Day: October 11, 2012

Peanut Gallery: But not in time for this election… shame, shame!!

phoebe53's avatarPhoebe's Detention Room

UPDATED 12:40 PM EDT Oct 10, 2012

A new South Carolina law that generally requires voters to show photo identification does not discriminate against racial minorities and can go into effect beginning in 2013, a federal court ruled on Wednesday, according to SC Attorney Alan Wilson.

Wilson issued the following statement in response to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia’s ruling in South Carolina v. United States.

“Today’s ruling by the three judge panel is a major victory for South Carolina and its election process. It affirms our voter ID law is valid and constitutional under the Voting Rights Act. The fact remains, voter ID laws do not discriminate or disenfranchise; they ensure integrity at the ballot box.

“This ruling also affirms South Carolina’s voter ID law should have been pre-cleared by the U.S. Justice Department.

“We will work diligently to implement this law for all…

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Update on Malala: Pakistani doctors remove bullet from girl shot by Taliban

Protests throughout Pakistan condemning Taliban attack

An activist from non-governmental organisation Insani Haqooq Ittihad hold a picture of Malala Yousufzai during a demonstration in Islamabad October 10, 2012. REUTERS-Faisal Mahmood

By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:44pm EDT

(Reuters) – Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from a 14-year-old girl shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls, doctors said.

Malala Yousufzai was in critical condition after gunmen shot her in the head and neck on Tuesday as she left school. Two other girls were also wounded.

Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was just 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants.

Her courage made her a national hero and many Pakistanis were shocked by her shooting.

General Ashfaq Kayani, chief of Pakistan’s powerful army, visited her in hospital and condemned her attackers.

“The cowards who attacked Malala and her fellow students, have shown time and again how little regard they have for human life and how low they can fall in their cruel ambition to impose their twisted ideology,” Kayani said in a statement.

The military said it had a simple message, which it wrote in capital letters in the statement to add emphasis: “WE REFUSE TO BOW BEFORE TERROR.” Continue reading “Update on Malala: Pakistani doctors remove bullet from girl shot by Taliban” →