Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
“The pay is not very good for hangmen, partly because of the paucity of hangings, but also because the job is considered contract work.” Here in the United States, there is little indifference towards the death penalty. It is a polarizing practice, which people either enthusiastically support or very vocally condemn. In India, the death penalty is not regarded in such black-and-white terms. The country’s death penalty is a remnant from the days of British rule, which determined that hanging, rather than firing squad or lethal injection, would be the accepted method of killing condemned criminals. But in the decades since the end of British rule, legal battles over the death penalty have raged and India’s laws have been modified over the years to the point where the actual hanging executions are very, very rare. In fact, the last hanging occurred in India in 2004. At the link, you’ll read the very interesting story of how the Indian government recently had to hunt high and low for a willing and certified hangman executioner to carry out a death sentence handed down to a murderer in the northeastern state of Assam. In a country of 1.2 billion people, you wouldn’t think that finding such a rarely-needed professional as a hangman would be that difficult. But, well, it was. (The New York Times – Hunting a Hanging Pro)
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Sion Sono’s epic films showed this weekend at Cinefamily in LA. Here’s a shot of Sion Sono below. Unknown to a most of the sold out crowd was the fact that we brought in some extra fun in the form of food trucks. Lomo Arigato brought in the Japanese Peruvian food. I saw some of the folks munching down. Out in the patio was James Chong and Jesse Fillingham. The next day featured Mandoline Grill, Mari Inukai and Albert Reyes! Lomo Arigato! This pic rocks. Jesse and James brought their wares. These guys are great.
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Haruki Murakami goes back to WWII, and basically says that Japan should have never had nuclear anything after the two bombs. He’s quoted as saying, “However, this time it was not a bomb being dropped upon us, but a mistake committed by our very own hands.” The award it turns out is given to a person who helps the world! It’s been handed out to Jimmy Carter and Aung San Suu Ki in the past.(Guardian UK – Haruki Murakami) (Catalan News Agency – Haruki Murakami)
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It’s all in the name of science! The humor and who believes this when the whale meat ends up at a super market? Although the first hunt was cut short, the celebration of less whaling ended as a new fleet took off to hunt more in the north. “That lack of optimism was justified over the weekend following the announcement by Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research that a fleet of three vessels had left port to hunt 260 whales between now and the end of August.” (Discover – Japanese whalers) (Japan Times – Whales)
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This isn’t about Anime Expo or Comic-Con, this is about the fact that because of pre-natal screening, there are too many boys especially in rapidly developing nations like China, India, and SE Asia. In the past it was a 105 boy to 100 girl situation. Yes, that’s why we have the weird uncle who never got married. Stop making fun of him, it’s not his fault. It’s actually going to be worse in the future. The ratio is going up to even 200 per 100. Here’s an interview with author, Mara Hvistendahl who penned, “Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men” (Boston – 160 Million Missing Girls)
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