Women Loving Each Other

I miss Women, the Calgary act whose two albums Women and Public Strain are two of my favourite albums of the past decade. They may be sadly no more, but there are others mining that seam, such as fellow Canadians Each Other. Their Taking Trips EP of last year (put out by Prison Art) is one I'm only now getting into, and how! Six songs of discordant, off kilter guitar noisy pop, a post-punk menagerie of jangly, experimental guitars and rusted, off-key melodies.

I believe the EPs are sold out - sucks, it's damned great, you can still get it digitally here - but they have since released a 7" through Crikey! Records (who have put out two 7"s for Happy New Year). Traces To Nowhere/Sit Still is slightly cleaner, slightly more straightforward, yet inimitably Each Other, like looking back in time through a hall of mirrors, a truly warped interpretation. i can't wait to see what they come up with next - they are potentially filling a Women-sized hole in my soul...

Grab the 7" here.

Each Other - Goosing Statues (from Taking Trips)
Each Other - Steam Scene (from Taking Trips)

Each Other - Sit Still (from Traces To Nowhere/Sit Still 7")

Vale Christopher Reimer

One of the saddest pieces of news last week was the passing of brilliant Canadian band Women's guitarist (and touring member of Dodos) Christopher Reimer last week resulting from complications due to a heart condition. He passed away in his sleep on February 21 at the age of 26.

To coincide with the memorial, Reimer's Women bandmates, Women's Canadian label Flemish Eye, and Jagjaguwar have asked us to stream both of the band's albums, 2008's Women and 2010's Public Strain (which we gave our inaugaral Best of album of the year award), in commemoration. Please listen, remember, put the good vibes out into the ether. We will miss you.

Voting in the Congo.

On the Newshour, it was reported that people in the Congo walked for miles in the rain to vote, and when their names did not show up at the polling place, they walked for more miles from place to place to vote.
How can one not admire the Women of The Congo?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/world/africa/congo-election-board-may-annul-tens-of-thousands-of-votes.html?_r=1

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1129/A-brief-history-of-Congo-s-wars

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5226772.stm

The atrocious violence in the congo is just about the worst:
more HERE:
 http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/congo-rape-and-theuninvolved-un.html
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/npr-interview-congo-mass-rape-and.html
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/rape-in-congo-womans-body-is-worth-less.html

photo from http://congowomen.org/tour/

"The Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo

have shown incredible bravery in the face of unbelievable atrocities, as evidenced by the photographs assembled in this exhibition. These women, along with their families, have survived a litany of atrocities: oppressive dictators; the violent passage to democracy; economic crises; and an ongoing struggle of regional and tribal warfare which has found its end far too slowly and with far too much bloodshed. These challenges have been accompanied by a devastating lack of both general and reproductive healthcare, HIV/AIDS, and the common occurrence of rape and extreme sexual violence against women and girls of all ages. For those who survive, support is often unavailable..." the tour HERE

Marcus Bleasdale: (and Orchestra in Congo HERE)

I'm Not Interested In Revolutions That Disparage Women (Really, Egypt?)

What kind of Police in Egypt rape and break the arms of women? I'm not interested in Muslim Brotherhood deception and insanity. I'm not interested in allowing Sharia Law. I don't want any excuses about leaving women behind. No Sexist revolutions, Fu Cryin' Out Loud!

Here is the recent story of an American Columnist, Mona Eltahawy, who reports being sexually assaulted and shows two casts on her arms.

 (click HERE for an Excellent blog post with

a good analysis** of this appalling event:

 "You say you want a revolution?" and more

about egypt from the same blog HERE  )

news Links to the story and pictures:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066157/Mona-Eltahawy-Columnist-sexually-assaulted-Egyptian-military-police-shows-casts-hands.html
and video here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/25/world/meast/egypt-women-sexual-harassment/index.html
and
the ABC story and video HERE.
excerpt:
..."Acclaimed Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy, released today in Cairo, said Egyptian security forces sexually assaulted and beat her so severely that an arm and hand were broken during her overnight detention. "I AM FREE," she wrote on her Twitter page just after noon local time....Can barely type -- must go xray arms after CSF [Central Security Forces] pigs beat me," she tweeted.
...
Eltahawy said that while she was in custody "5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers."
"They are dogs and their bosses are dogs. F*** the Egyptian police," she tweeted.

Some Springtime in Egypt...
virginity checks anyone?  http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/beware-new-egyptian-army-virginity.html

Lara Logan Here and media's hypocrisy HERE
mass rape and Eman al-Obeidy Video   HERE
and
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/06/Egypt.film.sexual.harassment/index.html

By the Way,
our own u.s. administration is allowing the taliban to abuse and kill women in the name of "a lasting peace" in afghanistan: more from PBS' special Women War and Peace Documentary HERE

footnote

**excerpt:

"...“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”

Wow; let's read that back:

 "But what did she expect would happen?" Ah, let's see ... 'gang rape by central security forces' is not the answer that immediately springs to mind.

There is so much wrong

 with Mr. Jaffar's response, it is hard to know where to start condemning it. Are we to understand that if Ms. Eltahawy _did_ have a press card, she would not have been sexually assaulted? Or perhaps she would only have been assaulted by people other than the Central Security Forces...? Anyone with a memory span exceeding that of a gnat will remember the ordeal of CBS reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by an Egyptian mob, in Tahrir Square, last February.

But here's the kicker:

 The societal reality underlying this event might be even more disturbing than the random sexual violence this attack appears to represent. Ms. Eltahawy penned an article in June of this year entitled 'These "Virginity Tests" Will Spark Egypt's Next Revolution' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests). Ms. Eltahawy's critique alleged and condemned state-sponsored sexual assaults in downtown Cairo four years ago that targeted girls and women during a religious festival. Ms. Eltahawy claimed the police watched and did nothing. The same article also cited startling statistics that more than 80% of [Egyptian] women now say they've been sexually harassed, and more than 60% of men admit to having done so.

Most people, before this week, might have been forgiven for assuming that the attack on Ms. Eltahawy was an aberration, rather than reflective of current norms in Egyptian culture. So what do we make of Mr. Jaffar's bizarre statement? Are we to now understand and accept that gang rape is acceptable as par for the course in Tahrir Square (the shining symbol of Egyptian democracy)? Should sexual abuse be expected by any reporter as a natural risk to be assumed when covering the Arab Spring ..."

read more at the original blog: http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/11/you-say-you-want-revolution.html

large interactive middle east map site: http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htm  and excerpt:"...Bashar Assad and the Mysterious West - Is there any reason why only the Syrian regime is allowed to massacre its citizens, while everyone is silent? Scenarios for Egypt - The Egyptian revolution might be the birth of democracy, but it will probably be something else..."

middle east map  and asia

the following two maps are from a most interesting website: http://www.oilempire.us/new-map.html

an excerpt: "...The most important way that elections in the US are rigged is not voter disenfranchisement, touch screen voting machines or tampered software in ballot scanners, but media manipulation of public consciousness about the candidates....also the differences between the ostensible level of politics (the three branches of co-equal government and the other nonsense taught to us in school), and the "deep politics" of how the military industrial intelligence complex really works...  "

Mideast headlines,

virginity checks, so called arab spring? last night on Washington Week, Gwen ifill's guest stated that the egyption mobs are not so cohesive now, that before, the Muslim Brotherhood was about getting rid of The Dictator, and [feigned] democracy-- now it is their one chance at taking the election so they are splitting off.

What a big fat surprise! You are kidding me right? People were stating this clearly a year ago and were laughed off by all the SmartyPants. Can you say, Caliphate?  http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/11/saudi-journalist-its-not-the-arab-spring-but-the-muslim-brotherhood-spring.html

http://news.investors.com/Article/592569/201111221846/arab-spring-egypt-obama-muslim-brotherhood-al-qaida-gadhafi.htm?src=HPLNews

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/human-a-civil-rights/hrw-condemns-militarys-reluctance-to-investigate-virginity-checks-case.html

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/111121/against-all-odds-%E2%80%98virginity-test%E2%80%99-victim-awaits-her-v

excerpt:"

CAIRO — Samira Ibrahim, who pursued legal action against the Egyptian military for allegedly forcing her to undergo a ‘virginity test,’ anxiously awaits the verdict of the State Council on November 29.
Five human rights organizations are supporting her case against the military and the case garnered interest in the international media.... Ibrahim remains persistent in her fight to make sure no Egyptian woman will be coerced by the army to go through ‘virginity testing,‘ which her lawyers argue constitutes an unlawful sexual assault under both Egyptian and International law.
“I know the odds are against me,” Ibrahim admits.
Ibrahim was among 17 girls who were detained on March 9 during protests in Tahrir Square. “I was beaten, electrocuted, and forced to strip naked in front of male officers,” Ibrahim fights back tears as she recalls the four days she spent in military prison....While Ibrahim’s battle has received adequate attention in international press, local Egyptian media has given the 25-year-old little to no coverage. “It breaks my heart that international outrage over my case is stronger than that of my fellow Egyptians,” Ibrahim says.
In the moderate yet conservative Egyptian society, a woman's honor is directly related to her virginity. Anything that interferes with that – even if the woman herself is not at fault – can become a liability for herself and her family. So it remains too sensitive to publicly and openly discuss issues such as virginity checks, sexual abuse and rape.
“Society does not accept such things being aired in public because they consider it too personal and too private,” explains Hafsa Halawa, an Egyptian lawyer....Violations against women are therefore hugely underreported in Egypt -- one recent report from 2003 found as many as 98 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are not reported to authorities.
This notion is hardly restricted to Egypt, however. Social taboos and safety fears prevent many abused women from seeking help, and underreporting of sexual assault and rape by women is a global phenomenon ... The female activists were detained on various charges they maintain are false, one of which was violation of curfew – lawyers said the girls were detained at 3:00 pm and there was no curfew at the time...."

Discussion of Extremism vs "Moderate"  HERE

Women in Afghanistan: Women, War and Peace Film from PBS

So Part I of this five part film series was screened at K-state this week. Right before the screening, i was informed about a horrendous case of animal abuse (see previous post) and then, after 30 minutes of watching this film, i actually thought i might have a heart attack, my heart might break or give out from
the insanity, the demonic cruelty, the pain. The inhumanity manifesting everywhere is too much to bear.
The women of afghanistan have endured more than any american woman can comprehend.
we can read about it;
we can watch some film,
but pondering it will blow your mind or break your heart.
After all the persecution they have been through, the current administrations, ours and their corrupt one, are working for "peace" by cutting a deal with the taliban.
The taliban are in the process of assassinating all women who have worked for women's rights over the past 10 years. They put notes on the front door that threaten to burn their daughters and cut their heads off. Then they do it.
I will not repeat the disgusting tortures, the things that are too hard to bear.
Please watch the movie. See if you can bear it.
This IS HAPPENING to the women in Afghanistan Right Now.
Preview and link to watch free online HERE
Yes watch it all free online. Just do it.

http://www.womenforafghanwomen.org/

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/problem-in-afghanistan-native-folk-must.html

Young Women, Wise Women, College Women, -- and the Girls Too- Got Fortitude? Could You Do This?

Please ponder whether you, teenage girls, could take care of your baby brother in a race miles over desert heat terrain against exhaustion, dehydration, starvation, widespread famine, armed thugs and troops who target young women for sexual assault and strangely brutal weoponized rapes.

(There is no air conditioning, there is no cold bottled water, there is no sink. There is no TV or phone, no washing machine, no refrigerator.

there is no toilet paper, there is no toilet.)

This is happening now;

there are many assaults of all kinds on many countries and regions that our great American young folks are not hearing while they watch Can You Idolize Survivors of Big Brother at the Jersey Shore GaGa Dance Competition in really well-cut early 60's mad clothing slamming scotch all day while psychopathically killing bad people to moderate your homicidal tendencies?.

The problem with that ignorance (never waste a catastrophe)

 is the creation a generation of shallow individuals.

If elements of empathy, fortitude, admiration,  inspiration, poignancy, responsibility, and sacrifice are not taught through real life, how will the next generation a) assist/find solutions  b) change entire platforms  c) be a decent poet or musician... i e depth  ? 

The little brains are a'myelinatin' away, folks,

but the connections being forged through our culture and media- driven environment 

guarantee more next generation energy being focused on a cure

• of anything regarding eating     Eating          so Much so Richly so extravagantly we get heartburn or fart too much or store all the excess as fat or clog up our arteries with the rich extravagance which ruins the bioerection for males and drinking too please
• for conception and ST disease/infection     Yay a cure for Conception so that we can ENSURE "safe" sloppy promiscuous no consequenses degraded dumbed down blind beasty drunk just a cuppa sex  --style of   Engagement   In  the most Consequential Mystical weird strangely Sacred magnificent beyond words way to propagate Life as an unbroken chain--how it blows a scientist's Mind!
• $$$$$$$$$
• In other words, a system that wants to help us stay shallow, become lustful, vain, proud, greedy, avaricious, and eat like pigs (oh, wait you can't say that anymore) --
• Than Live as if We Live Forever and This is Eternity and Act as if we loved each other and Cure ALS and develop wheat that grows in famine times and provide wonderful beautiful places to live for unattended children and young grown-ups with autism and the elderly who begat us....

 (It would be an interesting study of who/how many parents here sit down with their old-enough children and discuss the peoples of the planet, the ways of the world, what kind of people Are We as we consider or believe "we are all Brothers" ?

Click on this picture 2X to view large; ponder her young face as she must step up and lead, think, weigh, hope, pray. I thinnk you will be surprised in some way when you see her face. She may be 12? 14? 16?

"Children run in a displacement camp in Dadaab, Kenya, Sunday, July 31, 2011. Dadaab...designed for 90,000 people now ...440,000 refugees. Almost all are from war-ravaged Somalia. Some have been here for more than 20 years, when the country first collapsed into anarchy. But now more than 1,000 are arriving daily, fleeing fighting or hunger." (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

  

 

"A unidentified displaced woman washes a dish next to her home made from sticks and cloth in a displacement camp in Dadaab, Kenya, Sunday, July 31, 2011. Dadaab, a camp designed for 90,000 people, now houses around 440,000 refugees. Almost all are from war-ravaged Somalia. Some have been here for more than 20 years, when the country first collapsed into anarchy. But now more than 1,000 are arriving daily, fleeing fighting or hunger. The U.N. said this month that at least two regions in Somalia are suffering from famine and 11.3 million people in the Horn of Africa need aid. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)"

The slide show and full story HERE

           More on European famine HERE

                  Cleanse your palate HERE and HERE

Men of Africa, Step up. Call Oprah or something.

And, where is the United Nations yeah right funny girl UN joke

Women from Palestine and Israel Break the Law to Go Swimming

Holy Seawater, Batman. Israeli women

smuggling Palestinian women to swim!

And

by the way, it seems to me that most women on the planet could get along.

Hey You boys, what's with all the acting out? Dudes, get a grip!

Then there's always a few girls that will do ANYTHING to please teh bad boys...

" SKITTISH at first, then wide-eyed with delight, the women and girls entered the sea, smiling, splashing and then joining hands, getting knocked over by waves, throwing back their heads and laughing with joy. Most had never seen the sea before."

http://blog.alsharifa.com/2010/11/11/muslim-women-to-swim-or-not-to-swim/

http://electronicintifada.net/content/sham-solidarity-israel-s-zionist-left/10213

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_Muslim_women_allowed_to_swim_in_public

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/if-there-is-a-heaven-1.290214

"Israel’s military, which began limiting Palestinian movement into Israel two decades ago to prevent terrorism at a time of violent uprisings, is in charge of issuing permits for Palestinian visits to Israel. About 60,000 will be issued this year, twice the number for 2010 but still a token amount for a population of 2.5 million. Ms. Hammerman views the permits as the paperwork of colonialist bureaucrats — to be resisted, not indulged. Others have attacked her for picking and choosing which laws she will and will not obey. "

Violence like this:

 family slaughtered

and THIS

The Beginning and the War

Understanding fear and terror: to view a very gruesome video about what daily terrorist attacks are like, click HERE and then click on the banner at the top of the page.

Warning: extremely graphic and violent.

Knowing The Best Women's Fragrance

With so many brands on the market, it is very difficult to choose the best perfume for women. This article provides some important information Bouquet Womanity are considered the best in the world of perfumes and fragrances are classified as top fashion magazines. Some of them are:

Nina Ricci Perfume and Perfume Angel: These perfumes are created by a design window that lets you run a fashion boutique and stylish for a detached house in a different way. His name was Thierry and always offers a collection of elegant Eau de Cologne, which symbolizes the gentle woman, but strong. These perfumes are for women who are innocent, but wants to be attractive. This fragrance for women is a refreshing woody fragrance, oriental and features a classic blend of patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla. Perfume Nina Ricci's most amazing is that it took about 18 months to design this complex aroma has fruity notes of plums, peaches, melons and citrus as well.

Read more »

News: We news womensenews (and Wendy Murphy is here)

This webpage,   http://www.womensenews.org/  is a very interesting site to find some news.

for example:
http://www.womensenews.org/home/domestic-violence

we have it on our homepage at the

women's center:

http://www.k-state.edu/womenscenter/

HERE is a terrible story:

http://www.angryblacklady.com/2011/05/07/cheerleader-kicked-off-squad-for-refusing-to-cheer-for-her-rapist-ordered-to-pay-school-45000/

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/cheer-for-your-rapist-are-you-kidding.html

http://feministing.com/2011/05/03/cheerleader-who-refused-to-cheer-for-rapist-loses-court-case//

http://www.womensenews.org/story/athleticssports/110511/cheer-her-rapist-lets-make-noise-over?page=0,1

In case you were too cheerful this morning sorry.

International Women's Day?

I just Don't know how it is a Day; i am unable to console myself with this title.. Here:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/blog/the-congo-and-beyond-live-chat-on-empowering-women/6590/

Global Violence Against Women

SLIDESHOW

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/blog/u-s-granting-more-asylums-to-battered-women/6546/

journalist forced into mutilation

http://ozziesaffa.blogspot.com/2011/03/yesterday-was-international-womens-day.html

http://wn.com/Extreme_violence_done_to_Muslim_women_by_their_families_in_the_name_of_Sharia_law