Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Poverty Of Power



“…Poor poor pitiful me
Poor poor pitiful me
Oh these boys won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe woe is me

Well I met a man out in Hollywood [wherever]
Now I ain't naming names
Well he really worked me over good
Just like Jesse James
Yes he really worked me over good
He was a credit to his gender
Put me through some changes Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender…”


“Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” – Warren Zevon




            …And, woe, woe, woe are WE.  Is God, Allah, Yahwey.  Is Islam.  Are Muslims, Christians, Jews, everyone.  Are the good.  TO “JIHADIS” EVERYWHERE, LISTEN UP:
You are not Muslims.  You hurt Islam.  You hurt God.  You hurt all the Prophets. ANY “JIHAD” MUST BE AGAINST YOU; FOR YOU ARE THE TRUE ENEMIES OF ISLAM, OF GOD, OF LOVE; FOR GOD IS LOVE, IS CREATION, NOT DESTRUCTION.  STOP MISINTERPRETING THE QU’RAN.  STOP INSINUATING YOUR POVERTY OF THOUGHT, “REASON,” HATRED INTO THE WORDS OF MUHAMMED, INTO THE “INTENTIONS” OF GOD.  YOU ARE A BLIGHT UPON GOD’S WORLD.   YOU DO NOT “DEFEND” ISLAM.  YOU HURT ISLAM AND OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS EVERYWHERE.  YOU HURT EVERYONE AND ALL RELIGIONS.  YOU DEFILE CREATION WITH YOUR DESTRUCTION.  YOU HURT GOD.

            Radicalization.  It used to mean “becoming extreme, radical in ideology,” NOT “mission creep” into violent action.  THERE IS NO “MISSION” BUT THE ONE “RE-WRITERS” of the QU’RAN are creating to feel powerful, act out their hatreds, the unhealed wounds of sick psyches, USING YOU AS THEIR INSTRUMENTS.  The only thing “FUNDAMENTAL” about the wrongly used term “FUNDAMENTALIST” is the fundamental crack in the mental foundations of those who would act heinously against anyone in the name of any religion.  This includes crazies who call themselves “Christians,” who go blow up abortion clinics.
IF THESE BOYS WON’T LET YOU BE, IF ANYONE IS TELLING YOU THEY HEAR GOD TELLING THEM TO RECRUIT PEOPLE TO DO HARM, YOU MUST, MUST KNOW THEY ARE MENTALLY ILL AND NEED MEDICATION, NOT PROLIFERATION OF THEIR PROFANE IDEAS THEY WANT YOU TO ACTUALIZE, TO ACT OUT.

IF YOU ARE ANGRY, LOST, GO TO THERAPY, DO NOT SEEK OUT THOSE WHO WOULD PLAY TO YOUR BASEST INSTINCTS. SEEK PEACE.  IF YOU SEEK SOME KIND OF VENGEANCE YOU WRONGLY PROSCRIBE TO ANY RELIGION, UNDERSTAND THAT THE HOLY BOOKS OF ALL THE MAJOR RELIGIONS STATE THAT “GOD SAYS, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE,’” NOT YOURS. THERE ARE OTHER GREAT TRUTHS THAT ALL MAJOR RELIGIONS AND SANE PEOPLE ASCRIBE TO:  THOU SHALT NOT KILL LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF…IF YOU SEE A MOTE IN ANOTHER’S EYE, LOOK INTO YOUR OWN…HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE…”
NO ONE, NO RELIGION, NO IDEOLOGY IS SERVED BY VIOLENCE.  IF YOU ACT VIOLENTLY IN THE NAME OF ANY RELIGION OR PHILOSOPHY, YOU ACT AGAINST YOURSELVES AND ALL OTHERS.
In other words, your actions backfire.  And all you serve to do is unleash an UNGODLY moment of anarchy, and God weeps.  As the great poet, William Butler Yeats, said in his poem, “Second Coming,”


           
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity…”

…The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”



We are all tempest-tossed, turning and turning in the widening gyre.  We all have tear-stained, broken dreams.  We all are hurt, are human, are vulnerable.  In our human condition, our pain, and, through our vulnerability, we learn lessons, find strength, hope, faith, and we go on.  We suffer dreams deferred or defeated--yours as well as ours.  We all suffer when one among us, among humanity suffers.  We suffer for the women who are raped, beaten, burned, killed.  We suffer for the men, women, and children in poverty, in hunger, in danger, in despair, in ALL countries.  We suffer over injustice.  BUT, WE ACT IN CONSTRUCTIVE WAYS TO SEEK HEALING, ALLEVIATION.  WE DO NOT BOMB, MAIM, DESTROY. DO NOT CONFUSE US—EVERYWHERE, ANYWHERE—WITH THE ACTIONS OF GOVERNMENTS; FOR WE ARE INDIVIDUALS WORKING COLLECTIVELY, PEACEABLY FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, UNIVERSALLY.

Yes, the worst ARE full of passionate intensity.  Read “worst” as all of those whose “convictions” wreak havoc:  Republicans, Evangelists, “Crusaders” for anything against humanity, the human condition, and who all seem to co-opt GOD as their back-up guy.  YOU.  We cannot afford, nor must we allow, mere anarchy to be loosed upon the world.  We will not swim in blood-dimmed tides.  We will all be bloodied by the acts of those with such HUBRIS as to think they know what God wants.  What you, politicians, evangelists, extremists, “jihadis” want is POWER, and it is more illusion, delusion than real.  True power is not pitched to a wail.  It does not need to be.  It can be quiet.  It can be humble.  It can only be humane, as it must be just.


The Poverty of Power.  Those seeking it are in need.  Those trying to hold it are in the grasp of the elusive.  And centuries of sleep, the “not knowing” of the kind of evil that wants to be all-powerful, that steals children, that makes them forget their humanity, their place, a holier, humane purpose to life, has been vexed to nightmare by the rocking cradle you once lay in, rough beast, until you grew into ability, and went stumbling to Hell, not Bethlehem.

Poor, Poor Pitiful You.


Friday, April 19, 2013

How It Happens




I am invisible
When I walk into
A room
I have to be
Loud, intrusive
If you are
Talking to another
Then you
Are not
Talking to
Me
So I interrupt
You
Because you
Don’t
See
Me.

I am hungry
For attention
I don’t get
And never did
The growl of
My need
Spews out
My mouth
Knocks people
Down
Screams over
Others.

I am empty
Nothing
Fills or
Satisfies me
Not
Food or
Sports or
School or
Smiles or
Empty conversation.

I am no one
I will turn
To
God
Or
Gangs
Or
Guns
Or
Gutters
To
Learn
To
Be
And
To
Be
Seen.

I will join a
Church
Temple
Mosque
Jihad
War
Fight
Rape
Kill
Condemnation.

I will feel
Better
Blessed
Chosen
Crowned
Brother
Sister
Soldier
Martyr.

I will die
Killing
Maiming
Shaming
Many,
Many
Others
Too
Blind
To
See
Me
Before.

I will be
Famous
Omnipresent
Bogeyman
Monster
Under
Your
Bed
Every
Night
And
Day.

I will leave my
Mark
Scar
Piss
Shit
Desecration
Abomination
Everywhere
And
For
All
Time.

I was once invisible
You did not
See me
Hear me
Want me
Hold me
Touch me
Feed me
Watch me
Know me
Guide me.

But now
You will
Never
Forget
Me
Because
I Am
And
Always
Will Be 
Blasphemy

Thursday, April 18, 2013

We Will Never Forget This



They can’t paint the blood
Off of Sandy Hook’s walls
Tidal wave, and red river
Flowing down the school halls
We asked for some justice
We got none at all
How do we get up
After this fall?


Went to the home
Of our democracy
Said, “Please Mr. Senator,
Won’t you help me?”
He smiled and he fawned
Said, “Please move along;
You can’t get nothin’ helpful
From me”

No considered act of kindness
From the simple, sick
And mindless
For all of those souls
Our Senate’s
Too white and too male
And too old
You all got blood
On your hands and your souls

What the hell are you doing
In all of our names?
We sent you to do
Whatever it takes
For us, not for you,
Or the NRA
We’re here to tell you
“Just go and we’ll stay.”

Why are you there?
You never did care
You’re prostitutes to power
Never had a “finest hour”
Why you there?
When everyone knows
You don’t care


Way back when, in 1776
Brave, tired people were
Itchin’ for a fix
Put it all on the line
Dragged a king through
the slime
Don’t think we can’t do it
A second time

We made a Declaration
Said we can abolish you
Make a new nation
For the greater good, too
Can’t pimp out Lady Liberty
We just won’t let you
Why don’t you just leave
And go fuck yourself, too

What the hell are you doing
In all of our names?
We sent you to do
Whatever it takes
For us, not for you,
Or the NRA
We’re here to tell you
We’re here to stay


You said, “Keep walkin’”
Well, we’re here
To do the talkin’
For all of those who got
Blown away…


Their names are on
my tongue
The beautiful and the young
Lives like songs
Waiting to be sung:

This is for Rachel, Ana, Charlotte,
Danny, Jesse, Jack
All little angels
who are not coming back,
And Olivia, Josephine, Dylan,
Lauren and Dawn
The agony and the list goes on
There’s Madeleine, Catherine, Chase,
Caroline, Jessica, Grace,
Benjamin, Avielle, Vicki,
Mary, Anne Marie, Emilie,
Allison, Noah, and James

We will never forget
Their lives
And their names

“We Will Never Forget This” – Joan Reale

This is for all victims of gun violence everywhere,
and, with special appreciation for Gabby Giffords...




I don’t know what to say about yesterday’s fall.  I can’t write much that has not already been written, say what hasn't already been said.  I offer this poem, in the hope that it will say something meaningful, something from me. 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Great Lyric, A Bad Poem, And I'm Appreciatin' It All...





How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

                                                      “Blowin' in the Wind” - Bob Dylan




Today someone’s eight year old
Is being mourned
And another with no future
Is somewhere being born
I think everyone should try on
A weighty crown of thorns
Count the tears in Earth’s raiment
Before making more
What to do?
What to do?

Stop countin’ the wrongs
Someone’s always doin’ you
Look into the mirror
See the hurt you caused, too
Twenty babies dead just North
Of me and nothin’ I can do
‘Cept write a song like a hymn
And send it out to you

There is no grand solution
That doesn’t take us all
There ain’t no perfection here
We all stumble
We all fall
But the blood that we shed
And tears we cause others to cry
Should be accidental at the least
Tryin’ to tame the wild beast inside

Baptize me at the well of forgiveness
That never goes dry
Make me see the least of me
In another man’s eye
We all gotta stop pretendin’
We got no hand in this
Can’t heal a hurtin’ world
With a Judas kiss
What to do?
I’m all in
What about you?

You say you don’t fit in
You feel like an other
Extend your hand
To the next man
And call him your brother
There’s a cure for these ills
If you got the will
What will you do?
I’m all in
What about you?

Hate is the foulest of
Four letter words
Get down on your knees
For those you have hurt
Change comes slow and hard
If you want it to
I guess it depends upon you
What to do?
I’m all in
What about you?

So what will you do, now
Now that you know?
Tell yourself the hard truths
And hate will let you go
How do I know this?
I been there, I know
I think it’s time for you
To let it go
That’s what you do
I’m all in
What about you?

Shout your love
From the mountain tops
Before they disappear
We ain’t been good stewards
Laid down waste the Earth
Can’t bear
We’re learnin’ hard lessons
Ain’t that good to hear?
Put ‘em in action
That’s what we could do
I’m all in
What about you?


What to do?
Try and live true.
What to do?
Help another through
What to do?
Thread the needle
Sew up someone’s wounds
Doin’ some good
Is all we can do
I’m all in
What about you?

  “What About You?” – Joan Reale



            It takes guts to follow great lyrics with a bad poem.  I got guts.  Bob Dylan wrote the classic, “Blowin’ In The Wind” in 1962.  Fifty-one years ago, a half a century ago, and it still applies.  So, how many roads?  How many tears?  How many deaths before we realize ALL of this is in OUR collective hands. … Ok. I got thrown off track:  Someone just called my number; I answered it, and this man said, “Saddam?”  Is this a good sign?  I’m gonna take it as one.

Instead of screeching about all the world’s ills, I really need to get back to my commitment to find those things for which I can be grateful—a commitment I did not mean to break…I really upset myself with my last screed about violence against women and had to sleep.  For two days.  Yes, caring and cursing have their costs.
Now, back to my commitment…


Today, I am grateful for…



1.  Bob Dylan writing “Blowin’ In The Wind” fifty years ago.  I am grateful for beautiful songs.


2.  Going shopping straight from work even though I had to pee in the worst way.  I am grateful I do not need “Depends” yet.


3.  That Boston is coming together, there were not more deaths, and prayers are going out from all over the place.  I am grateful for prayers.


4.  First responders, who run toward the things that make us run away.  I am grateful for the EMTs, police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, volunteers who responded when some bastard, or bastards, who didn’t get therapy or enough attention from their parents decided to blow some people away.  I am grateful for first responders.


5.  My students, who, knowing I was having bad anxiety over tomorrow’s all-day visit by our new principal, took up my challenge that they shine tomorrow by teaching.  They all did research and wrote lesson plans.  They were beautiful.  I am grateful for my students.


6.  My anxiety, that has momentarily lifted.  Tomorrow is another story.  I hope to be grateful for calm tomorrow, as I am grateful for it today.


7.  Maria, my BEAUTIFUL cousin, who believes my destiny is to be a real writer.


8.  Emmie, my BEAUTIFUL daughter-doggie, who ALWAYS makes me feel better, my Beautiful Melissa, whose messages and posts lift my spirits and are the first things I check for when I wake up, and my Beautiful Nicole, who makes me feel like she lives across the street when she actually lives across the world, and whose messages are also the first things I check for when I wake up.  I am grateful for Emmie, Melissa, and Nicole.


9.  Having the guts to write a poem after putting in print Bob Dylan’s great lyrics.


10.  That I got a phone call from a guy who thought I was “Saddam.”  How many other people can say that?  I am grateful for a wrong number.


More tomorrow…

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Quick, But Genuine APPRECIATION



Ok.  Tiger did not win the Masters, yet I still feel appreciative about a lot, actually.  Here goes:


Today I Appreciate...


1.  A new, rich friendship with Nicole.  She is thoughtful, reflective, well-informed, accepting.  She is a teacher.  Her life is fascinating.  Her writing and thinking is clear and beautiful. She lives in Saudi Arabia and we've been "talking" all day.  She is my wonderous gift today.  I appreciate Nicole.


2. Taking Emmie for a walk with Karen.  We all enjoyed it.  Emmie led us around, and was quite happy with herself.  Peeps and 2 poops for good measure.  I appreciate our family walk.


3.  Facetime with our nephew, Justin. We adore him.  He showed us his new doll, Eep, from the Croods movie.  I saw that with him and David, my littlest nephew. 


4. Justin's gap-toothed smile, and how he requests that Aunt Karen mimic a cukoo clock, a blue-jay singing, and dogs talking.  I appreciate my beautiful Justin.


5.  Eating Dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate syrup and chocolate liqeur.  I appreciate chocolate.


6.  A hot shower.  I appreciate being clean and smelling good.


7.  Karen going out to get us ice cream and stuff for me to make my own lunch tomorrow, saving me time, and us money.  I appreciate Karen.


8.  My purple plum tree in bloom.  I appreciate Nature.


9.  Reminiscing about my father with Karen, and having myself a good cry.  I  appreciate, and miss, my father.


10. The garden coming to life, the "talks" with an insightful, kind soul from across the world, realizing I need to get my eyes checked when Karen said, "Look at the duck swimming," and I couldn't even see the pond.
I appreciate this day.

'Night all...

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Another Quickie


I spent days researching my blog post on the plight of women in our world and am exhausted, BUT, my committment to appreciatin' is STRONG...so, here goes:

Today I am grateful for:


1.  Writing my new blog post, "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World"


2.  Tiger in the hunt at the Master's.


3.  Organic food.  There is a difference.


4.  Reaching out to more people to share my blog posts.


5.  Making new friends on facebook.


6.  Karen's raise.  YAY!!!


7.  Emmie nesting in MANY comfortable blankets and pillows.


8.  Figuring out how to insert photos on my blog without having to call my cousin Susan in a panic.


9.  Backing up my writings after losing a lot of well-researched material, and pages of writing, about War Crimes and why Dubya and his Shoot 'Em Up Gang should be prosecuted for committing them.


10.  Hours of non-stop research, writing, editing, and formulating a curse-fest against those who hate women, a nice hot shower afterwards, and relaxing watching the Masters.  Augusta National is glorious in April bloom.  Correction I have to make here:  I am grateful for Hole 13 at Augusta; that hole is named "Azalea."  By the way, I also love the holes named Camillia and Dogwood...hell, I love the whole damn course, and I really shouldn't:  ironically, and especially with my focus on what I have been writing, they do not allow women to become members there.  Fuck Augusta.  That is for all the women I cried over today.

11.  I couldn't end with that last one, so, something worthy, that should have been Number 1:  I am grateful for the women who lived through hell, talked about it, allowed themselves to be photographed--although they could be killed for it--and the women, and men, who help them heal, who help them continue to live to tell their stories.


GO  HILLARY,  2016 !!!

WOMAN IS THE NIGGER OF THE WORLD









“…Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it


We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be a slave, we say that she don't love us
If she's real, we say she's trying to be a man
While putting her down, we pretend that she's above us


Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave of the slaves
Ah, yeah...better scream about it


We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother hen
We tell her home is the only place she should be
Then we complain that she's too unworldly to be our friend


We insult her every day on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she's young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb


Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...if you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yes she is...if you believe me, you better scream about it


We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

“Woman Is The Nigger Of The World”

-Yoko Ono and John Lennon






Qamar Jan,18, was attacked with acid by her angry fiancé after a marriage refusal.

 

Afghan President Karzai: Beating wives is the "law of all Muslims and all Afghans"

Credits:  Paula Bronstein/Getty Images



  


 

Gul Meena, who was attacked by her brother, and left for dead for dishonoring their family, recovering at a hospital in Jalalabad.  She is now in the care of women who run a Women’s Shelter in Afghanistan, see photos above. (Caption, mine).




Afghan patient Parwin, 23, a mother of three children and three months pregnant, receives medical treatment by staff at the burn unit of Isteqlal hospital, after she committed self-immolation, in Kabul on October 8, 2011. Parwin covered herself in kerosene before setting fire to herself in her kitchen in Kunduz province. According to Parwin her husband who is working as daily laborer gave her very small amount of money and her brother-in-law often beat her, and once shocked her with electrical wires. (from:  pixtale.net)

Can you stand this?  Can you stand this, I ask?  I cannot.  I cannot.  Women immolating themselves because they cannot stand to live their lot in life in horrible places?  If this is the kind of country Hamid Zarzai presides over, and his unimaginably sick brethren in countries far and wide, many of which get World Bank Aid, U.S. Aid, NATO Aid, HOW CAN WE CONTINUE TO ALLOW IT???  HOW CAN WE STAND IDLY BY AND JUST WATCH IT???  Are you sick yet?  Are you feeling sick?  Well, I want you to feel ANGER...a boiling, voluminous ANGER...an incandescent, preternaturally glowing anger...and, I want you to do something...
I want you to do something...WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!!!  Turning Away Is Not An Option...
And, for you abusers of women...

  Things are about to get uglier right here, right now:  Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, listen carefully: YOU ARE A FUCKING CRIMINAL.  YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.  WE NEED TO SEE YOU REMOVED, ARRESTED, TRIED AT THE HAGUE.  WE NEED TO SEE YOU IMPRISONED, WHERE SOME BIG, FILTHY, INFECTED MAN CAN MAKE YOU HIS FUCKING GIRLFRIEND.  I WANT TO MEET YOU.  TRY PULLING MY PANTS DOWN.  JUST TRY PULLING MY FUCKING PANTS DOWN.  I TELL YOU NOW, YOU WILL DIE TRYING.  YOU CORRUPT, INHUMAN FUCK!  YEAH, SUCK ON THIS, WHILE MY IMAGINATION WATCHES YOU SUCKING SOME GUY’S DICK, WITH ANOTHER GUY’S UP YOUR SOFT ASS!!!  HERE IN AMERICA, WOMAN DO NOT WEAR BURKAS, WE WEAR WHAT WE WANT, GO WHERE WE PLEASE, AND NO ONE—NO MAN, NOBODY CAN TOUCH US WITHOUT SEVERE REPRISALS, WITHOUT JUSTICE RAINING DOWN ON HIM.  SO COME ON OVER.  I REALLY WANT TO MEET YOU.  WE GOT SOME BUSINESS TO TAKE CARE OF. 
We give you how much aid?  HOW MUCH???  $ 16 BILLION over the next four years.  Another $ 4.1  BILLION from NATO per year, BITCH.  You stealing these funds, crooked, sick BASTARD?  We got ways of finding out.  Yes, we do.  And when we do, the WOMEN of Afghanistan, the UNITED STATES, THE WORLD pledge that we won’t rest until your ass is getting ripped up in some faraway prision…no.  Strike that.  You should, although this won’t happen, BUT, you really ought to know how I feel, HOW MY SISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FEEL ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, so, I want you here.  Imprisoned HERE.  WHERE WE KNOW LOTS OF DIRTY MEN WOULD JUST LOVE TO TEAR YOUR ASS UP.  Ok.  So it’s a dream.  MY DREAM.  ‘CAUSE HERE IN AMERICA, WOMEN GET THE RIGHT TO DREAM, THINK, LIVE, AND SCREAM OUT OUR WISHES, HOPES, AND DREAMS.



And, we will not live in chains.

____________________________________________


And,  TO EVERY OTHER COUNTRY TO WHICH WE GIVE AID, THAT TREAT WOMEN ABOMINABLY, LISTEN UP:


WE ARE UNITED AGAINST YOU AND YOUR REGIMES.  WE WILL FUND AND FIGHT WITH WOMEN’S AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF ALL WOMEN, EVERYWHERE, AND TO END YOUR CORRUPT, SICKENING REGIMES.

WE PLEDGE TO END YOU.

FROM WWW.WOMENSRIGHTSWORLWIDE.ORG :



Women's Rights Abuses & Abusers:

Abuses of Women's Rights





Woman raped, mutilated, then burned alive--Congo (caption, mine).




--AFGHANISTAN
--INDIA
--INDONESIA
--IRAN
--IRAQ
--NEPAL
--DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Of CONGO
--MALI
--SUDAN
--GUATEMALA
--SAUDI ARABIA
--PAKISTAN
--ZAMBIA
--SOMALIA
--CHINA

And all you other fucking sick bastard cowards out there...

(THIS LIST IS MINE, compiled from various sources, such as Amnesty International)


Organizations Working for Women's Rights


CEDAW
The Treaty for the Rights of Women

Captive Daughters
Dedicated to ending sex trafficking

Madre
Demanding human rights for women and families around the world

UN WomenWatch
UN inter-agency network on women and gender equality

Women's WORLD
We have formed the Women's World Organization for Rights, Literature, and Development, or Women's WORLD, because nowhere on earth are women's voices given the same respect as men's.

Equality Now
Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure.

WomenAid International
WomenAid International is a humanitarian aid and development agency which promotes all rights for all people in all countries.

Women Without Borders
Women without Borders is an advocacy, PR and lobbying organisation for women around the globe.

Women for Women's Human Rights
Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways, an independent women's NGO, was founded in 1993 with the aim of promoting women's human rights in Turkey and on the international level. Since its foundation, WWHR has become a widely renowned non-governmental organization around the globe.

Womankind Worldwide
Our promise to women in developing countries - our mission - therefore, is to enable them to voice their concerns and claim their rights, and to work globally for policies and practices which promote equality between men and women.

Association for Women's Rights in Development
AWID's mission is to connect, inform and mobilize people and organizations committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women's human rights.

Women's Human Rights net
Founded in 1997, WHRnet aims to provide reliable, comprehensive, and timely information and analyses on women's human rights in English, Spanish and French.

Stop the Violence Against Women Campaign
Amnesty International is involved in an international campaign to stop violence against women. Join the "Stop Violence Against Women Campaign" and help make women's human rights a reality.

Human Rights Watch
The Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch fights against the dehumanization and marginalization of women.

Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
The Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) is committed to promoting a greater awareness of the challenges women face living under fundamentalist regimes such as that of Iran. Our tasks range from raising public awareness, conducting research projects and initiating outreach programs -- to policy discussions and analysis.

Women of Vision
Women of Vision is a volunteer ministry committed to demonstrating tangible evidence of God's love to oppressed and impoverished women throughout the world. Women of Vision is a program of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that has served the poor since 1950 through emergency relief and long-term development.


We believe that all women have certain inalienable rights that cannot be legitimately withheld under the guise of religious or cultural "laws" or "traditions".
The Right.....

  • to not be physically mutilated
  • to not be killed in the name of "honor"
  • to not be forced to perform or submit to sexual acts
  • to choose whether or not to become pregnant
  • to equal education
  • to have an equal vote
  • to be literate
  • to not be forced to labor without pay
  • to choose their own religion, or lack thereof
  • to have equal access to medical care
  • to have equal driving privileges
  • to leave their home as they wish
  • to leave their country
  • to choose a career
  • to choose their own mate
  • to leave their mate
  • to take legal action against their mate or any citizen
  • to choose their own clothing
  • to be treated equally under the laws of their country
  • to listen to or perform the music of their choice
  • to read or write what they choose
  • to view or create art of their choice
  • to have the same freedoms as others (men) in their society
  • to have free and equal access to information
  • to own property
  • to hold public office
  • to enter into legal contracts



We Can...

  • Educate ourselves
  • Support organizations that promote women's rights
  • Let our representatives know that we are aware of what's happening around the world and we won't accept it.
  • Write to foreign embassies about the abuses in their counties
  • Spread awareness
  • Read about it
  • Write about it
  • Blog about it
  • Talk about it
  • You think of something - and share it with us.

If you do not already know this, WOMEN make up more than half the world.  We hold up more than half the sky.  We give birth to EVERY human being.  WE ARE ALL EVE.  WE ARE ALL GUL MEENA.  WE ARE ALL QAMAR.  WE ARE ALL PARWIN.

I AM JOAN.  I hereby pledge to fight for Women’s Rights EVERYWHERE.  Please join me, men and women alike, who support women’s rights and human rights.  Share my blog, donate money, donate time, tell everyone you know about this, and tell them to drive their representatives in Congress, in the White House, on the Foreign Relations Committees crazy with demands that "The Inalienable Rights Of Women" MUST be implemented and enacted as the absolute predication upon which all United States foreign aid will be made.



“…Women’s rights ARE Human rights…”
                                                           ~Hillary Clinton


“Where there is a woman, there is magic…”
                                                         ~Ntozake Shange


“Woman, I can hardly express my inner feelings and my thoughtlessness, after all, I’m forever in your debt…”
                                                        ~John Lennon







WE ARE ON FIRE, AND BURN HOTLY FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
AND, WE ARE INCANDESCENT, SO ALL MAY SEE, SCREAM,
WRITE, READ, DELIVER, DO



AND, SHE  IS THE WORLD LEADER WHO CAN GET US CLOSER TO
"JUSTICE FOR ALL"