Sep 18, 2012 by BoldProgressives
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Tag Archives: Turkey
Tell Turkish Court: Rape Is Never Consensual
 Tell Turkish Court: Rape Is Never ConsensualI know I send a lot of messages asking you to take action against injustice. But a Turkish court ruling against the testimony of a raped woman because she didn’t scream during the assault makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. Stand up against this bizarre and unjust ruling! »A judge in Diyarbakir, Turkey has ruled that the sexual abuse of a woman with mental disabilitieswill go unpunished because the woman did not scream.The woman, known by the alias “E.B.,” was repeatedly raped for two years by her 24-year-old neighbor, Ibrahim T. DNA proved Ibrahim T. to be the biological father of E.B.’s child.E.B. later said she was too afraid to report the abuse because her neighbor was from a wealthy family and threatened to kill her and her children if she said anything. This sounds pretty nonconsensual to me. But because E.B. didn’t fight back, the judge decided her word wasn’t good enough. Join me in speaking out against this horrific display of injustice. Tell Turkey that rape is NEVER consensual. »
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Abuse at Hershey
Hundreds of foreign exchange students paid to come to America this summer, expecting opportunities to learn English and experience American culture.
Instead, the exchange students found themselves forced to work in back-breaking, round-the-clock production lines packing chocolates at a Hershey’s plant in Pennsylvania at low wages. When the students complained, Hershey‘s threatened to have them deported.
Now the exchange students are fighting back. They just walked out of the Hershey’s plant and into the streets to protest the abusive conditions and to demand big changes to Hershey’s deceptive “cultural exchange” program.
And they’ve teamed up with the National Guestworker Alliance to start a petition demanding that Hershey’s compensate the exchange students, and turn their work into good jobs for local workers. Click here to add your name. www.change.org
Yana, a 19-year-old girl from Ukraine, lifts boxes that weigh 40 pounds — nearly half her weight. Peng, a 21-year-old economics student from China, also lifts heavy boxes during his eight-hour shifts at the warehouse.
Hundreds of students from Ghana, Turkey, Mongolia, and other countries each paid up to $6,000 for the privilege to come to America in a cultural exchange program this summer. Now Hershey’s pays them around $8 an hour for their warehouse work, minus costs of housing — leaving many students broke, tired, and disillusioned.
Why would Hershey’s want to use foreign exchange students as cheap, manual labor? According to the National Guestworker Alliance, a group helping the students, it’s about profit. Hershey’s is laying off 500 American workers in the next year. The company’s strategy is apparently paying off: Hershey’s pocketed $130 million in just the last three months.
The foreign exchange students are asking Hershey to refund the thousands of dollars the students paid to come to America. And that’s not all: The students also want Hershey’s to convert their low-paying positions to living wage jobs for local residents in Pennsylvania.
Please sign the petition to Hershey’s demanding the company refund the students’ costs to come to America and give their jobs back to American workers who live near the warehouse.
http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-stop-exploiting-student-guestworkers
Thanks for being a change-maker,
– Jess and the Change.org team
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Free Amina … Alice Jay – Avaaz.org
On Monday, Amina Arraf, a popular young Syrian American blogger was abducted by three armed men as she walked to a protest meeting. Her high profile kidnapping is an ominous sign that the Syrian regime‘s gloves are now totally off.
Amina is one of over ten thousand men and women who have been detained and tortured in the last few months just for calling for democracy. Security forces have shot dead over one thousand peaceful demonstrators, and are laying siege to entire cities to crush the non-violent movement. But despite this brutality, a total ban on foreign reporting, and internet and phone blackouts, courageous Syrians, like Amina, refuse to be silenced.
Every hour that passes she is in greater danger of unimaginable persecution, and experts say only the US and Turkey‘s diplomatic influence could get her out. Let’s call for Amina’s immediate release, an end to the violent crackdown, and for all political prisoners to be freed. Click to send an urgent message straight to the inboxes of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkey and the President and Secretary of State of the USA — then send this onto everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_amina_arraf/?vl
The regime has steadily escalated repression against protestors, with 80 civilians killed just this past Friday by security forces and dozens dying of gun shot injuries since then. The army has repeatedly fired on unarmed demonstrators in Dera’a, Hama and Homs and horrific tales of sexual torture of children, men and women, fingernail extraction and psychological torment are rampant. Given that homosexuality is illegal in Syria and Amina’s forceful and frank platform as a gay blogger, her treatment by the regime could be terrifying, and her life could be in danger.
So far, the Syrian regime has proven deaf to international pressure, including European Union and US sanctions. But, cracks are appearing in the regime and as we saw in the case of Iman al-Obeidy in Libya and Sakineh Ashtiani in Iran, Turkey can play a crucial role, and massive global public pressure can save the life of an individual, even in times of chaos and violence.
Amina is a symbol for the extraordinarily brave Syrians struggling for basic rights. She has written extensively in her blog about her family’s experiences during the repression, about being a gay woman in Syria, and she has given voice to many demonstrators’ criticism of the regime. Recently she had been forced into hiding. Two hours before her detention she posted a poem that ended:
Soaring and flying
Freedom is coming
Here am I wanting
To know it one day
Later that day Amina’s cousin posted on the blog, “I have been on the telephone with both her parents and all that we can say right now is that she is missing. Her father is desperately trying to find out where she is and who has taken her.” Let’s send an avalanche of messages now to the USA and Turkey to help stop Amina’s torment and secure the freedom that she saw soaring and flying:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_amina_arraf/?vl
Together, the Avaaz community is assisting Syrian citizen journalists to break the blackout and get key footage out across the world, and are directly supporting the efforts of peaceful, pro-democracy protesters. Let’s secure Amina’s freedom now and continue to stand with Syrians struggling for a free, inclusive future.
With hope and determination,
Alice, Stephanie, Mohammad, Rewan, Ricken, Benjamin and the whole Avaaz team
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Weekend review &some News -The Heritage Foundation
***Lately, cableheads have been giving out sources for their various claims with the preface of who and where they got their accurate, good or great News info lately and for a news junkie it slightly amused me, definitely annoyed me so the rant is on. I watch and listen to all things Political on the tele but i rarely feel any group, single person or guest on cable is truly giving me the truth. It is all opinion News and while we all know this the News just seems different since the first African-American President was elected by 53%. I get the impression from some stations that they are still having a tough time with it and quite possibly the stations who probably are folks leaning to the right of all issues paying folks to those of us left of center tidbits that seems reasonable, fair and balance though i still am not drinking the kool-aid. If you are paying attention you hear what talkingheads consider then spew the news over the course of a 15minute set and all of a sudden a jab, a knock or personal complaint is thrown at President Obama or “The Government” without naming names… which is not just offensive to me but the viewer should get it most cableheads lean right .
The article below was first written February of 2009. I only included a portion of it, so if you want to read the complete article i guess you have to go to their website but it is apparent the article was intended for fellow members of the Heritage Foundation. The problem for me is that this group was on just about every News station all during the 2008 election campaign giving out information that the public was asked to absorb and believe as the truth …We are now about 2 years later and while they are not on main stream tv as much the rhetoric has become nastier and they have taken to CSPAN with what I consider dangerous rhetoric. The point is that the Heritage Foundation is not a neutral organization as many have claimed and even ed shultz had to question their intent last week as well as a few other cableheads. If you are listening to Republicans on any given day on any talk show all you hear are talking points given to them by the Heritage Foundation and these candidates are spewing them almost verbatim…it is offensive. This article grabbed my attention in 2/2009 and it just keeps being played over and over verbally by the right even now.
Welfare Spendathon
Stimulus Bill Abolishes Welfare Reform and Adds New Welfare Spending …
by Robert E. Rector and Katherine Bradley … To heritage foundation members
But overturning welfare reform is just the beginning. In his recent press conference, President Obama explained that the stimulus bill would provide “tax relief” and “direct investment” in infrastructure. He neglected to mention that of the $816 billion in new spending and tax cuts in the House stimulus bill–32 percent or $264 billion–is new means-tested welfare spending, providing cash, food, housing, and medical care to poor and low income Americans.[5] (The figure in the Senate bill is about 15 percent lower.)
I have to ask is what the Heritage Foundation saying truly an American attitude?
jus sayin
Other News …
UW Husky -35 Oregon -34 Dbl OT
Did you know that Olympic College in Wa.State decided they did not like the 1st amendment so they banned it… when will this action be challenged?
Several Hilton Hotels are experiencing worker strikes -3rd day of strikes
11thousand cribs, made in China have rail hardware problems sold in JCP 2003-2007 models
NOW backs candidate Jerry Brown for Gov of California
Candidate Conway Vs. Rand Paul live on CSPAN at 7pm ET
Federal Tax Credit for improvements ends on 12/31
The debate: Sen. Patty Murray V Dino Rossi at 7pm on komo4 online: komonews.com
President Obama and Mrs. O will be in Ohio campaigning
CSPAN …
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Texas Book Festival 2010
Be a Seed for Change 
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