Blast Magazine» times square

Muslim group praises life in prison sentence for Faisal Shahzad

Blast Magazine Newsroom — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:13:14 +0000

Further reading:
The proceedings in the Shahzad case.

A noted Islamic advocacy group praised the life in prison sentence for would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also said it “rejected the perverted religious views expressed by Shahzad at his sentencing” on Tuesday.

Shahzad pleaded guilty to the attempted May bombing using a sport utility vehicle loaded with explosives and fuel.

During his sentencing, he was defiant, saying “brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun … The defeat of the U.S. is imminent and will happen in the near future.”

“We welcome the stiff punishment handed out to a person who seems to have no remorse for his planned attempt to kill and injure as many innocent people as possible. His stated desire for an unending inter-religious conflict is utterly rejected by American Muslims. There is no justification or excuse in Islam for harming the innocent. Faisal Shahzad’s perverted views are contrary to our faith and its teachings,” CAIR said in a statement Tuesday.

The group’s leader gave harsher words.

“On behalf of the American Muslim community, we condemn the attack in Times Square and thank all those who reported their suspicions, disarmed the bomb or are participating in the current investigation. We welcome the arrest of a suspect and hope that anyone involved in the attack will be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said executive director Nihad Awad. “American Muslims repudiate all acts of terrorism and will continue to work with local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to keep our nation safe and secure.”

Nintendo turns Times Square into a Wii Sports Resort

Eddie Makuch — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:08:29 +0000

Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to one of the best selling video games of all time, Wii Sports (bundled with Wii purchases though), hits this Sunday, but what would a huge Nintendo release be without a gargantuan marketing effort?

Enter Nintendo’s absolute blitz of all things “Resort” this past week in Times Square of New York City. Known to be the advertising mecca of the East Coast, Nintendo invaded the already crowded Times Square and built a faux-beach complete with a pool, beach balls, and sand. Nintendo higher-ups were on hand to demo the Japanese video game maker’s latest and sell the title for its true 1:1 motion tracking capabilities by way of a bundled Wii MotionPlus accessory.

These photos, released and captioned by Nintendo (no those aren’t my words) relate the joy had by all.

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Alex Leng plays Frisbee at the Wii Sports Resort launch event in New York's Times Square Thursday, July 23, 2009. To celebrate the July 26 launch of the game, Nintendo offered consumers a free mini-vacation by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan's famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo of America's vice president of Corporate Affairs, Denise Kaigler, right, competes against actor Chace Crawford in a match of swordplay at the Wii Sports Resort launch event, Thursday, July 23, 2009, in New York. To commemorate the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, Nintendo brought in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan's famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo celebrates the upcoming launch of Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattanƒâ€¢s famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game, Thursday, July 26, 2009, in New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, table tennis expert Alston Wang, right, competes against Annamarie Tromp at the Wii Sport Resort launch event in New York, Thursday, July 23, 2009. Launching on July 26, 2009, Wii Sports Resort comes bundled with the Wii MotionPlus accessory to provide players a more immersive gaming experience. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

National debt clock runs out of digits

Sachin Seth — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:59:35 +0000

If you need more evidence that America is in real financial peril, go to Times Square.

The National Debt Clock, a ticker that records America’s national deficit, has run out of digits.

The debt currently stands at over $10 trillion.‚ The clock however does not have enough spaces to record a debt in excess $9,999,999,999,999.

As a short-term fix (if you can call it that), the Durst Organization, which runs the clock, will replace the dollar symbol on the ticker with the “1″ in $10 trillion.

The sign was erected in 1989 when the debt stood at about $2.7 trillion. In 2000 however, the clock began to malfunction and started shaving roughly $30 a second off the debt.

When it was shut down the clock read: “Our national debt: $5,676,989,904,887. Your family share: $73,733.” The debt has risen almost $5 trillion in less than 20 years.

The problem will be fixed sometime next year.

Just another example of the state of America’s economy.‚ The clock is a pretty cool idea, but I’d imagine walking by and reading it on a daily basis would be pretty depressing.

The day the Durst Organization updates the sign will be pretty depressing too.‚ The update would make it possible for the sign to track a debt of up to a quadrillion dollars.‚ Can you imagine that?

I can’t imagine a quadrillion of anything, let alone dollars.

Presidential race flashback: In his 2000 campaign, Al Gore said he’d eliminate the national debt by 2012. That would’ve required decreasing the deficit in 12 years by as much it was raised in 20.

Oh, and by 2012 he would’ve been out of office for a full term.