[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Tanzania's Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said Monday eight suspects have been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of albinos since a wave of witchcraft killings erupted in 2007.
Pinda said in a report that 94 suspects had been arrested and 11 cases were before the courts.
"Thanks to these efforts, attacks on albinos have considerably reduced," Pinda said.
Last month, however, two albino teenagers were attacked and their body parts hacked off.
More than 60 albinos have been murdered in Tanzania since 2007 and their body parts chopped off to be sold to witch doctors who concoct charms which some believe bring good fortune and prosperity.
"This has tanished Tanzania's image," Pinda added.
Tanzanian laws impose death by hanging for people convicted of murder and high treason, however, nobody has been hanged since the mid-1980s.
Albinism is a genetically inherited condition resulting in the hair, skin and eyes lacking the melanin pigmentation that normally protects from the sun's ultraviolet rays.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Good for Tanzania---shows they aim to become civilized. (Bonis nocet qui malis parcit)
#3
Am I the only one who hates clicking on unknown links that say "you must click here" or "this is a must-see" or "you just have to see this".
What's the point of even having a title if it's just to encourage clicks? Frankly, it sounds like a spam link. How about an informative link that describes what it is?
#4
Context: During a news broadcast on Russian TV, anchor Tatiana Limanova spoke about Russian President Dmitry Medvedevs appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Shortly after, the anchor mentioned that Medvedev will soon take an APEC leadership role previous held by U.S. President Barack Obama. Upon the pronouncement of the TPOTUS' (or PTOTUS) name, she flips a nice birdie.
#5
Kind of looked to me like she was flagging them to cut to the next shot. LIke Obama scratching his nose with his middle finger its probably nothing. Culturally is flipping the bird a Russian thing?
#9
Charlie: You were in a 4g inverted dive with a MiG28?
Maverick: Yes, ma'am.
Charlie: At what range?
Maverick: Um, about two meters.
Goose: It was actually about one and a half I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there, must be one and a half.
Maverick: Was a nice picture.
Goose: Thanks.
Charlie: Eh, lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. You know, giving him the bird!
Goose: [Charlie looks puzzled, so Goose clarifies] You know, the finger
Charlie: Yes, I know the finger, Goose.
Goose: I-I'm sorry, I hate it when it does that, I'm sorry. Excuse me.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/22/2011 9:53 Comments ||
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#10
Perhaps the finger was aimed at someone in the studio and the timing was unintentional. Still, it looks like a differnt gesture.
I could be wrong, but I don't get the impression her target was the Bammer - IMO either someone behind the camera was asking her for a date or sex; or else she was flipping the bird at 'Cuzin Dimitri hence by extension also at 'Cuzin Vlad, i.e. Vlad's decision to run again for office.
h/t Gates of Vienna
...In its latest 2011 forecast for Germany, the European Commission estimates a debt ratio of 81.7 percent of gross domestic product. Thats significantly more than the 60 percent the European stability pact sets out as the debt ceiling that pact that the federal government regularly uses to beat the southern European countries about the ears with, and that it wants to swing even harder. A country that wants to bring in other tough rules would do well to stick to them itself first.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker is therefore right to get worked up about German domineering. Spain, for example, with a debt ratio of 69.6 percent, is considerably closer to complying with the Stability Pact than Germany is. Even the Dutch (64.2 percent) and the Finns (49.1 percent) have more right to put themselves forward as European disciplinarian than the Germans do.
#2
In the class of 'what if', we'll have to wonder about what the German economy would be without the American bailout via TARP of German and other European banks.
[Dawn] Despite a thumping election win, Spain's right is powerless in the face of a sovereign debt crisis battering the entire eurozone, analysts warned on Monday.
The decisive power, they said, lies with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... . Financial markets were unimpressed by the victory for 56-year-old conservative leader Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party, which secured the biggest winning margin in its history.
On Friday, Rajoy had pleaded in vain with the markets for a breathing space of "at least half an hour" to confront the crisis.
The big problem for Spain is the deficit, said Edward Hugh, independent economist based in Catalonia.
The conservatives have vowed to implement harsh austerity measures to meet Spain's promise of cutting the public deficit from 9.3 of gross domestic product last year to 4.4 per cent of GDP in 2012.
"Rajoy is obviously going to address the issue," Hugh said.
"The problem is how he can do it because Spain is going into recession now, not an expansion, so cutting savagely now really only sends the Spanish economy off in the direction of where Portugal is," he added.
"Spain has got all the problems it had; none of them has been resolved."Spain cannot resolve the crisis and repair the damaged balance sheets of its banks without help from the European Central Bank, Hugh said.
"It is not unreasonable that market participants start to question how deep the German commitment to maintain the euro really is when it comes to putting money on the table," he said.
"Until they put some money on the table this is not going to stop." Financial markets were not reacting to the election after months of opinion pols predicting the ruling Socialists' defeat, said Soledad Pellon, analyst at IG markets.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2011 00:00 ||
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In other words, Agencie France-Presse is really pissed off that the Socialists lost. They're going to take a big shit into the Conservatives' bowl of Wheaties purely out of spite.
#3
It is time that Spain looked carefully at EU regulations and requirements that stifle its economy and simply refuse to abide by them. Let Brussels send the "EU army" to Spain to enforce them.
A statue to former US president Ronald Reagan, who is highly respected in Poland for having helped hasten the fall of the Iron Curtain, was unveiled by Nobel Peace Prize winner & former Polish president Lech Walesa in Warsaw yesterday. "What happened seemed impossible or unthinkable. The older generations still remember," Walesa said.
"In Poland, we had more than 200,000 Soviet soldiers. Across Europe, there were more than a million, as well as nuclear weapons. Major changes without a nuclear conflict seemed unlikely," he added. Underlining the "special atmosphere" of the era, Mr Walesa also hailed the role of Polish-born pope John Paul II, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French president Francois Mitterrand.
#1
Eastern Europeans have very deep memories about how for decades, American Republican presidents seemed to be the only people who would stand up on their behalf. Certainly not the western Europeans who were all too comfortable with the status quo.
The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra.
That means all of the firm's 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has valued packages at about $13,000 a head. Quite a gig they have going there.
Taxpayers will have to cough up yet another $14.3 million as a result of Solyndra's bankruptcy. They are already on the hook for $528 million in federal loan guarantees to the company that are unlikely to ever be paid back. Pocket Government money, screw your employees, and dump it on the Taxpayers.
The department's decision also bodes well for a trade complaint made against China by a coalition of domestic solar panel makers. The request for the TAA was based on the claim that Solyndra failed because China was underselling U.S. manufacturers. Horse-hockey! Solyndra failed because they had bad management. And they mis-read the market.
By granting the assistance, the Labor Department has indicated it believes those charges have at least some merit. Management should have seen that the Chinese could cut prices, since prices had been driven high.
The announcement was made quietly today by the DOL's Employment and Training Administration on its website. The decision was reached Friday. Another attempt at keeping the scandal quiet.
There was some confusion regarding the decision, which was posted on the DOL website accidentally this morning before the official announcement. A department spokesman told Capital Hill that a programming error was the cause. DOL briefly pulled the information, but has reposted it.
The TAA request was first made on Sept. 2, just days after Solyndra went bankrupt. The Alameda County Workforce Investment Board, a public-private group that aids in job retraining programs, made the request on behalf of the employees.
"We are very pleased," said Patti Castro, interim director of the board. "These workers are highly skilled but they need the retraining available through this." And it'll keep them from voting Republican...
Most TAA requests take 60 days to process according to DOL, but this one took about 80. The department said the delay was caused by a Senate fight over reauthorizing the program.
"During that period all pending TAA announcements were put on hold," said DOL spokesman Joshua Lamont. Fight harder next time, Pubs...
That fight was triggered in part by Republican lawmakers' outrage that Solyndra employees were up for TAA help.
As it happens, the decision to grant the aid was made the day after Energy Secretary Steven Chu had a long-expected and highly contentious hearing before a House panel over the Solyndra failure.
Lamont said the administration did not delay the decision until after Chu's testimony. "Perish the thought!"
The Obama administration has apparently pushed to delay bad news regarding Solyndra before.
The TAA program offers help to domestic workers who have lost their jobs due to the trade practices of foreign countries. The assistance includes job retraining, allowances for job searching, health benefits and up to 130 weeks of income support. The average recipient gets about $13,000 in assistance.
Solyndra was given a $535 million federal loan guarantee in 2009 by the Obama administration as part of a program to boost green jobs. The company was a favorite of the administration, with President Obama himself visiting its Fremont, Calif., location and singing its praises in 2010.
A top Obama fundraiser, George Kaiser, was a major backer of the company through his namesake foundation and discussed the company with White House officials in at least one private meeting in 2010.
Behind the scenes, the company was bleeding cash and seeking a second DOE loan to stay afloat. By late 2010 it had defaulted on the original loan and DOE agreed to a restructuring to allow the company to survive.
The renegotiation included giving private investors first crack at the first $75 million recovered in the event of liquidation. The decision was in apparent violation of DOE loan rules. It all but ensures that taxpayers will recover none of the original loan.
This article starring:
George Kaiser
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/22/2011 00:00 ||
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Solyndra + similar is going to un/dis-motivate Americans = Amerikans on [Jetson-ian]SPACE TECH + GREEN TECH for decades to come.
The Department of Homeland Security is taking any threat seriously during the Thanksgiving holiday, including the ominous threat to our national security posed by turkey fryers.
"How dangerous can turkey fryers be?" asks a warning issued on the official DHS Twitter account. "Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before placing in a fryer, or this may happen."
The department linked to an ominous video highlighting the dangers of deep frying a turkey.
"Use turkey fryers outdoors at a safe distance from buildings." the DHS tweeted, "Never use turkey fryers in a garage or on a wooden deck." Do not attempt to fry a turkey in gasoline. Do not attempt to fry a turkey on board a flying aircraft. Do not attempt to swallow a turkey whole without chewing. Turkeys are not for rectal use.
#6
Adding insult, according to FT, the hated and feared Egyptian secret police, known for brutality and torture, has renamed itself "Homeland Security".
#8
In an Obama administration where the CIA is concerned with "Global Warming" and NASA's mission is to improve Muslim self-esteem it makes perfect sense.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
11/22/2011 16:57 Comments ||
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#9
I suppose it's easier to natter about turkeys than to do real work, like looking for Son-in-Law's documents, including the passport from his home country, which the idiots LOST.
Early this morning, history repeated itself. FOIA.org has produced an enormous zip file of 5,000 additional emails similar to those released two years ago in November 2009 and coined Climategate. There are almost 1/4 million additional emails locked behind a password, which the organization does not plan on releasing at this time.
#3
Officially, the release was from a "Russian hacker", along with the disclosure that the first release was only a small fraction of the total, and that there are many more, and far worse, things in the emails.
The release is suspected to have been timed just before a major UN climate meeting.
I'm starting to suspect that a major power, namely Russia, has been told by its scientists that climate change is hooey, but unless it is short circuited, it could end up costing Russia a lot of money.
[Dawn] An international team of scientists in Italy studying the same neutrino particles colleagues say appear to have travelled faster than light rejected the startling finding this weekend, saying their tests had shown it must be wrong.
The September announcement of the finding, backed up last week after new studies, caused a furore in the scientific world as it seemed to suggest Albert Einstein's ideas on relativity, and much of modern physics, were based on a mistaken premise.
The first team, members of the OPERA experiment at the Gran Sasso laboratory south of Rome, said they recorded neutrinos beamed to them from the CERN research centre in Switzerland as arriving 60 nanoseconds before light would have done.
But ICARUS, another experiment at Gran Sasso -- which is deep under mountains and run by Italy's National Institute of National Physics -- now argues that their measurements of the neutrinos energy on arrival contradict that reading.
In a paper posted on Saturday on the same website as the OPERA results, the ICARUS team says their findings "refute a superluminal (faster than light) interpretation of the OPERA result."
They argue, on the basis of recently published studies by two top US physicists, that the neutrinos pumped down from CERN, near Geneva, should have lost most of their energy if they had travelled at even a tiny fraction faster than light.
But in fact, the ICARUS scientists say, the neutrino beam as tested in their equipment registered an energy spectrum fully corresponding with what it should be for particles travelling at the speed of light and no more.
Physicist Tomasso Dorigo, who works at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and the U.S. Fermilab near Chicago, said in a post on the website Scientific Blogging that the ICARUS paper was "very simple and definitive." The science, as they say, is settled...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2011 00:00 ||
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I have no idea who is right, but I will say that I applaud the folks doing the experiments. Do the (appropriate) experiments and let the results speak. I'm tired of politically inspired (i.e., leftist) theories ruling the day.
#9
There is one alternative that hasn't been discussed much, because it could really impact physics in a harsher way than going faster than light.
This is that there is something, anything really, that in normal space slightly inhibits light from traveling at its maximum speed. And that somehow, this experiment creates a circumstance where that inhibitory factor does not come into play, at least for these particles.
In effect, this would mean that the *real* speed of light is slightly faster than it is in normal space. But is there any place in normal space where the *real* speed of light matters?
#10
There are lots of possibilities here. The most interesting I've seen is that what we think the speed of light is from our measurements of charged particles and photons, is actually slowed down from the true speed of light by just a bit in vacuum, because of interactions with virtual particles. Neutrinos being unaffected by most forces are thus slowed down in the vacuum, but slowed less than the usual suspects.
While this is most interesting, it is still probably wrong, because of long distance measurements of neutrinos from stuff in space that seem to be synchronized in time with light, but shouldn't be if there were a really different speed limit, so were this theory correct it would still require that the neutrinos eventually slowed down to the same speed as light in a vacuum through some interactions over a million years or so, even if it started out faster.
Anyway it turns out, there's lots of fun to be had here.
#12
Oh, and as far as the accuracy of the speed of light is concerned, the most accurate speed to date, using lasers, was only devised in 1973 at 299,792.4574 km/s.
Then again, in 1978, again using lasers, at 299,792.4588 km/s.
The trouble is that there are many different techniques to figure out the exact speed of light, but they have to be based on other constants than the speed of light. Pretty soon you are burdened with constants that may themselves be questionable.
It sounded like a good idea at the time.
But once corrupt politicians decided policy would be based on the best science; It was science that was corrupted. Hopefully, not permanently.
(And it's not like I trust non-leftist politicians, it's just that they are the least worst.)
Posted by: Zebulon Spawn of the Wee Folk9512 ||
11/22/2011 9:48 Comments ||
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#14
The science is settled the science is settled! Why are they still talking about it when there are faster than light credits to buy!
#18
The really fun stuff begins with tachyon theory.
One theory to ponder is that particles are essentially "stuffed to the gills" with energy as they approach the speed of light, and crossing that barrier does not change this condition; but once they have become tachyons, the way for them to accelerate even further is to "give up" energy.
So the very fastest of tachyons would be as energy-less as the most stationary of objects in our space.
Which leads to the speculation, what if this completes a circle, so that only Brownian motion keeps a particle in this space. If it stops moving at all it is the same as an ultra high speed tachyon.
#21
Pretty soon you are burdened with constants that may themselves be questionable. I think questionable constants have been used ever since Isaac Newton. Scientists have to assume that some things never change, have to make assumptions so that their calculations will work out. And mostly those calculations do.
Nevertheless, besides constants taken on faith, there are other anomalies tangled up in modern physics. One is How can we make inferences about past events that we haven't observed while at the same time acknowledge that the act of observing it affects the reality we are inferring to?
Another is: According to quantum mechanics, the vacuum state is not truly empty but instead contains fleeting electromagnetic waves and particles that pop into and out of existence.
Then there is the Casimir effect in quantum electrodynamics, where 2 uncharged metal plates in a perfect vacuum, arranged just so but untouching, are under about 1 atmosphere of pressure pushing or pulling them apart - in a perfect vacuum.
Etc. Maybe physics will have to re-define 'faster.'
#25
Actually, the ICARUS group's conclusion, based on Glashow's paper, doesn't really disprove Opera's result. Glashow pointed out that superluminal neutrinos should emit the equivalent of Cerencov radiation and slow down quickly--if the existing theory is correct. But if neutrinos can go faster than light when traveling through rock, we know the theory has some holes somewhere anyhow. (As rammer notes, the supernova SN1987A neutrinos were pretty close to lightspeed traveling through vacuum.)
Not that I believe Opera's results yet.
Posted by: James ||
11/22/2011 23:18 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Tanzania's Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said Monday eight suspects have been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of albinos since a wave of witchcraft killings erupted in 2007.
[Dawn] Despite a thumping election win, Spain's right is powerless in the face of a sovereign debt crisis battering the entire eurozone, analysts warned on Monday.
A statue to former US president Ronald Reagan, who is highly respected in Poland for having helped hasten the fall of the Iron Curtain, was unveiled by Nobel Peace Prize winner & former Polish president Lech Walesa in Warsaw yesterday. "What happened seemed impossible or unthinkable. The older generations still remember," Walesa said.
The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra.
