Ms. Zen Lill found this in Ms. Magazine, and e-mailed it to me thinking it would be a good write to post here. I thought so too, so here it is – Thanks ZL!

We talk about human trafficking quite a bit here. Men: Want to get involved? Want to be able to do something? Well here’s your chance to man up…

Drum roll please…

10 Things Men and Boys Can Do to Stop Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel another person to provide labor or commercial sex against their will, and it is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the world.

The Renaissance Male Project believes that men are complicit in this crime when they purchase sex because they create the demand by allowing others to exploit women and children for profit. Men must play a role in ending this form of modern-day slavery, a vicious industry that exploits and perpetuates the suffering of hundreds of thousands of women and children in the United States and around the world.

The Polaris Project estimates that:
27 million are enslaved globally.
14,500-17,500 individuals are brought into the U.S. as human trafficking victims each year.
1 million children enter the global commercial sex trade every year.

There are specific actions that men and boys can take to end these atrocities:

1. Challenge the glamorization of pimps in our culture
Mainstream culture has popularized the image of a pimp to the point that some men and boys look up to them as if they represent legitimate male role models, and they view “pimping” as a normal expression of masculinity. As Carrie Baker reflects in “Jailing Girls for Men’s Crimes” in the Summer Ms. issue, the glorification of prostitution is often rewarded, not punished, in pop culture:

Reebok awarded a multi-million-dollar contract for two shoe lines to rapper 50 Cent, whose album “Get Rich or Die Tryin” (with the hit single “P.I.M.P.”) went platinum. Rapper Snoop Dogg, who showed up at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards with two women on dog leashes and who was described in the December 2006 cover of Rolling Stone as “America’s Most Lovable Pimp,” has received endorsement deals from Orbit gum and Chrysler.

In reality, pimps play a central role in human trafficking and routinely rape, beat and terrorize women and girls to keep them locked in prostitution. Men can take a stand against pimps and pimping by renouncing the pimp culture and the music that glorifies it.

2. Confront the belief that prostitution is a “victimless crime”
Many men view prostitution as a “victimless crime.” But it is not. For example, American women who are involved in prostitution are at a greater risk to be murdered than women in the general population. Research also shows that women involved in prostitution suffer tremendous physical and mental trauma associated with their work. Viewing prostitution as a victimless crime or something that women “choose” allows men to ignore the fact that the average age of entry into prostitution in the U.S. is 12 to 14 and that the vast majority of women engaged in prostitution would like to get out but feel trapped. Men should stop viewing prostitution as a victimless crime and acknowledge the tremendous harm and suffering their participation in prostitution causes.

3. Stop patronizing strip clubs
When men think of human trafficking, they often think of brothels in countries outside of the U.S. However, strip clubs in this country as well as abroad may be a place where human trafficking victims go unnoticed or unidentified. Strip clubs are also places of manufactured pleasure where strippers are routinely sexually harassed and assaulted by owners, patrons and security personnel. Men rarely consider whether women working in strip clubs are coerced into that line of work, because to do so would conflict with the pleasure of participating in commercialized sex venues. Men can combat human trafficking by no longer patronizing strip clubs and by encouraging their friends and co-workers to do the same.

4. Don’t consume pornography
Pornography has the power to manipulate male sexuality, popularize unhealthy attitudes towards sex and sexuality and eroticize violence against women. Pornography leads men and boys to believe that certain sexual acts are normal, when in fact sexual acts that are non-consensual, offensive and coupled with violent intent result in the pain, suffering and humiliation of women and children. In addition, a disproportionate amount of mainstream pornography sexualizes younger women with such titles as “teens,” “barely 18,” “cheerleaders,” etc. Targeting younger women socializes men to develop appetites for younger and younger women and creates a pedophiliac culture among men. Victims of human trafficking have also been forced into pornography. Men can stop the voyeurism of sex and sex acts that fuel human trafficking by refusing to consume pornography and encourage others to do the same.

5. Tackle male chauvinism and sexism online
Contrary to the myth that men do not gossip, men spend a significant amount of time online discussing their sexual exploits. The Internet provides many men with the ability to mask their identities while indulging in racist, sexist and violent diatribes against women and girls. Choosing to be a critical voice online is an extremely important way to educate and inform men and boys about their choices. Men can change this culture by starting threads in online forums that cause men to talk about their attitudes towards women and how these attitudes and behaviors are linked to human trafficking.

6. End sex tourism
Men in the U.S. and other “first world” nations routinely travel overseas and have sex with women in developing countries. When men engage in these practices, they do not acknowledge the fact that many trafficked women and children come from developing countries-even in countries where prostitution is “legal.” Traveling overseas grants men a great deal of anonymity. As men, we have a responsibility to confront the men that go overseas and participate in sex tourism.

7. Talk to men and boys about men’s issues in male spaces
The only way to change men is by engaging spaces where men and boys talk and develop their ideas and attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Males spaces such as barbershops, locker rooms, fraternities and union halls are the real classrooms where boys learn to become men and where men develop most of their ideas about how to interact with women. If men do not feel comfortable talking about these issues in male spaces, they can drop off informational brochures and make themselves available to talk with other men and boys when they have questions or concerns. As men, we need to turn male spaces into circles of accountability where men learn about non-violence, social justice and ending violence against women.

8. Support anti-human-trafficking policies
President Obama declared January 2010 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. However, more substantive legislation is required to end human trafficking. Men can educate themselves about the issues by visiting anti-trafficking organizations and by asking their elected officials what they have done to support or sponsor anti-human trafficking legislation. One of the most important acts men can do to stop human trafficking is to support anti-trafficking legislation at the local, state or federal level.

9. Support creation of “John Schools”
There would be no human trafficking if there were was no demand for it. Strategies aimed at ending human trafficking must focus on eliminating the demand. “John Schools” are education programs designed to educate customers apprehended by law enforcement who attempted to purchase sex. By teaching the legal and health effects of buying sex and the realities of prostitution, such schools impart knowledge that can reduce demand, making men conscious of how their actions can spur on human trafficking. Learn whether or not your local community has a John School. If not, encourage your local prosecutor’s office or city counsel to start one.

10. Raise sons and mentor boys to challenge oppression
No boy is destined to be a “john,” a pimp, or a human trafficker. Raising young men in circles of accountability to be respectful and protective of all women and children is one of the most important things men can do to stop human trafficking. Talk about human trafficking as a modern form of slavery to help convince men and boys to become allies in the fight to end this form of oppression.

Editors’ note: What do you think of these suggestions? Please comment and discuss!

Comments? Thoughts? Show me some lip – Blog this BABE…

…Peacin’ out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

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For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

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I struggled for words to write this morning. And I came up empty. It happens sometimes. Sometimes someone else’s words say it all and I can not say it any better or any  different. So why struggle?

I found this little snippet on Afghan leader Malalai Joya while ready TIME magazine from a few months ago. I googled to find out more about Joya. What I read left me so impressed with her courage and strength that when I sat down to write, I found that all I wanted to say was what was already said, and I could say it no better.

All that I can add is that it is no wonder Afghan leader Malalai Joya is considered a hero and ranked in TIME’s 100 most influential people of the world. She is a hero in my mind too.

To be a woman growing up in Afghanistan under the Taliban and to survive is in itself a major feat. To be so lucky as to become literate in a place where girls are shrouded and denied even fresh air is close to a miracle. To start underground schools and educate girls under the noses of turbaned, self-appointed defenders of virtue and forbidders of vice is truly extraordinary.

But to get a seat in parliament and refuse to be silent in the face of the Taliban and warlord zealots shows true fiber. When Malalai Joya did this, her opponents responded in the usual way: expulsion from parliament, warnings, intimidation and attempts to cut her life short. She has survived all of it.

Malalai, 31, is a leader. I hope in time she comes to see the U.S. and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on her side instead of out of her country. The road to freedom is long and arduous and needs every hand.

-Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel, has a book, Nomad, out this month

Afghan Leader Malalai Joya Is Resistance Personified

Last April, she was ranked among the 100 most influential people of the world by Time Magazine

By Farooq Sulehria

Afghan leader Malalai Joya is resistance personified. She is the most vocal critic of both US occupation of Afghanistan and the ruling warlords. At the same time, she speaks dismissively of the Taliban: “Their violence is no resistance”. However, Malalai Joya hardly grabs headlines in the Pakistani media that often glorifies the mindless violence of the Taliban. But she is a household name in Afghanistan and a known figure internationally. She was called “Afghanistan’s most famous women” by the BBC a few years ago. Last April, she was ranked among the 100 most influential people of the world by Time Magazine.

But Time asked Dutch-Somalian author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is known for her Islamophobic views, to make the announcement. Now settled in the US, Hirsi Ali distorted Joya’s image in her malicious announcement by saying: “I hope in time [Joya] comes to see the US and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on her side instead of out of her country”.

A furious Joya reacted strongly. In her counter-statement, she said: “Time has painted a false picture of me and does not mention anything at all about my struggle against the occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO, which is disgusting. In fact, everyone knows that I stand side-by-side with the glorious antiwar movements around the world and have proved time and again that I will never compromise with the US and NATO who have occupied my country, empowered the most bloody enemies of my people and are killing my innocent compatriots in Afghanistan”.

Joya earned a mark back in 2003 at the Loya Jirga (Greater Assembly) convened to ratify Afghanistan’s new constitution. Unlike the US-sponsored, clean-shaven fundamentalists, Joya was not nominated by Karzai. She was elected by the people of the Farah province to represent them at the Loya Jirga. The Jirga was chaired by Sibghatullah Mojaddedi who, at the very outset, told the women delegates: “Even God has not given you equal rights because under His decision two women are equal to one man”.

Joya had bravely organised underground girls’ schools in Herat when the Taliban’s terror drove millions into exile. Mojaddedi’s patriarchal admonition could not intimidate Joya. She stunned the Loya Jirga and the press members present to cover the occasion by delivering a three-minute, hard-hitting speech, exposing the crimes of the warlords running the Loya Jirga. A befuddled grey-bearded Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, on hearing Joya, screamed in anger and called her ‘infidel’ and ‘communist’. Others also shouted at her. But before she was silenced by an angry mob of warlords, with her single, but timely, act she had electrified Afghanistan.

When she criticised the warlords at the Loya Jirga, even ‘Viceroy’ Zalmay Khalilzad — the then US envoy to Afghanistan — was upset. “Joya”, Khalilzad chided, “had overstepped the framework of politeness”.

She wrote a letter to Khalilzad, saying: “If these criminals raped your mother or daughter or even your grandmother, or killed seven of your sons, let alone destroyed all the moral and material treasure of your country, what words would you use against such criminals and puppets that will be inside the framework of politeness and respect?”

In the meantime, three fateful minutes at the Loya Jirga changed the course of Joya’s life. In her native province of Farah, locals wanted her to represent them in elections. It does not merely take guns and dollars to contest an election in Afghanistan. Joya had none. Still, she contested and was elected to parliament in 2005. Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad immortalised Joya’s courageous election campaign and subsequent victory in her documentary “Enemies of Happiness”. Aged 25, Malalai Joya was the youngest Afghan MP. More importantly, she proved herself to be the bravest MP. On the floor of parliament, she emerged as the strongest critic of US occupation and the Taliban- and mujahidin-dominated Karzai regime.

Hence, at almost every parliamentary session she attended, she had her hair pulled, was attacked physically and called names by her ‘Islamist’ colleagues. She was even threatened with rape on the floor of the house. In one case, the warlords bussed in thousands of men to Kabul to march and demand “Death to Joya”. Niaz Mohammad Amiri, a member of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf’s Wahabist party, would never miss an opportunity during parliamentary sessions to call her a prostitute. Flyers were distributed calling her prostitute, communist and anti-Islamic.

“Among the worst was a leaflet that showed a photograph of me without my headscarf, falsely saying that the picture was taken at the Loya Jirga. Underneath was the awful slogan: she took off her scarf at the Loya Jirga, she’ll take off her pants in parliament”, Joya noted in her book Raising My Voice that has recently come out. Once she was abroad on Valentine’s Day. It was propagated that she was abroad to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In her two years in parliament, she never once had the chance to complete her speech without her microphone switched off. But even her half-delivered speeches were hard to tolerate.

Hence, she was suspended from parliament. Her suspension has been widely criticised. From Noam Chomsky to Naomi Klein, a host of noted people have signed the petition for her reinstatement. She now leads an underground life. To hide her identity, she wears the burqa which she otherwise hates. In view of her previous experience, she has decided not to contest elections scheduled for September this year.

The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: mfsulehria@hotmail.com

**********

Bob: Thanks for the clarification. I was spluttering Wa..wha’at? too. :)

Scott: I was a WF customer for 20 years and dumped them last year. I had no idea about this scam. Unfortunately Wachovia is the back that I pay my mortgage to. Now I am forced to be with WF again.

Evelyn: I am delighted that you and Harris have been having a wonderful time together. I didn’t know that you two were still in each other’s company. How fab. So…meeting the parents soon eh? Looking forward to the 411. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Scene: A man attacks a woman from behind and throws her face down on the ground. He’s on top of her, one hand cupping her mouth, the other lifting her skirt, ripping her panties off. The victim, a young woman is scared and enraged as she tries to violently kick and scream, pulling and scratching at the perpetrator’s hands, trying to fend him off. He holds her forcefully down, while unzipping his pants. She continues to kick and fight as best as she can, but his hand is suffocating her and she is running out of breath. He smiles an evil smile, and shouts in her ear, “Bite me bitch. I’m taking this, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” He begins to rape her.

Oh yeah? Take this! The rape doesn’t last long…seconds later, to his surprise, “bite” him she does.

Readers: No one ever wants the above scene to happen. And if the scene sounds horrible, and it does, one can not imagine how awful it is for the woman who is the victim, unless you have been raped yourself. And even then most rapes are probably a lot worse than I care to describe it. But you’ll soon get my point…read on.

This is an interesting little discovery that I made, that may provide assistance to women, if they choose. The article was written back in June of this year. This is one solution that I feel will make men think with the big head, before they decide to force their little head into women.

(CNN) — South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers was on call one night four decades ago when a devastated rape victim walked in. Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse.

“She looked at me and said, ‘If only I had teeth down there,’” recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. “I promised her I’d do something to help people like her one day.”

Forty years later, Rape-aXe was born.

Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man’s penis during penetration, Ehlers said.

Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it — a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

“It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it’s on,” she said. “If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter… however, it doesn’t break the skin, and there’s no danger of fluid exposure.”

Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.

“I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe,” she said.

After the trial period, they’ll be available for about $2 a piece. She hopes the women will report back to her.

“The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she’s going out on some kind of blind date … or to an area she’s not comfortable with,” she said.

The mother of two daughters said she visited prisons and talked to convicted rapists to find out whether such a device would have made them rethink their actions.
Some said it would have, Ehlers said.

Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.

It’s also a form of “enslavement,” said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. “The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to.”
Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

“It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma,” she added. “It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults.”

However, its one advantage is it allows justice to be served, she said.
Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation’s Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.

In most African countries, rape convictions are not common. Affected women don’t get immediate access to medical care, and DNA tests to provide evidence are unaffordable.

“Women and girls who experience these violations are denied justice, factors that contribute to the normalization of rape and violence in South African society,” Human Rights Watch says.

Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some wearing extra tight biker shorts and others inserting razor blades wrapped in sponges in their private parts.

Critics have accused her of developing a medieval device to fight rape.
“Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it’s for a medieval deed that has been around for decades,” she said. “I believe something’s got to be done … and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman.”

Readers: Sure, so it may not be a long term solution but it is one solution, and I have to say, except for exterminating the evil, I haven’t heard of too many solutions that I could run with. If I were in a place where rape was prevalent I would certainly consider wearing one. Yes, no doubt the perpetrator is going to be quite upset being “bitten” by one of these, but I think he’ll be so shocked and focused on his pain, that the victim will hopefully be able to get away and get help.

As far as the rest of what the critics are saying, I think it is a bunch of BS, but you tell me. The critics claim that it is a form of “enslavement”. Please spare me…or at least spare these women – they are already being enslaved by men. How does wearing one of these make them more vulnerable. Women in Uganda, and many other places are already in fear of being raped; they already feel vulnerable.

I think wearing one of these would give a woman “confidence”, and not false sense of security. Confidence that should something happen, she will have recourse. Of course it doesn’t help with the psychological problems that manifests after assaults – that goes without saying. And no, Rape aXe won’t protect a woman from being raped, but it does give the woman justice (not to mention the satisfaction of inflicting pain on her perpetrator – how’s that for a dose? You can give it, but can you take it?), and that lone fact itself, is enough I would think, for a woman to want to wear one.

Plus once the “word” gets out that women have access to these condoms, and once men hear through experience just how painful the “bite” can be, not to mention the fear of being convicted of rape, perhaps men just might curb their sick minds.

I say go for it. Love it. I know that’s a strange statement to say in regards to rape. But I support getting medieval on the evil. If men are going to continue to rape women, there has to be some immediate consequences, and pain and suffering sounds good to me. Men see no problem inflicting pain and suffering on the women they are raping. But more importantly, women will feel empowered because they have caught their perpetrator, and they can do something about it.

Yes, I can hear some of you men screaming now, and not from being “bitten”. I know some of you men will say that some women will use it to get back at men, take revenge on men, and not for the intended purpose of achieving justice from being raped. Yes, that may be true.

But I say that if it weren’t for men raping women in the first place…if it weren’t for men who enslave women and rape them at their pleasure…if it weren’t for men using rape as a weapon of war, well than a woman wouldn’t need to come up with this type of device in the first place to protect her sisters now would she?

I say get theses devises out there, make them accessible and distribute them to the women. Let the women make their own choice if they want to wear one or not. Give the women the power.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you wear one? I want to Especially hear from my women readers who live in countries where rape is a daily experience in their immediate lives. Blog me.

Ruth: I feel many times that I am the voice of bad news too – so you are not alone. I look at where everything is made these days, and if it is made in China, I don’t buy it. Unfortunately finding things made in the U.S. is getting difficult, but really…how much does one need? “Be choosy”, is what I say. Thanks for the important post. Keep ‘em coming. We all need to be as informed as we can be.

Qal’eh-Ye Now, Gardez, Kheyrabad, Herat: Perhaps today’s write is a solution for you too. I know it is not a long term solution. Long term is our country refusing to do business with your country(pl) unless women are treated as equals. I hear you and I agree with you. Oil is the problem. Thank you for reminding me and my readers. I wish all of you well.

Doug: We are a planet who treat each other so unkindly, and I am being kind here. People fear the aliens, and what they may do to us.  But look at what we do to our own kind.

Zen Lill: Ahahha! I have to laugh at your comment. Please don’t be offended; I am no way a prude when it comes to sex, and I certainly like bringing out the beast, but “Hot monkey lovin’” just doesn’t give me a good visual…Kind of a funny visual – not what you intended I’m sure. But hey, who cares about me, as long as it turns you on. :)

Peace out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Below is the cover of TIME magazine. It is a shocking photo of a young girl with a mutilated face, thanks to the Taliban and the help of her husband and in-laws. The story inside tells of Aisha’s attempt to flight and fight for her life, resulting in the cutting off of her nose and both her ears. There is no word to describe this atrocity. “Devastating” just doesn’t cover it.

When I try to get into the minds of the kind of men who commit this kind of devastation, and try to understand how they can be so unmoved, so unfeeling, I of course, can not. It is crazy to think that I could grasp one bit of understanding, when there is no reason for this atrocity to happen – There is no reasoning with men like this. They are something that I am not. Evil, pure evil.

Who could be so cruel to torture and maim a woman? Evil.

The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband’s house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn’t run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha’s brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.

This didn’t happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women’s shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. “They are the people that did this to me,” she says, touching her damaged face. “How can we reconcile with them?”

(See pictures of Afghan women and the return of the Taliban.)

In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai established a peace council tasked with exploring negotiations with the Taliban. A month later, Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch met Karzai. During their conversation, Karzai mused on the cost of the conflict in human lives and wondered aloud if he had any right to talk about human rights when so many were dying. “He essentially asked me,” says Malinowski, “What is more important, protecting the right of a girl to go to school or saving her life?” How Karzai and his international allies answer that question will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Afghanistan’s women, but the country as a whole.

(Watch TIME’s video on photographing Aisha for the cover.)

As the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the need for an exit strategy weighs on the minds of U.S. policymakers. Such an outcome, it is assumed, would involve reconciliation with the Taliban. But Afghan women fear that in the quest for a quick peace, their progress may be sidelined. “Women’s rights must not be the sacrifice by which peace is achieved,” says parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi.

(Comment on this story.)

Yet that may be where negotiations are heading. The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views, particularly on the issue of women’s rights. Already there is a growing acceptance that some concessions to the Taliban are inevitable if there is to be genuine reconciliation. “You have to be realistic,” says a diplomat in Kabul. “We are not going to be sending troops and spending money forever. There will have to be a compromise, and sacrifices will have to be made.”

For Afghanistan’s women, an early withdrawal of international forces could be disastrous. An Afghan refugee who grew up in Canada, Mozhdah Jamalzadah recently returned home to launch an Oprah-style talk show in which she has been able to subtly introduce questions of women’s rights without provoking the ire of religious conservatives. On a recent episode, a male guest told a joke about a foreign human-rights team in Afghanistan. In the cities, the team noticed that women walked six paces behind their husbands. But in rural Helmand, where the Taliban is strongest, they saw a woman six steps ahead. The foreigners rushed to congratulate the husband on his enlightenment – only to be told that he stuck his wife in front because they were walking through a minefield. As the audience roared with laughter, Jamalzadah reflected that it may take about 10 to 15 years before Afghan women can truly walk alongside men. But once they do, she believes, all Afghans will benefit. “When we talk about women’s rights,” Jamalzadah says, “we are talking about things that are important to men as well – men who want to see Afghanistan move forward. If you sacrifice women to make peace, you are also sacrificing the men who support them and abandoning the country to the fundamentalists that caused all the problems in the first place.”

(See picture s Muslim women leading a soft revolution.)

TIME Magazine Cover Explains What Happens To Afghan Women If ‘We Leave Afghanistan,’ But That Tragedy Is Already Occurring

- Huff Po.

Time Magazine is out with a new cover story that attempts to explain “What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan.” The piece is accompanied by a powerful portrait of Aisha, an Afghan woman who had her nose and ears cut off by Taliban decree after attempting to escape abusive family members. The intense image sets the scene for the crux of the article’s argument — that the rights of Afghan women would be destroyed by a potential settlement between the U.S. and the Taliban.

As Time’s Aryn Baker writes, the U.S looks potentially poised to negotiate with the Taliban in what she calls the “quest for a quick peace.” Though this trade-off could provide some semblance of stability in Afghanistan, a condition would presumably set the table for an eventual drawdown of U.S. troops, Baker argues that it would come at a devastating price for the nation’s women.

Though such a conclusion does raise a number of concerns about the terms of an American withdrawal, it also seems to overlook a variety of tragic conditions that Afghan women currently face, even with the heavy U.S. military and diplomatic influence in the country.

Despite promising rhetoric for women’s rights in the 2004 version of Afghanistan’s Constitution and subsequent legislation, the country has largely resisted implementing any meaningful progress in the treatment of women. In fact, in 2009, amid international protest, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a bill that was seen by many as the legalization of rape against women.

Though President George W. Bush repeatedly spoke loftily about the “freeing” of Afghan women following the invasion of the country in 2001, reports and numbers show that success stories more often stand as statistical outliers rather than narrative descriptions of a bettering situation for women.

If the treatment of Afghan women has not improved — and may have even deteriorated — since the American invasion, the question of what happens if we stay in Afghanistan may be just as important a question as what happens if we leave.

In the video below, Brave New Films argues that the idea of Afghan women being free after the toppling of the Taliban is a “false perception,” and that “war won’t liberate Afghan women.” People interviewed in the video maintain that the advancement of women’s rights has been “cosmetic,” and that the actual quality of life for women has not improved since the occupation. In some cases, they argue, the treatment of women has worsened due to an extremely fundamentalist judiciary and the radicalization of a population currently engaged in what risks becoming a state of perpetual war.

Readers: The term “shocking” has hardly a meaning anymore when the “shocking” photo or story has become an everyday experience in this world. And it has. Things can’t get any more “shocking” than they already are. Men can’t get any more evil than they already are.

As you know I write about subjects like this all of the time. What has changed? I HOPE that the world is getting to a better place, that we are making strides, but the evil keeps growing and at times surpassing all of the good that is happening. It feels as if we are sometimes in a race to save the women of the world, before the evil destroys them.

Comments? Rants? Words of HOPE? Blog me.

Herbert: Again, thanks for the update. It would be cool when you do get your x-rays to fill us in so those of us that didn’t get to see this once-in-a-lifetime line-up can enjoy it too, through you.

Debra: You’re welcome. I didn’t include all of the photos from the article as you obviously noticed. I decided to post only one of the men and one of the women. I noticed too that the only other photo was of the women resting. That perturbed me a bit. I am also sure that you do plenty that requires a much needed rest. It would’ve been nice if the story highlighted that part as well.

Joyse: Thanks for the compliment. I can never get enough on this blog because if it weren’t for the positive feedback and the positive outcome from whatever I post and whatever is said, it would be tough for me to continue doing this daily. I want to know that something is working, and my readership tells me that it is.

Carla: Please tell the Columbian drug dealer to stand in line. Somehow, I bet he doesn’t take kindly to waiting. And as far as a machismo experience bringing out the real me…Ha! Tell him this BABE, latin or not, has a voluptuous set of flapping lips, and a bod to match, that should he ever have the pleasure of experiencing the real me, would set him on fire beyond his wildest hottest dreams. Unfortunately right now, tell him to keep dreamin’ – cause that’s all he’s got. :)

So back to you…Good luck with the movie thing. I HOPE that it plays out the way you want it to. Oh and by the way Carla, if you’re selling, I’m buying :)

Hi Rita and Conchita!

Paul: Happy to hear that you were pleased with the outcome. No, I was not there. I would have loved to join all of you but the timing was not good.

Zen Lill: Ah..Yes a cameo role – that’s the ticket. I like that much better :) And although I am a voyeur at heart…love listening and watching others have live sex, no unfortunately I was not there filming. But invite me, and I just may take you up on it. :)

Ruth: I so agree with you.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

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For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

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All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

…And sometimes I really wish I didn’t. But since I, and probably many of you do, here’s the latest on those little pieces of plastic that gives us so much freedom. And yet, many of us have made them our “golden handcuffs”; me included. (Ugh) Here’s a few ways to help free yourself from those nasty fees, and every other little trick that credit card companies are trying to play on you, and what the “Card Act” does to help you. Check it out:

The New Credit-Card Tricks
Just months after historic legislation banned certain billing practices, card issuers have dreamed up new ones designed to trip up consumers.

By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
Whomever President Barack Obama taps to head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection could find it difficult to keep ahead of the credit-card industry.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, known as the Card Act, was intended to reshape the contours of consumer finance. Among other things, it forces card issuers to give customers more notice about interest-rate increases and restricts certain controversial billing practices such as inactivity fees.

Bloomberg News
The Card Act forces issuers to give customers more notice about interest-rate increases, and restricts certain controversial billing practices such as inactivity fees.Yet some of the biggest card issuers in the U.S., including Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Discover Financial Services, are already rolling out a slew of fees designed to recapture some of their lost income, in part by skirting the new rules. Some banks may even be violating the law outright, say consumer advocates.

“Card companies are figuring out how to replace old fees with new ones,” says Victor Stango, an associate economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a professor at the University of California, Davis, who has been analyzing how the Card Act will affect consumer banking. “It’s a race between regulators writing ever-more-complex laws and credit-card companies setting up ever-more-complex fees.”

The banks have a big gap to fill. The Card Act is expected to wipe out about $390 million a year in fee revenue, according to David Robertson, the publisher of industry newsletter Nilson Report. On July 16, during its second-quarter earnings call with analysts, Bank of America Corp. Chief Financial Officer Charles Noski warned that the Card Act and other regulatory changes would prompt the bank, the nation’s largest in assets, to write off up to $10 billion in the third quarter.

“If you have every major issuer saying that we are losing our shirt, then that speaks volumes,” Mr. Robertson says. “Proportionately, these fees should be understood as almost inconsequential compared to the losses.”

So the banks are getting aggressive. According to a July 22 report from Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan research group, the industry’s median annual fee on bank credit cards jumped 18% to $59 between July 2009 and March 2010. At credit unions, annual fees soared 67% to $25. During the same period, the median cash-advance and balance-transfer fees jumped by 33%.

All of these increases are perfectly legal, of course. Banks and other issuers would have a difficult time extending credit to consumers, even at high interest rates, if they couldn’t augment those revenues with fee income. “We’re coming out of a deep recession that issuers are still working through,” says Peter Garuccio, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association.

But some banks may be going too far. In a July 7 letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates many of the biggest U.S. banks, a coalition of consumer groups including the National Consumer Law Center, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumer Action flagged several “potential violations of the Credit Card Act.”

Other banks are ramping up their marketing of so-called professional cards. These are like corporate cards but can carry the same terms as consumer cards-and aren’t covered under the new law. In the first quarter of this year, issuers sent out 47 million professional-card offers to U.S. households, up from 13.2 million in the corresponding period last year, according to research firm Synovate.

“This can be a very easy way around the Card Act,” says Josh Frank, a senior researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer group.

The upshot: Borrowers must be more vigilant than ever-even before they make their first charge on a new credit card.

‘Saddled With Late Fees’

Alan Condon of Woodstock, Ga., says he carefully reviews his card statements each month, and even read the Card Act-all 33 pages-after it was passed in May 2009.

Among other things, the Card Act stipulates that late-payment fees shouldn’t be triggered on a Sunday or holiday, when there is no mail delivery.

The rule “is clearly meant to offer cardholders some semblance of relief so that they don’t get saddled with late fees for making a reasonable payment on the next business day,” says Chi Chi Wu, a consumer credit lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center.

Mr. Condon says he was shocked when he opened his credit-card statement dated June 18 and saw that Discover had charged him $39 for a late payment-and had upped his interest rate on future purchases from 17% to 24.99%. He says the company considered him late because he paid on June 14, instead of June 13, a Sunday.

“I just got mad,” says the 56-year-old computer-software developer, who says he had never before been late on a Discover payment.

“We were in compliance with the Card Act,” says Discover spokesman Matthew Towson. “The law states that if a creditor does not receive or accept payments on weekends or holidays, then the date is extended. But we accept payments seven days a week.”

Nevertheless, Discover reviewed Mr. Condon’s account at The Wall Street Journal’s request and decided to waive the late fee and reduce Mr. Condon’s interest rate to its earlier level.

The Card Act also stipulates that issuers can’t jack up rates on existing balances unless a cardholder is at least 60 days late. But there is a creative maneuver around that: the so-called rebate card.

Citibank rolled out rebate-card offers to some of its customers last fall, offering to refund up to 70% of finance charges when customers pay on time. The problem: Rebate offers aren’t governed by the Card Act, and an issuer can revoke them suddenly and hit cardholders with high charges.

The net result is the same as raising rates-and because it is perfectly legal, customers have little recourse. “Rebates on finance payments may seem like a good deal, but you could end up with a very high interest rate suddenly,” says Mr. Frank, of the Center for Responsible Lending.

“The rebate offer is clear, transparent, and we believe fully within the spirit of the Card Act,” says Citigroup spokesman Samuel Wang.

Shortening the billing cycle is another new tactic some banks may be using. The Card Act requires companies to provide a window of at least 21 days from when a statement is mailed and when payment is due.

Yet the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Action say they have received complaints from borrowers who allege that their billing cycles have been shortened to fewer than 21 days.

“Since the passage of the act, we’ve heard from numerous borrowers alleging that they are shortchanged on billing cycle time,” says Joe Ridout, a consumer-services manager at Consumer Action.

Inactivity Fees Return
As expected, issuers also are raising basic fees in the wake of the Card Act, in some cases significantly. Many credit-card companies, for example, are increasing their balance-transfer charges sharply. “We are seeing an increase across the board in fees because card companies are sensitive about their ability to price for risk,” says Mr. Robertson of the Nilson Report.

Last June, for example, J.P. Morgan’s Chase unit alerted customers that its maximum balance-transfer fee was rising to 5% from 2% on a wide range of its cards.

“In a higher-loss environment, it’s important that we are prudent with our balance-transfer offers,” says Stephanie Jacobson, a spokeswoman for the bank. She adds that “We often do have lower rates in a competitive marketplace.”

Companies are raising their minimum finance charges, too. Before the Card Act, the average minimum monthly finance charge was about 50 cents, according to Nick Bourke, director of the Safe Credit Card Project at Pew. Now, he says, those fees can reach $1.50.

That difference might not seem like a lot, but it adds up: Borrowers pay $430 million a year in minimum-finance charges alone, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Card Act’s provisions are being implemented in stages, with the last phase taking effect on Aug. 22. After that, issuers will no longer be able to charge “inactivity fees,” or extra charges for people who don’t spend a certain amount each year.

So companies are dressing them up in other ways.

Citigroup, for example, has started charging some of its customers an annual fee, which can be waived if a customer’s card activity exceeds $2,400 a year.

Tristan Denyer of San Francisco says he was surprised when he got a notice that Citigroup was instituting a $60 annual fee on his card. Mr. Denyer, 37, a senior Web designer, says he rarely carried a balance on his card, and refused to rack up the $2,400 in charges necessary to erase the fee.

“I figured this was just a tactic to get me to spend more and give them more money,” Mr. Denyer says. He says he decided to close his account.

Citigroup’s Mr. Wang acknowledges that Card Act rules forbid the waiving of annual fees based on “a customer’s annual spending on the card.” He adds, however, that “the rules will not prohibit cash-back rewards or similar incentives that encourage account usage.”

Another potential trap: low-credit-limit cards, which are popular among college students.

The Card Act says a card’s total annual fees can’t exceed 25% of a borrower’s credit line. But some issuers may be evading the fee restrictions by charging an upfront processing fee that doesn’t fall under the 25% cap.

First Premier Bank, headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., offers several low-credit-limit cards. Its Centennial card comes with a $300 limit and a $95 upfront processing fee.

Melinda Robinson of Lorena, Texas, learned firsthand how rapidly fees could eat into her credit limit. After receiving a card with a $250 credit limit from First Premier, she says, she was immediately charged $170 in combined fees. When she tried to use the card for the first time, she exceeded her credit limit, triggering more fees.

“When they first send you the card, they automatically charge you fees that eat up half of it,” says Ms. Robinson.

First Premier Bank’s president and chief executive, Miles Beacom, says the $95 processing fee doesn’t violate the Card Act because it is assessed before the account is opened. He adds that the fee offsets the risk associated with offering these cards to “high-risk individuals.”

Foreign-transaction fees are on the march as well. The average fee for foreign transactions has jumped to 3% of the transaction from roughly 2% in 2008, according to Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at Creditcards.com.

Some card holders are finding they don’t even need to leave their living room to get hit with a foreign-transaction fee. Ruth Ann Sando, a small-business owner in Washington, says she has been burned repeatedly on her Visa card issued by Pentagon Federal Credit Union, the third-largest credit union in the U.S.

Ms. Sando used to do a lot of business with AbeBooks, an online retailer. But she found that she was getting hit with foreign-transaction fees even though her purchases were in dollars. That is because while the seller and shipper were based in the U.S., Abe, headquartered in Canada, provides the forum for book sellers and collects a portion of the proceeds from all sales.

So late last year, Ms. Sando says, she decided to stop buying from the site altogether. “Not buying books is the only way I can protest the fee,” she says.

“The fee is legal, but all these fees circumvent the [Card Act's] goal of clear and straightforward pricing,” Mr. Woolsey says.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union says some of its cards carry a foreign-transaction fee of 2% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction.

Fighting Back
While the credit-card landscape may seem littered with landmines, there are ways to guard against some of the worst pitfalls. The first and simplest: Make your card payments on time.

Second, say consumer advocates, people should dispute fees directly with the issuer when they believe something is amiss.

“Cardholders would be surprised at how much they can raise hell and get a change,” says Mr. Condon, who says he immediately contacted Discover after the late charge appeared on his statement. They might have to make repeated calls, however.

“While the Credit Card Act did make great strides in protecting consumers, it in no way closed all avenues for cardholders to get hit with fees,” says Ms. Wu, from the National Consumer Law Center. “It’s a first step.”

Write to Jessica Silver-Greenberg at jessica.silver-greenberg@wsj.com

************

Zen Lill: It sounds like you are finally getting what you deserve, and has been a long time coming. Happy to hear that my “Pretty In Pink” pj’s are playing a supporting role. Albeit a short scene but hey, at least they’re in the movie!

Peace out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"