With permanent membership status in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), world's most powerful countries have passed numerous resolutions imposing sanctions on more than a dozen nations, including the former Yugoslavia, Cuba, Libya, Somalia, Liberia, Haiti, Iraq, and Iran since the end of cold war.   <<<<<<<

So people can die from economic strangulation, not just bombs and bullets.  If you read on in the story, up to 1,000,000 of Iraqis who are younger than 5-years old  have died as a result of these sanctions.   As a father of children, I contemplate, how would I feel about a country or entity that did that to my children? 

London: The Metropolitan Police in London has accepted Hijab as a uniform option for Muslim women serving in the force. The announcement was made  at a conference on the theme of “Protect and Respect: Everybody’s Benefit”. The move is seen as a further sign of official acceptance of Britain as a religiously diverse society where faith-related accommodations should be made for all individuals.

The Muslim media in Britain had argued for accepting Hijab as a uniform option just as the turban was accepted as a part of the uniform for Sikh policemen. Sikh motorcyclists are also allowed to wear a turban in place of a crash helmet. Muslim policewomen will now be allowed to wear headscarf and the ankle length gown. Muslim police officers will now be allowed to pray on duty, demand halal food and have altered meal schedules during Ramadan.

In the above picture two models Shahnaz Shashudin and Syria Hussain are modeling hijab uniform for women police constables in front of New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police.

by Gloria Anzaldua.
San Francisco, CA : Spinsters/Aunt Lute, 1987.
203 p.

This most influential book explores, performs, and exhibits the experience of living simultaneously in two places, cultures, languages, realities at once. Probing autobiographically into the mystical perceptions, strategic possibilities, sexual pleasures, and gender displacements of being a lesbian chicana or border person living and working in the anglo culture of the modern United States, Anzaldua brings assumptions about the rigidity of sex, gender, language, fiction, and identity into question. Mixing lyric and prose, myth and autobiography, spanish and english, past and present, Anzaldua crafts a collage which invites its reader to experience the clash of cultures, the uncertainty of position, and the wealth of alternative border people must contend with to live their lives. Because Borderlands undertakes an examination of a position which seems to undercut or defy most of the binaries--gender, race, class--of modern Western culture, its figure of the borderland was adopted by many feminist critics in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a way to bring such binaries into question and offer a site from which to begin to think a world differently organized.

Reviewed 30 April 1998 by Judith Roof.

See also:

Anzaldúa, Gloria, ed. Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of Color. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1990.

Anzaldúa, Gloria and Cherríe Moraga, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Watertown: Persephone, 1981.

Anzaldúa, Gloria and A. Keating. This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Anzaldúa Biography

When Gloria Anzaldúa described the United States and Mexico border as “una herida abierta” (an open wound), she spoke from her lived experience as a native border dweller. Born in the ranch settlement of Jesus Maria in south Texas, Anzaldúa grew up in the small town of Hargill, Texas, and later wrote and taught in Northern California. She received her B.A. from Pan American University and her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. In her poetry, fiction, essays, and autobiography, she wrote eloquently of the indignities a Chicana lesbian feminist overcomes as she escapes the strictures of patriarchal Chicano traditions and confronts the injustices of dominant culture. She died on May 15, 2004 at her home in Santa Cruz, California from complications due to diabetes. She was within weeks of completing her dissertation and receiving her doctorate from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

(Adapted from Sonia Saldivar-Hull, “Gloria Anzaldua,” Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 5^th Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Discussion Questions: Borderlands/La Frontera

“Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in a constant state of transition.”
-Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera

1. Border figures and border identities. In Chapter 3 of Borderlands/La Frontera Anzaldúa describes la Virgen de Guadalupe (the Virgin of Guadalupe) as a figure that,

unites people of different races, religions, languages: Chicano protestants, American Indians and whites. “Nuestra abogada siempre serás/Our mediatrix you will always be.” She mediates between the Spanish and Indian cultures…and between Chicanos and the white world…La Virgen de Guadalupe is the symbol of ethnic identity and of the tolerance for ambiguity that Chicanos-mexicanos, people of mixed race, people who have Indian blood, people who cross cultures, by necessity possess. (Lauter 2744-5)

What makes the Virgin of Guadalupe such a powerful figure for Anzaldúa? Why might ambiguity or in-betweenness be a source of strength for her? To whom might a figure like the Virgin of Guadalupe appeal? Why?

2. Anzaldúa and W.E.B. Dubois. In Chapter 7, Anzaldúa addresses the downside of mestizaje, writing that, “The ambivalence from the clash of voices results in mental and emotional states of perplexity. Internal strife results in insecurity and indecisiveness. The mestiza’s dual or multiple personality is plagued by psychic restlessness” (Lauter 2753).

How might we relate Anzaldúa’s discussion of mestizaje and the “clash of voices” to W.E.B. Dubois’ theory of double consciousness? What are the pluses and minuses of seeing the world from two perspectives at once? Gender certainly plays a larger role in Anzaldúa’s theory than it does in Dubois’s. How does gender affect the “dual or multiple personality” of the mestiza?

3. Multiple voices, multiple perspectives. In her book Anzaldúa includes a wide variety of writing styles: autobiography, poetry, song, mythology, prose and fiction, not to mention that she writes in Spanish, English and Nahuatl. Why does Anzaldúa incorporate so many different forms of writing and so many different languages into her narrative? What are the benefits of doing this? What are the drawbacks? How might her decision to write from multiple perspectives reflect a kind of border identity or mestizaje?

4. Snake talk. Anzaldúa spends a lot of time exploring the serpent figure in pre-Columbian culture. She writes that,

In pre-Columbian America the most notable symbol was the serpent. The Olmecs associated womanhood with the Serpent’s mouth which was guarded by rows of dangerous teeth…They considered it the most sacred place on earth, a place of refuge, the creative womb from which all things were born and to which all things returned. Snake people had holes, entrances to the body of the Earth Serpent; they followed the Serpent’s way, identified with the Serpent deity, with the mouth, both the eater and the eaten...

Why is the Serpent such a powerful figure for Anzaldúa? What does the figure of the Serpent add to her discussion of mestizaje, and especially to female mestizaje? How does Anzaldúa mobilize Aztec and Mayan mythology to empower women? What does it mean to identify with “both the eater and the eaten”? How might this kind of dual-identification help solve some of the conflict that exists along the Mexico-U.S. border today?

For more information see the University of Santa Barabara's Race & Pedagogy Project.

What many people still don't know, what is buried in this story, is that Islamists (Muslims) have a hard time with freedoms of speech in Arab lands. What people will realize, probably when it is too late, is that there is a conflict with people who want religious identity over secularist identity. It's not a conflict about Islam and the rest; but the religious Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc. against the non-practicing follower who seems to have sided with those who claim there is no religion. Those in power in the West are simply using Islam as a scapegoat.

Which Nottingham area is purchased to see paedophiles enrolled?

Which Mason housing corporation is paedophilically aligned?

Which paedophilic mason controls all the houses in the land?

How many Nottingham houses are paedophilically filled?

How many Nottingham housing estates are paedophilically patrolled?

How many lockdowns have these paedophiles held?

Whilst children are abused in these closed off estates from hell so cold.

You know the answer give release to see

You can change the Childs tear stained plea

You must help fight this planned integration

That has undermined this once great nation

Text or phone

State fact we are not alone

Together strong

End this paedophilic mason society integration plan.

Presidential candidate wants domestic “security force” as powerful as U.S. military, columnist compares proposal to Hitler Youth

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
July 17, 2008

Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama has called for a “civilian national security force” as powerful as the U.S. military, comments that were ignored by the vast majority of the corporate media but compared by one journalist to the Nazi Hitler Youth.

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded,” Obama told a Colorado Springs audience earlier this month.

World Net Daily editor Joseph Farah asked if he was the only journalist in America who found Obama’s statement troubling.

“If we’re going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn’t this rather a big deal?” wrote Farah.

“Are we talking about creating a police state here? The U.S. Army alone has nearly 500,000 troops. That doesn’t count reserves or National Guard. In 2007, the U.S. Defense budget was $439 billion. Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean?”

KnoxNews.com is seemingly the only other media outlet to express interest in exactly what Obama is proposing.

“The statement was made in the context of youth service. Is this an organization for just the youth or are adults going to participate? How does one get away from the specter of other such “youth” organizations from Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union when talking about it?” wrote Michael Silence.

Obama’s proposal smacks of an expanded version of an existing program in which hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as “Terrorism Liaison Officers” in Colorado, Arizona and California to watch for “suspicious activity” which is later fed into a secret government database.

It is also reminiscent of the supposedly canned 2002 Operation TIPS program, which would have turned 4 per cent of Americans into informants under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department.

TIPS lived on in other guises, such as the Highway Watch program, a $19 billion dollar Homeland Security-run project which trains truckers to watch for suspicious activity on America’s highways.

More recently, ABC News reported that “The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort…..to aid with criminal investigations.”

Since authorities now define mundane activities like buying baby formula, beer, wearing Levi jeans, carrying identifying documents like a drivers license and traveling with women or children or mentioning the U.S. constitution as the behavior of potential terrorists, the bounty for the American Stasi to turn in political dissidents is sure to be too tempting to resist under Obama’s new program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjcRkeKFsc

	சீன பூங்கா ஒன்று

சீனாவில் அடுத்த மாதம் நடைபெறவுள்ள ஒலிம்பிக் போட்டிகளின் போது சட்டபூர்வமான போராட்டங்களை மூன்று பொதுப் பூங்காக்களில் நடத்த அனுமதியளிக்கப்படும் என்று சீன அரசு அறிவித்துள்ளது.

பாதுகாப்பு நடவடிக்கைகள் மற்றும் எதிர்ப்புகளை தெரிவிப்பதற்கான போராட்டக்காரர்களின் விருப்பம் ஆகியவற்றுக்கு இடையே ஒரு சமன்பாட்டை காணும் வகையிலேயே இந்த நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக ஒலிம்பிக் போட்டிகளுக்கான பாதுகாப்புக்கு பொறுப்பான அதிகாரியான லியூ ஷாவூ தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

போட்டிகளின் போது போராட்டங்களை அனுமதிக்க வேண்டிய தேவையை சீன அதிகாரிகள் அங்கீகரிக்கும் ஒரு நகர்வே இது என்று செய்தியாளர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.

எனினும் ஒரு ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தை நடத்த போராட்டக்காரர்கள் அதிகாரிகளிடம் முன் அனுமதி பெற வேண்டும்.

But during my quiet time before leaving, I had asked for a divine appointment. It doesn't happen to me very often, but not because God doesn't do it, but because I'm usually not the one that just naturally awaits it. But today was different.

I went downtown, hot and sweaty as ever, and I kept hearing my name. I finally found the source, and watched as a guy ran across the street towards me. It was a man I hadn't seen in a good 7 years!

I was shocked to see him, and yet at the same time there was no real surprise, as I immediately understood this was the appointment God had created. We sat out in the sun, as he told me what he had been doing all these years.

He had a successful business, a family, and good friends. I was so happy to hear this, and as the exchange of funny stories died down and the laughter began to finally subside, I looked at him and asked him straight out to tell me about his walk with God.

For a few moments, he just lowered his head and chuckled to himself. I was slightly befuddled. He told me that last night He told God that he had enough with church!! And that he was tired of the hypocrisy and that he felt God never spoke to Him anymore. He hated his church, he felt it had lost perspective, and was feeling like he was "going through the motions" and no longer responsive to the Body or God.

On the way to take a stroll downtown, I was listening to a song. Parts of the lyrics are something like this.... "If you're tired of tradition, and religion has done you wrong. You're feeling dry and empty, and there's no longer a song. The story is not over, things for you can change."

I was beaming on the inside. God is so cool. I requested a divine appointment from God, and not only did He answer my request, but he had prepared me for it. As the lyrics ran through my head, I begun breaking down some things that I picked up from such simple lyrics to him. It's amazing how God can use the simplest thing to prepare us for the times in which He wants to use us and work through us.

Religion is man made, but God is not. Therefore we should never outright trust or put our assurances in man. Paul said it. David said it. John said it. And, if you cannot trust in man, then how can we trust in religion -- a spirit born from complacency and tradition? True faith in God brings you strength and peace; not complacency or hypocrisy. Putting our faith in man is an error that can have dire consequences. Man will disappoint us, man can confuse us -- just like the numerous denominations birthed from varying beliefs that make up religion; and confuses the senses and the comprehension of a thirsty soul.

I won't go into all the details, but when we were done talking, my friend had a new look and fresh perspective on God's will and intention for the church body as well as ourselves. Even I learned a few things that were revealed as I spoke to him. It was an awesome time, and a time that God truly had ordained for us to connect, and be able to edify one another in true fellowship. It was beautiful. And I have complete faith in God, that even now my friend's heart and outlook is far different and far more stronger than before our encounter yesterday.

Like the song said, the story isn't over… We aren't to conform to tradition, or religion that is man-made. God wants us to confirm to His spirit, and to the truth and love exhibited by Jesus.

2 Peter 2:6 - 9 (ISV)

and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them;
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people-
for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions-
then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment,

Lot had chosen to live in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But there he began to experience great distress (wear with toil; harass; oppress; vex) because of what he saw and heard there - their immoral conduct. Their lawless conduct tortured his moral upright soul. Are you maybe in a situation today where you are tormented and harassed by what goes on around you? Are you feeling the oppression of living in this world system? Do you feel overwhelmed by your surroundings because they are distressing your moral stand or belief system? Do you feel that you cannot take anymore? Are you oppressed to the point that you feel you will not get off it at any stage in the future?

IF...and...THEN...!

The good news is that IF the Lord rescued righteous Lot, THEN He knows how to rescue and deliver you too. From what? From the temptation: Every test and trial. We have to recognize that tests and trials will and do come. The word for temptation or test and trial here is- Peirazo -meaning to test or try. Now the sense of this word is to cause to stumble or fail. Doesn't it just feel like that many times (or most of the time) that the devil is out to cause you to fail? He will try our faith, but the Lord says in the Word, that " the trying of your faith works patience, and when patience has had its perfect work, you will be entire, complete and without lack" ( James 1: 3-4) - fully mature, grown-up and complete in a sense, in your faith.

But if He did , Then He will. He can and will rescue you.

READ GENESIS 19:1-29

Now, in this passage I would like to point out a few points that, I believe, are pertinent to where we are today, that applies, and that we can apply, that will see the deliverance of the Lord and his rescue of our soul when oppressed.

Genesis 19: 6-7. "But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, 'Please my brothers, do not act wickedly."

1. Don't ever try and negotiate with your tormentors and those causing oppression or even with the circumstances. The Devil is the accuser of the brethren, and when he goes to court , his legal ability is more than you can deal with. You will lose, hands down, every time. His mastery in this area of debating and negotiating with you is a developed skill from ages of dealing with man-kind. See how he negotiate with Eve and Adam and tried with the Lord. never, ever try and discuss or debate or negotiate with the situation. The result of Lot trying was that he nearly ended with a worse situation. ( Genesis 19: 9) now they were prepared to ravage him, and the visitors. If not for the angels rescue, Lot would have been in all sorts of trouble. The result of trying to negotiate.

Genesis 19: 15. "And when morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying,'Up, take your wife and your two daughters, who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city'".

2. God will give direction and guidance for escape and deliverance. Psalm 43:3 "O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Thy holy hill, And to Thy dwelling places. then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy;"

Trust in Him to supernaturally show you the way out. Can you see this whole incident of Lot's deliverance and rescue is a SUPER-natural event? Meaning it was above natural. You see, the Lord Knows how to do supernatural things on your behalf to rescue you. We need to expect it, and trust Him for it.

Genesis 19: 16. "But he hesitated".

3. Hesitation means you halt, you pause, you hold back. That's what DOUBT is, to hesitate, or halt between two points. It could be this, or it could be that. You have to act on what you know, what you are convinced of, what you know the Lord has spoken to your heart. He who hesitates is lost. Doubt will leave you like a wave of the sea. It's a device of the enemy, to leave you unstable in all your ways. You begin to hesitate and your sense of direction and purpose is lost. Don't hesitate, move forward with what you know. Don't question the voice of God, press on. The angels had to intervene to give Lot help, otherwise, again, it could have been catastrophic for him, and his family. For some, it seems, that oppression, torment and vexation they know, which is familiar,  is more comfortable than the realm of deliverance and liberty they don't know.

Genesis 19: 16. " ... for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city".

4. Trust the Love, compassion and loving kindness of the Lord for you. God will deliver you and your righteous soul, the godly, because He loves you. Romans 8: 37 "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who LOVED us". When you don't know what else to believe in. Believe in His love for you. Believe He loves you too much to abandon you.

Genesis 19: 17-18. " And it came about when they had brought them outside, that one said,'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away'. But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my lords!'"

5. Don't question God's leading and direction for your life.  Now that Lot has seen the kindness of the Lord for his life, he presumes to begin to question and debate the will of God for him.  Again, this has catastrophic implications.  Listen to the voice of God. Trust that the Lord knows more than you. The Lord may be changing the people you hang out with. He may be changing your geographical location. Whatever it is, we need to say "YES!" to the lord's direction because He knows what, where and why. Children that constantly question their parents and presume to tell them why it shouldn't be that way and how it should be, maybe cute now, but in time will be a constant source of conflict when older.

Genesis 19:26. "But his wife, from behind him, looked back; and she became a pillar of salt.".

6. Ok. We have heard plenty of this one. But it bears repeating.  Don't look back. Whatever caused the oppression, the torment, the vexation, is still there. Let the Lord rescue you supernaturally, in soul. Don't let that soul of yours keep desiring that which was there. The period you are in process of rescue is the most "dangerous" time for this. If you have heard from God, if you are experiencing His supernatural deliverance, if you have set yourself with conviction to obey, the DON'T LOOK BACK. Our past will always high-jack our future.

Genesis 19: 29. "Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived."

7. Do , associate with those who will pray for and encourage you. We cannot be church on our own, its not possible. We are all members of one body, set in place according to the will of God. Paul, the apostle, says we cannot say to any member , we don't need them, or any member cannot say because they are not some part of the body therefore they aren't . No! every part and every member is necessary. And you and I need them. We need the other members and parts of the body to pray and encourage us. That's why its says that we should encourage one another while it's called Today. And we should not forsake the gathering together. What it's talking about is, you and I needing each other. And not just the "great" ones, but each and every member.

What are you facing?

What situation do you find yourself in?

With whom do you find trouble for your soul?

What tests and trials are seemingly overwhelming for you?

IF the Lord could deliver Lot, THEN He knows how to deliver

YOU!

The big idea these days is art made my people with disabilities and several public agencies and organizations are jumping on the band wagon. The headline banner for VSA (Very Special Arts - ugh) reads Creating a society where people with disabilities can learn through, participation in, and enjoy the arts. Passion Works Studio in Athens, Ohio claims to inspire and liberate the human spirit through art. Beautiful artwork, lofty rhetoric, and well funded, Passion Works now receives additional grant funding from time-warner cable and the Ohio Arts Council. Passion Works has been featured on PBS and other mainstream media. Passion Works is a division of ATCO. You have to look hard to find the connection, but ATCO is a department of the Athens County Board of Mental Retardation. The ATCO building serves as a sheltered workshop and Passion Works is the art-making division.

Now, let me be clear. I love art. I see art as a way to enlighten both the artist and the viewer, a way to illuminate social issues. But, something troubles me about the likes of Passion Works and VSA. I get the inspiration part but where is the liberation of people with disabilities and the minds of ordinary citizens in all this? Where is art that illuminates the experience of being marginalized? Where are the images, performance art, and poetry that hold out the possibility of upsetting the apple cart and ending the segregation and congregate setting so prevalent in our country. And finally, where is the wealth created by these artists?

All of this makes me wonder if organizations like Passion Works, VSA, and others are interested in any thing close to liberation or if they are responding to the hot market for outsider art. An article in US News and World Report states "The market for outsider art shows no signs of abating. As a gauge of its growth, when art fair producer Sanford Smith organized the first Outsider Art Fair in New York, in 1993, he doubted he would break even. He never lost a dime, he says, "and I made a nice profit." This year, 33 galleries will exhibit work at the 13th annual Outsider Art Fair in trendy SoHo in Manhattan, January 27-30. Judging from past attendance, 10,000-plus visitors are expected over the four-day run."

Now, here's a different sort of art venture that warrants interest. Insight Arts is focused on individual and community empowerment through reflective and liberating art. Their structure and goals offer promising ways that the art and disability connection could move forward on a less oppressive, more liberating path. According to their web site, Insight Arts is a contemporary arts organization dedicated to increasing access to cultural work that supports progressive social change. They engage in community based, regional and national work. Their work is organized around three core values:

1. Access to information, education and art is a basic human right.

2. Meaningful social change is dependent on the creation of cooperative social and political structures.

3. Time for contemplation and analysis is crucial to community and individual empowerment.

This is the sort of art endeavor that offers more hope for true liberation of people with disabilities.

China arrests dissident in pre-Olympics crackdown By Ben Blanchard

In case you didn't get that the first time, let me say it again. I HATE THE HEAT! Summer to me is nothing but 12 weeks of suffering under that sweltering son of a bitch otherwise known as humidity. Throw in a little noose tightening at the hands of the electric company and you have yourself an entire season of oppression.

Okay, maybe that comes off just a little too harsh. I can't help it - boob sweat makes me cranky.

Whoa! Did I just say that? Apparently the heat has traveled from under my boobs straight to my head!

That's right...there is an "under" to my boobs...I am guessing it is what they have been pointing at for the last 10 years.

Oh my gosh, how has this post gone so bad, so quickly?

Oh that's right - it's because of the heat. The hot, steamy, staggering, skin burning, hair frizzing, sweat soaking heat and his faithful freakin sidekick, humidity. Have I mentioned I hold them both in deep contempt?

I also hold them completely responsible for any damages caused when I ran that red light and took out two mailboxes in hot pursuit of an ice cream truck.

I'm sure you couldn't guess this, but I much prefer the winter. It's not that I enjoy sub zero temperatures or deep freezing wind chills, but at least when you get cold, you have ammunition. Another sweater, extra blankets, three layers of socks.  But in the summer, once you've hit naked, you're out of options.

I should probably move to a cooler climate. But you know, with global warming and all, I guess the grass isn't any frostier....

Perhaps I should go lie down and pray for an early Fall. There is no Groundhog for that now, is there?  My guess is that Phil's contract with the town of Punxsutawney states that he doesn't have to come out of his air conditioned hole. Alas, I'm left with nothing but a Sharpie to check off the calendar on the fridge.

While I'm there, I'm going to put my bra in the freezer.

July 20, 2008

Add Africans and Mongolians to the groups Beijing’s Olympic organizers want to push out of the capital before the games begin.

Chinese police officials have been forcing some bar owners in Beijing to sign secret pledges to ban blacks and Mongolians from entering their premises during the Olympic games next month, according to the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.

While police denied any such activity, and most bars denied knowing about the prohibition, African residents in the city say that harassment by the authorities and discrimination at the bars has increased.

The Post quoted a co-owner of a bar who said his business had been visited by police with an order "not to serve black people or Mongolians." In the Sanlitun bar district, some owners were forced to sign pledges to prohibit dancing and serving black customers.

WND has reported on a "blacklist" of people and groups of people China has been targeting specifically because of the coming publicity that will accompany the Olympic Games in August. Those targeted include religious leaders.

WND has also reported on China’s apparent crackdown on Christians and Christianity in advance of the 2008 Games, including the expulsion of more than 100 foreign Christians in China in just a 90-day period, the biggest assault on the presence of Christianity in China since 1954.

Last September, police detained dozens of blacks in the Sanlitun bar district and, according to witnesses, beat some with rubber truncheons. The son of Grenada’s ambassador to China reportedly suffered a concussion from being clubbed on the head by police.

Police with dogs raided an African-owned bar this week and required blacks to provide urine samples to test for illegal drugs.

"When the police come, you have to run," a woman from Liberia said. "I’ve lived in Holland and the United States and it was never like this. There’s no human rights here. It’s racist and it makes me feel very bad."

Africans and Mongolians are perceived as criminals by Beijing authorities and have been included with other ethnic groups, political activists, outspoken entertainers and Christians as potential sources of trouble during the games.

Evidence of the secret pledges may be seen in the practice of some bar owners who have recently begun charging black patrons twice the entry fee charged other customers.

Two Nigerian businessmen complained to the Post they were required to produce their passports before entering a Beijing nightclub while other foreigners were not.

"This had never happened before to me," one said. "I was very angry. This is racism."