Daily Archives: May 25, 2008

Zimbabwe: Truckload of Newspapers Burned

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The press is not free in Zimbabwe, and the state-controlled news organs are little more than cheerleading mouthpieces for the Mugabe regime. Independent weekly The Zimbabwean recently started a Sunday edition that’s become the country’s most-read Sunday paper. How? It’s printed in South Africa and distributed by truck; except that this Sunday’s edition won’t be arriving. The truck was hijacked and burned, and the two drivers badly beaten.

This is Zimbabwe » Blog Archive » Assault on media freedom in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean was established in February 2005 to stand against Mugabe’s media blackout. It exploits a loophole in Zimbabwe’s draconian anti-press legislation by being published and printed in South Africa and trucked into the country.

Despite frequently being harrassed and denounced, until this weekend every issue had made it safely to Harare, from where it was distributed throughout the country and devoured by a population starved of accurate information and fed a daily diet of the coarsest government propaganda.

LTTE: Polygamy From A Modern Girl’s Perspective

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The Salt Lake Trib’s letters to the editor often contain some interesting insights into life in Utah; I haven’t lived there for more than 30 years, and I feel I know the place because I can read the opinions of the cranks and the apologists and the activists and the completely whacked-out religious nutcases.

This time, it’s a teenage girl’s perspective on the Texas FLDS polygamy case. She starts well, but I don’t think she can really imagine what it’s like to be raised in that society – no “modern girl” could, because essentially these are girls who are living in a Pioneer Village bubble.

But I do agree that they might secretly yearning for a trip to Great Clips and the mall. For some of them, it’s not too late to be teenagers.

Unshackle FLDS girls – Salt Lake Tribune
I am a 15-year-old girl with a cell phone and iPod. Call me spoiled. I like sports, boys and dancing. I still play with my dog. It wasn’t that long ago that I believed in Santa Claus and gave my mom painted rocks for Mother’s Day.

I can’t imagine being married at this age, let alone having a baby. I’m pretty sure those FLDS girls are just like me in most ways. They want to enjoy their youth, friendships and all that modern life has to offer, and not be handed over to some gross old guy and forced to sleep with him. Helloooo?

Hooray for the Texas authorities who raided the Yearning for Zion ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Maybe they can take the girls to Great Clips hair salon and then to the mall for a new pair of shorts. It’s about time someone stepped in to stop this robbery of precious childhood.