Wednesday Night Open Thread
By Bronwyn on March 16, 2011 at 6:00 PM in Current Affairs
Reverend Amy’s post is coming up shortly, so let me squeeze this open thread in so that Breeze and all of you can get going on the open thread. Before I turn this over to you, I’m going to chat about the nuclear disaster in Japan and the treatment of, and opportunities for, women in Egypt — beginning with a revisit of Larry Johnson’s important post last week.
I just heard the answer of a nuclear scientist/expert (name unknown) to this question from an MSNBC host: “What would you do if you lived in Tokyo?” He replied, “Get out.”
Then the expert added that this is what the Japanese government fears most and noted that it would be impossible to evacuate Tokyo, given its mammoth population of TWENTY MILLION people. Needless to say, the conversation left me a bit nervous, just like I’ve been for decades because I grew up about 40 miles from a major U.S. nuclear installation that has leaks into the groundwater so bad that drinking from the rivers will make you glow at night. (Note how my writing style moves to third person. It’s too difficult to contemplate just how much nuclear waste I accumulated during the first 18 years of my life. It’s far easier to remember all the DDT I breathed in. Not to mention the smoke from the smudge pots (to keep fruit trees from freezing during the winter).)
I trust that our armed forces being deployed to Japan are being kept safe — it was not good news to hear today that U.S. pilots were stripped and scrubbed down after they returned to aircraft carriers near Japan, and that their uniforms were DESTROYED.
And let’s hope the reporters and film crews bouncing all over Japan — the CNN group of Anderson, Soledad, Sanjay et al. is especially bouncy — are all being extra-cautious. Each CNN person is carrying a personal Geiger counter, which is good.
The U.S. has already expanded Japan’s 20-mile no-go zone for all U.S. personnel to a 50-mile no-go zone for all U.S. personnel. Good thinking, U.S. (Dept. of Energy?). I hope that the rescue teams from the U.S. and other groups who’ve gone to Japan to lend their help will heed the U.S. 50-mile zone.
Larry Johnson is correct in his assessment of how women are treated in Egypt. If you missed it, check out Larry’s post, “Wrongs, Not Rights for Egyptian Women.” Here’s the beginning:
Apparently International Women’s Day in Cairo was not so swell for the girls. Allahpundit at Hotair seems a bit surprised by this development. If he had been reading at NoQuarter he should have expected this nonsense. … [Keep reading.]
Around the same time, I actually found a positive article about Egyptian and other women in the Middle East, and shared it with the blog.
And today, I spotted yet another positive article, once again from the Facebook wall of Women Of Egypt. Granted, this is definitely a rare event, but it is a beginning. From “Female judge denies running for Egypt presidency“:
CAIRO: In the aftermath of Egypt’s revolution, there is much talk about who will be Egypt’s next president. Among the most common names are Mohamed ElBaradei, prominent opposition figure in Egypt and former head of the U.N.’s IAEA, and Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League.
The names are all men.
Several public figures and Facebook groups, however, have put forth the name of Noha al-Zeini, a female judge. Al-Zeini is known for exposing fraud in the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Al-Zeini, however, has said she has no plans to run for president. “I was astonished to see many people and Facebook groups asking me to run,” she told AlArabiya.net. “I really appreciate this, yet I still think it is not possible to do so at the time being.” Egyptian society is not ready to see a woman in power, she said.
“Up till now, Egyptians are arguing whether women can be judges or not. How then can they accept having a woman for president? Social acceptance is important before thinking of running.”
Among those urging al-Zeini to run is Nader Fergani, editor of the Global Human Development Report.
Some have said at least one woman should run for the position, even if their chances of winning are very slim. … [Read all.]
By the way, the Women Of Egypt Facebook page has a nifty logo. Check it out:
OKAY! It’s your turn now!
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