Pakistan embraces and fears Valentine's Day

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Romance is not dead in Pakistan, but it's under attack.

Conservatives in Pakistan tacked up posters urging people to boycott Valentine's Day on Thursday, saying it's a western-inspired event that's spreading vulgarity in their country. Romantics fought back with an arsenal of flowers, pink teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons.

"Here in this part of Pakistan we are faced with bomb blasts, and we don't have much opportunity to enjoy and celebrate so to me it is one of those few occasions to celebrate," said Taimur Hassan, a 29-year-old man working in the northwestern city of Peshawar. He was out buying a gift for his girlfriend, and looking for something different than a stuffed bear he got her last year.

That's exactly the type of behavior many of Pakistan's conservatives are worried about.

For them, Valentine's Day is nothing but an occasion to encourage illicit relations between the country's young ? unmarried ? males and females. It's a sign that Western culture and values are eating away the fabric of Pakistan's traditional, Islamic society. Valentine's Day, they say, is not a Pakistani holiday and not part of the culture here.

In the southern city of Karachi, billboards implored people to "Say no to Valentine's Day." The "no" was encapsulated in a black heart, and the sign said the holiday reflects insensitivity and ignorance of Islam.

Tanzeem-e-Islami, the organization that put up the billboards, called on the interior ministry to suspend cell phone service on the holiday that celebrates love. Group spokesman Muhammad Samee said many young people use mobile phones to send Valentine's Day greetings and suspending the service for the day would save people from "moral terrorism."

Attitudes toward Valentine's Day, named after a Christian saint said to have been martyred by the Romans in the 3rd Century, vary across the Arab world, with some devout Muslims opposing the holiday as a Western celebration of romantic love that corrupts Muslim youth.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a hardline Pakistani cleric, warned that young people who celebrate Valentine's Day will be celebrating children's births in November.

"In Islam, there is a concept of respecting and loving mother, sister, wife and daughter for 365 days a year," said Ahmed, who thinks the holiday breeds vulgarity across the country.

Fearing a backlash against the holiday, Pakistani officials charged with monitoring and censoring television content issued a letter on Wednesday asking TV stations to be respectful when airing programs on Valentine's Day. The letter, issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, noted that large segments of society do not think the holiday is in line with Pakistani culture and religion.

However, the instructions were rescinded following a hue and cry on social media and pressure from TV channels, according to an official with the regulatory authority. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In Pakistan, social media like Twitter and Facebook have increasingly become a way for the country's small, liberal, secular segment of society to voice their opinions. By midday Thursday, Valentine's Day was one of the most popular themes on Twitter.

Despite the earlier regulatory warning, TV channels didn't seem to be shying away from Valentine's Day programming. Many featured video of people shopping for presents like heart-shaped balloons and interviews with helmeted motorcycle riders driving off with bouquets of flowers.

Mazhar Abbas, director of current affairs at Express News, said the station hadn't received any complaints on its programming.

While Valentine's Day is widely celebrated in some Muslim countries like the United Arab Emirates, in other areas it's been met with opposition:

?In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, government officials and clerics in Jakarta called for young people to skip Valentine's Day, saying it was an excuse for couples to have forbidden sex.

?In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the government opposes Valentine's Day, but tolerates it. It has not banned people or shops from celebrating the holiday. Some gift shops, toy stores and flower stores were selling special Valentine's Day items, but the celebrations are not widespread, mostly are observed by university students or newlyweds.

?Iranian officials in January banned the import of Valentine's Day gifts, but people in the capital, Tehran, were still out purchasing such gifts and making plans for meeting boyfriends or girlfriends for romantic dinners.

Despite the opposition in Pakistan, Valentine's Day romanticism ? or at least the marketing sentiment ? wasn't dampened much in the capital, Islamabad. Peddlers approached cars at stop signs hawking heart-shaped balloons, and the prices at flower stalls nearly doubled.

Eid Muhammed, a salesman at a gift shop in Peshawar, said gift card sales had dropped in recent years as people preferred to send text messages to their loved ones instead. But he said more people were buying gifts for their sweethearts. He estimated that about 90 percent of the customers were young people, and most were men.

One of the few exceptions was Amina Mahmood, a female college student, who was buying flowers for a special someone she chose not to describe.

"Some days are so special that we should not miss them," she said shyly.

__

Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Adil Jawad in Karachi, Asif Shahzad and Munir Asif in Islamabad, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/valentines-day-under-attack-pakistan-142915308.html

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Corsair pops the question, acquires Scotland-based Simple Audio

Scotland-based Simple Audio announced today that it has been acquired by American computer component maker Corsair. The five-year-old audio firm is best known in Europe for its networked set-top receivers, which are capable of sharing music from PCs, Macs, TVs, iPods and MP3 players. In an effort to expand its reach, Simple Audio hopes that this multi-million dollar deal will help bring its products stateside sometime this year. While there's no word how many doubloons Corsair shelled out, the company stated that it had been eyeing Simple Audio since 2010 and felt that it was the right time to make a move. To take a closer look at this acquisition, click through to the press release after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Networking

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Source: Simple Audio

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/12/corsair-acquires-simple-audio/

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Charred human remains found in hunt for ex-cop

Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned-out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.

The human remains were found within the debris of the burned cabin and identification will be attempted through forensic means, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a news release early this morning.

Dorner barricaded himself in the cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Tuesday afternoon after engaging in a gunfight with police, killing one officer and injuring another, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the department, which is the lead agency in the action, said Tuesday night investigators would remain at the site all night.

FULL COVERAGE: Christopher Dorner Manhunt

When Bachman was asked whether police thought Dorner was in the burning cabin, she said, "Right. We believe that the person that barricaded himself inside the cabin engaged in gunfire with our deputies and other law enforcement officers is still inside there, even though the building burned."

Bachman spoke shortly after the Los Angeles Police Department denied earlier reports that a body was found in the cabin, contradicting what law enforcement sources told ABC News and other news organizations.

Police around the cabin told ABC News they saw Dorner enter but never leave the building as it was consumed by flames, creating a billowing column of black smoke seen for miles.

A news onference is scheduled for later today in San Bernardino.

One sheriff's deputy was killed in a shootout with Dorner earlier Tuesday afternoon, believed to be his fourth victim after killing a Riverside police officer and two other people this month, including the daughter of a former police captain, and promising to kill many more in an online manifesto.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

Cops said they heard a single gunshot go off from inside the cabin just as they began to see smoke and fire. Later they heard the sound of more gunshots, which was the sound of ammunition being ignited by the heat of the blaze, law enforcement officials said.

Police did not enter the building, but shot tear gas inside.

One of the largest dragnets in recent history, which led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, apparently ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.

It all began at 12:20 p.m. PT Tuesday, when a maid working at a local resort called 911, saying she and another worker had been tied up and held hostage by Dorner in a cabin, sources said.

The maid told police she was able to escape, but Dorner had stolen one of their cars, which was identified as a purple Nissan.

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Office and state Fish and Wildlife wardens spotted the stolen vehicle and engaged in a shootout with Dorner.

Officials say Dorner crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot only to commandeer Rick Heltebrake's white pickup truck on a nearby road a short time later.

"[Dorner] said, 'I don't want to hurt you, just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you.' He was calm. I was calm. I would say I was in fear for my life, there was no panic, he told me what to do and I did it," Heltebrake said.

"He was dressed in all camouflage, had a big assault sniper-type rifle. He had a vest on like a ballistic vest," Heltebrake added.

The white pickup truck bought Dorner extra time because police were still looking for the purple Nissan, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Patrick Foy told "Good Morning America" today.

"We were looking for a purple color Nissan and all of a sudden this white pickup starts coming by in the opposite direction. That's not the suspect's vehicle that we had been looking for," Foy said.

A warden with the Fish and Wildlife department noticed Dorner driving and the pursuit picked up again, Foy said.

"Ultimately, the officer who was driving that vehicle stopped and pulled out his patrol rifle and engaged probably 15 to 20 shots as Dorner was driving away," Foy said.

Dorner then ran on foot to the cabin in which he barricaded himself and got in a shootout with San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and other officers who arrived.

The two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy was in surgery and was expected to survive, police said.

Police sealed all the roads into the area, preventing cars from entering the area and searching all of those on the way out. All schools were briefly placed on lockdown.

Believing that Dorner might have been watching reports of the standoff, authorities asked media not to broadcast images of police offficers' surrounding the cabin, but sent him a message.

"If he's watching this, the message is: Enough is enough," Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andy Smith told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. "It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed. It's time to let this event and let this incident be over."

Smoke began billowing into the air by 2 p.m. and was shortly followed by flames. Authorities have not said how the fire started.

Dorner is accused of killing Riverside police officer Michael Crain, who was gunned down in an ambush last Thursday.

Dorner is also suspected of killing Monica Quan and her fiance, who were found shot to death Feb. 3. Quan was the daughter of former LAPD Capt. Randal Quan, who was mentioned as a target of Dorner's fury in his "manifesto," which he posted on his Facebook page.

In the 6,000 word "manifesto," Dorner outlined his anger at the Los Angeles Police Department for firing him, and made threats against individuals he believed were responsible for ending his career with the police force five years ago.

Dorner's grievance with police goes back five years, to when he was fired after filing what the LAPD determined to be a false report accusing other cops of brutality.

The LAPD assigned 50 protection details to guard officers and their families who were deemed possible targets.

For more on this story, go to ABC station KABC-TV.

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Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/charred-human-remains-found-burned-cabin-075506104--abc-news-topstories.html

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In First Test, U.S. Military?s SPIDERS Microgrid Uses 90% Renewable Energy

With expectation for tonight?s State of the Union address running high, you can get a preview of the future energy landscape of the U.S. by checking out the new SPIDERS renewable energy microgrid project. SPIDERS, which has the eventual aim of widespread adoption in the civilian sector, is designed to keep critical military facilities in operation in case of grid outages while inserting a healthy dose of clean, locally sourced energy into the picture.

DoD has been emerging as a renewable energy powerhouse, and that?s something to keep in mind as President Obama is expected to call for hardcore action on climate change in his State of the Union address.

The SPIDERS Microgrid Project

SPIDERS is a $30 million project lead by Sandia National Laboratories, under a partnership between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy that involves numerous other federal laboratories, agencies and military commands.

SPIDERS stands for Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security, and one thing it clearly demonstrates is that the ?drill baby, drill? framework is a rather primitive response to the national security challenges of today

One major challenge the project will address is to transition military bases out of over-reliance on diesel-powered backup generators, and into a hybrid system that integrates solar power, hydrogen fuel cells and other on site or local sources along with advance energy storage.

Aside from global warming issues, diesel generators are prone to failure and they can be problematic in case of widespread, prolonged grid outages, when fuel transportation routes are cut off (for more on that, see the storm-inspired fuel crisis after Sandy hit the East Coast).

SPIDERS will also help transition bases from an inefficient model in which each building can only use its own back-up generator, to an integrated, basewide microgrid in which energy can be directed wherever it?s needed. In addition to providing more security, the microgrid approach is far more efficient in terms of matching the supply of energy to a building?s actual usage.

?Crawl, Walk, Run? to Renewable Energy Microgrids

SPIDERS is being implemented in three stages, and our friends over at the DoD Energy Blog just tipped us off that the first stage has undergone its first public test, at Joint Base Pearl-Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

The Hickam project integrated several renewable assets that were already on the base, namely a 146 kW solar system and up to 50 kW of wind power.

According to a report last week by the Ho?okele News, the test took place at the end of January. It was designed to gather data related to the cyber-security of microgrids, in addition to the integration of renewable energy and energy storage.

Dan Nolan at the DOD Energy Blog noted that the flow battery storage component of the system did not perform as expected, but other than that the demonstration seemed to go well. During one part of the test, Ho?okele News reported that 90 percent of the electricity was generated by renewable sources.

Aside from helping to resolve security issues and reducing the use of fossil fuels, the new microgrid will save Hickam about $43,000 per year.

That?s just the beginning, by the way. The walking and running phases of the overall SPIDERS project are much larger and more complex.

Next up is Fort Carson, which will integrate a whopping two megawatts of solar power along with an electric vehicle-to-grid component.

// ]]>

The third phase, which is scheduled through 2014, involves a 5 megawatt microgrid at Camp H.M.Smith, which will rely on a combination of solar power and diesel generators.

The State of the Union and Climate Change

If President Obama meets the expectations for forceful action on climate change in tonight?s speech, there is plenty of room for a broad appeal across party lines.

The increasing use of renewable energy in overseas combat zones as well as at domestic bases has propelled the familiar ?Support Our Troops? message into a new energy future, to say nothing of the green jobs (including green jobs for veterans), benefits to local economies, and improved public health resulting from a transition to safer, cleaner fuels.

Okay, so maybe Ted Nugent won?t get it?

Image: Spider by snowpeak

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Source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-cleantechnica/~3/axk1Tn7kumI/

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North Korea Earthquake: Magnitude 4.9 Temblor Detected By U.S. Geological Survey

SEOUL, South Korea ? North Korea apparently conducted a widely anticipated nuclear test Tuesday, strongly indicated by an "explosion-like" earthquake that monitoring agencies around the globe said appeared to be unnatural.

There was no confirmation from Pyongyang that it had conducted a test, which it has been threatening for weeks.

Any test would be seen as another big step toward North Korea's goal of building a warhead that can be mounted on a missile. It would also be a bold signal from young leader Kim Jong Un, who took power in December 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

The South Korean Defense Ministry, which raised its military alert level after the quake, said it was trying to determine whether it was a test. Nuclear blasts can create tremors but they are distinct from those caused by natural earthquakes.

A nuclear test would also be a challenge to the U.N. Security Council, which recently punished Pyongyang for launching a long-range rocket seen as a covert test of ballistic missile technology. In condemning that December rocket launch and imposing more sanctions on Pyongyang, the council had demanded a stop to future launches and ordered North Korea to respect a ban on nuclear activity ? or face "significant action" by the U.N.

A world nuclear test monitoring organization said it detected what it called an "unusual seismic event" in North Korea.

"The event shows clear explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests," said Tibor Tth, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. The DPRK refers to North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in particular by ending nuclear testing," Tth said.

Kim Min-seok, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters that North Korea informed China and the United States of its plans to conduct a nuclear test. It was not clear when Pyongyang told Beijing and Washington.

The U.S. Geological Survey as well as earthquake monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake near a site where North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in 2009, according to the government-funded Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.

"There is a high possibility that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test," said Chi Heoncheol, an earthquake specialist at the institute. Chi said a magnitude 3.9 magnitude earthquake and a magnitude 4.5 earthquake were detected in the North's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

South Korean, U.S. and Japanese seismic monitoring agencies put the magnitude of Tuesday's quake between 4.9 and 5.2.

"We think it is possible it came about as a result of a nuclear test by North Korea from looking at past cases," Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference Tuesday, noting that they were still gathering information.

"A natural earthquake normally starts with a smaller tremor followed by a larger one. This quake's strength was the same throughout," according to Yosuke Igarashi, an official at the Japan Meteorological Agency. He declined to elaborate on the length of the quake or other details, saying the agency was studying the data.

The United States and its allies have been on edge since North Korea said last month it will conduct its third nuclear test to protest toughened sanctions over the December rocket launch.

In Washington, the White House had no immediate comment on Tuesday's developments.

North Korea's politburo vowed to continue firing "powerful long-range rockets," but a statement by state media Tuesday made no mention of a nuclear test.

North Korea's National Defense Commission said Jan. 23 that the United States was its prime target for a nuclear test and long-range rocket launches. North Korea accuses Washington of leading the push to punish Pyongyang for its December rocket launch.

Last October, a spokesman from the commission told state media that the country had built a missile capable of striking the United States, but did not provide further details. A missile featured in an April 2012 military parade appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, but its authenticity has not been verified by foreign experts.

___

Associated Press writers Youkyung Lee in Seoul and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/north-korea-earthquake_n_2666151.html

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NKorea brandishing nukes to get US to talk peace

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? The way North Korea sees it, only bigger weapons and more threatening provocations will force Washington to come to the table to discuss what Pyongyang says it really wants: peace.

It's no coincidence that North Korea's third underground nuclear test ? and by all indications so far its most powerful yet ? took place Tuesday on the eve of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

As perplexing as the tactic may seem to the outside world, it serves as an attention-getting reminder to the world that North Korea may be poor but has the power to upset regional security and stability.

And the response to its latest provocation was immediate.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community," Obama said in a statement hours after the test. "The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies." The United Nations, Japan and South Korea also responded with predictable anger. Even China, North Korea's staunchest ally, summoned the North Korean ambassador to the Foreign Ministry for a rare dressing down.

All this puts young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his circle of advisers right where they want to be: at the center of controversy and the focus of foreign policy.

A year into his nascent leadership, he is referring to his father's playbook to try forcing a change on North Korea policy in capital cities across the region ? mostly notably in the U.S.

The intent in Pyongyang is to get Washington to treat North Korea like an equal, a fellow nuclear power. The aim of the nuclear and missile tests is not to go to war with the United States ? notwithstanding its often belligerent statements ? but to force Washington to respect its sovereignty and military clout.

During his 17-year rule, late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il poured scarce resources into Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs to use as bargaining chips in negotiations with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. At the same time, he sought to build unity at home by pitching North Korea's defiance as a matter of national pride as well as military defense.

North Korea has long cited the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula, and what it considers a nuclear umbrella in the region, as the main reason behind its need for nuclear weapons. North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of the bitter, three-year Korean War. That conflict ended in a truce in 1953, and left the peninsula divided by heavily fortified buffer zone manned by the U.S.-led U.N. Command.

Sixty years after the armistice, North Korea has pushed for a peace treaty with the U.S. But when talks fail, as they have for nearly two decades, the North Koreans turn to speaking with their weapons.

With each missile and nuclear test, experts say North Korea is getting closer to building the arsenal it feels it needs to challenge Washington to change what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the longtime foe.

In 2008, after years of negotiations led by China, North Korea agreed to stop producing plutonium and blew up its main reactor northwest of the capital.

But in 2009, just months after Obama took office for his first term, Pyongyang fired long-range rocket carrying a satellite, earning U.N. condemnation and sanctions that North Korea accused Washington of initiating. In protest, Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test and revealed it had a second way to make atomic bombs: by enriching uranium.

With nuclear negotiations stalled, North Korea forged ahead making missiles designed to reach U.S. shores and worked toward building a bomb small enough to mount on it ? less with an actual attack in mind but to brandish as a warning to the wartime foe.

In carefully choreographed North Korea, timing is everything, and February is proving to be a strategic month for a North Korea provocation.

China and Japan have new, largely untested leaders still in the process of formulating their government policies. A provocation during the last days of Lee Myung-bak presidency in Seoul gives Pyongyang the chance at one last jab at the conservative leader while leaving open the possibility of a new relationship with incoming President Park.

And it's the start of Obama's second term; his new secretary of state, John Kerry, took office just weeks ago.

North Korea's nuclear test is likely to drive a tightening of U.N. sanctions intended to restrict its nuclear and missile programs, but experts say the effectiveness of such steps is largely reliant on the North's chief trading partner and source of aid, China, implementing the sanctions and using its economic leverage to pressure its ally. China has historically been reluctant to do so.

And while North Korea's determination to acquire a nuclear deterrent make it increasingly unlikely that it can be persuaded to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs in exchange for aid, most analysts ? even those who support tougher international action against Pyongyang ? still say diplomacy is ultimately the best hope to check its nuclear ambitions.

"North Korea's outrageous behavior encourages few voices for dialogue, and we are therefore in for a period of heightened tensions. Yet at the same time, climbing down from these crises with the reclusive regime has only happened historically through a return to diplomacy," Victor Cha, a former White House director of Asia policy, wrote in a commentary Tuesday. It was posted online by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank where Cha serves as Korea chair.

The latest nuclear test also serves Kim Jong Un's domestic purposes.

By showing his people he has the temerity to stand up to the bigger powers encircling the country, including China, the young leader is calculating that he will win support at home, even if it means costing the country much-needed trade and aid. He's also showing old timers at home who back his father's "military first" policy that he's tough on national defense.

He's also seeking to win the loyalty of the younger generation by characterizing the costly rockets and satellites as scientific advancements meant to build a better future.

Pyongyang is already warning that the nuclear test is just the start of a string of provocations if Washington doesn't change its policies.

"The U.S., though belatedly, should choose between the two options: To respect the DPRK's right to satellite launch and open a phase of detente and stability or to keep to its wrong road leading to the explosive situation by persistently pursuing its hostile policy toward the DPRK," state media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.

The risk, he said, could be "a do-or-die battle."

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed. Lee is in charge of AP's bureaus in Pyongyang and Seoul. She can be reached at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nkorea-brandishing-nukes-us-talk-peace-185607976.html

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