Posts
DEBTOCRACY- A GREEK FILM WITH LESSONS FOR IRELAND
13 years ago
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
colette
...............Encouraged to start a career as a writer Colette published in short period four CLAUDINE novels (1900-03) under her husband's pen name Willy. According to a famous story, he locked Colette in her room until she had written enough pages. The series of four novels depicted a teenage girl's improper adventures. The series became a huge success and inspired all kinds of side products - a musical stage play, Claudine uniform, Claudine soap, cigars, and perfume. However, Colette's own cosmetics shop went bankrupt. Tired of her husbands unfaithfulness she Colette broke free of him in 1905. After divorce in 1906 Colette became music-hall performer at such places as La Chatte Amoureuse and L'Oiseau de Nuit. On stage she bared one breast, which became the talk of the town. Once Colette mimed copulation in a sketch and caused a riot at the Moulin Rouge. She also had a protector, a woman known as 'Missy,' who was the niece of Napoleon III, the Marquise de Belboeuf, and managed her public image, as writer, as actress and as lesbian. Missy committed suicide in 1944 - living ruined and desperate. Among Colette's other friends and probably lovers were Natalie Clifford Barney, an American lesbian woman, and the Italian writer Gabriele d'Annunzzio. .............
colette dans francais
the nyt listing of the books of colette
the first book i read of hers was 'my mother's house and sido'. i fell in love with her there and then!
i love my past. i love my present. i'm not ashamed of what i've had, and i'm not sad because i have it no longer.
Colette, The Last of Cheri, 1926
today is a no-news-posting day
i just don't feel like reading the papers and seeing the crap that is out there.
(i have these three ravens inked on the inside of both of my lower arms and the inside of my right ankle. ravens and wolves are my totems)
one by one
one by one funding care for women with fistula
i posted a nyt article yesterday on this subject. i received a comment on the posting from a woman who started this foundation. it gives me great joy to know people like this exist in our world.
fate?
there was a horrible car accident here a little while ago. it involved many people and many vehicles. so horrible, it made national news. i work with someone who was in that accident. i've worked with him for MANY years. although i don't know him intimately, i know enough to like him. for a reason i have now forgotten, i called him 'new guy'. well i ran into him in the hallway yesterday at work. he has returned (in i feel way too short of a timespan for his injuries) triumphantly, a smile on his face! we talked for a while. i saw the light in his eyes. i saw for one moment what he sees. there was no bitterness or anger in him. he was HAPPY. he was thankful to those that saved him (naming them ALL to me, lol) and pained for those that lost their lives and those that will live with the pain and the scars from this horrid event. i will not say what else we spoke of, that is between us. i WILL say he gave me inspiration and joy.
THANK YOU NEW GUY
dream in colors always
THANK YOU NEW GUY
dream in colors always
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
of course if your insides get ripped up while giving birth
(Michael Kamber for The New York TimesInno Usman, 25, waited for surgery this month in Babbar Ruga Hospital in Nigeria. She suffered from an obstetric fistula, an injury, suffered by many African women, that can be prevented with a Caesarean section.)
you are no longer good to any damn one! once again, second class citizens on the march (to hell)
Nightmare for African Women: Birthing Injury and Little Help
By SHARON LaFRANIERE
Published: September 28, 2005
KATSINA, Nigeria - Dr. Kees Waaldijk began surgery shortly before 10 a.m. one recent Saturday in a cement-walled operating room in this city near Nigeria's northern border. More than five hours later, orderlies carried the last of four girls to the recovery ward. In the near-90 degree heat, Dr. Waaldijk's light blue surgical garb had turned dark with sweat. "We are finished for the day," he barked.
It was the last thing the dozen girls who squatted in the open-air corridor outside wanted to hear. Leaping up, tracking wet footprints and soaked skirts across the floor, they besieged the towering, white-haired surgeon, holding out orange case files, their names scrawled on them in black marker.
"Big eyes, with a question mark: 'When is it my turn?' " he said later in his office, filled with medical books, suture-filled suitcases and damp socks and T-shirts hung on chairs to dry. He held up his hands. "The eyes are following you everywhere you go. I tell them it is one man, two hands and many women."
What brings the girls to Dr. Waaldijk - and him to Nigeria - is the obstetric nightmare of fistulas, unknown in the West for nearly a century. Mostly teenagers who tried to deliver their first child at home, the girls failed at labor. Their babies were lodged in their narrow birth canals, and the resulting pressure cut off blood to vital tissues and ripped holes in their bowels or urethras, or both.
Now their babies were dead. And the would-be mothers, their insides wrecked, were utterly incontinent. Many had become outcasts in their own communities - rejected by their husbands, shunned by neighbors, too ashamed even to step out of their huts............
i WAS going to write about the
anna nicole case going to the supreme court. however, i decided i never wanted to hear her name again. here is a partial listing of some of the others i would be comfortable and content with NEVER hearing about AGAIN
paris and her fiancee paris
fiddy
diddy
any of the gotti family
kathy griffin
lil kim
just j-ho from the block
spike lee
julia roberts
martha
brad, jen and/or angelina
kate moss
any of the osbournes
jude law
brittney, kevin and/or the new 'toy' she just gave birth to
tom and katie
john travolta
oprah
"dr" phil
rush
geraldo
star
donald
demi and ashton
jacko
katie couric
hunter s thompson
to be continued..............
great and true editorial
what will it take for us to get up off of our butts and DO SOMETHING?
"Suppose...": Arguments for an Impeachment Resolution
by Bernard Weiner
http://www.opednews.com
"Suppose...": Arguments for an Impeachment Resolution
by Bernard Weiner
http://www.opednews.com
Suppose it could be proven that the integrity of the vote-counting in the 2004 election had been seriously compromised, and that Bush-Cheney probably lost. What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration told huge lies to get the U.S. military into Iraq, thus leading to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, the maiming of tens of thousands of others, the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians? What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration effectively has turned over the writing of pollution-control legislation to the corporations that create much of the pollution? What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that the Bush inner circle knew that a huge terrorist attack was about to go down in the Fall of 2001 and chose, for whatever reason, to ignore the warnings. What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that high officials of the Bush Administration, for political reasons, deliberately revealed the identity of a covert CIA officer, and that of a CIA mole inside Osama bin Laden's inner circle? What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration concocted a legal philosophy that would permit the President to ignore laws passed by Congress, and has "disappeared" a number of American citizens into military-base prisons away from public or legal scrutiny -- in effect, making the President into a kind of dictator? What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that under rules devised by the Bush Administration, confidentiality between lawyer and client no longer exists, federal agents can enter your home and conduct a search without you being present or even being told it happened ("sneak&peak," it's called), can hack into your computer and read your private emails without you being informed, can check what library books you're reading and prevent librarians from telling you they've done that. What would you do about it?Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration devised legal rationales for torture of suspected terrorist-prisoners in U.S. care -- with more than 100 dying while being interrogated -- and that key detainees are being sent to U.S.-friendly countries where extreme torture methods are used? What would you do about it?................ |
1-800 WHAT?
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARING TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBER TO OPPOSE JOHN ROBERTS
So many people were calling to object to Roberts the line went down
by the pen
http://www.opednews.com
You've seen and heard the number everywhere, 877-762-8762. Thom Hartman has a jingle that was produced for his radio program to help you remember the number. You have also heard Al Franken talk about 877-SOB-U-SOB. Do a Google search for the number and look at all the sites that have used it as their PRIMARY contract number for people to call Congress. And now it is gone, a permanent fast circuit busy, even in the middle of the night. There are two other more obscure toll-free numbers you can use to call your senators right now, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588 (and you can get other working numbers at http://www.millionphonemarch.com), but the one most familiar to all of us is out of commission. It started last Friday morning with thousands and thousands of people calling their senators to complain about the John Roberts’ nomination. Many were very angry at the three Democrat senators, Leahy, Feingold and Kohl, who inexplicably voted for Roberts in the judiciary committee, despite their serious misgivings about his record. By late afternoon you could no longer get through on the main line, and it's been that way ever since.There are an enormous number of people out there who have a very bad feeling about John Roberts. Why is he being hustled up to a position of such absolute power without adequate scrutiny? Why have the people been denied access to any of his memos for the last 20 years? Why is he incapable of telling the truth about his leadership role in the reactionary extremist Federalist society? And why should the most unpopular second term president in American history NOT be challenged on this when he tries to elevate yet another personal crony?.....................
So many people were calling to object to Roberts the line went down
by the pen
http://www.opednews.com
You've seen and heard the number everywhere, 877-762-8762. Thom Hartman has a jingle that was produced for his radio program to help you remember the number. You have also heard Al Franken talk about 877-SOB-U-SOB. Do a Google search for the number and look at all the sites that have used it as their PRIMARY contract number for people to call Congress. And now it is gone, a permanent fast circuit busy, even in the middle of the night. There are two other more obscure toll-free numbers you can use to call your senators right now, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588 (and you can get other working numbers at http://www.millionphonemarch.com), but the one most familiar to all of us is out of commission. It started last Friday morning with thousands and thousands of people calling their senators to complain about the John Roberts’ nomination. Many were very angry at the three Democrat senators, Leahy, Feingold and Kohl, who inexplicably voted for Roberts in the judiciary committee, despite their serious misgivings about his record. By late afternoon you could no longer get through on the main line, and it's been that way ever since.There are an enormous number of people out there who have a very bad feeling about John Roberts. Why is he being hustled up to a position of such absolute power without adequate scrutiny? Why have the people been denied access to any of his memos for the last 20 years? Why is he incapable of telling the truth about his leadership role in the reactionary extremist Federalist society? And why should the most unpopular second term president in American history NOT be challenged on this when he tries to elevate yet another personal crony?.....................
hmmmmmmm?????
Web Exclusive NationAl Jazeera Hires an Ex-Marine
EXCLUSIVE: Josh Rushing, star of Control Room, talks about his new job
Posted Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2005Josh Rushing, former Marine captain and an accidental star of the movie Control Room made news of his own last week when he signed on to become the American face of the controversial Arab news network Al Jazeera-International. Top U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have repeatedly complained that Al Jazeera's coverage is unfair or untrue. Yesterday, Rushing sat down with TIME for his first interview on why he took the job and what the new network will cover. |
a baby is born!
(A composite image of the distant galaxy HUDF-JD2)starry starry night.............
'Big baby' galaxy detected in early universe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Astronomers using two of NASA's most powerful telescopes said on Tuesday they have detected a "big baby" galaxy, vastly heavy for its young age and its location in the early universe.
The discovery was surprising, since astronomers have long theorized that galaxies form when stars gradually cluster together, with small galaxies preceding bigger galaxies.
But the stars in this cosmic infant -- less than 1 billion years old -- have eight times the mass of those in the 13-billion-year-old Milky Way, which contains Earth.
The young galaxy was found by researchers using NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes who looked back in time to a point some 800 million years after the Big Bang explosion that many scientists believe gave birth to the universe.
The discovery of this massive, well-developed galaxy at such an early point in time means astronomers may have to adjust their ideas on when galaxies and other cosmic objects can form, said Massimo Stiavelli of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which deals with Hubble's findings................
and of course the war keeps raging on.....
yeah, there's gonna be peace in iraq......only in the bushwhacked posse's minds that is
Al Qaeda to residents: 'Leave or die'
Marines report threatening fliers in western Iraq
From Arwa Damon
CNN
Tuesday, September 27, 2005; Posted: 11:08 p.m. EDT (03:08 GMT)
(CNN) -- U.S. Marines took down a sign warning Iraqi citizens not to cooperate with the Americans. The blue sign with yellow writing bears the signature of al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It stood along Iraq's desert highway leading into Qaim, near the Syrian border.
Such signs have been reported in other cities around the region, which includes Husayba, New Ubeydi, Karabila and Sa'dat, Col. Stephen Davis, whose forces operate in the western Al Anbar province, told CNN.
The Marines have also received reports of fliers telling residents of Sa'dat, west of Qaim, to leave the city or die, said Davis, the commander of the Marines Regimental Combat Team 2. And Marines have seen civilians leave, he added.
Some fliers urge citizens to join the holy fight and condemn Iraq's government and the offensive in Falluja last year. They promote the organization's alleged attacks in the region and claim insurgents have killed tens of thousands of U.S. troops.
Zarqawi, who has a $25 million reward on his head, has claimed that al Qaeda in Iraq has taken over the Qaim area, hailing it "The Islamic Republic of Qaim."........
Al Qaeda to residents: 'Leave or die'
Marines report threatening fliers in western Iraq
From Arwa Damon
CNN
Tuesday, September 27, 2005; Posted: 11:08 p.m. EDT (03:08 GMT)
(CNN) -- U.S. Marines took down a sign warning Iraqi citizens not to cooperate with the Americans. The blue sign with yellow writing bears the signature of al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It stood along Iraq's desert highway leading into Qaim, near the Syrian border.
Such signs have been reported in other cities around the region, which includes Husayba, New Ubeydi, Karabila and Sa'dat, Col. Stephen Davis, whose forces operate in the western Al Anbar province, told CNN.
The Marines have also received reports of fliers telling residents of Sa'dat, west of Qaim, to leave the city or die, said Davis, the commander of the Marines Regimental Combat Team 2. And Marines have seen civilians leave, he added.
Some fliers urge citizens to join the holy fight and condemn Iraq's government and the offensive in Falluja last year. They promote the organization's alleged attacks in the region and claim insurgents have killed tens of thousands of U.S. troops.
Zarqawi, who has a $25 million reward on his head, has claimed that al Qaeda in Iraq has taken over the Qaim area, hailing it "The Islamic Republic of Qaim."........
another story that speaks for itself
Hospital Halts Organ Program
St. Vincent center in L.A. says a patient, 52nd on liver transplant list, got improper priority and the action was covered up. By Charles Ornstein, Times Staff Writer
St. Vincent Medical Center, one of the largest organ transplantation centers in the state, has suspended its liver program after discovering that its doctors improperly arranged for a transplant to a Saudi national using an organ that should have gone to a much higher priority patient at another hospital, officials said. Hospital staff members then falsified documents several times to cover up the alleged maneuver, pretending that the transplant was for a patient who was near the top of the regional waiting list, hospital President and Chief Executive Gus Valdespino confirmed Monday.
The transplant took place in September 2003 and was paid for by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. But Valdespino said the problem was discovered only this month when officials were responding to routine questions from auditors at the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit group that administers the national transplant system.The patient who received the successful transplant was actually 52nd on the list, which covers much of Southern California and takes into account such factors as who is sickest and who has been waiting longest. A patient at UCLA Medical Center was entitled to receive the organ and St. Vincent should have declined it, Valdespino said.Transplant directors and ethicists from across the country say what is alleged to have happened at St. Vincent is a sin in organ transplantation, which is heavily regulated by a procurement network, as well as state and federal officials, to maintain integrity and fairness in the process. The idea of moving one patient above another for other than medical reasons is "totally unconscionable," said Dr. Douglas Hanto, chief of the transplant division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "It's wrong unequivocally.".........
St. Vincent center in L.A. says a patient, 52nd on liver transplant list, got improper priority and the action was covered up. By Charles Ornstein, Times Staff Writer
St. Vincent Medical Center, one of the largest organ transplantation centers in the state, has suspended its liver program after discovering that its doctors improperly arranged for a transplant to a Saudi national using an organ that should have gone to a much higher priority patient at another hospital, officials said. Hospital staff members then falsified documents several times to cover up the alleged maneuver, pretending that the transplant was for a patient who was near the top of the regional waiting list, hospital President and Chief Executive Gus Valdespino confirmed Monday.
The transplant took place in September 2003 and was paid for by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. But Valdespino said the problem was discovered only this month when officials were responding to routine questions from auditors at the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit group that administers the national transplant system.The patient who received the successful transplant was actually 52nd on the list, which covers much of Southern California and takes into account such factors as who is sickest and who has been waiting longest. A patient at UCLA Medical Center was entitled to receive the organ and St. Vincent should have declined it, Valdespino said.Transplant directors and ethicists from across the country say what is alleged to have happened at St. Vincent is a sin in organ transplantation, which is heavily regulated by a procurement network, as well as state and federal officials, to maintain integrity and fairness in the process. The idea of moving one patient above another for other than medical reasons is "totally unconscionable," said Dr. Douglas Hanto, chief of the transplant division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "It's wrong unequivocally.".........
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
what a gatsu piedi
this dude has balls of steel, no make that balls of titanium
nice job brownie!
hey i don't blame it ALL on him, but shite, i blame a LOT on him.
Ex-FEMA chief slams 'dysfunctional' Louisiana
But Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike put blame on Brown
Updated: 4:11 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2005
WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and blamed most coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
He also said that in the days before the storm, he expressed his concerns that “this is going to be a bad one” in phone conversations and e-mails with President Bush, White House chief of staff Andy Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.
And he blamed the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for not acquiring better equipment ahead of the storm.
His efforts to shift blame drew sharp criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike.
Harsh criticism“I’m happy you left,” said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. “That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren’t capable of doing that job.”
just 'cause he can hop on
(can i get a witness?)
his ol' cayuse and ride the range doesn't mean WE can. oh i'm all for conservation and taking public transportation and car pooling and such. it's just that THIS MAN is living in another world. a DREAM world. i'm wondering how we are going to heat out houses this winter. that is now preying heavily on my mind. what are people on fixed incomes (like my dad) going to do?
President Calls for Less Driving to Conserve Gas
By DAVID LEONHARDT, JAD MOUAWAD and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: September 27, 2005
With fears mounting that high energy costs will crimp economic growth, President Bush called on Americans yesterday to conserve gasoline by driving less. He also issued a directive for all federal agencies to cut their own energy use and to encourage employees to use public transportation.
"We can all pitch in," Mr. Bush said. "People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption," he added, and that if Americans are able to avoid going "on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."
Mr. Bush promised to dip further into the government's petroleum reserve, if necessary, and to continue relaxing environmental and transportation rules in an effort to get more gasoline flowing.
On Capitol Hill, senior Republicans called for new legislation that they said would lower energy costs by increasing supply and expanding oil refining capacity over the long run.
Even though Hurricane Rita caused much less damage to the oil industry than feared, the two recent hurricanes have disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico enough to ensure that Americans are facing a winter of sharply higher energy costs. The price of natural gas, which most families use to heat their homes, has climbed even more than the price of gasoline recently...........
I'M AN OLD COWHAND (FROM THE RIO GRANDE)(Johnny Mercer)
I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande But my legs ain't bowed and my cheeks ain't tan I'm a cowboy who never saw a cow Never roped a steer cause I don't know how Sure ain't a fixin to start in now Yippie yi yo kayah I'm an old cowhand and I come down from the Rio Grande And I learned to ride, ride, ride 'fore I learned to stand I'm a riding fool who is up to date I know every trail in the Lone Star State Cause I ride the range in a Ford V-8 Yippie yi yo kayah We're old cowhands from the Rio Grande And we come to town just to hear the band We know all the songs that the cowboys know 'Bout the big corral where the doggies go We learned them all on the radio Yippie yi yo kayah..........................
remember bushwacked is from NEW ENGLAND. born in new haven CONNECTICUT
sandra o'reilly speaks out
mauritius is NOT the only place where women don't speak out after a rape. mauritius isn't the only place women are not believed if in fact they DO have the courage to speak out. normally the rape victims (i HATE using that word, victim) IS on trial, not the other way around.
Speaking out on rape in Mauritius
Nita Bhalla BBC, Mauritius
Sandra O'Reilly has led demonstrations demanding justiceSandra O'Reilly was the victim of two separate gang rapes in one night in July 2002.
Now, her courage to speak out about the brutal attacks is helping to give a voice to others in Mauritius, a country where conservative cultural barriers often force rape victims to remain silent about their ordeals.
Raped first by two men who broke into her house while she was sleeping, she sought help from two passers-by, who instead of taking her to the police, took her into the sugar fields and raped her repeatedly.
But unlike many rape victims on the Indian Ocean island, Sandra refused to keep quiet, even when those closest to her refused to believe her shocking story.
"It was around midnight when the two men broke into my house. They bound my hands and both raped me at knife-point," says Sandra, 35..........
against the laws of morality
indeed!
good posting on the blog of doug ireland
September 26, 2005
TURKEY MOVES TO BAN ITS LARGEST GAY GROUP
Turkey last week initiated legal action to ban its leading gay rganization, Kaos GL (whose website has an English-language section.) And the oldest Turkish gay group, Lambda Istanbul -- which this year sponsored a Gay Pride March in Istanbul (at right) that drew 150 participants -- may soon find itself targeted as well.
Selahattin Ekremoglu, deputy governor of the Turkish capital Ankara, on September 15 wrote a letter to the gay and lesbian group Kaos GL that said a court procedure had been opened to dissolve the organization. He claimed that the name and regulations of the group violated a provision in the Turkish Civil Code that forbids "establishing any organization that is against the laws and principles of morality." This government ukase contradicts the long Turkish literary gay tradition -- notably in the divan poetry much admired in the Ottoman Empire of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries from poets like Hafiz and Muhammed Ibn Hassan Al Nawaji -- of which the openly gay Turkish poet-novelist-scenarist Murathan Murgan is the most prominent modern inheritor. (Above left, a 14th century Turkish painting.)The International Lesbian and Gay Association denounced the move to shut down Kaos GL last week in a statement, and today Human Rights Watch issued a similar protest . "Turkey has a long record of suppressing civil society and harassing human rights defenders," said Scott Long, director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Project. "This dangerous new move shows that old habits die hard, and calls into question recent advances in rights protections." ..........
...............The Turkish tourist industry harvests a lot of Western and gay tourist dollars each year. That's why an effective way to protest is to write to Ambassador O. Faruk Logoglu (left), Embassy of the Turkish Republic, 2525 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008, or e-mail him at contact@turkishembassy.org -- and, whether you're gay or straight, tell Ambassador Logoglu that you won't visit Turkey as a tourist and spend your money there until it stops its anti-gay actions like its move to shut down Kaos GL.
good posting on the blog of doug ireland
September 26, 2005
TURKEY MOVES TO BAN ITS LARGEST GAY GROUP
Turkey last week initiated legal action to ban its leading gay rganization, Kaos GL (whose website has an English-language section.) And the oldest Turkish gay group, Lambda Istanbul -- which this year sponsored a Gay Pride March in Istanbul (at right) that drew 150 participants -- may soon find itself targeted as well.
Selahattin Ekremoglu, deputy governor of the Turkish capital Ankara, on September 15 wrote a letter to the gay and lesbian group Kaos GL that said a court procedure had been opened to dissolve the organization. He claimed that the name and regulations of the group violated a provision in the Turkish Civil Code that forbids "establishing any organization that is against the laws and principles of morality." This government ukase contradicts the long Turkish literary gay tradition -- notably in the divan poetry much admired in the Ottoman Empire of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries from poets like Hafiz and Muhammed Ibn Hassan Al Nawaji -- of which the openly gay Turkish poet-novelist-scenarist Murathan Murgan is the most prominent modern inheritor. (Above left, a 14th century Turkish painting.)The International Lesbian and Gay Association denounced the move to shut down Kaos GL last week in a statement, and today Human Rights Watch issued a similar protest . "Turkey has a long record of suppressing civil society and harassing human rights defenders," said Scott Long, director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Project. "This dangerous new move shows that old habits die hard, and calls into question recent advances in rights protections." ..........
...............The Turkish tourist industry harvests a lot of Western and gay tourist dollars each year. That's why an effective way to protest is to write to Ambassador O. Faruk Logoglu (left), Embassy of the Turkish Republic, 2525 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008, or e-mail him at contact@turkishembassy.org -- and, whether you're gay or straight, tell Ambassador Logoglu that you won't visit Turkey as a tourist and spend your money there until it stops its anti-gay actions like its move to shut down Kaos GL.
what???????????????????????????????????
you HAVE to be kidding me (or us as a nation). and i don't have to mention how much CONSULTANTS GET PAID, DO I?
CBS News says Michael Brown rehired as FEMA consultant
RAW STORY
Click here for CBS video clip
CBS News' Bob Schieffer just announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rehired ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown-- as a consultant to evaluate the agency's response to the disaster!
From CBS's Katrina blog: "Sept. 26, 2005 /6:44 p.m. (CBS) — CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate it's [sic] response following Hurricane Katrina."
CBS News says Michael Brown rehired as FEMA consultant
RAW STORY
Click here for CBS video clip
CBS News' Bob Schieffer just announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rehired ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown-- as a consultant to evaluate the agency's response to the disaster!
From CBS's Katrina blog: "Sept. 26, 2005 /6:44 p.m. (CBS) — CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate it's [sic] response following Hurricane Katrina."
well i hope bushwacked is finally happy
cindy has been arrested
"Well-Intentioned"--And Arrested
John Nichols
Amid chants of "Arrest Bush," hundreds of antiwar activists participated in a peaceful but boisterous sit-in outside the White House Monday, as part of a day of protests that saw Cindy Sheehan and others taken into custody.
Sheehan, the California woman whose 24-year-old son Casey was killed in the Iraq War, drew international attention in August when she camped out near George Bush's ranchette in Crawford, Texas, as part of an effort to secure a face-to-face meeting with the President. Over the weekend, the woman whom Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Lynn Woolsey, D-California, praised for "waking up America" brought her demand to Washington, where she participated in the mass demonstration against the war on Saturday. ............
Sheehan Arrested During Anti-War Protest
By JENNIFER C. KERR
Associated Press
Monday, September 26, 2005; 11:40 PM
WASHINGTON -- Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who became a leader of the anti-war movement after her son died in Iraq, was arrested Monday along with hundreds of others protesting outside the White House.
Sheehan, carrying a photo of her son in his Army uniform, rallied with other protesters in a park across the street from the White House and then marched to the gate of the executive mansion to request a meeting with President Bush.
The protesters later sat down on the pedestrian walkway in front of the White House _ knowing they would be arrested _ and began singing and chanting "Stop the war now!"
Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests. One man climbed over the White House fence and was quickly subdued by Secret Service agents.
Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She smiled as she was carried to the curb, then stood up and walked to a police vehicle as protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching."..........
Monday, September 26, 2005
don't forget the
martin scorsese documentary on bob dylan
today and tomorrow on pbs.
'No Direction': Scorsese Points The Way to Dylan
By Ann HornadayWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, September 26, 2005; Page C01
"No Direction Home" represents a great musical-cinematic summit, as no less than the great Martin Scorsese directs -- with superb control and judgment -- what surely qualifies as the definitive documentary about Bob Dylan. "No Direction Home" will be broadcast in two parts tonight and tomorrow night on PBS's "American Masters" series, and in the bargain viewers get two masters -- one a hugely influential singer and songwriter with a canny, thoroughly American knack for self-invention and the other a filmmaker with a thumb (to recycle an encomium Dylan has dodged throughout his career) firmly on the pulse of his generation.
It's a happy collaboration. "No Direction Home" offers a lively, absorbing, often deeply moving account of how Robert Zimmerman from the small mining town of Hibbing, Minn., became -- through talent, luck and calculating ambition -- the musician, icon and enigma we know as Bob Dylan. Wisely, Scorsese limits his scope to the early years, from Dylan's birth in 1941 to 1966, when he outraged fans and folk purists by going electric. The result isn't a comprehensive compendium of factoids or deep dish -- there's precious little personal information related in the 207-minute running time -- but instead a tightly focused portrait of a young artist searching for his musical and professional identity and whose search happened to bring him to the very center of the American political and cultural zeitgeist......
some of my favorites are;
if dogs run free
just like tom thumb's blues
spanish harlem incident
you ain't goin' nowhere (i love joan baez' cover album of dylan tunes, any day now
sad eyed lady of the lowlands
today and tomorrow on pbs.
'No Direction': Scorsese Points The Way to Dylan
By Ann HornadayWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, September 26, 2005; Page C01
"No Direction Home" represents a great musical-cinematic summit, as no less than the great Martin Scorsese directs -- with superb control and judgment -- what surely qualifies as the definitive documentary about Bob Dylan. "No Direction Home" will be broadcast in two parts tonight and tomorrow night on PBS's "American Masters" series, and in the bargain viewers get two masters -- one a hugely influential singer and songwriter with a canny, thoroughly American knack for self-invention and the other a filmmaker with a thumb (to recycle an encomium Dylan has dodged throughout his career) firmly on the pulse of his generation.
It's a happy collaboration. "No Direction Home" offers a lively, absorbing, often deeply moving account of how Robert Zimmerman from the small mining town of Hibbing, Minn., became -- through talent, luck and calculating ambition -- the musician, icon and enigma we know as Bob Dylan. Wisely, Scorsese limits his scope to the early years, from Dylan's birth in 1941 to 1966, when he outraged fans and folk purists by going electric. The result isn't a comprehensive compendium of factoids or deep dish -- there's precious little personal information related in the 207-minute running time -- but instead a tightly focused portrait of a young artist searching for his musical and professional identity and whose search happened to bring him to the very center of the American political and cultural zeitgeist......
some of my favorites are;
if dogs run free
just like tom thumb's blues
spanish harlem incident
you ain't goin' nowhere (i love joan baez' cover album of dylan tunes, any day now
sad eyed lady of the lowlands
over 350 women dead over a ten year span.....
and so far NO ONE (who is truly guilty) is paying for it
In Mexico's Murders, Fury Is Aimed at Officials
By GINGER THOMPSON
Published: September 26, 2005
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico - Víctor Javier García still has a dozen marks across his abdomen and genitals from the burning cigarettes the police used to torture him into falsely confessing to being a serial killer.
It made no difference to a lower court judge that the DNA tests on the bodies identified as his victims were not conclusive. Or that a forensics expert testified that he had been ordered by his superiors to plant false evidence. Or even that witnesses retracted their testimony, saying the police had threatened them into making false statements.
Mr. García was sentenced to 50 years anyway.
The State Supreme Court of Chihuahua threw the case out in June and set Mr. García free, but only after three and a half years in prison, during which he lost his business, his savings and his wife to another man.
"Imagine it," he said in an interview, choking back tears. "Everywhere she went, people looked at her like she was married to a terrible criminal, when the real criminals were outside. They still are."
Troubling as it is, Mr. García's case is not isolated. International observers, human rights workers and federal authorities say it illustrates a disturbing pattern of malfeasance by state law enforcement authorities responsible for investigating Mexico's most gruesome murder mystery: the deaths of more than 350 women in this border area over the last decade, including at least 90 raped and killed in similar ways.
Whether through incompetence, corruption or a lurid connection to the killings, the bungling and cover-ups are so extensive, federal investigators say, that the police and other officials have themselves become suspected of links to the crimes..........
.................Women and girls continue to disappear and suffer violent deaths here at a rate more than twice as high as in the rest of the country. At least 36 women and girls, including two ages 7 and 11, have been killed in Ciudad Juárez and the city of Chihuahua since the beginning of 2004, according to information compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America from media and law enforcement reports. People who are probably innocent remain in prison for many of the killings, based on little more than confessions that they say were obtained under torture. Meanwhile, the authorities responsible for putting them there - as well as those who committed the crimes - walk free............
In Mexico's Murders, Fury Is Aimed at Officials
By GINGER THOMPSON
Published: September 26, 2005
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico - Víctor Javier García still has a dozen marks across his abdomen and genitals from the burning cigarettes the police used to torture him into falsely confessing to being a serial killer.
It made no difference to a lower court judge that the DNA tests on the bodies identified as his victims were not conclusive. Or that a forensics expert testified that he had been ordered by his superiors to plant false evidence. Or even that witnesses retracted their testimony, saying the police had threatened them into making false statements.
Mr. García was sentenced to 50 years anyway.
The State Supreme Court of Chihuahua threw the case out in June and set Mr. García free, but only after three and a half years in prison, during which he lost his business, his savings and his wife to another man.
"Imagine it," he said in an interview, choking back tears. "Everywhere she went, people looked at her like she was married to a terrible criminal, when the real criminals were outside. They still are."
Troubling as it is, Mr. García's case is not isolated. International observers, human rights workers and federal authorities say it illustrates a disturbing pattern of malfeasance by state law enforcement authorities responsible for investigating Mexico's most gruesome murder mystery: the deaths of more than 350 women in this border area over the last decade, including at least 90 raped and killed in similar ways.
Whether through incompetence, corruption or a lurid connection to the killings, the bungling and cover-ups are so extensive, federal investigators say, that the police and other officials have themselves become suspected of links to the crimes..........
.................Women and girls continue to disappear and suffer violent deaths here at a rate more than twice as high as in the rest of the country. At least 36 women and girls, including two ages 7 and 11, have been killed in Ciudad Juárez and the city of Chihuahua since the beginning of 2004, according to information compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America from media and law enforcement reports. People who are probably innocent remain in prison for many of the killings, based on little more than confessions that they say were obtained under torture. Meanwhile, the authorities responsible for putting them there - as well as those who committed the crimes - walk free............
the rich just keep getting richer
yeah, let's cut money to public broadcasting, the arts and of course the wages and benefits of our soldiers. let's NOT get fair bids for government contracts though. let's just award those to OUR FRIENDS. sounds like a plan to me!
Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions
By ERIC LIPTON and RON NIXON
Published: September 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 - Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La.
The first detailed tally of commitments from federal agencies since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four weeks ago shows that more than 15 contracts exceed $100 million, including 5 of $500 million or more. Most of those were for clearing away the trees, homes and cars strewn across the region; purchasing trailers and mobile homes; or providing trucks, ships, buses and planes.
More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse.
Already, questions have been raised about the political connections of two major contractors - the Shaw Group and Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton - that have been represented by the lobbyist Joe M. Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former leader of FEMA.....
now i ask, does THAT seem fair to you? now i ask, will anything be done about this? where are our voices of protest? here's mine!
Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions
By ERIC LIPTON and RON NIXON
Published: September 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 - Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La.
The first detailed tally of commitments from federal agencies since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four weeks ago shows that more than 15 contracts exceed $100 million, including 5 of $500 million or more. Most of those were for clearing away the trees, homes and cars strewn across the region; purchasing trailers and mobile homes; or providing trucks, ships, buses and planes.
More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse.
Already, questions have been raised about the political connections of two major contractors - the Shaw Group and Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton - that have been represented by the lobbyist Joe M. Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former leader of FEMA.....
now i ask, does THAT seem fair to you? now i ask, will anything be done about this? where are our voices of protest? here's mine!
the pat tillman saga continues
'San Fran Chronicle' Probes Pat Tillman Death, and Life
By E&P Staff Published: September 25, 2005 11:50 PM ET
NEW YORK
For a length page one probe of the life and death of former pro football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, the San Francisco Chronicle examined more than 2,000 pages of testimony, as well as interviews with Tillman’s family members and soldiers who served with him. Today's article by Robert Collier said the newpaper “found contradictions, inaccuracies and what appears to be the military’s attempt at self-protection.”While the Tillman controversy has gained international attention it’s a local story for the Chronicle because he hailed from, and his family lives in, nearby San Jose. The Pentagon belatedly confirmed that Tillman had been killed by friendly last year in Afghanistan. His family hopes a new inquiry launched by the Pentagon in August will answer some of their questions, for example, why testimony was changed and why the military waited five weeks to notify the family of the friendly-fire aspect.“There have been so many discrepancies so far that it’s hard to know what to believe,” his mother, Mary Tillman, told Collier. “There are too many murky details.” The files the family received from the Army in March were heavily censored.The Chronicle also revealed that interviews “show a side of Pat Tillman not widely known — a fiercely independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq, where he served a tour of duty. He was an avid reader whose interests ranged from history books on World War II and Winston Churchill to works of leftist Noam Chomsky, a favorite author.” The massive Chronicle article contains the testimony of a colleague who watched him die: “I could hear the pain in his voice as he called out, ‘Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat f—ing Tillman, dammit.’” Tillman said this over and over until he stopped, having been hit by three bullets in the forehead. After 9/11, Tillman decided to give up his career, saying he wanted to fight al-Qaeda and help find Osama bin Laden.............
By E&P Staff Published: September 25, 2005 11:50 PM ET
NEW YORK
For a length page one probe of the life and death of former pro football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, the San Francisco Chronicle examined more than 2,000 pages of testimony, as well as interviews with Tillman’s family members and soldiers who served with him. Today's article by Robert Collier said the newpaper “found contradictions, inaccuracies and what appears to be the military’s attempt at self-protection.”While the Tillman controversy has gained international attention it’s a local story for the Chronicle because he hailed from, and his family lives in, nearby San Jose. The Pentagon belatedly confirmed that Tillman had been killed by friendly last year in Afghanistan. His family hopes a new inquiry launched by the Pentagon in August will answer some of their questions, for example, why testimony was changed and why the military waited five weeks to notify the family of the friendly-fire aspect.“There have been so many discrepancies so far that it’s hard to know what to believe,” his mother, Mary Tillman, told Collier. “There are too many murky details.” The files the family received from the Army in March were heavily censored.The Chronicle also revealed that interviews “show a side of Pat Tillman not widely known — a fiercely independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq, where he served a tour of duty. He was an avid reader whose interests ranged from history books on World War II and Winston Churchill to works of leftist Noam Chomsky, a favorite author.” The massive Chronicle article contains the testimony of a colleague who watched him die: “I could hear the pain in his voice as he called out, ‘Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat f—ing Tillman, dammit.’” Tillman said this over and over until he stopped, having been hit by three bullets in the forehead. After 9/11, Tillman decided to give up his career, saying he wanted to fight al-Qaeda and help find Osama bin Laden.............
hudood
how totally ridiculous is this? a woman must provide FOUR 'PIOUS' male witnesses to a rape? how the hell PIOUS can one be if one just STANDS BY while a rape is occurring??????????? talk about catch-22.
Pakistani women speak up on rape
After a series of rape controversies in Pakistan, the BBC News website spoke to women across the country to find out how this contentious issue was viewed.
Here they talk about women's rights, Islamic laws and foreign NGOs. Uzma Saeed is campaigning for the repeal of the controversial Hudood laws, which rule that all extra-marital sex is illegal.
Hudood laws are a tool in the hands of men - with these laws they can rape women and be totally unaccountable.
Under Hudood if a woman makes a rape allegation she must provide four pious male witnesses or face a charge of adultery herself.
So a woman is in the ridiculous position of having to produce four Muslim adult male eyewitnesses, men who just stood there and watched.
If sex by force is not proved, this woman can be charged with "zina" - sex outside of marriage.............
Pakistani women speak up on rape
After a series of rape controversies in Pakistan, the BBC News website spoke to women across the country to find out how this contentious issue was viewed.
Here they talk about women's rights, Islamic laws and foreign NGOs. Uzma Saeed is campaigning for the repeal of the controversial Hudood laws, which rule that all extra-marital sex is illegal.
Hudood laws are a tool in the hands of men - with these laws they can rape women and be totally unaccountable.
Under Hudood if a woman makes a rape allegation she must provide four pious male witnesses or face a charge of adultery herself.
So a woman is in the ridiculous position of having to produce four Muslim adult male eyewitnesses, men who just stood there and watched.
If sex by force is not proved, this woman can be charged with "zina" - sex outside of marriage.............
Sunday, September 25, 2005
i missed this article
but a friend sent it along (thank you so VERY much j). i remember reading about reverend judge right after 9/11. i remember feeling such pain and sorrow for this fallen man. i am a VERY lapsed catholic - so far so i am pagan. i think i would have enjoyed speaking with the reverend on many subjects though. i think he would have understood me but much more, accepted me.
The Rev. Mychal F. Judge, a fire chaplain, was fatally struck by falling debris soon after administering last rites to a firefighter at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Admirers of Fallen 9/11 Hero Disdain the Vatican's Likely Plan to Bar Gays as Priests
By ANDY NEWMAN
Published: September 25, 2005
The Rev. Mychal F. Judge, the Fire Department chaplain who died in the rubble of 9/11, was, and still is, one of the most widely loved Roman Catholic priests in New York City's recent history. For 40 years, Father Judge tirelessly ministered to firefighters, their grieving widows, AIDS patients, homeless people, Flight 800 victims' families and countless others. At his funeral, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani called him a saint, a sentiment that admirers have followed up by campaigning for his canonization. A simple prayer that Father Judge wrote has been circulated around the world and attached to thousands of donations to the needy. Pope John Paul II accepted the gift of his helmet. |
yet MORE violence against women
(the barber caste victims)
brought on by men who had issues with another group of men. being cowards, they took it out on the women of the opposing group. the article goes on to say it's a caste problem. i'm sure it is but the WOMEN are being singled out and raped and tortured.
Indian caste forces naked parade
By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar
Police in India have launched a manhunt for 29 men who allegedly forced a group of women to parade naked after a row over caste tradition.
Six women in a village in the eastern state of Orissa were dragged by their hair, beaten and paraded naked by a group of upper caste men.
They were attacked because the men in their families had refused to wash the feet of upper caste wedding guests.
The incident took place at Bhubanapati, 70km (44 miles) from Bhubaneswar.
The women belong to the lower barber caste. Their menfolk had refused to wash feet of upper caste Khandayats.
The washing of the feet of marriage ceremony guests according to caste is customary in the area.
One of the women victims, Tilottama Barik, says she was singled out in Monday's attack.
"I was dragged out of my home, beaten up and stripped naked by the attackers," she said.
Another victim said she was picked up from her home, detained inside a room and sexually abused for more than two hours.
Denied access
Though the victims immediately filed a complaint at the local police station, no-one has been arrested so far.
The officer in charge of the Brahmagiri police station, Dilip Kumar Tripathy, said a manhunt had been launched to arrest 29 upper caste people named in the complaint.
But he rejected the allegation of sexual assault...............
of course he rejected the sexual assault allegations. men who strip women naked and drag them around in public by their hair are NOT capable of raping those very same women. the men are gentle creatures. peaceful. i'm sure it was all the women's fault to begin with.
brought on by men who had issues with another group of men. being cowards, they took it out on the women of the opposing group. the article goes on to say it's a caste problem. i'm sure it is but the WOMEN are being singled out and raped and tortured.
Indian caste forces naked parade
By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar
Police in India have launched a manhunt for 29 men who allegedly forced a group of women to parade naked after a row over caste tradition.
Six women in a village in the eastern state of Orissa were dragged by their hair, beaten and paraded naked by a group of upper caste men.
They were attacked because the men in their families had refused to wash the feet of upper caste wedding guests.
The incident took place at Bhubanapati, 70km (44 miles) from Bhubaneswar.
The women belong to the lower barber caste. Their menfolk had refused to wash feet of upper caste Khandayats.
The washing of the feet of marriage ceremony guests according to caste is customary in the area.
One of the women victims, Tilottama Barik, says she was singled out in Monday's attack.
"I was dragged out of my home, beaten up and stripped naked by the attackers," she said.
Another victim said she was picked up from her home, detained inside a room and sexually abused for more than two hours.
Denied access
Though the victims immediately filed a complaint at the local police station, no-one has been arrested so far.
The officer in charge of the Brahmagiri police station, Dilip Kumar Tripathy, said a manhunt had been launched to arrest 29 upper caste people named in the complaint.
But he rejected the allegation of sexual assault...............
of course he rejected the sexual assault allegations. men who strip women naked and drag them around in public by their hair are NOT capable of raping those very same women. the men are gentle creatures. peaceful. i'm sure it was all the women's fault to begin with.
more from the azzwipe musharraf
and azzwipe is one of the KINDEST things i have to say about him
Rape Remarks Stain Musharraf's Reputation
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 24,12:25 PM ET
Leader in the war on terror, survivor of al-Qaida assassination attempts, advocate of moderate Islam: Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has emerged as a darling of the West since the Sept. 11 attacks.
He has won little praise, however, for his response to another blight facing his country: rape and other violence against women.
Hundreds of attacks — including gang rapes, "honor killings" of wives accused of having affairs and brides murdered for marrying without family consent — are reported each year. Most go unpunished.
In two recent cases, two men killed their sister and her suspected lover by slitting their throats, while another man beat his sister to death for refusing an arranged marriage. Both killings happened Friday near the eastern city of Multan and were announced by local police.
This week, Musharraf returned from a U.S. visit marred by controversy over his reportedly telling The Washington Post that many Pakistanis see rape allegations as a way for women to make money and get visas to leave the country. He later denied saying that, but the newspaper said the recorded interview proved he was correctly quoted.
During his trip, the military leader also said Pakistan is unfairly censured over rape and denounced activists he claimed profit from making such accusations "to malign Pakistan, the government and me."
Rights workers retort he is more concerned about shielding the nation's reputation overseas than taking action at home.
"Violence against women is a universal problem," said Kamila Hyat, co-director of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "Many governments have taken serious steps to deal with it. Pakistan hasn't."................
don't fool yourselves, the 'many governments' really haven't taken that many 'steps to deal with it' either. rape is NOT a sex crime. it is a violent crime of power.
Rape Remarks Stain Musharraf's Reputation
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 24,12:25 PM ET
Leader in the war on terror, survivor of al-Qaida assassination attempts, advocate of moderate Islam: Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has emerged as a darling of the West since the Sept. 11 attacks.
He has won little praise, however, for his response to another blight facing his country: rape and other violence against women.
Hundreds of attacks — including gang rapes, "honor killings" of wives accused of having affairs and brides murdered for marrying without family consent — are reported each year. Most go unpunished.
In two recent cases, two men killed their sister and her suspected lover by slitting their throats, while another man beat his sister to death for refusing an arranged marriage. Both killings happened Friday near the eastern city of Multan and were announced by local police.
This week, Musharraf returned from a U.S. visit marred by controversy over his reportedly telling The Washington Post that many Pakistanis see rape allegations as a way for women to make money and get visas to leave the country. He later denied saying that, but the newspaper said the recorded interview proved he was correctly quoted.
During his trip, the military leader also said Pakistan is unfairly censured over rape and denounced activists he claimed profit from making such accusations "to malign Pakistan, the government and me."
Rights workers retort he is more concerned about shielding the nation's reputation overseas than taking action at home.
"Violence against women is a universal problem," said Kamila Hyat, co-director of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "Many governments have taken serious steps to deal with it. Pakistan hasn't."................
don't fool yourselves, the 'many governments' really haven't taken that many 'steps to deal with it' either. rape is NOT a sex crime. it is a violent crime of power.
and it's one two three what are we fighting for.......
don't ask me i don't give a damn, next stop is vietnam, oh i mean iraq (this time)
Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets
Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq
By Petula Dvorak Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A01
Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.
The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.
Signs, T-shirts, slogans and speeches outlined the cost of the Iraq conflict in human as well as economic terms. They memorialized dead U.S. troops and Iraqis, and contrasted the price of war with the price of recovery for areas battered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Riffs on Vietnam-era protests were plentiful, with messages declaring, "Make Levees, Not War," "I never thought I'd miss Nixon" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam." Many in the crowd had protested in the 1960s; others weren't even born during those tumultuous years.
Protest organizers estimated that 300,000 people participated, triple their original target. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who walked the march route, said the protesters achieved the goal of 100,000 and probably exceeded it. Asked whether at least 150,000 showed up, the chief said, "That's as good a guess as any.
"It's their protest, not mine. It was peaceful -- that's all I care about," Ramsey said......................
Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets
Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq
By Petula Dvorak Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A01
Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.
The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.
Signs, T-shirts, slogans and speeches outlined the cost of the Iraq conflict in human as well as economic terms. They memorialized dead U.S. troops and Iraqis, and contrasted the price of war with the price of recovery for areas battered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Riffs on Vietnam-era protests were plentiful, with messages declaring, "Make Levees, Not War," "I never thought I'd miss Nixon" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam." Many in the crowd had protested in the 1960s; others weren't even born during those tumultuous years.
Protest organizers estimated that 300,000 people participated, triple their original target. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who walked the march route, said the protesters achieved the goal of 100,000 and probably exceeded it. Asked whether at least 150,000 showed up, the chief said, "That's as good a guess as any.
"It's their protest, not mine. It was peaceful -- that's all I care about," Ramsey said......................
why do i know this is happening
and the powers that be seem to be shocked about it?
Inmate Was Considered 'Property' of Gang, Witness Tells Jury in Prison Rape Lawsuit
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: September 25, 2005
WICHITA FALLS, Tex., Sept. 22 - Roderick Johnson, a former inmate at the Allred Unit, a violent prison a few miles from here, belonged to a gang called the Gangster Disciples, but not in the usual sense, the gang's former No. 2 man explained Wednesday in federal court here.
"Was Mr. Johnson considered a member of the Gangster Disciples?" one of Mr. Johnson's lawyers asked the witness, whose name was withheld by the court because his testimony could subject him to retaliation.
"No," said the witness, a soft-spoken, perfectly bald and quite imposing black man in a prison uniform and shackles.
"What was he considered?" asked the lawyer, Jeffrey Monks.
"Property," came the reply.
That meant, the witness continued, that gang members could rape Mr. Johnson at will. They could, he said, also rent him out for sex, and they did, daily. A purchased rape, the witness said, cost $3 to $7. Mr. Johnson says the abuse went on for 18 months.
Mr. Johnson, who was in Allred for probation violations after a burglary conviction, has sued seven prison officials there for violating the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The officials, the suit says, failed to protect him and took sadistic pleasure in his victimization. Mr. Johnson was released in 2003.
His lawsuit, filed in 2002, has drawn national attention to the issue of sexual slavery in prisons. Testimony this week has corroborated aspects of his account and opened a window onto a world in which, Mr. Johnson and other prisoners said, sexual slavery at the hands of prison gangs is common.............
i also know sexual slavery is NOT just common among gangs in prison. it is a one on one occurance as well. the strong preying on the weaker. next thing you know they will be telling us there are no drugs in prison either. yeah, right.
Inmate Was Considered 'Property' of Gang, Witness Tells Jury in Prison Rape Lawsuit
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: September 25, 2005
WICHITA FALLS, Tex., Sept. 22 - Roderick Johnson, a former inmate at the Allred Unit, a violent prison a few miles from here, belonged to a gang called the Gangster Disciples, but not in the usual sense, the gang's former No. 2 man explained Wednesday in federal court here.
"Was Mr. Johnson considered a member of the Gangster Disciples?" one of Mr. Johnson's lawyers asked the witness, whose name was withheld by the court because his testimony could subject him to retaliation.
"No," said the witness, a soft-spoken, perfectly bald and quite imposing black man in a prison uniform and shackles.
"What was he considered?" asked the lawyer, Jeffrey Monks.
"Property," came the reply.
That meant, the witness continued, that gang members could rape Mr. Johnson at will. They could, he said, also rent him out for sex, and they did, daily. A purchased rape, the witness said, cost $3 to $7. Mr. Johnson says the abuse went on for 18 months.
Mr. Johnson, who was in Allred for probation violations after a burglary conviction, has sued seven prison officials there for violating the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The officials, the suit says, failed to protect him and took sadistic pleasure in his victimization. Mr. Johnson was released in 2003.
His lawsuit, filed in 2002, has drawn national attention to the issue of sexual slavery in prisons. Testimony this week has corroborated aspects of his account and opened a window onto a world in which, Mr. Johnson and other prisoners said, sexual slavery at the hands of prison gangs is common.............
i also know sexual slavery is NOT just common among gangs in prison. it is a one on one occurance as well. the strong preying on the weaker. next thing you know they will be telling us there are no drugs in prison either. yeah, right.
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