Re-Charge Your Phone With the Power of Dance — Seriously (and More)

And Now the News with Kandy Korrespondent

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of ending the death penalty for the crime of child rape. This is the second such ruling this year. Last September an unofficial national moratorium on the death penalty went into effect when the court agreed to hear two appeals to lethal injection arguing that the practice causes extreme pain constituting cruel and unusual punishment. The moratorium was ended when the court finally ruled on April 16th that Kentucky’s, the state in question, guidelines for lethal injection did not in fact constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

The death penalty tends to be considered a “third-rail” issue along the lines of abortion. The sudden willingness of the highest court to rule on such cases seems to mark a shift in this regard. Anti-death penalty activists are hopeful that this current trend will end in an eventual ban on its usage. The United States is one of the few “western” countries to still use the death penalty.

In Other News:

Also on Wednesday, during a phone-in town hall meeting Presidential hopeful John McCain told a Floridian voter that only World War III would justify reinstituting a national draft. While this calms some fears, the fact that he failed to define World War III of course still leaves the issue a bit open to interpretation. Given the current ambiguous nature of the so-called “War on Terror”, it is unclear at what point a conflict would in fact obtain such a label.

On Tuesday, Senator Clinton officially returned to the Senate after her unsuccessful presidential bid. She was greeted with tearful hugs amid a pair of standing ovations. Afterward she reemphasized the need for a united party going into the November election, stating, “If you care about the issues I care about … you really have to stay with us in the Democratic Party and vote for Senator Obama”.

Zimbabwe ruled on Wednesday that the June 27th presidential vote will go on despite the opposition candidate’s withdrawal and subsequent international condemnation. The US warned on Tuesday that it would not recognize the results of the election. (this writer fails to see how such a statement will in any way impact Mugabe but that’s neither here nor there)

And Now For Something Completely Different:

For those of you who always forget to charge your phone prior to attending music festivals (all ten of you!) your worries are at an end! The UK phone operator “Orange” has teamed up with GotWind, a renewable energy firm, to produce a special phone recharger powered by “dance energy”. Simply attach it to your arm and presto… apparently.

They plan on testing out at this year’s Glastonbury Festival—good luck guys!

That’s the News.

[photo courtesy of javno.com]