Anne Rice Quits Christianity: Will she quit the Democratic Party too?

By: BettyJean Kling

She quit the church for Hypocrisy and unfairness and as she described it “this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous” will she also quit The Dems for the same reasons including purposefully contentious and untruthful and spreading false rumors ? They did so even in reporting her story and reasons why;  including pointing  to Michelle Bachmann directly as one of Anne Rice’s reasons.

On Wednesday, Rice wrote the following on her Facebook page:

“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

The she followed this with:

“As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”

Explaining herself further, Rice’s latest offering on her Facebook page emphasizes that her faith remains as strong as ever, but that it is the affiliation with some of the religion’s followers that has prompted her to redefine herself:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.”

Apparently, because of the religious right’s imposition of Christianity’s dogma, into our politics, Rice has made the break from her affiliations with Christianity and Catholicism:

Earlier this week on her public Facebook page, Rice had expressed her horror and revulsion at two different news stories that shared similar themes.

The first was the co-opting of the “Christian” imprimatur by the GOP-linked “Christian punk rock” band You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, (see actual sentence and extended comments below) who deride America for not being “moral enough” to make homosexuality a capital crime like it is in Iran. The second story was an exposé of a seven-year old boy who had been indoctrinated into Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church, whose sole great commission is virulent hatred.

Ms. Rice has had an on again off again relationship with Christianity

The author’s relationship with her faith hasn’t been a straightforward one. Raised as a Catholic, she rejected religion early on and became a committed atheist. In 1998, however, Rice returned to her beliefs. Her journey back to her faith was detailed in her 2008 memoir Called out of Darkness. After reaffirming her belief in God, Rice took the decision in 2002 to publicly dedicate her writing to Christ, saying that she would now only “write for the Lord”. This was also marked by a turn away from writing her supernatural novels, whereby she chose to instead write about the life of Jesus and other similar subjects. Her return to Catholicism, which alienated some of her fans, came with a few caveats though, one of which was that she would continue to support gay rights.
http://www.care2.com/causes/civil-rights/blog/anne-rice-quits-christianity-over-anti-gay-anti-feminist-religious-right/

Anne Rice after having left organized religion returned to it and has now left again. She would do well to leave organized politics too! Ms. Rice, learned about the hypocrisy of Christianity and I applaud her decision as I agree it is the same with all organized religions. Indeed it is the same with any and every organized group. She now needs to quit organized political groups and become an Independent.

Forget the Dems and join the RIDs. Below is a Sentence from the Anne Rice story written in the Huffington Post by Michael Rowe Award-winning independent journalist, essayist, and author

The award winner in his story adds supported by Michelle Bachman, before the words ‘who believes that Gays should be executed’. After I read the sentence below, I was horrified as most less astute readers were probably led to believe, that Congressman Bachmann  and the GOP believes homosexuals should be executed. 

SO- I followed the link and found out a bit more of the whole story. I hope you do to. I am a BAC myself however, I had no idea, nor do most Christians that this band feels this way. BUT I can tell you, I have no desire to hear them or invite them anywhere now. I suspect they will be less invited since this interview and less supported as well. I urge you to contact you Congress and Senators and urge them to Ban this group from Future GOP venues and fund raiser events.

Now back to the Left and KOS and the award winning Michael Rowe. What does this sentence appear to say to you? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rowe/why-anne-rice-has-never-b_b_664576.html

Earlier this week on her public Facebook page, Rice had expressed her horror and revulsion at two different news stories that shared similar themes.

The first was the co-opting of the “Christian” imprimatur by the GOP-linked “Christian punk rock” band You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, supported by Michele Bachmann, who believe that gays should be executed, and who deride America for not being “moral enough” to make homosexuality a capital crime like it is in Iran.

Anne Rice, is repulsed as am I by this rock group  and their view as it is reported here. I am repulsed by many far right Christian views against Gays  and the Westboro Church leaves me  without words. But to place every Christian, all the GOP and Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin and others in the same boat is morally equivlent to the racism and gay bashing. It’s morally reprehensible and Anne Rice should be outraged and speak out against this as well. She and her son and her cause are being used! Every gay person should be apalled by this gross injustice.

Frankly, Ms Bachmann is against Gay Marriage as are 70 % of all Americans, as are President Obama, and President Clinton and SOS Hillary Clinton. Just because she supported a Christian Band does not mean that she supports the execution of Gays nor that she knew they felt this way or would utter such words.

Further, I can’t image anyone in office, stupid enough to admit having such feelings if they had them. What I am saying is, this misuse of journalism is just as narrow minded and wrong as the dogma coming out of the church. Do unto others or it never stops.

Meanwhile best wishes to Anne Rice and her family as they move forward in a live and let live attitude and let’s have a bit of what we preach including the political agenda of the left to smear the right for what they are not guilty of.

Anne Rice has attempted to take back the absolute core of her spiritual beliefs, that being compassion, love and understanding and a personal relationship with the Divine, from the grabbing hands of those who continue to use religion as a weapon to deny others their rights and dignity. In that, Rice has given a voice to other like-minded believers who are tired of having their faith hijacked to support personal and political agendas.

Help, I’m Islamophobic, Klanophobic, Naziphobic, Racephobic, Misogynyophobic and Sexistophobic!

Another Rant By: BettyJean Kling

A few days ago I posted an exhausted pieced from Barbara about Epidemic of acid-attacks on Islamic women. I barely got a comment or two. Why not? By the time you get done reading what is going on in our own courts here perhaps you won’t think it is not your problem!

I got a notice today about Time Magazine’s cover showing a beautiful 18 year old Bibi Aisha without a nose, the result of her punishment for running away from her abusers. Aisha:18-year-old sentenced by a Taliban

This came on the heels of an article that the stoning indeed has been called off but in its place Iran is going to hang Ashtiani for murder. We are now being asked to fight against stoning! http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/iran-stoning-case-gets-worse-ashtiani-convicted-of-murder-attorney-in-hiding/

I am appalled that we are being asked to fight against the stoning. I was surprised as hell that we even bothered in the first place. What has taken us this long to get involved. I am glad to do it but we need to do more than stop the stoning. You need to understand that her whole family is now being tortured and the family of her defense attorney as well as he is in hiding for letting the story out.

We need to RISE UP and go a step further. We need to demand Human Rights for Women worldwide. It is not enough to end stoning, We need to end any and all mistreatment of women in every way, shape and form. It is abhorrent and must end! The kangaroo courts, the treatment of women as chattel, forced marriage and acid treatment or mutilations and torture or murders simply must end!

These are not religious customs – these are cults that sacrifice males and discard and/or abuse female human beings in torturous ways from birth to death and it must be stopped by the world community. We women as the majority of humankind should be the first to mobilize and we must rise NOW! We must recognize the need.

We also must realize it is already entering within our borders but being ignored by the media as evidence in the Beheading in Buffalo and the Honor Killing  of two daughters in Tennessee that was hushed up so we would not appear to be “Islamophobic”.

Appear to be Phobic? Phobic as in irrational fears? Do I look stupid?  Would I be called Klanophobic, Naziphobic, Racephobic, Traffickingophobic, Misogynyophobic and Sexistophobic just because I fear the continued use of those injustices and how they have hurt humanity? 

How about you?  Are you not phobic about these very real injustices that very well may befall you or your daughters? They are happening every day right here in the good old USA!

If so – I am sorry for your lack of good sense!  It appears we now label everyone in order to keep them from using good sense. So be it but I will take it then that phobic now stands for a rational fear based on risk and probability and overt threats in our lives and our country by those we now fear for good cause. Don’t blame us – for believing those who threatened us, we would be foolish to go around like village idiots ignoring the threats!

Fear Rational vs. Irrational:

We pride ourselves on being the only species that understands the concept of risk, yet we have a confounding habit of worrying about mere possibilities while ignoring probabilities, building barricades against perceived dangers while leaving ourselves exposed to real ones….
So I’d like to pose the idea that “rational fear,” or the ability to accurately calculate risk and thereby avoid trouble, *is* a function of Mind, whereas “irrational fear” or being thrown by every suggestion that comes your way, is not. “Rational fear” in this sense becomes a form of good judgment; “irrational fear” is allowing yourself to be buffeted by rumors and conjecture.
http://lauramatthewscs.blogspot.com/2006/11/rational-and-irrational-fear.html

On the case of Islamophobia, What part of the 911 hijackers, The shoe bomber, The Denver subway plotter, The Christmas Day crotch bomber and Ft. Hood shooter, for starters ended up as rumors or conjecture? What part of the hundreds of terrorist rants since the 1990’s threatening infidels lives is pure conjecture and can be categorized under irrational fears known as phobia?

We need to mobilize immediately to preserve the dignity of humanity around the world and right here at home. Our daughters are in danger! Already Family Courts are prejudiced against mothers in favor of abusive husbands in unbelievable numbers. Are our courts becoming Taliban-like? You decide! Here is a whole site devoted to Judges who gave the abuser the child against the mother’s testimony. Read and see how many of these children lived to tell about it.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/media.html-

Try this story about a woman who was turned down by THREE judges and now her baby is dead!

VICTORVILLE • A woman whose ex-boyfriend murdered their infant son and then killed himself had sought a restraining order from two San Bernardino County judges only days before the murder-suicide, according to court records (click here to view records) obtained by the Daily Press.

From Care2Causes
http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/iran-stoning-case-gets-worse-ashtiani-convicted-of-murder-attorney-in-hiding/

Documents detailing the stoning sentence, however, make it clear that Ashitani was convicted of adultery – a crime she only admitted to after receiving 99 lashes, a crime she later retracted completely.

So why are the murder charges coming up again?

Mina Ahadi, of the Iran Committee against Stoning (ICAS), has the following insight: “In adultery cases, women are sentenced because of the complaints from their husbands or families generally, but surprisingly, Sakineh (Ashtiani) is sentenced to death by stoning not because the family of her husband have made a complaint against her, but because the Tabriz prosecutor has made a complaint. In other words, it’s the authorities in Iran who want Sakineh (Ashtiani) to be stoned to death.”

Or as the case is now execution by hanging.

How the judiciary is able to change Ashtiani’s conviction after all this time with no evidence is beyond me. It seems clear that as Ahadi says the authorities are the ones who want to punish Ashtiani – and will do so in with whatever means they can. In addition to the lashings she already received, recent reports from Ashtiani’s cellmate reveal that she has been tortured and severely beaten by several guards while in prison too.

As if this case couldn’t get any worse, Human rights attorney Mohammed Mostafaei, who up until recently represented Ashtiani, is believed to be in hiding now from officials as a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

His crime? Making Ashtiani’s incredibly unjust case too public. In fact, given the great international attention that the case has received local media have been banned from reporting on the case.

“Other attorneys have been arrested similarly when they have tried to advocate for certain people,” said Ahadi. “This is something the government of Iran has tried over and over again — to hush, using fear and intimidation tactics and also imprisoning anyone that they feel is threatening.”

Only time will tell what will happen to both Ashtiani and Mostafaei and his family but it is certain that the international community at large will be watching and waiting for justice.

If you haven’t done so already…TAKE ACTION: Bring an end to stoning as a form of punishment!

Victory or Death

BettyJean

Listen to the story and decide… not on the Party but in the principle- where have all the PATRIOYS gone?

545 vs. 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE.  READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

         Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

         545 PEOPLE–By Charlie Reese

         Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..

         Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

         Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

         You and I don’t propose a federal budget.  The president does.

         You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.  The House of Representatives does.

         You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

         You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

         You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.  In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

 I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.  They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.  I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.  The politician has the power to accept or reject it.  No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

 What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.  The president can only propose a budget.  He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.  Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi.  She is the leader of the majority party.  She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want.  If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility.  I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.  When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

• If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
• If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.
• If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ .
  • If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.  

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees… We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.  What you do with this article now that you have read it… Is up to you.

Put these words Upon his tomb, ‘Taxes drove me to my doom’… When he’s gone, Do not relax, It’s time to apply The inheritance tax.

         Sales Tax
         School Tax
         Liquor Tax
         Luxury Tax
         Excise Taxes
         Property Tax
         Cigarette Tax
         Medicare Tax
         Inventory Tax
         Real Estate Tax
         Well Permit Tax
         Fuel Permit Tax
         Inheritance Tax
         Road Usage Tax
         CDL license Tax
         Dog License Tax
         State Income Tax
         Food License Tax
         Vehicle Sales Tax
         Gross Receipts Tax
         Social Security Tax
         Service Charge Tax
         Fishing License Tax
         Federal Income Tax
         Building Permit Tax
         IRS Interest Charges
         Hunting License Tax
         Marriage License Tax
         Corporate Income Tax
         Personal Property Tax
         Accounts Receivable Tax
         Recreational Vehicle Tax
         Workers Compensation Tax
         Watercraft Registration Tax
         Telephone Usage Charge Tax
         Telephone Federal Excise Tax
         Telephone State and Local Tax
         IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
         State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
         Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
         Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
         Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
         Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
         Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
          Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
         Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax

Aisha:18-year-old sentenced by a Taliban

Barbara

Snip from TIME:

 Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.  

As horrifying as this cover of TIME is I am glad after much consideration they decided to print it.

 The world needs to be aware of just how badly women are abused. Can you even wrap your mind around the fact that this beautiful girl had her nose and ears cut off to control her behavior?

 What civil society remains silent to this?

If this was done to a live animal many groups would be yelling about abuse, yet done to a girl. Silence.

This girl Aisha has lifted her veil as so many courageous women are doing to break the silence.

You are their voice. Speak up.

 I commend TIME for this cover.  And as always I salute the women who are lifting the veil of silence. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007269,00.html

Note from BJ *You will find on any given day crowds marching against racism charges (mostly false) and demanding amnesty for illegal immigrants. Even the uncovering of dog fighting would bring out a large crowd protest! Yet sexism and misogyny doesn’t even tip the meter! People will gasp at this cover and tomorrow forget it just like all the other misogyny they ignore. Sins of omission.

Care and Hope for Bibi Aisha from Afghanistan: http://www.grossmanburnfoundation.org/

At 16, her father promised her hand in marriage and she was handed over to a large family, who she claims were all members of the Taliban in Oruzgan province. “I spent two years with them and became a prisoner,” she says. Tortured and abused, she couldn’t take it any longer and decided to run away. Two female neighbors promising to help took her to Kandahar province. But this was just another act of deception. When they arrived to Kandahar her female companions tried to sell Aisha to another man. All three women were stopped by the police and imprisoned. Aisha was locked up because she was a runaway. And although running away is not a crime, in places throughout Afghanistan it is treated as one if you are a woman. A three-year sentence was reduced to five months when President Hamid Karzai pardoned Aisha. But eventually her father-in-law found her and took her back home. That was the first time she met her husband. He came home from Pakistan to take her to Taliban court for dishonoring his family and bringing them shame. The court ruled that her nose and ears must be cut off. An act carried out by her husband in the mountains of Oruzgan where they left her to die. But she survived. And with the help of an American Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan and the organization Women for Afghan Women (WAW), she is finally getting help. The United Nations estimates that nearly 90 percent of Afghanistan’s women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse. “Bibi Aisha is only one example of thousands of girls and women in Afghanistan and throughout the world who are treated this way. Aisha is reminded of that enslavement every time she looks in the mirror. But there still times she can laugh. And at that moment you see her teenage spirit escaping a body that has seen a lifetime of injustice.

A Woman’s Hunger Strike for rights draws scorn AGAIN

Barbara and BettyJean

A shout out to Gloria Allred for bringing attention to the ERA. Below is a press release from Gloria Allred:

 Attorney Gloria Allred Begins Hunger Strike (90 meal solid food fast)  In support of the Equal Rights Amendment In Advance of 90 Anniversary of Women’s winning the right to vote in the U.S. 

 Attorney Gloria Allred announced today she has began a 90 meal fast to draw attention to the need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would guarantee equal rights for women.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first proposed by Alice Paul in 1923. Although it was previously introduced into Congress and passed on to the U.S. Secretary and House of Representative and sent to the states in 1972 for ratification, a time limit was placed on the Amendment and ultimately it was not ratified by enough states before the time limit expired in 1979 or within the time extended by Congress to 1982. (35 states ratified and 3 more were needed.)

 The ERA has been since been reproduced with Congress (HJ.Res.61) but is still in the process of gathering co-sponsors.

Ms. Allred’s 90 meal hunger strike fast, in which she will give up solid food for 90 days, will end on August 26, 2010, Women’s Equal Rights Day. That day marks the 90th anniversary of women’s winning the right to vote in the U.S. by the addition of the 19th Amendment suffrage to the U.S. Constitution.

A big shout out to Greta for bringing attention to the ERA.
http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/look-who-is-on-a-hunger-strike/

A big slap to the face of Greta bloggers who bring attention to the misogyny that is still thriving.

Selia
How absurd. I thought women had equal rights. Who knew. I guess Gloria. I’ve always thought hunger strikes were funny. So are protesters. All just looking for a few minutes on camera. If you really care about an issue, do something REAL about it.

Ron
Blimey ! And here I was hoping that she wanted to repeal perhaps the biggest mistake ever made in our country: Giving women the right to vote!

 free the media
with any luck at all, she’ll be so successful that she will disappear like the Wicked Witch of the West and we will no longer be subjected to this media whore  

By Barbara
***********************************************************************

IMAGINE –this is what women are up against still today! What can be more prejudicial against human rights than the above statements, following on the heels of Hillary is a Bitch and Sarah is a Cunt ? These are not isolated statements – they are the norm. What’s worse, they are tolerated far and wide across our country and by our media and they must be stopped! Why are there no marches in the street  and more support for Ms. Alred?  RIDs should be supporting her for the sake of all women. Why do masses support false racism and why do masses support illegl immigration but not sexism? Why? I demand to know why we women are tolerating this?  Why?

I’ll tell you why- we have become soft and cowardly/. We are not our mothers and grandmothers daughters. – We haven’t got the cahoonas! I suggest you get up off your asses and start acting like the Women of the suffragist era and fast! You are acting instead like fools!

Meanwhile, people of color are screaming racism where none exists, even our own President has jumped to racist conclusions twice now and has had to apologize. Illegal immigrants are allowed to stream over our borders and lie, cheat and steal at will, and God forbid we disapprove- we are racists but stand up for a woman’s human rights and we join the cunt club.

Terrorists are allowed to build cells and take flying lessons so they can hijack planes and destroy over 3000 lives, terrorists have been given 80,000 dollar free tuition in our universities and now are plotting against us and training Islamic terrorists to come kill us and dare we question these things – we are Islamaphobes . But stand up for a Woman’s human Rights –and they will nail us to a wall as Bitches. You are getting the ass end of everything anyway – stand up and fight for love of Jane- Fight like a woman!

There are riots in the streets if one hair on the head of a black man is ruffled while committing a crime or a Hispanic is shot while crossing the Rio Grande by a white cop. He will be called into question because as our President says ‘there is a history of white prejudice where white cops act stupidly.’  It may be so however, what happened to innocent until proven guilty if white … or woman?

There are Mobs of people all over the country celebrating what is perceived to be a victory for illegal immigrants – there is something wrong with that picture! A POTUS fighting for the rights of illegal anything .…

It is just so damned different than when women were marching and fighting for their human rights. Let me remind you. Perhaps someone might remind the President what American women went through and are still going through and just how damned stupid he is. And perhaps he can tell his cronie jackass friends that the civil rights battle for the black women never got settled. And perhaps black and brown women will understand that they are still enslaved – and they don’t seem to mind being slaves just as long as they are not COLORED SLAVES! 

“And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of ‘obstructing sidewalk traffic’.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/pr…

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the ‘Night of Terror’ on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson’s White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail. Their food–all of it colorless slop–was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

* Note at that time the press was not bought and paid for as it is now – now it is up to us to take back our country and we can do this – if we stick together. RIDsNow

With LOVE from BettyJean- IMAGINE -The majority United

Hillary Clinton was right

“Normal” Domestic Violence in Morocco is a Crime in the United States

by Phyllis Chesler

http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/829/domestic-violence-morocco-united-states

Excerpt:

So sayeth the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

On July 31, 2008, a couple was married by arrangement in Morocco when the bride was 17 years old. They moved to Bayonne, New Jersey, where the new husband found work as an accountant. The husband’s mother came to live with them.

On November 1st of that year, “acts of domestic abuse” commenced. The young girl finally called the police who, on November 22, 2008 (three weeks later) were still able to photograph numerous, visible bruises all over her body, including on her breasts. Her first punishment session lasted for one hour, during which time she cried all the time. This did not stop her husband. He said that he was doing this “to correct her.” The second time, he attacked both her breasts and genitalia, including pulling her pubic hair. Her vagina was very red and swollen—and that is when he administered his ultimate “pedagogical” punishment: He raped her. In addition, on a separate occasion, he slapped her face, “causing her lip to swell and bleeding to occur.” At that time, she escaped “without shoes or proper clothing” through a window and was taken to a hospital by the police.

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Michelle Obama: A Bonding Vacation to Spain

Barbara

 

The White House announced that Michelle Obama will be going to Spain for a ‘private, mother-daughter bonding vacation with longtime family friends’. They are off to Spain.

 

The White House didn’t say where in Spain they would be going, but Spanish press has indicated they will be going to the upscale southern Spanish resort city of Benahavis near Marbella. Michelle is reportedly taking Sasha, her mother and “longtime friends” of the family. Malia will not be on the mother daughter bonding trip to SPAIN as she is attending camp.

 

Mrs. Obama has reportedly booked 30 rooms for the mother daughter bonding trip in a five-star hotel. Not sure how many jets will be used to transport the entourage to Spain and back– but hey who wants to talk tax payer money and carbon footprints when mother daughter bonding is at stake.

 

Michelle’s vacation comes shortly after the Obama vacation to the Gulf Coast of Florida the first weekend in August which comes shortly after the Obama family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard which came shortly after the Obama family vacation to Maine which came shortly after the Obama family vacation to Chicago, which came shortly after the Obama vacation to North Carolina the first week of May.

 

We are told Michelle Obama will make an official visit with Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. An official visit is needed to justify the use of tax-payer dollars for the mother daughter bonding vacation.

 

Mrs. Obama’s mother daughter vacation in Spain will be closed to the press, except for the official visit with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. I guess the press would interfere with the all that bonding.

 

This after I heard President Obama talking about how this economy so sucks that it has affected his families portfolio now estimated at 7.7 million. He said just 2 short years ago he and Michelle were worried about college tuition for the girls.

So I am happy things have CHANGED for them, because we all now how stressful tuition worries can be especially on top of mortgages, utility bills, feeding a family of 4 let alone supporting a mother in law too, car payments, clothing it is hard especially if your unemployed or perhaps a single mother working long hours with the added worry about how do I pay for a vacation to Spain this year so I can bond with my daughter ?

 

Change is Good, at least for the Obamas who no longer have to worry about the price of arugula in whole foods!.

 

Happy bonding to Michelle and Mrs. Robinson and Sasha and their “lifelong friends”.

 

Was just thinking the Gulf coast is a real nice place there are plenty of hotels that offer 5 star accommodations with 30 rooms available. Restaurants that could sure use hundreds of lifelong friends dropping it. The quaint little shops may not offer the latest fall fashions as last years bonding vacation to London and Paris do, but bonding is bonding.

 

There are plenty of bonding activities taking place on the beaches of the Gulf as we speak. They are calling these bonding activities serving your country. It appears this duo have forgotten the meaning of SERVING as president and first lady. The only thing they are doing is shamelessly helping themselves to a huge serving of everything they can get their hands on!

Another church that is now a mosque

Barbara

While the debate in NY is about the mosque that is being built at Ground Zero and many of NY politicians are yelling about “religious freedom” as being at the core of their “go ahead and build a mosque overlooking ground zero” statements.

 

• We are asked to put aside our overwhelming heartbreak and celebrate religious freedom.
• We are asked to celebrate diversity and put aside the fact that our religious diversity were a target of the attack.
• We are asked to celebrate the inclusion of Islam on the very spot where 3,000 people were murdered because Islam doesn’t celebrate inclusion.
• We are asked to celebrate the belief system of a religion that believes non believers are evil and should be buried under the rubble below their feet.
• We are asked to respect the place they build their mosque when the place they build their mosque disrespects those who were murdered there and those who come to mourn those murdered there.
• We are being asked an awful lot of in the name of religious freedom.

 

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?

The following are photos taken on the scene of Islamic treachery. It is yet more proof of their belief in religious freedom! Here is evidence of what they did to a Christian Village, to its women and children and yes when all was said and done they demanded inclusion, diversity, respect and a celebration of religious freedom. The church is now a mosque.

 

You still believing the Religion of Peace? Shall we continue to bring you more proof? We may be the land of the free and the home of the brave but must we also be the land of the idiots who will repeat history and bring foolishly bring into our midst’s a Trojan Horse to kill us in our sleep?

 

They were mostly Women and Children.
They were defenseless, they were unprotected.
They died without knowing how or why.
Some were butchered in their beds, some while trying to flee their attackers.

Women were hacked down as they tried to cover their children with their bodies.

Little babies were snatched from their mothers and thrown into burning flames.
Christians in three villages in a community near JOS were shot then butchered in cold blood in the early morning hours of Sunday March 7^th 2010 simply because they were Christians.

In place of their church now stands a mosque.

 

Warning all the photos are here- these photos are very graphic. http://www.anglicandioceseofjos.org/dogo.html

Epidemic of acid-attacks on Islamic women

Barbara

I recently received two emails containing some very horrifying stories along with even more horrifying pictures. One was entitled “Epidemic of Acid-Attack on Women in Pakistan”, the article is about women who volunteered to lift their veil and show their burned faces and let a picture speak a thousand words and tell their truth. These women are courageous because they are Muslim women and under Sharia law the act of showing her face is a crime, even if it’s burned and no longer resembles a woman’s face.

 I want you to think about this — these women are victims of a heinous crime. However, the heinous crime is not considered as such, it is considered an act of defending ones honor. A man whose marriage proposal is refused is defending his honor by throwing acid onto the body of the woman who refused his proposal. How dare she refuse him, his feelings are hurt and he is just so pissed off. But hey, we are talking about Islam, where men whose feelings are hurt by a woman get to act out their anger.

Yep, in Islam Mr. Refused is told not to seek counseling but seek revenge –throw acid in her face, you can even make a human torch out of her, you need to defend your honor man and we will back you up –you are the victim and she wears a veil that covers her face so we can hide our methods of peaceful honor defending. That is until she decides to lift her veil and show the world the horrific barbaric truth of what really goes on within the walls of the honorable religion of peace.

Warning the following photos are graphic and horrifying and real!  

Story of Irum Saeed

Irum Saeed, 30, is a resident of Rawalpindi. She recalls how 12 years ago, when she was only 17, a boy, whose marriage proposal she had rejected, followed her to her college. The street he chose for the scene of crime was narrow, and Irum was unable to escape his hot pursuit of her. The rejected boy proceeded to throw a jug full of acid on her. As she turned to avoid this, he threw the remaining acid onto her back and shoulders, badly burning them. The photograph was taken at her office at the Urdu University of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Thursday, July 24, 2008. She has undergone plastic surgery 25 times to try to recover from her scars.

 
 

Story of Shameem Akhter

Shameem Akhter’s face was mutilated with acid when she was only 17. Now aged 20, she is still unable to comprehend how she fell victim to criminals, who kidnapped and raped her for revenge. Then they left her face mutilated, hoping her appearance would silence her forever and ensure that she would never marry. They have succeeded in destroying her life and much of her spirit. Shameem has undergone plastic surgery 10 times to try to repair from her scars.

 
 

 Story of Najaf Sultana

Najaf Sultana, now 16, of Lahore, was burned by her father at the age of five while she was sleeping, apparently because he didn’t want to have another girl in the family. The burning left Najaf blind. Abandoned by both her parents, she now lives with relatives. She has undergone plastic surgery around 15 times to try to repair her scars.

 
 

 
 

 Story of Shehnaz Usman

Shehnaz Usman, now 36, of Lahore was burned with acid by a relative due to a family dispute five years ago. She has undergone plastic surgery 10 times.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
Story of Shahnaz Bibi

Shahnaz Bibi, now 35, of Lahore, was burned with acid ten years ago by a relative due to a family dispute. She has never undergone plastic surgery.

 
 

 
 

 
 

Story of Kanwal Kayum

Kanwal Kayum, now 26, of Lahore was burned with acid one year ago by a boy whom she rejected for marriage. She has never undergone plastic surgery.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Munira Asef

Munira Asef, now 23, of Lahore was burned with acid five years ago by a boy whom she rejected for marriage. She has undergone plastic surgery 7 times to try to heal her scars.

 
 

 
 

 

 Story of Bushra Shari

Bushra Shari, 39, of Lahore was burned with acid thrown by her husband five years ago because she wanted to divorce him. She has undergone plastic surgery 25 times.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Memuna Khan

Memuna Khan, 21, of Karachi was burned by a group of boys who threw acid on her to settle a dispute between their family and Menuna’s. She has undergone plastic surgery 21 times.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Zainab Bibi

Zainab Bibi, 17, of Islamabad was burned five years ago by throwing acid on her face a boy whom she rejected for marriage. She has undergone plastic surgery several times.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Naila Farhat

Naila Farhat, 19, of Islamabad was burned five years ago by throwing acid on her face by a boy for rejecting his marriage proposal. She has undergone plastic surgery several times.

The case of Naila Farhat was brought to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in November 2008 and received great publicity. The perpetrator was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay Rupees1.2 million in damages. This represented a landmark decisions in dealing with gender violence, but the judgment could hardly stem the menace of acid-throwing. This was also somewhat exceptional case in the landscape of acid attacks in Pakistan. In most cases, measures, if at all taken, are still disproportionately low as compared to the sufferings inflicted by the attacks.

 Story of Saira Liaqat

Saira Liaqat, 26, of Lahore was 15, when she was married to a relative. The families had agreed she would join him only after finishing school. But then he demanded her to live with him after the marriage and eventually attacked her with acid when his demand was not met. Saira has undergone plastic surgery 9 times.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Zubaida Khatoon

Zubaida Khatoon was burnt by her husband to resolve an argument. Her husband had made it a hobby of frequently marrying women from families to lower economic groups. When she discovered this, Zubaida protested his actions. He tried to settle the argument by setting her on fire after pouring kerosene on her. Raising an objection to his lechery was all needed for her to bear these scars.

 
 

 
 

 Story of Nasreen Sharif

Nasreen Sharif, 23, was once a beautiful girl. When she turned 14, her cousin poured a bottle of sulphuric acid on her face as she slept. His excuse was that he couldn’t stand other boys whistling at her (because of he beauty) when she crossed the street. She no longer bears any resemblance to that youthful beauty. “My skin melted and my hair burned away. I am now blind, I have no ears and I have no sense of smell”,
says Nasreen.

 
 Story of Parveen Akhtar

Parveen Akhtar, 38, from Jehlum found her life changed when her husband asked her for her written permission to allow him to remarry. Her refusal to it angered him and he tried to murder her by dousing her body with kerosene and setting it alight. He portrayed the incident as an accident and told people that he wanted to remarry because she cannot bear children.

 Story of Bashiran Bibi

Nearly 25 years ago, newly-married Bashiran Bibi (now 57), a resident of Sukheki, Pakistan, was pushed by her mother-in-law into a coal stove. The family proclaimed it to be an accident. Her husband blamed it on a fit of epilepsy that she suffers from. Resolved to her fate, Bashiran continues to live with her husband and in-laws and gave birth to 5 children after this “accident”. Whatever money is donated to Bashiran’s cause, her husband uses it for himself and doesn’t spend any on her treatment.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Mumtaz Bibi

Mumtaz Bibi, 39, from Khairpur, Pakistan, came under her husband’s wrath while trying to protect her daughters. Her offence was that she refused to let him selling off her girls, shielding them with her life. Because of her lack of compliance, her husband poured acid all over her body, then proceeded to divorce her.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 Story of Tasneem Shahzad

24-year-old Tasneem Shahzad’s story is repeated all too often. A girl, too poor to bring much demanded dowry, she bore the wrath of greedy in-laws. Tasneem’s ex-husband was an addict. It was left to her to support her own household as well as that of her extended family. Tasneem worked in several homes to support all those who depended on her. However, that was not pleasing enough for her greedy in-laws. One day, her clothes were set on fire by her rapacious in-laws and she suffered severe burns. They then proceeded to try and prove that the incident was an accident.

  Rays of Hope

Amidst this grim state of affairs for the unfortunate women of Pakistan, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is working to expose the extent of the gender-violence in Pakistan and the misogynist mindset behind it, which is spreading within the Pakistani Middle Class. The AHRC is working closely with acid-attack victims as part of its involvement for denouncing human rights violations across Asia. 

The Depilex Smileagain Foundation is another organization, which is working with victims of acid-attack to help them smile again, however impossible a task it may appear: they are trying to make impossible possible. In fact, DSF is working in partnership with the Italian NGO Smileagain Foundation that believes, “There is every possibility that these survivors can manage to live the rest of their lives with dignity, with some help.”

A team of Italian doctors, linked to Italian Smileagain Foundation, visit Pakistan every three months to conduct operations on those victims in an effort to give them back as normal a life as possible.

In September, 2008, the team visited Lahore where they carried out two operations and then proceeded to Multan, where surgeries were carried out in Bakhtawar Amin Memorial Trust Hospital. Some 60 patients were evaluated and 8 surgeries carried out.

The stories from Mutlan were strangely different. This is an area where people have property and the disputes often revolve around inheritance. Here wrath knows no gender. Whereas in other parts of the country it is often women who are burnt by acid or fires, here there are as many male victims as well. Those who have been working with Smileagain Foundation, say that what they have seen in Multan is very similar to what occurs in Bangladesh. Property encourages men to lead an idle life, it leads them to indulge in pursuits of personal pleasure, and when they see a chunk of their means of this blissful idle life slipping away, their greed turns them into violent criminals.

Undoubtedly, the life of misery and horror the victims of acid-attacks have to live on is hard to comprehend. While organizations like Smileagain Foundation works toward giving these devastated victims as dignified and normal a life as possible, let us hope that works of Human Rights groups, such as AHRC, of the media and civil-society groups help expose and discredit the Islam-motivated misogyny that is responsible for the malaise, which only can cure this problem and help restore women as a dignified and equal part of men in Pakistan and any other society