Month: December 2010

Afghanistan Women Cry in Fire

vabenissimoLeave a comment

To burn is the only form of expression allowed to Afghanistan women.

Having been Married and suffered at young age, they fail to find an escape.

Gulbar, for example, was rushed into a local hospital in Northern Afghanistan with horrid burn on her nearly deformed body and face. Her internal body scans and blind eye narrate the story themselves: she had been brutally abused by her husband.

In another case, after an argument, Salehah’s husband poured gasoline over her tied up body and set it on fire.

Zarghona was also burned by her father-in-law for not washing her husband’s clothes thoroughly. She was fifteen.

However, these three are not the only victims. So far, about 800 cases have been “officially” recorded for the abuse cases.

The unfortunate social, mental, and physical suppression continue to bring greater depression and slavery for these women.

So, they burn themselves in fire.

If they get to survive with a slim chance, they cry muted again.

Meat.

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

It all started with Upton Sinclair‘s “The Jungle.” This book showed how cramped and dirty meat stockyards were in the US. Food sanitation, and more importantly, food safety, has been a big concern of many people in America.

Even today, the agricultural business has a very bad rap. The cows, chickens and other animals used for food are treated horribly. The animals are put in cages that do not allow them to move. They are forced fed food to become as fat as possible. They know nothing about being outside or being able to run, or even walk. When they are good and plump, they are slaughtered for food.Old Chicago stockyards

As sad as all of this is, there still is some hope. The senate just passed a new bill that increases food safety regulations. This is the first change in food saftey laws in a very long time. The bill was passed by a vote of 73 to 25.