Bahadur blog

Israel arrests 40 in West Bank village hunting killers

Israeli troops on Tuesday arrested around 40 people in a village near Nablus as they continued hunting the killers of an Israeli family, Palestinian sources said.

Troops entered the village of Awarta shortly after midnight and began searching dozens of homes, seizing an unspecified number of computers, security sources and witnesses said.

The soldiers stayed in the village until dawn when they pulled out after arresting around 40 people, they said.

Since March 11, the village, which lies just south of Nablus, has been the centre of a massive manhunt in the aftermath of the grisly stabbing of a couple and their three young children, one of them a baby, as they slept in their beds in the nearby settlement of Itamar.

Following the murders, troops entered Awarta and imposed a curfew for five straight days, conducting house-to-house searches for the killers, who are believed to be Palestinian.

Last week, they entered the village again and imposed a curfew, but so far no one has been charged, with the military refusing to comment on the operation.

A New HITS Record at 2011 Thermal Desert Circuit Horse Show?

s Suspended Animation to the mid circuit level 4 jumper championship. He also had wins in the hunter division aboard Cancion, who also belongs to Brumby.Showing Pagan’s versatility as a rider, he also piloted Rory Gibbs’ Popular J, in the Baby Green Hunter division.

In the higher level jumpers, Pagan rode yet another of Brumby’s mounts, Wish You Were Here, to top ribbons in the level 4 and 5 jumpers.

Out on the Grand Prix field Rory Gibbs and her horse Normandee were 10th out of 50 starters in the $5,000 Jr/A-O Jumper Classic Medium during week 3 with a double clean effort.Gibbs and Normandee stepped it up to win ribbons in the Amateur-Owner Jumper Medium, set at a stout 1.30m.

Pagan’s other amateur riders Penny Crayne, Barbara Blasko and Lauri Hardyman rode to numerous ribbons in the Low Children’s/Adult and Adult Amateur Jumpers. Crayne rode both Lotta Class (owned by Therese Peres) to great ribbons in the Low Child/Adultjumpers, as well as moving up to the AA jumpers on her mare Cointraeau Z. Hardyman also made the move up to the 1.10 jumpers on her Tiarra. Blasko showed two of her newest mounts Ultimate Tiger, who she purchased from Pagan and Liamos Z, who she got From Ali Nilforushanthis January.

Edgar Pagan, who runs Edgar Pagan Show Jumpers out of Coto de Caza, Ca, stated, “It was a long 6 weeks, but well worth it.” He plans on returning for the full desert circuit again next year. In the mean time, his horses are getting a break before returning to the show circuit this spring.

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Edgar PaganEdgar Pagan Show Jumpers714-398-1295Email Information

B-Line Auto Body Shop San Jose Announces Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee

B-Line’s main source of recommendation comes from word of mouth,” said Ryan Oka.“We also have a good representation online through car forums, searches, and Yelp.”

The shop is equipped with several different stations that cater to the specific needs of a vehicle in the shop.They have three hydraulic lifts, two draft spray booths for painting cars and plenty of storage stalls which are utilized for cars that cannot move.

B-Line Body Shop is located at 161 Patterson Street in San Jose. They are open Monday through Thursday 7 am to 6 pm and Friday 8 am to noon.They can be reached at (408) 279-4500.

About B-Line Body ShopB-Line Body Shop has been in business since 1972.They are independently owned and have the capabilities to pick up and deliver customers upon request.B-Line has specialized in BMW’s for many years. They are certified by BMW of North America in aluminum repair and corrosion protection specified for BMW’s.They perform high quality repairs on all makes and models with a repair facility that is over 14,000 square feet.

For more information about (subject of press release) or any of B-Line Body Shop’s products and services, call them at (408) 217-0726, view them on the web at b-linebodyshop-sj.com, or visit their shop located at 161 Patterson Street in San Jose.

About B-Line B-Line Body Shop Inc. is athat specializes in auto insurance claim, bumper repair, collision repair, dent repair, andand the greater Bay Area.

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Ryan OkaB-Line Body Shop(408) 217-0726Email Information

Obama, GOP freshmen win in jet engine budget fight

WASHINGTON – Determined to reduce deficits, impatient House Republican freshmen made common cause with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, scoring their biggest victory to date in a vote to cancel $450 million for an alternative engine for the Pentagon's next-generation warplane.

"Right here, right now was a surefire way to reduce spending," declared Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, a second-term lawmaker whose summons to cut money from the F-35 fighter jet was answered by 47 Republican newcomers. Speaker John Boehner and other House GOP leaders back the funding.

The incursion into the defense budget occurred as the Republican-controlled House debated legislation to cut federal spending by more than $61 billion through the end of the current fiscal year. Nearly all of the reductions are aimed at domestic programs, ranging from education aid to nutrition, environmental protection and farm programs.

Obama has threatened a veto if the measure reaches his desk, but he and the GOP newcomers were on the same side when it came to the engine for the F-35, the costliest weapons program in U.S. history. The House vote was 233-198.

Two successive presidents as well as the Pentagon brass have tried to scrap funding for the alternative engine, arguing it is a waste of money. In a letter to Rooney earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said total costs could near $3 billion. Given the demands facing the military at a time of high deficits, "programs and initiatives of marginal or no benefit — like the . engine — are unaffordable luxuries," he wrote.

Strictly by the numbers, the vote was a bipartisan one, with 110 Republicans and 123 Democrats supporting cancellation of the funds, while 68 Democrats and 130 Republicans wanted to leave them in place.

But that breakdown obscured the change wrought by the voters last fall. A similar vote in May ended in defeat for opponents of the alternative engine.

At the time, Democrats controlled the House, and only 57 Republicans voted to cut off funds. Many of today's first-term Republicans were mere candidates for office, campaigning with the support of tea party activists and promising to cut federal spending.

"Give these new freshmen credit. They went against their own leadership," said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., also a foe of the alternative engine.

"No federal agency is exempt," said freshman Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., who said the second engine "is militarily unnecessary and a wasteful use of extremely limited and precious taxpayer dollars."

Supporters had argued that the alternative engine would save money by injecting competition into the F-35 program.

Apart from spending cuts and the defense budget, the broader legislation before the House contains funding needed to keep the government operating normally after current authority expires on March 4.

House passage is expected by week's end, although debate has turned into something of an exercise in human endurance as Republicans live up to their pledge of free-flowing discussion and numerous amendments.

Lawmakers debated proposed changes to the bill well after midnight and into the early hours of Wednesday, and arrangements were in place for the House to stay in session as late as 3 a.m. on Thursday before adjourning for a few hours and returning to work.

Along the way, the House rejected a Democratic attempt to strip out funding for the Selective Service System, and a proposal to eliminate $1.5 billion for the Iraqi Security Forces fund.

But Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. was successful in reducing money for the National Drug Intelligence Center, a facility that was built in southwestern Pennsylvania at the insistence of the area's late congressman, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. "There has been no better example of wasteful spending than the NDIC," said Flake, a longtime opponent of what are known as congressional earmarks.

More than 400 proposed changes were stacked up and could be voted on, ranging from the sweeping to the tightly targeted.

Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, has proposed replacing the targeted cuts with across-the-board reductions to achieve the same savings.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., wants to go big, cutting an additional $45 billion from the bill, to be taken across the board from domestic programs.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has one proposal to block the Department of Health and Human Services from studying "the concurrent and separate use of malt liquor and marijuana among young people," and another to make sure the National Science Foundation does not research whether "video games improve mental health for the elderly."

The ultimate fate of the alternative engine wasn't sealed by the day's vote. Supporters of the project are likely to try and preserve it when the Senate debates its version of the bill. Gates' spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said the defense chief viewed the House vote as "one step, although a very important one, on the path to ensuring that we stop spending limited dollars on unwanted and unneeded defense programs."

The fight over the alternative engine has long been more a regional clash than a partisan issue.

The main engine is built by Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

General Electric and Rolls-Royce are major contractors for the alternative engine, and the program has brought jobs to Ohio, among other regions. Boehner, who represents a district in the western part of the state, did not speak during debate on the issue and did not vote on the proposed cut. A spokesman said he did not attempt to lobby fellow lawmakers.

Also in favor of continued funding were Boehner's top lieutenants in leadership, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California, the whip.

While a majority of first-term Republicans voted to strip out the funds, those from Virginia and Ohio as well as next-door Indiana were unanimously opposed, a dozen in all.

Whatever the bill's final shape, the heavy conservative majority in the House assures the legislation will face a hostile reception in the Senate, where Democrats generally favor higher spending for domestic programs.

A compromise is expected before the March 4 deadline to avoid a government shutdown that neither party says it wants, although the government may be forced to limp along on a series of short-term spending bills for weeks while the details are negotiated.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

CBS News chairman unsure if Couric wants to stay

Will Katie Couric stay at CBS after her contract ends in May? That question's come up a lot over the years, along with various reportsthat Couric would leave the "CBS Evening News" anchor desk. Today,Jeff Fager, who was .

B&C: What are your thoughts on keeping Katie Couric in the family? Do you think she wants to stay?

JF: I don't know whether she does. It's a good question. It's high on the list of things to do to spend some time with Katie to find out what she wants to do and what she sees is best for her and what's best for CBS News.

B&C: But would you be interested in keeping her around if she wants to stay?

JF: I just don't know that she does, so it's a little premature. I look forward to spending some time with her.

(Photo of Couric and former CBS News president and just-named CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus speaking to the press about her first season on "CBS Evening News' on July 16, 2006: Lucas Jackson/AP)