Monday, September 23, 2013

Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor among Westgate mall victims | World news | theguardian.com

Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor among Westgate mall victims | World news | theguardian.com
A renowned Ghanaian poet was among the scores of casualties of the Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya.
Prof Kofi Awoonor, a former diplomat, was killed in the attack in Nairobi. He was in the city attending the Storymoja Hay literary festival, a celebration of pan-African writing and storytelling.
His fellow Ghanaian poet Nii Ayikewei Parkes said people attending the festival had realised something was wrong when Awoonor, known affectionately by many in Ghana as "Prof", failed to turn up for a session at which poets from west Africa and east Africa were due to perform a reading.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

CPSC - The Children’s Place Recalls Footed Pajamas Due to Violation of Federal Flammability Standard

CPSC - The Children’s Place Recalls Footed Pajamas Due to Violation of Federal Flammability Standard

Don't need regulations or government - just let market do its thing and after a few dozen children are burned and some die - maybe the market will "punish" the manufacturer and sellers? Wake up folks - money and quick profit are too intoxicating for many to resist cutting corners and endangering all of us.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Ned's Second Line Daily

Ned's Second Line Daily
Headed out to the mall…
JK. Practicing for a performance this weekend :) And loving this Wolfe gold face/body paint, holy shit.

Off-hours vaccination at Walgreens shows importance of expanded convenience | Vaccine News Daily

Off-hours vaccination at Walgreens shows importance of expanded convenience | Vaccine News Daily

Lib-Dems Join Brit Racists! Veils are not appropriate in classrooms or airport security, says Nick Clegg | Politics | theguardian.com

Veils are not appropriate in classrooms or airport security, says Nick Clegg | Politics | theguardian.com
It is not appropriate for students to wear a full veil in the classroom or for people to go through airport security with their faces covered, Nick Clegg has said.
But the deputy prime minister said he did not want to see a state ban on the wearing of religious items of clothing in particular circumstances.
His comments came as a Liberal Democrat minister said the government should consider banning Muslim girls and young women from wearing the veil in public places.
The Home Office minister Jeremy Browne called for a national debate on whether the state should step in to prevent young women having the veil imposed upon them.

Rookie Rodents: Dutch Police Train Rats to Sniff Out Crime »

Rookie Rodents: Dutch Police Train Rats to Sniff Out Crime »: Police in the Netherlands are hoping to save money by training rats to sniff out things like drugs and gunshot residue. The animals are cheaper and faster than traditional lab work -- and they're very accurate.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

ASIA/SYRIA - Battle for Maalula, under sniper fire - Fides News Agency

ASIA/SYRIA - Battle for Maalula, under sniper fire - Fides News Agency
Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - Soldiers of the regular army have entered Maalula, the Christian village which was attacked and seized by Islamist groups in recent days. According to local sources contacted by Fides Agency, local Christian youth fighting alongside the soldiers are under fire from snipers stationed in homes. Retaking the village seems to be very difficult because of the way it is built, where houses are perched on steep slopes. As reported to Fides, so far 3 young Greek Catholic Christians have been killed and six men have been abducted and taken somewhere near the city of Yabrud, on the slopes of the Qalamoun mountains.
Religious community members, men and women, who are still present in the village, are safe and sound. The Greek Orthodox nuns in the convent of Santa Tecla were "under siege" and were in fear for several days, while armed groups threatened to invade the convent and crosses have been removed and many civilian homes have been sacked. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/09/2013)

Monday, September 09, 2013

ASIA/SYRIA - Archbishop Hindo writes to Obama: the world does not want war - Fides News Agency

ASIA/SYRIA - Archbishop Hindo writes to Obama: the world does not want war - Fides News Agency
Hassaké (Agenzia Fides) : "It is for peace that I write to you, our peace. It is against war that I write to you, your war". This is what Monsignor Behnam Hindo, Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Hassaké - Nisibis, says to Barack Obama in a letter asking the U.S. President to stop his plans for military intervention in Syria.
The diocese of Archbishop Hindo is in the north eastern Syrian province of Jazira, in a region that is enclosed in an overwhelming and total block and where a million and a half people suffer from "the torments of war, the destruction and lack of everything".
In the letter, sent to Fides, Mgr . Hindo harshly criticizes the path taken by the U.S. administration. Strong doubts are advanced by the Syrian Archbishop also on the proof of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime highlighted by the U.S. administration to convince the international community of the need for armed intervention. The advice given to the U.S. president is to wait for "the results of the UN Commission". In addition, there is also the plea to "save massacres, destruction and more suffering. I - says the Syrian Archbishop - write to he whose name resonates the term baraka, that is blessing (...). Blessing for your great nation, peace as the fruit of blessings for my people. These are my desires. They are now in the hands of a Nobel Prize for peace".

Syria says it ‘welcomes’ Russia proposal on chemical weapons - The Washington Post

Syria says it ‘welcomes’ Russia proposal on chemical weapons - The Washington Post