Laura Prudom: Nikita Recap: Percy Changes The Game In 'Clean Sweep'

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 2, Episode 13 of The CW's "Nikita," entitled, "Clean Sweep."

It's no wonder that "Nikita" showrunner Craig Silverstein has been referring to this episode as "Game Change 2," since "Clean Sweep" managed to realign many allegiances going into the second half of the season. Percy has finally escaped from his Magneto-esque plastic prison, Oversight is all but eliminated, and Nikita and Michael are faced with the possibility of a real happy ending -- something that our heroine didn't actually seem all that enthusiastic about.

As much as Nikita has been searching for a home and a sense of identity this season, many of the peripheral characters have been repeatedly emphasizing the fact that she's a "killer," that she was "born for this" and that she really has no idea how to be anything but an assassin. While Michael's journey is arguably a quest to recapture the sense of family and security that he lost when Kasim murdered his wife and daughter, Nikita never really had that normalcy; even during her relationship with Daniel, she was looking over her shoulder, knowing that the charade could fall apart at any moment. Michael clearly still craves the opportunity for a regular life, but over the course of the season, thanks in large part to Maggie Q's subtle, nuanced performance, it's becoming increasingly apparent that Nikita no longer sees "happily ever after" as a viable option. I just hope that Michael will someday be able to prove her wrong and give her the safety she's been missing for years. She and Michael would be foolish not to accept the presidential pardon that Senator Pierce offered, but it's obvious that she's still conflicted about her ability to function in the real world outside of her quest for revenge.

The pair's confrontation with Percy was another masterfully played scene, illustrating just what a world-class manipulator the former Division head can be. Was Michael really aware of the kill order put out on Daniel? He was certainly slow to refute it, even though we know that Percy was lying about Nikita's relationship with Owen. His words had the desired result, though, revealing the couple's weaknesses so that Percy knew which ones to exploit in the future.

Another interesting moment came when Percy praised Nikita for becoming "a world class operative," and urged her to embrace her potential, ominously observing, "I'm in your blood, for better or worse." As one fan, "Mrs_Amelia," noted on Twitter, many of the show's most striking lines often have double-meanings, no matter how throwaway they may seem in the moment. Could it have been Percy's way of hinting that he's somehow Nikita's father? I feel like there have been other lines littered throughout the show, even back in the first season, that pointed to Percy's particular fascination and fondness for Nikita -- she was always his favorite operative, but was that simply because he's a diligent manager, or because he had a deeper investment in her success, secretly been manipulating her life for years from behind the scenes and grooming her to become the perfect soldier? Given some of the other long cons he's pulled off, I don't think it's such a wild theory, but I'd love to hear your opinions.

In another delicious twist, Amanda's mystery caller was revealed to be Gogol's Ari Tasarov, who is apparently working with Amanda to undermine Semak's ownership of Zetrov, with Alex being positioned as their ace in the hole. After the last episode, I did suspect that Ari might be at the other end of the line, since "Nikita" has always excelled at those juicy on-screen reveals, and there was a fairly narrow selection of candidates that could've made such an impact, short of Semak himself (which would've made far less sense). Regardless of whether you think the reveal was telegraphed or not, the implications of their unholy alliance set up an interesting set of possibilities. Does Amanda really think she has Alex in thrall enough to use her to take command of Zetrov, or does she plan to kill the freelance agent once she's sent Alex to depose Semak? And, since this is Amanda -- and Ari -- do the pair really trust each other, or are both plotting to dispose of the other once they've removed Semak from the equation?

It was a relief to see Amanda back on top after the mind-games Percy played with her in "Sanctuary." This episode (written by Kalinda Vazquez), once again reasserted Amanda's dominance, illustrating that, even though she might not have predicted all of Percy's labyrinthine moves (because who could?), she still had her own contingency plans in place -- such as the gas mask she had stashed in her office in case "Operation: Clean Sweep" was initiated. I'm intrigued to see where her alliance with Ari will take them both.

I was also glad to see Alex and Birkoff given something meatier to do this week; I've been missing our nerd's one-liners while he's been recuperating, as well as his pithy banter with Alex. The "Buffy" fan in me paid particular attention to the use of "five by five," as well as his "Terminator" reference, a description that fits Roan like a glove. I was sad to see our unkillable super spy live to murder another day, especially now he's out in the world with Percy and the remaining Guardian -- a more terrifying threesome I haven't seen since Hilary Duff and Jessica Szor banged Lonely Boy on "Gossip Girl." I'm sad that Alex is still in a more reactive role, but I'm interested to see how she plans to handle Amanda if they go ahead with her plan to challenge Semak for Zetrov's throne.

Though the episode was slow to kick into high gear -- because of all the maneuvering, the pacing was a little more measured than in some recent episodes -- it was undoubtedly a solid and necessary foundation for the stories to come, and there's nothing wrong with that. There were a number of engaging and stand-out scenes (pretty much everything involving the excellent Xander Berkeley was top notch), and the board is now reset with plenty of potential conflicts. I can't wait to see how Percy furthers his nefarious plans now that he's on the outside. Share your thoughts on "Clean Sweep" in the comments below!

"Nikita" airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

Check out the slideshow for the full rundown of what to tune into this week.

MONDAY, JANUARY 30: "Gossip Girl"

1? of ?22

"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST on The CW) The stylish soap hits 100 episodes this week, featuring an elaborate musical dream sequence involving Serena, Blair and all the men in their lives. Also, while Chuck wrestles with the reality that Blair is about to walk down the aisle with Prince Louis (guest star Hugo Becker), the return of Georgina Sparks (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg) might make the royal affair a royal disaster. "Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST on The CW)
The stylish soap hits 100 episodes this week, featuring an elaborate musical dream sequence involving Serena, Blair and all the men in their lives. Also, while Chuck wrestles with the reality that Blair is about to walk down the aisle with Prince Louis (guest star Hugo Becker), the return of Georgina Sparks (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg) might make the royal affair a royal disaster.

MORE SLIDESHOWS NEXT?> ??|?? <?PREV

MONDAY, JANUARY 30: "Gossip Girl"

"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST on The CW) The stylish soap hits 100 episodes this week, featuring an elaborate musical dream sequence involving Serena, Blair and all the men in their lives. Also, while Chuck wrestles with the reality that Blair is about to walk down the aisle with Prince Louis (guest star Hugo Becker), the return of Georgina Sparks (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg) might make the royal affair a royal disaster.

?

Follow Laura Prudom on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lauinLA

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-prudom/nikita-recap-clean-sweep_b_1254119.html

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What is Required to Lead Change Successfully?

Someone once said ?The world doesn?t fear a new idea, what it fears is a new experience.?

Business as usual is no longer possible. Business as unusual is now the norm in every market globally. Why? Because change is accelerating daily and much of the changes are being fueled by communications. Communications is the foundation of every business and the right of every individual. But now communications is fluid, transparent and exploding at the click of a mouse on-line and off.

Numerous studies have shown that many businesses fail at to make necessary changes that are critical to success. For example, 50 ? 75% of all implementations of integrative technologies or methodologies, e.g., CRM, Business Process Improvement, Social Technology, etc., fail to achieve the financial results which justified their investment.

The ability to react quickly to change is critical to business survival. Yet, the inability to implement? change hinder the organization?s ability to keep pace with its competitors. The implications of these issues go beyond the obvious short-term direct results of wasting resources and not achieving stated goals.

The social technology landscape is evolving at an ever-increasing rate, with security, compliance, and the expanding utility of mobile devices all being in the forefront in 2010. In addition to exploding technology advances, organizations continue to try and reorganize and focus on improved? business processes aimed at greater efficiencies and effectiveness in a marketplace of increased expectations from consumers and investors.

All of these issues share a common theme as involving changes in process, technology and people. Constrain to successful change is usually not with the technology, methodology, etc. Rather, the direct cause for ?failure?? is the lack of knowledge required for the human and organizational response to change. People don?t resist change they resist being changed.

What Knowledge is Required to Lead Change Successfully?

Traditional thinking has approached change management as a structured approach. Structured approaches to leading change in a world of unstructured communications is doomed to fail.

Historically the change management strategy adopted by many businesses is focused almost entirely on development of new documentation of procedures and training of personnel on the new changes. The irony of historical approaches to change has been top down while the driving forces of change are bottom up. Again, people don?t resist change they resist being changed.

The knowledge of what needs to change and how to make the change is no longer contained by the few rather it rest with the many.

The critical elements for enabling change to work successfully include:

1. Management Willingness ?? Management?s visibility and consistent commitment to changes that the people recognize as needed is critical. Many change efforts have failed when management has not been aware that their role is central to convincing the organization they will allow the changes to happen and they themselves are willing to change.? Instead management?s reaction to all things social is to control, constrain and police it.
2. Change Agents? Change Agents, the people who are passionate about change and have the influence to insure that changes are acted on not just talked about . Who are these people? You?d be surprised to find out that they are everywhere in and outside the organization. There is a pent up demand for change in society and people want things to change from business as usual to unusual. The change agents are self organized ?nodes? inside and outside the traditional organizational structure.
3. Culture ? For organizations with strong cultures, any change that runs counter to that culture will have additional barriers to success. Unless the culture can change it will be a barrier to any change required or requested by and for the people.

The critical lesson, however, is that change management is not an ?add-on? or separate activity from the rest of? operational activities. Change is the new imperative for all operational activity, organizational visions and innovation initiatives. Period!

Tagged as: business process improvement, business survival, experience business, lack of knowledge, process technology, security compliance, social technology, technology advances, technology landscape, world doesn

Source: http://www.relationship-economy.com/2012/02/what-is-required-to-lead-change-successfully/

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A retired teacher's crusade: Tackling neo-Nazi hate

Using a scraper, nail-polish remover and a camera, 66-year-old Irmela Mensah-Schramm is tackling neo-Nazi hate in Berlin. The retired special-needs teacher has removed more than 90,000 hateful stickers and graffiti.

By Andy Eckardt, NBC News

BERLIN ? Irmela Mensah-Schramm has embarked on her very personal "combat mission" almost daily for 26 years. Her weapons? A scraper, nail-polish remover, a camera and lots of courage.

Come rain, heatwaves or stormy weather, the 66-year-old sets out to battle what she calls "extremely disturbing" neo-Nazi and racist graffiti, stickers and posters that blight the streets of Germany's capital.

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The retired special-needs teacher has now removed more than 90,000 stickers and scribblings.

"Even when I injured my leg several years ago and was walking on crutches, it did not stop me from removing the muck off traffic light poles, bus stops or building walls," Mensah-Schramm says.

Mensah-Schramm travels by commuter train to areas she believes are right-wing strongholds, places where xenophobic propaganda and spray-painted Nazi symbols mix with gang-related graffiti and the more colorful works of spray-paint artists.

'Appalled'
Her "vocation" started with a single neo-Nazi sticker on a street light outside of her apartment in the upmarket Berlin-Wannsee area.

"One morning, I saw a banned Nazi symbol well visible on a lamp post and was appalled that people in my neighborhood ignored it day in and day out, without removing this trash," Mensah-Schramm recalls.

"Only a short while later, I witnessed an incident in which my Indian brother-in-law became the victim of racist bashing. This shocked me so much that I decided to act."

John Macdougall / AFP - Getty Images file

Anti-Nazi activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm scrapes a sticker off a drainpipe in eastern Berlin's Lichtenberg district on December 20.

She documents much of the offensive material in photographs and has compiled a scrapbook, which she always carries with her. Mensah-Schramm calls her project "Hate Destroys".

"For many years, I have been displaying my pictures in exhibits across the country," Mensah-Schramm says. "I talk about my experiences in schools and I regularly host workshops with children and students, generating awareness for the bad impact of these ugly racist messages."

Swastikas
Even ill health hasn't stopped her determined drive to wipe out extremist propaganda. After undergoing a cancer operation at a Berlin hospital in 1995, Mensah-Schramm found two swastikas painted in a stairwell. She rushed back to the nurses, asked for acetone and scrubbed away as much as she could before becoming too weak to finish the job. It was the first day Mensah-Schramm was able to get out of bed.

"In some journeys, I need to take tougher measures with black spray-paint or anti-graffiti solvent to remove writings off walls, and sometimes I even ask people on the street to help me out, if I cannot reach the graffiti," Mensah-Schramm says as she walks past run-down apartment buildings in an economically depressed neighborhood in the Berlin suburb of Koenigs Wusterhausen, which was once part of communist East Germany.

"Look, that is my work," she proudly points out, as she walks past a black square, which was once a swastika that she recently painted over.

Her message is clear: Don't look away.

"You cannot achieve something by doing nothing," explains Mensah-Schramm, whose husband was born in Ghana.

"This type of xenophobic propaganda on the streets can help to spread dangerous ideologies, which can be part of a radicalization process that ultimately can lead to extreme violence," she says, referring to recent revelations about a neo-Nazi terror cell that shocked Germany and led to a nationwide debate about the danger of right-wing extremism in the country.

Murder spree
Two men, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt, and their 36-year old female accomplice, Beate Zschaepe, formed the so-called National Socialist Union (NSU). The group is believed to be responsible for the murders of at least nine small businessmen of Turkish and Greek origin between 2000 and 2006, as well as the slaying of a police officer in 2007.

Much to the embarrassment of German authorities, the country's law enforcement agencies only connected the crimes and their xenophobic motives in late 2011 after two of the three cell members committed suicide, following a bank robbery that put police on their trail.

German investigators originally suspected that the victims were most likely killed by fellow immigrants and might have been involved in gang-related crimes.

While critics say that German authorities had turned "blind on the right eye", by focusing instead on tackling Islamist terrorism, lawmakers set up an anti-terror center for right-wing extremism in December. Last month, Germany's parliament also appointed a commission of inquiry into the series of killings.

The German government has also established a database aimed at better coordination in the fight against violent neo-Nazis, partly because the NSU terror cell apparently remained in the shadows for so long due to poor lines of communication between different national security agencies and state authorities.

"Attacks on local politicians and violent acts against foreigners show that the goal is to spread fear and terror," Heinz Fromm, the head of Germany?s domestic intelligence agency, told a recent symposium in Berlin.

'Brutality'
Germany's domestic intelligence agency estimates that there are about 9,500 potentially violent neo-Nazis among the 26,000 right-wing extremists in the country.

"For years, we have been seeing that brutality within right-wing extremism has been on the rise," says Dr. Alexander Eisvogel, vice-president of Germany?s domestic intelligence agency.

However, Mensah-Schramm insists that she remains unafraid.

"I have been threatened many times by neo-Nazis, who have seen me remove their works,? she says. ?And once, I came across big letters written on a wall that read: 'Schramm, we will get you'.

"Another time, I found my photo illegally posted on a well-known neo-Nazi website, where the subtitle indicated that nobody would care if I was dead," Mensah-Schramm describes.

She filed an official complaint over the violation of her personal rights. "Unfortunately, that got me nowhere because the server for the page was based in the United States," Mensah-Schramm says.

Andy Eckardt, NBC News

This neo-Nazi sticker that reads "nationalism" in German is among the thousands that have been removed by Irmela Mensah-Schramm.

In fact, German authorities are facing a growing challenge when it comes to online enforcement.

Extremist groups are turning to web servers in the United States to host their content and spread their messages beyond the jurisdiction of local authorities. While displaying of Nazi symbols and the incitement of racial hatred are outlawed in Germany, neo-Nazi websites take advantage of free speech laws in the United States.

As the retiree counts sticker number 70,076, removed at a bus stop outside a local high school, she turns and says, "There are these small, but very rewarding moments."

"A former neo-Nazi, who had massively threatened me in the past and later exited the scene, stopped me on the street one day," Mensah-Schramm says with a choked voice. "He took off his sunglasses, looked me straight in the eyes and said that he wanted to thank me for never giving up my fight.

"I was so overwhelmed by the gesture that I started to cry," Mensah-Schramm says, before walking off to complete her mission of the day.

Source: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/03/10301241-a-retired-teachers-courageous-crusade-tackling-neo-nazi-hate?chromedomain=worldnews

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Desired Guide Of Emergency Courses

Purchasing for numerous gears and maintaining them for possibility use while in emergencies is a reasonable strategy to use about, especially when preparing for disasters. But, even the best disaster supplies are often as referred as nonexistent if the users are not aware easy methods to perform the device. Lots of people acquire equipments and to maintain them appropriately should always have to go with knowing how the material will be for its uses and usage. A bagful of treatments is inadequate in the event the person fails to learn where and when to administer the items.

The revolutionary and finest communication machines are as well as dead in the hands of someone who isn?t going to recognize the right way to run it. Survival guide will help in applying them inside quantity of need.

Tactical guide really needs to be enclosed as part of every kit. It has to incorporate some lists of each one disaster gear within a structured way and will reveal the particular uses in conveniently comprehensible language. It might be very helpful and required throughout pressing concerns, because information provided by many tactics may be the distinction between life and death. So, a person needs to be sure that they have an all-inclusive yet effortlessly easy to understand table of contents this is not only informative and also acts as the reference point for those survivors.

Persons need to take want to acquire a beneficial survival guide or make one independently. Beyond just the supplying understanding of the contents, the survival guide also needs to supply you with guidance in regards to the places of use of the survival equipment, the shelf lives within the contents, along with usage time frame.

This post is quite necessary for disaster preparation. A well prepared disaster gear will assist many of us move through and endure the difficulty of undesirable condition.

Learn more about disaster supplies. Stop by dan?s depot site where you can find out all about disaster gear and what it can do for you.

Source: http://www.lambdaworld.com/health-fitness/desired-guide-of-emergency-courses

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Pfizer recalls 1M birth control packs after mix-up (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? Birth control pills are known to be nearly 100 percent effective when taken properly, but a recall of the drugs could send a shudder through women of childbearing age.

A manufacturing mix-up by Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, led to some packets being distributed with the pills out of order. That means a patient could have unknowingly skipped a dose and raised her risk of an accidental pregnancy.

Pfizer has recalled about 1 million packets of Lo/Ovral-28 and its generic equivalent, but the company estimates that only about 30 packets were flawed. The pills were made and shipped last year.

Each packet contains 28 days' worth of the prescription, with 21 pills containing the active ingredient that prevents pregnancy and seven placebo pills. The pills are normally color-coded to note the difference.

Women are supposed to take the pills in order and not mix the placebos with the active pills. Doctors say taking three placebos or more in a row negates the pregnancy protection.

"Women who are potentially on this particular product need to be aware of (the recall) and take this quite seriously," said Dr. Steven R. Goldstein, a New York University professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

The packaging mistake worries Kendra Mifflin even though she takes a different brand of the pill.

"You take it for a reason, and if that gets messed up ... it could change your life," she said. "It has a big impact, just a simple mistake like that."

The student at Butler University in Indianapolis said her pills change color as she gets closer to the placebo. Mifflin, who has been taking them for about six months, said she thinks she would notice if the color were out of order, but she'll probably pay closer attention now.

The drug is not among the more commonly prescribed brands of birth control. The brand Lo/Ovral ranked 64th in U.S. birth control sales last year. The generic version, called norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol, ranked 30th, according to data firm IMS Health.

Doctors and pharmacists say Lo/Ovral is an older version of the pill that is not as widely prescribed anymore. They do not expect many panicked calls about the mix-up.

"Patients are pretty savvy," said Dr. Adam R. Jacobs, division director of family planning at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He said most women taking the pill would notice that the colors are out of order.

Company spokeswoman Kristen Neese said the drug maker learned about the problem when a customer called late last year to report finding a pink placebo tablet in the middle of her white birth control pills. The company found a manufacturing problem and fixed it immediately.

It issued a nationwide recall in late December asking pharmacies to pull the affected lots from their shelves. It then announced the recall Tuesday to consumers and the media after the Food and Drug Administration requested that.

Pfizer did not announce the recall publicly in December due to the relatively small size of the problem and the low risk to patient safety, Neese said.

The recall includes 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of the generic version. Both products are manufactured by Pfizer and sold in the U.S. by Akrimax Rx Products. A lot is a product batch or production run, made at one time and place and can include tens of thousands of individual packages, each with the same identification code for tracking.

Pfizer said the packets are pink with the drug's brand name or generic name on it, along with the Akrimax name. Pfizer's logo does not appear on it.

Patients who received a packet from one of the affected lots should call their doctors immediately, Jacobs said. If they have had unprotected sex in the past five days while on one of those pill packets, they may want to consider emergency contraception.

The affected packets have expiration dates ranging between July 31, 2013, and March 31, 2014. Lot numbers are available at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm289770.htm.

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AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_on_he_me/us_pfizer_birth_control_recall

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Afghan women keep pushing to have voices heard

Ahmad Masood / Reuters

Afghan women clad in burqas walk past a tree in Bagram, north of Kabul on Jan. 3, 2012.

By Atia Abawi, NBC News correspondent

?KABUL, Afghanistan ? With increased pressure for a U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and potential peace talks with the Taliban, many Afghan women fear their newfound rights could be jeopardized.

Since 2001, Afghan women have made many gains after years of being ostracized and banished from society under the Taliban. Now women are back in the workforce, back in schools and have a sizable representation in the government ? things that were all forbidden during the Taliban?s five-year rule.

But the gains are fragile and only represent a small percentage of the population.?
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According to one United Nations estimate, nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse ? some analysts believe that number may be even higher ?? making Afghanistan one of the most dangerous places to be a woman.???

And although the Afghan constitution provides women equal rights, various government agencies, institutions and many individuals do not abide by those rules.

The latest shocking example of that is the news that a young woman in northern Afghanistan was murdered by her husband and mother-in-law for giving birth to a third daughter and not a son.

Stories like that one, as well as fears about what negotiations with the Taliban could mean for women?s rights, have urged Afghan female parliamentarian, Shinkai Karokhail, and dozens of Afghan women activists from all walks of life, to share their concerns with President Hamid Karzai to try to make him an active player in their plight.

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Pushing for action
?Day by day we are a witness of more violence against women around the country,? Karokhail said. ?Not only women should raise their voice, what about the president [him]self???

This past month Karzai invited the women activists to his palace along with religious leaders from the country.? Karzai requested the religious leadership?s attendance because he knows they are the most influential element in this conservative Islamic society.? The group of women shared stories of the hardships faced by Afghan females, presenting him with a photo album of women and girls maimed, exploited or killed because of cultural and religious ignorance.

According to those who attended the meeting, the pictures and stories ?visibly moved? the president. And it drove him to suggest that religious leaders work with women to encourage awareness among Afghans about the importance of women?s rights.
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?[They] have to give awareness of the real Islam,? Karokhail said of Afghanistan?s religious elite. ?Because in Islam we have lots of rights for women, but what Afghans are doing [is the] opposite of that.?
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Karzai announced this past weekend that he will hold a conference in February focused on Eliminating Violence against Women, an announcement welcomed by the international community.?

Ahmad Masood / Reuters

Women and children wait for transportation as it snows in Kabul on Jan. 22.

Karokhail hopes by working with religious elders they can begin an awareness campaign by using the media, mosques and even the legislature to educate Afghans that the Islamic religion forbids such treatment of women.

Uphill battle to end violence against women
But it?s not just the Taliban they have to convince. Their mission is to help change a cultural mindset ? a mentality that has been affected by three-decades of constant war.

On the streets of Kabul, the country?s capital, 35-year-old Shekaib, an Afghan man, admitted to NBC News that women have been treated badly by the various regimes that took control.

?Their rights have been stepped on,? Shekaib said. ?The international community helped many Afghan women raise their voices against those who stepped on their rights.?
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But he says that if the international community abandons the cause for Afghan women when the foreigners leave, those women will suffer from the same hands they spoke up against.

?I am sure if they leave the situation will get bad and unsafe for [women],? he said.?
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Although foreign governments and their militaries now seldom bring up the plight of Afghan women as they try to wind down their efforts in Afghanistan.? Afghan women and their supporters know that if they don?t keep speaking up and fighting for their own rights their future may be as bleak as their past.
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?Women have the most to lose,? said Manezha Naderi the executive director for ?Women for Afghan Women? which provides shelter for abused women throughout the country.? ?History has shown that they lose the most ? their education, their freedom and the same thing can happen again.?
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Naderi, an Afghan-American, has been working in Afghanistan since 2003 and is worried by the lack of interest shown lately by the international community.
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?Afghan women are human beings and Afghan women were part of the reason we came here,? she says.? ?We have a responsibility to make it right for the women and children.?
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Naderi has made Afghanistan her home now and is raising three daughters here.? She says she can?t give up on this cause because she is now fighting for them as well.?
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?I?m not going to give up now, or tomorrow, or ever in my life,? she said.? ?Women?s rights can?t be shoved under the rug.?
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She just hopes the world will listen.

Source: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/31/10280584-fearing-taliban-talks-afghan-women-keep-pushing-to-have-voices-heard

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2 convicted in al-Qaida terror plot in Norway (AP)

OSLO, Norway ? Two men were found guilty Monday of involvement in an al-Qaida plot to attack a Danish newspaper that caricturerd the Prophet Muhammad, the first convictions under Norway's anti-terror laws.

A third defendant was acquitted of terror charges but convicted of helping the others acquire explosives.

Investigators say the plot was linked to the same al-Qaida planners behind thwarted attacks against the New York subway system and a shopping mall Manchester, England, in 2009.

The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Mikael Davud, to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.

Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said the court found that Davud, a Chinese Muslim, "planned the attack together with al-Qaida." Bujak was deeply involved in the preparations, but it couldn't be proved that he was aware of Davud's contacts with al-Qaida, the judge said.

The third defendant, David Jakobsen, who assisted police in the investigation, was convicted on an explosives charge and sentenced to four months in prison ? time he's already served in pretrial detention.

It wasn't immediately clear if any of the defendants would appeal.

The case was Norway's most high-profile terror investigation until last July, when a right-wing extremist killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting massacre.

The three men, who were arrested in July 2010, made some admissions but pleaded innocent to terror conspiracy charges and rejected any links to al-Qaida.

During the trial Davud denied he was taking orders from al-Qaida, saying he was planning a solo raid against the Chinese Embassy in Oslo. He said he wanted revenge for Beijing's oppression of Uighurs, a Muslim minority in western China.

Davud, who moved to Norway in 1999 and later became a Norwegian citizen, also said his co-defendants helped him acquire bomb-making ingredients but didn't know he was planning an attack.

Prosecutors said the Norwegian cell first wanted to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, whose 12 cartoons of Muhammad sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and then changed plans to seek to murder one of the cartoonists instead.

Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd, said the paper and the cartoonist were indeed the targets, but described the plans as "just talk."

Prosecutors had to prove the defendants worked together in a conspiracy, because a single individual plotting an attack is not covered under Norway's anti-terror laws.

"There is no doubt that Davud took the initiative to prepare the terror act and that he was the ring leader," the judge said as he delivered the verdict.

He said Davud planned to carry out the attack himself by placing a bomb outside Jyllands-Posten's offices in Aarhus, in western Denmark.

The men had been under surveillance for more than a year when authorities moved to arrest them. Norwegian investigators, who worked with their U.S. counterparts, said the defendants were building a bomb in a basement laboratory in Oslo.

Jakobsen, an Uzbek national who changed his name after moving to Norway, provided some of the chemicals for the bomb, but claims he did not know they were meant for explosives. Jakobsen contacted police and served as an informant, but still faced charges for his involvement before that.

An Associated Press investigation in 2010 showed that authorities learned early on about the alleged cell by intercepting emails from an al-Qaida operative in Pakistan and ? thanks to those early warnings ? were able to secretly replace a key bomb-making ingredient with a harmless liquid when Jakobsen ordered it at an Oslo pharmacy.

The judge said it had been proven that Davud had contacts with al-Qaida in Pakistan, and that his notebook contained references to Saleh al-Somali, al-Qaida's chief of external operations, who officials believe helped organize the New York, Manchester and Norway plots. He was killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan in 2009.

During the trial, prosecutors presented testimony obtained in the U.S. in April from three American al-Qaida recruits turned government witnesses.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_eu/eu_norway_terror_trial

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