No, that is not the name of my newest novel. You think childbirth is painful? Imagine passing stones through your tear ducts. From The Independent:

A 15-year-old girl called Savitri been admitted to hospital suffering from tiny stones that emerge from the corners of her eyes. Doctors say they have never seen anything like it, and they cannot explain it.

At the girl’s village in Jharkhand, they have two explanations. Either she is possessed by an evil spirit, or she is an incarnation of a goddess. But for Savitri, the condition is anything but a blessing. Before the stones emerge, she suffers from excruciating pain in her head. Tiny stones emerge from her ears, nose and mouth as well.

There are verses in the bible that fortell events like this in the End Days. With Nov. 2nd fast approacing, I am afraid.

Savitri and her family are desperate for a cure. Her bedside at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science has been overrun by reporters, but the family say no one has been able to offer medical help.

Where is Dr. Sanjay Gupta with his house calls when you need him?

Manish already posted about the assassination of notorious bandit Veerappan, but I thought I’d follow up by telling SM readers about this article from the BBC, which discusses how a “leading” South Indian human rights group is unhappy with the tactics employed in exterminating the dacoit.

…the killing could have been avoided, according to the human rights group, People’s Watch.

Its head, Henry Tiphagne, asked in an interview with the BBC Tamil Service: “Why could the 100 armed police officers who surrounded Veerappan not have forced him to surrender or simply wounded him?”

Veerappan had many times told journalists how he had bribed police and politicians, and had made clear he would give details if he was ever tried.

Mr Tiphagne said, with Veerappan’s death, the allegations of his links to leading figures in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka could not be examined.

After gazing at that picture, what I want to know is, what happened to his meesha (moustache)? Am I looking at an insult added to (final) injury?

I SWEAR its not a rat. From NBC10:

Her name is “Tiny.” How tiny is she? A mere 7.2 inches long.

If Guinness authorities confirm the measurement next week, she could be confirmed as the world’s smallest dog.

The dog is owned by an Indian couple, both doctors, who filed for the record after looking at a Web site that showed a 7.4 inch Chihuahua from Slovakia as the world’s smallest dog.

Dog lover’s can view a clip of Tiny here. Personally I would have named her “Killer” or “Cujo.” Continue reading →

Abdullah Mehsud, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner released by the U.S., turned right around and kidnapped two Chinese engineers in Pakistan:

The former prisoners include Abdullah Mehsud, accused by Pakistani authorities of overseeing the recent kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, one of whom was killed. On Friday, Pakistani soldiers began a massive search for Mehsud, 28, who returned to Pakistan in March after about two years’ detention at Guantanamo. Pakistan officials said he has forged ties with al Qaeda since then.

This blunder reminds me of the 1999 incident when India released three Kashmiri militants in exchange for hostages on a hijacked Indian Airlines jet, IC-814. One of the men released, Maulana Masood Azhar, then masterminded the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Sick, sick, sickening:

Driven by acute poverty, a mother in Orissa sold her 20-day-old daughter to a neighbour for Rs 600 (about $13), media reports in Bhubaneswar said on Friday.

Kusum Majhi, 27, of Palisipada village in Kalahandi district, hit by drought and famine several times over the past decade, sold her second child to Dhanu Naik, a middle-aged labourer on Thursday, the Oriya daily Samaja reported.

…Kusum and her mother Sebati, 60, searched for a buyer in the village over the past few days, and Dhanu Naik showed interest in buying the child for Rs 600, the newspaper said.

…The sale of the baby was formally executed on Thursday in the presence of several other villagers, with Naik and Kusum submitting a document to the village council to avoid “future legal complications”, the report said.

How is this POSSIBLY legal?? 🙁

Veerappan, a notorious Tamil bandit with a truly impressive handlebar moustache, has finally been found and shot dead by police (thanks, Ennis). Veerappan was the Indian D.B. Cooper, an elusive fugitive whose freedom haunted law enforcement for years. His fame ranked with that of Indian-Vietnamese serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

Veerappan, a Tamil, was accused of more than 100 murders – as well as kidnapping, smuggling and poaching – and had been on the run for 20 years…

He was involved in the kidnapping two years ago of former state minister of Karnataka, H Nagappa, who was found dead after three months in captivity. He was also involved in the kidnapping for a famous film star, Rajkumar, four years ago. The film star was released after 108 days of captivity, allegedly for a huge ransom.

The Acorn has more:

India’s very own October surprise: Towards the fag end of his career, Veerappan did try to diversify into the new business model — terrorism — but couldn’t quite find the right sponsors in time… it is still good to see him sent off the field by a bullet paid for by the Indian tax-payer. For a time it looked like nature would claim him first.

Strategy Page reports – military news about India-Pakistan –

October 18, 2004: Pakistan has offered to divide up Indian Kashmir according to the wishes of the Kashmiris. The would likely mean that the most valuable part of the province, the mostly Moslem Kashmir valley, would go to Pakistan, while the Hindu and Buddhist areas would opt for India. But maybe not. The Kashmiri Moslems are aware that India has a real democracy and a growing economy, versus dictatorship and economic chaos in Pakistan. There is much less corruption in India. Over a decade of Islamic terrorism, even if technically on their behalf, has left many Kashmiri Moslems fearful, if not outright hostile towards Islamic radicalism. Putting it all to a vote would be unpopular with nationalists in both countries, but is one solution that would end the fighting, or at least reduce it. However, India has a point in that Pakistan’s tolerance for Islamic terrorist groups in Pakistani Kashmir is the main source of the violence in Kashmir. That said, half a century of fighting over this province is wearing out a lot of Indians and Pakistanis, especially since both have nuclear weapons. This means a battlefield solution is no longer possible.

Seeing Econ Opportunity create the motive for peace warms my little libertarian heart 😉

The UK is trying to encourage more Sikhs to join the British army. Why?

… at the time of First World War, Sikhs formed 20 per cent of the British army. That meant 100,000 Sikhs. “In the 100 years to 1945, there were some 14 Victoria Crosses awarded to Sikhs. On a per capita basis, given the size of Sikh regiments, that must be a record for the entire British armed forces,”

Background: Right now there are only around 100 Sikhs in the British armed forces, which is more than the US or Canadian militaries, but still not much in light of past levels of recruitment.

Only 1,354 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since the first in 1856. The Congressional Medal of Honor is the US counterpart to the VC; it’s the highest award given out by the British.

p.s. No, I don’t buy into notions of “martial races.”

Exorcism: it’s not just for Bobby Jindal (see liberal blog DailyKos) any more. Faith healers in the UK are fleecing depressed Muslim women by vending talismans and djinn exorcisms:

A victim of exorcism, eighteen-year-old Sureha Begum, from Manchester, attended the conference. She suffered from chronic depression and was self-harming after an arranged marriage in Bangladesh. When she became ill her parents were told that she was possessed by jinns. They spent over £3,000 on faith healers and exorcisms…

Said Sureha: “Faith healers told my parents that I was possessed and the more my mental health deteriorated the more these faith healers convinced them it was the work of the jinn… These faith healers know your weaknesses as soon as you open your mouth and they use it to con people out of hundreds of pounds.”

If I were to be the property of a djinn, let that djinn be Barbara Eden.

Continue reading →