Hmm..Let me see – Are you a virgin?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 8th, 2011
Good morning.
This happened last week, but no matter – the subject is still very worthy of posting this morning.
Sick…what men will do…
Egyptian Female Protesters Forced To Take ‘Virginity Tests’: Report
CAIRO (AP) — Activists and bloggers are pressing Egypt’s military rulers to investigate accusations of serious abuses against protesters, including claims that soldiers subjected female detainees to so-called “virginity tests.” (Scroll down for video)
Bloggers say they will hold a day of online protest Wednesday to voice their outrage, adding to criticism of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country from ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The accusations of virginity tests first surfaced after a March 9 rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that turned violent when men in plain clothes attacked protesters and the army intervened forcefully to clear the square.
One woman who was arrested spoke out about her treatment, and Amnesty International further documented the abuse allegations in a report that found 18 female detainees were threatened with prostitution charges and forced to undergo virginity tests. They were also beaten up and given electric shocks, the report said.
Egypt’s military rulers have come under heavy criticism from the youth protest movement, which is upset at the pace of reforms that they hope will lead Egypt to democracy.
Since Mubarak’s fall on Feb. 11, the military has led crackdowns on peaceful protests, and critics accuse it of failing to restore security in the streets or launch serious national dialogue on a clear path forward for Egypt.
The military council denied soldiers attacked protesters at the March 9 rally. But one general used a press conference to make negative remarks about women who mingle with men during the sit-ins and suggested lewd acts were taking place in protest camps.
There were girls with young men in one tent. Is this rational? There were drugs; pay attention!” Gen. Ismail Etman, spokesman of the council, said at the end of March.
He confirmed then that the military police arrested 17 female protesters among 170 others at the March 9 rally. He said the women were among a group of protesters given one-year suspended prison sentences.
“We secure the people. We don’t use the violence,” he said.
One of the women arrested, Salwa al-Husseini, gave a detailed account at a press conference in March of her treatment and said she was made to undergo a virginity test.
She said she was slapped in the face and electrocuted in her legs in Tahrir Square before being taken to a military prison.
“When we went to the military prison, me and the girls, we were placed in a room with two doors and a window. The two doors were wide open,” she said in March. “The girl takes off all her clothes to be searched while there were cameras outside filming to fabricate prostitution charges against us later on,” she added.
“The girl who says she is single, she undergoes a test by someone; we don’t know if he is a soldier or some kid on their behalf,” she said.
Amnesty said in its report that one of the women told her jailers she was a virgin but was beaten and given electric shocks when the test supposedly proved otherwise.
“Forcing women to have ‘virginity tests’ is utterly unacceptable,” the Amnesty report said. “Its purpose is to degrade women because they are women.”
The military council has promised to return the country to civilian rule after elections later this year, but some Egyptians fear the council is adopting the same autocratic ways that characterized Mubarak’s rule. They point to what they say are attempts by the council to make any criticism of the military an untouchable taboo.
On Tuesday, the military prosecutor questioned a prominent blogger along with four other media people over their criticism of the performance of the council and military police.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, in a statement issued Tuesday, accused the council of trying to silence critics and create “an atmosphere of fear.”
It warned, “The military council is committing a grave mistake if it continues to shut the mouths of those criticizing it. The council is not made up of angels.”
The group also referred to virginity tests, saying that the military council is aware that “those belonging to it have practiced torture against the youth of the revolution and has subjected women to virginity tests.”
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Readers: You know what to do – Blog me.
Maria: Essentially but not exactly.
Howie: You’re welcome.
Ellie: I think you called that one right.
Maleda: You’re welcome. I wish that I could offer more assistance. May you and yours be safe.
PrP: Thank you for apologizing. Your apology is accepted.
Zen Lill: Yes, I did receive your VM. Thanks for the call. I was busier than I thought I would be this past weekend. This week is pretty much the same. We’ll try again.
Kiania: Your news is sad and frustrating. Sad because the world is this way and frustrating because people such as Obama who are trying to do good and make changes for the betterment of all, is so challenged by those who oppose.
The answers to your questions are simply complicated. In my opinion the hypocrisy is known, and has been verbalized here many times, but not nearly enough. They are words that need to be spoken…need to be written continually…in our face, until people do something. I wish you and yours well.
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 :)
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June 8th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Hi Mischa, yes read about this…insane.
Bandy, wish I could help you but I think it’s best if you make a polite request to the BABE to repost bc I only have my memory of talk of Sweteno and I’m positive I don’t remember even the half of it. I did not copy anything from the archives at the time and you can only thank the greed of some readers to want to ‘write their own story’ without regard and reverential deference to our sweet and kind blog host, who spends a lot of time doing what she does for all of us (and all that for no pay, thank you very much). I’m still annoyed bc from time to time I liked going back to revisit, call it nostalgic, call it what you want but now none of us can do it bc a few bad apples (or should I say greedy bastards) spoiled the batch. As if…Howie would ever sell out CARR for money, please…go write your own dang stories.
Prism Princess, I like your blog.
Luv & Pax, Zen Lill
June 8th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Hera #17 June 7:
Israel discovering the second largest Oil and Natural Gas supplies in the world was announced recently on this blog.
I hope that it does not turn out to be a double edged sword for Israel. One end of the sword is great – they will have vast amounts of oil to use and export to the world. The other side of the sword is perhaps some Arab nations might want to steal this Oil and Gas by trying to annihilate Israel and steal these resources. This is just a thought, not a prediction.
Israel is the only non-Islamic and truly democratic nation in the Middle East. This could only strengthen Israeli-American relations in the future.
HOWIE
June 9th, 2011 at 9:55 am
No More Icky, Sticky Sunscreens
Zoe Diana Draelos, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Today’s sunscreens feel nicer and work better. The
reasons…
Ingredients that block rays physically (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) are now finely ground (micronized) to be smoother and less visible.
The ingredient avobenzone chemically absorbs ultraviolet (UV) rays — but breaks down in the process.
Improvement: New formulas also have octocrylene, oxybenzone and/or ecamsule — these chemicals slow avobenzone breakdown, protecting skin longer.
Follow the guidelines below no matter what your skin color — in dark-skinned people, skin cancers are less common but more deadly…
Use the right sun protection factor (SPF). The lower its SPF, the less greasy a sunscreen may feel. Use SPF 15 for a quick walk… SPF 30 at the beach… SPF 45 if you’re very fair or in the tropics. If swimming or sweating, use a water-resistant formula.
Avoid combination insect repellent/sunscreen. Sunscreen should be applied every two hours — but repellents should be applied only every six hours because their chemicals may cause skin irritation and nausea.
Buy broad-spectrum formulas that protect against UVB (rays that burn top skin layers) and UVA (deeper-penetrating rays).
New finding: UVA is more damaging to basal cells, where most skin cancers develop, than was previously believed.
Women’s Health interviewed Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, clinical associate professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a research dermatologist with Dermatology Consulting Services in High Point, North Carolina.
June 9th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Humans need not fear aliens. The human male is capable of any type of evil imaginable.
June 9th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Michelle, you were correct. My sister and I reexamined it. I wish I could become a Girlz. I am in my second year at UC Berkeley. I am a chemistry major. I love my sister, but she doesn’t believe as I do.
She reads your blog because she says you are a voice that should be heard. I read it because I want to one day follow you into the Known Universe.
Maria
June 9th, 2011 at 10:26 am
Michelle:
Egyptian men are as bad as the rest of the men who use islam as an excuse to rape and terrorize arabic women. The military needs to appease them so they are losing the secular restraints that were in place under Mubarak.
My only contact is with men of this terrible thing called islam. I pray every night to the true Allah and I ask God to kill them all.
Eshkashern
June 9th, 2011 at 10:49 am
This is an alert about certain food products from Taiwan.
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Guam Public Health On Alert, But Naval Says No Tainted Taiwan Food Products Found on Guam
Last Updated on Thursday, 09 June 2011 16:00
Written by Kevin Kerrigan
Thursday, 09 June 2011 11:20
Guam News – Guam News
Guam – The Guam Department of Public Health [DPHSS] has issued an alert affecting certain food products from Taiwan that have higher than safe levels of the plastic DEHP.
According to a release from DPHSS at least one company on Guam was found to have supplies of a suspected brand of Mango instant powder contaminated with DEHP. But Acting DPHSS Administrator Cynthia Naval told PNC News that tests proved negative and no DEHP laced Taiwan food products have been found on Guam.
The Taiwanese food products which are suspected of unacceptable DEHP levels include sports drinks, juices, teas, fruit jams, syrups, tablets and powders.
According to the Taiwan Food and Drug administration the Yu Shen Company intentionally added a so called “cloudy agent” containing DEHP into commonly used juices and beverages.
DEHP is normally used as a plastic in packaging food products because it makes the plastic more flexible. A release from Guam Public Health states that high doses of DEHP can lead to “testicular effects, fertility problems and toxicity to the kidneys.”
The Taiwan FDA website states:
“The incident is originated from intentional addition of DEHP to the cloudy agent and led to food contamination. The industry guilty of the charge has been subjected to inspect and punish by FDA and investigation authorities. Since DEHP is strictly prohibited in food, the products involved in the incident will all be confiscated and destroyed.”
You must copy and paste the link below into your search bar in order to go to the Taiwan FDA website listing products under recall [click on the link and you'll understand why you have to copy and paste it]
http://www.fda.gov.tw/eng/news_list.aspx?time=1&classifysn=118The Taiwan FDA alert was issued on May 23erd. Last week the CNMI issued its own alert. Today Guam Public Health issued their alert.
Although Guam Public Health has not named the product, the Taiwan FDA provides the following information about the contaminated products:
To protect the food safety and health of the general public, TFDA and local health governments pledge to conduct continuous tracking on the companies and products that illegally use of the DEHP. All products containing the plasticizer provided by Yu Shen Company are required to be taken off store shelves. Up to now, suspected product categories contaminated with DEHP and removed from the store shelves include: juice, fruit jam, syrup, fruit powder, yogurt powder etc. totaling 20,880.45 kg; 464,365 bottles of sports drinks, flavored juice, and tea beverages; 133,887 boxes and 30,000 packs of powdered probiotics.
Preliminary results reveal that two sports drinks (Dongli Sport Drinks and Dongli Lemon Sport Drinks) have been exported to Hong Kong. A downstream company, Triko Foods Co., Ltd. was found to have sold the DEHP-contaminated clouding agent to Philippines and Vietnam. Three other tainted products have been sold to the U.S. by Chuan Chia Foods Co. TFDA has informed the above mentioned countries.
The Taiwan FDA website identified the contaminated products as: Nature House Lactic Acid Bacteria (apple vinegar-flavored lactic acid powder) produced by King Car Group; Skinny Dietary Drinks by Chang Gung Biotechnology Corp.; Taiwan Sugar Ginger Clam Tablets by Taiwan Sugar Corporation; and Dongli Sports Drinks and Dongli Lemon Sports Drinks.
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Please check the labels on your products before you buy or consume them.
Hafa Adai
Anna