Sunday, March 9, 2008
Dublin Rain and Flooding
Fear of flooding will result in the closure of Dublin city's boardwalk and some roads in Sandymount for a time this weekend.Dublin City Council have erected sea defences and announced temporary road closures because of a flood warning. The council say there is a risk of flooding late on Sunday night and around lunchtime on Monday because of high tides. They have put dam bags on seafront areas in Sandymount, Ringsend and Clontarf.
They will also be closing the Liffey boardwalk and nine road sections in Sandymount during the alert periods. These periods will last from 11pm to 2am on Sunday night and 11.30am to 12.30pm on Monday. A council spokeswoman said the measures are part of an early warning system and the situation will be monitored over the weekend.
A Met Éireann spokesperson said it is too early to say what conditions will be like.
Met Eireann has issues gale force warnings of well over 100 km/h on Sunday, with stormy conditions set to continue on Monday.A spokesman said: “Some areas may receive as much as 20-30mm of rain through this stormy period.“The storm will finally die down during the first half of Tuesday, the rain breaking up into showers at that stage as winds settle back to the south west.”
“Dublin City Council will be putting in place some coastal protection measures for the period.“As a precaution, sandbags will be made available in the next day or so to householders who may be vulnerable to flooding as a result of these high tides.“You are advised, where possible, to block your driveway and access to your property.”
Human Rights For Gays
A concerted campaign by gay rights activists on behalf of a gay teenager facing deportation to Iran and possible execution has pushed his plight into the national press.
The Independent newspaper devoted its front page a few days ago to 19-year-old Medhi Kazemi, who fled to the Netherlands last year after his appeal for asylum in the UK was refused.
He appeared in a Dutch court yesterday asking to be allowed to remain in Netherlands. However, under the terms of an EU treaty, asylum seekers must be returned to the first state where they claimed asylum. Holland offers special protection for gay Iranians, which is why Medhi went there.
He fled England last spring after his visa ran out and a Home Office tribunal dismissed his appeal against deportation. A Dutch court will now decide if he can remain there. At the end of last year a court in the Netherlands ruled Medhi must be returned back to the UK.
It is feared that if Medhi is ordered to be deported back to Iran he may face execution for being gay. Since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, human rights groups estimate that between 3,000 and 4,000 people have been executed under Sharia law for the crime of homosexuality.However, it is impossible to ascertain with any certainty how many.
He left Iran in 2004 to travel to England on a student visa and continue his education. Two years later while still in the UK he learned that Iranian authorities had arrested his boyfriend Parham back in Iran, and that his boyfriend had been forced to name Medhi as someone with whom he had had a relationship. Medhi's father then received a visit from the Tehran police, with an arrest warrant for his son. In late April 2006, Medhi's uncle told him Parham had been put to death.Campaigner Peter Tatchell attacked the Home Office's stance. "If Mehdi is sent back to Iran he will be at risk of execution because of his homosexuality," he said "This is a flagrant violation of Britain's obligations under the refugee convention. "The whole world knows that Iran hangs young, gay men and uses a particularly barbaric method of slow strangulation. "In a bid to fulfil its target to cut asylum numbers the Government is prepared to send this young man to his possible death. "It is a heartless, cruel mercenary anti-refugee policy."
On January 31st the European Commission said:"Member states cannot expel or refuse refugee status to homosexual persons without taking into account their sexual preferences, the information relevant to the situation in their country of origin, including the laws and ways in which they are applied." A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: "The UK Government is committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need, in accordance with our commitments under international law. "If an application is refused, there is a right of appeal to an independent judge, and we only return those who have been found by the asylum decision-making process and the independent courts not to need international protection. "We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return. "However, in order to maintain the integrity of our asylum system and prevent unfounded applications it is important that we are able to enforce returns of those who do not need protection."
In an article published on Friday March 7th 2008, in the The Independent, Simon Hughes, leader of the Liberal Democrats and the party’s Shadow Leader in the House of Commons, stated: “The Home Office claims that a gay person can return to Iran and avoid persecution by being “discreet”.
All advice suggests that in Iran, to be discreet means that you would have to deny your identity. The punishment for giving in to personal feelings might well be nothing less than torture or death”. The same theory had was pointed out by the members of the NNRF (Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum) years ago: “The Home Office claims that if a gay person is less obvious about being gay or lesbian they won’t attract the attention of their persecutors,” writes Richard McCance on the refugees’ association’s website.
The EveryOne Group, that, since its launch, has promoted, along with the Non-Violent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, and the Nessuno Tocchi Caino and Certi Diritti associations, a campaign in support of its member Seyed Mehdi Kazemi, is going to present a written deposition to the European Union objecting to the UK Home Office’s behaviour towards refugees claiming asylum. “Mehdi absolutely has to stay in the Netherlands. It has been shown that the United Kingdom operates an out-and-out persecutory policy towards refugees, especially homosexuals” affirm the EveryOne Group’s leaders Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau.
“The Home Office’s statements are serious, and contrary to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is to be hoped that European Authorities urgently intervene in this situation”.“In 2004, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean, Thando Dube, was at death’s door, following a 33-day hunger strike in a UK detention camp. Her crime? Thando was a lesbian who fled to Britain to escape the well-known persecution of LGBT people in Zimbabwe. “Her asylum claim was refused,” it’s written in the EveryOne Group’s report.
“In September 2003, Israfil Shiri, a gay Iranian asylum seeker, died after pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester, after his asylum claim was refused (in the lower and appeal court) and his deportation to Iran, where he would-have-been hanged, had been arranged. In April 2005, 26-year-old Hussein Nasseri shot himself two weeks after his asylum claim was turned down by the Home Office, refusing in this way to let himself be killed by Iranian executioners”.
The Independent newspaper devoted its front page a few days ago to 19-year-old Medhi Kazemi, who fled to the Netherlands last year after his appeal for asylum in the UK was refused.
He appeared in a Dutch court yesterday asking to be allowed to remain in Netherlands. However, under the terms of an EU treaty, asylum seekers must be returned to the first state where they claimed asylum. Holland offers special protection for gay Iranians, which is why Medhi went there.
He fled England last spring after his visa ran out and a Home Office tribunal dismissed his appeal against deportation. A Dutch court will now decide if he can remain there. At the end of last year a court in the Netherlands ruled Medhi must be returned back to the UK.
It is feared that if Medhi is ordered to be deported back to Iran he may face execution for being gay. Since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, human rights groups estimate that between 3,000 and 4,000 people have been executed under Sharia law for the crime of homosexuality.However, it is impossible to ascertain with any certainty how many.
He left Iran in 2004 to travel to England on a student visa and continue his education. Two years later while still in the UK he learned that Iranian authorities had arrested his boyfriend Parham back in Iran, and that his boyfriend had been forced to name Medhi as someone with whom he had had a relationship. Medhi's father then received a visit from the Tehran police, with an arrest warrant for his son. In late April 2006, Medhi's uncle told him Parham had been put to death.Campaigner Peter Tatchell attacked the Home Office's stance. "If Mehdi is sent back to Iran he will be at risk of execution because of his homosexuality," he said "This is a flagrant violation of Britain's obligations under the refugee convention. "The whole world knows that Iran hangs young, gay men and uses a particularly barbaric method of slow strangulation. "In a bid to fulfil its target to cut asylum numbers the Government is prepared to send this young man to his possible death. "It is a heartless, cruel mercenary anti-refugee policy."
On January 31st the European Commission said:"Member states cannot expel or refuse refugee status to homosexual persons without taking into account their sexual preferences, the information relevant to the situation in their country of origin, including the laws and ways in which they are applied." A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: "The UK Government is committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need, in accordance with our commitments under international law. "If an application is refused, there is a right of appeal to an independent judge, and we only return those who have been found by the asylum decision-making process and the independent courts not to need international protection. "We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return. "However, in order to maintain the integrity of our asylum system and prevent unfounded applications it is important that we are able to enforce returns of those who do not need protection."
In an article published on Friday March 7th 2008, in the The Independent, Simon Hughes, leader of the Liberal Democrats and the party’s Shadow Leader in the House of Commons, stated: “The Home Office claims that a gay person can return to Iran and avoid persecution by being “discreet”.
All advice suggests that in Iran, to be discreet means that you would have to deny your identity. The punishment for giving in to personal feelings might well be nothing less than torture or death”. The same theory had was pointed out by the members of the NNRF (Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum) years ago: “The Home Office claims that if a gay person is less obvious about being gay or lesbian they won’t attract the attention of their persecutors,” writes Richard McCance on the refugees’ association’s website.
The EveryOne Group, that, since its launch, has promoted, along with the Non-Violent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, and the Nessuno Tocchi Caino and Certi Diritti associations, a campaign in support of its member Seyed Mehdi Kazemi, is going to present a written deposition to the European Union objecting to the UK Home Office’s behaviour towards refugees claiming asylum. “Mehdi absolutely has to stay in the Netherlands. It has been shown that the United Kingdom operates an out-and-out persecutory policy towards refugees, especially homosexuals” affirm the EveryOne Group’s leaders Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau.
“The Home Office’s statements are serious, and contrary to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is to be hoped that European Authorities urgently intervene in this situation”.“In 2004, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean, Thando Dube, was at death’s door, following a 33-day hunger strike in a UK detention camp. Her crime? Thando was a lesbian who fled to Britain to escape the well-known persecution of LGBT people in Zimbabwe. “Her asylum claim was refused,” it’s written in the EveryOne Group’s report.
“In September 2003, Israfil Shiri, a gay Iranian asylum seeker, died after pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester, after his asylum claim was refused (in the lower and appeal court) and his deportation to Iran, where he would-have-been hanged, had been arranged. In April 2005, 26-year-old Hussein Nasseri shot himself two weeks after his asylum claim was turned down by the Home Office, refusing in this way to let himself be killed by Iranian executioners”.
Spainish Election To Determine Gay Rights Continue
The government of Spain looks set to win another term of office in Sunday's election, according to polling data.
The current Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist party, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has vowed to protect the gay rights legislation he has introduced since taking office in 2004.
During his four years in office he has legalised gay marriage and given same-sex couples the right to adopt. The main opposition party Partido Popular declined to be interviewed for the magazine. Mariano Rajoy, who leads the conservative PP, has stated he is ready to take away the right to adopt from gay couples. PP has promised to establish a new "family" ministry if they win the elections next month and suggested that the "traditional family" needs extra protection.
In an interview with a gay magazine last month, Mr Zapatero promised to fight any attempt to remove or weaken gay rights laws he has introduced as Prime Minister.During his four years in ofIn his exclusive interview with gay magazine Zero[/i] published last month Mr Zapatero said that the law and not the church ruled Spain. "We will make sure that not a single step backwards is taken on the land we have won," he said, adding that if re-elected he will bring in new laws to tackle homophobia.
Spain's ambassador to the Vatican met with Church officials in February to protest about interference in the elections by the country's bishops. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos revealed that Ambassador Francisco Vazquez expressed his "perplexity and surprise" at statement issued last week by the Spanish Bishop's Conference. "Catholics may support and join different parties it is also true that not all (electoral) programmes are equally compatible with the faith and Christian demands in life," the bishops said. This was widely interpreted as an instruction to the faithful not to vote for parties that support gay marriage or negotiate with Basque terrorists.
At the end of December Pope Benedict XVI addressed a "family values" rally in Madrid by a videolink from Rome. He told the crowd, estimated at 150,000 people, that the family is "based on the unbreakable union of man and woman and represents the privileged environment where human life is welcomed and protected from the beginning to its natural end. "The rally was supported by PP. Antonio Poveda, president of the Federation of Gays and Lesbians, has accused PP of open homophobia. "We've fought hard to achieve equal rights and are appalled by this party's stated wish to turn the clock back to Spain's repressive past," he said.
The current Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist party, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has vowed to protect the gay rights legislation he has introduced since taking office in 2004.
During his four years in office he has legalised gay marriage and given same-sex couples the right to adopt. The main opposition party Partido Popular declined to be interviewed for the magazine. Mariano Rajoy, who leads the conservative PP, has stated he is ready to take away the right to adopt from gay couples. PP has promised to establish a new "family" ministry if they win the elections next month and suggested that the "traditional family" needs extra protection.
In an interview with a gay magazine last month, Mr Zapatero promised to fight any attempt to remove or weaken gay rights laws he has introduced as Prime Minister.During his four years in ofIn his exclusive interview with gay magazine Zero[/i] published last month Mr Zapatero said that the law and not the church ruled Spain. "We will make sure that not a single step backwards is taken on the land we have won," he said, adding that if re-elected he will bring in new laws to tackle homophobia.
Spain's ambassador to the Vatican met with Church officials in February to protest about interference in the elections by the country's bishops. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos revealed that Ambassador Francisco Vazquez expressed his "perplexity and surprise" at statement issued last week by the Spanish Bishop's Conference. "Catholics may support and join different parties it is also true that not all (electoral) programmes are equally compatible with the faith and Christian demands in life," the bishops said. This was widely interpreted as an instruction to the faithful not to vote for parties that support gay marriage or negotiate with Basque terrorists.
At the end of December Pope Benedict XVI addressed a "family values" rally in Madrid by a videolink from Rome. He told the crowd, estimated at 150,000 people, that the family is "based on the unbreakable union of man and woman and represents the privileged environment where human life is welcomed and protected from the beginning to its natural end. "The rally was supported by PP. Antonio Poveda, president of the Federation of Gays and Lesbians, has accused PP of open homophobia. "We've fought hard to achieve equal rights and are appalled by this party's stated wish to turn the clock back to Spain's repressive past," he said.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Holby City Doctors Kissing
I may have to visit my man at work this weekend and re-enact this scene. Except without any one coming in to interrupt.
This is going to be another weekend where he is working and I am off. We won't get to see much of each other..again. I was home for one day last week and he was working that day. Now the closest I will come to having sex this weekend is if I dream about it. Where has my love life gone?
A Precious Moment
How cool is this..a picture of Helen Keller and her teacher was found after all these years. What an amazing person Helen was to endure 88 years of life without sound or sight. And her teacher stuck by her all her life. Amazing people, amazing lives.
This 1888 photo released by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston shows Helen Keller when she was eight years old, left, holding hands with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, during a summer vacation to Brewster, Mass., on Cape Cod. A staff member at the society discovered the photograph in a large photography collection recently donated to the society. When Sullivan arrived at the Keller household to teach Helen, she gave her a doll as a present. Although Keller had many dolls throughout her childhood, this is believed to be the first known photograph of Helen Keller with one of her dolls
Monday, March 3, 2008
Emails
Geez, I have a lot of emails to go through. No one was home to greet me except my two little babies. My cats actually missed me so much they got in the shower with me. So the three of us are now squeeky clean. I'm going to lay down, take a nap and then go take a walk and do some shopping. 
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