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Friday, July 11, 2008

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:23:44 GMT

Anti-Gay Marriage Ballot Measures will be on AZ, CA, FL Ballots
July 8, 2008

Ballot initiatives to define marriage as between one man and one woman will be on the ballot in Arizona, California, and Florida in November. If passed, all of these referendums would result in amending individual state constitutions.  Arizona's State Senate recently approved a measure that will place a gay marriage referendum on the November ballot. Only 16 state Senators, the minimum number required to place a measure on the ballot, voted in favor of it. Proposition 107, a similar measure, was defeated by Arizona voters in 2006.   In California, the California Marriage Protection Act will be on the ballot, which would reverse the State Supreme Court's decision to overturn California’s gay marriage ban. The Court denied a request to stay its decision until the results of the November 2008 elections.   In Florida, the Marriage Protection Amendment will be on the ballot. Statewide campaigns on both sides of the issue, SayNo2 and Yes2Marriage, have already actively mobilized in Florida.

Media Resources: Human Rights Campaign Press Release 6/30/08

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:41:33 GMT

June 13, 2008

Sexist Campaign Coverage Continues

Sexist coverage of the election did not end when Senate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) suspended her campaign. Earlier this week, Fox News ran a blatantly sexist and racist graphic referring to Michelle Obama as Senator Obama's "Baby Mama."

"A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment," Fox's Senior Vice President of Programming Bill Shine told the Politico. To which a blogger on Feministing.com responded: "Uh, yeah, I'd say so. (So much for a heartfelt apology)."

The sexist coverage of the campaign has led to a movement to hold the media accountable for their comments. The Women's Media Center recently launched a joint campaign with Media Matters called "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It.". What About Our Daughters also recently launched a website Michelle Obama Watch to follow Michelle Obama throughout the campaign.

Media Resources: Politico 6/12/08; Feministing.com 6/13/08; Feminist Daily Newswire; What About Our Daughters

Friday, May 30, 2008

Fri, 30 May 2008 02:48:35 GMT

Josef Fritzl - What Compelled Him to Become a "Cellar Monster"?
by Susan Lawrence, May 27, 2008

Our minds have reeled in recent weeks as the details of 73 year old Austrian Josef Fritzl's double life of incest has come to light. The crimes he committed against his daughter are grotesque: locking her up in a tiny, windowless, stuffy, soundproof dungeon for 24 years; beating and raping her thousands of times; denying her medical and dental treatment; and causing her to bear 7 children in the dungeon, one of whom he threw in an incinerator after he died. These horrors shock and anger us. How could someone treat his own daughter so horribly? Why did he do this?

When reading all the news sources about this case, one is compelled to conclude that Josef Fritzl's crimes are really not such a surprise at all. He has spoken frankly to the media about his own thinking regarding his daughter, and about his own childhood. His statements show that the seeds of heartless criminality were sown when this now elderly man was a young child.

Josef was an only child, whose mother threw his father out of the house when he was 5 years old. He was beaten to the point of bruises nearly every day by his mother. He says his father was a "waster" who cheated on his mother. When he left, Josef says he became sort of a "husband" to his mother, and that he was in "awe" of her. The picture we are left of young Josef is a child who loses his father, is alone with a woman who beats him daily, and who is placed in an inappropriate role of "husband". There is nobody for Josef to turn to - no sibling, no kind father, only a brute of a mother he dared not offend. He has no "helping witness" to offer comfort, and to show him another way of treating children. His fear and anger towards his mother turn inward and seethe inside him. He longs for revenge: to control, hurt, and humiliate others, since he cannot do so to his mother.

When Josef grows into adulthood he marries a submissive young girl of 17 - he is 21. His wife, Rosemarie, begins to take the brunt of his internal rage at his mother as he beats and humiliates her in various ways. He now has a victim at his disposal, yet Rosemarie sometimes manages to avoid the abuse and at one point leaves him for 9 years. Even so, she stays married to him even after he is convicted of rape and has made numerous visits to prostitutes. The prostitutes and rape victim are humiliated and abused in further expressions of Josef's repressed revenge toward his unloving, cruel mother.

Josef and Rosemarie have 7 children. Josef uses a classic method of gaining control over them: "divide and conquer". Three of the children he "likes" and treats decently, and 3 others are disliked and treated poorly. The seventh child is Elisabeth. Josef has said she reminded him of his mother, that she even looked like his mother. Poor Elisabeth! From a young age she received more beatings than the other children: punching and slapping for "every little thing" according to a friend. When she was 11 he began another form of humiliation, control and abuse: raping her in the woods and the cellar.

When Elisabeth was a teenager Josef sent her to a cooking school. During those years she ran away twice, desperate to get away from his abuse. Both times she was found and forced to move back home. At 18 she made plans to move in with a sister. Shortly before she was to move Josef asked for her help in moving a heavy door in the cellar - she helped him and then Josef pushed her inside the door into the dungeon that she wouldn't escape for 24 years! That act of humiliation was not enough for Josef: he repeatedly beat her and raped her in the one room dungeon for 9 years, even in front of the children she bore from the rapes. He further humiliated and controlled her by giving her the choice of starving or giving in to rape, and by threatening to gas or electrocute her and the children. He also abused her by forcing her into a "mothering" role toward him, making her cook his favorite dishes for him.

More room was needed for the children and Josef humiliated Elisabeth further by forcing her to scrape out more space in the cellar, with her bare hands. 15 more years were spent in the slightly bigger dungeon while the rapes and beatings continued, and more children were born. Again Josef's desire for control took the form of "divide and conquer": he took 3 of Elisabeth's babies away from her. He secretly humiliated his wife by getting her to care for his babies of incest, born just below her own house.

Throughout the ghastly revelations of this story, Josef's ideas and actions have reminded me again and again, like an eery echo, of the type of thinking exhibited by spankers and authors of babywhipping books. Josef demanded total, immediate obedience, enforced by repeated corporal punishment - the same is true of spankers and babywhippers. Josef was very concerned about outward appearances - babywhippers are the same. Josef claimed he was saving Elisabeth from a worse fate and bad influences (!) - likewise, babywhippers claim slamming a child saves them from something even worse ("I had to hit him to keep him from running in front of semis" - don't you wonder about some of these spankers' claims of incredibly stupid disobedience and ear-splitting tantrums and how smacking solves everything??)

Josef believed he had the right to abject submission from his children even if he was wrong - babywhippers say the same. Josef withheld food as punishment - so do babywhippers. Josef believed he was a decent parent - so do babywhippers. Josef valued politeness and orderliness over compassion and compromise - so do babywhippers. Josef confined Elisabeth - so do babywhippers (sitting on them, keeping them in their rooms, tying them up, not allowing them outside friends). Josef twisted the parent/child relationship around so that his daughter served *his* needs (love/sex/mothering) - the same is true of babywhippers who seem to value what a child can do for *them* more than anything else.

Over one dozen books are currently published in the US that recommend hitting infants, even with objects. And their philosophy of child-raising is hauntingly similar to Josef Fritzl's. Above all, the child is seen as someone to control, to force into total submission by threats and beatings. The child is controlled in order to serve the parent's needs, be they for chores, convenience, for the love, attention and respect they never got from their own parents, or as an object for expressing revenge on their own parents.

I believe revenge and the craving for "respect" are the main reasons that beating and humiliating children continue at such a high rate, and to such extreme degrees as with Josef Fritzl. The desire for revenge for the suffering one endured at the hands of one's own parents is a far greater force than most people realize or acknowledge. If a child is isolated with only an abusive parent, as Josef was, there is no way out from the suffering other than to stuff the mountains of anger inside and then look for available victims later, on whom to seek revenge. This is what Josef did. Absolute control and humiliation are the underlying games at play. The inner child within the adult body is driven to endlessly seek to fulfill its needs, needs that no amount of control or humiliation or revenge can ever completely satisfy. A trail of victims is left in the wake of the adult whose childhood wounds were never recognized.

A child's emotional life is desperately important. We must realize this, deeply, profoundly, as a society. For if a child is abused and nobody offers him/her comfort, if nobody offers him/her an escape or a better way of treating children, then we will continue to produce more Josef Fritzls. Children need to have their hurts acknowledged if they are to remain human and not become sociopathic monsters. Remember this: when you know a child is being abused, show that child you care! You may be able to stop someone from becoming a "cellar monster", and you may save another Elisabeth from being tortured some day.

Media sources:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10507872
http://www.joseffritzl.cn/
http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=cellar-wife-why-i-didn-t-leave-him&method=full&objectid=20414293&siteid=93463-name_page.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=565616&in_page_id=1770
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=71269
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3897695.ece
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2008/05/11/exclusive-dungeon-girl-elisabeth-fritzl-first-words-revealed-98487-20413922/
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=55215&sectionid=3510212
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2008/05/11/josef-fritzl-i-m-worried-how-kids-are-coping-without-me-98487-20413920/
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBlDSe6LQNKe01RSQao7XyIYMORA
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/1105_fritzl.shtml
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/05/12/cops-to-quiz-cellar-beast-josef-fritzl-s-wife-again-89520-20415046/
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/a-fathers-despicable-obsession/2008/05/09/1210131264454.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1141009.ece
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=762975
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/world/europe/09dungeon.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4818339&page=1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/josef_fritzl/1944615/Josef-Fritzl-Fritzel's-cellar-lacked-oxygen.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/confessions-from-the-cellar-it-was-great-for-me-to-have-a-second-proper-family-in-the-cellar-with-a-wife-and-a-few-children-824588.html
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=564753&in_page_id=1811
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/08/joseffritzl.austria
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23668001-5012749,00.html
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/openhouse/2008/05/fritzl-the-evil.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1141009.ece
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/confessions-from-the-cellar-it-was-great-for-me-to-have-a-second-proper-family-in-the-cellar-with-a-wife-and-a-few-children-824588.html

It's funny that way, you can get used
To the tears and the pain
What a child will believe
You never loved me

You can't hurt me now
I got away from you, I never thought I would
You can't make me cry, you once had the power
I never felt so good about myself

Oh Father you never wanted to live that way
You never wanted to hurt me
Why am I running away

Maybe someday
When I look back I'll be able to say
You didn't mean to be cruel
Somebody hurt you too

"Oh Father" by Louise Ritchie

Friday, May 16, 2008

Fri, 16 May 2008 02:52:32 GMT

The One Flaw In Women

By the time the Lord made woman,
He was into his sixth day of working overtime.
An angel appeared and said,
'Why are you spending so much time on this one?'
And the Lord answered, 'Have you seen my spec sheet on her?
She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,
have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable
and able to run on diet coke and leftovers,
have a lap that can hold four children at one time,
have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart
-and she will do everything
with only two hands.'

The angel was astounded at the requirements.
'Only two hands!? No way!
And that's just on the standard model?
That's too much work for one day.
Wait until tomorrow to finish.'

'But I won't, ' the Lord protested.
'I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart.
She already heals herself when she is sick
AND can work 18 hour days.'

The angel moved closer and touched the woman.
'But you have made her so soft, Lord.'

'She is soft,' the Lord agreed,
'but I have also made her tough.
You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish.'

'Will she be able to think?', asked the angel.

The Lord replied,
'Not only will she be able to think,
she will be able to reason and negotiate.'

The angel then noticed something,
and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.
'Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model.
I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one.'

'That's not a leak,'
the Lord corrected,
'that's a tear!'
'What's the tear for?' the angel asked.

The Lord said, 'The tear is her way of expressing her joy,
her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love,
her loneliness, her grief and her pride.'
The angel was impressed.
'You are a genius, Lord.
You thought of everything!
Woman is truly amazing.'

And she is!
Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness,
love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don't take 'no' for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideals.
They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE TINY FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

PLEASE pass this along to your women friends and relatives
to remind them just how amazing they are.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:23:47 GMT

Rape Still Widespread in Darfur

April 9, 2008

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Monday that sexual violence in Darfur continues to be a constant threat for women and girls. According to HRW, the Sudanese government repeatedly denies the fact that sexual violence occurs in Darfur. Most crimes against women are left unpunished.

The report documents violence against girls as young as 11. The majority of the violence is committed by government forces and militias allied with them. The BBC News reports that over 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003 as a result of the genocide.

HRW called on the government of Sudan and the United Nations (UN)- African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) to address the issue of widespread sexual violence. They asked the government to condemn sexual violence and enforce the condemnation with the end of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence. They also encourage UNAMID to deploy more women police officers and to create "firewood patrols" to protect women and girls outside refugee camps.

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of HRW, said, "The victims of these horrific attacks have little or no hope of redress in Darfur's current climate of impunity. By failing to prosecute the perpetrators, the government is giving them a license to rape. Five years living in fear of rape is five years too long. Women and girls in Darfur urgently need protection, and those who are victims need justice."

Media Resources: Human Rights Watch Press Release 04/07/08; Five Years On, No Justice for Sexual Violence in Darfur; BBC News 04/07/08; Reuters 04/08/08

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:16:51 GMT

Senate Committee Hearing on Rape as a Weapon of War

April 3, 2008

On Tuesday, United States Senator Dick Durbin chaired the first-ever Congressional hearing on the use of rape as a weapon of war. The Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law discussed the need to hold perpetrators accountable for sexual violence against women. The focus of the hearing was sexual violence as a weapon of war in Democratic Republic of the Congo, with testimonies from Lisa F. Jackson, Karin Wachter, Dr. Kelly Dawn Askin, and Dr. Denis Mukwege.

Senator Durbin convened the hearing by stating his disappointment with the U.S. failure to take action on the issue. He said, "I'm sorry to say that if a foreign warlord who is engaged in mass rape found his way to the US today, he'd likely be beyond the reach of our laws. That is shameful. If we fail to close these loopholes, we will allow these crimes to continue with impunity."

During the hearing, scenes from the documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in Congo were shown. Lisa F. Jackson, the director of the documentary, testified on the lack of attention and stigma that is attached to rape as an act of war.

She asked, "Why has the world been so silent? Why in the last 10 years, has there been only ONE front-page story in the New York Times about the epidemic of sexual violence that is devastating the Congo? Why is it that rape in conflict is so infrequently prosecuted in the world’s courts? Where is the outrage?"

Congolese Dr. Denis Mukwege described to the Senate Subcommittee the sexual terrorism that women in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have faced for over 10 years. Dr. Mukwege said, "This type of sexual terrorism is done in a methodical manner by armed groups. The rapists are not seeking to satisfy some kind of sexual desire, but to destroy her family and destroy her community."

Media Resources: Senate Judiciary Committee 04/01/08; The Greatest Silence

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:59:07 GMT

NCRI Website - February 19, 2008
In the latest plan introduced by the Iranian regime to deepen gender segregation in the society, telephone booths are targeted, the state-run website Farda reported on Monday. Following such previous plans as buses, taxies, schools, public service offices, and text books segregations, now telephone booths are divided between males and females in the holy city of Qom, in central Iran for the first time according to Farda. Imposing strict gender segregation in all social activities involving women has been the practice since the early days of the mullahs' regime in Iran. However, going as far as segregating the phone booths is a new measure to deepen the gender discrimination in Iran.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:13:52 GMT

Easter this year is:

Sunday March 23 remember this date!

As you may know; Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox.

This "dating of Easter" is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Here are a couple of things you might be interested in.

Based on the above, Easter can actually only be one (1) day  earlier - March 22, but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives!

And only the most elderly of our population (95 years old or above!) have ever seen it this early.

None of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier.

Here are the facts:

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 - 220 years from this year!!

The last time it was this early was 1913.

The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 - 277 years from this year.

The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.

Tommy the Turtle

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:04:06 GMT

Hey all, 
Check out the release of the new book “Tommy the Turtle takes a Tumble.” 
This is a children's book by Yvonne Koslowsky.  

More details can be found on Yvonne Koslowsky’s website: 
http://tommytheturtle.bravehost.com/index.html

Order it on:
http://authorstobelievein.com/tommy.the.turtle.htm

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:39:04 GMT

UN Secretary General Calls for an End to Violence against Women

March 4, 2008

The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched a campaign last week during the UN's 52nd Commission on the Status of Women that seeks an to end violence against women. The campaign, called UNite to End Violence against Women, will run until 2015 and calls for the cooperation of the UN, national governments, and society in general to end global violence against women. The Secretary General intends for UNite to build on the advances that the UN has already made toward ending violence against women and to harness the energy and momentum present in the Commission so that the international community can continue to make progress in the fight against violence.

Secretary General Ban said in his opening address, "Violence against women is an issue that cannot wait. A brief look at the statistics makes it clear. At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist. No country, no culture, no woman young or old is immune to this scourge. Far too often, the crimes go unpunished, the perpetrators walk free."

The UN's 52nd Commission on the Status of Women has been in session since Feb. 24, and will continue until March 7. March 8 is International Women's Day and will be used by the UN to focus on women's achievements in the face of the challenges that face them. Throughout the 2008 session, the UN has focused on "Investing in Women," the slogan for this year's International Women's Day.

Media Resources: UN News Centre 02/25/08; UNite to End Violence against Women; Women’s eNews 03/01/08