<^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws 10-03-2001......... An Unapologetic Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber who is solely responsible for its content <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> Several people have submitted ideas about what the posing of the "answer girl" on the self-described "progressive frat boys" http://www.americanpolitics.com website means. Gas? My comment has to do with anal retentive. . . except in this case, the answer girl has questions shoved . . . well they do say "frat boys" have a fascination with burping, farting --- and enemas -- like any juvenile boy. PS - in face of a number of complaints, the following automatic email answer sent by the editor of the website is rather, ah, cute. "The NEW email addresses for our team are: mac@americanpolitics.com, answergirl@americanpolitics.com editors@americanpolitics.com "The editor wrote: "I've passed on your e-mail -- Donna (the answer girl) will get a kick out of it." (Signed) Gene We could send her rectal thermators as rewards for her, ah, offerings. Actually, in a couple of years when "Donna" grows up and realizes how she's been, ah, used in the back door fashion of so many men who build up girls egos with hollow compliments that fade with the color of her hair under the dyes. And then such "fun girls" are tossed aside for a new batch of youngsters who fall for the routine. But, I guess it's part of growing up for women who *think* their only attributes that count are what men pay for. Just what we need, another educated woman without any self-esteem. ..searching for Mr. Goodbar or a boss who really respects her in the morning. By the way, the website solicites funds because they are giving us news. . . yeah, news I sure want to read. <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> Nicolas Von Hoffman wrote a scathing column for the New York Post, implying that Putsch (so many have so many nicknames for george the lesser) was a coward and suggesting the presidential plane be renamed "White Feather One". <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> This is part of the editorial that cost Tom Gutting his job at the Texas City Sun . . . for criticizing george the lesser. Wonder what the repugnants would have done had any paper EVER fired a reporter for criticizing ANYdemocratic president in this nation's history. "'I'm aware of the American custom not to criticize our country's leaders in times of crisis. But after George W. Bush's vague, trite speech Thursday night, it's time we snapped out of the "support our president" trance and start to be vigilant citizens, as our Constitution demands. Besides, I refuse to blindly follow any man who claims to be leading us into "war," particularly one who has shown such poor judgment and leadership. "Last year, when he won the presidency, we knew W. wasn't the smartest guy on the block. Nor was he a real policy wonk. The one thing W.'s handlers convinced people of was that he is a leader who would make decisions. He might not always be right, but he would lead, they assured us. So last Tuesday, there was W. flying around the country like a scared child seeking refuge in his mother's bed after having a nightmare. "When Dick Cheney went on "Meet the Press" last week, it became abundantly clear W. hadn't done the one thing he promised -- lead. Cheney was making all the calls while Bush ran scared, thereby fulfilling the terrorists' wishes to make the most powerful man in the world fear them. << snip>> "But what we are stuck with is a crippled president who continues to be controlled by his advisors. He's not a leader. He's a puppet, and it has never been more apparent." Thank you Mr. Gutting. You give newspapering a good name in a time when most of what it is going on is a betrayal of why the news business must be protected by the First Amendment. <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "The Taliban have said that if and when the United States captures Osama bin Laden, the threat posed by the al Qaeda network and other terrorist organizations will not subside. "There are many other extremists to worry about, but one man in particular deserves more attention. Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri is perhaps the most influential, and yet unknown, member of al Qaeda. He is an Egyptian surgeon who has been called one of the masterminds behind the vast network and a likely successor to bin Laden." --http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/WorldNewsTonig ht/WTC_zawahiri0101002.html Al-Zawahiri is considered by true investigators of terrorism as much more dangerous than bin Laden and is perhaps the man with the brains who did what bin Laden could have only dreamed about. The bushette policy to center on bin Laden allows the administration and what it hopes will be a succession of right wing religious thugs in the White House to keep the U.S. citizens in such an uproar that they willingly give away their freedoms and financial powers to a few in a their future oligarchy-theocracy hierarchy. The only difference between now and the dark ages in Europe where the xtian church held sway after destroying the pagan intelligentsia is that the new millennia gods in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East will be controlled by fundamentalists of ALL religions acting in concert - and the first act in that concert is the captivity of women and the stripping away of their human rights. Even on the liberal _West Wing_ special program, when a Muslim objected to the U.S. army having WOMEN on their sacred Saudi Arabian ground doing things that women are not allowed to do under Muslim fundamentalism, the chief of staff apologized for a flippant remark he made to the effect that maybe Muslim women should be taught to drive. . . no standing up for the rights of women as human beings even in the liberal White House. Thanks a lot. <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> " It in no way minimizes the horrific toll of Sept. 11 to point out that 33,000 Americans fall victim every year to gun violence. Just as we have declared war against international terror, we should also redouble our efforts to put an end to the homegrown bloodshed that continues to stain America's inner cities. If new Cabinet member Tom Ridge really wants to increase Homeland Security, he should add this threat to his portfolio." -- Arriane Huffington in her column - http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/100201 .html <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> Within four days after the terrorist attacks, I suggested the World Court at the Hague for trying bin Laden and others. I disagreed loudly with war. I received a LOT of hate mail and some "liberal" criticism for being impractical, etc. Since then, one by one, various commentators and news agents swinging around to the idea that the terrorists attack was a crime against humanity and as such is a CRIME and the perpetrators should be adjudicated in a court of law. The terrorists are criminals and the U.S. should not became terrorists in return by bombing innocent people - My GAWD, in Afghanistan if a woman ran into the street to get away from a bombed, burning building she would be shot by her own police for being on the street without a male relative. We've got smart bombs are only going to hit those with penises? This is from Molly Ivins' column, 10-02-2001: "One step we might usefully ponder is announcing that Osama bin Laden, when smoked out and rounded up, will be turned over to the World Court in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. "First, bin Laden and his terrorist network are guilty of crimes against humanity; second, this would emphasize that it's the whole world against the terrorists; third, we're more likely to get bin Laden that way. The few extreme Arab states might hesitate to turn him over to the Great Satan, but turning him over to the World Court would be much easier for them. The government of Pakistan, in particular, which is between a rock and hard place, would find this helpful -- and Pakistan is in a position to be very useful to us. " -- Molly Ivins column "It's Time To Start Thinking Outside The Box". <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "Perhaps the prime example of terrorism succeeding is the Philippeville massacre of August 20, 1955, in which Algerian revolutionaries killed 123 French colonials. A conscious act of terrorism carried out by revolutionaries who until then had enjoyed only slight popular backing, the Philippeville massacre led to a massive and bloody retaliation by the French, as well as the conversion of a leading French reformer (Jacques Soustelle, then governor-general of Algeria) into an advocate of suppression. The French crackdown eliminated most of the moderates on the Muslim side and caused influential French citizens back home to turn against their country's policies. "This chain of events ultimately provoked a French army mutiny, brought Gen. Charles de Gaulle back to power as the savior of the nation and caused a French withdrawal from Algeria. Franco-Algerian relations are still strained today. "No political cause can justify the killing on Sept. 11 of thousands of innocent people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, just as nothing can justify America's killing of innocent people elsewhere in the world. Terrorists attack the vulnerable because their intended targets (the military might of a rich country) are inaccessible. By attacking the innocent, terrorists intend to draw attention to the sins of the invulnerable. Like the anarchism of the 19th century, terrorism is propaganda by deed. . . . "So far the United States has reacted to the terrorist attacks with an almost classic repetition of the French blunders following Philippeville. From his first remarks to the nation on the evening of September 11, President Bush has been pointlessly, even comically, belligerent (the U.S. wants Osama bin Laden "dead or alive," we must "smoke them out and get them running"). By initially calling his retaliation plan "Operation Infinite Justice," he gave it a needlessly religious and messianic coloration. He seems to lack insight or candor about what we actually face and the seriousness of the problem (we were attacked because we are a "beacon of freedom" and our attackers are without motives, merely "evil-doers, those barbaric people"). His hyperbole has led thoughtful listeners to question what sort of actions he intends to pursue. "Our war on terror," Bush said to Congress on September 20, "begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated." Presumably the words "global reach" were inserted to reassure listeners that he did not intend to bomb supporters of Irish terrorists in Boston or anti-Castro terrorists in Miami." http://historynewsnetwork.org/articles/article.html?id=317 <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "BABNE, Swaziland---The king of this tiny, AIDS-afflicted African country has told its young women to stop having sex for the next five years. At least 25% of adults among Swaziland's 900,000 people are estimated to be HIV-positive, according to the United Nations. "Wherever they go, Swazi girls now will be expected to wear a bundle of bright tassels, known as an umcwasho, signifying celibacy. The tassels hang around the back of the neck and below the shoulders, like a pair of floppy ponytails, warding off, it is said, would-be suitors. Breaking the ban could cost each offender a cow, which is the country's true currency." Obviously the women of Swaziland who have virtually no civil rights and no political or social power are now in the position to fight off rapists and men bored with wives and other older women forced into prostitution by the lack of other paying work. In Swaziland, as in many other African nations, men are EXPECTED to have sex with many women. But blame the women... <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "We could always dress up the military/spies in those costumes they make the women of Afghanistan wear. They'd make for a great recognizance operation. -- Karen McCandlish Of course, we could just send U.S. women soldiers to fight. Wonder how the bully-boy-fundamentalist Muslims who abuse defenseless women would reaction when women suddenly appeared armed with military weapons. Like all bullies, I think they'd run because they're accustomed to moving in packs against those without the ability to fight back. I think American is the great Satan to those Muslim fundies because American women demand and get human rights. <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> IS it true? although I don't know why I ask since the White House crew of Rove, Card, Fleischer, and Hughes haven't told the truth since they denied stealing a pacifier from their younger sibling's crib. Anyway, back to the subject, IS IT TRUE that the bushette junta has asked the TV network news bosses to downplay what Bill Clinton did and is doing in lower Manhattan because it shows up what Bush is NOT doing? Bill made a dozen trips down there, stayed and talked to people - bushette finally went back yesterday to go to a fancy hotel and talk to business leaders. HIS kind of people. He didn't show up at ground zero. He didn't want to dirty his suit? Does this translate to FUCK YOU, heroes of lower Manhattan and those who have lost mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers ? The idea that the president of the United States made only ONE trip to the scene of the largest terrorist attack in the history of the world and only ONE trip to the Pentagon where it is obvious that this nation under georgie was so ill prepared that an unarmed plane came close to knocking out the ENTIRE military leadership of this nation? <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "Women in Afghanistan are forbidden to work or go to school [educating girls is punishable by death]; they may not leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative; the windows of their homes must be painted black [in order to "protect" them from prying eyes]; they may not speak to a male who is not a member of the family [and may be killed simply because local gossip implies they have spoken with men not of their families]; driving is forbidden; they must be covered from head to foot, blinded by their "clothing" -- From a BuzzFlash bulletin that so nicely sums up the situations under Taliban rule. HOWEVER, not one single word in opposition TO SUCH TREATMENT OF WOMEN has been expressed by the bushette administration. What would Bushette do if women ran the country and cut off the penises of all boys except the oldest son? <^> <^> . . . . . <^> cc <^> . . . . . <^> <^> "(AP) 10-01-2001 - Saudi Arabia's defense minister said Sunday that no troops would be allowed to use bases in his nation to launch attacks on Arabs or Muslims. "We will not accept in our country even a single soldier who will attack Muslims or Arabs," Defense Minister Prince Sultan was quoted as saying in an interview published in the government-controlled Okaz newspaper." Is this what you are being told by the bushette junta and its brown-necked news media? Believe it or not, georgie and company, the American people are big enough, smart enough, and adult enough to learn the truth. Stop playing to the pickup truck crowd with their confederate flags hanging from the gun racks. Start treating the American people with dignity. Give them credit for common sense. Women are slowly beginning to realize by the way the administration is ignoring the abuse of women's human rights "over there" that this ain't no war that can be won with guns. And that the war isn't just "over there." Remember: Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of theocratic righteousness hiding in the bushes. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thanks to a hard-working lady and her husband who demand anonymity, Catt's Claws columns are "immortalized" at http://www.undelete.org/catts/ http://www.undelete.org/catts/catts.html http://www.undelete.org/catts/archives/ WOW! We thank you deeply. >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to istuber@undelete.org for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter. This is NOT an interactive discussion net. Catt's Claws is NOT sponsored by any organization. We accept *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting Catt's Claws and archiving them. Copyright 2001, Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902, email istuber@direclynx.net. _______________________________________________ CATTS-CLAWS mailing list CATTS-CLAWS@undelete.org http://www.argate.net/mailman/listinfo/catts-claws