Ironic that late Friday night I was watching Richard Lester’s “Cuba” with Sean Connery on MGM HD when the news of Castro’s death came through. Right after that, on the same channel, I watched Oliver Stone’s “Salvador” – partly about the Carter-Reagan transition and including the murders of the nuns and Archbishop Romero. Today, this article.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
During the transition from Carter to Reagan, the Salvadoran death squads started targeting Americans. A cautionary tale about signals sent and messages received.
Christopher Dickey
11.27.16
PARIS — A new president had just been elected in the United States — a hard line president, who, it was said, had no patience with the vacillating, moralizing policies of his predecessor. Around the world thugs who would spit when they heard the phrase “human rights” suddenly took heart. With such a man in the White House, they thought, they had a license to kill.
This was November 1980, when the confused transition from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan opened the door to a bloodbath in the little Central American country of El Salvador; when, suddenly, anyone the military suspected of aiding the subversivos was liable to be tortured to death, and even Americans—even American nuns—were fair game.
Now 36 years later, we will soon mark the anniversary of the death of four American churchwomen kidnapped, raped and murdered in El Salvador on the night of December 2, 1980.
Gang rape videos are being sold in a northern Indian state, according to authorities who believe rapists are using cellphone clips as a way to keep their victims quiet.
The Times of India first reported on the recordings, which are fetching 50 to 150 rupees, or 75 cents to $2, in Uttar Pradesh, which has seen a spate of recent rapes that have triggered public calls for its chief minister to resign. The clips are being sold “under the counter”, according to the newspaper, to people who come with a customer’s “reference”, and also via social media. They range in length from 30 seconds to as long as five minutes.
“Porn is passe. These real life crimes are the rage,” an unnamed shopkeeper in Agra, home of the Taj Majal, told the Times of India. It reported that police believe the videos are used as blackmail, to prevent victims from reporting the crimes, or to pressure them into further acts.
Today — my 19th birthday — I’m in Kenya visiting Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.
Every year on my birthday I travel to meet girls who are struggling to go to school — to stand with them and to make sure the world hears their stories.
Today in Dadaab I met Rahma Hussein Noor, a 19 year-old who has struggled more than most of us can imagine just to go to school.
Rahma came to Dadaab at age 13, having never set foot in a classroom. She worked hard to catch up with her classmates and, in a few years, graduated primary school.
Rahma then enrolled in a secondary school in Dadaab. But when her family returned to Somalia last year, Rahma could not find another school to attend.
After two months, her father said her education was over and decided to marry her to a man over 50 years old whom Rahma had never met.
Rahma snuck out of her house and took an eight day bus ride back to the refugee camp…all to continue her education.
Rahma is not alone. Many girls from Syria, Burundi, Afghanistan, Pakistan and all around the world have lost so much and are then forced to fight for a right they already have — the right to go to school.
Last year, the world agreed to provide 12 years of education for every boy and girl. Yet, nearly one year after making the commitment, where do we stand?
We are facing a global refugee crisis and more and more girls like Rahma are at risk of losing their chance to go to school — and their dreams for a better future.
We cannot allow girls like Rahma to fight alone. It’s time to do right by girls — #YesAllGirls.
Since the early days of his administration in 2010, Chris Christie has been at odds with teachers in New Jersey. Sunday he brought his opprobrium to a national level, and the teachers are up in arms.
Teachers are fighting back after Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday that their unions deserve a punch in the face.
SNIP
Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, and Wendell Steinhauer, president of the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union — have both condemned Christie’s comments.
“That [Christie] would threaten to punch teachers in the face — mostly women seeking to help children meet their potential and achieve their dreams — promotes a culture of violence and underscores why he lacks the temperament and emotional skills to be president, or serve in any leadership capacity,” said Weingarten’s statement.
If you’re in the New York area, don’t miss the play #Nirbhaya — about the woman who sparked a revolution to #BreakTheSilence around rape culture worldwide.
India banned the documentary about the Delhi rape, but this powerful story must be told. Showing April 16 – May 17. Get tickets here:NirbhayaNYC.com
Violence against women and girls is an epidemic of global proportions. Transcending geographic borders, economic and social class, religion and ethnicity, violence impacts women of all ages, in all communities around the world.
From domestic violence to sexual harassment, human trafficking to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting, far too many women in far too many places face violence or threats of violence on a daily basis. Today, estimates show that nearly 1 in 3 women has experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence – an astounding and unacceptable statistic and one of the most challenging barriers to women’s full participation.
Both men and women showed solidarity with the woman who was attacked
At least 200 people have protested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after a group of men tore off a woman’s clothes for wearing a miniskirt.
The protesters chanted “Shame on you” and handed out flowers at a bus rank where the attack took place, the BBC’s Anne Soy reports from the scene.
At a rival demonstration, about 20 men chanted “Dress up. We don’t want this.”
Kenya is a conservative society, where activists complain that women’s rights are often violated, our reporter says.
A mother’s group, Kilimani Mums, organised the protest after a video of the attack went viral on social media last week.
Activists say the government has not done enough to protect the rights of women
Both Christians and Muslims took part in the protest
It sparked outrage among Kenyans, with the hashtags#MydressMychoice and #strippingshame trending on Twitter on Saturday and Sunday, the local Daily Nation newspaper reports.
The latest incident in the spreading number of witch hunts occurred last week when a 45 year old woman was burned alive at the stake after she was accused of practicing witchcraft in the nation of Paraguay.
The victim, Adolfina Ocampos, was sentenced to death by the local chief of the Mbya Guarani community after local villagers accused her of being involved with sorcery. The villagers tortured her, submerged her under water and beat her before they tied her to the stake, then shot her with several arrows, finally burning her alive in the gruesome display of violence. So far local authorities have arrested 9 men in the village in connection with Ocampos’s murder and all readily confessed to killing the accused witch with little remorse saying that they are “not sorry” according to at least one report.
Ocampo was first targeted as a witch when the relative of one of the village’s leaders took ill. They blamed the prolonged illness on Ocampo, accused her of being a witch and banished her from the village for one month. When the relative did not improve, the village chief condemned Ocampo to death believing that she was responsible for the prolonged illness by practicing witchcraft. Read more >>>>
Nigeria’s presidency says it has agreed a ceasefire with militants Boko Haram which would see the return of 219 kidnapped girls.
Air Marshal Alex Badeh, chief of defence staff, said: “A ceasefire agreement has been concluded between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal Jihad (Boko Haram).
“I have accordingly directed the service chiefs to ensure immediate compliance with this development in the field.”
The president’s principal secretary Hassan Tukur told the AFP news agency that an agreement to end hostilities had been reached after talks with the Islamist group.
He said: “Boko Haram issued the ceasefire as a result of the discussions we have been having with them.
Welcome to the Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton *Read about Hillary's life *See Hillary's current projects *Learn about Hillary's vision for America *Send Hillary a note
Onward Together
“Resist, insist, persist, enlist.” Hillary Rodham Clinton
What Happened
Hillary Clinton's 2016 election memoir
Too Small to Fail
“One of the best investments we can make is to give our kids the ingredients they need to develop in the first five years of life.” — Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation on Facebook
Like the Clinton Foundation on Facebook!
@U.S. Senate: Time to ratify LOST!
"... ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, which has provided the international framework for exploring these new opportunities in the Arctic. We abide by the international law that undergirds the convention, but we think the United States should be a member, because the convention sets down the rules of the road that protect freedom of navigation, provide maritime security, serve the interests of every nation that relies on sea lanes for commerce and trade, and also sets the framework for exploration for the natural resources that may be present in the Arctic." -HRC, 06-03-12, Tromso Norway
What a difference one woman can make!
"... whether it's here, in the absolute best embassy in the world, or whether it's in Washington, or whether it's elsewhere, what a difference one woman can make. And that woman is right here, the woman who needs no introduction, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton." 07.05.10 - Unidentified speaker, Embassy Yerevan
"I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake." - HRC 01-26-10
Hillary Clinton Express Facebook Group
Your one stop spot for Hillary Clinton News!
Supporters of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Together 4 us! Facebook Page
Still4Hill the Facebook Page
Like Still4Hill on Facebook! Find Like-Minded Friends!
Still4Hill on Twitter
Follow Still4Hill on Twitter!
Uppity Woman
Where to go if you feel like you're the only woman who wants to punch her own TV set.
“When people attack you, you always have to remember that a lot of what others say about you has a lot more to do about them than you.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Department of Homegirl Security 