Vox Publica

Reuters reports that Egyptian doctors removed a head from a baby whose congenital twin did not develop a body. The head had been capable of smiling and blinking, but couldn't live independently

San Leandro civil rights pioneer Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu died on Wednesday, March 30, 2005, at his daughter’s home in Larkspur, California at the age of 86. Korematsu became a symbol of opposition when he refused to report for internment and remained at his San Leandro home.

San Leandro Bytes: San Leandro Rights Pioneer Korematsu Dies

Apparently, a couple of airlines from down under (Qantas and Air New Zealand) have policies that prohibit men from sitting next to unaccompanied children. The presumption, of course, is that the men might somehow endanger the children.

Now, it's true that the vast majority of child molestations are committed by men (though you have to wonder how many of them happen on planes), but as the article below discusses, such a policy presumes all men to be potential child molestors and discriminates against them.

Airline seating policy may breach Human Rights Act - 30 Nov 2005 - National News

"For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows."

The NY Times analysis of states that enacted laws from 1995 to 2004 "found no evidence that the laws had a significant impact on the number of minors who got pregnant, or, once pregnant, the number who had abortions."

Indeed in some cases, the abortion rate went up when these laws were instituted. "For instance, in Tennessee, the abortion rate went down when a federal court suspended a parental consent requirement, then rose when the law went back into effect. " A similar rise in abortion rates was seen in Arizona and Idaho after parental consent laws were passed. Indeed, workers at abortion clinics say they more often see parents pressuring their daughters to have abortions than trying to stop them.

I haven't seen information about mysterious disease that's killing displaced Bushmen in Botswana in the mass media. This article comes from Survival International (http://www.survival-international.org/), an organization that works with indigenous peoples all over the world. The mysterious disease comes in the text of the San Bushmen being expelled by the Botswanan government from their ancestral lands at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The government claims it's for their own good and to protect the natural resources at the Game Reserve, but they have awarded diamond mining concessions in the reserve to large diamond companies, including De Beers.

BOTSWANA: Mystery disease killing evicted Bushmen 22 Mar 2006

At least fifteen Bushmen have died suddenly of unknown causes this year in New Xade resettlement camp and three remain in a critical condition. The deaths come as British Baroness Jenny Tonge and other peers insist in the House of Lords that the evictions have benefitted the Bushmen.

Gaseitsiwe Gaorapelwe died very suddenly after spots appeared all over his body. After being tortured by wildlife guards in 2000 for hunting, he said to a Survival researcher, �Who will look after my children? The government is killing me.'

Gaorapelwe was evicted from his ancestral community of Molapo in February 2002. In July that year he told Survival, �I want to go back to Molapo. I did not ask to relocate.... So I'm going back.' He did return to Molapo despite government harassment, but was evicted once again by armed police in October 2005.

Bushman organisation First People of the Kalahari said in a press release last week, �Since the middle of January even more people have been dying [in New Xade] than is usual since our evictions from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). They have been dying quickly with vomiting, and difficulties to breathe. The authorities know about this but so far we are not aware that any doctor has been to New Xade to find out what is wrong... This shows that what the government says about New Xade being a place to develop the Bushmen is not the truth.'

Baroness Tonge called the Bushmen �stone age' and �primitive' in a House of Lords debate earlier this month, and claimed the Botswana government had evicted them to provide them with �education and development'. Lord St John of Bletso added, �Many of the Bushmen have objected, but I take the view that it has been in the best interests of many of the Bushmen.'

The catastrophic health implications of removing tribal peoples from their land are well documented. Among the Innu of northern Canada, who were moved by the government in the 1960s, the suicide rate is at least twelve times the national average. Over 50% of Innu have diabetes. Both suicide and diabetes were unknown before the Innu lost their land.

For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org

I must be out of the loop, 'cause I didn't know that Myanmar (AKA Burma) has moved its capital from Rangoon (AKA Yangon) to Pyinmana, 400 km to the north. Apparently the move - which happened last November - took everyone by surpirse. Civil cervants were given one day notice, and then abruptly bused with their belongings to the new capital.

Apparently the move to the new capital may be linked to a re-establishment of the monarchy, with Than Shwe, the top military general, as the new king. The location also has strategic advantages, however, as it has better access to the country's borders with India, China and Thailand - where ethnic rebel groups often take refuge. It also isolates the civil servants from the public discontent evident in the streets of Rangoon. In 1988 government workers joined students and monks to call for democracy. To make the move sweeter to them, the government has announced a ten-fold increase in government salaries. Inflation is expected and an acute economic crisis is likely.

Myanmar has also intensified its isolationist practices, including persecution and interference of international and non-governmental organizations. The ICRC has been impeded from visiting prisons and the ILO office received a number of death threats. Activists who lodge a complaint about forced labor with the ILO have been prosecuted for their actions.

For more information see:

Asia Times Online : Uneasy lies the crown in Myanmar

Asia Times Online :
Myanmar's generals build their 'Xanadu'

Granted, I'm not the most well-informed person in the world, but I was pretty surprised to learn today that almost two weeks ago, on March 30th, Israel bombed the Palestinian National Soccer Stadium in Gaza. Am I that clueless? Nope, the American and much of the world media seems to have slept through that story.

Though nobody was hurt, the rocket bomb created a large crater in the middle of the field turning it unplayable. Israel first said that it did so because Palestinians were using the stadium to launch rockets against Israel. When that was proven false, they intimated that they wanted to "send a message" to the Palestinians. That didn't play out well with FIFA, so they changed their story to say that rockets where being launched from somewhere close to the stadium. Aha.

This is not the first action against Palestinian soccer that Israel has taken, a couple of years ago Israel assured that the Palestinians wouldn't qualify for the world cup by stopping several players from leaving the Gaza strip so they could play in a qualifying game. Predictably, the Palestinians lost.

FIFA has said that it will pay to fix the stadium and it's considering sanctions against Israel. You can add your voice to those calling for sanctions by going to:

http://www.petitiononline.com/FIFAPal/petition.html

well, maybe not "on" up, but animals in the Sierra are definitely moving up. For years now nearly all vertebrates have migrated towards higher elevations - a predicted effect of global warming. The question is - what's going to happen to the animals who already live at the top?

This interesting fact comes from the revamped California magazine, the Cal alumni association magazine which now carries more news, and more orbituaries.

Apparently Los Angeles prosecutors do. According to this Reuters article, LA prosecutors are throwing the book to yoga teacher Bikram Choudhury, accusing him of running a studio without a license, overcrowding it and not maintaining emergency exits. Surely that's not such a unique thing that requires a press conference?

I've never heard of Choudhury myself, but this really sounds like a vendetta in the part of the LA district's attorney's office. Don't they really have anything better to do?

A new study shows that men who have older biological brothers, are more likely to be gay than those who don't. The more older brothers he has, the greater the likelihood is.

"The link between having older brothers and homosexuality has long been established, but the new findings indicate firmly that conditions in the womb before birth, and not the subsequent family environment, are responsible."

It's yet unknown what those conditions may be, though there is speculation they may be related to the way the mother's immune system reacts to carrying male foetuses. The Y chromosone in the male foestuses may be recognized as foreign and generate a stronger immune response, which increases which each subsequent pregnancy.

Below is the article from the Times on the study.

Man Accused of Blinding Wife With Carrot

July 18,2006 | MONROE, Conn. -- A 46-year-old man is accused of assaulting his wife with a carrot, causing her to lose sight in one eye. Roderick Vecsey is charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

Pamela Vecsey, 46, underwent six hours of surgery after being hit in the left eye with the vegetable Saturday night, but doctors were not able to restore her vision, prosecutor Stephanie Damiani said.

The couple was arguing when Roderick Vecsey tossed the carrot, Damiani said.

Roderick Vecsey told Judge Patrick Carroll that it was a terrible accident, and was advised to remain silent.

The judge set a hearing for Thursday. Vecsey is currently free after posting $500 bond.

The following article from the UN news agency caught me by surprise. On the one hand it makes sense that one of the world's largest countries be a large food aid donor. On the other hand the extreme rural poverty in China makes you wonder how, exactly, that is accomplished. Interestingly, China becam the 3rd largest food donor the same year it stopped receiving food aid itself.

Salon's Broadsheet blog reports on an AP story about how the cover of a parenting magazine, Babytalk featuring a nursing baby (see left) has been creating a lot of controversy. A lot of mothers seem to find the idea of breastfeeding gross, and the picture of a naked breast (even one where the aerola has been airbrushed away) even grosser.

I can only imagine how they deal with seeing naked breasts in public. Fortunately I've never actually experienced the problems first hand. This is probably because I live in California, one of the most breastfeeding-friendly states in the nation. The law here is that you can breastfeed in any public space. And I have. The library, museums, restaurants, parks, planes, pretty much anywhere I could sit down and quelch my baby's hunger. I breastfed until my baby was 16 months old, and by the end of it she insisted on eating while standing or looking around which meant my breast was even more exposed (and contorted) than even I was comfortable with. But I never had a problem. I never noticed any dirty looks - not that I would, I tend to be oblivious to the environment around me - or heard any assinine coments. Thanks God, 'cause it wouldn't have been pretty if I had :)

This news about a child rape in Zimbabwe is, of course, nothing new. Throughout southern Africa men have been raping young children, including babies (who are often killed in the process), under the idea that that will cure them of AIDS.

Am I the last to hear about the earthquakes in Tajikistan? Here is the UN press release. They are providing all of $20K to assist 9,000 people.

A very interesting article in the LA Times about how Supreme Court justice John Stevens was clerking for SCJ Wiley Rutledge when the court had to decide on the legality of the trial against Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita. The court ruled 6-2 in favor, but Rutledge wrote an impassionate discent about how what what differentiates us from our opponents was the rule of law. Apparently Stevens took that to heart, and it was a major reason why he led the court to find that the US was bound (imagine that) by the Geneva Conventions.

5 August 2006

The government of Israel has recently purchased from the United States bunker-busting bombs (GBU-28), for use in its war in Lebanon. These bombs contain depleted uranium - a carcinogenic substance that spreads in the form of a toxic and radioactive dust, which enters the lungs and bones and is especially harmful to babies and young children.

We call on the government of Israel not to make use of these bombs.

ABC News: FDA Says Viruses Safe for Treating Meat

The FDA has just approved using a combination of six viruses to combat bacteria in cold cuts and sausages. The combination would be sprayed on the meats before packaging. Consumers will not be told which meats are treated with the listeria-eating-viruses.

Listeria is a big problem for elderly people and pregnant women, for whom it can cause premature delivery and other complications. For that reason pregnant women are advised not to eat deli meats, soft cheeses, sushi and other products more likely than average to contain listeria. BUT there seems to be little point in applying this product to some products and not others - as careful pregnant women would still have to keep away from these products in general as they wouldn't know which ones would be safe. The rest of the population, who wouldn't need them, may want to stay away from viruses in general.

As for my part, I plan to call whatever manufacturers of sausages & hotdogs & deli meats I use and ask whether they're serving me viruses a la carte.

The Asia Times is one of the best newspapers on the web today, but one that I think does not get enough recognition out there. Here is a very interesting column by David Isenberg on how the administration thinks the press should be following its lead on finding Iran a strategic threat to the United States, one that justifies a war against it.

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - Another US intelligence test

Middle East
Aug 29, 2006


Another US intelligence test
By David Isenberg

One might think that after all the post-mortems on politicization of intelligence leading up to the US invasion of Iraq, members of the US Congress might have learned a few things about not rushing in where angels fear to tread. But you would be wrong, if a recent report from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is any example.

Last Wednesday, Pete Hoekstra, a Republican congressman
from Michigan and chairman of the committee, released a report, "Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States". [1] The not very subtle implication was that those who don't agree Iran is a threat are fools.

This is exactly the same sort of tactic that the White House was using in 2002 and 2003 when Vice President Dick Cheney was talking about mushroom clouds rising into the sky due to an Iraqi nuclear weapon.

A very cool story from Egypt. It doesn't say, however, if the tomb discoverers were indeed eaten by a crocodile and a snake.

(AP)October 22,2006 | SAQQARA, Egypt -- The arrest of tomb robbers led archaeologists to the graves of three royal dentists, protected by a curse and hidden in the desert sands for thousands of years in the shadow of Egypt's most ancient pyramid, officials announced Sunday.

The thieves launched their own dig one summer night two months ago but were apprehended, Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters.

POSTED: 1:18 p.m. EST, November 20, 2006
Adjust font size:
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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) -- Tipped off by three plastic pipes mysteriously skimming the ocean's surface, authorities seized a homemade submarine packed with 3 tons of cocaine off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

Babies die everyday of a million causes: poverty, hunger, disease. And yet this story is particularly maddening because not only the baby did not have to die, but the mother was detained for having been raped!

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Iraq's National Library and Archive, Caught on the Front Line of
Sectarian Fighting, Is Closed
By BURTON BOLLAG

After months of determined efforts to keep going amid Iraq's
deepening violence and chaos, the National Library and Archive, the
country's largest depository of books and documents, has closed.

What else can I possibly say about this piece of news from the BBC?

CAR leader orders house burning

President Francois Bozize confirmed his order on radio

The president of the Central African Republic has ordered the army to set fire to the homes of two church leaders "to teach them a lesson".

The Baptist Church pastors had burnt down the home of another pastor in a row over the use of a chapel for Christmas services in the capital.

One of the men was subsequently beaten up and the other has been arrested.

Francois Bozize said he wanted them "to experience the suffering they had inflicted on others".

The BBC's Joseph Benamse says people in the capital, Bangui, are surprised that the order came from the head of state.

But Mr Bozize confirmed on a private radio station and he himself gave the instructions.

"It is the anger of God which strikes those who offend or do wrong to a servant of God," AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Kathmandu

Nepal has a community of men identifying themselves as women
The authorities in Nepal have granted a man who dresses and behaves as a woman both male and female citizenship.

New York, Feb 8 2007 11:00AM

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voiced his “deep concern” today over construction work initiated by Israel in the Old City of Jerusalem and called for the suspension of any action that could exacerbate tensions.

By Yasmine Saleh

CAIRO: Reconstructive hymen surgery for women who lost their
virginity before marriage is halal (religiously permissible), said to
Aly Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt.

Gomaa, the highest authority with the power to issue a fatwa
(religious edict), appeared the popular terrestrial Channel Two’s
talk show El Beit Beitek, where he condoned the controversial fatwa,
released by Soad Saleh, the ex-dean of the faculty of Islamic studies
at Al-Azhar University and noted scholar.

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about a 4 April
2007 statement by Deputy Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk
Shaziman Abu Mansor, that in order to prevent the spread of "negative or
malicious content," bloggers will soon have to register with the
government. While claiming it does not intend to censor bloggers, the
government has warned that bloggers are not above the law when they
"disturb peace and harmony" in Malaysia.

"This measure could jeopardise online free expression," Reporters Without
Borders said. "It could push many bloggers to opt for anonymity or censor
themselves out of fear of reprisals. The deputy minister's statement once
again demonstrates the government's desire to exercise improper control
over the online flow of information inside Malaysia. The obligatory
registering of blogs is a measure that so far has only been adopted by
countries such as China that violate Internet users' rights."

The political parties and the government control most of the media in
Malaysia. The most popular blogs serve as a counter-weight, offering
political comment that is often critical of the government. Science and
Technology Minister Kong Cho Ha said on 4 December 2006 that he wanted to
"create strict laws to control abuses on the Internet" and to dissuade
"bloggers from advocating disorder and chaos in society."

On 19 January 2007, Reporters Without Borders took up the cause of two
Malaysian bloggers who are the target of libel suits by members of the
staff of the "New Straits Times", a Malaysian newspaper. Jeff Ooi, who
writes one of the country's most popular blogs, Screenshots (
http://www.jeffooi.com ), has been sued for refusing to take down 13 posts
which the newspaper's staffers consider to be defamatory (see IFEX alerts
of 1 February and 19 January 2007).

Ahiruddin Attan, who produces a blog called Rockybru (
http://www.rockybru.blogspot.com ), says he is being sued over a post in
which he accused some of the newspaper's journalists of being agents of the
Singaporean government (see alerts of 1 February and 19 January 2007).

For further information, contact Julien Pain, RSF Internet Desk, 5, rue
Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 71, fax: +33 1 45
23 11 51, e-mail: internet@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.internet.rsf.org

The New York Times
Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By

April 12, 2007

By PAUL von ZIELBAUER

In February 2006, nervous American soldiers in Tikrit killed an Iraqi fisherman on the Tigris River after he leaned over to switch off his engine. A year earlier, a civilian filling his car and an Iraqi Army officer directing traffic were shot by American soldiers in a passing convoy in Balad, for no apparent reason.

The incidents are among many thousands of claims submitted to the Army by Iraqi and Afghan civilians seeking payment for noncombat killings, injuries or property damage American forces inflicted on them or their relatives.

I17 April 2007

Blogger arrested and held for reporting on torture of detainees

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Updates IFEX alert of 16 April 2007; please note that in the previous
alert, the journalist's name was spelled "Mahmoud"**

(RSF/IFEX) - Voicing concern about increasingly repressive policies towards
online dissent, Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of
blogger Abdul-Moneim Mahmud, who was arrested on 14 April 2007 at Cairo
airport. He has been charged with membership of an "illegal organisation"
(the Muslim Brotherhood), but his arrest seems to be linked to the photos
and reports about the torture of detainees that he has posted online.

It's official. You can no longer be in limbo. The Catholic Church has officially abolished it.

Yes, really. A document by the International Theological Commission published today and approved by the Pope establishes that there is no limbo. Under the original theory children (or others) who were not baptized would go to limbo - nothingness -, according to Dante, one of the circles of hell. But the Catholic Church is concerned about providing such fate for the millions of aborted fetuses, whom, according to them, have souls. So their solution? Abolish limbo, let them go straight to hell... I mean, heaven. Now you know.

We have liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban, they told us. But the reality is very different. Like this press release by Amnesty International explains, the Taliban have increased their attacks against civilians, killing them, burning schools and abducting workers.

I was against the war in Afghanistan in the first place, but if you are going to fight a war, then you have to do it with all you have - and the United States has basically abandoned Afghanistan to its fate - the Taliban - once it got tired of it. And people die.

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-20070421ymwmeldhvami
Harpers Magazine
April 21, 2007

The Plot Against the First Amendment

By Scott Horton

In June, a case is slated to go to trial in Northern Virginia that will mark a
first step in a plan to silence press coverage of essential national security
issues. The plan was hatched by Alberto Gonzales and his deputy, Paul J.
McNulty -- the two figures at the center of a growing scandal over the
politicization of the prosecutorial process. This may in fact be the most
audacious act of political prosecution yet. But so far, it has gained little
attention and is poorly understood.

In the summer of 2005, Alberto Gonzales paid a visit to British Attorney
General Peter Goldsmith. A British civil servant who attended told me "it was
quite amazing really. Gonzales was obsessed with the Official Secrets Act. In
particular, he wanted to know exactly how it was used to block newspapers and
broadcasters from running news stories derived from official secrets and how it
could be used to criminalise persons who had no formal duty to maintain secrets.
He saw it as a panacea for his problems: silence the press. Then you can torture
and abuse prisoners and what you will -- without fear of political
repercussions. It was the easy route to dealing with the Guantánamo dilemma.
Don't close down Guantánamo. Close down the press. We were appalled by it."
Appalled, he added, "but not surprised.

Taner Akçam is a Turkish scholar who has meticulously researched the history of the Armenian genocide to conclude that one, indeed, took place. For his efforts he has been attacked as a terrorist and threatened. He has also been put in the "no flight" list by both American and Canadian authorities, but apparently this was done based on his profile in wikipedia! As everyone knows, anyone can add anything to a wikipedia entrie, regardless of its truth value.

ABC News reports today that 2 young boys face criminal prosecution for slapping girls' butts (and touching a girl's breast) at the school. They are currently charged with misdemeanors, and if convicted, regardless of whether they have to serve time, they will be registered as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. The boys already spent 5! days at juvenile hall - which seems to me punishment enough.

Moreover, apparently spanking each other's butts was a common way for girls and boys to greet each other at that school - according to a girl interviewed by abc news. While some girls said they felt uncomfortable, at least two of them recanted when questioned in court about it.

Don't get me wrong, I think what the boys did was terrible. I still remember the humiliation and plain dirtiness of being touched on the butt when I was a young teenager. /I/ didn't like it, /I/ felt uncomfortable - but then again, it wasn't a common thing to do in my school and it had a clear sexual meaning. That said, these are 13-yo boys. They still are learning what proper rules of behavior are, that they are not little kids anymore and that girls are no longer the simple playmates of -literally- yesteryear. I think it's absurd that that prosecutor would prosecute the kids for acting like kids act. Yes, they did something wrong, but there are many, many, many lower forms of punishment that can be used to bring home that message.

As they say on the Week every week "Only in America"

I just found out, by reading The Week magazine, that last month a woman in Nashville was detained for being an illegal immigrant. She was 9 months pregnant and about to give birth, she was taken to a hospital where she was made to labor in shackles. Once she gave birth, the baby was immediately taken from her, so that she could not breastfeed him. A few hours later, while she was still recuperating, they shackled her again.

You can read more about this in this blog entry.

After you do, please call Sheriff Hall at (615) 862-8170 and complain about it. Also call your congressman and ask that they sponsor a bill (they'd have to write it) that would say that nobody detained by a federal agency, or any agency working in conjunction with the federal government, can be made to labor while restrained. And that no newborn or breastfeeding baby shall be taken away from a mother under those conditions.

Personally, I feel it's beyond unconscionable to make a woman labor while shackled. And there is no reason, it's not like you are going to escape between contractions.

Please, please, please call. Perhaps it'll make them rethink their policy.

Here is a frightening article about an Italian law that mandates the registration of any publication. Recently, a judged rule that as blogs have headlines, they are online newspapers and the author of one such blog is guilty of publishing a clandestine newspaper.

Now, this law is likely unconstitutional and in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights - but it seems this is a battle that will need to be fought in court.

A new .. old.. and repeated story..its heroes are the children and youth of the village of Dest El-Ashraf, Kom Hamada province, Beheira governorate.

Scene one: children and youth in the age of flowers come out every day to work in the farms in Nubaria. They are shipped in pickup trucks to the large farms yearning to manpower to plant and harvest them. The children are the tool which irrigates the land of the farms. The land drinks from their childhood, their fragile bodies, and their innocent eyes.

Scene two: children at the age of growth, starting from the age of seven, kneeling on the ground removing grass, harvesting crop or sowing seeds over the long working hours, which are no less than 10 hours, that might or might not, be divided by a half hour to rest and eat poor food (cheese, tomato, or mashed potatoes in the best of cases). During the long work day under the harsh hot sun or bitter cold, these (working) children are not allowed to speak, look around or be lazy at work. A child who is lazy is beaten by a hose and humiliated and insulted with the most brutal words, particularly the girls, who are subjected to humiliation and obscene words. It seems as if we are back to the era of slaves, and children have become slaves to the landlord, forced to work with every drop of blood in his land in exchange for a handful of pounds which are not enough for the misery and hardship of the long day. There is no place here to talk about employment contracts, health and social insurance, a meal, a certain number of working hours, or definite wages.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press Writer

Feb 12th, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- Don't just talk to your toddler -- gesture, too. Pointing, waving bye-bye and other natural gestures seem to boost a budding vocabulary.

Scientists found those tots who could convey more meaning with gestures at age 14 months went on to have a richer vocabulary as they prepared to start kindergarten. And intriguingly, whether a family is poor or middle class plays a role, the researchers report Friday.

Anyone who's ever watched a tot perform the arms-raised "pick me up now" demand knows that youngsters figure out how to communicate well before they can talk. Gesturing also seems to be an important precursor to forming sentences, as children start combining one word plus a gesture for a second word.

KORHOGO, 30 March 2009 (IRIN) - Women in villages around Korhogo, northern Côte d'Ivoire, dare not walk to their fields alone for fear of rape.

"Women are attacked even with their babies on their backs," said Fatoumata (real names not used). "The attacker just goes for what he is after and that is that. The baby could even die."

Women gathered at a health centre in Korhogo, 630km north of the commercial capital Abidjan, told IRIN women are frequently raped as they walk to and from their fields.

Every few days I get a letter from a person (usually a man, though sometimes a woman) telling me about the human rights violations they are experiencing. Sometimes is the government broadcasting thoughts into their minds, where they'd installed a microchip, sometimes it's being poisoned, sometimes it's being persecuted by government officials. There are many other variations, stories that don't even make internal sense. I also get them on the mail, sometimes from foreign countries. My friend Thierry, an Argentine psychologists, explained to me that in their reality, what they are experiencing are clear human rights violations and the logical place to go to is a human rights organization. I expect groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch get these complaints by the thousands.

Once in a great while, the story I get is plausible, and then I treat it seriously. Otherwise, I just delete or archive the letters, knowing that there is nothing I could say that would help the situation. Indeed, some of these people are aware of their mental problems, having been in and out of hospitals for years.

What I hadn't considered until recently, is that these individuals could pose a danger, to me, perhaps, or to others. The letter of the gunman who killed 13 peple in Binghamton a couple of days ago, sounds very much like the e-mails and letters I get.

I have to admit that I have never given too much thought to the issue of mental illness and forced treatment. My instincts go against it but... a some quick online research shows that there seems to be a relationship between schizophrenia and violence, and the deeper the psychosis, the greater likelihood of violence. And if you think about it, it makes sense, if you are being persecuted, at some point you need to defend yourself. And to the point that psychosis makes you irritable, it'll make you more likely to react badly to others. But a mere potential of violence should not be a reason to incarcerate or hospitalize someone. But...

Shouldn't a person who suffers of psychosis at least be given the opportunity to make a rational decision about whether to medicate themselves? And can they possibly make that decision if they are not medicated?

Below, there is the letter from the gunman, and a letter I've received.

(PINA/IFEX) - Censors in Samoa banned Milk, a movie, based on the life of gay activist Harvey Milk, which won a best actor Oscar for Sean Penn.

Principal censor Leiataua Niuapu Faaui confirmed the censorship board rejected an application for DVDs of Milk to be distributed in movie stores but refused to give a reason, the New Zealand Herald reported on its website.

"There are rules and guidelines for these things" said Faaui.

The report quoted Ken Moala, a well-known human rights activist in Samoa,
as saying, "I do not think it should be banned. It is basically a documentary about the human endeavour to conquer something that people tend to discriminate against."

"It's about vulnerable groups, how they are often marginalised, and they have every right to be part of society, especially in becoming public servants or figure heads in society," he added.

The Egyptian government, like several other governments in the region, has been harassing bloggers, arresting them in trump up charges and doing its best to limit freedom of expression. This is just the last example. Please contact the Egyptian embassy in your country and complain about this.

--

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
deplores the fabrication of political lawsuits by state security organs,
particularly in the province of Fayoum, where officials have created new
charges against bloggers. The most recent charge was brought against Ahmed
Mohsen, a blogger who writes the Open Your Eyes blog (
http://eyestillopen.blogspot.com). He has been accused of "exploiting the
democratic climate prevailing in the country to overthrow the regime."

On 23 April 2009, state security forces broke into Mohsen's house in the
city of Fayoum and searched it, but were surprised to find that the blogger
had months ago moved to Minya province to work and had not returned to
Fayoum since. Officer Amr Alhumaili, not wanting to be reprimanded for
submitting false information to his superiors, called the blogger and told
him to come to Fayoum or they would bring him from Minya. The blogger
travelled back to the city and headed directly to the Fayoum public
prosecution, where he was charged with attempting to overthrow the
government. On 29 April, he was imprisoned for 15 days pending
investigation.

"It is normal for a state security officer to tell lies, but when the
public prosecution believes this lie and approves the imprisonment of a
young blogger for 'exploitation of the democratic climate', this is black
comedy. What democracy did this young man exploit?" said ANHRI.

"Through this statement, we notify the Minister of the Interior that your
state security officer, Amr Alhumaili, lied to you and fabricated the
record of inquiry against the young blogger, who did not have anything to
do with the city of Fayoum several months ago. Will the Minister of the
Interior punish the officer or he will turn a blind eye on the whole issue
and keep silent on the imprisonment of an innocent young man?" asked ANHRI.

For further information contact Gamal Eid, Executive Director, ANHRI,
Building No. 19, Suite 55, 26 of July St., Downtown Cairo, Egypt, tel/fax:
+20 227 736 177, e-mail: info@anhri.net, gamaleid@anhri.net, Internet:
http://www.anhri.net

This is just bizarre. Cambodians victims of the democide that took place in that country mark an annual "Day of Anger" by re-enacting the torture and executions that took place under the Khmer Rouge.

(AP) Cambodians marked their annual "Day of Anger" Wednesday to remember victims of the Khmer Rouge regime by re-enacting torture and distributing new textbooks about the era largely ignored by schools run by a government whose leaders once served the movement.

About 2,000 Cambodians, including hundreds of Buddhist monks, gathered at Choeung Ek, a former Khmer Rouge "killing field" dotted with mass graves about nine miles (15 kilometers) south of Phnom Penh.

Some 40 students re-enacted the torture and executions inflicted by the ultra-communists under whose rule in the mid-1970s about 1.7 million people perished.

The performance was staged just yards (meters) away from a memorial filled with victims' skulls and mass graves where thousands of people were buried.

Relatives of the victims expressed hope that some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders will finally be brought to justice by a U.N.-backed tribunal.

Currently on trial is Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who commanded the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people are believed to have been tortured before being sent to Choeung Ek for execution.

Duch (pronounced Doik) is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, who are all detained, are likely to be tried in the next year or two.

"Why is the court taking so long to prosecute these leaders?" asked Tat Seang Lay, 47, whose two brothers were killed by the Khmer Rouge. "I want to see justice. I wish the court could end its trial process within the next few months."

About 3,000 copies of the new schoolbook were distributed Wednesday in the province around Phnom Penh, with a half million more to follow throughout the country, said Youk Chhang, director of the private Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has amassed information about the Khmer Rouge.

Youk Chhang said the book, "A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)," is aimed at educating Cambodia's youth about an era that is part of the living history of every family and at bringing about reconciliation.

He said the government-approved book was reviewed by Cambodian and foreign scholars and includes lessons from genocide in Nazi Germany, Rwanda and elsewhere.

Cambodia's leaders have been reluctant to dig deeply into the Khmer Rouge period. Several, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, defected from the movement after serving in military or political positions.

A friend of mine posted this in facebook, and it's indeed frightening. It doesn't surprise me very much, however, given that 1) I always suspected that Bush wanted to stay in power through illicit means and 2) a military dictatorship is the emblematic end result of the application of the doctrine of national security. It didn't happen - but perhaps because they found in Obama s/o who would follow Bush's policies.

Cheney’s Plans for a Military Coup - Harpers

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/world/2009/07/30/D99P2CM80_eu_med_failed_un_strategy/index.html

One of the reasons why I work in human rights is because it is a mostly unambiguous field. Torturing, executing people extra-judicially, denying them due process rights is wrong. Period. There are some areas that are a bit gray - should we pursue the criminal indictment of sitting presidents, when it's likely that by doing so they will increase repression in their own countries and/or deny access to humanitarian agencies? But in general, it's pretty black and white.

Not so with humanitarian work. The old adage that you should not give a man a fish but teach him how to fish has definitely some truth to it - though it doesn't explain what you should do when there are no fish in the river. And there are complex questions such as to what degree humanitarian aid absolves governments of their own responsibility to provide economic rights to their own people, to what degree it contributes to de-politicize local populations and maintain the political status quo and to what degree it has negative unintended consequences. For example, humanitarian aid is often appropriated by corrupt governments or armed groups that use it to hold populations hostage or to allow them to allocate their resources to weapons and so forth. And then there is the question of effectiveness.

This study shows that development aid aimed at children in Bangladesh has been pretty much useless: "in areas where the program wasn't implemented, slightly more children were vaccinated against measles, and there was no big difference in death rates." Similar accusations have been made in other instances.

I, of course, have no answers. It's better to try and fail than to not try at all - but it's of little use to throw money at a problem without really understanding it. And I, of course, do not (understand it). So I continue with my morally "safe" occupation and leave more complex ethical matters to others :-)

AP reports today that some veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, including a first-term congressman, are questioning the low number of medals that have been awarded in these two wars: six. In comparison, 244 were awarded in the Vietnam war. The military argues that the current wars don't present the same opportunities for incredible heroism, something which the veterans question. I think I'm with the military on this one.

The only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient that I've ever met is Charles Liteky, a former Catholic priest and Army chaplain who saved over 20 wounded men during a savage battle in Vietnam by carrying them from the battlefield to a safe zone while dodging enemy fire. Read his wikipedia entry, it is incredible what this man did. I cannot imagine that valor like his is particularly common.

I came across Liteky through Mike's work with School of the Americas Watch (Mike was responsible for scanning and ocr'ing the lists of SOA graduates and their "torture" manuals'; after his work the School of the Americas started denying requests for new lists of graduates.) Liteky is (was?) fully involved in the organization, "crossing" the line in peaceful demonstrations to bring attention to the perverse work of the School of the Americas. For those unfamiliar with it, it's the American military institution that instructs Latin American military on how to fight social movements at home. It was one of the institutions where the doctrine of national security was developed and disseminated. Many of its graduates have been accused of committing crimes against humanity. Liteky has been arrested and sent to prison several times for his peaceful protests - even as he entered his 70's. And continues fighting the good fight.

I would hope that the Medal of Honor not suffer the fate of the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is given almost exclusively for political considerations (Bush gave it to people who are likely to have committed crimes against humanity themselves). Hopefully it will continue meaning something - but as our cultures becomes a greater and greater celebrator of mediocracy, it's unlikely that it will.

The Argentine Supreme Court ruled today that the consumption of drugs, done in a private space and without harming third parties, could not be penalized by the state. It based its ruling in the very explicit right to privacy clause of the Argentine constitution:

"The private actions of men that in no way offend the public order and morals nor harm a third party, are only reserved to God and fall outside the authority of judges".

It's one of the few times that I like seeing God in a legal document :-)

Today two stories came out that highlight the stupidity of people and how quick they are to overreact to every day situations.

In the first one, a man receives a kit for making a gun out of legos (to each their own) - puts it together in his office and next thing he knows has a SWAT team storming in and cuffing him against the door. A lego gun. Incredible.

In the second one, a mother breastfeeding her baby at Target is told that breastfeeding in public is against the law (not true) and that she must leave Target. WTF? Target later clarified that its policy (as well as the law of several states) allows for breastfeeding at its stores - but the damage was already done, the woman already humiliated, and the baby probably disturbed. I applaud the woman for standing up for her baby's rights, and, of course, I'm disgusted at Target - but nor surprised. This is a company which, after all, has been accused of racial discrimination and which ‘‘sourced from countries with widespread, well-documented human and labor rights abuses.'" (see The Blue Pages, 2nd Edition: A Directory of Companies Rated by Their Politics and Practices).

I'm ashamed to say that I have shopped at Target not too long ago, but I will make sure to remember these instances when I go shopping again.