Saudi preacher tortures 5 yr old daughter and Walks free

You just wonder why Rizana Nafeek deserved to be executed.

Public anger has gripped Saudi Arabia after a prominent preacher Fayhan Ghamdi, who raped and beat to death his 5-year-old daughter was sentenced to a few months in jail and a $50,000 fine – known as 'blood money' – to compensate the victim's relatives.
­According to Islamic law, the 'blood money' can be paid in lieu of the death penalty. The preacher's fine was reportedly half the usual amount because the victim was a girl.
Saudi preacher Fayhan Ghamdi, a frequent guest on Muslim TV networks, confessed to using cables and a cane to inflict the injuries, AFP reported, quoting activists from the group ‘Women to Drive.’
Ghamdi reportedly doubted that his 5 year old daughter, Lama Ghamdi, was a virgin, and forced her to undergo a medical inspection.
In December 2011, Lama was admitted to hospital with multiple injuries, including a crushed skull, broken ribs and left arm, and extensive bruising and burns, according to the activist group. Hospital worker Randa Kaleeb said that the girl's back was broken, and that she had been raped "everywhere."
­The hospital told the victim's mother that her child's “rectum had been torn open and the abuser had attempted to burn it closed,” AFP reported on Saturday.
The incident sparked public anger in Saudi Arabia, prompting an online Twitter campaign calling for more severe punishment for violence against women and children. The 'Women to Drive' campaign, launched by women's rights activist Manal Sharif, has demanded the creation of legislation that would criminalize violence against women and children.
The petition is circulating on Twitter under the hashtag 'Ana Lama' – "I am Lama" in Arabic.
The issue has gained widespread traction in Saudi Arabia, and authorities promised to set up a 24-hour hotline that will take calls regarding child abuse.
 http://rt.com/news/saudi-preacher-fine-rape-333/

When she asked her former husband at the hospital why he tortured Lamaa, he replied with a “chuckle only.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/11/249009.html

Activists say under Islamic laws a father cannot be executed for murdering his children. Husbands can also not be executed for murdering their wives, the group say.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273171/Fayhan-al-Ghamdi-raped-tortured-daughter-5-death-escapes-light-sentence.html

via Brown Pundits

India Diesel prices to be hiked 40-50 paise (approx LKR 1,00) every month

Will Sri Lanka follow as well

NEW DELHI: Diesel prices will be hiked by 40-50 paise per litre every month till losses on the nation's most used fuel are completely wiped out, oil minister M Veerappa Moily said today.

"Until further orders, oil marketing companies can increase it (diesel price) by 40-50 paise (per litre) every month," he told reporters here.

The government had on January 17 decided to move towards deregulating or freeing diesel prices from state control and gave powers to state-owned oil firms to raise prices in small measures every month till all of their losses are wiped out.

More at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Diesel-prices-to-be-hiked-40-50-paise-every-month-Veerappa-Moily-says/articleshow/18287874.cms

Extremes: Rizana Nafeek executed: Tangalle Tourist murderers Free

Some times you wonder if the world is going crazy.

Rizana Nafeek gets executed for an accidental death.

In Sri Lanka the Tangalle murderers of a British Tourist and rapists of his girlfriend are still to be given a verdict and are roaming free on bail.

Saudi Sergeant Rapes boy, 13 in Las Vegas

What bets this guy gets extradited to Saudi Arabia and given a slap on the wrist.
Also this has not been reported on the major news channels such as NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times or even the New York Post.
See also the Khamis Mushayt Girl who killed the person who was raping her being sentenced to be executed. She was later pardoned and given SR 500,000 as compensation.
Not quite the same justice for Rizana Nafeek.

The defense lawyer said that if sex took place, it was consensual.
Prosecutors say that even if the boy wanted to have sex, Nevada state law says a child under age 16 cannot give consent.

Alotaibi told police he was drinking Hennessy all night and was drunk when he met the boy. He first denied allegations, but later admitted to raping the teen after he refused to have sex with him for money.
The report stated that the 23-year-old Saudi national told investigators that he had the boy perform oral sex on him 'for just a couple of seconds,' and then 'accidentally' raped him.

Saudi Arabia operates under Sharia, or Islamic law, and punishes homosexuality, or sodomy, with sentences of corporal and capital punishment.
Saudi law also bans the consumption of alcohol. Those found guilty of drinking liquor could face anything from several weeks to several months in jail. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271584/Saudi-sergeant-charged-raping-boy-13-Las-Vegas-hotel-room-WILL-trial-bail-raised-1-7M.html

Google's virtual tour of the Grand Canyon

Images of the Grand Canyon are the first to be taken by the company's Trekker platform, which allows workers on foot to collect 360 degree imagery with a back-pack mounted camera system.
'Our team strapped on the Android-operated 40lb backpacks carrying the 15-lens camera system and wound along the rocky terrain on foot, enduring temperature swings and a few muscle cramps along the way,' Mr Falor said.
Google's Trekker cameras capture images every 2.5 seconds with 15 cameras that are 5MP each. A removable hard drive on the trekker stores the data as it is gathered.
GPS data around the Grand Canyon is limited, so Google was forced to compensate with sensors to record temperature, vibrations and the orientation of the device as it changes. These details were essential to developers given the job of stitching them back together into seamless, scrollable panoramas.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2271298/Google-Grand-Canyon-View-Search-giant-expands-maps-include-virtual-tour-world-famous-natural-wonder.html

NY Times: 46 Places to Go in 2013: Kalpitiya

Kalpitiya, a spit of land two hours north of Colombo that boasts one of Sri Lanka’s least developed stretches of coastline, is flanked by the Indian Ocean on the west and the emerald green Puttalam Lagoon on the east. Now, before large resort developments at the peninsula’s tip come to fruition, is the time to visit. Base yourself at Alankuda Beach, which from November through April is the launching point for dolphin and sperm whale watching expeditions; May brings wind and kite surfing. Dry land diversions include a 17th-century Dutch fort and the Shrine of St. Anne, Sri Lanka’s oldest, as well as leopard, sloth bear and elephant spotting at nearby Wilpattu National Park. — Robyn Eckhardt

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/10/travel/2013-places-to-go.html

America Gone Wild: Is Sri Lanka going Wild

Article in the Wall Street Journal details the resurgence of wild life and forests in the US.
Excerpts

Today, the eastern third of the country has the largest forest in the contiguous U.S., as well as two-thirds of its people. Since the 19th century, forests have grown back to cover 60% of the land within this area. In New England, an astonishing 86.7% of the land that was forested in 1630 had been reforested by 2007, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Sterilize them? Kill them? For every option and every creature there is a constituency. We have bird lovers against cat lovers; people who would save beavers from cruel traps and people who would save yards and roads from beaver flooding; Bambi saviors versus forest and garden protectors.

Some towns are becoming more tolerant of hunters than of deer, noting that while guns kill 31,000 Americans a year, hunters kill only about 100, mostly each other. Deer, on the other hand, kill upward of 250 people a year—drivers and passengers—and hospitalize 30,000 more. Some communities screen hunters, allowing them to use only bows and arrows and shotguns that have limited ranges.

Just a few days ago we had Elephants  come into our property at Eluvankulam. They ate the tender crown of the coconut Trees and just walked over the vegetable plots, destroying bean plants, squash  and the remaining papaya plants (they didn't do well to start with).  This is the second time elephants have encroached since the rainy season started. The traditional thinking is that elephants
encroach onto plantations during the dry season when forests and grass lands have marginal greenery,  but this is occurring when its green all over.
So what is happening, to quote from the WSJ article

Why? Our habitat is better than theirs. We offer plenty of food, water, shelter and protection. We plant grass, trees, shrubs and gardens, put out birdseed, mulch and garbage.
Sprawl supports a lot more critters than a people-free forest does. For many species, sprawl's biological carrying capacity—the population limit the food and habitat can

From one of the comments on the WSJ article which highlights there been no correct answers.

Friends of mine,  who have spent time in Spain, in the past several years, tell me that wind farms are devastating to wild life. They say that there is isn't a rabbit, squirrel or deer to be seen in Spain. They didn't know if the animals were hiding somewhere, but they certainly weren't visible. Thinking is that the vibrations from the wind turbines discourage the reproduction of the animals.