Legend of the Corsair

On my continuing journey at my place of employment we had a continuation to the "New Employee Orientation" yesterday, a Diversity/Inclusion training day last week (still need to post about that in detail) and all next week I will be at "Rookie Camp" where one of the many things covered will be a book we were assigned to read called The Power of Ethical Management by Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale. One of the sections in the book, as an illustration of the "Mirror" technique of judging how a situation makes you feel to help in making an ethical decision has the original of the poem that the following was based on.

The Person Reflected
A found poem, by "SP's Real Name Here"
Based on The Man In The Glass by Dale Wimbrow

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you leader for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look in those eyes
And see what that YOU has to say.

For it isn't your relatives or partner or friend
Whose judgment upon which you must pass;
The person whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the YOU staring back from the glass.

Some people may think you are honorable and kind
And call you a wonderful gal or guy;
But the YOU in the glass says you're only passing time
If you can't look them straight in the eye.

The person to please, never mind all the rest,
For you're with your YOU clear to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the YOU in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life
And get pats on your back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the YOU in the glass.

-----------------------

There was homework assigned in preparation to discussing the book and ethics in general. Some of that was done today, some tonight, and the rest will be finished up before Friday... Took Halloween as my floating holiday!

WTF?! Self-immolation? GAH! How the hell do you accomplish that? I mean, how does a young teenage girl suffering in a forced marriage, having been beaten and raped repeatedly by her husband... Oh. But really... self-immolation? How is that effective? And why choose something so painful? And then there's the bit about Pakistan and rape victims still being treated like they committed adultery - yeah, blame the victim a little more why don't ya.

Afghan women seek death by fire

Increasing numbers of Afghan women are committing suicide by setting fire to themselves to escape difficult lives, according to NGOs based in the country.


Marjan, 13, has burns across much of her body

They say women forced into marriage or suffering chronic abuse are killing themselves out of desperation.

Although estimates are difficult to make, one group says cases of self-immolation in the capital have doubled since last year.
( Read more... )

In other news:

Pakistan's national assembly has voted to amend the country's strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery.

Until now rape cases were dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not they faced prosecution for adultery.
( Read more... )

Women are the only ones who are really persecuted for sex outside of marriage in whatever story I hear coming out of this area of the world. And anyone raping a woman can claim it was consensual and get away with it. Unless four other men witnessed the rape and call it rape. Sheesh.

150 Years... Page 24

This is an article clipping that I came across while organizing all my various papers/articles that I've been occasionally collecting over the years. Okay, the furthest back is 1998, possibly 1995. *shrug* I've recently bought a filing cabinet and filing stuff away has been my mission these last few days.

I am not sure if this was supposed to be irony, or actual reality. Part of it reminds me of a scene from Clear and Present Danger where there is a fake secretary who takes Moira's call... Okay, you are either up front and honest, and try and find a partner who is okay with an open marriage, or you keep it in your pants. This goes for both sexes.

This claims that they went into business in 2000, and approaches the subject from a British tongue-in-cheek cheeky manner. So it really is out there. And in this article it makes it clear that it is for both men and women, instead of (as below) just for the privileged male. There was also this smarmy article by the NYC Greenwich Village Gazette. I searched for the companies mentioned and found nary a one. Either they were driven out of business by the moralists, or they went underground and only get people through word of mouth advertisements. This and this are the longest articles so far, and mention an agency supposedly at work directly within the US and claims the business is unethical. What do you think? The statistics of infidelity point to yet another reason why marriage as we know it now should be rethought and redesigned.

[Mission]
IT TAKES A VILLAGE

From a description of services offered by the Alibi Agency Ltd., a company based in Lancashire, England. The Alibi Agency donates a portion of its profits to charities benefiting children from broken homes.

Many of us have occasion to stray from out long-term partners, to dally in a brief sexual relationship with a third party. But with modern communications, it has become increasingly difficult to do so without risk of detection. Public knowledge of such a relationship can put an incredible strain on all parties concerned: family life, the home, the business, and your children's welfare can all be put on the line.
The Alibi Agency was established to provide a way out of this situation. By handling "alibis" for you, we can help you protect your loved ones from undue anxiety, ensuring the financial security and stability of a long-term relationship.
We offer a full and professional alibi service: We'll send invitations for corporate events, seminars, or sporting events to your home, then telephone you or your wife to confirm bookings. If someone tries to contact you, our receptionists will take the call as a hotel receptionist, for example, or a golf-club secretary. We will let the caller hear us try to page you, then offer to take a message when you can't be found. If we know where you are, we can even ring you while the caller is on hold, then patch the call through as if it were to your "room." We also take care of payments for hotels, meals, or gifts, then bill your credit card for car repairs or software purchases.
Most sexual affairs are inconsequential to your long-term relationships. Our aim is to provide total peace of mind for you and your family.

I believe I made reference long ago of the similarities between Bush and the neoconservative Christians... This is an eye opener for any who might've missed that:


Warning From a Student of Democracy's Collapse
By CHRIS HEDGES

PRINCETON, N.J.

FRITZ STERN, a refugee from Hitler's Germany and a leading scholar of European history, startled several of his listeners when he warned in a speech about the danger posed in this country by the rise of the Christian right. In his address in November, just after he received a prize presented by the German foreign minister, he told his audience that Hitler saw himself as "the instrument of providence" and fused his "racial dogma with a Germanic Christianity."

"Some people recognized the moral perils of mixing religion and politics," he said of prewar Germany, "but many more were seduced by it. It was the pseudo-religious transfiguration of politics that largely ensured his success, notably in Protestant areas."
( Read more... )

EDIT: And for even more good news... Just because your enemy does not act honourably does not mean you should not act honourably. There was a reason the Geneva Convention was enacted - to prevent the inhumane treatment of prisoners. How are enemy combatants defined? Is it a new term thought up by the current administration to excuse their actions? If we don't intend to treat them honourably, shouldn't we just "take no prisoners" and execute them upon capture? (sarcasm) Yeah, that's humane. But you don't get any information out of them that way... (/sarcasm)

January 8, 2005
CAPTURED INSURGENTS

U.S. Said to Hold More Foreigners in Iraq Fighting
By DOUGLAS JEHL and NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 - After raids in recent months that captured hundreds of insurgents in Iraq, the United States has significantly increased the number of prisoners it says are foreign fighters, a group the Bush administration contends are not protected by the Geneva Conventions, American officials said.
( Read more... )

Alright, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to add another wish to (or ideas for modifying existing wishes on) my Christmas list. This isn't any ordinary wish-list mind you. It is a list filled with benevolent goodness and good wishes to all the world.

JOY TO THE WORLD!

WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS.
Inspired by: Robert Green Ingersoll (1897)

If I had the power to produce exactly what I want for Christmas, it would be this…

I would have all the kings, emperors and dictators resign and allow people to govern themselves.

I would have all the nobility crop their titles and redistribute the land back to the people.

I would have the Pope throw away the tiara, take off the sacred vestments, and admit to not acting in God’s name that they are not infallible -- but is just an ordinary person I would have all the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests imams, monks, and clergyfolk of all denominations admit that they know nothing about theology, the nature or existence of sin, hell or heaven, the destiny of the human race, devils or ghosts, or gods and angels. I would have them tell all their "flocks" to think for themselves, to be their best selves, and to do all in their power to increase the sum of human happiness.

I would have those that believe truly be tolerant of those who believe otherwise, and vice versa.

I would have all the professors in colleges, all the teachers in schools of every kind, including those in Sunday schools, agree that they would teach only what they know, that they would not palm off guesses as demonstrated truths.

I would like to see all the politicians changed into true representatives -- who long to make their country great and free, -- who care more for public good than private gain -- and who long to be of use.

I would like to see all the editors of papers and magazines agree to print the truth and nothing but the truth, to avoid all slander and misrepresentation, and to let the private affairs of the people alone.

I would like to see the repealing of all laws that do anything but work to prevent the harm of another.

I would like to see the prevention of all unwanted pregnancies – so that each child that enters this world is wanted and loved.

I would like to see corporal punishment done away with in every home, in every school, in every asylum, reformatory, and prison. Cruelty hardens and degrades, kindness reforms and ennobles.

I would like to see the millionaires of the world unite and form a trust for the public good.

I would like to see that the worker not be alienated from that which they create, so that they feel connected to their community. I would like it if each and every possible job were chosen because the person wants to do it -- rather than having to do it to make ends meet – that their livelihood is not their means of survival but their mode of fulfillment and satisfaction.

I would like to see an effective international court established in which to settle disputes between nations, so that armies could be disbanded and the great navies allowed to rust and rot in perfect peace.

I would like to see the whole world free -- free from injustice -- free from superstition – free from desperation – free from inhumanities visited upon them by their fellow human.

This will do for this Christmas. Next Christmas, I may want more.

The Living Room, Manchester CT, December 2004.

How do we send a message to corporations? We do the same thing that people back in the day did to shame McDonald's into stop using styrofoam packaging. Simple. Right? Well, someone is trying to start something along those lines in order to send a message to neocon's and the corporations that support them. Rock on!

Infiltrate the system and then fight from within.

Thanks to Raven...


( Read more... )

If you also want to read all the fascinating comments to the original posting of this subject on daily kos for more information about what other people are saying about this idea: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/22511/6832

Pass it on!