Browsing PBH By Articles

Death Over Indefinite Detention

Posted on May 14, 2013 in Articles

Guantanamo Bay

The Article: Hunger Strike at Guantánamo by the Editorial Board in The New York Times.

The Text: The hunger strike that has spread since early February among the 166 detainees still at Guantánamo Bay is again exposing the lawlessness of the system that marooned them there. The government claims that around 40 detainees are taking part. Lawyers for detainees report that their clients say around 130 detainees in one part of the prison have taken part.

The number matters less than the nature of the protest, however: this is a collective act of despair. Prisoners on the hunger strike say that they would rather die than remain in the purgatory of indefinite detention. Only three prisoners now at Guantánamo have been found guilty of any crime, yet the others also are locked away, with dwindling hope of ever being released.

Detainees there have gone on hunger strikes many times since the facility opened in 2002. A major strike in 2005 involved more than 200 detainees. But those earlier actions were largely about the brutality of treatment the detainees received. The protest this time seems more fundamental. Gen. John Kelly of the Marines, whose Southern Command oversees Guantánamo Bay, explained the motivation of the detainees at a Congressional hearing last month by saying, “They had great optimism that Guantánamo would be closed” based on President Obama’s pledge in his first campaign, but they are now “devastated” that nothing has changed.

The One Woman Screwing Up North Dakota’s Plan To End Abortion

Posted on May 13, 2013 in Articles

The Article: The One Woman Screwing Up North Dakota’s Plan To End Abortion by Winston Ross in The Daily Beast.

The Text: An FBI agent sat quietly in the lobby of the Red River Women’s Clinic on Thursday morning, arms folded across his lap, waiting for the director of North Dakota’s only abortion provider to wrap up a local television interview, her umpteenth media appearance in the past few days. The agent asked to speak to Tammi Kromenaker privately, so she escorted him back to one of the few places in the small two-story building with a closed door, and they talked.

Just a courtesy call, the agent told Kromenaker; to let her know he was the person to contact should anyone decide to violate the federal law that prevents people from trying to stop women seeking an abortion from getting into a clinic, a law described in several bold-lettered signs at the clinic’s door, guarded by two security cameras that feed into the office. None of the protestors who have turned out to hurl invective and prayer at women on the one day each week Red River sees patients has ever actually tried to block someone from getting in the building.

At least, not physically. At the Capitol building in Bismarck, lawmakers are doing everything they can to make sure Red River’s three physicians aborts their last fetus by August 1, when a trio of America’s most restrictive anti-abortion laws just signed by Gov. Jack Dalyrmple will take effect, unless a court intervenes. The new laws have swept North Dakota, Fargo, and this tiny clinic into the eye of the country’s never-ending debate about a woman’s right to choose—40 years after the Supreme Court supposedly settled the issue in Roe v. Wade.

The Disgusting Politics Of Rape In High School

Posted on May 12, 2013 in Articles

High School Rape

The Article: School Principal Discouraged Teen Girl from Reporting Sexual Assault Because It Would Ruin Attacker’s Basketball Career by Jessica Mason Pieklo in AlterNet.

The Text: Last week the National Women’s Law Center, along with a local law firm in Michigan, filed a complaint in federal district court on behalf of a high school student who was allegedly sexually assaulted at school by a fellow student and star basketball player. In many ways the story echoes the tragic high school rape story from Steubenville, Ohio, which should lead all of us to ask just what kind of culture are we raising our children in, and what kind of culture is being cultivated at our high schools?

According to the complaint, in 2010 the victim was sexually assaulted by a star player on the school’s basketball team. The assault took place on campus in a sound proof band room at Forest Hills Central High School. The victim notified a teacher who in turn reported the assault to the principal. But rather than open an investigation into the allegations, the principal discouraged the student and her parents from filing charges, telling them that doing so could ruin the assailant’s prospects at being recruited to play basketball for a Division 1 school.

The victim and her parents ignored the principal’s request not to file charges because they were concerned that this student might attack other girls. Instead, the student and her parents filed a police report, and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department began a criminal investigation. Meanwhile, the school did nothing.

Monsanto’s Chokehold Of America

Posted on May 11, 2013 in Articles

Monsanto

The Article: How Monsanto Went From Selling Aspirin to Controlling Our Food Supply by Jill Richardson in AlterNet.

The Text: Forty percent of the crops grown in the United States contain their genes. They produce the world’s top selling herbicide. Several of their factories are now toxic Superfund sites. They spend millions lobbying the government each year. It’s time we take a closer look at who’s controlling our food, poisoning our land, and influencing all three branches of government. To do that, the watchdog group Food and Water Watch recently published a corporate profile of Monsanto.

Patty Lovera, Food and Water Watch assistant director, says they decided to focus on Monsanto because they felt a need to “put together a piece where people can see all of the aspects of this company.”

“It really strikes us when we talk about how clear it is that this is a chemical company that wanted to expand its reach,” she says. “A chemical company that started buying up seed companies.” She feels it’s important “for food activists to understand all of the ties between the seeds and the chemicals.”

To Criticize Islam

Posted on May 10, 2013 in Articles

To Criticize Islam

The Article: To Criticize Islam by Tauriq Moosa in BigThink.

The Text: Here is a statement that shouldn’t result in anyone being called racist: I think religion is a particularly harmful way of viewing the world, because it encourages irrational thought, groupthink, and unhelpful, backward opinions on many issues. Replace religion with one in particular, namely Islam, and you might find yourself on the receiving end of some strange accusations. This is unhelpful to important discussions, regarding the nature of religion and harm.

However, if what was written about religion in general is true, then it seems reasonable to ask follow-up questions, like: Are some religions worse than others? If so, which ones and why? Are religious people more prone to bad ways of thinking than non-religious? These don’t presume answers, since by questioning we come to determine the truth of these situations. But we should recognise that these, if formulated correctly, are empirical questions.

Consider Jainism and Islam. Were you to write a novel or draw cartoons mocking the Jains, would you lose sleep or fear for your life? Of course not. Most of us know that the same can not be said of Islam, even in countries that are secular and have a majority population of non-believers. The major tenet of Jainism is entirely premised on non-violence for all living things, known as ahimsa. This is so strong, Jains often walk with brooms, do not go out at night for fear of trampling animals or insects, refuse to eat honey since this does violence to bees, won’t farm for fear of digging and harming underground creatures, and so on.