Routinely Abused: The nastiness of gymnastics

Gymnastics is an ugly sport.

It's bad enough that many young women gymnasts are mentally and physically abused, many ending up with anorexia, bulimia and depression. It's bad enough that it's sexualized and sexist, male uniforms designed to highlight the arms and shoulders, female uniforms the legs and crotch.

But now it comes to light that the US gymnastics program is as full of sexual abusers as the catholic cult, and those who run the US gymnastics program are just as willing to cover up and protect those who rape young girls.  And considering that gymnastics wants only teenage girls, that "nineteen is too old", it says a lot about the mentalities of those in charge.

Dave Hannigan: Sinister story lies hidden beneath a sport that enthrals America

In October, 1998, USA Gymnastics received a fax regarding a coach named Bill McCabe. Over six pages, Florida gym owner Jan Giunipero outlined a litany of disturbing allegations made against McCabe at nine different facilities and urged that parents and children be made aware of his proclivities. One year later, Dan Dickey, another gym owner, wrote to USA Gymnastics about an incident involving McCabe and a 15-year-old cheerleader and stated that he should be “locked in a cage before someone is raped”. Around that time, McCabe began regularly abusing at least one under-age gymnast in his charge. 

[...]

The baffling failure to act on the information furnished to them about McCabe (on four different occasions by different people), was apparently par for the course with USA Gymnastics when it came to abusive coaches. That is the only conclusion to be drawn from a lengthy and thorough investigation by the Indianapolis Star, the largest newspaper in Indiana where the sport is headquartered. For those who have lived through the Catholic Church and USA and Irish swimming debacles, the narrative is all too depressingly familiar. 

Although USA Gymnastics refused to confirm how many allegations it receives annually, the Indianapolis Star learned the governing body has complaint dossiers on over 50 coaches that it, literally, keeps in a drawer. The newspaper unearthed evidence of four particular cases (including one former national coach of the year) that followed the same troubling pattern. Accusations were allowed to gather dust for years as at least 14 underage gymnasts were abused.

You Cannes Not: Cannes wants to ban burkinis

I consider islam to be as laughable as christianity or any other religion, and the forced covering of women's skin to be ludicrous and sexist.  Get muslim men to cover their own eyes if they don't want to see women's skin.  But burkinis can at least serve a legitimate purpose.  I sometimes wear diveskins (full body lycra catsuits) when swimming in waters infested with jellyfish, or as skin protection if I'm at the beach for hours.

I have no doubt that David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, France will claim he is not an islamophobe.  Clearly he's too dim to understand that islamophobia and discrimination are part of what leads people to extemism.

Burkinis banned on France's Cannes beaches by mayor

The mayor of Cannes has banned the wearing of burkinis - full-body swimsuits - on the beaches of the French Riviera resort famous for its annual film festival, officials said on Thursday.

Mayor David Lisnard signed off on the ruling that "access to beaches and for swimming is banned to anyone who does not have (bathing apparel) which respects good customs and secularism", which is a founding principle of the French republic.

"Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order (crowds, scuffles etc) which it is necessary to prevent," it says.

If Lisnard wants to ban burkinis, is he also going to ban neoprene wetsuits and diveskins which look very similar?  Or will he just admit he is a bigot targeting one specific religion?  It makes me wonder if his reactionary dictum is an overreaction what happened in Marseille.

'Burkini-only day' at French waterpark criticised

A waterpark in France is to be booked out for one day to Muslim women wanting to wear "burkinis" - but the decision has led to criticism by politicians on the right.

A community group in Marseille arranged the day, giving access only to women wearing the all-over swimming garment.

Note the key word: booked, which means people paid for use of a privately owned business.  Would people be getting into such a lather if a nudist group booked the facility?  Would people like Lisnard demand pork be served if muslims booked and paid for a halal-only menu at a restaurant?

Seven Days Left: Technological discrimination

This is the fifth of seven items in seven days on left handedness.

Left Handedness and Technological Discrimination

The primary problem with left handed computing is software, not hardware.  It's unrealistic to expect hardward manufacturers to build left hand specific devices because of economies of scale.

But there is absolutely no excuse for software developers not to accomodate left handed people.  Changing the screen layout and behaviour of software has no physical limitation.  The problem is a lack of consideration for left handed people (in both meanings of the word, kindness and thinking).

Seven Days Left: Economic discrimination

This is the fourth of seven items in seven days on left handedness.

Left Handedness and Economic Discrimination

If there is any bias against left handed people in economic terms, it's against the left handed people as a whole because of mass manufacturing and economies of scale, not against individuals.  All news and research items I have found discussing the wages and employment prospects left handed people are inconclusive.  Some say left handers make more money, some say less, some say there is no difference.  It's a wash.

Handedness is likely only a factor in employment when jobs use mass manufactured industrial machinery (e.g. industrial tools) or specifically built machines.  Industrial machinery is almost always made only for the right hand, and thus a left handed person's quality of work may suffer when using equipment made for the wrong hand.

But mass manufacturing is an economic problem.  Aside from a few industries such as musical instruments, sporting goods and firearms (who needs that?), manufacturers rarely make left specific products.

Thursday, part 5: Left Handedness and technological discrimination

Seven Days Left: Social discrimination

This is the third of seven items in seven days on left handedness.

Left Handedness and Social Discrimination

Throughout history and across the world, the societal response to left handedness has varied, but mostly been negative.

(N.B.: This item is incomplete due to personal time contraints.  I will add more in the next few days.)


Language

In nearly all languages, "left" has negative connotations and "right" has positive ones.  "Left" is usually accociated with either being weak, dishonest, incapable, sneaky, evil or female.  Terms abound:

"two left feet" = can't dance
"left-handed compliment" = an insult
“left-handed marriage” = adultery
“left-handed wife” = a mistress
“left-hander” = homosexual

http://www.lefthandersday.com/tour/left-handed-language#.V6oMFdRzDKg

Negative connotations of the word infest politics, and not because "left" often means socialist or communist.  In parliamentary democracies (e.g. England, Canada, Australia, etc.), the "Speaker of the House" represents the queen of England, and by extension, the mythical christian "god".  The governing party always sits to the right of the Speaker ("god's" favoured side) while the opposition ("the enemy") sit on the left.


Religions

Every religious views I could find items on described right as "good" and left as "bad".  There was no dissent to be found.

Use of the left hand is considered "disrespectful" in islamic countries. The left hand is the "toilet hand" and thus "unclean" for handling things, especially food.

A claim about judaism is repeated in many places, but I cannot find an original source:

The medieval jewish philosopher Maimonides listed 100 blemishes a jewish priest could not have, and being left-handed was one of them. 

Hinduism promotes equally uncomplimentary views on left handedness.


Nations

Negative attitudes towards left handed people are pervasive and worldwide. 

The Soviet Union institutionalized the forced switching of children's hands and attitudes in post-Soviet Russia really haven't changed much.

In Ghana, physical abuse (mislabelled "corporal punishment") is still commonplace, and left handed children are targeted:

ASSASSAN, Ghana, 3 September 2014 – When Benedicte Bon-Farson was a young girl in grade 3, she didn’t want to go to school. “Anytime I got up to go to school, I feel like, ahh!” she recalls, many years later.

Ms. Bon-Farson is left handed, and because of this, her grade 3 teacher constantly ‘caned’ her – punished her by hitting her with a cane.

Brazil still regularly forces the switching of hands.  The so-called "scientists" who wrote that in 2007 it call the mental and physical abuse of children "successful switching of hands".


India also bases its anti-left attitudes on "tradition" and religion.

Indonesia has many of the same attitudes as most muslim countries.

New Zealand and South Africa's past churns my stomach.  From "The Left Stuff: How the Left-Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World", by Melissa Roth (2005):

The Maori of the South Pacific were known for enforcing some of the most severe sanctions against the left handed.  They believed the right side to be the "side of life" whereas the left represented the side of death.  Women were required to weave ceremonial cloth with the right hand, as the left hand would profane and curse the cloth.  If they used their left hand to weave, they could be killed.

A continent away, the Zulus of southern Africa poured boiling water into a hole and then placed a child's left hand in it, with the intention of scalding it so that it could not be used.

Wednesday, part 4: Left Handedness and Economic Discrimination

Mind Bends: Mini-Cryptic Crossword #1

I love cryptic crossword puzzles.  Some people never get them, some think the New York Times daily crossword is "difficult".  For those who enjoy more of a challenge, this is for you.

For those not familiar with cryptic crossword puzzles try out the Easy Daily Cryptic on the Best For Puzzles website.  (Of course, "easy" is a relative term, depending on who is talking...)  Sometimes the clues involve locations in the UK, which most people won't know.  There are many cryptic crosswords free to try only, most notably being notoriously difficult Guardian newspaper cryptics.  I can do the Best For Puzzles dailies in about 15 minutes, but barely half of a Guardian cryptic in 24 hours.

What makes my cryptic crosswords different?  Mainly the atheist theme in many of the clues, keep that in mind as you try them.  The answers can be found far down this same page, after 25 blank lines with periods.

Across

5, 6 The importance of the resurrection myth, to christians (7,7)

Down

1 Contempt for gluttony (5)
2 Doctor Chopra (5)
3 Add a half, a quarter, an eighth.... (5)
4 Religious leaders and followers (5)

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That's fifteen blank lines. Ten more to go for the answers.

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A5 CRUCIAL
A6 FICTION

D1 SCOFF
D2 QUACK
D3 LIMIT
D4 BLIND

Seven Days Left: Educational discrimination

This is the second of seven items in seven days on left handedness.

Left Handedness and Educational Discrimination

I have taught English for fifteen years and met scores of certified teachers over the years.  They use teaching ESL in Asia as a springboard to becoming public school teachers in their home countries.  During that time, I have asked most of them one question, the question to all of them:

Were you ever taught specific techniques for left handed handwriting, not just "copy what the right handers do"?

I have met a grand total of ONE person in fifteen years who was trained to teach left handed handwriting.  There are teaching techniques specially designed left handed students.  And there are materials you can purchase to help them.  There is stationery and notebooks to write in.

When I say left handed handwriting, most people will ignorantly think that means telling left handed children, "Just copy what the right handed kids are doing."  Wrong.  It means teaching children how to hold a pen or pencil, how to align the paper and proper posture specifically for left handed writers.  There is no excuse for not teaching children properly.  Refusing to is ignorance and abuse.

It's bad enough that children aren't being taught properly by people who claim to be qualified teachers and come from wealthy, English speaking countries (usually G7 or G12 countries).  But most teachers in poorer countries (Asian, African, South American and muslim countries) still "think" it's acceptable to force children to switch hands.  Mental, physical and emotional abuse of left handed children is an everyday thing in most of the world.

The educational discrimination against left handed children primarily comes from four sources.

1) Teachers

Teachers are taught only righthanded handwriting, they are not properly teaching left handed students.  This causes left handed students to have poor handwriting.  And then those with right handed privilege have the arrogance to say, "Left handed people can't write properly" despite the fact it's the right handed majority that caused the problem, by not teaching kids properly.

This failure to train properly means left handed children take longer to write, write less well, and often don't learn as well or do poorly on tests because schools cater only to right handed writers.  The problem is not being left handed, the problem is the indifference and arrogance of the educational system.

And then there's the issue of abuse.  In my time teaching, students have told me their teachers mistreat them in various ways, some of which I experienced myself as a child:

* work marked wrong for being done left handed

* forcing left handed children to sit to the right of right handed children, causing conflict (and passive-aggressively blaming the left handed child for the teacher's actions)

* ignoring and refusing to teach or interact whatsoever with left handed children

* hitting children's hands

* verbal abuse (insults, being called "hamfisted", "awkward", "evil", etc.)

On top of this, such abuse is often supported or repeated by the parents.  Left handed children have no reprieve from the abuse and no means of support.  Schools and home, the two greatest sources of emotional support for most children, are the two greatest abusers of left handed children.

2) School furniture

In this picture of a typical lecture hall, there are appromately eighty desks.  FIVE are left handed (far less than 10-15 percent average in the population), and ALL of them are along the left wall of the room.  NONE are in the centre section of the room, preventing left handed students from having a good view of the teaching area, boards and screens.

Are you really going to claim there is no bias against left handed students?  And that's just a college classroom.  In most elementary, junior and high schools, desks present the same problem.  There is no attempt made to accomodate or include left handed people, only a deliberate decision to exclude.

Schools purchase almost entirely right handed desks, rarely more than one or two left handed desks per classroom instead of the 10-15% actually needed.  It is only when schools have neutral furniture (e.g. tables with separate, unconnected chairs) that the furniture is equal.  And then there's the issue of classroom layout, often designed to allow students to view a chalkboard or whiteboard if the teacher writes with the right hand and stands to the right of the board.

Money is not the issue, a lack of respect and willingness to include left handed people is the problem.  It costs the same to build and purchase left handed desks.  And placing them at the left side of the centre section of lecture halls would not inconvenience anyone.

3) Stationery

Finding stationery that is left handed almost always requires online purchase, and hand-neutral stationery is rare.  Aside from pencils, there isn't much that doesn't have a right handed bias.

* ringed notebooks rarely open with the spine on the right, to allow left handed people to write without interference

* binders and folders are designed to write on the right hand side, leaving nowhere for left handed people to place their hand

* ball point pens are designed to be pulled, not pushed, and often jam when used by left handed writers

* rulers with numbers going right-to-left can only be purchased online; measuring and line drawing is often difficult

* left handed scissors are rare

* drawing equipment (geometry, drafting, stencils) is designed to face right handed people


4) Books and written materials

The next time you have to print papers to be written on and staple them together, try putting the staples on the RIGHT hand side of the papers instead of the left.  Force right handed people to place their hands on the stapled side with their hand on an uncomfortable spine, while left handed people can write easily on flat paper.  I guarantee you that a few of the right handed people will complain, becoming emotional and even visibly angry at papers NOT being stapled for the benefit of right handed people.  Left handed people have to cope with this every day, but the right handed people will act as if this were an injustice.

Where to find left handed stationery

There are several online stores which sell writing instruments, notebooks and other items for left handed people (including kitchen utensils and tools, but here we are talking about schools).  Here are few of them:

Lefty's (Australia store)

Left-Handed Convenience (Malaysia) - Predominantly muslim countries openly discriminate against left hand people.

Left Hand New Zealand

Imborrable (Spain) - Their "Leftybooks" have angled lines to make writing easier for left handed people.

Anything Left Handed (UK)

Left Shop Online (UK)

Left Handed World (US)

Lefty's, The Left Handed Store (US)

Rainbow Resource (US) - Yes, this is a "homeschooling" company run by christians.  (Doublecheck your credit card charges!)  But the dearth of left handed resources and stores makes it necessary to list this one.

Fountain pens are also worth consider for left handed children.  Ball point pens are designed to be pulled by the right hand, not pushed with the left.  In countries where arabic and hebrew are common (languages written right-to-left), fountain pens are preffered because they don't jam or dig into the paper when writing.  Fountain pens can range from the cheapest refillables (as little as US$5-10) to the highest quality (hundreds of dollars).

Inoxcrom (Spain) - They will have an online store by the end of 2016.

Jet Pens

Parker fountain pens

Amazon.com: fountain pen - There are various pens from the lowest quality (cheap Chinese-made or Pilot) to the highest name brands.


Tuesday, part 3: Left Handedness and social discrimination

Seven Days Left: Religious discrimination

This is the first of seven items in seven days on left handedness.

Left Handedness and Religious Discrimination

Throughout history, religions have deemed the left hand as being "bad" or "evil", and decreed that those who use the left hand need to be forced to unnaturally change hands.  Such attitudes pervade all societies and all religious cults in every continent - North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania.  And when I say throughout history, I am not only referring to the past.  Religious discrimination against left handed people still happens today in many parts of the world.


Fictions in the abrahamic cults (judaism, christianity and islam) blather about the "right hand of god" as the good side, the "left hand" as the side of the fictional being "satan".  It affects all of society and in language - descriptions (ability or inability), derision of LGBTQIA people and women, and even political terminology.

African countries are mostly either christian or muslim.  In places where ludicrous claims of "witchcraft" are made against people, especially christian countries (e.g. Nigeria, Uganda) left handed people are called "witches" along with the blind, the handicapped and other minorities.  In many countries where christianity was inflicted upon the population in the 18th and 19th centuries, such outdated and ignorant views still persist (e.g. violent laws against lesbian and gay people).

In nearly all islamic countries, people are indoctrinated with the idea that the left hand is the "dirty hand" and the right is the "clean hand".  People ignorantly believe that touching food or giving something with the left hand is considered "disrespectful".  The abuse of left handed children - forcing them to switch hands - is still considered "acceptable".

In many Asian countries, physical violence - falsely labelled "corporal punishment" - is still common practice, even in countries where "corporal punishment" is has been criminalized.  I live and teach in Taiwan where similar attitudes are still pervasive, and have taught in South Korea where it was worse.  Other ESL teachers have reported similar attitudes in Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and other countries.

I am specifically focusing left handed children because they bear the brunt of the abuse faced by left handed people worldwide.  It is the most defenseless with the weakest voices who suffer, and often in the name of religion or "culture".  If you say discrimination against left handed people is "unimportant", if you say "there is no such thing as right handed privilege", then you are saying, advocating and supporting the verbal, physical and emotional abuse of children.

Monday, part 2: Left Handedness and educational discrimination.

Countdown Begins: On Sunday, there are Seven Days Left

August 13 is International Left Handers Day, for those who don't know.  Left Handers Day is a chance for those born preferring the left hand to stand up and celebrate being who we are.  But it is also a day to point out and criticize right handed privilege and the discrimination that left handed people face every day.

If you read that first paragraph and laugh or sneer, it almost certainly means you have right handed privilege and are uneducated about the issues involved.  It's easy to ignore or pretend a problem doesn't exist when it doesn't affect yourself.

Each day from August 7 until August 13, I will post one topic about the problems left handed people face.  If you claim to fight for social justice and oppose discrimination and abuse, put aside your ignorance and dismissiveness.  Start reading and start thinking.

August 7: Left Handedness and religious discrimination

August 8: Left Handedness and educational discrimination

August 9: Left Handedness and social discrimination

August 10: Left Handedness and economic discrimination

August 11: Left Handedness and technological discrimination

August 12: Left Handedness and ergonomic discrimination

August 13: Left Handedness - Who's Who, and What's What

Facts Checked: Baton Rouge wasn't an ambush

The corporage media spin is on top speed, but the facts say otherwise. The question is whether the media will admit this.

Gavin Long was involved in a shooting with another man. The cops were responding to a shooting that Long was involved in.  After they arrived, Long (and possibly the other gunman) opened fire on the cops.

It was not an "ambush" as the cops in Baton Rouge and corporate media are trying to claim.  It was a crime in progress that cops were responding to.  This was not part of any "plot to kill cops" as Baton Rouge cops claimed a few days ago.

In Baton Rouge police shooting, here's what we know early Monday

Authorities said the attack on Baton Rouge officers began about 8:40 a.m., as they responded to a report of a rifle-wielding man located near the intersection of Airline and Old Hammond highways in Baton Rouge. Witness Brady Vancel, who was working nearby, told WAFB-TV he heard multiple gunshots before police arrived on the scene.

The Dishonourable Kill: Another young woman was murdered for no reason

Another day, another atrocity.  Another young woman was murdered because she chose to live freely and speak for herself instead of being a slave to outdated "tradition".

Why are these murders called "honour killings"?  There is no honour in committing murder, especially when doing it out of your own emotional insecurities and ignorance.

Qandeel Baloch: Pakistan social media celebrity 'killed by brother'

Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has been killed by her brother in an apparent 'honour killing' in the province of Punjab, police say.

Ms. Baloch, 26, recently caused controversy by posting controversial pictures of herself on social media, including one alongside a Muslim cleric.

Police say she was strangled to death.

Cases of women being killed for 'dishonouring' their family are commonplace in Pakistan.

Qandeel Baloch became a household name for posting bold, sometimes raunchy, photographs, video and comments.

Ms Baloch's parents told The Express Tribune that she was strangled to death on Friday night following an argument with her brother.

They said her body was not discovered until Saturday morning. Her parents have been taken into custody, the Tribune reported.

Why do the media falsely accuse her of "causing controversy"?  Because they are trying to blame her for her own death.  I implicit message is clear: "If she had done what her family told her to do, she would still be alive."

As often happens, the murderer has no honour.  He committed the murder for his own gain, it wasn't even for his "family honour".

Qandeel Baloch’s Brother Drugged And Strangled Her Because "Girls Are Born To Stay At Home"

"I am a drug addict but I was in my senses when I murdered her and I accept it with pride. Now everybody will remember me with honour that I have provided relief to my parents and brothers who were suffering for the last two decades because of her."

Cops Copped: It's becoming black and white who the criminals are

Overheard in a Baton Rouge cop shop: 

Captain: "How can we make ourselves look like victims and use it to attack and demonize BlackLivesMatter?"

Lieutentant: "How about inventing a phony 'terrorist attack' and claim black people planned to kill cops?"

Are the cops in Baton Rouge, Louisiana borrowing a page from the George Bu**sh* regime?  They claim to have foiled an alleged "threat to murder police" and arrested a group of black men but have not shown any evidence to demonstrate their claim.  Given the history or Baton Rouge police violence and their destruction and falsification of evidence, one has to wonder if this "arrest" is a fiction done to make themselves look good and pretend to be victims.  The Bu**sh** regime did this many times, playing the fears of non-existent "terrorism" and pretend they were making the US "safe" while taking away people's rights.

Meanwhile on the same day in Virginia, three black men were sitting in a car and listening to music when they were shot in a drive-by attack.  The victims were not gang members nor engaged in any crime, as proven by their livestreaming on facebook.  Thus far, Norfolk cops had put little effort into capturing the suspect(s).

Questioners Marked: Farage breaks it, Carney has to fix it

Back in May 2016, Bank of England Chief Mark Carney predicted economic woes for England if the "brexit" vote passed.  The racist and xenophobic mobs that wanted separation accused Carney of scaremongering and campaigning for the "remain" side.

Brexit Vote May Spark Recession, Mark Carney Warns

The Bank of England has given its starkest warning yet that a UK vote to leave the EU could hit the economy.

Mark Carney, the Bank's governor, warned that the risks of leaving "could possibly include a technical recession".

Prime Minister David Cameron said the warning amounted to "a very clear message" of the dangers of Brexit.

Vote Leave campaigners have strongly criticised Mr Carney, with one calling for him to resign.

However, a spokesman for Mr Carney rejected the call, saying the Bank had "a duty" to make its judgements known.

Now, in July 2016, the Bank of England has produced a post-"brexit" report, and the news isn't good.  Carney was right.  (Many predicted Greece to be the domino that destroyed the EU, but it's just as likely that England will be.)

The Bank of England's Doom-Laden Predictions Are Beginning To Come True

"The current outlook for UK financial stability is challenging," the Bank of England warned on Tuesday.

The central bank's Financial Policy Committee has released its biannual financial stability report looking at the financial health of Britain and assessing any changes to the outlook since the most recent report.

For those who don't know, in 2013 Mark Carney was appointed to run the Bank of England.  He previously worked for the Bank of Canada between 2003 and 2013, chief of the Bank of Canada from February 2008 until he left. 

Canada had NO BANK FAILURES during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 while Carney was in control.  Canada played by the old banking rules (i.e. Glass-Stegall type rules), not the fast-and-loose rules the rest of the world played by.  It's not surprising that he knew better than the UK Ignorance Party.

Cops Empowered: Death of a nation

Police banality is as much a problem as police brutality.  US cops have become so used to committing murder with impunity that they no longer hesitate to kill.  The white robes of "Birth Of A Nation" in 1915 have been replaced by blue uniforms during the death of the nation in 2016.

The US media no longer make any pretence about their overt racism.  Not one media member called the Dallas shooter a lone wolf, even though he was a lone wolf.  He acted alone, unaffiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, but good luck getting any racists in the media to admit that fact, to label a black shooter the same way as a white shooter committing the same crime. 

And good luck getting anyone to admit the shooting in Dallas is the fault of US cops, courts and so-called "legal system".  The murderers in Minnesota and Louisiana who murdered two black men bear more responsibility for the five dead cops in Dallas than the shooter.  Minnesota governor Mark Dayton deserves credit for calling the crime a murder, yet for doing so the rightwing media and corrupt police establishment have sought to vilify him - the same police establishment that publicly celebrated when one of the six murderers in Baltimore was "acquitted" by a corrupt legal system.

I am not wishing for this and don't want to see it, but Americans should brace themselves and expect to see a lot more tit-for-tat killings. People are tired of violent cops acting with impunity.  As happens in many other places, when legal means don’t work, people will resort to extralegal means. Note that I say extralegal, not illegal. There is a difference.

I won’t be shocked if the US turns into Vietnam on a small scale, warfare between the occupiers (cops) and the populace. The US military killed Vietnamese civilians indiscriminately to try and subdue the populace, but instead enraged people into supporting the resistance. The resistance killed US soldiers randomly to demoralize them, blending in with the population, and leaving the US military unable to find them.

Occupation of a population is impossible because people won’t stop fighting for their homeland until they win or they can’t fight anymore. It ends up in one of three results: a police state (e.g. USSR, South Africa), genocide to the point where the occupied populace can’t fight back anymore (e.g. US, Canada, Australia), or the occupiers realize they can’t win and give up (e.g. Vietnam, India, Afghanistan, the US civil rights fight). Palestine is a place heading towards one of these three endings.


Not two days after the Dallas shootings, cops in Baton Rouge have used trumped up charges to justify perpetrating violent acts against protesters.  The streets of the US are turning into Tiananmen Square.  The Black Lives Matter protester in this photo shows the same courage and dignity as the Chinese man who stood in front of a column of tanks.

Science Rules, Religion Drools: Juno is orbiting Jupiter

NASA's Juno satellite has successfully entered a stable orbit around Jupiter after a five year trip. It is an amazing feat done to precision within metres of their goal from six hundred million kilometres away, and done with fifteen year old technology.

Why did they use technology from 2000 when when building Juno in 2010? Because you can't fix problems once the rocket leaves Earth. You HAVE to be 100% sure your equipment is bug-free and guaranteed to last. "Leading edge technology" is better termed "bleeding edge" because it cuts you and makes you sweat blood.

The New Horizons satellite that left Earth for Pluto back in 2006 sends back data at 1kbps (mp3s are usually 128kbps) using a mid-1990s 56K modem. It takes an 1h 45m to send ONE 1024x768 picture back to Earth, and it takes 4.5h to get here. Why use a modem that slow? Because it WORKS at that distance. Getting the data back reliably is the priority, not the speed.

Also of import, the lessons of the ESA in 2014 seem to have been learnt. Every male at NASA was wearing a plain polo shirt with a NASA logo. Not a single obscene shirt was seen anywhere.

Music Rules: There's nothing like a good earworm

Rockpile was not formed as a "supergroup", but the talent within deserved the term.  Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams have created brilliant music for decades both alone, together and while supporting or producing other groups or as members.

If this song doesn't make you want to get up and dance, you are emotionally dead inside.

Guns Kill: Three Sheats to the wingnut

In Houston, Texas, two young women were shot dead by their mother in a "family dispute".  Unless someone is trying to kill you, what sort of "family dispute" requires having a gun in your hand?

Texas Woman Killed By Police After Fatally Shooting Her Two Daughters

Texas police fatally shot a 42-year-old mother after she refused to put down the gun she used to murder two of her own daughters in a Houston suburb.

Christy Sheats was found by police just after 5 p.m. on Friday, standing in the street near the bodies of her two daughters, Madison, 17, and Taylor, 22.

[...]

The incident was apparently the result of a family dispute that spilled into the street.

Her daughters will never disobey her again, will they?  That'll teach 'em.  And mom won't kill anyone again either, not after the cops shot and killed her too.

Would it surprise you to learn that Christy Sheats was a rightwing gun fetishist?  Probably not.  She posted this drivel on facebook three months before killing her own children:

It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away, but that’s exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns.

The NRA would like to remind you that this is no time to talk about gun control.

Ignorance Wins: The UK commits suicide, not EU-thanasia

England wanted to EU-thanize the EU but instead has just committed economic and political suicide.  A vote based on racist and reactionary (lack of) thinking won't only separate the UK from the EU in terms of borders.

The UK banking system will be isolated, which means no EU loans, consumer protection or international banking.  It means UK citizens cannot travel, work or live in the EU.  It means UK citizens will lose the legal protections that the EU offers (environmental, economic, labour and employment rights, human rights, food and consumer safety, etc.).

The Scottish vote on separation in 2015 failed, but the possibility of voting again still exists.  Once the economic and political fallout of this vote come to pass, Scottish people will flock to the polls and will gladly return to the EU.  And you can expect Wales and Northern Ireland to choose the same route soon after. 

Within ten years, England will either become an economic basket case, the North Korea of Europe, or it will come crawling back, begging for readmittance that will only come on the EU's terms.

As seen on twitter:

Silence Kills: Media complicity in another Israelis human rights abuse

In the West Bank, part of Palestinian land, ramadan is not the only news story.  But you won't hear about the other story in the corporate media.

Update: The Israeli government has since admitted to human rights abuses by intentionally cutting off water to the West Bank.  But they still blame the Palestinian authority for the Israeli government's own actions.

The Israeli government has cut off the entire water supply to the West Bank.  Cut off all water.  As daily temperatures soar to 35°C or higher.

There are only two reasons to commit a human rights violation like this against a civilian populations:

1) To kill as many of the population as possible while protect by media silence and a US veto.

2) To drive people into such desperation that they decide to leave their homeland and allow an occupying invader to take it.

As if Israeli policy toward the West Bank and Gaza has ever been any different.

West Bank Palestinians Without Clean Water After Israel Cuts Off Supplies

“Mekorot, the main supplier of water to Palestinian towns and cities, siphoned off water supplies to the municipality of Jenin, several Nablus villages and the city of Salfit and its surrounding villages,” Al Jazeera reported.

Daytime temperatures are reaching 95 degrees and some people have not had access to drinking water for 40 days, according to Ayman Rabi, the executive director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group.

[...]

"Israel allocates to its citizens, including those living in settlements in the West Bank deemed illegal under international law, between three and five times more water than the Palestinians," Martin Asser wrote. "This, Palestinians say, is crippling to their agricultural economy."

People Thirst: Slave labourers are dying in 50°C heat

Imagine if religious fanatics in predominantly catholic countries like Ireland, Poland or Italy started physically assaulting non-catholics - for example, muslims - who were eating meat on "good friday" (or any Friday, as catholics used to ban).  Imagine if the catholics demanded laws to arrest and punish or imprison people who do eat meat on those days. 

Would you defend the creation of religious laws where the majority imposed their religious practices upon minorities who don't belong to that religion?  (Well, fanatical christians in the US would, so that's not a good place for an example.)  If it's wrong in one place, it's wrong everywhere.


Not eating meat won't kill anybody, but NOT being allowed to drink water will kill people who are forced to perform hard manual labour in 50-60°C heat (120-140°F for Americans). 

In 2016, ramadan is in June.  This is the hottest month of the year at the equator, and in most predominantly muslim Middle Eastern and North African countries, temperatures are high enough to kill people who are drinking water and not doing physical labour. 

‘Warning’ for non-Muslims caught eating in public during Ramadan

Saudi labourers still working in 55°C temperatures

Death toll among Qatar’s 2022 World Cup workers revealed

North Koreans working as ‘state-sponsored slaves’ in Qatar

Forcing people to work in 50-60°C temperatures while preventing them from drinking water is NOT "respecting culture".  It is a human rights abuse by a theocratic majority, endangering the lives of a powerless minority. 

People should have the freedom to practice their religion, what they don't have is the right to expect non-adherents to obey the religion of the majority.  But as with the catholics of the past (who did physically violate those who didn't follow catholic rules) muslim countries have no hesitation about ramadaning it down your throat.  Or rather, about preventing water going down your throat.

Political Game Shows: Play THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!

Play the THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS game!

How many lives can you save from mass shootings through your thoughts and prayers?  You too can be as equally ineffective as US politicians at stopping:

- religiously motivated hate crimes
- male gun violence
- religious terrorism




 And other threats to the lives and safety of innocent people.  Show that you don't care by effectively using your thoughts and prayers instead of actions that will actually make a difference.

Terrorists Threaten: Ignorant yank jarheads display their stupidity

Some people in the US have been arrested and been charged and even imprisoned for uttering terrorists threats of murder. The far rightwingnuts in the US have spewn trite tripe about "thoughts and prayers" for the 49 victims in Orlando. But you can be sure not a single one of them will be calling for the two US military terrorists to be prosecuted for uttering terrorist threats - threats for which muslims have been imprisoned.

Marines Under Investigation for Allegedly Threatening to Attack Gay Bars

Two marines are under investigation for uploading a photo to social media in which they allegedly threatened to attack gay bars—all less than a week after the shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, which has been deemed the worst mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history.

The photo, which was posted on the Camp MENdleton resale Facebook group—a closed group for male marines with an amassed 25,000 members—features an unnamed male corporal holding a military rifle with his finger poised on the trigger.

The caption accompanying the photo reads "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

Lip Service: The hypocrisy of punishing and celebrating dissidents

Barack Obama is "paying tribute" to Muhammad Ali after Ali's death.  In reality, Obama is paying lip service to the ideals of standing up to injustice and criminality while gutlessly doing the opposite and punishing those who dare or blow whistles.

Ali stood up against the illegal war in Vietnam at the risk of his freedom and his career, while at the height of his career.  He was not only punished by a corrupt government with a false prosecution and jail time, he also endured a corrupt media's attacks upon his character.  He was labelled a "coward" and "communist" by the US populace.  It is only in retrospect that people are calling him a hero for doing what was right.

The reality is far different today.  People like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning also stood up and did what was right, speaking out against illegal wars and war crimes.  For doing so, they are vilified by a corrupt government and a cowardly and complicit media.  One is a political prisoner of conscience, incarcerated for telling the truth that her government lied and committed a war crime.  The other is living in exile, called a "coward" by a government that murders people with impunity, that intentionally bombs hospitals to kill doctors and aid workers.

This sort of hypocrisy isn't anything new.  Back in World War I, England imprisoned people who refused to take part in that war, after first threatening to murder them (so-called "executions").  As with Ali in the US, the UK government now wants to celebrate people that it tried to punish. 

This isn't about morality and doing what's right. It's propaganda and more lies being sold both at home and abroad. 

The message is clear: It's okay to have refused to be part of war crimes fifty years ago.  But if you refuse to commit war crimes now, you're a "coward".  The scum who call pacifists "cowards" for refusing to fight in illegal wars and war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq are dishonestly trying to claim the moral standing of those who refuse to take part in wars.

Music Rules: Les Paul & Mary Ford, "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise"

Some things are timeless and need no explanation.

If you can't appreciate it, that's your loss.

Words Fail : The change in "O Canada" lyrics is insufficient

The unfortunately-current Canadian government has put forward an incomplete bill that only addresses half of a problem, completely ignoring the other equally large half.  No doubt intentionally.

The bill proposes that Canada's national anthem "O Canada" remove a masculine noun in favour of a gender neutral noun. 

Current lyric: "In all thy sons command"

Proposed lyric: "In all of us command"

This is a start, but it is only half the job required.  A modern country that purports to be a democracy has no place promoting theocracy.  All promotion of religion should be purged from official documents and ceremonies.  When you promote one, you give it official status and discriminate against others.  You also allow them to argue for their religion in government.

Current lyric: "Mythical being keep our land glorious and free"

Proposed lyric: "Let us keep our land democratic and free"







A secular state is not an atheist state, no matter how many times the religious repeat the lie.

Should ‘O Canada’ lyrics be gender-neutral? Other countries have tweaked their anthem in the past

In 2013, Switzerland ran a public contest looking for more modern lyrics for its national song The Swiss Psalm, which critics said were too religious, (When the Alps glow bright with splendor / pray to God, to Him surrender,” for example.) A winner was announced on Sept. 12, 2015, but the Swiss government has not yet voted on the change.