Hot in the Press Kettle – August 2011

Vampire Bats

Vampire bats have made their way to the USA and has killed a 19-year-old migrant worker. Makes me wonder if this is the work of a vigilante border patrol. On a serious note this is a scary picture. Imagine being attacked by a flock of vampire bats. Perhaps another sign of global warning and a bankrupt environment. In the end we all will pay for what we are doing to the environment because we create shifts like the one with the vampire bats which have migrated for whatever reason from their Latin American habitat to the United States. Apparently these smart bats have a heat sensing device that directs them to the area with the highest concentration of blood and then they attack. So watch over your shoulder when you go out at nights a vampire bat may be lurking nearby.

Archbishop Jose Gomez Tackles American Immigration Policy

Archbishop Gomez is an immigrant himself and he has brought some historical insight to this issue that does not come up in current discourse.  I invite you to click on the link and read his very interesting speech.

On July 28, 2011 he gave an extraordinary address to the Napa Institute entitled “Immigration and the “Next America”: Perspectives from Our History” which can be – and should be – read in its entirety here. In introductory remarks he said: “Our political debate about immigration in America frustrates me. Often I think we are we are just talking around the edges of the real issues.Both sides of this argument are inspired by a beautiful, patriotic idea of America’s history and values. But lately I’ve been starting to wonder. What America are we really talking about? America is changing and it has been changing for a long time. The forces of globalization are changing our economy and forcing us to rethink the scope and purpose of our government. Threats from outside enemies are changing our sense of national sovereignty.

“America is changing on the inside, too.Our culture is changing. We have a legal structure that allows, and even pays for, the killing of babies in the womb. Our courts and legislatures are redefining the natural institutions of marriage and the family. We have an elite culture – in government, the media and academia – that is openly hostile to religious faith.

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=42297

Transgendered people face discrimination in Pakistan

The word Hijras is a wide all-encompassing Pakistani Urdu language term used for eunuchs (khussras), hermaphrodites, and transsexuals. Today they have come to form a caste of their own in Pakistan. Often disowned by their families at childhood, some Hijras are sold or left to the care of gurus— matriarchs of the Hijra household, who become their only ‘real’ family.

Ostracized and condemned by world society, with no means of education or employment, their little options of earning income often leave them to only a few ways they can make a living — by begging, prostitution or dancing at weddings or baby showers.

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/07/29/pakistan-male-female-hijra-hardship/

What happened to Tiger Woods?

If I were a superstitious person, I would say that he is being punished for his indiscretions  but I see many who have done worse that Tiger flourishing beautifully but with Tiger it has been down hill ever since his marriage breakdown and media fall out. The latest blow for Tiger is his cut from the upcoming PGA. If it is not injury it is just bad play. Tiger I think it’s time you go and bath yourself in some blue water to get rid of bad vibes.

The King of Pop’s Children donate to Children’s Hospital

It’s great to see that Michael Jackson’s children, Prince, Paris and Blanket,  are following his tradition of being a guardian for children. We all knew how much children meant to the King. He loved children because they were innocent and pure and MJ related to that. His three children have decided to donate 10 of his autographed sketches of figures like Mickey Mouse, furniture etc  to adorn the hospital for sick children Los Angeles. They were accompanied by their grandmother and aunty Latoya. The pictures would adorn the walls of the hospital. Good on them.

Interview with Feminist Icon – Gloria Steinem

GS: I think of the future in two ways — survival plus moving forward. Under survival, I would put all the efforts to save the female half of the world from violence directed at us specifically because we are female; what Diana Russell has called femicide.

Under survival is everything from domestic violence, sex trafficking, rape and serial killing to aborting female fetuses, female genital mutilation, child marriage and denying female children protein, health care and education.

Under moving forward, I would put all the efforts to humanize the “masculine” and “feminine” gender roles that are the beginning of a false human hierarchy and normalize race, class and other systems of domination to come — even “Man’s” dominion over nature. The deepest change begins with men raising children as much as women do and women being equal actors in the world outside the home.  There are many ways of supporting that, from something as simple as paid sick leave and flexible work hours to attributing an economic value to all care-giving, and making that amount tax deductible. Until the masculine role is humanized, women will tend to be much better at solving dangerous conflicts. That’s already happened in Ireland and Liberia, and is beginning in North and South Korea.

And of course, allowing women the power to decide when and whether to have children is the only way to solve the 7 billion human load on this planet that threatens to destroy it. Women’s equality is also men’s survival

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-schnall/interview-gloria-steine_b_924584.html?ir=Canada

Pedophile Vultures in Hollywood Exposed

    Why doesn’t it surprise me that Hollywood hoards many vultures that prey on children and get away with it because they  are rich and able perhaps to give breaks to starving artists and families. Why would parents sacrifice their children for the sake of money or fame. Such is the madness of celebrity addiction in our society.

Corey Feldman has broken the silence by coming out and speaking about the abuses he endured at those despicable old men in Hollywood. How come no one’s talking about this?

Brad Pitt casts son Maddox in Movie – Battling Boys