Taboo You: How Islamic Pakistan is the Christian Right Wing's Dream for America

by Nomad

When it comes to the reproductive rights of women, the ultra-conservative Christian Far Right in the US and the Islamic theocratic republic of Pakistan have a lot more in common than they are willing to admit.

In an ideal world, every baby born should be a wanted child, not stigmatized for being born from a mother out of wedlock and not a burden to parents too poor to feed their family.

Yet, in this day and age, it is still not an unattainable goal for most of humanity. Although we already have all of the resources we need, such as cheap, easy to use contraceptives, and the means for their distribution , we as a species continue to over-populate the planet.
To understand the reasons, we need to take a closer look at Pakistan.

Pakistan: The Land of Taboos

Pakistan is one nation where the population growth rate is high; it is in fact higher than average growth rate of all other South Asian countries. With over 180 million people, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, .  

But why should a country be so crowded and so poverty-stricken and yet unable to do anything about it? For that you need to look at the majority-Muslim Pakistan's ultra-conservative social policies. Especially when it comes to attitudes to sexuality and women's rights.   

Zombies of the New Millennium: Are Cell Phones Killing Genuine Social Contact?

by Nomad

We live in an incredible age of communication. Keeping in touch with family and friends has never been easier. And yet, how much contact do we need before we lose focus.
Should we be thinking more about prioritizing our social interactions?

Don't get me wrong. Cell phones are wonderful tools. Sometimes I can't imagine how we ever existed without them. Finding somebody in a crowd, for example, or reaching somebody in an emergency. 

What did I use to do when I got lost on the way to a club or on the way to a house party? I can't even remember. It seems so long ago. I suppose I threw myself on the ground and wept until some kind stranger took pity on me. 

With a cell phone, all those annoying dilemmas are in the past. Yet these days, a new problem has cropped up. 

Cell phone zombie-ism.

I suppose most of us at one time or another have experienced this. Not long ago, I watched in disgust when I found myself among my friends and suddenly realizing that I was the only one in the group that wasn't staring at a cell phone and silently finger-pushing their screens. 

Here's How The Obamas Marked Martin Luther King Federal Holiday

by Nomad

Open Season for Intolerance: How Russia's Anti-Gay Propaganda Laws are Destroying Lives

by Nomad

A Russian newspaper article provides an example of how discriminatory anti-gay propaganda laws have become for Russia's gay citizens. In fact, it has become a tool for hunting down individuals and destroying their careers. 

Last month a music teacher at a school for disabled children in Saint Petersburg was fired for "an amoral action."
The crime? 

Her identity. Her sexual orientation.

According to the news report, the teacher was outed by an anti-gay crusader, Timur Bulatov, who then wrote a letter of complaint to the school authorities.  In a private meeting, the administrators told her that because she was a lesbian, she would no longer be allowed to work with students.  For a dedicated teacher, this decision was heart-breaking. 

She told one reporter:

"During all the years of my work at the school I gave all I had to my favorite profession, developing a love for arts, music among the children. ..Considering the capabilities of our children with moderate to severe developmental disabilities, I tried to make every lesson interesting, educational and fun."

What's important to understand here is that the teacher was not openly gay to her students. The anti-propaganda laws do not, it would seem, apply in this case. The incident shows the predictable outcome of the Russian duma's 2013 passage of new laws banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships to minors.

Believe It Can Be Done

by Nomad

At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope that it can be done, then they see that it can be done--then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago. – Francis Eliza Hodgson Burnett