quick headlines
You may have seen the story today about how Sarah Palin has been blessed with protection against witchcraft:
Palin once blessed to be free from ‘witchcraft’
You may even think this was symbolic or metaphorical, but only if you haven’t seen this story that ran a couple of weeks ago:
Palin linked electoral success to prayer of Kenyan witchhunter
Says the Monitor, “Muthee held a crusade that “brought about 200 people to Christ”.” They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor “the demonic influence – the ‘principality’ over Kiambu –was broken”, and Mama Jane fled the town.
According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.
After Mama Jane was questioned by police – and released – she decided it was time to leave town, the account says.
Standard disclaimers apply, of course- this isn’t the best sourced article. The wikipedia article on Thomas Muthee at least has some citations for the story, but it was only created five days ago. It may take some time to find out more.
Meanwhile, some space news:
House Extends INKSNA Waiver
Today, as part of the Continuing Resolution (CR), the U.S. House of Representatives extended the waiver to the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act from January 1, 2012 to July 1, 2016, which will allow NASA to continue to purchase needed ISS-related goods and services from the Russians and ensure that U.S. astronauts will continue to have access to the ISS after the current waiver expires.
Relying on the Russians to get us to orbit for several years might seem a little risky, but hey, maybe we can catch a ride from the Chinese instead:
Liftoff! China Launches Third Manned Spaceflight
