Pussy Riot Won The War

One day I hope young people will be able to play music in the comfort of their own cathedrals.

Pussy Riot won the war - Film - San Antonio Current

Alexander

A few years ago, a series of photos by the French photographer Guillaume Herbaut were widely posted on blogs and feminist news-sites on the internet.

In the photos, a group of young women pose with swords, hatchets and nunchaku in the woods of Ukraine. In some of the photos, they are wearing black T-shirts and loose karate-style pants. 

In other photos, they are wearing flowing white shirts embroidered with flowers, a traditional Ukrainian outfit. The captions described these women as new Amazons, as in the mythical tribe of warrior women.

The group is run by a woman named Katerina Tarnovska. By day, she is a pre-school gym teacher, leading groups of wiggly four-year-olds in a circle around a gymnasium.

In her spare time, the 34-year-old is the leader of Asgarda, a female martial arts group that claims to be a new tribe of Amazons.

Amazons are the mythical, all-female warriors said to have fought in the Trojan War and worked alongside Alexander the Great. They’re famously said to have cut off their left breasts so they could aim their arrows more accurately.

Northumberlandia

We need all the giantesses we can get.

Landform up for honour - Local - News Post Leader

Top Ranking

When Iceland announced they were considering a ban on hardcore pornography online, Americans, for the most part, responded as though it were a (potentially) regressive move. But with Iceland's current track record of prioritising equality, perhaps it is Americans who should be taking a cue from the progressive country. 

Since the economic crash in 2008, the country has turned itself around in more ways than one. 

Iceland ranked first place in the 2012 Global Gender Gap report, moving up from number 4 in 2008. Based on factors like economic participation and opportunity (so, looking at things like wage equality and the number of women in the labour force and in positions of power), educational attainment (based on factors such as female literacy and the number of women enrolled in higher education), health and survival (which looks at life expectancy and mortality rates), and political empowerment (which takes into account the number of women holding political office as well as the number of female heads of state); this report ranks countries throughout the world. 

The US, on the other hand, ranked 22nd, having moved down a few notches from 17th place in 2011. 

Duello

Julie D’Aubigny was a 17th-century  French opera singer and fencing master who killed or wounded at least ten men in life-or-death duels She performed nightly shows on the biggest and most highly-respected opera stage in the world,

Fines

Activists from the feminist movement FEMEN, who conducted a stunt in Notre Dame de Paris in February 2013, may be sentenced to prison terms and be given large fines.

According to the official response I have received from the French Foreign Ministry, they are facing up to one year in prison and a 10,000 euro fine for insulting believers' feelings, Yaroslav Nilov, the head of the State Duma committee on public associations and religious organizations, said on Russia's Spas television.

Nilov said the feminists are facing up to ten years in prison and a fine in an amount of up to 200,000 euros for the damage they have inflicted to the Notre Dame property.

Jean Brown

The female leader of a marijuana trafficking organisation has been sentenced to life in prison.

Jean Brown, a 43-year-old Jamaican woman, was sentenced Friday for murder in aid of racketeering. Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) unit say Brown is one of the leaders of the Brown Organization – a criminal organization whose members distributed narcotics in primarily in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Jamaica.

“Today’s life sentence of Jean Brown for her drug conspiracy, kidnapping and murder in aid of racketeering is a victory for HSI special agents, who since 2009 have been investigating the Jean Brown drug trafficking organization, which spanned five states and two countries. HSI special agents have seized approximately 100 pounds of marijuana, $853,000 in cash and bank accounts and six firearms from these co-conspirators, who used intimidation and violence to further their criminal activities,” said William Winter, special agent in charge of HSI Baltimore. “HSI will continue working with our law enforcement partners to investigate and ultimately dismantle criminal organizations that are wreaking violence in our communities through the illicit drug trade.”

Read more: http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/state/jamaican-female-crime-boss-sentenced-to-life-in-prison#ixzz2P90bafzZ

Library

I was reading something about the first libraries. The Sumerians kept word lists. When the Akkadians defeated them and assimilated the Sumerian culture they produced word lists in the two languages. The Akkadian word for dragon was equated with the Sumerian word for giant caterpillar.

Ladies

All credit to Quentin Tarantino for his achievements in film-making but I can manage without his work. He's definitely too foul-mouthed for my taste. Crudity is his thing. I'm not denying the cleverness but essentially he doesn't understand the genres he's pillaging. I'll give you an example. His Kill Bill films do not capture anything of the two Lady Snowblood films. Give me the originals any day.

Pantagruelline Trends

Pantagruella is like Cassandra. She can see the future but her visions won't help anyone.

Pantagruella Twitter | Pantagruella Trending

Kusiemski

Couple de la haute société de la Belle Époque, Mme von Dunajew et Séverin von Kusiemski ont passé un étrange contrat: « Moi Severin, consens à être l'esclave de Wanda tant qu'elle le voudra ». Il sera Gregor, son domestique, humilié et battu à chacune de ses bévues, alors qu'elle s'affiche avec des amants de plus en plus prestigieux.

Adaptation du roman éponyme théorisant la pratique du masochisme, la Vénus à la Fourrure apparaît à la première impression comme une succession vaine de supplices. Un très beau livre aux sublimes planches à l'encre, mais dont la mécanique tourne à vide sur le schéma action / réaction : Gregor agit, Wanda punit et monte crescendo dans l’extrême, appliquant sans passion un froid catalogue de tortures sexuelles. Une lecture plus attentive révèle la description minutieuse des rapports de force au sein d'un couple qui, lentement, se délite. Usé par la routine répétitive des scènes, il subit le déséquilibre qui se creuse dans une relation à sens unique au point de ne plus profiter qu'à un seul des protagonistes. 

Une dominatrice de haute volée (Lady Trinity) écrivait il y a quelques années dans son blog que la doctrine dérivée de Sacher-Masoch n'avait rien d'une révolution féministe. Elle n'était qu'un ultime avatar de l'enfermement de la femme dans un fantasme masculin, où les dames du BDSM sont réduites au rôle de poupées de cuir exécutant docilement les désirs du soumis qui, souvent, les paye. Ce type d'homme est de nos jours qualifié avec mépris par de nombreuses dominas de « faux soumis » ou encore de « souminateurs ». 

Election

Those pesky topless protestors are at it again, and this time they are back at St. Peter's Square protesting the Vatican City as the election of a new pope takes place just meters from where they stood topless, according to a March 12, 2013 news report from La Press.

The group FEMEN, originally started by Ukrainian human rights protestor Anna Hutsol, stood before the Vatican with bare breasts exposed, to expose what they feel is years and years of controversial beliefs that are no longer relevant.

The Palestinian Woman

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Usually it is easy for me to place each news item in the right category. Today was a sad day because a girl gang beat up a Palestinian women. Normally we would support the girl gang but today we are supporting the Palestinian woman.

Mozah

Also the UNESCO special envoy for basic and higher education, the First Lady was recognized for her great style and even greater substance, with the Huffington Post dubbing her “First Lady of the World” in 2011 as she emerged in the media during a time of political turmoil and unrest in the region. The third wife of the Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Sheikha Mozah was also named one of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women.

Her style blends tradition with a strong understanding of couture, setting itself apart as sophisticated, beautiful, different. Despite being a mother of seven, she maintains an impeccable figure. Vogue calls her an “authentic living legend, a strong example of emancipation.” Covering her hair in elegant turbans, her waisted, precise and modern pantsuits, flowing robes in bright colours, opulent yet balanced makeup and jewellery, she raises the bar of glamour for women in international politics.

Rajavi

An Iranian opposition group urged the U.N. refugee agency Wednesday to provide better protection for its members in Iraq following a mortar attack on their camp near Baghdad airport in which seven people were killed.

The call came during a meeting in Geneva of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a France-based Iranian opposition group. The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, urged the U.N. to transfer about 3,100 members of its militant wing, known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, from the Baghdad facility to Camp Ashraf near Iraq's border with Iran.

Last year, the MEK abandoned Camp Ashraf, where it had been based since 1986, and moved to the former U.S. base Camp Liberty as a temporary way station while the U.N. finds host countries for the refugees. The Iraqi government considers the MEK a terrorist organization and has been pressing its members to leave ever since their patron, Saddam Hussein, was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

On Feb. 9, seven people were killed and dozens wounded in the mortar attack, which was claimed by Shiite militants.

Sabotage

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hinted at sabotage as a possible cause forthe fire which 18 lives in Kolkata on Wednesday. The fire broke out at a multi-storey market complex in the Sealdah area. 

The chief minister has ordered an inquiry and announced compensation of Rs.2 lakh to the kin of each of the dead.

Banerjee, who visited the site, said: "The probe will be jointly done by the police, fire department and the municipal corporation, and a report is to be submitted in three days. On the basis of the report, action will be taken." 

Observing that the market was prone to fires because a large number of inflammable objects were stored there, she also hinted at sabotage: "Why has this incident happened? There are so many inflammable objects that if anybody lit a small fire, it could turn into a major fire. The probe will look into all aspects," she said.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Banerjee said the families of victims will be given Rs.2 lakh each as compensation.

Read more at:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kolkata-fire-mamata-banerjee-sniffs-sabotage-orders-inquiry/1/251880.html

Notre Dame

Eight nubile women went topless through Notre Dame to celebrate the legalisation of gay marriage in France. The women are a part of FEMEN, a pro-feminist, pro-gay organisation whose motto is Sextremism. FEMEN held the demonstration to mark the final hour of the homophobic Pope, who they labelled as fascist and the head of the Catholic mafia. After the women disrobed and rang bells housed within the church, security quickly forced them out of the cathedral. They continued their impassioned demonstration just outside.

FEMEN members have a penchant for running about topless when some issue has upset them. While such an approach to conflict could do much to settle miscommunications between the sexes, the context must clearly be suitable. In this case, the majority of people within the cathedral found the display inappropriate and rude.

Bamboo

The Gulabi gang was founded in 2006 by Sampat Pal Devi, a mother of five and former government health worker, as well as a former child bride, as a response to widespread domestic abuse and other violence against women. Gulabis visit abusive husbands and beat them up with laathis, bamboo sticks, unless they stop abusing their wives. In 2008, they stormed an electricity office in Banda district and forced corrupt officials to turn back the power they had cut in order to extract bribes. They have also stopped child marriages and protested dowry and female illiteracy.

Pope Joan

A group of topless activists scandalized visitors at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday by disrobing in public to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.

The small group of women, all affiliated with radical feminist group FEMEN, flashed their breasts and banged on bells in the cathedral, shouting slogans such as, "Bye Bye Benedict" and "No more homophobe," according to the Agence France-Presse.

The pope announced his resignation Monday in a shocking pronouncement that took the Catholic community by surprise. However, FEMEN appears to have little to no love for the outgoing pontiff, whom the group blasted on its website for his stance on same-sex marriage.

Afghana

When NATO published a "media backgrounder" on Afghan security forces in October 2010, the U.S.-led alliance was adamant that as the Afghan National Army (ANA) grew to the point where it would be able to defend its own country, it would also need to increase the women in its ranks.

"This growth must result in an inclusive army," said the NATO document. "This requires future effort in building a cadre of female soldiers, as well as ensuring an ethnically balanced army. Currently there are 301 women in the ANA, of which 166 are officers."

A year later, The New York Times ran a story about a female cadet training to be an officer in the ANA.

"She said she did not feel well because two days before, her fiance had threatened her with (a) knife and told her he would kill her if she did not leave the army," reported the Times.

"He says to me from Saturday to Wednesday (when the training school is in session) you are sleeping among American men," said this Afghan cadet.

Sequential Defense Department reports on progress in the Afghan War describe the department's efforts to integrate women into Afghanistan's army.

Mechanised

When I was young I read about the PPK. They were fighting a guerrilla for independence against multiple enemies. They found that their all-female units had a better kill ratio than their male counterparts. It was the first I'd heard of modern Amazons.In May 1935, French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval allegedly asked Stalin to improve the situation of Catholics in the USSR so as not to provoke a quarrel with the Pope. At that, Stalin, with his brutal sense of humour, asked, “The Pope? How many divisions does he have?”The point is right now women do not have any divisions. As far as I am concerned women won't be a threat until they have their own mechanised armour.

Golf

At the Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament on Thursday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hit a bad shot on the sixth hole. The ball smacked a female spectator in the face. Here's how the New York Times reported the incident:

"On the par-5 sixth hole, which features a blind approach to the uphill green, Rice’s second shot landed on the side of the hill. After she advanced it several yards with her third, her fourth shot flew out of the grabby grass and hit a spectator standing behind the left gallery rope.

“'Did I hit you?” Rice said, moving quickly to reach the woman, who had a bloody gash above the bridge of her nose. Her daughter was trying to use a pairings sheet as a bandage. “It was a bad shot. I’m really sorry.”

"Rice knelt, handed the woman’s daughter a white towel to stanch the bleeding and held the woman’s right hand until first-aid personnel arrived. Before she headed to the green, she asked the daughter to call her with an update on her mother’s condition. Rice’s assistant, who was walking outside the ropes, slipped the daughter a piece of paper after Rice left. Rice’s game was never the same ..."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/08/4055772/fore-condoleezza-rice-takes-down.html#storylink=cpy

Code Pink

Thursday’s confirmation hearing for CIA nominee John Brennan was postponed to clear the room of activists from CODEPINK after they repeatedly disrupted Brennan’s testimony. One woman held a list of Pakistani children killed in U.S. drone strikes. Former United States diplomat Col. Ann Wright interrupted Brennan while wearing a sign around her neck with the name of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Wright and seven others were arrested.