Watching Old Man River

Something very relaxing about setting on the bank of a river and watching the world go by.

September 28, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

South China Sea and International Law: Vietnam, Philippines Watching China Closely

September 28, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Croatia: Smearing Will Not Stick To Kolinda – She Is A Leader

Croatian presidential candidate
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
on “Sunday at 2” TV program 21 September 2014
Photo: Screen shot

Rushed, half-baked backroom deals that are doomed to wither away into economic impact nothingness, slow chipping away at corruption by processing “top dogs” instead of building anti-corruption monitoring in all places of public office, or measures of nationalistic pride will not save Croatia from economic bankruptcy and social disintegration. Leadership will!

Presidential Candidate Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is a leader; she has proven that and she commands respect as such. What’s more important is that she is a champion of democratic thought and action – something Croatian society needs.

The fact that she is widely perceived as a leader is reflected in the campaign of smears against her, evidently waged, either directly or indirectly through the control of the media by the current president Ivo Josipovic’s camp. A campaign of smears is usually associated with…

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September 28, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Never Too Early: Cooperstown Thinking Ahead For Derek Jeter’s Induction

September 27, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Listen to this….

Quote originally posted at ConsequenceofSound.net

Ed Note: Today, The Beatles’ Abbey Road celebrates its 45th anniversary. In light of the occasion, we’re republishing this story, which was originally posted in September 2013.

A few years ago, we named The Beatles’Abbey Road as the greatest album of all time. Follow our breadcrumbs of reasoning and you’ll read about Paul McCartney’s final swan song: the medley. It’s a religious experience with an ensuing legacy that continues to influence musicians both new and old. Now, someone’s stripped away all the music and, instead, left its vocal tracks. What one should take away here is how synonymous the Fab Four really were, even amidst their forthcoming demise. “Match made in heaven” comes to mind, and really, aside from The Beach Boys, The Temptations, and The Bee Gees — it doesn’t get better than this. Stream below and lose yourself in the process.

Note: This is the Abbey Road Album, with the instrumentation removed. As a result, there are long pauses between some of the vocals, wherever you would have heard the instruments. Please be patient through the pauses; I believe you will find it well worth your time.

The Beatles were my first band — the first band I truly loved — and I vowed to myself that, when I saw them, I was not going to act like those crazy girls on TV, and scream and cry and hold my head. That’s not the way it happened, though. Despite my best intentions, I did scream and cry and hold my head and acted just like all the other girls.

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AbbeyRoad

The Beatles have always been my first musical loves, but hearing their harmonies stripped of the musical instrumentation, leaving just the pure power of their vocalizations, left me with my mouth literally hanging open. I’ve always known — everyone has always known — that their singing was tight, but now I know why Beatlemania happened. I know why I screamed, and the girls around me screamed: because we were hearing voices not otherwise heard outside of Heaven and the Angels’ Chorus. Never, in my opinion — and no, I am not a musical ‘expert’, but I am a fan of music, and I listen to many kinds of music spanning many decades — there has never been a better natural mix of voices in terms of their ability to compliment, counter and enhance the others. They were truly unique in the history of music, and I hope that you will enjoy this revelation as much as I did.

September 26, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

August Town Tragedy, Absence from Custody and Less With More: Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Petchary's Blog

My apologies for the hiatus. The past week has been very busy, and I have been doing quite a bit of writing elsewhere! See below…

Police vehicles parked in August Town near where Constable James Grant was shot dead on Monday. (Photo: Michael Gordon/Jamaica Observer)

The death of a policeman: I once knew August Town quite well. It’s at the end of a road that passes by the University of the West Indies campus. So close is it to the ivory towers of academia that there have been well-meaning efforts over the years (spearheaded by the late Professor Barry Chevannes) to “uplift” the community. Nevertheless, it continues to struggle with a legacy of politically-instigated violence. It is now mainly gang violence, while the politicians mostly do some posturing. It has been relatively peaceful for a while, but yesterday a policeman was shot dead in African Gardens, one of the less…

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September 26, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Is it glamourous to be a victim?

These days there are two kinds of women who are victims. One is the woman who has been sexually molested. The other are women who have been in a battering situation. Both type of woman has been violated. The violation is physical and emotional and mental.

The first time a man hits a woman, she is in shock. She can’t believe this person she loves would have raised his hand and hit her. Hit her so hard her lip bled and her jaw cracked. The pain is excruciating. He is screaming at her and calling her stupid and ugly. Her mind freezes. This is a nightmare. She must be dreaming. She must. This can’t really be happening.

When a woman is a victim or rape or molestation, the man and society often try to tell her it is her own fault. She shouldn’t have been where she was, her skirt was too short, she is a tease. Violence goes with the unwanted sex. Rape is often happening at the same time as she is tied up, he talks trash to her. Rape often includes inanimate objects which can cause severe injuries that will require surgery or leave permanent injuries.

There is no perk to being victimized. None. Some women are stronger than others, they can walk away the first time they are battered. For some, the emotional abuse wrecks their self-confidence and his words begin to play over and over in her head. With time that voice is louder than the voices of the people around her.

A woman who has been raped, she knows what kinds of things that may be said about her. She was asking for it. She really wanted it. In truth, rape has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with power and control. The rapist needs that power and control to perform. Often a rapist will threaten to come back and kill her if she tells anyone. He often has a gun or a knife in his hand. So, many young women hesitate to report the rape.Some can take a month or two to find the courage and conquer the shame before they can report it.

Both types of victims feel shame, guilt and fear. Battered women live with the abuser and fear more abuse. Often, when they leave, it is in the middle of the night and they flee for their lives and the lives of their children. Many have no job skills, or access to credit. This is why battered women’s shelters are so important. It is important that shelter locations remain secret to protect the women and children who are staying there and also to protect the staff. Taxi drivers know where they are.

There is nothing to be gained by being a victim. Helping a woman to listen to her own voice and not the voice of her rapist of batterer is important but it often takes quite a while. There is no status in being raped or beaten. Society needs to remember that these women are someone’s daughters, sisters, cousins, mother and friends.

So please don’t judge. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Take in consideration that she is vulnerable and frightened. Scorn from people in her life will only increase her fear and vulnerability.

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