
Connecticut will be going for its 78th consecutive win and a second straight unbeaten season, which has never happened in women’s college basketball. Not that the Huskies need reasons to be confident, but it can only help knowing they’ve already beaten the Cardinal once this season and in the Final Four last year.
“The matchup doesn’t matter to us,” center Tina Charles said. “Whoever is going to be in the way, that’s who we’re going to have to go up against. It’s nothing personal or anything like that.”
The Huskies certainly know how good the Cardinal are.
Stanford gave UConn its toughest game this season, losing by 12, and was the last team to beat Connecticut, back in the 2008 national semifinals.
Plus, Cardinal players have the fun of knowing they are the underdogs – even one that’s 36-1 and whose star, Nnemkadi Ogwumike, is coming off a 38-point performance, the second-most points in Final Four history.
ad_icon
Click here!
“We have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Stanford guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude said.
She also offered up this theory: “Say we play 10 times. Probability might be that their team would win the majority of the time, but all we have to do is win one game. One time, 40 minutes. I think it is doable.”
This will be the sixth time the women’s championship is decided by teams that finished the regular season 1-2 in The Associated Press poll. It last happened in 2002, also at the Alamodome.
The top-ranked team has won four of the five matchups, the lone exception being Southern Cal in 1983. Connecticut has been the No. 1 prevailing the last two times, in that ‘02 game and also in ‘00.
On Sunday night, Connecticut advanced with a 70-50 victory over fabulous freshman Brittney Griner and Baylor, and Stanford beat Oklahoma 73-66.
Neither team ever trailed, but both felt threatened.
Stanford played first and was up by 16 midway through the second half, only to find its lead trimmed to three with 16 seconds left. Ogwumike broke free for a layup that sealed it.
UConn led by only five early in the second half, with a loud crowd cheering on Baylor. But Griner alone couldn’t make up for the duo of Moore and Charles. Moore chased Ogwumike’s scoring mark, finishing just short with 34 points, and Charles added 21 the day after she was named national player of the year by AP.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t happy at how little the rest of his club chipped in. That led him to gush with praise for Stanford, saying “they may be the hardest team to play against in America – for us, anyway, because of all the offensive players they have.”
Then he heard the Cardinal made only one of 15 3-point tries against Oklahoma.
“Good, they stunk, too,” he said, laughing. “Maybe the first team to 50 points wins Tuesday. Why don’t we do that?”
America Power Plant Blast in Connecticut
February 8, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
America Power Plant Blast in Connecticut, A huge explosion has rocked a power plant in the US state of Connecticut. At least 5 people are believed to 
be killed due to the explosion while several have been wounded. People up to 10 km away reported hearing or feeling the blast. Black smoke could be seen pouring out of the plant site shortly afterwards.
The 620-megawatt plant was on the Connecticut River. Rescue work has begun at the site of the explosion.
America Power Plant Blast in Connecticut was first posted on February 8, 2010 at 1:32 pm.
Middletown CT Power Plant
February 7, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TrendPK.com Middletown, CT – Witnesses and emergency response authorities said as many as 100 people were injured and an undetermined number may have died when a massive explosion, which homeowners more than 10 miles away and mistook for an earth quake, blew up a power plant being built on the Connecticut River [...]
Middletown Explosion
February 7, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TrendPK.com MIDDLETOWN – Witnesses and authorities said as many as 100 people may have been injured and Up to 50 killed when a massive explosion, which homeowners more than 10 miles away mistook for an earthquake, blew up a power plant being built on the Connecticut River in the southern section of [...]
Chimp Attack Victim,Chimp Attack Victim Pictures
November 11, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Chimp Attack Victim,Chimp Attack Victim Pictures : Charla Nash , the Connecticut woman mauled by a 200 pound chimpanzee in February, appeared on “ Oprah ” Wednesday to reveal her face and share heartbreaking details on her life since the attack. Nash who turned 56 Tuesday revealed “the remnants of her missing eyes, nose and lips,” as ABC News described it .
Chimp Attack Victim,Chimp Attack Victim Pictures:Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a 200 pound chimpanzee in February, appeared on “Oprah” Wednesday to reveal her face and share heartbreaking details on her life since the attack.
Nash who turned 56 Tuesday revealed “the remnants of her missing eyes, nose and lips,” as ABC News described it.
Donna Palomba
She co-founded the agency in 1987. In balance with her commitment to business, Donna gives generously of her time, having served on the boards of Special Olympics Connecticut, United Way, the Non-Profit Assistance Initiative and Safe Haven. She is a member of the Connecticut Community Foundation, the Greater New Haven Chamber and the Waterbury Regional Chamber.
In 2005, the Business Women’s Forum – the longest running annual scholarship conference in New England – named Donna “Woman of the Year,” a prestigious honor given to exemplary women that have had a significant impact in the business community, and have demonstrated superior leadership and community responsibility. In 2006, she was a recipient of a 20 Noteworthy Women award given by the New Haven Business Times. Donna was also selected as the 2007 Connecticut Working Woman of the Year by Westfarms and the Connecticut Department of Labor.
In 2007, Donna founded Jane Doe No More, Inc. a national non-profit organization dedicated to create awareness, break stigmas and develop training tools associated with sexual assault crimes.
On Law Day, May 1, 2009, Donna was honored with the Liberty Bell Award by the Waterbury Bar Association. Donna also received a Community Service Award in May of 2009 by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Waterbury in Connecticut.
Donna Palomba was first posted on September 5, 2009 at 11:41 am.
©2009 “News Trends“.
