Egypt lays down death sentence for 'Innocence of Muslims' crew
The controversial film, Innocence of Muslims has caused more than its fair share of grief over the last few months. There have been deaths, death threats and general international diplomatic problems all because of one man’s attempt to insult the Muslim religion.
And despite the fact that most people would prefer that this film were forgotten completely, it still continues to create issues. This time, it’s Egypt laying down a death sentence on people involved with the film, despite the fact that none of them are actually in Egypt.
The “charges” consist of harming national unity, insulting and publically attacking Islam and spreading false information. These all carry the possibility of a death sentence within the country. But is pronouncing sentence across international borders really the best answer, or are they just overreacting in a way that will do nothing but harm Islam in the eyes of the world?
The death list consists of none-other-than that greatest of all Muslim-haters himself, Pastor Terry Jones. Joining him on the list is the creator of the film and six other people, all Coptic Christians. And while many may not mourn the passing of Jones to any noticeable degree, the sentence itself shows a side of Islam that doesn’t accurately represent the majority of Muslims.
In truth, the death pronouncement is mostly symbolic, since actually getting these people to come to Egypt so they can be executed isn’t likely to happen. Still, it has already given rise to reactionary speech.
Jones himself is retaliating, stating that the ruling is “…the true face of Islam…” Actions such as this being taken by Islamic states combined with the hate speech of militant Christians will reinforce the world-view that Muslims are all violent radicals.
Luckily, Egypt has one more chance to redeem itself and help foster a better image of Islam. In late January the ruling has to be upheld by the country’s religious leaders. Perhaps there is still time to reverse the decision and stop further harm to the country’s reputation as well as to all those other Muslims in the world.
Montreal’s Modial de la Biere
If you listen to the hype, the Modial de la Biere, or “World of Beer” in Montreal is the most important international beer festival across all of North America. This grand festival celebrating beer of all types and from all origins takes place at Windsor Station and Courtyard - a shut down railway station - each year during late May and early June.
At the Modial de la Biere, one will find the best brews from all over the world and plenty of them. There is a seemingly endless variety of beer to try, some countries offering literally hundreds of different options. In addition, there are education programs for those that want to learn more.
There are brewers’ conferences, classes to teach people all about the many aspects of beer and brewing and workshops that show people how to do anything from properly judging beer to what brew goes the best with what foods. This festival is set up to benefit both the hardcore connoisseur that knows most of it already and the amateur just getting their feet wet in the world of quality beers.
It’s free to get into the festival, but the drinking can get a little pricey. They charge $1 for each coupon and every three-to-four-ounce tasting can cost anywhere from two to six tickets. Paying six bucks for a tiny taste may not be everyone’s idea of a good party, but considering the variety it can be a good way to try many beers in a short period of time.
This year the Modial de la Biere runs from Wednesday, May 29th to Saturday, June 2nd. If you want to get a feel for some of the best beers from all over the world, this is a good place to start on any beer-lover’s journey.
Profile: Donald Harvey
- Full Name – Donald Harvey
- Nickname – Angel of Death
- Born – April 15, 1952
- Location of Activity – Kentucky and Ohio, USA
- Years of Activity –1970 - 1987
- Number of Kills – 37-57 (up to 87 claimed)
- Date of Death – n/a
- Cause of Death – n/a
Born in Boonville, Kentucky, Donald Harvey was a man who was destined to become one of the most prolific killers the world has seen. At 18 he entered into the medical field, starting out as an orderly. He displayed signs of criminal behavior early on and was mentally disturbed for most of his life.
His first arrest was for a burglary attempt, after which the judge assigned him to undergo psychiatric treatment. In order to avoid this, he instead joined the U.S. Air Force. That didn’t last long either and he was discharged after 10 months. Upon returning to the real world, he bounced in and out of mental institutions.
Harvey concealed his record of mental illness and went back into the medical profession once again. He ended up working at a variety of these jobs, including as a nurse, in housekeeping and in various technician and assistant positions. All the while, he was claiming victim after victim.
According to Harvey, his first dozen victims were taken when he was still a young orderly. The rest came later, over the course of 17 years. He would usually poison his victims, using a number of different toxins. Other times he would suffocate them or inject them with hepatitis B or HIV to ensure their death.
Almost all of his victims were patients at the hospitals where he worked, but as he became more comfortable killing he also made an attempt on his lover and some of his neighbors. All-in-all he laid claim to 87 victims, though the official estimate places that number somewhere between 37 and 57.
When asked about why he killed, Harvey said he was at first trying to ease the pain of the terminally ill. As the act turned to enjoyment, he did it for the thrill or for revenge. He is also said to have used ritual magic, taking hair or fingernail clippings from potential victims and then casting a spell to see if they were to be his next.
He was caught in 1987 when people finally put the clues together and discovered that he was very near many of those who turned up dead. He is currently serving 28 life sentences and is likely to die in prison.
An iPhone case that you can eat!
The latest in utterly useless and uniquely Japanese inventions is a case for your iPhone that also happens to be edible. It’s not something that you would think of off the top of your head, but apparently there’s enough of a demand for it that some Japanese research team decided to make one. It’s called the Survival Senbai edible iPhone case and it’s the perfect way to keep yourself from starving if lost in the woods - at least for a few hours.
This case is made from a brown rice senbai cracker concoction that is designed to be a little sturdier that most rice. That is if it manages to survive the shipping process. Then you also need to get your phone into the case, which creates its own set of problems. Statistics say that more than 50 percent of these cases will break while trying to put the phone in.
So what’s the point of turning your phone into a ringing rice krispy treat? It’s in the name of the product - survival. Or at least that’s what the marketing department is saying. If you happen to be caught in a natural disaster or some other situation where there is no food, the case is there for you, pocket lint and all. Why people wouldn’t just carry a power bar instead wasn’t addressed.
Of course, there are some complications to maintaining your case for more than a few hours. The case needs to be kept out of direct sunlight and away from humidity and warmth. For some of us, the last two are an exact description of our pockets. For Japan, that’s a pretty accurate depiction of their entire country.
So if you need one of these, it’s only $48 bucks. Not exactly the $1 rice krispy treats you might pick up at the local corner store. And considering the chance of breakage due to various reasons, it’s more likely to end up a $48 rice snack that sort of resembles an iPhone case.
New discovery confirms ice on Mercury
Mars has been hogging all the space news lately, what with the Curiosity roaming around on its surface and making discoveries that will change history itself. But there are a few other planets in the solar system that need some love as well. One of those is Mercury and scientists have found something that seems unlikely on this seriously hot celestial body - ice.
Though most of the planet’s surface is hot enough to melt lead, the poles of Mercury are a bit different. Almost no sun reaches the poles and there are several craters where the temperature is much colder. It’s estimated to get as low as -100 Fahrenheit, as a matter of fact. Scientists already theorized that there might be ice down in those craters and by using some technology they confirmed it.
The NASA spacecraft Mercury Laser Altimeter has been hanging out in Mercury’s orbit for almost two years now, studying the planet. When it shined some light into the craters there was a reflection, thus confirming the presence of ice. The big mystery was not whether it was there or not, but more where that water may have come from. So far, the best explanation involves the crashing of comets into the planet, bringing moisture from other places. The water then evaporated and solidified once it reached the colder poles.
In addition to ice, they’ve detected the presence of organic materials. Though the possibility of life on Mercury is almost nil, it is likely that this organic material came along with the ice, hitchhiking on a comet.
Scientists hope to use these new discoveries to obtain clues as to how life may have begun here on our own planet. By studying the organic material on Mercury and that which may or may not have been found on Mars, we can possibly make huge jumps in our knowledge of the formation of life-bearing planets and the evolution of organic material from its smallest forms. Hopefully that life on Mars rumor is true, though we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
China falls for Onion joke
Last week I was talking about the repercussions against one Chinese citizen for their Twitter comment. The Chinese government apparently has very little sense of humor when it comes to such things as insulting them.
In the latest news, we may have proof that those in charge of the country actually have no sense of humor whatsoever. This time it involves an article put together by the satirical news source, The Onion. They did a piece on how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named the “Sexiest Man Alive” and Chinese publications picked it up and ran with it.
So sarcasm appears to be lost on those in charge of the state-run newspapers. They took the article seriously and even did their own pieces on Kim, some positive and others criticizing The Onion for their poor choice of sexy men.
Some examples of what The Onion had to say include mentioning that Kim has “…an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly, side…” and “…impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle…” With comments like this, how could you not know this was a joke?
I’m guessing it didn’t translate well, because it made the rounds through several Chinese news sources. It started out in the state-run Yangste.com and moved from there to another state-run paper, The Guangming Daily. At this point, it had officially become reality.
One publication, The People’s Daily, even ran a 55-page photo spread on Kim, no doubt showing him in all his cute and cuddly grandeur. It got to the point where The Onion posted a link from their site to The People’s Daily, thanking them for their coverage.
Those in charge of said publications must be kicking themselves in the butt, if they even have jobs at this point. The Onion, however, is quite happy that they managed to spread the good word of the sexy North Korean leader to the world’s most populous country. It isn’t the first time that Chinese news has fallen for The Onion’s jokes either. And if they don’t check their sources and make a note that The Onion is not real news, it likely won’t be the last.
New Chinese passports a thorn in Asia’s side
The number of neighbors that China currently has territorial disputes with encompasses about half of all the countries in Southeast Asia. They’ve laid claim to parts of India and pretty much everything within the South China Sea.
Much of this is claimed by other countries, leading to the political tension that exists today. So, instead of dealing with the problem diplomatically, China has decided to make everyone even angrier - by changing up their passports to show their country as having legitimate ownership over everything they see as theirs.
This has caused a general outcry among those who are contesting the ownership of various regions. In addition to the standard diplomatically angry letters that are being sent, several of these countries have decided to take matters a little further.
India, for example, is stapling paper visas to Chinese passports, visas that show the map that they believe to be accurate. Vietnam and the Philippines are doing something similar by making Chinese visitors get a separate piece of paper to get into the country.
This claim of sovereignty over the many disputed territories isn’t what one would call the best diplomatic move on China’s part. They may have a sense that they’re the biggest dog in the neighborhood and that those they risk pissing off aren’t doing quite as well as them, but a combined group of enemies does them no good. The passport change is akin to a public declaration that China has no plans in the future to relinquish control of these regions, even through peaceful means.
If the Chinese government continues behavior like this, they will isolate themselves from their neighbors and end up a political island in the middle of a locally- or Western-allied Southeast Asia. War is unlikely considering the damage that it would do to the region’s economy, but China still faces threats that could cripple it unless they do more to play nice with their fellow Asian residents.
Redskins will host Giants on MNF
The last game of WEEK 13 in the NFL will be a great NFC East matchup on Monday Night Football. The game will pit the first place New York Giants against the Washington redskins. The venue will be Washington’s FedEx Field. Both teams come into the game with a chance to win and improve their playoff chances. The division is even in sight for the Redskins if they can string some wins together. Washington enters the game with a 5-6 record while the Giants are 7-4. As always, though, divisional games can go either way and things can get physical.
The Giants are coming off a very impressive win over the Green Bay Packers. They seemed to get a good gasp of air after their week 11 bye, and came back looking refreshed. In the end, they got a 38-10 victory at home which is something they failed to do in quite sometime. The Giants had lost their 2 previous games and did so in poor fashion especially at home. Eli Manning even failed to throw for a touchdown in 2 straight games during that losing span. He seems to have got himself back in good shape and looks poised to try and make another run at the Super Bowl.
Washington has a rookie quarterback that looks destined to make a playoff run of his own. To do so, he will have to beat a very good divisional team that is the defending champions. RGIII has propelled his team into a position to try and get into the postseason, and a win Sunday would really help his team’s chances while showing that they belong. To me this is the game of the week that everyone should tune into.
Which terrible team will be victorious.. Eagles or Cowboys?
The NFC East will see a battle of their basement teams this week in Dallas. Two teams that started the season with much promise now find themselves rethinking their entire organizations. Andy Reid, the coach of the Eagles, and Dallas’ coach have both been involved in the rumor mill to be possibly on the move. This game may just be the one that breaks one of these coaches who may be playing for their jobs at this point. The game will be showcased on primetime Sunday night at 8:20 PM ET
Dallas comes into the game with a 5-6 record. Last week they had hoped to stay in playoff conversations as they hosted the Washington Redskins at home. They ended up losing 38-31, however, which helped the Redskins get to 5-6. The team has been awful at home despite having the biggest stadium to fill with loyal fans of America’s team. It has yet to be a place that people fear to come play in and a Eagles win is certainly not out of the question.
The Eagles have failed to play up to potential this year as well, and are just 3-8 this season. Philadelphia lost 30-22 last Monday night against the Panthers. Unfortunately, the NFL thought the Eagles would be good and gave them primetime games. Now America must watch poor teams play under the lights, which is something no one wants to do week in and week out. Unfortunately, that will be the case this week though.
AFC North matchup to be played in Pittsburgh
AFC North powerhouses will meet for round 2 this week in Baltimore. There, the Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Baltimore Ravens for the second time in 3 weeks. The last meeting was won by Baltimore in a game that did not feature Ben Roethlisberger due to injury. Ben will not be in the game this week as well, but did start to practice a bit for the team this week. Baltimore is currently in first in the division while the Steelers are currently in position for a wildcard spot. This could be in some jeopardy, however, since the team has struggled without Ben in their games.
The Steelers are 6-5 on the year, but have lost two straight. Last week they lost 20-14 against the Cleveland Browns who have failed to have much luck against them since their return to Cleveland in 1999. The team forced 8 turnovers in all including making all of Pittsburgh’s running backs fumble. The loss puts the team in some jeopardy and will see them having to really sweat out this upcoming game against Baltimore.
Baltimore will enter as the home team this Sunday, and bring to the table a 9-2 record. The team has been shaky at times, but overall solid despite losing some key players on defense. They did get good news this week that Ray Lewis had been cleared to practice any day for the team and may play as early as next week. In this game, one of the best linebackers in the league will be the biggest cheerleader.