The arrival of the universal:

Four Tanzanians have been sentenced to death by hanging for killing a 10-year-old albino boy last year, reports IOL. The court convicted them of murdering the boy and removing his head and legs. The ruling brings to seven the number of suspects sentenced to death for the murder of albinos in Tanzania. Since 2007, more than 50 albinos, many of them children, have been murdered and their limbs and organs sold to witchdoctors who use them to create charms meant to bring wealth and good luck...

Yes, I place some belief in the multiverse theory. As there are soapy bubbles in a kitchen sink, there very well may be billions of bubbling universes in a hyperspace. So, you can imagine my confusion when I read this report a moment ago:

A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes.

The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany's economic recovery.

Germany could raise 100bn euros (£91bn) if the richest people paid a 5% wealth tax for two years, they say.

The petition has 44 signatories so far, and will be presented to newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Liz Cheney said on Fox News Sunday.

But I do think he could send a real signal here. I think what he [Obama] ought to do frankly is send a mother of a fallen American soldier to accept the prize on behalf of the U.S. military and frankly to send the message to remind the Nobel committee that each one of them sleeps soundly at night because the U.S. military is the greatest peacekeeping force in the world today.

George Packer:

President Obama should thank the Nobel committee and ask them to hold on to the Peace Prize for a couple more years. The prize should be awarded for achievement, not aspiration, and so far Obama’s main achievement has been getting elected President, which is in a different category. He shouldn’t contribute to the unfair accusation that he is all talk by accepting an award based on speeches he gave in Berlin, Prague, and Cairo.

Andrew Sullivan (initial reaction):

If any person has done more to advance some measure of calm, reason and peace in this troubled word lately, it's president Obama. I think the Cairo speech and the Wright speech alone merited this both bridging ancient rifts even while they remain, of course, deep and intractable. He has already done more to heal the open wound between the West and Islam than anyone else on the planet.

Andrew Sullivan (after some coffee):

Reading through all the reactions, there are two obvious points: this is premature and this is thoroughly deserved.

Both are right. I don't think Americans fully absorbed the depths to which this country's reputation had sunk under the Cheney era. That's understandable. And so they also haven't fully absorbed the turn-around in the world's view of America that Obama and the American people have accomplished. Of course, this has yet to bear real fruit. But you can begin to see how it could; and I hope more see both the peaceful intentions and the steely resolve of this man to persevere.

This president has done a huge amount to bring race relations in this country to a different place, which is why the far right has become so vicious in attacking him and lying about him. They know he threatens their politics of division and rule. He has also directly addressed the Muslim world, telling some hard truths, and played a small role in evoking a similar movement of hope and change in Iran, and finally told the Israelis to stop cutting their nose off to spite their face.

Nicholas D. Kristof:

He's been largely absent on Sudan, Congo, Burma and global poverty and health issues, and doesn't even have a USAID administrator. I think he has the right instincts on these issues and expect him to get engaged, but shouldn't the Nobel Peace Prize have a higher bar than high expectations? Especially when there are so many people who have worked for years and years on the front lines, often in dangerous situations, to make a difference to the most voiceless people of the world? I think of Dr. Denis Mukwege at the Panzi Hospital in eastern Congo, or Jo and Lyn Lusi at the Heal Africa Hospital also in eastern Congo, or Dr. Paul Farmer of Partners in Health for his tireless work in Haiti and Rwanda, or Greg Mortenson traipsing all over Pakistan and Afghanistan to build schools, or Dr. Catherine Hamlin working for half a century to fight obstetric fistula and maternal mortality in Ethiopia, or so many others. In the light of that competition, it seems to me that it might have made sense to wait and give Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in his eighth year in office, after he has actually made peace somewhere.

Unnamed White House aides, according to ABC News:

Two key White House aides were both convinced they were being punked when they heard the news, reported ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

"It's not April 1, is it?" one said.

David Parker (HuffPo):

In a stunning turn of events, President Barack Obama has swept baseball's postseason honors in both leagues, a feat never before accomplished and long considered impossible.

At a hastily scheduled press conference, Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig announced that Obama has been named Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award Winner and Most Valuable Player in both the American and National Leagues. These honors come on the heels of Obama's surprise selection as Rolaids Relief Man.

It's in the morning news, and everywhere, and no one, it seems, knows exactly what to think. Tell 'em, Slog.

Really? A Nobel Peace Prize for President Obama?

Jon Stewart's interview with the Malawian windmill sensation, William Kamkwamba? For me, it is unwatchable:

An extra note: Why is it only these types of Africans (Africans who are African to the root) become media sensations in the West? An African, David Adjaye, designs the amazing Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver—silence; an African boy designs the ugliest windmill possible—lots of noise and a whole book about it! Why is such the case? The first one does not live up to the Western idea of the African; the second one does. The first challenges the ideal African; the second doesn't. Indeed, the second one reinforces it with his earthiness and rural babble about batteries and whatnot.

The next image from the White House's official photostream:

Americans really only hear American noise. (Even in the age of global communication, this is still the case.) The noise that happens outside of its borders is barely audible, barely there at all. What we hear most in this country, for example, is the hate that many have for the black president; what is not heard is the love that many outside of the country have for the American president. And so it is a shock to Americans (both on the left and right) to learn he has won the Nobel Peace Prize. It is shocking because we had no idea of the kind of popular noise he generates in the world outside of our own. "I can travel again and not be scared to answer when people ask me what country I'm from. Thanks to President Obama for that," wrote the American philosopher Graham Harman on Twitter. For most Americans living abroad (Harman lives in Cairo), Obama's popularity is not dimmed/distorted/diminished by the noise of brain-dead, black-shocked tea people (the base) and the GOP's high voltage propaganda machine (the superstructure).

After some bad news from Germany, some good news from Greece:

Greek Socialist leader George Papandreou has been sworn in as prime minister, two days after the former conservative government went down to defeat in snap elections.

Mr. Papandreou took the oath of office Tuesday in Athens during a brief ceremony presided over by the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos, and President Karolos Papoulias.

Mr. Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK, won 160 of 300 seats in parliamentary polls Sunday. Outgoing Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis resigned as head of his New Democracy Party after the defeat

Nouriel Roubini's website, RGE, has this list of recent important events in Greece:

Popular Discontent on the Rise

# A wave of extremism and lawlessness has gripped Greece since the beginning of 2009. Extremist groups have staged a series of petrol bomb attacks against banks, car dealerships and politicians’ offices in a campaign to undermine the government.

# Global Insight: "The terrorist attacks are likely to continue with a centrist cabinet; the terrorist groups are decrying the perceived "capitalist" measures of the government and business-friendly organizations alike. If the next government is going to boost investment, it will need to form a pact with those bodies that the terrorist groups despise."

# August 2009: A huge wildfire that spread in the region of Athens in August 2009, put more pressure on the government. Prime Minister Karamanlis was widely blamed for his handling of the fires two years ago and this year's emergency prompted renewed criticism.

# April 2009: Greek trade unions staged a national strike in protest against a public sector pay freeze and rising job losses in the private sector, disrupting transport and shutting down services.

# February 2009: Greek riot police clashed with hundreds of farmers demanding higher subsidies and pensions and lower fuel taxes. Protesting farmers had caused 11 days of travel chaos in Jan by setting roadblocks across the country and blocking border crossings with Bulgaria, Turkey and Macedonia.

# January 2009: In a bid to boost his government's popularity, PM Karamanlis replaced nine of his 16 cabinet members, including the finance minister who had carried out spending cuts and privatizations.

# December 2008: Violent protests broke out across the country over the police killing of a teenager but fueled by the government's unpopular austerity measures.

If iron is matter in its most stable condition, this image captures the Canadian in its most stable condition:

Parkas, toques, knitted sweaters and buffalo plaid designs dominated the unveiling of the 2010 Canadian Olympic team retail apparel Thursday at HBC's new Olympic Superstore in downtown Vancouver.

The GOP:

House Minority Leader John Boehner torched President Barack Obama Wednesday for his European trip to pitch the Chicago Olympics bid, criticizing the president for "going to go off to Copenhagen when we've got serious issues here at home that need to be debated."

Obama's trip has been maligned by most Republicans as the health care overhaul remains in a continued state of flux in Congress and the top general in Afghanistan awaits word on a troop increase...

"Listen I think it's a great idea to promote Chicago but he's the president of the United States, not the mayor of Chicago," Boehner said.

The reality:

A large factor behind Chicago's potential success could lie in the presence of US President Barack Obama, a former Illinois senator and Chicago resident.

Obama is due to arrive on Friday but his wife Michelle has been in the Danish capital since Wednesday, lobbying IOC members.

In the past, the impact of star personalities on Olympic bids has been key, demonstrated when lobbying by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair helped London win the 2012 Games and Russian President Vladimir Putin led Sochi's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

However, Chicago's rival bidders will also be boasting big names, with King of Spain Juan Carlos, the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, all coming to Denmark to lobby for their respective cities.

The political siege in Honduras—ousted president holed up the Brazilian embassy, the electricity and water shut off, the army surrounding him outside—has been extended, courtesy of Burger King. (And the human-rights workers who got past the army to make a delivery—but who wants Burger King when you're on hunger rations?)

Just as Mr. Zelaya’s removal from office on the morning of June 28 in a most atypical coup d’état has stuck to no script — he was sent packing in his pajamas by soldiers who carried both automatic weapons and a court-issued arrest warrant — the crisis that followed has left veteran diplomats, foreign policy experts and even the participants themselves scratching their heads...

• J.L. Duron

But the clock is ticking. Looming before all the actors is the presidential election called for Nov. 29. The vote, if it is allowed to proceed, compounds the pressure on negotiators to resolve the crisis quickly while it paradoxically offers an expedient way out, an electoral do-over that would allow Honduras to simply drop the curtain on the whole drama and move on.

Tempting as that may be, leaders in the hemisphere are united in their fear that allowing the coup to stand sets a dangerous precedent in a region where coups have too long been the norm. The State Department suggested this month that it might not accept the election results if the Micheletti government remained in power to administer them. Other governments in the region, including Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, have issued even more iron-clad threats.

• J.L. Duron

In other Burger King news, Forbes says buy, buy, buy!

BBC reports:

A court in north-western Tanzania has sentenced three men to death by hanging for killing a 14-year-old albino boy.

They were found guilty of attacking Matatizo Dunia and severing his legs in Bukombe district in Shinyanga province.

In the past two years there has been a huge rise in murders of albino people. Witchdoctors use their body parts in potions they claim bring prosperity.

Dozens of people have been arrested, but the justice system is notoriously slow and this is the first conviction.

I fell way behind the Iran story yesterday, as I was all wrapped up in the mayoral race and why unions would endorse the corporate candidate.

But the news is fantastic—pro-democracy demonstrators hijacking the government's annual anti-Israel festival of hate. This detail, from the NYT, is chilling and beautiful:

Often, the protesters slyly distorted the traditional rallying cries of the pro-government crowds. When the marchers chanted, “The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader,” protesters countered with, “The blood in our veins is a gift to our nation.”

It's the poetry of martyrdom—driving a wedge between the idea of the The Leader and the idea of The Nation is the philosophical crux of democracy.

Meanwhile, Obama will meet with Lil' Putin Dmitry Medvedev and press him to be tougher with Iran. Asking a dictator's puppet to sanction a fellow dictator seems futile, but since the US abandoned its anti-Russia missile shield, it's in a position to ask for favors. Whether it's in a position of negotiating strength remains to be seen.

And the Obama administration will meet with the Iranian government starting October 1. We'll see whether Obama's policy of engagement with dictators, terrorists, and other assholes works—or whether it's just a sweet dream.

Some relief from all of the domestic disappointments can be found in the actual de-Bushing of American foreign policy and agreements:

(BBC) The US is to abandon its controversial plan to build a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the Czech prime minister has announced.

Reports from the US said it would be dropped because Iran's long-range missile plans had advanced less than predicted so were less of a threat.

The US decision marked a major foreign policy shift which could impact on its dealings with Europe, Russia and Iran.

Russia, which saw the missile plan as a threat, welcomed the move.

The US signed a deal in August 2008 with Poland to site 10 interceptors at a base near the Baltic Sea, and with the Czech Republic to build a radar station on its territory.

President Obama earlier this year ordered a review of the defence system, which was strongly backed by his predecessor George W Bush.

Although we can never go back to the noble projects of social democracy or socialism (which was really only managed capitalism), it is pleasant to see that socialist feelings are not totally cold:

(BBC) Most people [in the UK] are in favour of returning the railways to public ownership, with just 23% supporting privatisation, according to a poll.

A survey of more than 1,000 people for the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT), found seven out of 10 of those questioned backed renationalisation.

The state of the railways will be debated by the TUC conference in Liverpool later this week.

The RMT will be calling for support for full rail renationalisation.

From HuffPo:

The ruling by a three-member panel of the Federal Court ends all legal avenues for McDonald's to protect its name from what it said was a trademark infringement.

"On the basis of unanimous decision, our view is that" McDonald's plea to carry the case forward has no merit, said chief judge Arifin Zakaria. "It is unfortunate that we have to dismiss the application with costs," he said.

McDonald's will have to pay 10,000 ringgit ($2,900) to McCurry, a popular eatery in Jalan Ipoh on the edge of Kuala Lumpur's downtown. McDonald's lawyers refused to comment, except to say the company will abide by the judgment.