Pensacola Saturday, January 19th
This was a busy and fun Saturday, starting off with a productive and satisfying meeting for AdventureMan, followed by a chat in my office, during which he drifted off and snoozed for an hour while I culled my iPhoto program. Then we headed for the Fill a Bowl for Manna event, where you pay your $30 entry, pick a hand crafted bowl and proceed to eat soups from a great variety of generous Pensacola supporters. Such a wonderful variety of soups, and also – such a great support from the Pensacola community:
The lines were long, even if you had tickets in advance, but everyone was patient and good humored about waiting their turn.
From soup, we headed downtown to visit the African Art collection on display at the Pensacola Art Museum. First, we had to dodge all the colorful walkers in the Mardi Gras Run, Walk, DRAG with Color, people colored green, gold, and/or purple like the folk in the festival in India, then we had to find a parking place, dodging the police and fire people busy cleaning the streets from the chalk. The water was running green!
The African Art exhibit was a collection from a family who had lived in Western Africa and brought back fabulous pieces. Truly, the detail and artistry we were able to see close-up just blew us away:
These were so different from the other masks presented, clearly a different tribal group, different aesthetics. I called them the zombie masks for their very grey, formless, chaotic nature, and the black circle eyes:
The textiles on the walls were not identified, but we immediately recognized this sizzling textile as identical to a bedspread we had on our bed at the Grumeti Camp when we were there on the Following the Great Migration trip we took with CC Africa, now called And Beyond:
(This is not in the Pensacola Art Museum; this is our bed in the Grumeti Camp, where you can see the bedcover folded at the end; same amazing cloth:)
Late lunch at our favorite go-to local deli, the East Hill Market, and home – a very satisfying day altogether.
Obama and US Politics Today
LOL! This week’s New Yorker Magazine cover:
Online at the New Yorker you will also find this hilarious article by Andy Borowitz:
JANUARY 15, 2013
REPUBLICANS ACCUSE OBAMA OF USING POSITION AS PRESIDENT TO LEAD COUNTRY
POSTED BY ANDY BOROWITZ
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/01/republicans-accuse-obama-of-using-position-as-president-to-lead-country.html#ixzz2IRa0GZf7
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Responding to reports that President Obama is considering signing as many as nineteen executive orders on gun control, Republicans in Congress unleashed a blistering attack on him today, accusing Mr. Obama of “cynically and systematically using his position as President to lead the country.”
Spearheading the offensive was Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), who charged the President with the “wanton exploitation of powers that are legally granted to him under the U.S. Constitution.”
Calling him the “Law Professor-in-Chief,” Rep. Stockman accused Mr. Obama of “manipulating a little-known section of the Constitution,” Article II, which outlines the power of the President.
“President Obama looks down the list of all of the powers that are legally his and he’s like a kid in a candy store,” Rep. Stockman said. “It’s nauseating.”
The Texas congressman said that if Mr. Obama persists in executing the office of the Presidency as defined by the Constitution, he could face “impeachment and/or deportation.”
Noting that the President has not yet signed the executive orders on gun control, Rep. Stockman said that he hoped his stern words would serve as a wake-up call to Mr. Obama: “Mr. President, there’s still time for you to get in line. But if you continue to fulfill the duties of President of the United States that are expressly permitted in the Constitution, you are playing with fire.”
US Sex Trafficking Ring Raided
From BBC News; this is not a “victimless” crime:
Twelve arrested in US raid on Latin sex-trafficking ring
Mr Morton said the case should be a ‘wake-up call’
Another 44 people have been detained. Eleven women from Central America and Mexico, most in their 20s, were freed.
The women were reportedly forced to have sex with up to 30 men a day, charging $30 (£19) for each act.
The gang is thought to have been smuggling women since 2008, moving them to different cities every week in the south-eastern US.
The US authorities have indicted eight men and four women. Most of the other detainees are said to be clients.
The sex-trafficking ring served mostly ethnic Latino immigrants in larger cities and rural communities of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, the authorities said.
One of the indicted, a Mexican citizen, is accused of having threatened to send one woman back to Mexico if she did not have sex with at least 25 men a day.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said 967 arrests in connection with people trafficking and sex tourism were made last year alone.
“To those who would believe that sex trafficking doesn’t happen in America, reflect on this case and think again,” Mr Morton said at a news briefing.
Most of the 44 detainees were reportedly non-Americans and would face court action. Those who were illegal in the country would be deported, said Mr Morton.
The scale of human trafficking in the US is hard to gauge, but the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, operated by Polaris Project since December 2007, has received more than 57,000 calls from every state in the union.
Incidences of sex and labour trafficking have been reported in all 50 states in the US, and the District of Columbia, in the two years leading up to 2012.
Manohar Lal Sharma: “Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady”
If you are a follower of my blog, you know I am not a person of violent tendencies. This morning, however, I am so thankful to be half a world away from the scum lawyer who would make these statements about a woman so brutally raped by six men that she died of horrendous internal injuries.
I am fighting instincts which would wish him ill. When he accuses rape victims of being responsible for their attacks, it pushes me over the line.
A person should be free to take a bus without fear of assault. And I suspect that there are also male victims, too ashamed to come forward.
Manohar Lal Sharma, lawyer for one of the accused, speaks to journalists outside the Saket district court complex in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 10. Police badly beat the five suspects arrested in the brutal gang rape and killing of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, Sharma said Thursday, accusing authorities of tampering with evidence in the case that has transfixed India. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
As the trial of the men charged with the brutal gang rape and murder of a woman in New Delhi last month gets under way this week, a lawyer for some of the accused suggests the victim was partly to blame for the attack.
Lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma said his clients were innocent and implied that the 23-year-old student must have been in some way responsible for the horrific crime, Bloomberg reports.
“Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady,” Sharma said. “Even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect.”
The lawyer’s controversial comments are sure to anger victim’s advocates, especially in light of somewhat similar sentiments proclaimed by Indian guru Asaram Bapu.
Last week Bapu said the victim should have “taken God’s name and could have held the hand of one of the men and said I consider you as my brother and should have said to the other two ‘Brother I am helpless, you are my brother, my religious brother,'” according to the Hindustan Times.
It is worth noting, however, that a representative for Bapu later said the media distorted the guru’s remarks.
“[He] never made such statements. He just asked his women followers to avoid such situation anyhow,” the rep told Asian News International. “He was only suggesting that women should try their level-best to come out from such situation by using diplomatic ways.”
News outlet The Week compiled a list of several other statements that seem to place blame on the rape victim. The compilation includes a comment from Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana, who suggested the victim stayed out too late.
“Do we roam in streets at midnight as we got Independence at midnight?” Satyanarayana said. “She should have assessed the situation before getting into the bus.”
The attack, which occurred on the evening of Dec. 16, has shocked Indian residents and prompted violent protests in cities across the country, CNN notes.
Sharma, who stepped in to help defend the suspects when many other lawyers refused to represent them, also claimed his clients had been tortured by police while in jail, Time reports.
The main suspect in the trial, the bus driver, will plead not guilty according to Reuters, as will the driver and a third suspect he represents.
“We will plead not guilty. We want this to go to trial,” Sharma said. “We are only hearing what the police are saying. This is manipulated evidence. It’s all on the basis of hearsay and presumption.
Six Arrested in Second Indian Gang Rape Case
This was on AOL News / Huffpost this morning. The author makes an interesting point, not only are societal mores at fault, blaming the victim and implying the rape was her fault, but also the problem is exacerbated by the growing imbalance between males and females in the population. Where are potential mates for the excess of men?
India Gang Rape: Woman Assaulted By Bus Driver, Conducter
By ASHOK SHARMA 01/13/13 07:49 AM ET EST
NEW DELHI — Police said Sunday they have arrested six suspects in another gang rape of a bus passenger in India, four weeks after a brutal attack on a student on a moving bus in the capital outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws.
Police officer Raj Jeet Singh said a 29-year-old woman was the only passenger on a bus as she was traveling to her village in northern Punjab state on Friday night. The driver refused to stop at her village despite her repeated pleas and drove her to a desolate location, he said.
There, the driver and the conductor took her to a building where they were joined by five friends and took turns raping her throughout the night, Singh said.
The driver dropped the woman off at her village early Saturday, he said.
Singh said police arrested six suspects on Saturday and were searching for another.
Gurmej Singh, deputy superintendent of police, said all six admitted involvement in the rape. He said the victim was recovering at home.
Also on Saturday, police arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly raping and killing a 9-year-old girl two weeks ago in Ahmednagar district in western India, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Her decomposed body was found Friday.
Police officer Sunita Thakare said the suspect committed the crime seven months after his release from prison after serving nine years for raping and murdering a girl in 2003, PTI reported Sunday.
The deadly rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in December led to the woman’s death and set off an impassioned debate about what India needs to do to prevent such tragedies. Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats women.
“It’s a very deep malaise. This aspect of gender justice hasn’t been dealt with in our nation-building task,” Seema Mustafa, a writer on social issues who heads the Center for Policy Analysis think tank, said Sunday.
“Police haven’t dealt with the issue severely in the past. The message that goes out is that the punishment doesn’t match the crime. Criminals think they can get away it,” she said.
In her first published comments, the mother of the deceased student in the New Delhi attack said Sunday that all six suspects in that case, including one believed to be a juvenile, deserve to die.
She was quoted by The Times of India newspaper as saying that her daughter, who died from massive internal injuries two weeks after the attack, told her that the youngest suspect had participated in the most brutal aspects of the rape.
Five men have been charged with the physiotherapy student’s rape and murder and face a possible death penalty if convicted. The sixth suspect, who says he is 17 years old, is likely to be tried in a juvenile court if medical tests confirm he is a minor. His maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
“Now the only thing that will satisfy us is to see them punished. For what they did to her, they deserve to die,” the newspaper quoted the mother as saying.
Some activists have demanded a change in Indian laws so that juveniles committing heinous crimes can face the death penalty.
The names of the victim of the Dec. 16 attack and her family have not been released.
What is also troubling in these two cases is that the women were on public transportation, and the rapes were arranged and carried out by the bus drivers and bus personnel, people who should have been there to keep her safe. They treated the victims like pieces of meat; it seems excessively hostile and brutal – you have to wonder what is driving them.
You can read more on this in an article from The Guardian, from where I found the photo above of the perpetrators.
Freakish Winter Weather Strikes Syrian Refugees in Jordan
As if they haven’t suffered enough, Syrian refugees from the civil war in the refugee camp in Zataari, Jordan, have been hit with unusually cold conditions, rain, wind and snow.
You’d think all the countries in the Middle East are warm, but there is nothing miserably colder than a desert country in the throws of winter . . .
French Intercede to Save Mali
Heard yesterday on NPR that France was stepping up to the plate on Mali, found the story on BBC this morning . . . it isn’t easy. It’s like people in the US don’t get news of countries like Mali unless they really seek it out. You can find more stories on Mali and the Tuareg / Al Qaeda alliance tormenting Northern Mali at the BBC link.
The Ansar al Din is imposing in Mali the kind of Islam that the Taliban imposed in Afghanistan – an Islam which forbids music, forbids women to participate in public life, enforced by a group of ignorant, uneducated thugs with weapons. Everything Ansar al Din stands for is contrary to the true nature of Islam.
Go France!
French troops continue operation against Mali Islamists
Mali: Divided nation
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said army units had attacked a column of rebels heading towards the central town of Mopti.
He also revealed that a French pilot had been killed in fighting on Friday.
The French troops deployed on Friday after Mali’s army lost control of a strategically important town.
Mali’s government said its forces had recaptured the town, Konna, after the air strikes, but it was not clear if all Islamist fighters had left the area.
‘Terrorist state’
Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of the whole of northern Mali in April.
They have sought to enforce an extreme interpretation of Islamic law in the area.
Regional and Western governments have expressed growing concern about the security threat from extremists and organised crime.
Mr Le Drian said on Saturday that hundreds of French troops were involved in the military operation in Mali.
The minister said Paris had decided to act urgently to stop the Islamist offensive, which threatened to create “a terrorist state at the doorstep of France and Europe”.
He also revealed that a French pilot was killed in Friday’s fighting – during an air raid to support Mali’s ground troops in the battle for Konna.
“During this intense combat, one of our pilots… was fatally wounded,” the minister said.
Speaking on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the intervention complied with international law and had been agreed with Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore.
It would last “as long as necessary”, Mr Hollande said.
French officials gave few operational details.
Residents in Mopti, just south of Konna, told the BBC they had seen French troops helping Malian forces prepare for a counter-offensive against the Islamists.
Mr Traore declared a state of emergency across Mali, which he said would remain in place for an initial period of 10 days.
He used a televised address to call on Malians to unite and “free every inch” of the country.
‘Crusader intervention’
The west African bloc Ecowas said it was authorising the immediate deployment of troops to Mali “to help the Malian army defend its territorial integrity”.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the situation in Mali is becoming increasingly volatile
The UN had previously approved plans to send some 3,000 African troops to Mali to recapture the north if no political solution could be found, but that intervention was not expected to happen until September.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the aim of the operation was to stop Islamist militants advancing any further.
It was not clear how far the French would go in helping Mali’s government retake territory in the north.
At least seven French hostages are currently being held in the region, and Mr Fabius said France would “do everything” to save them.
A spokesman for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said he considered the French operation a “Crusader intervention”, and told France it would be “would be digging the tombs of [its] sons” if the operation continued, according to the Mauritania-based Sahara Media website.
France ruled Mali as a colony until 1960.
This chart is from a Blog called The Moor Next Door:
Not-So-Friendly Downtown Pensacola
When I first moved to Pensacola – a mere three years ago – one of the things I loved was how inviting downtown was. When we go downtown for lunch, or to the market, or to the symphony, it’s not like all the big cities where they gouge you for parking and then moan that no-one wants to come downtown. No, parking was free, and ample. It was a joy to go downtown.
Today, I was down picking up a friend to go to lunch. I got a shock:
This breaks my heart. I parked illegally, in a loading zone, while I waited for my friend.
If this is a downtown improvement, it is not one I fine user-friendly. Pensacola is trying to encourage people to come downtown, and has been successful. Why shoot the golden goose, getting greedy, putting in pay kiosks?? Why not give the customers a break? BOOOOOOOO and HISSSSSS to the Downtown Improvement Board.
“Watch Out For those Christians”
AdventureMan and I knowingly make bad choices every now an then, and Chow Time is one of them. We haven’t been for months, ever since the nearby Mediterranean Plus shut its doors because of the competition from Chow Time, it broke our hearts. But today, AdventureMan just had a hankering for Chow Time, and it’s fresh oyster day, so we went.
We had hit the early service at our church, 0800, so we had been home, changed, AdventureMan hit the garden and I hit the Christmas decor, taking it all down, which I do superstitiously since my Chinese friend told me the way I come into the new year is the way I will spend my new year, so you need to have everything done, EVERYTHING, so that your new year will be prosperous and easy and not full of tasks left undone. You have to have your bills all paid and money in your pocket and a clean clean and organized house.
Oh aaarrgh. It’s a lot of pressure to get it all done by New Year’s Eve. But we had accomplished a lot by noonish, and AdventureMan was hungry – STARVING! I like Chow Time, too, because you can have whatever you want, in the amount you want it. I like tiny bites of bad things, and I try to make myself focus on eating good things.
So I am thinking about my strategy when I see an older woman with a walker, the kind with a seat in it, so she has her plate on the seat and she is very carefully and sedately making her way along the buffet stations, but there are well-dressed crowds of people politely pushing in front of her, all around her. These are no-make-up, long skirt, long hair kinds of people, and they are all sitting together in very nice clothes at several tables in one area, and unbidden, the thought comes to me “Oh! Watch out for those Christians!”
And then I have to laugh, because of course, I am one of THEM. We all think we are so good in our own way, but don’t get between these Christians and the buffet, or, even if you are elderly and pushing your plate on a walker, you might get run-over by these good Christian folk!
I am telling you this, knowing that I have my own weakness. I can be perfectly polite at a buffet, I can patiently allow others to push in front, or rush to get all the crab legs – I’m not going to starve. I think of our Kuwaiti friend who would jokingly tell his wife “have you never seen food before?” He told us it was something Kuwaiti parents would say to their children, teaching them to be polite.
My weakness is airports, airplanes, air travel. Partly it comes from growing up in Europe, where even if seats were assigned, everyone just rushed on the plane and sat where they wanted. It was hilarious, but if you are from a culture where people think seat assignment means something, it is also kind of frustrating. If you didn’t edge your way onto the plane, you got a rotten seat, like the middle seat, where you have to sit stiffly so your shoulders don’t bump someone else’s.
These days it is even worse. Even if you have an assigned seat, with all the people afraid to pay a baggage charge, they are heaving these hefty bags on board, and overhead space is first-come, first served. Those late on the plane have difficulty finding a place in the overhead bins.
So here is the dilemma. Not even a dilemma, we all KNOW what the right answer is. Do you politely let others go ahead? Do we courteously allow those who are disabled, or accompanied by young children, or having trouble walking, do we courteously allow them to board first, with no grumbling?
I still remember being Platinum, getting to board first, getting frequent upgrades, getting all the perks . . . being treated “special.” It’s kind of addictive, being treated as if you are special.
I contrast that with what we KNOW to be true, that the first will be last, and that those who serve others, who wait upon others, who allow others to be preferred – those are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
So as I sit in our little booth at Chow Time, I wonder if I show the face of Christ by my behavior, and I cringe a little at all the instincts in me that still want to be first. Even if I step back and allow the lady with the walker to go ahead, I still have my failures in other areas of my life, areas where I step up rather than step back. Food for a new year’s resolution . . . .
Vitamin D Fights Auto-Immune Diseases
When we were living in Qatar, there was a study published in the Qatar Gulf Times about the increasing problem of Vitamin D deficiency among women who are covered. It suggested that just ten minutes a day, uncovered, in full sunshine, could help relieve this common deficiency.
Part of the problem may be a lack of private area where a covered woman will feel comfortable being outside, uncovered, free from prying eyes. Another problem is cultural, where whiter skin is valued more highly than darker skin, or freckled skin.
What cost beauty? There are long term ramifications of Vitamin D deficiency, and the consequences can be dire. The cure is so easy . . .
By Diana Rodriguez
Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
Your body needs a wide range of nutrients so that each cell performs the way it’s supposed to and all your body functions run smoothly. One important source that’s been getting a lot of buzz? Vitamin D — this essential vitamin helps build strong bones and much more.
Now researchers are discovering that vitamin D may be a powerful tool in understanding, and perhaps even preventing, certain health problems, including a group of conditions that currently has no cure — autoimmune diseases.
Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system turns against your own body instead of fighting harmful invaders like bacteria and viruses. Autoimmune diseases affect different areas of the body. For instance, psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that affects the skin, while Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid gland.
Little is known about how and why autoimmune diseases occur, what can be done to prevent them, and how to reduce your autoimmune disease risk. But that could be about to change.
The Scoop on Vitamin D’s Benefits
One recent study discovered that people who are deficient in vitamin D, which comes from both food sources and sunlight, have an increased autoimmune disease risk. The study also found that vitamin D can affect how your genes function by binding to them in particular spots. These binding locations may help researchers better understand genes that trigger diseases related to vitamin D.
We know that vitamin D plays a role in protecting the immune system. And researchers found that not getting enough vitamin D increases your risk for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes, among other autoimmune diseases. Unfortunately, researchers can’t yet pinpoint exactly how and why this is the case, or how getting enough vitamin D may help to ward off the onset of autoimmune disease symptoms.
5 Ways to Up Your Daily Dose of D
It’s clear that much more research needs to be done to better understand both autoimmune diseases and the impact of vitamin D on reducing autoimmune disease risk. But we already know that not getting enough vitamin D can be devastating to bones, leading to osteoporosis and fractures.
For overall good health, it’s essential to meet vitamin D requirements, up to 600 international units, or IU, each day. If your doctor tests your blood vitamin D level and finds a low level, you may be advised to get higher amounts. Where can you find this bone-building, immune-boosting vitamin? Here are some simple ways to get the recommended daily intake of vitamin D:
Feed on fish. Specifically, canned pink salmon, mackerel, and sardines offer the highest amounts of vitamin D.
Choose fortified beverages. Both soy and cow’s milk are available fortified with vitamin D. Some brands of orange juice also come with an added dose of D.
Eat egg yolks. Though they’re sometimes a concern because of cholesterol, egg yolks are a good source of vitamin D.
Start your day with cereal. Dry cereals and instant oatmeal that have been fortified with vitamin D are a great way to start your day.
Keep it simple with a supplement. Vitamin D supplements can make it easy to get all you need each day — just take one pill.
Exposure to the sun also helps your body to produce vitamin D. Relaxing in the sun for a brief period of time (just 5 to 10 minutes) a few days per week without sunscreen can help your body create enough vitamin D to ward off a deficiency. Just remember to guard against the potential damage of the sun — keep your exposure limited to reap the vitamin D benefits without harming your skin.
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