May 7, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

No Honor in Killing

The issue of The War on Women is happening all over the world. It looks different in every country but it still exists everywhere: it is still the disrespect and even hatred of women by men.

In America, it is pay inequality and the glass ceiling. It is also the fact that we are the only citizens who are not legally equal.

Often women are not given an education, and in some countries, women’s bodies are controlled and the government decides if they have children and how many. In other countries, a wife is immolated upon the briar of her dead husband. In some other countries, girls and women are sold because the family is too poor and there is not enough food. In yet other countries, female genital mutilation is performed to make a girl marriageable and to ensure she will not enjoy sex; in others, acid is thrown in a girl’s face to disfigure her because she said no to a young man; and in some a woman is killed in a so-called honor killing to save face for the family. In some countries, men buy little girls to have sex with them because they are pedophiles.

Think about it. It is the most disgusting list of crimes. I can barely think of a more despicable list. Fathers, Brothers, Uncles, Grandfathers look the other way; some participate; some organize the events. Misogyny has existed for many millennia and I realize it will not go away over night. But we must stand up to it. We must speak out. We must do whatever we can to help each woman who is being used, sold or brutalized.

Turning the world light on each incident is a good place to begin. Pressuring police in various countries to arrest and courts to convict perpetrators is also a righteous action.

Women, stand up for each other. Feminist men, stand up, speak up and be the brave souls we know you are and help women everywhere to become free, to live free and to pass that on to their daughters.

Namaste,

Barbara

Pakistan police arrest 14 in ‘honor killing’ of teen said to have helped bride to elope

By Aamir Iqbal and Tim Craig May 5

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — More than a dozen leaders of a small village in northwestern Pakistan were arrested Thursday and charged with burning a teenage girl to death because she helped one of her friends elope, security officials said.The crime, which is renewing attention on Pakistan’s horrific record of protecting women and children from abuse, took place on the outskirts of Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Khurram Rasheed, police chief for the northern district of Abbottabad, said Thursday that the body of Ambreen Riasat was found in a burned van in the tourist resort of Donga Gali on April 29, the Associated Press reported. Her exact age was in dispute.A graphic photo of the teenager’s charred remains quickly circulated online. It appeared as though the girl’s arms had been bound before she was set on fire.Initially, police suspected that she may have been raped by a scorned boyfriend or as part of a family dispute. But Saeed Wazir, the regional police chief in Abbottabad, said Thursday that the killing was a “pre-planned act” involving 14 village leaders. Wazir said the entire village council had sanctioned the act to send a message to other minors.“They said she must be burnt alive to make a lesson for other girls,” he said.In an act of defiance against Pakistan’s strict Islamic and paternal customs, Wazir said, the victim had helped one of her friends secretly marry her boyfriend. The bride “didn’t obey her father’s will and did a love marriage at court with a guy,” he said.

After the bride’s father found out, he requested that village elders investigate. In many parts of Pakistan, women and girls are expected to receive their father’s consent before marrying.

The village elders called a meeting, which is referred to as a Jirga. Under Pashtun culture in Pakistan and in neighboring Afghanistan, such gatherings are often held to try to reach consensus on how best to resolve local disputes. At times, the meetings also become a form of street justice.

According to Wazir, the village elders investigating the marriage quickly discovered that the victim had helped her friend evade her father’s will. The elders decided the victim needed to be punished for not disclosing her role in the marriage.

Several men then dragged the teenager out of her house and tied her into the van, Wazir said.

“Despite the requests and pleas from her parents, villagers forcibly brought her out and set her afire while roping her to the seat of the vehicle,” he said.

Both the leader of the Jirga and the father of the newlywed girl were arrested, Wazir said. A dozen other men who participated in the Jirga also were charged, he added.

It was not immediately clear whether the new bride or her husband were punished.

The case represents a troublesome expansion of mob-like tactics that women can face in Pakistan when they disobey their parents or extended family members.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 8,694 girls and women have died in so-called honor killings here between 2004 and 2015. Those crimes involved revenge killings for dishonoring a family, village or local custom.

About one-fourth of those cases involved the death of a minor. Although most common in remote areas, honor killings still occur in Pakistan even in larger, more progressive cities. The problem was highlighted recently in the Oscar-winning film “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.”

The documentary profiles a 18-year-old woman who was beaten and shot by her father and uncle in Punjab province after she married a man against their wishes. The woman, Saba, survived. Her father and uncle were arrested but later freed, according to HBO Documentary Films.

After he saw the film, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to end honor killings.

Earlier this year, Sharif’s political party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, pushed through a women’s rights bill in Punjab province. The legislation, strongly opposed by the religious community, establishes a 24-hour domestic abuse hotline and network of shelters offering housing, first aid and counseling for women.

Still, a horrific wave of abuse continues.

On Sunday, Punjab police arrested a man and charged him with killing his wife, who was seven months pregnant, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. Using a club, the man apparently beat the woman to death after she refused to allow him to take a second wife.

Also in Punjab over the weekend, a man tossed acid onto a 37-year-old woman, resulting in burns over 30 percent of her body. Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that the woman’s nephew is the main suspect. The man apparently wanted to marry one of the woman’s daughters – his cousin — but was refused.

“He was annoyed with his maternal aunt for turning down his marriage proposal,” Azhar Akram, a police officer in Multan, told Dawn.

Craig reported from Kabul.

May 6, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Dear Future Generations

Oh God of all, at this time of our gradual awakening to the dangers we are imposing on our beautiful Earth, open the hearts and minds of all your children, that we may learn to nurture rather than destroy our planet. Amen.

—Lorraine R. Schmitz

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They become more beautiful with the years, wizened, bent but not broken.

Trees become more beautiful with the years, wizened, bent but not broken.

“Let there be peace, welfare and righteousness

in every part of the world.

Let confidence and friendship prevail

for the good of east and west

for the good of the needy south

for the good of all humanity.

Let the people inspire their leaders

helping them to seek peace by peaceful means

helping them and urging them

to build a better world

a world with a home for everybody

a world with food and work for everybody

a world with spiritual freedom

for everybody.

Let those who have the power of money

be motivated by selfless compassion.

Let money become a tool

for the good of mankind.

Let those who have power

deal respectfully with the resources of the planet.

Let them respect and maintain

the purity of the air, water, land and subsoil.

Let them co-operate to restore

the ecological soundness of Mother Earth.

Let trees grow up by the billions

around the world.

Let green life invade the deserts.

Let industry serve humanity

and produce waste that serves nature.

Let technology respect

the holiness of Mother Earth.

Let those who control the mass media

contribute to create mutual understanding

contribute to create optimism and confidence.

Let ordinary people

Meet by the millions across the borders.

Let them create a universal network of love and friendship.

Let billions of human beings

co-0perate to create a good future

for their children and grandchildren.

Let us survive

In peace and harmony with Mother Earth.”

—Hagen Hasselbalch

Because we, Americans are in an election cycle, we must consider all the things that a President will have influence over or control over. War or peace. Jobs or homelessness. Green spaces around our cities breathing air we desperately need or going outside with masks over our noses and mouths. This person will have a do it my way or the highway attitude or will exhibit compassion and gentleness for the peoples who are refugees around the world. This person will enforce the precepts that our Founding Fathers formed this “great experiment” upon or they will trod all over the rights and acts which our nation was founded upon. We will have free speech or we will become a totalitarian government. We will do as we are told or we will have another Civil War.

Whomever is elected will be watched. Not just by “We the people” but by history. History will tell the truth. It may not be what is taught in our schools in the next couple of generations but the truth is what history will demonstrate in the long haul. Fellow Americans, I ask only two things during this election cycle. First, get out and vote. It is a right and it is a responsibility. If your candidate is not still in the running, vote for whomever is going to be the best or do the least damage to America. You still have choices. I, myself, have voted for the other party when the candidate my party put forth wasn’t the best choice. Second, don’t be afraid to vote for the candidate who beats their competitor. To be blunt, if you are for Sanders, and Hillary is the nominee, don’t vote for Trump in your anger. If the FBI really had all the evidence against Hillary they say they have, she would have been arrested by now. She has not been. If you think money has bought her freedom, then surely money bought Trump his victories. Which candidate will save our trees, water, stop fracking, clean up the air, stop dumping waste into our rivers and lakes and into our oceans and seas. Do you know we are about to lose our Great Barrier Reef? It is true.

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A recently released report revealed a heart wrenching discovery about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies found that at least 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef suffers from coral bleaching.

The bleaching phenomenon occurs when corals are stressed by high water temperatures or other causes. Severe bleaching could lead to the death of corals.

The task force surveyed 911 coral reefs by air and the accuracy of the researchers initial aerial surveys have been confirmed by scientific divers who are continuing to measure the impact of the bleaching. Dive teams have already discovered about 50 percent coral death.

“We have now flown over 911 individual reefs in a helicopter and light plane, to map out the extent and severity of bleaching along the full 2300 km length of the Great Barrier Reef. Of all the reefs we surveyed, only 7% (68 reefs) have escaped bleaching entirely. At the other end of the spectrum, between 60 and 100% of corals are severely bleached on 316 reefs, nearly all in the northern half of the Reef,” Professor Terry Hughes, head of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University said in a statement.

Hughes tweeted a map showing the results of the bleaching that hit the northern parts of the reef hardest:

See image of the Great Barrier Reef below:

57150817e4b07e305499fbf4_1280x720_F_v1

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Namaste,

Barbara

Our trees have stood over us, protecting us for hundreds of generations.

May 3, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

The Time Is Now

You brought me to tears and I know not why. I will pray for an outcome of truth and good. Hugs and many blessings, Barbara

Source of Inspiration

I am changing
coming to a deep realization
that I have neglected
something vital
whose time is coming.

I am preparing
with solitude and prayer
to release the deep
smoldering volcanic Force
within
no longer
can it
or should it
be contained
for its time is now.

View original post

May 3, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Torture

Guantanamo is still open, but in the process of being closed.

But there are still black sites around the world, and people in them probably still being tortured, by the United States — the country that is supposed to stand for justice and peace.

These sites, as well as Gitmo, need to be closed. There is no oversight and no control.

Torture is against international law. It is against the law of common decency and against humanity. It is heinous and unconscionable, barbaric and medieval, and it has no place in a civilized society.

While I am no expert, I was a nurse and I think that we are doing a lot of psychological and physical damage to these people, and we are lowering ourselves to the level of the jihadists. Why does America allow itself to be dragged down into the mud, when we should be the shining example to the world for human rights, equality and justice?

I am just as angry about 9/11 as every other American — as every other world citizen — but this is not justified.

The men who developed these techniques, who oversaw these works are professional men — psychiatrists, who got paid millions of dollars for this. This is blood money, pure and simple.

Gitmo must be closed to show the world that we are not hypocrites; that America actually lives according to its own precepts and laws and according to the same standards to which we hold other nations.

For those who would respond: They were enemy combatants. They deserve what they got, and we needed the intelligence, I would respond that no one deserves to be stripped of all human rights and dignity, and would also point out that even the CIA has said that these techniques are not reliable for intelligence, as a tortured person will say or do anything to get the torture to stop.

We must stop injustice wherever it lies — even in our own prisons and black sites. No exceptions.

Namaste,

Barbara

May 2, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

My Day of Discoveries

Yesterday was a pleasantly warm day with the possibilities of rain. So my sister and I want into the mountains to do some exploring. It was a wonderful day and full of many beautiful scenes. I took 139 photographs but I will just share a few with you. I hope you like them and that they add in some little way to your day.

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Now I live on the French Broad River. You have seen many pictures of the river and nearby mountains. There was also the English Broad River, which now has become the Broad River. The French Broad River is older than the surrounding mountains. It is also the only river in the continental US that flows south to north. It ends up in Tennessee. The following pictures of a river are the Broad River.

Storm coming in and mist in the mountains, Chimney Rock, NC. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

Old wooden bridge over the Broad River. Photograph and copyright Barbara Mattio, 2016 (in the rain)

The River. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

Huge rocks. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

In places it rushes by. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

I love the little white caps. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The river rambles through the mountains. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The river flows through it. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

River swirls. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

River rock. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The river. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The Broad River. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

Some of the rocks which have slid down the river are quite large. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

Rocks from the mountains have fallen into the river. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

Wooden bridge over the Broad River. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The Broad River. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

A creek which feeds the Broad River. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

I named this the Sunflower House. Photography and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

The Eastern Continental Divide. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

I love lavender. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016

May 1, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Tamir Rice

I lived in Cleveland twenty five years. So the Tamir Rice case is close to my heart. I have nine grandchildren and he was only 12 years old. Each and every senseless murder by police of young men of color has hurt my heart. But this twelve year old, playing in a public park alone and dying in the snow on a cold Cleveland day ripped me to shreds.

Tamir lived close to the park. His sister was home and was 14 years old. A person called 911 that there was a suspicious person in the park and looked like he had a toy gun. The 911 operator radioed the police car and did not say it may have been a child with a toy gun. The cop car rolled up practically on top of twelve year old Tamir. A cop jumped out, called to Tamir, who was into his game, and within two seconds this child was dead. His life cut out without an investigation, without giving the child time to process that a cop car was there and he may have been told to do something. He stopped, turned to the person speaking to him and fell to the ground, dead. Dead and lifeless.

He went out to play on a cold Cleveland snowy day in a public park and then he was dead. Alone. His mother and sister barred by police from going to him and perhaps being able to hold him in their arms as he died. A twelve year old child playing on a winter day with a toy gun was dead and his Mom would never hear him laugh again or see him open his birthday presents ever again. This is just the beginning of the story.

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Cleveland Cops Can’t Stop Trolling Tamir Rice’s Family

Published on Apr 25, 2016

Cleveland, Ohio has granted the Tamir Rice family a six million dollar settlement in a civil lawsuit filed against the city and its law enforcement. Unrepentant officials decided to twist the knife into Rice’s parents one more time by saying they hope they spend the settlement money on a campaign warning of the dangers of toy guns. Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola (ThinkTank), and Jimmy Dore, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

“THE CITY OF CLEVELAND announced on Monday that it will pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was tragically killed by police officers in 2014 while holding a toy gun.

The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association released a statement responding to the settlement. Rather than acknowledging any error on the police’s part, the association suggested that the Rice family use the funds to “educate the youth of Cleveland in the dangers associated with the mishandling of both real and facsimile firearms.””*

Hosts: Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore

Shocking Details About Cleveland Cops Who Killed Tamir Rice

Published on Dec 22, 2014

The Cleveland police officers who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice have some hideous stories about them as well as the Cleveland Police Department itself.

Not Justice & Not Enough: Tamir Rice Family Gets $6M Settlement for Police Killing of 12-Year-Old

Published on Apr 26, 2016

http://democracynow.org – As Cleveland officials agree to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of Tamir Rice, the youngest victim in a spate of well-known police killings of unarmed African Americans, we speak with Zoe Salzman, one of his family’s attorneys, and with Rian Brown, an organizer from Black Lives

City agrees to demolish gazebo where Tamir Rice was shot

Friday, April 29th 2016, 8:10 am EDTFriday, April 29th 2016, 9:21 am EDT

By Shanice Dunning, Reporter

Posted by Cleveland 19 Digital Team

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) –The gazebo where Tamir Rice, 12, was shot by Cleveland police November 2014 will be torn down.

Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir, told Cleveland 19 News back in September she wanted the gazebo to come down.

“It needs to be torn down. It needs to be torn down. It’s a bad thing,” said Rice. “I’m hoping the city will allow me to tear it down and redo the park area.”

Posted by Cleveland 19 Digital Team

The city plans to tear it down as soon as Monday, according to Cleveland 19 News reporter, Scott Taylor.

People still come to leave mementos at the spot where Tamir was shot at Cudell Recreation Center.

tamirricegazebo

The city released a statement Friday, saying it had considered disassembling the gazebo at the rec center previously, “but due to criminal, civil and administrative cases, we could not proceed until it was no longer needed for evidential purposes.”

There are plans to build a memorial at Cudell through donations.

A grand jury decided on Dec. 28, 2015 not to indict the two officers involved in the shooting, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback. Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said the evidence did not warrant criminal charges.

On Nov. 22, 2014, Tamir was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer after a report of a male with a gun outside of a Cleveland recreation center. Officers Loehmann and Garmback responded to the scene. Loehmann fired the shot that killed the 12-year-old.

The city settled this week with the Rice family for $6 million dollars.

City of Cleveland Settles Tamir Rice Lawsuit for $6 Million

by CORKY SIEMASZKO and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Another painful chapter in the Tamir Rice tragedy closed Monday when the city of Cleveland agreed to pay $6 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by the slain boy’s family.

Click link below to see statement from Cleveland’s Mayor

http://www.nbcnews.com/widget/video-embed/673285699964

Cleveland Mayor on Tamir Rice Settlement: No Price You Can Put On a Life Lost 0:46

But the city admitted no wrongdoing in the death of the 12-year-old black boy who was fatally shot by a white cop while holding a pellet gun outside a recreation center.

Tamir Rice Courtesy Rice family attorney

“Although historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life,” the Rice family’s lawyers said in a statement. “In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back.”

An order filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Monday says the city will pay out $3 million this year and $3 million the next.

Tamir’s estate has been assigned $5.5 million of the settlement amount. A Cuyahoga County probate judge will decide how the amount will be divided. Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, will receive $250,000. Claims against Tamir’s estate account for the remaining $250,000. Tamir’s father, Leonard Warner, was dismissed in February as a party to the lawsuit.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said the settlement brought an end to the civil case, but considerable pain — for Rice’s family and the city as a whole — remained.

“While we have settled the legal side of this and the court side of this for $6 million, there is no price you can put on the life of a lost 12-year-old child,” Jackson told reporters.

Asked how the settlement amount squared with the lack of any admission of wrongdoing, the mayor replied: “It’s just a legal way of doing things.”

The settlement won’t impact an ongoing disciplinary investigation against the officers, he said.

The fatal shooting unfolded on Nov. 22, 2014: A police cruiser raced in front of a Cleveland recreation center and rolled up alongside Rice. One of the two police officers inside the car jumped out and fired his service weapon twice. Rice, who earlier had been flashing around a toy pellet gun, crumpled onto the snowy soil.

The incident lasted less than two seconds. (click link below to see video:

http://www.nbcnews.com/widget/video-embed/381538883872 Please double click

Extended Tamir Rice Shooting Video Shows Cops Restraining Sister 2:02)

Tamir Rice shooting: Cleveland to pay $6 million to settle family’s lawsuit

By Michael Pearson, CNN

Updated 10:56 PM ET, Mon April 25, 2016

ayor says he hopes the settlement will begin to move city toward closure
City doesn’t acknowledge fault in the fatal 2014 shooting of 12-year-old boy

(CNN)The city of Cleveland will pay $6 million to settle the federal lawsuit filed by the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy killed by police gunfire in November 2014, according to a settlement announced Monday in U.S. District Court.

According to terms of the settlement, the city acknowledges no fault in Tamir’s death, which came after a 911 caller told of someone in a city park brandishing what appeared to be a toy gun.

Officer Timothy Loehmann, a trainee, shot Tamir moments after arriving in response to the call. Police said the boy was pulling out what was later found to be a toy gun when he was shot.

Prosecutor: “Perfect storm of human error” killed Tamir Rice 03:35

In December, a grand jury declined to indict Loehmann or his trainer, Officer Frank Garmback, in Tamir’s death. The grand jury concluded the shooting was a “perfect storm of human error, mistakes and communications” but not a criminal act, prosecutor Tim McGinty said at the time.

The family’s January 2015 wrongful death lawsuit argued the city was negligent in Tamir’s death.

The family said dispatchers should have told officers about a 911 caller’s statements that the gun Tamir had was likely a toy, that officers approached the scene too aggressively and Loehmann fired too quickly, and that they failed to help the boy after he was shot.

The family also alleged that Loehmann wasn’t suited to be a police officer and that the city failed to vet or supervise officers properly.

In response, the city said in legal filings that Tamir was at fault and maintained the city was entitled to immunity under state and federal law.

Mayor Frank Jackson later apologized for the wording, calling it hurtful and disrespectful.

On Monday, Jackson addressed reporters on the settlement, declining to offer details about how the agreement was reached and expressing hope the settlement would begin to move the city toward closure.

But he said, “There is no price that you can put on the life, on the loss, of a 12-year-old child.”

The city will pay half of the money this year, and half next year, according to a document filed in court.

The Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association responded with a statement. “We have maintained from the onset this has been an absolute tragedy for the Rice family as well as our involved officers and their families. Our hearts continue to be with them,” Stephen Loomis, the president of the association, said in a short emailed statement.

“We can only hope the Rice family and their attorneys will use a portion of this settlement to help educate the youth of Cleveland in the dangers associated with the mishandling of both real and facsimile firearms. Something positive must come from this tragic loss. That would be educating youth of the dangers of possessing a real or replica firearm.

“We look forward to the possibility of working with the Rice family to achieve this common goal.”

A probate judge must still approve the settlement, according to the document.

Mother of Tamir Rice says police threatened to arrest her

Published on Dec 8, 2014

The mother of the boy who had a toy gun and was fatally shot by police in Cleveland talks to the media.

This is obviously not a new news story. But so many young black lives have been snuffed out and Tamir was a child. I have a grandson who is twelve. I felt due to the recent killing of the young man in Texas, who was shot seven times in the back, it was time to remind Americans that we do not shoot first and ask questions later.

To the entire Rice family, I apologize for the lack of compassion and empathy on the part of the officers who had just killed Tamir. Rest in Peace, little one. You will never be forgotten. May your family’s grief heal with time and may you find peace.

I feel that Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio as well as Governor John Kasich should introduce legislation to make it a crime to manufacture or sell toy guns.

Namaste,

Barbara