The vintage steam engine train that has steadily moved across Germany since November will halt today in Auschwitz, Poland, retracing the final stop on a route that thousands of Jewish children travelled during the Second World War, arriving only to meet their deaths.

Commemorating the Nazi transportation of Jewish children to the notorious death camp in Auschwitz, The Commemoration Train stirred up not only raw emotions but also controversy. Thousands of visitors here in Berlin stood in line to board the museum of photographs, biographies and letters beginning on April 13. In a move met with wide protest, the German railway, Deutsche Bahn, refused to let the train stop at Berlin’s central train station, citing a probable disturbance of train traffic and other technicalities. Eventually, the train was allowed to halt in the city’s Ostbahnhof, the central train station in the former East Berlin.

The real clincher was not just where the train was allowed to stop, but at what price. For the use of their tracks and exhibition space, Deutsche Bahn—which was only given a new name at the end of the war— charged the organizers of the train exhibit 100,000 Euros ($153,398 USD). Critics say Deutsche Bahn— then called The Reichsbahn— already profited once from the transportation of Jews. The Nazi state paid The Reichsbahn 4 cents per kilometer per child, half for children under 10, for the transport on rickety, crowded trains intended for cattle.

Perhaps realizing their image blunder, the Deutsche Bahn then announced it would donate the 100,000 Euros in operating fees to Jewish charities. The general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephen Kramer, called the offer a “selling of indulgences,” and said the Jewish community would vehemently reject the money. “It confirms anti-Semitic clichés, as if they could keep us quiet with 100,000 Euros,” he said on public radio last month.

But the controversy could be beneficial in bringing the memory of the Holocaust beyond the emotional level. Because we’re often so jarred by the horrifying images of cruelty and inhumanity, we don’t necessarily consider that there was a very precise financial machine driving the Holocaust. The list of companies that participated in and profited from the genocide of European Jews, homosexuals, Afro Germans, Roma, Sinti and disabled people is disturbingly long and possibly still incomplete. Only at the end of the 1990s did big names like Daimler Chrysler, Volkswagen and IBM begin to surface as companies that profited from the Holocaust.

The cruel fact is: the gas that sprayed out of the shower nozzles were first developed, tested and manufactured. The gold stolen directly from victims’ gold-tooth fillings were processed and re-sold on the market. Banks allowed theft of the funds of Jewish account holders. Real estate companies helped assure the Aryanization of neighborhoods. Life and property insurance policies of Jews remained unclaimed or were stolen. The cars, trucks, machines and weapons that perpetuated not only the war, but the business of transporting and murdering Nazi victims, had to be built (much of it through slavery) and sold. The Final Solution could have only been realized by the logistical transport of the train system built, maintained and operated by the Reichsbahn.

But Deutsche Bahn insists that it has paid its dues. The federally owned company lists its ongoing exhibit in Nürnberg’s Deutsche Bahn Museum about the role of the Reichsbahn during the Nazi era and its support of similar projects, as well as their “voluntary contribution” to the Memory, Responsibility and Future Foundation, a government initiative that paid over 4 billion Euros to almost 1.7 million people in 100 countries to forced laborers and other Nazi victims.

Still, Deutsche Bahn’s inflexibility and shallow attempt at revamping its image has left a sour taste in the mouth of many Berliners. “I think it was shameless of The Deutsche Bahn to expect the exhibitors to pay,” says Ulla Müller, who was born in Berlin at the war’s end. “Everyone knows that it was once the Reichsbahn and the role they played during the war.”

That role was precisely what sent Berliners in droves last month to tearfully board the moving exhibit and take in the heart-wrenching stories of the 4,660 Berlin children who were deported to Auschwitz.

“The Holocaust was thought out and planned in the German capital,” Berlin’s mayor, Klaus Wowereit said last month, in response to the controversy. “Berlin’s Jews were systematically brought by the Nazis to death camps . . . by train.”

Sixty-three years ago today, on May 8th, the trains finally came to a halt and the very long, still incomplete process of penance began.

- by Rose-Anne Clermont

MEND-The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

The oppressive and repressive activities of the oil companies and the Nigerian State [sic] impact women first and foremost. During military occupation of communities, the women suffer psychologically, emotionally, and physically. They are raped and maimed. They suffer as their sons get arrested and killed…and feel it most when their brothers, husbands and lovers are tortured maimed and killed. The military and armed police have brutalized and sacked whole communities, assaulting and beating indiscriminately. The objective is to humiliate, intimidate, and eliminate all those who resist oil exploitation activities.

~Emem J Okan

On November 10, 1995, a small group of ten human rights activists including Ken Saro-Wiwa was led to a prison yard to face punishment for their crimes. Ken Saro Wiwa was executed by hanging. The Nigerian military wanted to make an example of individuals who might consider further protest of the destruction of their land, the poisoning of their air and water, and the theft of their natural resources, namely oil.
In September of 1999, a group of journalists with the Essential Action and Global Exchange spent ten days in the Niger Delta meeting with community leaders, residents, and state and local officials. According to the report that subsequently followed released on January 5, 2000, “There is a long and terrible record of environmental destruction and human rights violations in the oil-producing regions of Nigeria. The gross level of environmental degradation caused by oil exploration and extraction in the Niger Delta has gone unchecked for the past 30 years.” However, in spite of the atrocities committed by the Nigerian government, Shell, and other multi-national companies, the murder of Wiwa, environmental degradation, and civil unrest caused by oil exploration and drilling went unnoticed by Western audiences. Stories of celebrity drama continue to hold the attention of the American people, even as they pay close to three-dollars and fifty cents for one gallon of gas.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND,
has claimed responsibility for several bombings that have taken place in recent weeks that have forced oil conglomerates to shut down operations and have removed close to 164,000 barrels of oil a day from world markets. According to a recent article in the Tehran Times, “The latest wave of attacks and an eight-day strike by senior oil workers at U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil which ended on Thursday, had slashed Nigeria's output by 50 percent, helping to push oil prices to new records.”
In an electronic communication released this week, the group stated, "The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem,"
In sharp contrast and in spite of the pleas of organizations and authors like Emem J, Okan, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam International, Amnesty International, and the Council of Ijaw Associations Abroad, the administration of Bill Clinton continued to allow the use of private military contractors in the Niger Delta. Regardless of the fact that the use of private military personal has become the focus of recent US attention, Mother Jones Magazine points out, "The use of private military companies, which gained considerable momentum under President Clinton, has escalated under the Bush administration.” Part of this escalation took place in the Niger Delta where companies like Shell and Chevron hired private military for ‘security’.
To further the power of multi-national corporations and military contractors, Clinton joined with these companies to overturn laws that allow states to use “selective purchasing” power. According to Corp Watch, “Selective-purchasing laws are designed to force companies to choose between continuing to do business with repressive foreign governments and bidding on often-lucrative state or local government contracts.”
Most recently in a press release dated February 2008, the Clinton campaign has said about military contractors in Iraq, “From this war's very beginning, this administration has permitted thousands of heavily-armed military contractors to march through Iraq without any law or court to rein them in or hold them accountable… We need to stop filling the coffers of contractors in Iraq, and make sure that armed personnel in Iraq are fully accountable to the U.S. government and follow the chain of command,” However, prior to Clinton’s most recent statement and in spite of sitting on Armed Services Committee no legislation has been presented by Clinton. When questioned about this contradiction, Clinton claimed she did not know about this problem, “Maybe I should have known about it; I did not know about it.” This in spite of well-documented human rights abuses around the world by the very contractors who contribute regularly to her campaign.
Juxtaposed with Clinton rhetoric is bill S.674: Transparency and Accountability in Military and Security Act of 2007, submitted by Barack Obama in February of 07. According to the Obama campaign website, the bill would “require accountability and enhanced congressional oversight for personnel performing private security functions under Federal contracts, and for other purposes. The act would clarify the legal status of contractors, subjecting them to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) to ensure that all contractors working in war zones – regardless of contracting agency would be held accountable under U.S. law. Passed in 2000, MEJA says that contractors for the armed forces can be prosecuted under US law for crimes committed overseas.”
The potential for the United States to regain the respect and admiration of the world is within our grasp. As some elder statesmen have pointed out, as long as the United States continues to build relationships with foreign nations whose records on the democratic process are abysmal, we will continue to pay the price. A price paid at the gas pump and in innocent blood.

Rereading Carolyn Heilbrun's Writing A Woman's Life, published in 1988 led me to reread Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas, 1938. Heilbrun is calling for "new texts," new concepts of what a woman's life could be. Woolf gave the world powerful new texts that have made it possible for me to live the life I do in 2008. She never went to school or university. She was grown before women could hold professional positions in England and vote. She achieved great things in a time when the message "women can't..." was pervasive. Three Guineas was her response to the role of women in the effort to respond to the crises in Europe that led to the Second World War.

She also states forcefully that until women are free to choose what they want in life, no one is truly free and there can be no peace.

UN Resolution 1325, passed on 31 October 2000, says that member nations should:

ensure increased representation of women at all decision making levels in national, regional, and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.

Clearly, this resolution is still honored in the breach rather more than not, but that it exists as an aspiration for the world is a result of women writing texts that did not exist before the twentieth century.

The WIP is a place where women and men can write new texts here and now (a favorite expression of Woolf and the original title of a book that ultimately became two different ones, The Years and Three Guineas). It is part of the most important work in the world at this time of crisis, not just of nations and empires, but of the planet.

How can we further this work?

A WIP Contributor in Harare recently sent us this update:

i have been lucky and i am alive and well. here the levels of violence and intimidation and state repression are getting to really frightening levels. hundreds of the people have fled their homes and are internal refugees. until April 25, more than 300 victims of political violence were housed at the MDC headquarters here in Harare but police raided and arrested them. among the arrested are women and children and babies. the police claim they are criminals. how can a five month old baby be a criminal? the situation gets worse and worse here and i want the world to know whats happening here.

Tens of thousands are expected to march today for immigration reform in cities across the United States. The biggest march is expected in Los Angeles. Last year the protests were marred by heavy police force despite the peaceful nature of marches which each year are comprised of families, children, music, and vendors.

I was in Los Angeles on May Day 2006, appropriately donned The Great American Boycott of 2006. I am not in Los Angeles this year but I hope readers in Los Angeles will blog about the day here on The WIP.

Below I copied an entry from my journal from the day of The Great American Boycott in 2006:

My sister and I took to the streets of Los Angeles to document history today. We walked miles, pedaled boulevards, marched routes and sang songs of protest in solidarity with all immigrants that came out to march. Despite the lower figures reported in the LA Times, I am certain there were at least a million people on the streets.

At the end of the day, after Mayor Villaraigosa and Dolores Huerta, after the sun had begun its western descent below the horizon, after “If I Had a Hammer” and several prayers, when we began to notice the distance we had walked in our calves and thighs, my sister and I packed our cameras and backpacks and got on our bicycles and headed home down an empty and quiet Wilshire Boulevard.

I haven't heard much discussion from either the media or our politicians on Earth Day. Are we actually back to the place we were in 1969 when the state of our environment was a non-issue? Has Earth Day become a local weekend entertainment event where bands and celebrities play music and preach to the choir?

Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson to put the environment into the political "limelight." It provided a forum for Americans to express their concerns and tapped into the anti-war sentiments of America's youth. Earth Day 1970 drew more than 20 million people to demonstrations and teach-ins at thousands of schools and local communities. Today celebrations are worldwide and draw more than 500 million participants. But where are our leaders? How come when I listened to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday I heard nothing about Earth Day?

The fun and incredibly compelling documentary King Corn (which I reviewed for The WIP in November) is currently showing on PBS. I'm so happy that this important film, which I often find myself thinking of, is available for everyone to see!

Funny how topics seem to emerge out of the blue and suddenly begin to take on a life force of their own.

Rose-Anne Clermont's thoughtful explorations in her series "A Current between Shores" of the role different life issues have played in the lives of her mother and her mother in law have always been interesting. Other people's lives and views always are, to me. But her joint interview "On Religion" seems to have special relevance this week.

Starting on Sunday evening, in what seemed to be a total departure, the political dialog in the United States has been strangely focused on defining the place and merits of religious faith -- something many believe should be exclusively a matter of private choice, not a matter of public policy. On Sunday the curiously named (and to me, even curiously conceived)first-ever "Compassion Forum" was televised from Messiah College in Pennsylvania, in which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the two Democratic contenders for the presidency, took questions from two TV reporters, a select group of ministers from various religious traditions, and from an evangelical Social Justice outreach group called the Sojourners.

The candidates responded thoughtfully and at length as to how their Christian faith informed their political views and how it would influence their leadership if they should become President. Topics ranged from "Why does a loving God allow innocent people to suffer" to predictable and surprisingly blunt issue-focused questions such as "Do you believe that life begins at conception?" Regardless of their answers to specific questions, what was clearly demonstrated was the very real role that faith plays in the lives of both Democratic contenders. The very revelation that these highly educated, highly intelligent people put a high value on faith makes some of their more secular supporters squirm with discomfort...

The event also marked the emergence of a Democratic party which seems to have finally realized how important faith, and the values informed by faith, are for much of the American electorate. It is also an acknowledgment of the historic role that faith-informed values have played in the American experience. In past elections, this entire topic was presumed to be an area reserved more for Republican politicians.

My own adult daughter was close to horrified to hear Barack and Hillary speaking of having faith and was definitely offended that ministers and Sojourners were getting to press their concerns. My own feelings were more ambivalent.

I was raised by devout Irish Catholics who never questioned their faith. It never occurred to them that their children might not continue to live that faith as fervently as they had done. I have one first cousin who is a priest, who worked among runaways and street people in Boston for years and later ran a parish for decades. His sister was the President or head of a national order of nuns. Although we are more than 20 years apart in age and I grew up in suburban DC, not in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, I know them to be exceptionally bright people who committed themselves very early on to doing what they could to make the world better for others, and who consciously committed to living their own lives in a continuing attempt to be the best human beings they could. I believe such people exist and that their motives and efforts are to be respected. I do not believe they are always right in their judgments, but that they try compels my respect. I place equal value on their fellows among Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and every other religious or ethical group making an honest attempt to live a spiritual, selfless life. They may not succeed, but they try.

To my amazement I realized that the focus on faith would take on yet another dimension on Wednesday, April 16th, when Pope Benedict will arrive for a six day visit to the US amidst a huge media blast. Curiously enough, in the first such move in his presidency, President Bush together with Mrs. Bush and his daughter Jenna will meet the Pope's plane, "The Good Shepherd," on the tarmac in Washington DC. The Pope will go on to appear in New York City after DC. The response of the faithful will border on the frenzied, I would think.

Planned or not, all this is taking place in the midst of a hotly contested political primary race. The next primary election will be held in Pennsylvania on April 22nd. There are nearly 70 million Catholics in the United States, about 20 percent of the electorate, and they represent about 30% of the Pennsylvania electorate. This has led to speculation that Catholics, who could tip the balance in a close contest, especially in Pennsylvania, may be looking to the Pope for some guidance. Yet what he spoke of pre-trip (admirably) was that he was "ashamed" of the rampant pedophilia which has been exposed within the US Church in recent years. As he should be. His positions on abortion, on Islam (hostile), on immigration and on solving poverty are also sure to get attention. Whether one of those issues turns into a political football because of what the Pope says remains to be seen.

Rarely in my lifetime has religion garnered so much attention in a political campaign in one week. "On Religion" gives us a historical context in which to view this week's events. Although it's a long time since I've considered myself religious, perhaps it's time we took a dispassionate look at the concerns of those who are, and give them credit for what they feel and what they contribute to our society. There has to be room for us all at the table or we are not the people and society we think we are and want to be.

Feedback?

IN my previous post on this section, I mentioned that some Zimbabweans were excited about a possible new president and a new speech on Independence Day, April 18.

It would seem as if the people were doomed to think like that. It would seem as if I was also doomed to even entertain such thoughts.

April 18, Zimbabwe's Independence Day is upon us and God knows what will happen on that day.

We hoped March 29, the election day, would solve that puzzle for us but Robert Mugabe (I do not know whether I should still prefix his name with the word President) thinks otherwise.

The Movement for Democratic Change (aint sure either if I should still prefix their name with the word "opposition") has since announced its president Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential race and should be endorsed as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. The opposition also won majority seats in parliament that most people here now talk of the ruling party MDC and the opposition Zanu (Pf) the latter being Mugabe's party which is clinging to power despite confirmed defeat.

As for Mugabe, it seems as if he is far from surrendering. So far,about seven polling officers have been arrested on allegations of robbing him of some votes and inflating Tsvangirai's. Elections administrator, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been ordered to recount the votes and Zanu (Pf) continues to talk about an impending run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. What baffles most people here is that the result for the first round is not yet known although people believe Mugabe lost the election and hopes to win in the second round. But if the next round is held in a transparent manner, Mugabe is likely to be more humiliated because even those who had shunned the box on the first round are determined to help vote him out.

But the question now is who will preside over the Independence celebrations? Since 1980, Mugabe has led the nation in these celebrations although last year there were two separate gatherings to mark this day, one presided over by Mugabe and another by labour body Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which was protesting against the attrocious Mugabe regime. People are already pinning their hopes on April 18 to see what twist the country's troubled life takes.

So far, ZCTU has called for an indefinite national strike starting today and the armed forces, including soldiers and the police are out terrorising people. The judiciary has rejected MDC's application for an announcement of results for the first round of the presidential race and ZCTU says a nationwide strike could help bring the results, and most people hoped that will happen before April 18 although it is now clear that this is just one of those many unfortunate dreams of this troubled nation.

In fact, most people think April 18 has since lost its significance. They feel it is unworth celebrating, with others saying they would rather celebrate independence from the Mugabe regime than from Britain as Mugabe's excesses have since overshadowed most of the events in the pre-1980 period when Zimbabwe was a British colony.

The theme of violence, especially against women and children, has really taken hold on these pages as a subject of conversation since, unfortunately, women in great numbers continue to suffer from violence or be exposed to it around the world. And if we don’t continue to raise our voices and point out incident after incident after incident after incident then surely there will never be a cessation of hostilities. But since I tend to be a micro person, seeing everything through the lens of my life, and trying to understand the big picture through the daily comings and goings of my life, I have to bring up another type of violence that we see far too often, a self-inflicted form of violence—suicide—that has “visited” my life in the past week. A boy at the high school where I teach committed suicide. For what is suicide if not violence against the self, and, perhaps, against society too? And the thoughts that have swirled around my head, though different than when contemplating violence inflicted on another, cause me to pause and contemplate how commonplace violence has become in our world.

The horror of a young man deciding to cut short his life was exacerbated, for me, when I heard my 12-year old daughter’s response to my telling her what had happened. I was going to use his tragic death as a segue to give her the “suicide is wrong and there is always a resolution to any problem” speech, but after I told her about what had happened, she looked at me and told me that a boy in her class this year had committed suicide. A seventh grade boy had committed suicide and a seventh grade girl hadn’t been upset enough about it to tell her mother that day when she got home from school. I was stunned. Stunned by the implicit acceptance of such a tragic act. Stunned by the non-stun factor this news was to her. Stunned from how sad it is that this is the world my daughter lives in. Every adult to whom I had told about this young man’s death had chills when I told him or her. But here, my sensitive daughter accepted it as part of the flow of life. It was not an aberration to her. And when I had my classes do a free write in the days following the suicide, only a few students commented on it—and those were generally children who had known him or knew someone who had known him. The others had either forgotten about it or it had never really entered their consciousness—both equally upsetting responses. (Granted, the school hadn’t stressed how he had died, but word gets around—if it did to the teachers, surely it did to the students.) So I guess the stun factor is the non-stun factor itself.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says that “suicide is the third leading cause of death (behind accidents and homicides) for teenagers. Each year more than 5,000 U.S. teenagers commit suicide.” And that doesn’t even touch on the number who attempt suicide or contemplate it, which apparently are highest in middle adolescence.

Which brought me to thinking about the meaning and purpose of life. Do too many of our children have none? (Do too many of us have none to transfer to them?) Do they not take life seriously since it is so often treated slightly in movies and TV and games? What is the point—a point—that will get them to see a point? I had seen middle age (admission here) as a time when I would be confronted with illness and death and sorrow, why are tweens and teens dealing each other—and themselves—these cards?

Women's International Perspective hosted its first ever speaker panel on Friday April 4, 2008, at the Monterey Institute of International Study. The organization, barely one year old at the time of the event offers a woman's perspective of violence against women and children around the globe.

Joyce Laker, a human rights worker and women's advocate in Uganda shared her experiences about violence against women and children. Uganda, known for its child soldiers has been riddled with violence and conflict for decades. Forced to join the armed resistance of the Lord's Resistance Army, children as young as ten years old are often forced to kill their own parents first, to sometimes drink their blood or cannibalize their bodies, and then enter into a never ending cycle of violence.

As sociologist and scholar Riane Eisler points out, violence against women and children around the world is actually, "normal," and calls it, "the most ubiquitous human rights violation in the world." As evidenced by Joyce Laker's experience in Uganda, Riane Eisler's point carries great weight.

Joyce Laker shared alarming statistics representing reported sexual violence. Throughout Uganda, anywhere from 26 to 52 percent of the female population has experienced sexual violence. However, as Laker points out, these numbers are likely not accurate as the reporting and investigation of a rape for women is costly and tedious at its best, and further degrading at its worst. Women are forced to pay police to conduct the investigations at the rates of 3.00 for the police to come and take the report, 10.00 to provide transportation for the police to come take the report and 20.00 to provide transportation for the perpetrator to the police station.

These human rights violations and atrocities are rarely, if ever reported in United States mainstream media and do not gain the attention they deserve. As American media outlets and politicians continue to ignore developments in Africa, the Bush Administration has dramatically ramped up the militarization of the continent since 2002, flushing the area with over $130 million dollars in military sales, financing, and training expenditures for what the US considers strategic for the "war on terror."

However, as the think tank Foreign Policy In Focus rightly queries, the fundamental question for many is whether the US will utilize this increased military presence to support freedom, self determination, growth, prosperity, and accountability on behalf of the majority of nearly one billion people in Africa or if this new initiative will instead serve to oversee surrogate nations whose leadership is accountable first to U.S security and economic interest. (Gerald Le Melle, "Africa Policy Outlook 2008," (Waahsington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, February 7, 2008).

Under the Bush administration, AFRICOM's (Africa Command) structure would "place humanitarian work previously done by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development under the directive of the Department of Defense." (Le Melle 2008) As evidenced by circumstances on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous countries around the globe, US interests rarely coincide with human rights, the sickness of the global society in regards to the rights of women and children around the globe should determine which countries the US does and does not call an ally.

As Le Melle points out in the Africa Policy Outlook conclusion, "Despite being the most stretched out campaign in American history, the 2008 presidential election is marked by the typical absence of any serious discussion of Africa. It is as if Africa has already been ceded to the Department of Defense and therefore out of the view of the American public. In contrast with the accelerating militarization of the U.S Africa relations described above, this silence is deafening."

The killing fields of Cambodia might be over, but the killing fields in homes throughout the United States continue to sow blood and destruction. The latest (at least that I read about), was in Metropolitan Washington, DC, this past weekend. Unlike the killing fields of Cambodia created by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, I am talking about killing fields wrought by domestic dictators, for what else could you call a husband and father who kills his own children?

Dith Pran, the photographer who documented much of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia died yesterday. And on the same day that I read of his death, and recalled the horrors of the movie that was based on his life, The Killing Fields, I also read of a father in Maryland who killed his three children in a hotel room. Apparently, he and his wife were in the midst of divorce and child custody proceedings which were apparently what brought the father to this horrific act. According to the Washington Post,

“the mother tried to ‘keep them away’ from Mark Castillo [the father], Vanderwalde said. But he said the father fought for custody. In 2006, according to court records, Amy Castillo was granted temporary sole custody on an emergency motion, but Mark Castillo was granted visitation rights shortly afterward. At least twice last year, motions that would have withheld visitation rights were denied. At one point, according to the records, Amy Castillo was fined for refusing visitation rights.”

It seems apparent that someone in the court or family welfare system took the father’s word for more than the mother’s, or discounted the mother’s fears as overblown, or was upholding some absurd right of a father to be with his children regardless of a mother’s well-founded fears. Here is a mother who tried to use the system to protect her children, but it failed her! Why do these stories keep repeating themselves?! Why do we have to continually hear of domestic killing fields? When will the courts stop bending over backward to ensure that a father has the right to kill his children? When will a woman who spends her life trying to ensure her children’s lives finally be taken as seriously as she needs to be? The system has failed yet another family. And the blood of three children, aged 6, 4 and 2, are the latest victims to the domestic abuse and violence fields of the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033001242_2.html

An aspect of totalitarian regimes is that while there may be voting, there is no choice. The ruling party puts forward "the candidate" to be ratified.

The current effort in the US by the two major parties and the press to limit discussion and reduce the number of candidates early is not a good sign for democracy. The elections are not till November, the conventions are not till summer. Already the "candidates" have been winnowed to three and pressure is mounting on Hillary Clinton to withdraw.

I want to state clearly that I do not personally support Clinton, but I am opposed to the effort to get her to withdraw. In fact, I want to see more candidates and more media coverage of them.

I would love to see a field of candidates going into lively, noisy conventions where issues were debated and views were aired and a final consensus reached. That is what democracy is.

We in the US have allowed the corporate media, who have been in league with the authoritarian Bush regime, to choose our candidates. When are we going to demand real democracy here? Have we completely forgotten what it looks like?

On April 4th, 2008, The Women’s International Perspective is presenting its first public event, a panel discussion on Making Visible the Violence Against Women -- in Iraq and Worldwide. Haifa Zangana, the noted Iraqi activist and author of the recently released City of Widows, An Iraqi Woman’s Account of War and Resistance, will be the featured speaker.

The discussion, presented in sponsorship with The Monterey Institute of International Studies, will start at 7pm at The Institute’s Irvine Auditorium on Pierce Street in Monterey, California.

Joining Haifa will be Riane Eisler, social scientist and author of the international bestseller The Chalice and the Blade; Eva Sohlman, a distinguished Swedish journalist and author of the book, Arabia Felix in the Time of Terror – Journeys in Yemen; and Institute student, Joyce Laker of Uganda, a survivor of the 22 years of conflict in Northern Uganda and activist on sexual violence in her country, now a Fulbright Scholar living in Monterey.

Haifa Zangana will discuss the effects of America’s continuing presence in Iraq on women there, highlighting their long history of political activism and social participation in contrast with their current struggle against religious extremism, which has mushroomed under the occupation. But the struggles of women in conflict zones are not limited to Iraq. Eva Sohlman will comment on oppressive situations for women, especially in the Yemen, while Riane Eisler will add her unique perspectives on the broader issues of violence and oppression against women worldwide. Joyce Laker will add her personal insights on women’s issues in conflict zones.

By presenting the voices of these thoughtful women from around the world, The WIP hopes divergent cultures, opinions, and ideas will come closer together in dialog. As an online news publication providing unique and personal perspectives on global issues, The WIP is honored to host this event. We invite the community to help us welcome these remarkable women. This event is free.

For more information email info@thewip.net.

See you on Friday!

"I will vote.......I will vote,vote,vote and vote until everything falls in place," a man says, drawing the attention of everyone in the commuter omnibus. "I just can not wait to hear the Registrar General shout on-your-marks.....ready.......vote!"

From my seat, I look at the man and like everyone else in the vehicle, I fail to hold back a chuckle. He is quite grown-up. Probably mid-thirties or early forties but certainly not somebody one can mistake for a recent adulthood graduand that he can be so excited about voting. If he has been practising his democratic right to vote, then he surely has several voting experiences to tell tales about.

But I understand him. He is one of the eleven million "election-madmen" in this part of Southern Africa. The whole of Zimbabwe is abuzz with the word election you would think the country is scoring a first in that area. Yet we have been voting all these past years.

Yes, March 29, the much hyped about harmonized election day is finally upon us.

Although we will be casting ballots in four categories – presidential, parliamentary, senatorial and local government – it is the presidentail race that people are most interested in. When they say " I will vote,vote,vote and vote," they deliberately give the impression they will be given numerous chances to cast ballot papers in that one category yet the four ballots they will get will be cast in different categories. But they also know it, the excitement is just part of an election current, which has gripped everyone in the country, including old and young, registered voters and non-voters alike. You would think the whole population was eligible to vote, yet about 5,5 million only will do the X-job.

Almost all the logistics are in place now, what remains is for God to bring March 29. Some are even saying they wish the day's arrival will be fast-tracked. More like President Robert Mugabe's infamous fast-track land reform program which threw the country into its current economic abyss. But again,t hat is just one of the many ways the electorate is using to express its mounting anxiety.

The election administrator, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has since published the longest list of candidates to ever participate in Zimbabwe's polls. In the presidential race, President Mugabe will battle it out with former labour leader and opposition Movement for Democratic Change founder Morgan Tsvangirai, his former finance minister and politburo member Dr Simba Makoni and an obscure independent candidate Langton Toungana. There are 779 candidates for the 210 parliamentary seats and 197 for the 60 elected seats in the senate. Candidates are drawn from a pack of 12 political parties and 116 independents – a real first for a country which is used to a three party race, dotted by not more than 10 independent contestants. Although analysts have said a myriad of candidates and political identities might confuse voters, the electorate donot seem to be that bothered as they continue chanting their "we will vote" slogan. It has emerged most intend to use the three names of Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Makoni as poll guides. Some independents will probably survive by luck as voters "throw away" their vote after failing to find the preffered names since the three dominant candidates are not represented in every constituency.

Still on the logistics, President Mugabe has since declared Saturday a public holiday to enable all workers to practise their democratic right in the box. Representatives of the 47 invited observer teams, including the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), China, Russia and Iran continue to arrive in droves.All these are in good relations with Mugabe hence the invitation. European Union members and the United States were not invited ostensibly to punish them for trying to stage an alleged illegal regime change against Mugabe.

But as we go to the polls,it is still very difficult to predict a result.

Those who sympathise with the people of Zimbabwe will be happy to hear that the country's electorate goes to the polls an enlightened people. Although voter education this year was not as much as that in preceding elections, people's experiences in a difficult economic and political environment has emerged the greatest election educator of all times. In some rallies,you would see people walking away in protest to candidates' speech. Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) has fallen victim to this voter apathy several times. Even in rural constituencies,the party's traditional strongholds, people have shown that they want to hear more about Mugabe's economic revival plan than the party's usual tendency to recite sad tales of the liberation struggle while also delivering long sermons about national sovereignty and black empowerment.

Just this day, I was laughing with a friend as we read about some arrests during the campaign period. In one case,a police detective (part of Mugabe's notorious gang), was arrested on allegations of insulting a Zanu- PF worker for wearing the party's regalia in public. State media reported that the detective poked his finger at Mugabe's picture emblazoned on the worker's dress and advised his victim against going about exhibiting clothes of a party which has brought hunger to the people. Reports say the detective even suggested the worker should wear an MDC shirt instead.

But that does not clearly tip the election to MDC's favour. Just like Mugabe and Makoni, MDC leader Tsvangirai enjoys a huge-turnout at his rallies. But he is yet to woo back some of the supporters he lost on his failure to reconcile with academic Authur Mutambara who leads a break-away faction of the party. Yet that again does not tip the race to Makoni's favour either. On rebelling against Mugabe, it was rumoured Makoni had the backing of so-called big-wigs from Mugabe's party and the electorate rode on that string. Some of the alleged backers have since denounced the rumour in state media while Makoni himself has of late changed his line and said he has no big-wigs. However,even with a few hours remaining to election time,many people are still optimistic the former finance minister will announce his big-wigs even on the eleventh hour. It thus cannot be ruled out that his magnet may disappear should voters go into the booths without hearing the anticipated names.

Another area of speculation has been the after-election period, or the results announcement to be precise. While Mugabe has since warned that voting for the opposition will be a waste of votes as his party will not allow it to rule the country even if it wins, the MDC has said it has some contingency plan to deal with Mugabe should he steal the election. Such statements have raised fears of a replica of the infamous Kenya political turbulence following a disputed election result recently. But some Zimbabweans,especially in the Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces have vowed they will never participate in such type of violence following horrible experiences from 1982 – 1988 political atrocities, which saw Mugabe's Fifth Brigade wiping away more than 20 000 people in those areas in a so-called Gukurahundi. But it remains to be seen, especially given the fact that partaking in such unfortunate occurences is never negotiated.

But Zimbabweans are generally ecstatic ahead of the big day. What with some of them declaring March 29 Independence Day? And others coining yet another new saying, "There will be a new president for Zimbabwe, and a new speech on Independence Day come April 18". The day in question, April 18, is Zimbabwe's independence day and by convention, Mugabe addresses the nation. Over the years, his rhetoric on the day has remained almost the same – ranging from lines of sovereignty to paragraphs of blame on the West.

Back in October, I participated in "Lights Out LA," an evening that I hoped would be a momentous tribute to energy conservation and awareness by turning all non-essential lighting off for one hour. We waited anxiously to see if the rest of our neighborhood would go dark, but from our vantage point up on a hill in Silverlake, we saw that we were perhaps the only people within a half mile radius that were standing in our living room lit only by candles. Though Los Angeles might not exactly be the mecca of environmental awareness I would like it to be, I have higher hopes for the rest of the world.

So it is with much anticipation that I look forward to this Saturday's Earth Hour...

EARTH HOUR 2008

By turning off your non-essential (read: emergency lights and lights for safety) lighting for one hour starting at 8pm on March 29th, 24 global cities will participate in what is the highlight of a major campaign to...

"encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.

See what a difference an hour can make by joining hundreds of thousands of people for Earth Hour!

Five years ago, when the announcement of the bombing of Baghdad was made, my husband, my two daughters and I were in a garden center in Virginia deciding which flowers to plant in the garden of the home we had purchased and moved into in the fall. Our lives seemed to be on an upward swing. We were hopeful. And for me, even the war seemed, at least initially, that it might accomplish something positive. I had, after all, lived in Israel during the first Gulf War and knew some of the dangers of Saddam’s administration. At the time I had been pregnant with my older daughter. (My mother had given me the book, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, but there was nothing in there about breathing exercises to stay calm in the face of air raid sirens and bombs bursting in air.)

But, in the five years that have transpired, things have not gone as planned—or hoped--either on the home front or the war front. I have gotten divorced in what has won me the “worst divorce story” among friends, and lawyers have claimed that my ex is the “worst” they have dealt with. And Iraq, surely a continual worst case scenario if ever there was one. Iraq’s devastation lays bare the need for a new word that can intimate the chaos, destruction, and failings of the war—of war itself, perhaps.

My mother keeps telling me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel of my life, but I keep telling her that the boulder stuck in the middle needs to move. Is there a light for Iraq? How have all of the vows and intentions failed so completely? How have we created a failed state?

My marriage ended when I finally realized that nothing I can do will change the man I had married into an empathetic and compassionate person instead of the controlling and abusive beast he had become. So, too, must we step out of the beast which Iraq has become (which we have made).

American service members and Iraqi civilians, alike, need to know that there is, indeed, a light at the end of the tunnel—so let’s work on moving the boulder out of the way by getting out of Iraq!

Foreign Policy: Iraq by the Numbers

For a visual person like me, seeing some of the infrastructure indicators and consequences of the war in graph form (plotted along the continuum of invasion to the present day) help paint a picture of the struggle Iraqis have battled since 2003...

I was saddened to hear that the director Anthony Minghella died yesterday. I must watch the English Patient this weekend.

In an effort to use less plastic, I no longer buy water bottles; instead, I have a reusable bottle that I fill with tap water. But drinking the tap water is sadly not an option for many people, especially lower-income rural workers as discussed in this NPR piece. It is unacceptable that children cannot drink out of school drinking fountains, and there are no consequences for the businesses that have contaminated the drinking water.

In honor of Women's History my month, KQED has posted some great content that can all be viewed online.

Since the weekend is almost here, I thought I would mention two documentaries that I can't wait to see:

- Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox - I'm a fan of the almond soap, especially when camping. Who knew there was such a dramatic story behind Dr. Bronner?
- Blindsight - An inspirational story of blind Tibetan teens climbing Lhakpa Ri (a 23,000 foot mountain on the north side of Mount Everest).

Loading the headlines just now the majority coming in from the wire were bombings, blasts, death, and injury. They read: Two dead in Afghan suicide blast near foreign troops; Pakistan bomb kills Turk, wounds 5 Americans; One dead, 13 injured in bomb blast in Thai south; Considerable' number killed, 200 hurt in Albanian munitions blast – and this was all on Saturday.

I’ve made space for all the ‘other’ news in our headlines. But really, these headlines are too dreadful to ignore.

What do we say when:

A suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled car near international troops in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, killing two Afghan boys and wounding a NATO soldier, officials said.

A series of powerful blasts rocked an army depot housing communist-era munitions near the Albanian capital Saturday, killing at least five people and injuring 200, with many more feared dead, officials said.

A Turkish woman was killed and five Americans were among 11 people wounded in a bomb attack on a restaurant in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Saturday night, police said.

A powerful car bomb exploded at a hotel car park Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring 13 others in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, an army spokesman and hospital official said.

Let’s talk.

March 19 marks the anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US. Many of us here are planning actions to protest the continued illegal occupation of that country and the aggression of the Bush regime.

Winter Soldier, which I remarked on in a previous post has started in Washington. US veterans of the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are providing first hand testimony of war crimes that they both witnessed and participated in. For coverage of that event, you can go to

http://ivaw.org

A large protest is planned for the 19th in Washington as well.

I cannot go to that, but I am joining the Granny Peace Brigade for a Knit-In at the Times Square recruiting center.

The Grannies have been active since the start of this illegal war. They focus on protecting our young people from being enticed into the military service. Sometimes, they demand to be enlisted themselves; sometimes they do what they can to block entrance to the centers. They are arrested, go to jail, get out, and return to their places. The courage and patriotism of these women is inspiring.

The Grannies say that stump socks for service personnel with amputations are needed as well as clothes for Iraqi and Afghani children. I plan to work on a child's sweater as I join them in peaceful, constructive protest against destruction and violence.

I would love to hear what others are doing to protest.

Now I truly know that we're in the 21st century and age of global warming...

"If you are a drug addict, an oligarch, a scientist doing a stem cell research, if you pollute the environment, then it means that you will spend your life after death burning in hell. The Roman Catholic Church decided to expand the list of mortal sins against the background of the era of globalization...

...The list runs as follows: pollution, genetic engineering, obscene riches, addiction to drugs, abortion, pedophilia and social injustice. All these sins join the original seven deadly sins defined by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century: pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth."

Here are a few things that have interested me in the last week:

A small story on NPR about non-profits (namely Habitat for Humanity) buying up houses and lots that were out of their price range a year ago. After hearing so much doom and gloom about the American economy, especially the housing market, it was refreshing to hear that at least non-profits can benefit from the downward economy.

Since I am all about D.I.Y. projects and reusing everything, I have long been a fan of ReadyMade magazine. I was very excited to read this interview with the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief Shoshana Berger. She’s such an inspirational woman!

I exclusively drink milk from the Straus Family Creamery; milk just tastes better in glass containers! Buying milk in glass bottles that I then return to the grocery store also coincides with my plight to use less plastic and create less waste. I was understandably excited when I found Saint Benoît Yogurt in reusable terracotta containers at the grocery store last week. And it is the tastiest yogurt I’ve ever had!

I wanted to end my first blog entry on a feminist note. So, I will mention a new movie that I cannot wait to see: Girls Rock! I only regret that I’m too old to go to rock camp this summer.

Today from Amnesty International...

This past Saturday, with a single stroke of his veto pen, President Bush blocked a tough law forbidding the CIA from using waterboarding and other despicable interrogation "techniques." We can't let him have the last word.

In the face of this brutal affront to human rights, we must show that President Bush does not represent the vast majority of American citizens. This starts with each and every one of us acting in our own communities.

Act Now. Call talk radio stations and write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

It took thousands of calls, letters and emails from Amnesty activists like you to persuade Congress to pass tough anti-torture legislation. And now, it's going to take just as much energy and determination to counter Bush’s unconscionable veto.

Let's make it clear that torture is wrong everywhere, all the time, no matter the circumstances, and no matter which agency does it. And so is putting people on "trial" based on torture-tainted evidence. Bush acted. Now you have to act. Call your local radio station. Write a letter to the editor. Forward this email to as many people as possible.

Speak out against torture. Don't let Bush have the last word!

President Bush tried today to defeat our efforts to put America on record. But, with spirited protests all across America, we’re going to make it clear that our nation abhors what our President condones.

Please act against torture now.

International Women's Day is special to me and my WIP colleagues for many reasons, not the least of which is that it marks the anniversary of our first year of publication! Launching The WIP on such an important day was just another of the many serendipitous twists we've enjoyed along the way. We were ready, The WIP was ready and off we went! Creating this community of readers and writers, supporters and friends, has been the most rewarding part. And I can't wait to watch it grow.

The past year has been a tremendous adventure and one that we are so grateful for - a true reminder of the incredible power of women's voices and an affirmation that women have the strength to help change and heal the world.

Happy International Women's Day!!!!