Bride burnings, honor killings, female infanticide, sex trafficking, mass rape as a weapon of war and many other hideous forms of violence against women are documented in a report released last month by the United Nations.

The report, a compilation of many studies from around the world, should have been seen as the latest dispatch from that permanent world war — the war against women all over the planet. Instead, the news media greeted its shocking contents with a collective yawn.

note rape within marriage was only made illegal in the UK in 1994
see here at a government website for conformation

Punished for Being Female - New York Times

Many of the African leaders coming here for the Chinese-African summit meeting are attracted not only by opportunities for aid and trade, but also by the Chinese model of development.

They know that only three decades ago, China was as poor as Malawi. But while the latter remains among the world's poorest, China's economy has expanded nine-fold. Indeed, the Chinese model has in many ways challenged the conventional wisdom in the West on how to fight poverty and ensure good governance. Its key features are:

hmm interesting and challenging

The allure of the Chinese model - Opinion - International Herald Tribune

Decius wrote:

adam wrote:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the lifting of joint U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints around the Shiite militant stronghold of Sadr City and other parts of Baghdad -- another apparent move to assert his authority with the Americans and appeal to his Shiite support base.

*raised eyebrows*
ungrateful is as ungrateful does

I think he has to assert his independence or the Iraqis will not take him seriously. The Iraqi government ought to be a voice that Americans hear, and that occaisonally disagrees with Americans. If not, it is irrelevant.

I agree he has to assert his independance but I think this is just a demonstration that he is a figurehead and, almost but not quite, a mouthpiece of Muqtada al-Sadr rather than a figure able or seeking to unify the country as a democratic and tolerant of diversity society. My objection was not that he chooses rightly from the point of view of Iraqi domestic opinion to assert his independance but his choice of issues upon which to push.
I do think he is ungrateful to the west and I think if he believed in western values he would support a more vigorous approach to the Mahdi Army militia and other Shia militia. I am not remotely convinced the Iraqis do take him seriously because he is not his own man. He's not pro-Western enough to introduce real change nor partisan enough to satisfy Muqtada al-Sadr. His government is propped up by principally American and some British lives and body parts. When Western troops leave, as seeems inevitable, all vestiges - the thin charade of an Iraqi political center - will collapse and al-Maliki will go with it.
The article recently on Fake News and Iraqi satire on TV reminded me mostly of people like Brecht and Weill and the last days of the Weimar republic.
My remarks were born of bitterness. I read articles about the troops like the Doonesbury one or by Bob Herbert and al-Maliki's attitude seemed at that moment, by not supporting the search for that US soldier, an act of betrayal. Part of me wants to say to all Iraqis who don't want peace "a plague on both your houses". I think we have to leave and I think in a few years we'll have to go back in to start picking up the pieces and I hate the loss of lives and the destruction of able bodies that is happening now and will happen when we're forced to go back in. We will leave and there will be al'Qaeda training camps. There will be chaos and our hand will be forced. I am angry that no one has stepped forward with the desire and ability to hold Iraq together. After the years of suffering under Saadam Iraq is spiralling into violence and chaos and we are powerless to prevent it.
The stupidity of it sickens me. I don't ask that al-Maliki is grateful to the American government or the American people. I expect him to be grateful to the GIs - as you would be to a fireman pulling you out of a burning building.

RE: U.S. Obeys Order to Abandon Checkpoints - New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the lifting of joint U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints around the Shiite militant stronghold of Sadr City and other parts of Baghdad -- another apparent move to assert his authority with the Americans and appeal to his Shiite support base.

*raised eyebrows*
ungrateful is as ungrateful does

U.S. Obeys Order to Abandon Checkpoints - New York Times

Nasa chief Mike Griffin says shuttle astronauts will be sent to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

yippee

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Hubble telescope will get upgrade

Under the circumstances, any legal consequences for this student must take into account his intent to perform a public service, to publicize a problem as a way of getting it fixed. He picked a lousy way of doing it, but he should not go to jail for his bad judgment.

Thank you Ed Markey! I'm sure that everyone who wrote you appreciates the fact that you are listening and that you took the time to take a closer look at this case.

Congressman Edward Markey - October 29, 2006 - MARKEY: DON'T ARREST STUDENT, USE HIM TO FIX LOOPHOLES

Sign our pledge on Internet freedom

I believe the Internet should be a force for political freedom, not repression. People have the right to seek and receive information and to express their peaceful beliefs online without fear or interference.

I call on governments to stop the unwarranted restriction of freedom of expression on the Internet – and on companies to stop helping them do it.

welcome | irrepressible.info

Being strong on security means exposing a problem and addressing it, not covering it up by punishing the messenger.

"The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." It's one of those phrases that embodies a principle that means different things in different situations, to different people. When a person exposes a problem, is the problem the problem, or is the person the problem? I believe that people of knowledge and ability are our greatest assets.

I think this is directly relevant to what we see unfolding before our eyes right now. On one hand, I have massive respect for the law enforcement agencies that tackle security problems. On the other, I fear their potential to be reactionary rather than mindful of purpose.

If we are to achieve real security, we can not simply opt for the path of least resistance. We must tackle problems rather than brush them under the rug, where they still exist, and can be found by others. As many on this system can attest, exposing security problems is like donning a big target; few are happy to see the messenger.

The manor in which information about a vital problem is exposed must be done ethically, but it is important to remember that ethical (or responsible) disclosure is an area that has no clear black and white distinctions. Many of the gray areas are defined by the means of the messenger. Do not lose sight of the big picture.

Being strong on security...

Congressman Markey,

While I'm not one of your constituents, your statements and actions often have an impact that reaches beyond your district. Yesterday you were quoted in several news media outlets as having called for the arrest of Christopher Soghoian, a PHD candidate at the University of Indiana Bloomington, because he created a web page that generates phoney airline boarding passes. As you are likely aware, your call was answered by the FBI who reportedly broke into Soghoian's house last night and seized all of his computer equipment.

I am a professional computer security researcher. I work for one of the worlds largest IT companies. My job involves finding vulnerabilities in software systems and getting them fixed. Responsible vendors are usually very responsive and willing to work with my team when we contact them with information about problems with their products. Through this process we are able to locate and repair vulnerabilities in IT infrastructure before the bad guys can find them and exploit them. However, there are always a few unsophisticated people who seek to shoot the messenger instead of dealing with the flaw.

Christopher Soghoian is one of the good guys. He is not a criminal and he is not enabling criminals. He did not create the vulnerability in the boarding pass screening process. This problem has existed for years, and it has been noted in other quarters, most recently by Sen. Chuck Schumer. However, the problem hasn't been fixed. Soghoian's website was intended to demonstrate how simple this is, and he has clearly and repeatedly stated that his intent in creating the site was to raise awareness about the problem so that it will be fixed. His website does not make this much easier than standard desktop publishing software available on anyone's personal computer.

Your call for his arrest, and the subsiquent events that have unfolded over the past 24 hours, have done serious harm to the national security of the United States. You could have simply contacted him, informed him of the legal problems that one could face for operating such a website, and discussed shutting it down. By choosing instead to prosecute him you are sending a message to security professionals in this country that if you observe a problem with national security policies or practices and make people aware of those problems in good faith so that they might be fixed, the government will treat you as an enemy and will prosecute you if possible. The inevitable result will be that people will hold their tongues, and problems will persist until they are discovered by someone who has malicious intent.

I strongly urge you to reconsider your position on this matter. The current course of action is not in the best interests of this country.

Respectfully,
Tom Cross

My Letter to Ed Markey

Abaddon wrote:
i hate my life...i hate my job, i hate my city, i hate everyone in that city, i hate my work, i hate my reputation, i hate the choices ive made in life, i hate that i have almost no friends here, i hate not fitting in, i hate not being trusted, i hate not being worthy of trust, i hate being crazy, i hate sane people, i hate being in debt, i hate having no control, i hate having control and fucking things up with it, i hate chaising after some bullshit dream, i hate having accomplished those dreams only to find that im empty, i hate being empty all the time, i hate my future, i hate it when people assume things are going great for me, i hate that im just like my mother, i hate that nothing matters to me anymore, i hate everything...and right now, i hate me...

maybe tomorrow will be better...

yep been there and last time it got really bad I took 60ish paracetamol and was in hospital for a week but fuck it, fuck it all
i took anti-depressants for a while and now I don't need them anymore and my anti psychosis meds are down from 5 mg to 1 mg a day

fuck it - scream at the world and sing "Do you know the way to San Jose?" but most of all let it out before you turn the pain upon yourself

I hope tomorrow is better

RE: I hate