Egyptian baby named 'Facebook'

According to Al-Ahram (one of the most popular newspapers in Egypt) a twenty-something Egyptian man has named his first born daughter “Facebook” in tribute to the role the social media service played in organizing the protests in Tahrir Square and beyond.

TechCrunch

Ironic name

Food For The Poor

via

Mobster nicknames

You may have heard about what is called the biggest Mafia bust in the history Mafia busts. It went down yesterday and it involved nearly 125 mobsters getting arrested, from seven families, including the Gambinos, the Genoveses, the Luccheses, the Bonannos and the Colombos. The most interesting part about it is the nicknames these people went by. The Village Voice Blog brings you The 20 Best Nicknames in the Big Mafia Bust. Here's the top 10:

10. DENNIS DELUCIA, also known as "Fat Dennis," "Little Dennis" and "the Beard"

9. LUIGI MANOCCHIO, also known as "Baby Shacks," "The Old Man," and "the Professor"

8. ANTHONY DURSO, also known as "Baby Fat Larry" and "BFL"

7. GIUSEPPE DESTEFANO, also known as "Pooch"

6. JOHN AZZARELLI, also known as "Johnny Cash"

5. ANDREW RUSSO, also known as "Mush"

4. VINCENT FEBBRARO, also known as "Jimmy Gooch"

3. BENJAMIN CASTELLAZZO, also known as "Benji," "The Claw" and "the Fang"

2. ANTHONY LICATA, also known as "Cheeks," "Anthony Firehawk," "Anthony Nighthawk," "Nighthawk" and "Firehawk"

1. JOHN HARTMANN, also known as "Lumpy," "Fatty" and "Fats"

Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm

via

Scully & Mulder

Only in Ottawa

Naming the baby

via

Possible Terror Plot Update: Five Missing Afghan Students Names

UPDATE
More Details Surface on Missing Afghan Students

---

Earlier today, I published a post about five Afghan students reported missing for more than a week from the campus of the University of Washington. After contacting a variety of individuals and government agency representatives, I am now able to shed more light on the matter.

At 2:52 p.m. CDT, I received some answers to a set of questions I had sent to Dr. Maria Beebe, chief of party for Afghan eQuality Alliances at Washington State University. She confirmed that the University of Washington is an alliance partner, despite the fact that the name of the school was not listed on the program's website.

She also provided the names of the missing students. They are as follows:

• Mohammed Ratib Abeer — Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan;
• Masood Ghory — English Instructor for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission;
• Rahmatullah Hamidi — Scientific Member for Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education;
• Numan Tarin — Senior National Coach for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission; and
• Sayed Hashmatullah — National Consultant for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission.

Dr. Beebe said the students were reported "missing" to local police by Ken Peavler after they did not show up in class and their roommates verified that they had not shown up in their rooms. As program manager at the Evans School of Public Affairs, Peavler's duties include keeping track of the study-abroad students.

ALSO at DBKP: Five Afghan Students Missing From University of Washington, School Bus Stolen in Delaware

Of the 38 students selected for the program, only 32 remain after one returned home to Afghanistan to deal with a family matter.

Since the Afghan eQuality Alliances program is attracting a number of applicants (250 for the next batch for 36 slots), Dr. Beebe said, program officials can be more selective and add a criteria related to their current job titles.

"So, for example, we can say only directors and assistant director levels would be considered," she explained. "At that level, we will also get the older (more mature) students who have children and will have more compelling reasons to go back to Afghanistan."

Apparently, at least five of the students were not old enough or not motivated enough to want to return.

I have yet to receive additional information from U.S. Agency for International Development or the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Developing…

Check back for more updates as they occur.

WANT MORE of Bob McCarty, "The Ultimate Blogging Machine"? Try these recent posts: * Supreme Court Chief Justice Pens ‘Mystery Novel’ * Democrat’s Message Flagged as ‘Junk Mail’

by Bob McCarty
image: dbkp file
Source: More Details Surface on Missing Afghan Students

War on Terror: Watch List Grows to One Million Names

Big Brother is watching--all one million of you.

The watch list of terrorism suspects recently passed 1 million names--which translates into about 400,000 people, according to NewsMax.

Are there really nearly a half-million terrorists among us?

The number of times we've agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union can be counted on one hand, but this appears to be one of those rare occasions: the list is too big to be effective.

The list is one of the "most effective tools" implemented after 9-11. The Bush administration disagreed. The Department of Homeland Security is like any other government bureaucracy: more interested in job security than effectiveness.

Prior to September 11, the no-fly list had just 16 people on it.

Either the DHS is so effective and have discovered 1 million (minus 16) new terrorist names in the last 7 years. Or, more likely, the list has a lot of people on it "just to be on the safe side".

Which is fine--unless your name is on the list by mistake. Which happens more frequently than is publicized.

Otherwise, how to go about checking out the 1 million? Are terrorists sprouting like weeds? Is the DHS lazy about checking out these thousands of potential terrorists? Does anyone care?

"America's new million-record watch list is a perfect symbol for what's wrong with this administration's approach to security: it's unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources (and) treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought," ACLU technology director Barry Steinhardt said in a release.

President George W. Bush ordered in the current list in September 2003 as a way to wrap several growing terrorism watchlists into a single government database compiled and overseen by the FBI, through a Terrorist Screening Center.

Suspected terrorists or people believed to have links to terrorism are included on the list, which can be used by a wide range of government agencies in security screening. About 50,000 individuals are included on the Transportation Security Administration "no-fly" or "selectee" lists that subject them to travel bans, arrest or additional screening.

Ted Kennedy, civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis and Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) have all had their troubles with their names being on watch lists. One can understand Senator Kennedy having problems if the watch list contained names of members of Congress spouting nonsense--but Senator Kennedy a terrorist?

He's not that ambitious.

[Terrorism Screening Center spokeman, Chad Kolton], cited a report last year by the Government Accountability Office that said there was general agreement within the federal government that the watch list had helped to combat terrorism.

"The list is very effective. In fact it's one of the most effective counterterrorism tools that our country has," he said.

About 400,000 individuals are included on the list, about 95 percent of whom are not U.S. citizens or residents, Kolton said. The watch list also includes separate entries with aliases, fake passports and fake birth dates, bringing the total number of records to more than 1 million, he said.

TSA spokeman Christopher White said Kennedy and Lewis were never on the list, and that problems they reported were due to their misidentification with names properly on it.

One of the least effective ways of identifying ineffective government programs would be to survey government bureaucrats; yet, "general agreement within the federal government" that the list is effective seems to indicate the use of that benchmark.

When new government agencies or programs or regulations or laws are proposed, critics rightly point out the bad things that can happen with nearly all things government. Proponents pooh-pooh the critics' claims, many times calling them preposterous.

It's not that poorly-constructed government programs, agencies, regulations or laws start out as being malicious--it's that they become that way due to the very inefficiencies of large government.

The watch list is a perfect example of this.

The watch list is "very effective"--unless your name mistakenly winds up on it.

1 million names on the watch list and the refusal to profile targeted groups of air travelers--while there are thousands of unknown persons passing through a still-unsecured southern border--makes no sense.

Except to those running government bureaucracies.

by Mondoreb
image: propaganda posters
Source:
* Terror Watch List: Over 1 Million Names and Growing
* U.S. Terrorism Watch List Tops 1 Million

Larry Sinclair: The Name Game

It must be very confusing for Larry Sinclair's mailman.

While perusing some documents from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, a list of the known names used by Larry Sinclair was discovered--a long list.

Fourteen, to be exact.

Sinclair has repeatedly that he "has nothing to hide". If that's the case, why the need for so many names? Most men have one; women two or three if they get married or re-married. Why so many names?

Larry Plays the Name Game




At yesterday's press conference, Sinclair claimed three legal names he's used. Are the rest of the names listed on the CBI document illegal names?

We were only aware (and Larry had only claimed in posting on his site) three of the following fourteen names.

[NOTE: It appears that #1 and #6 are the same name, but we're listing what appeared in the CBI documents.]

Known names of Lawrence Wayne Sinclair

1 Sinclair, Larry Wayne
2 Sinclair, Larri Ashaiti
3 Avila, Larye Vizgua

4 Adams, Larye Vizcarra Availa
5 Silvas, Larye Ashaili
6 Sinclair, Larry Wayne

7 Silvas, Larye Ashaiti
8 Gahanan, Mohammed
9 Gahahan, Mohammed Fatha

10 Avilaadams, Larye Vizcaua
11 Avila, Larye Vizcaua
12 Sinclair, Lari Ashaiti
13 Avila, Larye Vizcarra
14 Sinclair, Lawrence Wayne

Why so many names?

We're sure it has to do with Larry Sinclair's stated occupations: fraud, drug running and trafficking in Mexican illegals.

We're also sure that having fourteen names/aliases doesn't render a person unbelievable. We're also sure that many of the people clinging to the hope that Larry Sinclair is telling the truth about his gay-sex-and-drug party with Barack Obama, might not hand over their personal info, if such a man happened to show up at their door--especially, one that had been arrested and jailed for credit card fraud.

Might not a man with fourteen names be a man with something to hide?

Such as his real name?

by Mondoreb
Sources:
* politico
* se18locksmith