When
· Naughties
· · 2005
· · · June
· · · · 14 (2 entries)
Mukhtaran Mai · In Pakistan, allegedly an ally of the West, Ms Mai was sentenced to gang rape to punish her brother. She survived, fought back, won in court, raised money, started schools. If the word “hero” has any meaning, she is one. The Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Women invited her to lecture in the U.S.A. So the Pakistani government revoked her right to leave the country, put her under house arrest, and cut off her phone; meanwhile, its courts are letting the rapists out of jail. The New York Times reported on the weekend that she was under arrest, but the BBC now says she’s free. This would be a good time to drop a line to your Congressperson or Member of Parliament or local Embassy of Pakistan. Whatever you think of Gen. Musharraf, he really can’t do without Western support. So we may not be able to save the world, but maybe we can save one brave woman. [Update: I wrote this last June; but sometimes there’s good news.]
OpenSolaris Blogs Oh My · They told me they were going to try to get lots of people to blog about the launch, but this is remarkable: this morning they knew about 132 bloggers and 215,000 words, and there’s another dozen pieces every time I turn on my aggregator. The communications and culture shift happening here is maybe just as interesting as OpenSolaris itself. Herewith observations, and pointers to some particularly sharp-edged samples. A new thing is in the world ...
