to Pia! Great talking to you babe…no more accents I promise! Leave me a comment to let me know you’re reading…ciao!
The torturous journey of the Olympic Torch
April 13, 2008 at 4:47 pm (my two cents)
Tags: china, torch
Hmmm…looks like the Brits, French and Americans kicked up the biggest stink about the Olympic torch relay. Um, I would also put those countries among the top buyers of Chinese goods. Isn’t it a little sad to destroy something that is meant to be beautiful and uniting (the torch relay) in the name of protest. Wouldn’t it be better to buy then physically destroy some of the cheap, shit, plastic crap that is sold in the average Chinese variety store? Wouldn’t it be better to boycott Chineses goods rather than extinguish the symbol of sportsmanship and hope? Are we attacking the little guy (the torch-bearers) because the big guy (China) is too awesome and strong?
Well done Murat Karatas
April 13, 2008 at 4:40 pm (Italians, costa blanca, spain, violence against women)
Tags: murder, Pippa Bacca, turkey, violence against women, wibc
…for disproving the theory that humans can be trusted to be good. Italian artist Pippa Bacca was murdered and her body dumped in roadside bushes in Gebze, near Istanbul, Turkey. She had been hitch-hiking, dressed in a white wedding dress, from Europe to Palestine in an artistic project designed to promote world peace and prove that humans can be trusted. Her sister Maria is quoted as saying:
“Her travels were for an artistic performance and to give a message of peace and trust, but not everyone deserves trust,”
Well, that’s for darn sure. I think it’s charming that any woman would consider hitch-hiking alone through Turkey and the near-Middle East in an attempt to prove the goodness of mankind. It’s such a wonderfully european notion, to think that a WOMAN could hitch-hike alone through Turkey. I would love it if she has actually made it. Because the first thing I thought when my partner read me the story was “I’d never hitch-hike alone through Turkey”. I guess that ’s the fear that’s already gotten me. As a woman, I have been trained to understand that men are dangerous, that they must be avoided/mollified/coddled/obeyed. Men have sensitive souls and soft little minds…after all that’s why a woman in a short skirt and a few drinks is asking for it, that’s why a colleague who wears flattering clothes is a slut, that’s why a woman who says no is a bitch. Sorry, I went off a little there. But I’m not going to hit the delete key cos this shit really really bugs me.
Spain has nothing to brag about when it comes to equality or the societal acceptance of violence against women. The Women in Business Club, of which I am a member, was formed in 2004 to promote awareness of violence against women in Spain. There have been 39 women killed by their partners so far this year -2008. A nice average of just over 10 per month. ARGH.
Does it make a difference that it happened in Turkey, a muslim nation? I don’t know. I’d have to understand the statistics…are there more rapes/murders of women per capita in muslim societies than in christian/secular societies? Well, reading the Chanelling Energy Blog, it looks like the problem is worldwide. I would reasonably say that in European societies, perhaps women have a better chance of getting help. Or maybe not. You see, I was hit by an ex-partner, and it took me ages to get away from him. I fell into the typical victim trap of wanting to help him/being afraid of him. I stayed three years too long…I finally got away when I realised that I was worth 10 times him and just got the hell out. Out of the country, out of the routine, out of the way.
God, It’s just so depressing. I want to be able to say ‘Bloody macho muslim Turks! You see, that’s why they shouldn’t join the EU!”, but I can’t. I’m not a racist. I’m not prejudiced. I, like Pippa Bacca, believe in the goodness of human beings. Should I?
