I’m going to keep this short and to the point.

Friday was Transgender Day of Remembrance and I attended the vigil in my area.  I had such an intense Thursday night, and got very little sleep going into Friday.  During the day on Friday, I had meeting after meeting and seriously didn’t now if I was even going to be able to muster up the energy to go to the event that evening.  I knew I would be something powerful, and since it was my first TDOR I figured I really did have to go.  I went home and grabbed my camera and went to meet up with some friends before heading over to the church.

I’m not sure if I purposefully distanced myself, but I went into complete photographer mode.  I didn’t really let myself process what was going on in front of me.  The service at the church was nice.  Completely non denominational, just a time for some community members to get up and speak.  After that, we lit candles and walked through Rita Hester’s neighborhood.  It was errie making that walk with all those people and all those candles.  It’s a walk I have made so many times, and I never thought about Rita or her death in combination with that

Liberation Wellness Hour Radio Show

American Raw Milk Hero – Liz Reitzig

Liberation Wellness Date / Time: 8/1/2009 12:00 PM

Category: Health Call-in Number: (347) 838-9516

Raw Milk Activist Liz Reitzig shows why Real Milk is so important to human health, and the incredible injustice of making one of the healthiest foods on earth illegal. Hear about the difference this mother of 4 young children is making in the quest to liberate the health of America! Why America is losing the battle against obesity, and the REAL answer to becoming thin and healthy for LIFE!

Liberation Wellness

America didn’t used to have an obesity epidemic, and chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer were a once rare occurrence. So why is our nation growing fatter and sicker every year!

The untold story of how our real food has been exchanged for more profitable less healthy alternatives, and the most important part of our diet, the fat-soluble activators, have been all but made illegal by the “health authorities”. The Liberation Wellness Hour shares with you the secret formula that food manufactures use to create incredibly profitable, but very deleterious “food products”, and how they convince the nation that eating these fake foods is actually eating “healthy”. Put forth in a easy to understand, pull no punches style, The Liberation Wellness Hour is already helping many to lose weight and never Yo-Yo again!

The Liberation Wellness Hour Radio Show can be heard each week at 12noon EST on Liberty Works Radio Network, and on BlogTalkRadio.com/LiberationWellness.

The Shows Website is LiberationWellnessHour.com

Kevin Brown is president and co-founder of Visionary Trainers Inc., one of the largest in-home personal training companies in the tri-state area. Kevin serves as a fellow on the prestigious National Board of Fitness Examiners, helping to set the standard for all Personal Trainers.

On Saturday, November 21, 2009, UK’s special prosecutor Helen Garlick, now installed in the Turks and Caicos Islands‘ interim government, announced UK’s intention to, “have a permanent presence [in Turks and Caicos].” The UK had abolished Turks and Caicos’ right to self determination in August, citing local government corruption.

In August, the UK assured Turks and Caicos and the world that new elections would be held in June 2011, restoring governance back to the people at that time. However, based on Saturday’s announcement and UK’s actions since taking governance of the islands, it is evident that the UK has no intention to return the islands’ autonomous constitution back to the people at any given time.

The corruption allegations, causing the UK’s take over, emerged from a small group of Turks and Caicos Islanders and expatriate who have since been revealed as a political group backed by a developer who reportedly has a grudge against the former premier over denied building development contracts and Crown land favors. This political activist group (TCI Journal and backers) accuse many developers in the islands of being corrupt while being financed by a competing developer. Their well orchestrated letters and complaints to the mother land (UK) of last year was admittedly designed to bring down the islands’ government with a goal to create better “fairness” (to namely Hartshorn).

The UK was all too eager to jump on board and support the claims of corruption (many anonymous) in Turks and Caicos by calling for a very bizarre one-sided inquiry that failed to explore the whistle blower’s motives and which documented a skewed perspective of foreign resort developers who duly invested in Turks and Caicos. The inquiry was also conducted by a known activist judge from the UK, Sir Robin Auld, who made sole determinations in the investigation and resulting inquiry.

Even more bizarre, the people’s right to trials by jury was abolished as to the entire Turks and Caicos population.

In Helen Garlick’s announcement Saturday, she states that in addition to Sir Robin Auld’s report, new and more far reaching charges will be explored and prosecuted. Ms. Garlick then made a most alarmingly statement following her vow of continued corruption inquiries: “I continue to encourage members of the public to contact us, if they have information that they wish to give, or if they have any concerns that they want to take up with us.”

To understand why these announcements by UK are particularly dangerous, it is necessary to explore police state regimes and their resulting oppressive powers over their citizens.

The term “police state” is described as an overpowering government implementing oppressive and repressive controls “over the social, economic and political life of the population … and … there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.”

The source of the totalitarian action, “is often established by an internal whistleblower or an external critic or activist group.”

In 1933, Nazi Germany adopted the Malicious Practices Act which called for ordinary citizens to volunteer information on citizens’ “suspected infringements of the letter or spirit of the laws”. This had a crucial role in the Nazi’s terrorizing citizens under Hitler’s dictatorship and gave particular power to those who were willing to report their neighbors. This cooperation, by means of the Nazi’s incentive to oppress citizens, by using threats of reports by other citizens, is called Nazi Denunciations.

According to Nazi historian Robert Gellately, these lessons from the past, “impel us to rethink … willingness, consent, and support when these concepts are applied to modern dictatorships.”

What is in it for the denouncers, besides power over the other citizens? Nazi’s took advantage of denouncers as these complainants usually had “selfish purposes” that could be politically exploited by the Nazis. The denouncers received a leveling or settling of a conflict or removal of the conflicting party to the complainant. “In all of these systems, citizens lost many of the traditional means for resolving conflicts, and soon adapted and relied on unmediated access to the means of coercion” and ultimately a fundamental loss of justice.

In addition, according to Gellately:
“In the last two decades, corruption has become a key concern throughout the world. Most of what we know about corruption comes from those instances in which misdeeds become public, usually generating a scandal. Why do some acts of corruption become corruption scandals and others do not? In addressing this question, this argues that scandals are not triggered by corruption per se, but that the emergence of corruption scandals is caused by political competition dynamics within the party or coalition in government. Government insiders leak information on misdeeds in order to gain power within the coalition or party in power.”

There is also sometimes a racial component to the totalitarian and supreme right over another culture. As in a more extreme example, in the case of Nazi Germany, governance was considered absolute and it reserved the highest power over, “Jewish and/or eastern workers” as Hitler was particularly racist of that group. But it is not uncommon for a totalitarian regime to exhibit prejudice over the group in which it feels supremecy over and thus forcibly takes governance. In the case of Turks and Caicos, the UK might have a special prejudice over an island culture that it could see as less sophisticated or worse.

This could explain the British’s take over of the island’s government and its “firing” of Belongers (Islanders) elected officials who might have influence over other Belongers.

In the United States, the government-sanctioned program called “Wetip” called for citizens to report child abuse; it has had similar problems. Wetip has been deeply criticized as it rewards citizens for helping a government by reporting crimes against each other. This was called denunciation because crime reports skipped usual reporting channels, and on the other hand motives and incentives were not called into question or investigated by the government.

In the Turks and Caicos, an oppressive UK regime has been proven. This is evidenced by UK’s initial use of denunciation and encouragement of denunciation of citizens going forward. This is particularly true because the complainants are rewarded with the removal of their offending party without an investigation into the complainants’ motives. The right to jury trials for the citizens have been taken, taking typical justice away from the citizens. Local government officials have been all but replaced entirely. Residents of Turks and Caicos are readily terrorized by the threat of denunciation by a group who has been exploited and incentivized to report “crimes” to the interim government. The usual process of justice is now easily foregone with this practice of denunciation labeling this island now as a police state with the denouncers as the terrorists working for the supreme and ultimate leader, the UK.

Helen Garlick article: http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=545http://hsr-trans.zhsf.uni-koeln.de/hsrretro/docs/artikel/hsr/hsr1997_439.pdf
Although the was an implementer of violence and intimidation within the Nazi state 1933r
Balan, Manuel. “Competition by Denunciation: The Political Dynamics of Corruption Scandals in Argentina and Chile” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association 67th Annual National Conference, The Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Apr 02, 2009 . 2009-11-10 
Historical Social Research, Vol. 22 – 1997 – No. 3/4, 228-239 
Denunciations and Nazi Germany: New Insights and 
Methodological Problems

Movie Details:

Type:  Documentary

Released: 2009

Rating: NR

Run-Time: 89 minutes

Synopsis (courtesy of Netflix):

Narrated by Malcolm McDowell, this award-winning documentary from director Sam Bozzo posits that we’re moving closer to a world in which water — a seemingly plentiful natural resource — could actually incite war. As water becomes an increasingly precious commodity, corrupt governments, corporations and even private investors are scrambling to control it … which leaves everyday citizens fighting for a substance they need to survive.

Review:

This documentary reminds me of why I enjoy the genre so much: it brings awareness, diversity of perspective, and challenges me to no longer walk away the same. I personally have witnessed the water shortage in places like Afghanistan and Kenya, but this documentary does well to show the true scope of the water shortage and the various culprits that contribute to this crisis. This is one of those documentaries that you walk from with a greater global awareness and you are challenged to change the way you live.

Rating:

Dear President Obama,

My name is Eli Lunsford, and I live in Corvallis Oregon.
I think we should make better choices with our food but there aren’t that many good choices because there are more factories producing food than farms in America.
In the factories, the food they make is unhealthy and it makes people too big and it makes us sick. I hope you can change that. I hope you help us have more healthy options for food.

I saw a movie about a little boy named Kevin, and he got sick and died from the unhealthy food that the factories make. I don’t want any other little kids to have to get sick and die. Please help us President Obama.

Sincerely,

Eli Lunsford

We have decided to support Eli in his letter to the president and we 100% agree with what he has to say so have chosen to add our names to his letter. If you would like to add your support, please include your name as well. (I don’t know logistically how to do this.. anyone know?)
Pamela Lunsford

Nolan Lunsford

A court in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu has convicted a veteran human rights activist on state secrets charges and sentenced him to jail for three years…. From VOA. Full story

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A court in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu has convicted a veteran human rights activist on state secrets charges and sentenced him to jail for three years…. From VOA. Full story

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Chinese activist Huang Qi gets a three-year prison term for "illegally holding state secrets", but few details are released…. From BBC News. Full story

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Chinese activist Huang Qi gets a three-year prison term for "illegally holding state secrets", but few details are released…. From BBC News. Full story

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Today, a candlelight vigil was held for two young men on the Anchorage Park Strip.  No one attending had ever met either of the two boys, but around 20 people felt enough connection to them to stand in the cold for an hour and mourn their loss, and the losses that had come before.

You may not be familiar with the young men I’m talking about, so let me try to tell you a little about them as best I can.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was a 19 year old, Puerto Rican man whose friend Pedro Julio Serrano remembers him as being a “very very dear friend” and “was a person who you only needed one minute to fall in love with.”  Mercado was an active volunteer for many gay causes, and seems to have had a wide group of friends.  Below is a video put together by his friends an family, who want Jorge remembered for the wonderful person he was, and not by what happened to him.  The majority of the text is in Spanish, but you can see from the pictures that he was cared for by many people.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was a 19 year old, Puerto Rican man whose body was found by the side of the road near Cayey, Puerto Rico.  His body was brutalized, his arms were removed from his torso, and he was burned. The man who confessed to committing these acts is Juan Antonio Martinez Matos, a 26 year old man who has served time in prison in the past.  Matos apparently picked Mercado up in a red light district, where Mercado was dressed as a woman.  It is unclear as to when Matos made the decision to kill Mercado; some reports indicate that Mercado pulled a knife on Matos, other reports say that it was only after they started having sex that Matos realized that Mercado was biologically male.  Whatever the case, Matos says that he had a flashback to when he had been raped in prison, and then attacked Mercado.  It seems astonishing to me that a “gay panic” excuse may be used to justify the brutality that was visited on Jorge Mercado’s body after he was killed.

Juan Mercado’s mother, Miriam, released this statement after his death:

“When my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now, I love you more.’ I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.”– Miriam

Jason Mattison Jr. was a 15 year old sophomore at West Baltimore’s Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy.  His English teacher, Ryan C. Jones, remembers how Jason handled harassment.  “[Jason] had a sharp, witty comeback at the ready, and he walked away smiling.  Even if it hurt him, he gave the other person the impression he was stronger.  He was outspoken and excited about everything he talked about,” Jones said. “Walking into school, he was the first one to share what he did over the weekend. He was very, very popular, and he was everyone’s best friend.”

Jason Mattison Jr. was a 15 year old sophomore whose body was found brutalized, gagged, and stuffed in the upstairs closet of his aunt’s house on November 10.  There was initial confusion as to what had happened, as his aunt discovered a T.V. missing and thought that someone had broken in to steal it.  After seeing blood on the banister leading upstairs, she called the police and reported Jason missing.  He was found gagged with a pillowcase and he had received multiple stab wounds to his head and neck.  The man who has confessed to these acts is Dante Parrish, a 35 year old man who is charged with first-degree murder in the case.  He was a longtime family friend of Jason’s cousin, Laquanna Couplin, but she would not say whether he lived there or visited.  It is also unclear as to whether Jason was living in his aunt’s house, or if he was just visiting when he was attacked.  Dante Parrish has a history of violence, described here:

“Parrish was 24 when he pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a man on Maryland Avenue in March 1999. In 2008, the Innocence Project, a group of attorneys who help people they believe were wrongly convicted, took up his case.

They found that Parrish had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder based on a faulty statement of facts read into the court record – there were two witnesses, not three, and a gun was found weeks after the shooting, not with Parrish when he was arrested.

A judge overturned his conviction, citing ineffective defense counsel, and in January, Parrish entered what is called an Alford plea, which allowed him to deny guilt but concede that the state had enough evidence to convict him. He was freed on time served, effectively cutting a 30-year sentence to 10.

Whether Parrish went from prison to live at the rowhouse on Llewellyn Avenue or frequented it could not be determined. Couplin would not elaborate beyond confirming that the man was a longtime family friend.”

Reports indicate that Jason had a “forced sexual relationship” with Parrish, but I was unable to find conclusive statements as to how long this may have been going on, or if Jason’s family knew about it.  I was also unable to find a statement given as to why Parrish murdered Jason.

I want to tell you about one more person.

Don’t worry, this one has a happy ending.

Christopher Narvaez standing up for equal rights in the Summer of '09

Christopher Narvaez is a 35 year old Alaskan resident who moved here from New York.  John and I met him over the Summer when we were fighting for the Equal Rights Ordinance that passed the Assembly, and was then vetoed by Mayor Sullivan.  Chris is a very genuine person, always happy to talk to new people and make them feel comfortable.   He and his partner share a loving  home and support each other while they both try to balance school and work.  Chris struck me as an amazingly patient person when I watched him try to talk to the people in red shirts out on the Loussac Library lawn.  He took the time to talk to them, to listen to what they had to say,

Christopher Narvaez reading statement from the victims' families

and then express why he was there.  Chris was fired from his job because he was gay, and because he wouldn’t quietly put up with the harassment that his co-workers found acceptable.  He has always struck me as the type of person who could find the positive side to any situation, and that is how he became involved with a vigil for two people that he had never met before.

Inspired by these two recent hate crimes, vigils have sprung up across the country to mark the tragedy that those in the GLBT community and their allies have experienced.  We may not have ever met these young men, but we know others who have been abused and mistreated.  We sympathize with the loss of their family and friends.  We wanted to mourn with them.

Trying to keep the flame going.

Chris organized the Candlelight Vigil for Hate Crime Victims, which took place this afternoon at 3pm.  He got a permit for the space on the park strip and sent out invitations through Facebook within the space of two days.  He organized the vigil, reading statements about Jason and Jorge from their friends.  He brought candles for people to hold, and walked around the crowd, re-lighting the wicks almost as soon as the wind blew them out.  Anchorage, and Alaska, is lucky to have such a dedicated person like Chris.  I know that John and I are proud to know him, and to have been a part of this gathering.

Candlelight Vigil for Hate Crime Victims

The last thought that I will leave you with is that while many of you are already aware that these actions could easily happen here in our community, some of you, especially those who don’t identify as a part of the GLBT community, may not understand the implications.  Both of these young men were loved and accepted by their friends and family.  They had support from those around them.  They were still victimized.  GLBT people will not be safe until they can have the full protection of the law.  Those of use who are allies must help them.  We must continue to be involved in the community, because they still need us.  We need to speak out (and loudly) to support those legislators that support equal rights, so that they are not replaced by more puppets of the Anchorage Baptist Temple and those who share their hate.  The fight for equality continues, even though the ordinance was struck down.

Those people that attended the vigil today can attest to it.  I can attest to it.  The fight will continue until we all can be safe.

Let's all try to keep the flame going.

AFP, Nov. 22, 2009-

BEIJING — A Chinese dissident who campaigned for the parents of children killed in last year’s Sichuan earthquake was sentenced Monday to three years in jail on a state secrets charge, his wife said.

Huang Qi, 46, who had investigated accusations that shoddy school construction contributed to the quake’s heavy toll, was found guilty by a court in the city of Chengdu of possessing state secrets, his wife Zeng Li told AFP.

“We will surely appeal,” she said by phone from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

The sentence came just days after US President Barack Obama paid his first visit to China, during which he raised the issue of human rights, saying the United States believed in fundamental rights for all people.

US ambassador Jon Huntsman also specifically brought up Huang’s case with the Chinese government in the lead-up to Obama’s visit, a US embassy official told AFP.

The sentencing was the second move since Obama’s visit by Chinese authorities against dissidents.

On Thursday, Zhou Yongjun, a student leader of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, was tried for fraud, also in Sichuan.

No verdict has been announced in Zhou’s case.

The nature of the state secrets in Huang’s case was not publicly released, but his lawyer Mo Shaoping denounced the verdict, saying it was information freely available on the Internet, although he declined comment on it.

“We do not acknowledge the verdict. We maintain that he is innocent,” Mo said.…… (more details from AFP)

Like many of you, I can’t get Shaniya Davis out of my mind. I replay mental pictures of her sweet face, then fast forward to grim imaginations of what her last hours were like. And I weep.

Many people have expressed their own reactions to me, after hearing of this five year old being trafficked for sex- by her mother- and then murdered. I’ve heard rants and rage poured out in detailed descriptions of castration, being drawn and quartered and a special section in hell for the perpetrators. I have seen the pain and confusion on people’s faces that such a nightmare could be true and not just part of a macabre horror movie.

I understand. I burn with anger too, as I believe God does, for the injustice, the cruelty, the unbridled lust and gross misuse of power toward this vulnerable child who could not even hope to defend herself. But for the perpetrators, I feel pity. To be able to do what they did, they must have been , and still are, living in their own personal hell on earth. They have their own stories of misuse, lovelessness, addictions, and wrong choices that led them to this precipice. They are surely among the most miserable of people, having lost their very humanity. I hate the lies they believed. I hate the selfishness within each of us, including myself, that thankfully doesn’t reach this level of expression for most.

So as I weep and my heart aches mercilessly, I tell myself that this all must be channeled effectively. That something good must come from such unspeakable evil. We must bring truth and light into the dark society that teaches our citizens, from childhood, that value lies in sex appeal and that girls (and sometimes boys) are merely orifices for pleasure. We must fight all that devalues life and feeds the self-absorption that leads us to disregard the worth of another human being in the pursuit of our own desires.

And we must do all we can to cripple the travesty of human trafficking. It changes nothing to say “Oh, how horrible”, then turn away and continue with our life as usual. Or “I hope someone does something.” Or “The government needs to do more.” We must stop the kingdom building in anti-trafficking organizations where branding and media attention sometimes overshadow the mission of ending slavery, and competition for dollars keeps us from working cooperatively.

For a crime this rampant – the #2 and fastest growing in the world- it will take a movement. It will take each of us doing what we can, no matter how small. Because all our small contributions, pieced together, add up to something very large. Because nothing else has any hope of bringing change.  And because maybe, just maybe, we can keep the same fate Shaniya faced, from happening to another child.

For those of you who don’t watch CSPAN and or  have lives, the move forward to debate HCR passes with 60votes; all democrats and  independents have voted aye in an effort to gain further debate on HCR for all Americans. In what seemed like a rolling storm into the evening with promises of a showdown, the vote was requested and taken by Sen Harry Reid.

Sen Reid, who also requested that the voted be taken in a sit-down fashion, was able to gain 60 ayes-39 nays vote to move forward.  This vote for those hoping for a positive outcome moves this bill forward and closer to giving Americans a chance for affordable, quality health care for all.

This motion… HCR will be probably be debated after thanksgiving.

Nineteen year-old Jorge Steven Mercado dreamed about working in the fashion industry. He was also a volunteer in organizations advocating for HIV prevention and gay rights. But, last week his body was found dismembered, decapitated, and partially burned, in a rural area in Guavate, Cayey, Puerto Rico. Activists from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Puerto Rico immediately described this brutal slaying  as a hate crime. Not a single crime has been processed under the Puerto Rican Hate Crime Law since it was approved in 2002. Penalties are higher if the Hate Crime Law is applied.

Days after the murder, 26 year-old Juan Martínez Matos confessed. According to local news reports, Martínez Matos said he went looking for a prostitute in the streets of Caguas, Puerto Rico, when Steven approached him. Martínez Matos said he “didn’t know” Steven Mercado was a man until they arrived at his apartment in an another town (the victim was allegedly dressed as a woman). Gay activists Ada Conde and Pedro Julio Serrano have publicly stated that the sector where Steven Mercado was picked up is mostly frequented by transsexual and transvestite men. Martínez Matos said he killed Steven in “self defense” after they got into a fight. He then mutilated his body, and left it in a desolated area miles away from his house. Martínez Matos also stated he hated homosexuals because he had been raped when he was in jail for committing domestic violence.

Gay activists were outraged when the police officer in charge of the investigation said: “Someone like that, who does those kind of things, and goes out in public, knows full well that this might happen to him.” They have demanded the officer’s immediate removal from the case. Martínez Matos has been charged with murder and bail was set at $4 million USD.

Since Puerto Rico is a United States territory, federal laws apply. Two Puerto Rican United States Congress Members from New York have asked for this crime to be prosecuted under new federal hate crimes laws. The Federal Investigations Bureau (FBI) is monitoring the investigation. In the 1980s the serial murderer Ángel Colón Maldonado, known as the “Angel of the Bachelors”, killed 27 homosexuals in the Island. Recently, gay actvists have also warned about another murder against a gay man in San Juan, the country’s capital.

Bloggers have reacted to this terrible crime. The human rights actvists and spokesperson of the LGBT organization Puerto Rico para Tod@s (Puerto Rico for Everyone), Pedro Julio Serrano [ES], condemned the religious leaders’ and the politicians’ silence:

We are before one of the most horrendous murders committed in the history of this country, therefore the silence of political and religious leaders is even more shameful. They should feel embarrassed for not expressing their solidarity with Jorge Steven’s family and friends. They should feel embarrassed for not expressing solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community for the hatred that this crime has produced. They should feel embarrassed for not condemning the police officer in charge of the investigation. They should feel embarrassed for having forgotten their constitutional duty of defending equality for every human being.

This Sunday there will be a vigil in New York City in remembrance of Jorge Steven Mercado.

Radio Free Asia, 2009-11-20 -

HONG KONG— Hard on the heels of a state visit to China by U.S. President Barack Obama, authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have begun the trial of a former 1989 student leader and will shortly sentence an activist who tried to help victims of last year’s devastating earthquake.

Authorities in Sichuan’s Shehong county began the trial of U.S. resident and former leader of China’s 1989 student movement Zhou Yongjun for “economic fraud” after he tried to visit his ailing father in 2008, just one day after Obama ended his three-day trip.

“This case definitely exists,” Zhou’s lawyer Chen Zerui said.

“But there is no evidence whatsoever to show that Zhou Yongjun is directly connected to it.”

Zhou was a student at the Chinese University for Political Science and Law at the time of the student protests and ensuing military crackdown on June 4, 1989, in which hundreds died.

He was among a group of students who knelt in front of the Great Hall of the People on April 22 to present a list of demands to China’s leaders after the death of moderate premier Hu Yaobang.

Lawyer appointed

Chen, assistant to top Beijing-based lawyer Mo Shaoping, was retained only in late August after Zhou’s family tried to hire Mo to defend him in May.

He said he had already called into question some of the evidence presented by police.

“I have asked for a suitable agency to review the evidence based on handwriting,” he said, adding that he had also found holes in the legal procedures used to bring the case against Zhou.

Zhou’s relatives, who attended the trial, said he didn’t look himself.

“He seemed in low spirits and his voice was very faint,” said a brother-in-law surnamed Ye. “We wondered if he was sick.”

“It has been such heartache for our family. Zhou disappeared for about a year, and we were all very worried. His parents are old, and they are extremely distressed,” Ye said.

Cyber-dissident tried

Meanwhile, a court in the provincial capital Chengdu said it would announce its decision in the trial of cyber-dissident Huang Qi for “possession of state secrets.”

“I received a phone call and a fax… from the court,” said rights lawyer Mo, who is acting on Huang’s behalf.

“They said the sentencing would be open and that relatives could attend.”

Mo added that there had been no opportunity for Huang, 46, to defend himself throughout the trial, which was held at Chengdu’s Wuhou district People’s Court.

“There was no opportunity for either Huang Qi or his lawyer to say anything throughout the trial,” Mo said, adding that a typical sentence for the charge of “possessing state secrets” was three years’ imprisonment.

“They just read out a statement. I didn’t send a lawyer over to save the fees. If he is found guilty, we will appeal.”

Huang’s wife Zeng Li said she has had no direct communication from the court regarding her husband’s case.

“I am very worried now. If they send him to jail, Huang Qi won’t be able to get medical treatment in prison,” she said.

“He is in very poor health.”

Held after quake

Huang was detained by the Sichuan authorities on June 10, 2008 after he tried to help parents of children who died in the May 12 earthquake to investigate allegations of shoddy construction following the collapse of school buildings across the quake-hit region in which thousands of schoolchildren died.

He was formally arrested on July 18, 2008.

Zhou, who is a permanent resident of the United States with two children, was detained in the wake of the June 4 crackdown and released in 1991 following international political pressure for the release of student leaders.

He arrived in the United States in 1992, and was granted permanent residency.

Zhou’s case highlights the situation of dozens of Chinese political activists who have been allowed to leave China and seek asylum in the United States, but are now unable to get permission to return to visit relatives.

- Radio Free Asia

Julie Christian was crowned Miss UCO 2010 this past Saturday, Nov. 14.

“I received $2,300 total in scholarship money which was a big incentive obviously, I pay for my college by myself so I really rely on scholarships and that takes care of a big portion,” Christian said.

“UCO offers some of the best scholarships in the Miss America system.”

Christian competed in three other pageants before winning Miss UCO but said that the UCO pageant was the most enjoyable she competed in.

“Working with girls from your own home university, they didn’t have attitudes or anything like that it was just a really enjoyable experience,” Christian said.

“You really have a support system you don’t have in other pageants. We just cheered each other on, no one was out to get anyone.”

The deadline for applications to compete in the pageant was in September and the process began in October.

There were ten girls that competed in this year’s pageant. The girls had a two-hour nightly rehearsal the week leading up to the pageant.

Christian is obligated to make set appearances as Miss UCO and as a representative of the university.

“My primary focus will be on my platform which is sex trafficking awareness,” Christian said.

Christian works with Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans, a grassroots activist program that is working to increase knowledge of what is going on in the state.

“Oklahoma is seventh in the nation for sex trafficking and a lot of people don’t know that.

So our main focus is for people to know it’s so popular because of the I-35/I-40 corridor, these are trucking routes where kids are getting wrapped in prostitution at an early age,” Christian said.

Christian spoke about young women who were victims at a young age and are now in their twenties and how it takes them so long to recover.

“I was in an abusive relationship, so that’s part of the reason I chose this platform. I can see how in a small way their story can really help others,” Christian said.

“We can use our pain to publicize what is going on.”

The Miss UCO pageant is a preliminary to the Miss Oklahoma pageant, so Christian will automatically be competing for the Miss Oklahoma title.

“Its’ whatever God has in store for me, if this is the only crown I win I will embrace this opportunity” Christian said.

Christian said her parents were in attendance at the pageant and are very proud and supportive of her.

Her mom was involved and helped her to prepare for the evening by helping her stitch her dress and practice for the talent portion of the contest. For the pageant Christian played Hungarian Rhapsody #2 on the piano.

“We practiced quite a bit, that’s why UCO is great, we were out there so many times that we were performing as ourselves and not as a robot trying to remember steps,” Christian said.

“Miss Oklahoma will be great but my primary focus will be on the months to come as Miss UCO and not the week I will be competing for Miss Oklahoma.”

UCO will hold a human trafficking awareness day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 21 in the Troy Smith lecture Hall in the business building.

The day will include a film as well as a speaker to help increase awareness and Christian plans to be a part of the program. Christian recommends the pageant to all well-rounded young ladies here at UCO.

source: http://uco360.com/?p=2688

November 19, 2009 – by Donny Shaw, OC

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D, NV] last night released his health care bill, which is expected to get a first initial vote in the Senate as soon as Friday. From its major features and topline numbers, the bill clearly has a lot of the attributes Senate Democrats need to meet the political challenges facing their health care reform effort. It includes a dramatically pared-down public option, greatly expands insurance coverage, reduces the deficit, maintains the status quo on abortion funding and bans many of the most egregious insurance industry.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (link opens in browser as a 2,074-page .pdf), released as an amendment to H.R. 3590.

The bill is a blended version of the two health care bills that were approved by the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate HELP Committee earlier this year. Those bills overlapped in several areas and had some major differences that had to be reconciled by Majority Leader Reid in the final bill released last night. Here’s an outline of some of the choices Reid was facing between the two bills.

The plight of a Black woman takes new heights when she takes part in the time old tradition of going to a beauty supply store. Millions of us have the same story of being followed watched and monitored in the stores often by people who know nothing about us or our fascination with the very product they sell.

Chris Rock recently highlighted the struggle of Black women to maintain and obsess over something as simple as tresses in his film “Good Hair” and while Chris made his point on the big screen, another man is stepping up to do the same in communities nationwide.

Although he has less notoriety and less fame, Professor and Black activist Devin Robinson has started a national boycott of non-Black owned beauty supply stores to send a message. The message he hopes to send is one of equal treatment, one of fair distribution and one that can ultimately pump millions of dollars back into the Black community. This Black beauty supply owner and founder of the “Taking It Back Black Campaign” schools men and women on the skills needed to successfully own and operate their own store.

If this is your first time hearing about the boycott it’s not too late to join in, you have until November 22 to “go against the grain” and take your business where it is appreciated. Hell, if these discriminatory practicis really infuriate you, why not extend it? Professor Robinson sat down with HipHopWired to tell us what motivated him to start the boycott, the huge economic implications it could bring and exactly what we can do to help.

HipHopWired: How did you really get into the beauty supply industry, did you hear about the struggles Black women go through your wife or daughter?

Devin Robinson: No, What happened was, I got thrown out of a beauty supply store. I owned a barber shop and a salon and I was in there shopping for supplies, I was prepared to spend about a thousand dollars that day and because I was browsing the guy didn’t like it, it was a Korean guy, he grabbed a golf club and threatened me and kicked me out of his store. I left quietly, caught me on a good day. I left and sat in front of my salon, and said I got to do something about that. I don’t think that’s right. I am a professional business person, how is he treating the younger people the less fortunate people, maybe dressing a little more intimidating or aggressive than I was that day. And I decided to open my store, I called the landlord who had my salon I said listen I want a beauty supply store right next to my shop, I paid them 5,000 dollars that day, I didn’t have no experience, no industry experience no contacts, nothing, I assumed like any business, you got the money you can get in. That’s not the case. That’s when I really learned what it was about.

HipHopWired: So how do you go about being successful in the beauty supply industry?

Devin Robinson: First you got to know business, that’s the first thing.  You got to know how to run a good business, you got to cater to your business, many special occasions I missed, many vacations I missed, that’s the first thing you need to do is learn to sacrifice. And then once you get in, customer service and persistence is really what made me successful. There was some products that I wanted I had to get it, when I opened my store, it took me 4 to 6 months to get wigs. Distributor would not sell me there hair.

HipHopWired: You would call them and they’d say no?

Devin Robinson: They wouldn’t come out and say no, they would say here’s our fax number and download these forms we get back to you and you’d never hear from them……I eventually started getting call backs and I call and say I’m calling on behalf of Ms. Kim, she’s the owner of the business, call me back, I started getting phone calls……then one thing that really worked for me, I lived in Korea for a year in the mid 90s, so I know the food, the culture, and when I got to different distributors I would befriend them using that……they let me in and let their guard down, not knowing they were letting their guard down for the wrong person.

HipHopWired: What was the final straw for you in the hair business when you decided to do the boycott?

Devin Robinson: I opened the stores I sold them to other black people. I appeared in the black hair DVD in a documentary in 2007, they filmed my store and they were like this young guy is doing this. I had a scene on there where I had people emailing calling me about help. So I decided to write a book, “Taking It Back: How to Become a Successful Black Beauty Supply Store Owner.” After I did that I wound up being on Michael Baisden several times, I’ve been on his show six times since then. I was featured in Ebony magazine in 2008 and when that happened, more calls came in of people needing help. So I decided that I needed to sell my store so that I could really help people get into this business. Being a business store owner I’m in the trenches. It’s harder for me to help anyone when I’m fighting my own battle. So I decided to sell it to other Blacks and I started the crusade, started the University, started the courses and started traveling. I was teaching people how to set their own stores up.

HipHopWired: The boycott is from November 16 through the 22. So really break it down for me. Are there certain products we shouldn’t buy? Or in general just go to Black owned stores?

Devin Robinson: Here’s what we gotta do. Where the problem really lies is in the distributors. There’s really only one full scale Black distributor in the country everyone else is Asian. That’s part of the problem. We got Luster’s, we got Dudley’s, Bonner Brothers, they manufacture so we still have some Black manufacturers out there but when those products get shipped to the distributor that’s where they decide to channel it to the Asian stores. That’s where they sell it to the Black stores at higher prices and give them the run around. So they’re sending their products to the Asian stores and we’re having a hard time. What I’m planning to do is send people to the Black owned stores only. If we shop at Black owned stores only, these distributors are only going to get orders from Black owned stores. They’re going to start to see a decline in sales at the Asian stores and if they can realize that wait a minute, we have that power and that leverage they will have no choice then but to open up the books and operate fairly to the Black owned stores. They may not do it in just that one week but I’m prepared to do it make this one week into two weeks and into a month as we move forward. I want to start with a week, small successes so businesses can see. We’re talking about $66 ½ million a week so if we do this one week that’s $66 ½ million going to the Black community. That’s really what I’m trying to do, send a message to the distributors that you need to open the doors and operate fairly. You got a Black retailer coming to you? You need to operate fairly.

HipHopWired: What about the people that don’t think it’s a big deal that we don’t own the beauty supply stores that say I don’t care, I’m going to go to the same beauty supply store I always go to.

Devin Robison: See that’s part of the problem. That’s been part of our problem historically. We haven’t seen 100% cooperation in pretty much anything that we’ve done. It’s gotta become viral. You do have those people who are price sensitive but once they see a cause and people start to see that the support is spreading I think that people will get on board and see that once we hand our money to the Asian owner we’re sending that money directly out of our community. So you may be sending less for that item or transaction but you’re spending way more in the big picture. Now you have no tax revenues. You have deplorable conditions in your churches, in your schools and you have crime because we don’t have the tax revenue to bring police officers out. We start to pay a price for that. You pay a price because you gotta pay for security systems for your homes. We pay on the back end in having a crime infested community because of the lack of revenue circulating in that community.

HipHopWired: How do you plan to market this on a National level?

Devin Robinson: The press releases are going out we’re still trying to get the attention of national media and syndicated shows. A lot of people in the local circuits are picking up the story. I’m very proud, I’m happy about that. If we could get CNN and MSNBC on board it’s a long shot but if we could get them to cover the stories that’d be great. Right now we have the support of Reverend Al Sharpton, Michael Baisden, Warren Ballentine, these are people that are promising to cover the boycott for that entire week. I don’t have a national platform; I’ve never had a national platform. So I’m just working with the media friendly folks that will open the doors and get this message out. That’s what I’m relying on.

HipHopWired: Is there a directory for the Black beauty supply stores so people can find out where they are in their area?

Devin Robinson: Yes on our website TakingItBackBlack.com. There are also courses there for people who want to get in and there’s a directory telling you where all the Black owned stores are.

HipHopWired: Okay good. Any final words? Is there anything you want to say to get people motivated to go out and participate in this boycott?

Devin Robinson: We have to let people know that this is an economic hate crime. We are being victimized throughout our communities. The Black people are being singled out to be exploited but not allowed to obtain power through entrepreneurship. It’s an economic hate crime and we’ve got to continue to be persistent and pursue it through legal action, through economic action, through moral and civil action. This is something we’ve definitely gotta do.

Thomas Alieu, director of the Educational Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Sierra Leone says his organization wants to turn the blind into useful tools for nation building… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: tutoring. For a different topic see peach recipe. The blog is also related to: teach school.

I’m going to keep this short and to the point.

Friday was Transgender Day of Remembrance and I attended the vigil in my area.  I had such an intense Thursday night, and got very little sleep going into Friday.  During the day on Friday, I had meeting after meeting and seriously didn’t now if I was even going to be able to muster up the energy to go to the event that evening.  I knew I would be something powerful, and since it was my first TDOR I figured I really did have to go.  I went home and grabbed my camera and went to meet up with some friends before heading over to the church.

I’m not sure if I purposefully distanced myself, but I went into complete photographer mode.  I didn’t really let myself process what was going on in front of me.  The service at the church was nice.  Completely non denominational, just a time for some community members to get up and speak.  After that, we lit candles and walked through Rita Hester’s neighborhood.  It was eerie making that walk with all those people and all those candles.  It’s a walk I have made so many times, and I never thought about Rita or her death in combination with those streets.  We all gathered at an open square to stand in solidarity while community members read the name and a short description of each victim that passed away this year  at the hand of someone else, due to discrimination and hatred.

I stood there, and listened, and took pictures.  After all of the names, far too many names, were read we walked back to the church.  At the church there was a reception with hot apple cider and cookies and treats.  Once we got back to the church, I pulled away and sat by myself for a while.  I tried to make small talk with some people, but I just felt numb.

Pretty soon after, a friend of mine gave me a ride home.  That night was really tough for me.  I sat, and finally processed all of the emotion that I wasn’t able to process at the event.  I think a lot of my emotional release had to do with my own identity, and the fact that I can’t hide from myself any more. 

I spent all day developing and scanning the negatives I took on Friday.  So far, it looks like I have about 40 frames that I am happy with.  A bit more tweaking and editing and I should be able to get them up online and share them with the community.

Love.

Goddess Lacey

This past week was Transgender Awareness Week and it was both a time for the trans community to come together, and a time to educate the cisgender public about issues facing the trans community.

On Tuesday night, I attended an event as a photographer and ended up with some nice photographs.  It’s funny how when I am photographing an event, I’m not sure if I’ll come out with anything I like.  Once I am at home and sorting through the photographs I realize that I actually did quite a good job of documenting the event.  I have also realized that I have my own style, even with documentary photography.  I know my personal style with more formal work, but it’s exciting to see my own artistic style developing.

Thursday night was the big night for me.  I am producing a documentary about a church’s involvement in Transgender Awareness Week, and we had our big shoot on Thursday!

When I first agreed to the project, I was a bit skeptical.  I am not a religious person.  I also have had some negative experiences with religion in the past, and have never been made to feel that God (whoever/whatever that is) loves me.  The project was born out of a conversation I had with a good friend at the Trans Pride Parade in Northampton at the beginning of October.  She attended the parade with members of her church, and was really excited to bridge the gap that so often exists between the LGBT (especially “T”) world, and the church world.  Quite possibly on the same day, this friend of mine also had a conversation with the director of the transgender rights organization I am interning for.  They decided that the church should hold an event during Transgender Awareness Week to continue to bridge the gap.  Once that was decided, my friend asked if I would be interested in shooting the event and putting together a short documentary piece that the church could use for their website to show how inclusive of a community they are.

Although hesitant about being involved with a church, I liked the idea of connecting these two communities.  I couldn’t think of any real reason not to get involved.  I figured I could bring my little HD video camera and then put together a short piece with final cut pro.  The more we talked about the event over the next few weeks, the more I realized how much bigger this project could be.  I’m taking a video production class this semester at school, and decided that I would make this a much larger documentary shoot and use it for my final project for class.  I then reached out to students in my class, and also found some students in a documentary production class who were also interested in getting involved.

The final crew that I ended up with was amazing.  There was only one student who was a bit of a weak link, but in the end even he pulled through.  I planned the shoot, and worked with my friend from the church to make sure we were on the same page.  I am extremely proud of my communication skills and my ability to plan ahead and follow through.  I am also extremely proud of all the hard work my friend put in to organizing the event at the church.

The evening was broken down into two separate parts.  There was a worship service that focused on understanding transgender identity and then a queer open mic night.  One of the incredible things about this church service is the inclusiveness to all identities, and religious ideologies.  There is no one set belief that everyone who attends this service believes in.  People come from all different backgrounds, and all come together to for this special community.  This community is very LGBT friendly, and takes you exactly as you are when you enter the door.

The shoot itself went pretty smoothly.  We had a few problems with audio during the first part of the worship service, but we found a way to make it work.  The open mic was fantastic, and quite a joy to shoot.  The people who performed  did a range of different things.  Some read poems, some told personal stories, some acted out skits, and some sang and played guitar.  After a short intermission, Leslie-Ann Rios sang and played guitar while my friend from the church who organized the event got to drum alongside with her.  It was exciting having Leslie-Ann at the open mic night.  She was the first runner up at the Miss Trans Northampton Pageant, and has become quite the “transelebrity”.  Her performance was by far the most fun to shoot with the camera, and the entire crew was really excited and passionate about the whole event.  Our shoot just kept getting better and better, and by the end we really bonded as a film crew.  There is something really exciting about shooting a documentary.  The energy you are capturing is raw and in real time and can’t be re-created.

So everything was very successful from a documentarian’s point of view.  On top of making sure my shoot went smoothly, I was trying to deal with my separate worlds colliding.

About half way through shooting the worship service, this man that I have a history with entered the church.  I’m not sure if this man is homeless, but I know he bums around near Park Street.  I hate to say this but, he smells terrible and creeps me the fuck out.  I’m sure he means well, but He is someone I really don’t like to see around the city.  This man comes into the strip club every now and again.  If I am working, he will not pay attention to any of the other dancers.  A few weeks ago, he was in and be bought three lap dances from me and tipped me about $30.  Where did he get this money?  I don’t know, and I really don’t want to know.  Anyway, so I was on camera shooting the worship service and simultaneously trying to monitor the audio levels when this man walks in.  I panic because I know he saw me.  He came up to me, while I was holding this giant camera mind you, and tries to hug and kiss me.  He is saying things like “you are so beautiful, I love you, kiss me, I love you” etc. and I was trying so hard not to loose it and completely freak out.  It would be one thing to see a normal customer at church, but this guy? Absolutely not OK.  The idea that I was stuck and couldn’t leave was terrifying.  I had to stay and deal with the situation, no matter how difficult it was.  

I hate the idea that this man, this dirty nasty man, has seen my naked body.  I hate that this man has had be dance naked on top of his crotch, and that this man has probably jerked off thinking about me.  And then there he is, in front of me, in church of all places. Great.  As soon as the worship service was over I tried to avoid him as he stood around but he came up to me again.  After another hug and his repeated attempts to kiss me, he finally left. 

The open mic portion of the evening was up next, and we only had about 20 minutes to tear everything down and move it from the chapel and into the other room.  Once we got into the room that the open mic was held in, it was already packed.  There was standing room only, and I was aquatinted with more than half of the people in the room.  Some of my friends were there, which added another pressure for they were watching me at work on my documentary shoot.  This part of the evening was the part I was originally most nervous for.  This was the part where my queer community and my emerson community would be coming together.  One of my close friends who I met through my internship sang a couple of songs with her guitar.  When she got up there, she thanked our friend who organized the event and thanked the Emerson film crew for being there.  She said something along the lines of :

          ”Just want to say thank you to Emerson College for being here doing an amazing job, and specifically to Jesse, he            is organizing this shoot and he is doing such a good job, and I am really proud of him”.

Bam.  Just like that.  Outed to the entire room.  And my film crew.  I was wearing a name tag with male pronouns on it earlier, but ripped it off when I saw that man come in during the worship service. There was something absolutely terrifying about being outed, but also something wonderful.  It felt good to have it said out in the open. It felt good for someone else to say it.  Hearing her say that over a microphone made it feel very real.  I know my crew members heard it, but none of them said anything about it.  I also realize that this moment was captured on two separate tapes, which again, makes it all the more real.

The whole night was a giant endorphin rush.  I was just going, going, going with no time to stop.  I’m excited to see how this changes things with those people in the future, but I’m also a bit scared because this may be the event that triggers everyone at school finding out how I identify.

I do apologize for the novel, but this was one of those really important days in my life.  I have a feeling I am going to remember it forever.

- Goddess Lacey