When a lion attacks

Offer him a foot massage. Works every time....

Most people shy away from giving their partner a foot massage let alone dishing one out to a 40 stone killing machine.

But British park ranger Alex Larenty is made of sterner stuff and has no qualms about gently rubbing the paws of a lion under his care.

The 50-year-old regularly treats Jamu to a foot massage and these pictures make it clear the eight-year-old lion is appreciative.

[snip]

The shots were taken at The Lion Park, near Johannesburg, South Africa, just weeks before a man who broke into the reserve was mauled and killed.

Mr Larenty, who is originally from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, said the animal has complete trust in him.

He said: 'The photographs demonstrate how much at ease he is with me.

'Trust me, though, you need to know what you are doing and our relationship is one that has built up over the last six years. Jamu won't just let anyone touch him the way I do.

'We have 75 lions here at the park and I know everyone by name, Jamu is a star in his own right though.

'While these lions know me and they are tame in some way, they are still dangerous to people they don't know or in situations they are unsure about.'

So... you introduce yourself first apparently. Then offer the foot massage....

Should I be worried?

Someone from South Africa googled: juba witchcraft clear liquid control and got my blog...

They're copying us!

China sends arms and militia to Zimbabwe.

But the ship has been blocked from unloading the weapons: (my bold)

The Chinese freighter arrived in South Africa last week, and human rights groups and others said they feared the mortar grenades and bullets onboard could be used by President Robert Mugabe's regime to clamp down on its opposition.

A South African group persuaded a judge to bar the weapons from transiting through the country to landlocked Zimbabwe. and the An Yue Jiang then sailed away from South Africa. Private groups and government officials in Mozambique, Angola and Namibia also objected to the weapons, though Namibia said the ship could refuel there if necessary.

[snip]

In Washington, the State Department said it was pleased by Tuesday's news from China.

"Right now clearly is not the time that we would want to see anyone putting additional weapons or additional material into this system when the situation is so unsettled and when we have seen real and visible instances of abuses committed by the security forces," deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

Zimbabwe's government has refused to publish the results of the presidential election held more than three weeks ago, and the opposition says that is part of a ploy to steal the vote. There are reports of increasing violence against the opposition.

China is one of Zimbabwe's main trade partners and allies, and there is no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe. But China's relationship with Mugabe is often pointed to as an example of its willingness to deal with authoritarian regimes in order to secure commodities and markets in Africa.

Although China's global weapons exports are considered tiny in dollar terms, especially compared to the United States, Beijing is a principle exporter of cheap, simple small arms blamed for fueling violence in Sudan and other parts of Africa.

How dare China horn in on our weapons deals!

The United States maintained its role as the leading supplier of weapons to the developing world in 2006, followed by Russia and Britain, according to a Congressional study. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the top buyers.

The global weapons market is highly competitive, with manufacturing countries seeking both to increase profits and to expand political influence through weapons sales to developing nations that reached nearly $28.8 billion in 2006.

I mean... we have the right and the need to arm people all over the world with the latest weapons! We are the self-declared policeman of the world and we must go fight and conquer those who ... we .. have armed... ah...

Pay no attention to that last statement, tinpot dictators! Especially if you have oil!

Don't tell me about walking ten miles to school in the snow uphill both ways

Until you've read this:

A South African village is demanding that a bridge be built across a crocodile-infested river to stop children swimming it to get to school.

Students as young as seven have been making the crossing for two months since the community's boat was stolen.

"There are about 70 households on that side of the river but there are no buses and no-one owns a car," a Kwazulu-Natal local councillor said.

To cross safely would require a 20km (12 miles) detour to get to the school.

On school days, 150 children from Sahlumbe village in the heart of rural Zululand swim across the river in their underwear using rubber tyres and buckets to keep afloat and to keep their school uniforms and books dry.

The older ones help the small ones who cling to the tyres.

"I worry all the time. There are dangerous animals in there, especially crocodiles," says Thuthukani Primary School headmistress Hlengiwe Mthembu.

The children, some of whom also attend Mabizela High School, often arrive tired and unable to concentrate, she says.

"They sit in class and shiver because of the cold and they can't study well because they are worrying about how they are going to get home.

"It is very hard for them. After heavy rains the river gets very full. It can take up to 10 minutes to cross."

[snip]

Mr Nbatha says even the stolen boat was not safe and he wants a bridge built in the area.

"It was old and full of holes. There was only one boat and it was used by the whole community."

He says he has pleaded with the department of transport for five years.

"They just keep us waiting," he says.

"It's very frustrating. You can see the school from the opposite bank but you just can't reach it."

Some people know what education can do for the community, the family, each individual.

Ndwalane/The Mercury

And then we have people here in the US attempting to undo the very underpinings of education and science. Amazing.

Update 4/3: In comments, SanityFound linked to this pdf news alert:

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison,
Mr. Bheki Cele will tomorrow (26/03/08) at Sahlumbe area, Weenen,
near Estcourt, at 09.00am officiate the sod-turning of a river bridge
that will be constructed over Tugela River near Thuthukani Primary
School.
The sod-turning is subsequent to the community outcry beefed up by
media reports that scholars from Thuthukani Primary School and
other local schools cross the river using inflated tyre tubes when
going to school. The bridge is set to serve as an access route for
scholars from the Sahlumbe High School and to the Sahlumbe clinic
and about 70 families residing on the south of the river will benefit
from the bridge.
Reports have indicated that learners also use buckets to keep their
school uniforms and books dry when crossing the river and that
annually four to five children drown as a result of a swollen river. The
bridge will also provide access to public transport to those
communities residing on the north of the river.

Annually four to five children drown as a result of a swollen river.... Jesus.

May this bridge bring education and light to the children, their families and the villages.

Maybe it began to think for itself

A non-violent computer program?:

We're not used to thinking of them this way. But many advanced military weapons are essentially robotic -- picking targets out automatically, slewing into position, and waiting only for a human to pull the trigger. Most of the time. Once in a while, though, these machines start firing mysteriously on their own. The South African National Defence Force "is probing whether a software glitch led to an antiaircraft cannon malfunction that killed nine soldiers and seriously injured 14 others during a shooting exercise on Friday."

SA National Defence Force spokesman brigadier general Kwena Mangope says the cause of the malfunction is not yet known...

Media reports say the shooting exercise, using live ammunition, took place at the SA Army's Combat Training Centre, at Lohatlha, in the Northern Cape, as part of an annual force preparation endeavour.

Mangope told The Star that it “is assumed that there was a mechanical problem, which led to the accident. The gun, which was fully loaded, did not fire as it normally should have," he said. "It appears as though the gun, which is computerised, jammed before there was some sort of explosion, and then it opened fire uncontrollably, killing and injuring the soldiers."

Other reports have suggested a computer error might have been to blame. Defence pundit Helmoed-Römer Heitman told the Weekend Argus that if “the cause lay in computer error, the reason for the tragedy might never be found."

The anti-aircraft weapon, an Oerlikon GDF-005, is designed to use passive and active radar, as well as laser range finders, to lock on to "high-speed, low-flying aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and cruise missiles." In "automatic mode," the weapon feeds targeting data from the fire control unit straight to the pair of 35mm guns, and reloads on its own when its emptied its magazine.

(Found via Josh Marshall of TPM.)

Friday Hope Blogging

Phila of Bouphonia lists the goodness.

Update: Totally cool instant housing, even with electrical wiring in place. Could have used these after Katrina:

Rajan Harinarain, a South African entrepreneur and inventor has come up with a temporary foldaway house for use in emergency situations complete with electrical wiring and fittings, doors and windows that can be erected by a small team in 5 minutes.

The patented structure weighs less than a ton, collapses to under a foot in height and can be modified with insulation/ventilation for hotter or cooler environments.