TresSugar

Do Tell: What Would You Go on a Sex Strike For?

TresSugar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0700

In the West African country of Gabon, men are being called on to go on a sex strike if a woman does not win the country's presidential election. Male opposition leader Samuel Ntoutoume Ndzeng believes that the country needs a female leader, so he's making the pretty progressive suggestion that the country's male population should "sleep with their clothes on" if a man wins.

Refusing sex has proved to be a useful method of non-violent resistance, although it's typically women who threaten to withhold sex as a powerful tool of persuasion. Most recently, women in Kenya organized a week-long sex strike in April 2009 aimed at infighting politicians, even promising to repay prostitutes for lost wages. (One Kenyan man was not so happy with this strike, suing the organizers for causing his wife to withhold sex from him.) All this political sex withholding echoes the Greek play Lysistrata, a comedy about one woman's crusade to end the Peloponnesian War by initiating a sex strike.

Is there a cause you would withhold sex for?

The Other Clinton Is Working Hard Too

TresSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:00:38 -0700

While her husband stole the headlines this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hard at work. As top diplomat for the US, Hillary is currently touring Africa, where she was offered 40 goats and 20 cows by a Kenyan man earlier today for daughter Chelsea's hand in marriage. Hillary graciously replied: "My daughter is her own person, very independent, so I will convey this very kind offer."

But of course her mission in Africa goes beyond fielding marriage proposals for Chelsea. Wrapping up her trip to Kenya, the first stop on her seven-nation tour, Clinton met with Somalia's president at the US embassy in Nairobi to discuss the US commitment to helping Somalia's government fight Islamic extremists. Hillary is the highest ranking official to meet with the head of Somalia's government - a government that is only five years old! In addition to working toward stability in Somalia, Hillary also had a chance to express US support for the International Criminal Court and visit the site of the 1998 bombings at the US embassy in Nairobi that killed 213 people. She is pictured above with a survivor of the bombing.

While Hillary's diplomatic efforts might be a little less flashy than Bill's, it's obvious she's committed.

Pirate's Booty: Women Flock to Somali Port to Marry Pirates

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:30:52 -0700

It may be wedding season at Sugar, but elsewhere circumstance and desperation still send women down the aisle . . . or to the docks. In like, say, Somalia!

In an interview today on CNN's American Morning, TJ Holmes found that Somali women are flocking to the port town of Bosaso in hopes of marrying a pirate. Arghh. I'm going to assume these pirates are more like the men pictured above and less Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. So what's the appeal? Well, money - pirates have it.

In fact, women want to marry pirates for the same reasons men become them: they want to escape the hopelessness, poverty, lawlessness, and civil war that pervade the streets of Somalia. Can you blame them?

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Study: President Bush's AIDS Plan Saved 1.2 Million Lives

CitizenSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:30:08 -0700

The public hasn't warmed up to George W. Bush since he left office, but a new study out of Stanford University shines a positive light on the embattled president's legacy. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, started in 2003 under Bush, has saved 1.2 million lives in Africa, according to the study published yesterday.

As the largest US foreign aid health program ever, the plan focuses on treating people already infected. So far $18.8 billion has been spent. Under Bush, a small portion also went to prevention programs that were typically abstinence-only.

Last July Congress dedicated another $48 billion to keep the program going through 2013. Although the President's Emergency Plan has kept over one million people alive, the HIV infection rates have remained steady. While it's great to see that the US has done much to keep individuals infected with AIDS alive longer with less suffering, it would be great to see a drop in infection rates over the next few years.

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US Aid to Africa Bad for Africa?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:00:39 -0700

It's amazing the things you can learn from a comedy show. Last night, Stephen Colbert invited Dambisa Moyo, the author of Dead Aid, on his show to discuss US aid to Africa. She says the type of assistance that celebrities lobby for and rich countries provide isn't always good for the continent.

In the last 60 years, wealthy countries have given Africa more than $1 trillion in aid, but poverty levels continue to increase in countries that have become dependent on foreign support.

Moyo explained to Stephen that government aid "very often is used for corruption. It causes inflation. It causes a debt burden, which is unsustainable." She says the developed world should support business leaders and entrepreneurs in Africa through direct investment. Moyo sounds like she has some good ideas - let's hope policy makers at least pick up her book.

Using Protection: Vatican Defends Pope on Condoms

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:01:12 -0700

Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI took a controversial stance against condoms when it comes to AIDS prevention. World health experts and the French government have come out against the Pope's position, and German Catholic bishops are hinting at dissent. But, the Vatican is sticking to the Pope's belief that condoms make the AIDS problem worse.

Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi defended the Pope yesterday, saying condoms can lead to risky behavior. He also said Pope Benedict XVI was simply continuing the position of his predecessors that fidelity within heterosexual marriages and abstinence are the best ways to stop the disease.

Since the Pope maintains that AIDS cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms, health workers in Africa fear that their progress will be stalled among the growing number of Catholics.

Adding some sense to the debate, one Catholic bishop in Germany clarified his own stance: "Anyone who has AIDS and is sexually active, anyone who seeks multiple partners, must protect others and themselves." Amen!

View 5 Photos ›

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New Intelligence Report: US Dominance Set to Wane by 2025

LibertySugar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:30:57 -0800

If you wish you could see into the future, US intelligence officials are here to hand you a crystal ball. The National Intelligence Council just released Global Trends 2025, an unclassified intelligence report put out every four years, and assesses the opportunities and problems that lie ahead in the next 15 years. One tip: Americans might need to start practicing being humble, because by 2025 the US could lose its position of global supremacy.

Other findings include:

Global warming will have a positive economic impact in Russian and Canada because it will make seasons longer, as well as increase their access to oil fields.
Russia's rise could be hindered by a lack of investment in the energy sector, crime, and corruption.
Governments in Africa and South Asia could collapse due to security problems or water and food shortages caused by a population boom of 1.5 billion and global warming.
There will be a greater potential for war in 2025, thanks to increased global competition for food, water, and energy.
The transfer of wealth from West to East will continue for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to economic growth in the Middle East, and growing unpopularity of al Qaeda, the terrorist network will collapse sooner than people think.

To see some other predictions regarding Iran, nuclear weapons, and US dominance, read more.

Iran could be a major world player if it gets rid of its theocracy.
The risk of a nuclear weapon detonation will still remain low in 2025, but it will be higher than today's risk.
A growing demand to solve domestic problems could cause the US to reduce global aid, thus reducing US influence.

Are you upset or happy that US global domination could decrease over the next 15 years?

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Obama to Lift Ban on Abstinence-Plus AIDS Prevention

LibertySugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:01:59 -0800

Barack Obama has plans to put US global AIDS policy on a different path, leaving abstinence-only requirements for funding in the dust. The co-chair of his advisory committee for women's health said that the president-elect is committed to "changing the policies so that family-planning services - both in the US and the developing world - reflect what works, what helps prevent unintended pregnancy, reduce maternal and infant mortality, prevent the spread of disease."

Conversely, on the first day of his presidency, George W. Bush reinstated the "Mexico City Policy," which denies US funding to international groups that perform abortions, provide counseling or referral for abortions, or lobby to make abortion available. The gag order applies to those who use non-US funding to support abortions, too. As a result, many organizations in Africa lost funding, thus, losing means to provide contraception to prevent pregnancy and the transfer of HIV.

Barack Obama's step away from abstinence-only programs and toward a more inclusive approach still keeps US policy a far cry away from teaching sex-ed to kindergartners. Do you think lifting the gag order is the best way to stop the global spread of HIV/AIDS?

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Somalia: Is the Chaos There a US Problem?

LibertySugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

An exaggerated fear of "Islamofascism" ignores a complex reality, causing the US to overreact and damage its own interests. So says columnist Nicholas D. Krsitof, who argues that the situation in Somalia is one of the least-known Bush administration failures. Kristof explains that in 2006, a movement made up of moderate and extremist Islamic groups was close to uniting the country. Fearful of an uncooperative government in Somalia, the US supported Ethiopia's invasion of its rival, crushing the best hope for peace.

Events this week bolster the argument that paranoia of Islamic extremists has led to disaster. Today in Somalia, five suicide bombs hit government security posts, UN offices, and an Ethiopian consular unit, killing dozens.

On Monday, the human rights chaos came to a head as well. A rape victim was stoned to death for adultery in an Islamist-controlled region. Buried up to her neck, thousands gathered at a soccer field to help execute her.

Perhaps extremists win when international powers stubbornly refuse to reach out to moderates. Would you rather see the US abandon a strictly ideological viewpoint, instead opening its eyes to nuanced reality, or does security require zero tolerance?

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Niger Found Guilty of Allowing Slavery By West African Court

LibertySugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:50 -0700

An ex-slave in Niger, who was sold at the age of 12, made to worked for 10 years, and forced to bear the children of her master, has won a case against her country, which now must pay her $19,750 in damages. A West African Court found the Niger government guilty of failing to protect Hadijatou Mani from slavery, sending a message loud and clear that Niger must do more than nominally outlaw slavery. Activists hope the case will improve the lives of thousands kept in slavery throughout the region.

According to BBC, after her master freed her in 2005, Hadijatou tried to marry. To find out how that got her in jail, read more.

After she married, her marriage was overturned, as her master said she was married to him. Hadijatou was then sentenced to six months in prison for bigamy. She appealed her sentence to a regional court, accusing her government of failing to enforce the five-year-old law against slavery.

Despite the sad truth that Hadijatou lost a decade of her life, and that many others still live in slavery, this specific story has a happy ending. Hadijatou said of the judgment: "With the compensation I will be able to build a house, raise animals and farm land to support my family. I will also be able to send my children to school so they can have the education I was never allowed."

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