"I would not eat food from the hands of someone who did not have the procedure,"
When asked if she would have her 10-month-old granddaughter Saya circumcised, Kitab said "Of course" and explained that the procedure is painless, "They just cut off a little bit,"
Those are the words of Hurmet Kitab, an elderly Iraqi woman who lives in a part of the country where female circumcision is reported to be at 62%. For Kurdish women, this is not something new. Although it had been going on for decades, and was suspected as such, it wasn't until 2005 that a German aid group confirmed suspicions when they presented their findings publicly for the first time.
What's even more disturbing, as this story recounts, is how a mother tricks her 7 year old daughter with a promise of a party, and the kid finds herself being terrorized.
Sheelan Anwar Omer, a shy 7-year-old Kurdish girl, bounded into her neighbor's house with an ear-to-ear smile, looking for the party her mother had promised.
There was no celebration. Instead, a local woman quickly locked a rusty red door behind Sheelan, who looked bewildered when her mother ordered the girl to remove her underpants. Sheelan began to whimper, then tremble, while the women pushed apart her legs and a midwife raised a stainless-steel razor blade in the air. "I do this in the name of Allah!" she intoned.
As the midwife sliced off part of Sheelan's genitals, the girl let out a high-pitched wail heard throughout the neighborhood. As she carried the sobbing child back home, Sheelan's mother smiled with pride.
Horrible, and the fact that they do this to children as young as 3 is just.... It's a long interesting story, which looks at the role the politicians are playing in all this, along with other fascinating tidbits, like the sheer ignorance displayed by poor little Sheelan's mother when she claims she doesn't know why this is done, only that it won't stop because Islam requires it. However, others claim Islam says nothing about female circumcision.
And no, this has nothing to do with the little blue pills, or the resurgence of the Taliban. This involves the centuries old spectacle of dogfighting. Oddly enough, it was the Taliban that outlawed the "sport" when they were in charge because they considered it un-Islamic. Of course, the sin was that people were betting on the fights, not the cruelty to the animals but hey, baby steps I suppose. Even after the attack at a February gathering of enthusiasts, where a suicide bomber killed himself and about 80 others, it is ignored now by both former and current rulers. I understand there are many, many more urgent matters that need attention in Afghanistan, still though, pitting two animals against each other as a form of entertainment is a step in the wrong direction.
The linked article goes on to describe a recent event in Kabul, where some 2,000 fans attended, many with dogs in tow hoping to take home some prize money. Bets are placed depending on the reputation of the dog, so a fight could have a purse ranging anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars, to thousands of dollars. But for some, they claim it's not about the money.
“It’s something from our ancestors,” said Ghulam Yahya Amirzadah, 21, whose family owns 17 dogs in Kabul and in their hometown in the northwest province of Badghis.
“It’s not about money,” Mr. Amirzadah said. “If my dog beats another dog, it makes me feel like I’ve won $100,000. I can survive just from the happiness.”
o_O ??? If there is any positive out of this, it's that apparently, unlike some cultures, the dogs don't fight to the death and are usually pulled apart before serious injuries occur. No word from the dogs on that though. What is amusing from the article, is that it reminds us that we can be worlds away and yet, people are people. Take for instance the trash talking between two potential opponents, or the interaction between the family mentioned.
Except for deep wounds on a leg and an ear, Palang was O.K. But his owner was not. Minutes after the fight, Mr. Kefayatullah collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He had a heart attack.
“It was a stroke of joy and happiness!” he joked a week later, as he lay in a ward in the Wazir Akhbar Khan Hospital in Kabul. His wife and daughter sat at his bedside. “I’ll be up in no time,” he said, “and everything will be back to normal, like before.”
His wife’s face visibly tensed. “No you won’t!” she said, glaring. She was serious. He was smiling. The daughter looked embarrassed.
“It’s over,” Mr. Kefayatullah’s wife continued. “I will kill the dogs! I will give them some pills.”
Mr. Kefayatullah shrugged and smiled again, trying to defuse the situation. “She says a lot, but I don’t listen,” he said, and he vowed to be back at the Friday dogfights — with his champion dogs — soon enough.
Here is the exchange between the gentlemen.
“My dog is younger than his dog, I have the advantage,” said one of the men, known as Abdul Sabour, 49. “And my dog is more energetic than his dog.”
“He’s lying,” grumbled the other man, Kefayatullah, 50. “His dog is old. He’s just here wasting his time. How many dogs has my dog beaten? Sixty! My dog has been a champion for three years!”
As the kids say, this is whacked. some kids say it
Child neglect and abuse were widespread at a Texas polygamist ranch with at least a dozen girls forced into underage marriages, according to a report released by state authorities.
The report, released late on Monday, said most of the cases had been closed because of subsequent steps taken by parents since massive raids were launched in April against the polygamist compound in a remote corner of west Texas.
But that's okay, as long as teh gayz can't be married.
The compound was run by a renegade Mormon sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which still practices polygamy. The sect practices an austere lifestyle and the women dress in conservative pioneer clothes.
Oh, these are renegade Mormons, not to be confused with the bigoted Mormons, my bad.
sent a certified letter this week asking companies to withdraw their support of Equality California, a nonprofit organization that is helping lead the campaign against Proposition 8.
"Make a donation of a like amount to ProtectMarriage.com which will help us correct this error," reads the letter. "Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that you are in opposition to traditional marriage. ... The names of any companies and organizations that choose not to donate in like manner to ProtectMarriage.com but have given to Equality California will be published."
Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan on Tuesday rejected criticism of air strikes and nighttime raids by international forces in the country, saying such actions are taken only "as a last resort" and that he is confident that his soldiers are following international law.
I wonder, is there some sort of international law against soldiers involved in illicit drug use and trafficking, and if there is, should that be rejected as well?
"Every precaution is taken to ensure there is a have a high degree of certainty regarding targets" when air strikes or nighttime raids are launched, Thompson said, adding he is proud of Canada's "exemplary" track record in Afghanistan.
"Task Force Kandahar troops — both U.S. and Canadian — take extraordinary efforts to minimize collateral damage and to avoid harm to innocent civilians," he said.
Like, if we see a building with what looks like 200 people in it, and one that appears to have 100, well, we go after the one with 100.
Thompson noted two incidents, on July 27 and Sept. 18, in which civilians died "as a result of our operations." "Both incidents were investigated, and in both cases, it was found that our soldiers followed proper escalation of force procedures."
He later went on to say off the record, that Blackwater USA had conducted that investigation.
The report suggests international forces often rely on unreliable sources or faulty intelligence when launching the incursions into homes, and there is little public accountability for the raids, which also appears to increase local anger.
There is a lack of co-ordination between coalition forces, foreign soldiers and local authorities, the report says.
"Ordinary people believe that there is no accountability or justice in respect of these violations, regardless of who [has] committed [them].
The overall picture is that … continuing support for Afghan government and international military has been eroded as … consequences of the not carefully planned night raids," the report says.
Monthly tracking information from the United Nations' human rights unit shows air strikes have been responsible for 25 per cent of all civilian deaths in Afghanistan this year. Coalition forces caused the majority of those civilian casualties.
The Mississauga based company has added to their list of potentially tainted meats. On Thursday night, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) expanded a Wednesday recall to include Old Style brand ham, roast beef, pastrami and sausage products. The new labels to watch out for:
For more information, consumers can call Mariposa Meats at 905-855-8111 or the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday to Friday. A similar recall on Wednesday only listed smoked pork loin chops that expired on Jan. 23, 2009 and thin sliced chicken breast products expiring on Jan. 16, 2009.
On Dec. 13, Mariposa also recalled Old Style brand pastrami bearing a best before date of Jan. 15, 2009 and on Nov. 3, they warned against Old Style brand thin sliced honey ham bearing a best before date of Nov. 17, 2008.
But now, the CFIA says all the above products may be tainted with listeria bacteria regardless of expiration dates.
All these products were distributed throughout Ontario. The sliced honey ham recalled on Nov. 3 were distributed to Price Choppers throughout the province.
A Canadian blogger going about her business happened upon a disturbing scene. She witnessed Ottawa Police attempting to put a bleeding , handcuffed, unconscious woman, into the back of a van. Being a responsible citizen, the blogger known as Zoom decided to document the proceedings by taking some pictures. At that point, one of Ottawa's finest decided to focus his attention toward her.
A woman said when she walked by, the young woman was unconscious, her face was grey, she was bleeding from her head, and her abdomen was rising and falling very rapidly, as if she were gasping for air. She thought maybe the police had tasered her.
I snapped another picture. The cops noticed this time. One of them strode directly over to me.
“You can’t take pictures of this,” he said. His tone was aggressive.
I slid my camera back into its case.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Erase it,” he ordered me.
“What?”
“I said ‘Erase it’!” he said, “I work undercover and I don’t want my picture anywhere.”
Work undercover? Really? You're doing it wrong. The officer then goes on to harass Zoom some more, then gets involved with another bystander telling mind his own business. For more details and pictures, and perhaps to show some support for Zoom, here is her website again.
One of the 4 Mounties involved in the taser death of Robert Dziekanski will face charges for impaired driving causing death, with additional charges a possibility.
On or around Saturday, October 25th 2008, Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson was driving a Jeep while impaired and collided with 21 year old Orion Hutchinson of Tsawwassen B.C, who was riding his motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction. Mr.Hutchinson was thrown from his bike suffering serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Robinson was taken to Delta police headquarters where he was given, and failed, a breathalyser test. At the time the police refused to name Robinson as the driver of the Jeep. They also refused to reveal how much over the legal limit he was. Robinson was then released with a promise to appear on January 15th, 2009, and face charges. Being released as he was, it provided the officer the opportunity to keep his name hidden. If he had been held, he would have faced a judge, and with the charges pending formally sworn, it would then be public information. Unfortunately for him, the media had enough information and identified Robinson.
updated with a video of a woman claiming Robinson did nothing to help Orion RCMP spin doctor spokesman Sgt.Tim Shields, heh, how appropriate, had this to say:
On behalf of all RCMP members and employees from across Canada we'd like to state that this is the most unimaginable heartbreak ever and we are sick about it. We'd like to give the Hutchinson family our most heartfelt and sincere condolences. Our hearts and our prayers are with you today.
Perhaps you could ask Ms.Cisowski if this is the most unimaginable heartbreak ever. She may have a different opinion.
Also of note is that after the abuse of power carried out on Mr.Dziekanski, Mr.Robinson became a member of the RCMP's Vancouver 2010 integrated security unit, involved in organizing security for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The RCMP also heads the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team which reached the conclusion that the four Mounties involved in the tasering death did nothing wrong. Unimaginable indeed.
A couple of interesting statements from Tracey Hetherington. She seems to imply there were kids with Robinson at the time.
Mr.Trung Le of Brampton, Ontario, has built a robot that resembles a female in more than just one way. After years of planning, Mr.Le began to assemble Aiko in August of 2007 and, minus the hair, was finished about 2 months later. According to Le, the robot is capable of speaking approximately 13,000 sentences in Japanese and English, solve advanced math problems, and provide weather reports from around the world! no word on if it can get beer from the fridge
Like a real woman, the finicky Aiko also prefers to be romanced before being groped. And she left him homeless and caused him to have a heart attack.
A great achievement for anyone to be sure, however reaction to Mr.Le's creation has ranged from mild curiosity to outright hostility.
His robot girl has been heckled and worse in their public outings, Le said.
A home video he posted on YouTube in 2007 is not without controversy. After having her read a text in Japanese and solve an algebra problem, he asks Aiko to follow the movements as he moves his glasses in front of her face. But she can't.
She's been called a fake on the Internet and to her face.
Le has taken her out to a Brampton park three times. "Most people have been very curious about her and want to know what all she can do," he said.
Women, in particular, have been fascinated. Some touched her breasts to feel the silicone, he said.
But Le said one elderly woman got hostile, yelled at them and threw rocks. She told Le he was "trying to be God and it isn't right."
Mr.Le has also been accused of creating Aiko to fill a romantic void in his life, which he denies. Only he knows for sure I suppose. Don't let them discourage you Mr.Le, they mocked me 25 years ago when I would drink a glass of milk with a touch of espresso. Now they call it latte macchiato and charge ten bucks for it. Okay, not ten, still it's not cheap and I won't even go into the ridicule I received for toasting the bread before making a sandwich.
I have seen this claim made repeatedly by some 'progressive bloggers' and still haven't seen any evidence. I have read that indeed, Ignatieff's own words are proof that he condones torture. All I have to do is look around at previous links. I am new to blogging however, I understand that if one makes such a claim, it should at least be backed with a link, no? Well my claim is that Michael Ignatieff does not support torture. And here is my link
And these are his words
My own work on "lesser evils" brings me close to the Elshtain position. I agree with her that necessity may require the commission of bad acts, which necessity, nevertheless, cannot absolve of their morally problematic character—but I still have a problem. If one enumerates the forms of coercive interrogation that have been judged to be inhuman and degrading by the Israeli and the European courts—hooding, holding subjects in painful positions, exposing them to cold or heat or ear-splitting noise—these techniques also seem unacceptable, though at a lower threshold of awfulness, than torture. Like Elshtain, I am willing to get my hands dirty, but unlike her, I have practical difficulty enumerating a list of coercive techniques that I would be willing to have a democratic society inflict in my name. I accept, for example, that a slap is not the same thing as a beating, but I still don't want interrogators to slap detainees because I cannot see how to prevent the occasional slap deteriorating into a regular practice of beating.
The issue is not, as Elshtain implies, that I care overmuch about my own moral purity but rather that I cannot see any clear way to manage coercive interrogation institutionally so that it does not degenerate into torture.
Seems pretty clear to me. In my reading of this essay, he is simply presenting opposite sides on the issue. Not favouring it. He goes on.
It seems clear from the dire experience of Abu Ghraib that outright prohibition of both torture and coercive interrogation is the only way to proceed. Rules for interrogations, with penalties in the uniform code of military justice, should be mandatory.
It should be mandatory that every single detainee held by the US, whether a citizen or not, be publicly known. If operational necessity—keeping the enemy from knowing who is in custody—requires secrecy, disclosure of their names to congress and the courts can be undertaken in camera. It should also be mandatory that every detainee of the US, whether citizen or not, whether held onshore or offshore, should have habeas corpus access to a federal court, together with the legal capacity to make representations to that court about treatment and detention.
So I end up supporting an absolute and unconditional ban on both torture and those forms of coercive interrogation that involve stress and duress, and I believe that enforcement of such a ban should be up to the military justice system plus the federal courts. I also believe that the training of interrogators can be improved by executive order and that the training must rigorously exclude stress and duress methods.
In between all this, again from my reading of the essay, Ignatieff looks at both sides of the torture debate and states his conclusion. That he opposes torture. In his own words.
Party of fiscal responsibility. Right. Hypocrites!
The Conservative government spent almost $1 billion on consultants in its first two years in office – nearly double what the Liberals spent in a similar time period, a Toronto Star investigation shows.
Wasn't there something about spending less on consultants in the fiscal update that started this mess?
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office did not respond to requests for an interview last week. In the Conservative government's recent economic update, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government is asking ministers in all departments to "rein in" costs, including spending on consultants and travel. A recent Star investigation showed Conservative ministers and senior staff were frequently travelling overseas at top prices, often with a sizeable entourage.
disclaimer: my name has nothing to do with my views on religion
Well, these aren't your parent's Christians. A group of Christian women started a website called Christian Nymphos {hence the title of this post} geared toward helping married women of God, embrace their burning sexual desire for their men. Not a bad thing at all from my perspective.{must seek out local church} They offer advice on a wide variety of topics, from sexual aids to orgasms to different sexual positions. Here is part of the mission statement:
Each one of us who posts on this blog is a Christ follower. We all believe that God came down from heaven and was born of the virgin Mary…his name was Jesus; he walked this Earth performing signs and miracles, but mostly trying to get man to see the love that God had for him. He was crucified, died and buried. On the third day he rose again, ascending into Heaven, where He rules at the right hand of God the Father as part of the three-part trinity. We believe that his death and resurrection are God’s free gift, our Salvation, which we can never possibly earn except by believing that Christ died for our sins. We believe that His return is imminent, can happen at any moment and we anxiously await the day we are reunited with our Savior in Heaven...
The secular world would probably find us abnormal as well. I mean think about it. We have all of these sexual desires and cravings and yet, we’re only focusing these thoughts on our husbands. We left our mothers and fathers and now are cleaving unto our husbands as God commanded. Our thoughts and urges are directed towards them. So for the people “of the modern, secular, world,” I’m sure they find us abnormal.
I admit to finding them abnormal, however it has nothing to do with their sexual desires or advice . Well, okay, it does when they invoke God, and condemn gay people, other than that though. There is one post from a member that actually did make me laugh out loud.
My husband of 16 years and I have a blessed love life, but I grew up in a conservative household and sex was a dirty and sinful thing. If it wasn’t missionary with my DH, I felt guilty. A little guilty for being taken doggy-style, a lot guilty for my DH taking me that way in my rear and REALLY guilty for taking him that way. I’ve learned to deal with it over the past decade and a half, but I always felt dirty and sinful to some degree for really enjoying lovemaking with my DH and engaging in the activities that really excite both of us.
And the site is doing very well, closing in on 2 million hits. Though with the site being named Christian Nymphos, it wouldn't be a stretch to believe a fair amount of the traffic was unintentional. Still, good on them for being proactive, religion can make some feel dirty about sex, {might be why I used to keep my shoes on during it} and it shouldn't.
What a bitter, desperate tfool Stephen Harper has shown himself to be. For the past few days, liar and hypocrite Stephen Harper (and his cronies) has been pounding the message that the opposition parties are anti-Canadian. (Freudian projection, anyone?) El oh El, he outdid himself today though.
OTTAWA — An attempt by Stephen Harper to wrap himself in the flag and take a dig at the opposition coalition fell flat Tuesday
“Yesterday, as part of the culmination of the machinations of the leader of the NDP, we had these three parties together, forming this agreement, signing a document and they wouldn’t even have the Canadian flag behind them,” he said.
Video confirms that Harper was technically right. There wasn’t a Canadian flag in the background — there were two.
Hey Steve, President Elect Obama has a message for you!
The cons in the U.S tried the same nonsense with Obama too. In fact, so did a few Democrats. Hopefully most people won't be fooled.
There was an interesting exchange between a reporter and one of the so-called "moderate" Conservatives. Follow this logic.
Question: Is it appropriate in the context of a big debate now that’s unfolding in the country for the prime minister to make a false statement in the House that the Canadian flag was not there behind the news conference when photos show it actually was?
Hon. Jim Prentice: Well, it was clear, I watched the press conference myself, they were not Canadian flags behind the three opposition leaders. There were a number of flags there. And I think the implication was clear that there were not only Canadian flags behind him. That’s the point.
Question: But, Minister, there were Canadian flags. We were there. There were Canadian flags (inaudible) so why did you say there weren’t?
(Inaudible) in the House in the context of a heated debate like this?
Hon. Jim Prentice: Excuse me?
Question: Why wouldn’t you answer that question?
Hon. Jim Prentice: There was a Canadian flag. The point is there were not only Canadian flags behind the opposition parties when they announced —
Question: (Inaudible)
Question: provincial flags.
Question: Are you saying they’re anti-Canadian, Minister?
P.S. Kady O'Malley rocks! I have just recently become aware of Ms.O'Malley so I'm not sure how often she actually does it, but she live blogs from Parliament Hill in a really clever and entertaining way.
From a report last week, a 43 year old woman was arrested and charged with a whole bunch of stuff after giving alcohol to a 15 year old boy, a 15 year old girl(her daughter)and another 14 year old girl. Hold on, it gets better. She then had sex with the boy while the teenage girls watched. Here's the kicker
Andree later told authorities she knew her daughter and friend were at the foot of the bed while she had sex with the boy. She told officers she thought the boy was 19.
Yeah, that would have made it acceptable, if only he was of age. Do Not Want pic below the fold...
Sean Avery has gotten himself into more trouble today. According to the CBC, Avery was in Calgary for a game against the Flames when he made a juvenile remark directed at Dion Phaneuf, although I suppose it was also toward Elisha Cuthbert.
"I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight."
Phaneuf is dating Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert, who once went out with Avery. Avery is famous for his trash talk, however he can back it up so I'm not sure who'd win a fight between them. I think the edge would go to Phaneuf in a body checking contest, but again, Avery can bring it in that regard as well. So I guess the bottom line is, Sean, grow up. Elisha is a fine Canadian girl. as far as I can tell anyway. Some reaction from his teammates
Said Stars goalie Marty Turco: "It's just so disappointing for guys who have been around here for a long time and have taken a lot of pride in how this organization has been perceived. The disrespect of this morning and other things over the course of the season have been extremely disappointing for us. It's a slap in the face."
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