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Pakistan's dancing girls flee Taliban
Dean Nelson, Mingora, Pakistan

January 13, 2009
PAKISTAN'S celebrated dancing girls are fleeing in fear of their lives as Taliban militants increase their strength in the North-West Frontier Province.

The bullet-riddled body dumped in the centre of Mingora's Green Square sent two clear messages to people in the Swat Valley's largest town: "un-Islamic vices" will no longer be tolerated, and the Taliban are effectively in control.

The woman, known only as Shabana, was found slumped on the ground, strewn with banknotes, CDs of her dance performances and photographs.

Local Taliban commander Maulana Shah Dauran broadcast a warning on one of the group's radio stations: his men had killed her and if any other girls were found performing in the city's Banr Bazaar they would be killed "one by one".

The last of the bazaar's dancing girls, many of whom had trained under Shabana's wing and lived in her house, were seen loading their belongings on to trucks and fleeing to the relative safety of Karachi and Lahore at the weekend.

The banishment marks a key turning point in the battle for the Swat Valley between Taliban militants and Pakistan's army. It followed recent orders to close girls' schools, shut shops selling music and films and stop barbers shaving beards.

The dancing girls' performances had been one of the city's last "vices".

More than 1000 girls have fled, though some who remained said Shabana had paid the price for defying the Taliban's mullahs and that she had ignored warnings to stop the performances and the training of young dancers.

- Skinny 1-25-2009 5:20 pm [link] [1 ref] [add a comment]

I saw MB and Jim on TV!
- jim 1-20-2009 4:26 pm [link] [8 comments]

20' bush shoe throw


- bill 1-20-2009 1:51 pm [link] [1 ref] [2 comments]

the inauguration opening celebration is being broadcasted on HBO (HD) for free for non-subscribers.heres the schedule. im hoping jamie fox comes out in his Wanda character.


- bill 1-19-2009 3:29 pm [link] [3 comments]

i guess i was distracted by the plane in the hudson miracle and missed that patrick mcgoohan died. secret agent and the prisoner. master of cold war era tv (sur)realism.


- bill 1-18-2009 8:02 pm [link] [2 refs] [5 comments]

DMT

- sally mckay 1-16-2009 8:08 pm [link] [1 ref] [add a comment]

i highly recomand the nick cave show!!

http://www.jackshainman.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=23
- Skinny 1-16-2009 2:42 pm [link] [1 ref] [add a comment]

"we hit birds"


- bill 1-16-2009 12:16 am [link] [19 comments]

air force rules of engagement for blogging
- tom moody 1-15-2009 4:31 pm [link] [add a comment]

Wow.
- jim 1-13-2009 5:48 pm [link] [4 comments]

deadlicious

french comix shit and more via easydreamer (PCL links dump) links column via things magazine links column
- bill 1-12-2009 1:41 pm [link] [add a comment]

morris dancers


- bill 1-12-2009 2:04 am [link] [2 refs] [add a comment]

map of online communities


- bill 1-11-2009 7:20 pm [link] [add a comment]

saddest thing I read lately:
"Sometimes we tell jokes to lighten the mood although we don't laugh at the jokes."

- sally mckay 1-07-2009 4:53 pm [link] [add a comment]

Closing out the Holiday Season on Epiphany with The Twelve Birds of Christmas – Brooklyn Edition (OK, a couple of them are bugs, but let’s not quibble.)

FALCON

Merlin Falcon at Owl’s Head Park

SCAT

Scarlet Tanager at Owl’s Head 11/9/08 (very late)

RUSTY

Rusty Blackbird in Prospect Park (40% decline over the last 20 years)

OLIVE-SIDED

Olive-sided Flycatcher at Calvert Vaux Park

EYED ELATOR

Eyed Elator! Calvert Vaux Park

MONARCH MATES

Monarch sex at Calvert Vaux Park

HORNED LARK

Horned Lark blending in with gravel at Calvert Vaux Park

GOLDEN PLOVER

American Golden-plover at Calvert Vaux Park

BLUEBIRDS

Eastern Bluebirds at Owl’s Head Park

SANDERLING

Winter plumage Sanderling at Dyker Beach on Gravesend Bay

WILSON'S

Why does Wilson’s Warbler insist on showing me its rear? Owl’s Head Park

And the first good bird of 2009 (well, it’s early.) Can you pick it out among 700 gulls?

GULLS

Look closer, middle back, bigger than Ring-billed, smaller than Herring, darker than either, but not quite as dark as Great Black-backed…

GULLS2

Maybe from this angle…

LBBG

Yes it’s a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Lake in Prospect Park; a good rarity in the City (of course there are plenty in Buck’s County PA, but in bird watching everything is context.)
- alex 1-06-2009 12:41 pm [link] [5 comments]

mac wheel

- mark 1-06-2009 4:09 am [link] [2 refs] [4 comments]

bush shoe throw gifs


- bill 12-30-2008 1:32 pm [link] [3 comments]

Do earthquake swarms precede caldera eruptions? We don't know. But hopefully not, since there has been a recent swarm of earthquakes in Yellowstone.
- jim 12-28-2008 11:43 pm [link] [1 comment]

christmas bird count


- bill 12-28-2008 4:05 pm [link] [add a comment]

Patton assassinated?
- jim 12-21-2008 9:48 pm [link] [1 ref] [1 comment]

We found this game in a closet at the bighouse.
We brought it down here. Dave was good at it.
davemtp
- jimlouis 12-20-2008 1:09 am [link] [add a comment]

Music industry to abandon mass law suits.
- jim 12-19-2008 5:26 pm [link] [add a comment]

The Bloop
- jim 12-16-2008 3:21 pm [link] [add a comment]

im positive that factoid means "a small easily digestible fact."
- dave 12-14-2008 5:34 pm [link] [3 comments]

moon2

fool moon
- dave 12-14-2008 1:19 am [link] [8 comments]