TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: The Sun is Going Away For Awhile, Don't Panic

The Sun is Going Away For Awhile, Don't Panic

Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Sat, 11 Mar 2006 11:17:14 -0600

The sun is going away, but don't panic ...

The Nigerian government, anxious to avoid a repeat of riots that
marked a solar eclipse in 2001, warned citizens they may suffer
"psychological discomfort" during a new eclipse this month but urged
them not to panic.

Information Minister Frank Nweke said an eclipse five years ago caused
riots in northern Borno state because people did not know why it
happened.

"Some people even felt some evil people in their communities were
responsible for the eclipse," he said in a statement on Thursday aimed
at reassuring Nigerians that the eclipse is expected to darken parts
of the country on March 29. "Others are convinced that the Iraqi
people are correct in their feelings that 'the American Satan' has
chosen to punish the whole bunch of them." Their rationale is that
"Satan did not cause the sun to go away in America, why is he punishing
us?" Their belief is that an extended period of worship of their God
will appease God to return their sun to them after a period of darkness.

"The eclipse is not expected to have any real damaging effect, only
social and psychological discomforts are envisaged," Nweke said, "So
many of our citizens are not that well informed."

He did not explain what the discomforts might be.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.

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[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The one almost total solar eclipse I
can recall did not cause absolute, total darkness in the USA (I was
living in the Chicago area at the time). It resulted in what appeared
to me as a sort of 'twilight' condition; the sky was extremely _blue_
and transparent. After eight or ten minutes of that, things returned
to normal. Does that make sense? Does anyone know exactly where the
eclipse will cover on March 29, and to what extent and for how long? PAT]

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