April 7, 2009

World notes 15th anniversary of genocide in Rwanda

Per allAfrica.com, today marks the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda where over 800,000 "ethnic Tutsi and Hutu moderates" were slaughtered by way of machete in almost 100 days.

There will be several events across the globe in places like South Africa, Congo and the UK honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost. The UN is also observing the anniversary with testimonials from survivors of the genocide.

The Twitterverse observed and expressed their emotions about today's anniversary.

  1. Greg Kendall-Ball
    gregkb @magnumphotos (Undisclosed) Is "civil war" appropriate? That's how the Hutu Power regime tried to classify the genocide...#rwanda
  2. LC K
    missmiao (Petuling Jaya, Malaysia) Today was the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. Nunca Mas. And with that I go to bed.
  3. Philippe N.
    starpphoto (Undisclosed) 100 Days of hell would follow. A million dead. What have we learned from 1994 Rwanda Genocide? What have YOU learned from it?
  4. Florian Peek
    Evolvian (Amsterdam) what do bosnia, rwanda, sudan, congo, sri lanka and burma have in common?...April is Genocide Awareness Month. Check it.
  5. Kara Knightly
    KaraInParis (Paris, France) April 7th, 2009 marks the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda
  6. PaulDewar
    PaulDewar (Ottawa, Ontario) Joining the Rwandan community in Ottawa at genocide remembrance on 15th anniversary and calling for Canadian commitment to genocide prev ...
  7. Chris Lewis
    STRIDESO @thatgirlmystic (Calgary) Just assumed something like genocide deserves an ongoing prevention - genocide prevention lifetime maybe???




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Shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist's sentence reduced to one year

Per Al Jazeera, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush, has had his prison sentence reduced to one year. A court official said the decision was made because al-Zeidi had no prior record.

Al-Zeidi's family called it "a victory for the Iraqi people," according to Al Jazeera. His lawyers have argued the move was one of freedom of expression rather than an assault. Al-Zeidi has become a folk hero in the Arab world, where Bush has been widely reviled for his U.S-led invasion of Iraq, the article reports.

Twitterers responded to the news.

  1. Megan Loper
    megloper (D.C./Jackson, Miss.) Iraqi shoe thrower gets reduced sentence. Let's have one last look for old times sake. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM3Z_Kskl_U
  2. wayne310
    wayne310 (Undisclosed) Shoe throwing trend on the rise, First Bush, then Chinese PM, Now India's home minister
  3. DinahLord
    DinahLord (Colorado) Iraq: Shoe thrower gets reduced sentence upon appeal.: Please! Will this guy's 15 minutes EVER be up? His shoe i.. http://tinyurl.com/dd2g9k


Many responses involved humor.


  1. Emma Kennedy
    EmmaK67 (London, U.K.) I'm glad the Iraq shoe thrower's had his sentence reduced but I think he should be released instantly and made king of the world
  2. seanbedlam
    seanbedlam (Melbourne, Australia) The Iraq Shoe Thrower's sentence has been reduced. Good news, but he should be released to unveil a shoe-chucking statue built in his honor.
  3. Packard Sonic
    Packard_Sonic (Weston, Wisc.) RT @newsticker: Iraqi shoe-thrower's prison sentence reduced - PRESS TV http://tinyurl.com/cfbmuf | Getting 2nd chance? I got extra shoe
  4. Kingpin Slim
    kingpinslim (Undisclosed) the Iraqi dude who threw the shoe at Bush got his time reduced from 3 years to 1 year justice is served!


Related Breaking Tweets article:
Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at Bush sentenced to three years, March 12


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Featured TwitPic: Ocean view in Costa Rica


"Ocean view from our Villa...took us 4 hours to get here but it was worth the drive!" (Posted by @RealAnnieDuke, Costa Rica, April 7, 2009)

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Rare Megamouth shark found in Philippines, then eaten

Per National Geographic: A Megamouth shark, one of the rarest sharks in the world, was found by fisherman in the Philippines and then eaten.

The fisherman from the town of Donsol caught the 13 foot 1,102 pound Megamouth while fishing for mackerel says National Geographic. According to the article, this was only the 41st Megamouth to ever be found since the once thought extinct shark reappeared in 1976.

World Wildlife Fund Philippines local project manager Elson Aca identified the shark and then explained to the fisherman that they shouldn't eat the shark, said National Geographic. Shark meat is considered a delicacy in the Philippines and the shark was butchered and cooked.

A variety of reactions from the Twitterverse:

  1. Budjette Tan
    Budjette (Manila, Philippines) Rare megamouth shark caught&eaten by Pinoy fishermen http://tr.im/indV i wonder if they turned it into adobo
  2. Tristan Cuschieri
    tristanx (Toronto, Canada) I have to admit, reading this made me a little sad. Ultra-rare "megamouth" shark caught, butchered, eaten: http://bit.ly/3PDfyi
  3. frank altobelli
    faltobelli (Undisclosed) It's not survival of the fittest, it's extinction of the tastiest as proved by Philippine fishermen who ate a mega rare megamouth shark
  4. Nicole Bator
    noxo (London, U.K.) This saddens and angers me: Extremely Rare Megamouth Shark Found and Eaten http://twurl.nl/z7qldl (RT @NatGeoSociety)
  5. Jacob Mushlin
    mishmashmush (Undisclosed) So a group of fishermen caught and ate the ubber rare Megamouth Shark. It was cooked in coconut milk. I think I'm making Thai tonight.
  6. Buwayahman
    buwayahman (Philippines) I don't get it. Given a choice between starving to death or eating a rare megamouth shark, wouldn't you eat the shark? http://bit.ly/770g2



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Twitterers lament variable pricing on iTunes

Per the New York Times, Apple's implementation of a variable pricing system for iTunes officially took effect today. Songs can be purchased for $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29 (U.S.), rather than the uniform $0.99 previously.

The move caused quite a stir in the Twitterverse, as iTunes shot up to a Top 10 trending topic. Most feedback came from the United States, but there was also world reaction:

  1. John Brunner
    meandre (Paris, France) ahhh, iTunes is variable pricing now. it's only time til the analysis comes out on $1.29/song's impact on sales.
  2. Tariq Fazal
    tariq_fazal (Dubai, UAE) iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99 http://bit.ly/FT345
  3. Liam Floyd
    Liamfloyd (Canada) OK, I've found 5 more songs with different prices on iTunes... but they're still more expensive! I've even looked at old people music!
  4. Gregory Owens
    Jaste (Melbourne, Australia) $2.19 for a song on Aussie iTunes? No thanks!
  5. Brody Enyeart
    BrodyTEnyeart (Ferndale, Wash.) $1.29 for an iTunes download!?! it's ridiculous! smart guys, you want people to not download illegal music, so what do you do? up the prices
  6. Sara Plumley
    Sara6590 (Gainesville, Fla.) upset with itunes for jacking up prices! :(! at least some people left the prices the same!
  7. Gaeten Rondeau
    Grondeau (Undisclosed) new itunes prices, super lame! that's 30 cents I could buy bubble gum with!


However, not all were opposed to the change.

  1. The Motley Fool
    TheMotleyFool (Alexandria, Va.) Then again, who cares if iTunes raises prices? More musicians are going digital on their own. Tough luck, record labels: http://is.gd/p7PQ
  2. Brendan Wilhide
    beingthere (Connecticut) The iTunes price increase (or decrease, in some cases) went into effect today. The question is: does this change anything?
  3. Cory Roush
    coryroush (Ohio) I'm not upset about #iTunes bumping their prices up to $1.29. 30 cents? Still keeps me from shelling out 20 bucks on 2 good songs out of 15.


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New earthquake rattles Rome

Per Reuters, a "strong aftershock" rattled Central Italy on Tuesday at 11:25 a.m. local time. This latest earthquake had a magnitude of 4.9, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

Twitterers in the region quickly reported the new quake.

  1. Tommaso Passi
    masolino (Rome, Italy) #terremoto a Roma la terra trema ancora (#earthquake in Rome the earth still trembles)
  2. Miguel Marquez
    miguelmarquez (Onna, Italy) huge aftershock!! biggest yet. There have been about 250 since the big quake
  3. Alessandro Marconi
    djslump (Rome, Italy) #terremoto #earthquake #italy Just felt another earthquake in Rome, looking for more info
  4. Bernhardwarner
    Bernhardwarner (Rome, Italy) Another aftershock hits Lazio. Felt it here in Rome. A good few-second shake of my apt building. #terremoto
  5. newyorker
    newyorker01 (Rome, Italy) new eathquake in this moment!!! Italy, Rome


Update: Italian Twitterers @djslump, @dominik99, and @bernhardwarner, among others, reported a fresh aftershock of 5.5-5.7 magnitude Tuesday evening.

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3,000 Tamils hold protest in London

Per the Times of India, Tamils protested in London outside the British parliament in regards to alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka on Monday night, going into Tuesday morning.

Police estimated around 3,000 protesters showed up holding banners saying, "Stop Sri Lanka's Genocide of Tamils" along with other phrases, per the article. The demonstration was reported to be peaceful and no arrests were made.

Tweets from London surfaced about the Tamils' protest during the morning hours.

  1. Kiniyak
    kiniyak 200 Tamils are blockading Westminster Bridge small police presence buses backed up across the bridge, loud but peaceful.
  2. Ashley Brown
    ashley_brown So it takes 3,000 Tamils to finally defy the stupid law on protesting outside Parliament. No sign of riot police trying to arrest them.. #fb
  3. tiredoflondon
    tiredoflondon certainly doesn't want to take sides on the cause, but at least the Tamils have shown London how to do a protest

Twitterer @mathew_weaver posted this TwitPic of the protests.


"Tamil 2 minutes silence on Parliament Sq"

@alexandermoore posted this TwitPic after the protests occurred:


"Just cycled past Parliament. Police, angry looking Tamils and lots of rubbish everywhere."

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Shoe thrown at Indian minister

Per the Times of India: "Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday ducked a shoe thrown by a journalist at a press conference" in New Delhi.

Twitterers in the region quickly used humor in their tweets, as the incident mirrored recent shoe-throwing events involving U.S. President George W. Bush in Iraq and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in England.

  1. Anurag Mandal
    Anurag37 (Ranchi, India) Another "shoe throwing" protest against a minister this time it is India's finance minister P. Chidambaram
  2. Sabu Joseph
    sabujoseph (Cochin, India) Shoe thrown at Chidambaram, its happend in india toooo
  3. Rushi Vishavadia
    rushiv (Dubai, UAE) lol a sikh journalist threw a shoe at India's home minister P Chidambaram! He managed to dodge it though - http://tr.im/imF2
  4. Sajal Kayan
    sajal (Bangkok, Thailand) BREAKING NEWS : India just joined USTN (== United Shoe Thowing Nations)
  5. rhebbar
    rhebbar (India) Shoe throwing fever catches on in India ... http://tinyurl.com/dcooo8 :-)


Others were more serious, trying to get to the bottom of the incident.

  1. Dhananjay Mhatre
    Dhaanu (India) @sidin Why would anyone throw a shoe at poor Chidu. Not happy with his budgets? Or not happy with the IPL being shifted out of India?
  2. Melissa Bell
    MelissaBell (Delhi, India) Indian journalist throws shoe at home minister of India. Home minister now in tears. I think journos just bored of press conferences.
  3. Abhimanyu Jamwal
    ajmanyu (Undisclosed) shame!...india's own shoe attack....chitambram doesnt not deserve this.
    MORAL CODE OF CONDUCT for journalists..


A video of the incident can be seen on the Times of India Web site.

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