23. juni 2003

Women are abusers, too A group of researchers are surprised (I am not) about the number of women who are abusive. Luckily, there has been progress in helping women who are victims of abusive spouses. Where do men go if they are victims of abuse? Still, the newest findings challenge the feminist belief that "it is men only who cause violence," says psychologist Deborah Capaldi of the Oregon Social Learning Center. "That is a myth." The number of women who hit first or hit back is "much greater than has been generally assumed," Capaldi says. She says she is surprised by the frequency of aggressive acts by women and by the number of men who are afraid of partners who assault them. Capaldi and two other female researchers call for a re-evaluation of treatment programs nationwide. Such programs focus on men and ignore women. Men are court-ordered into some type of rehabilitation, and their women are told in support groups or shelters that they had nothing to do with the violence, Capaldi says. Sadly, some women seem to feel that their exclusive right to victimhood is threatened by the fact that men can be victims of spousal violence, too. Some feminists react to any attempt to raise the problem of women being sometimes aggressors with, well, aggression. Read this comment, too, giving a bit more detail. Btw, this is not new information at all. 11:31:02 PM    comment []

Thong song We've known that for a long time, but this funny flash movie (req. sound) brings it home: not everybody should wear a thong! 11:07:38 PM    comment []

Huh? "Marvel Slips Amid Disappointing Opening of 'The Hulk'" (SmartMoney) "Hulk smashes June box office records" (Globe and Mail) Some people obviously had very unrealistic expectations. 10:06:04 PM    comment []

The desperation of the anti-war reporters Rightists have, with some degree of justification, often accused the BBC of being leftist or even anti-American. On the whole, I think BBC is one of the best balanced news sources around. They are critical, yes, especially to whatever government is in charge in the UK, but I think that is an important role of the media. I do find that as a newsmedia, they mostly distinguish between fact and opinion, and try to give both sides of the story. There is sufficent coverage on the BBC to offend both sides. This commentary by Paul Reynolds surely falls into the leftist argumentation which is looking for ways to find arguments with which to hit the Bush administration over the head..After discussing the legality of an airstrike that might have killed innocents, in a well balanced way, in my opinion, he jumps to an argument that also is the headline of the piece: The reported convoy attack shows that the United States is becoming increasingly desperate, and determined, in its search for Saddam Hussein. It badly needs a success right now. American soldiers are being killed. No weapons of mass destruction have been found. Iraq is recovering only slowly. So, according to this line of argumentation, if the US had already found WMDs, if they had experienced more success in the aftermath of the war, then they would not have attacked that convoy. Does he really believe that? Saddam Hussein has been one of the most deadly dictators in the world over the last decades. Alive and free, he is a major threat to Iraq, and indeed to the whole region. The level of "desperation" felt by the US administration is irrelevant to this fact. It is obvious that any reasonable level of probability that US forces had pinpointed Saddam Hussein or his sons would have led to an attack. Such a lack of careful analysis of facts calls into question the ability of journalists to report objectively. Indeed, such a headline looks rather desperate. 9:22:20 PM    comment []

US Supreme Court OKs censorware in libraries The Supreme Court majority has upheld as constitutional a law requiring public libraries to have filtering software installed to Internet-enabled computers, despite evidence that filtering software blocks a large number of non-pornographic sites. By a 6-3 vote, the justices reversed a ruling by a special three-judge federal court panel in Philadelphia that the filtering requirement caused libraries to violate the First Amendment constitutional rights of their patrons. As long as no technology exists that can reliably detect "indecent" language, and censorware producers are catering to right-wing agendas and typically err on the side of prudeness rather than prudence, this was a very unfortunate decision.  A major defeat for free speech online. 7:08:10 PM    comment []

US Supreme Courts gives and takes on affirmative action The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the affirmative action admission system for undergraduates of the University of Michigan law school, and at the same time ruled the point system of the university unconstitutional. The law school system was seen as sufficiently narrow to pass the test: The Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote. The court divided in both cases. It upheld the law school program that sought a "critical mass" of minorities by a 5-4 vote, with O'Connor siding with the court's more liberal justices to decide the case. The White House had opposed both systems and sided with the white students who sued. 6:18:15 PM    comment []

"Please liberate us, too!" "In an article in the 25 April issue, Le Monde, a French newspaper, said that the Iranian leadership are apprehensive of the "fierce pro-Americanism" of the Iranian people, adding, "They are especially worried of the vox populi, that asks for a change of the regime with the help of the American Marines." It is reporting that many Iranians openly proclaim their support for American intervention. A filmmaker, requesting to remain anonymous, bluntly stated, "The Afghans and the Iraqis have been freed from dictatorships, why not us?" Behzad Nabavi, the Majles Deputy-speaker and reformist, explains, "If one admits that the Iraqis are delighted with Saddam Hussein's end, one must also think about the possibility that maybe, the Iranians would celebrate at the end of the Islamic Republic as well." In an open letter to President Khatami asking for the release of fellow writers from prison, Ebrahim Nabavi wrote that he would prefer American occupation to the current government that consistently ignores the rights of the citizens. " (Kuro5hin) 4:33:00 PM    comment []

Anti-Semitic Arabs use "Protocols of Zion" The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an infamous document in the history of anti-Semitism. It was forged by a member of the Russian Tsar's secret police, allegedly showing a meeting of powerful Jews plotting for world domination, and very popular in Nazi-Germany. It is still used by various anti-Semitic groups, including neo-nazis and many conspiracy theorists. And, as a recent article in the Observer shows, it is a very important document for Arab extremists. Hamas' covenant contains an approving reference to it. Leading Arab intellectuals believe it is genuine, and use it. Another anti-Jewish myth is also popular, including stories that are almost 2000 years old, about Jews kidnapping Christians (or, in this case, Arabs), sometimes children, to kill them and drink their blood in unholy rituals. A column written by Syria's defence minister was recently published in the respected and popular Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, mentioning such a story. In one sense, of course, these myths being spread by extreme Arabs, is a godsend for Israeli officials in their struggle to bring home to the west what they are up against. Jewish hardliners have not failed to use this as ammunition for spreading anti-Arab propaganda of their own. For everyone hoping for a peaceful solution in the far east, however, it is a tragic development. New generations of children are brought up believeing the most extreme, dehumanising fairy-tales about their opponents. What chance, then, for ever living in peace? 2:46:51 AM    comment []

Tom Cruise lobbies White House for money for $cientologists Here's something that may give even proponents of Bush's faith based initiative room for pause: Tom Cruise has reportedly been lobbying the White House for money for Scientology church. Like his Hollywood collegue John Travolta, Cruise is a scientologist, and have been used to promote the controversial sect on several occasions. Widely recognised as one of the most malicious and destructive high-control sects around, and one that is especially aggressive in emptying its members wallets, the scientologists no doubt would love to receive federal funds for its worthless indoctrination programmes. When the sect has met with legal opposition in Europe, it has been partially successful in lobbying US politicians for support by hiding behind "religious freedom." 12:34:05 AM    comment []

Court dismisses request to reopen Roe vs Wade Federal district Judge David Godbey dismissed the request from Norma McCorvey, who was "Jane Roe" in the famous abortion landmark case, to reopen the case. The court dismissed McCorvey's request late Thursday, saying it wasn't made within a "reasonable time" after the 1973 judgment. The anecdotal evidence that some women later regretted their decision didn't have much relevance to the case, either. 12:05:49 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.07.2003; 00:25:39.