TORORO, UGANDA—One of the journalists who attended my recent peace journalism seminar relayed a fascinating tale regarding two candidates for political office and their wacky wives. We’ll call them Candidate A, his wife Mrs. A, Candidate B, and Mrs. B. Candidate A is sick. Mrs. A believes that Mr. A’s illness has been caused by “bewitching” that was allegedly done by the wife of Candidate B. So, Mrs. A went to confront Mrs. B, and fisticuffs ensued. The upshot—Mrs. A told Mrs. B that if Mr. A dies, the bewitching will be to blame. As retribution for a dead husband, Mrs. A said that she would steal Mr. B from his wife. After relaying this murky tale, the storyteller then asked me, with a straight face, how I would cover such a story as a journalist. Bewildered, I gave some lame answer about trying to stick to the facts. How can you cover such a story and not sound like the “National Enquirer”?
American election cycles would definitely be enlivened by battling spouses, evil spells, and husband/wife-swapping. I’m thinking that this could be especially entertaining if it were to involve Sarah Palin, since it would set up a no-survivors smackdown between Todd Palin and Michelle Obama. The smart money’s on Michelle, by the way.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
For the Record: Catherine Bleish (Part 1)
Do you have free speech? I thought I did until I was arrested for speaking. Like many folks raised in these United States, I grew up with the understanding that our society is considered to be “free”. I did not question this perceived truth until last October when I was put behind bars for exercising my so-called “freedom of speech”.
After the initial shock of my kidnapping and detention by an armed officer of the law, I began to question my preconceived notions about how free our speech really is. In this five part series I tell the story of my unlawful arrest and explore the many first amendment violations happening almost daily in our so-called free society.
On October 12, 2009 just after 6:30pm I pulled into the courthouse parking lot in Maplewood, Missouri with a friend of mine who had traffic court.Upon arrival, we joined approximately 45 people standing in line bearing a cold mist in the dim dusk light. By 7:15 pm the crowd had begun to mingle and uniformly express frustration with the conditions which we were forced to endure.When about 15 people were let into the courthouse, the group moved forward and stepped onto a well lit patio area at the entrance doors to the building.
After the initial shock of my kidnapping and detention by an armed officer of the law, I began to question my preconceived notions about how free our speech really is. In this five part series I tell the story of my unlawful arrest and explore the many first amendment violations happening almost daily in our so-called free society.
On October 12, 2009 just after 6:30pm I pulled into the courthouse parking lot in Maplewood, Missouri with a friend of mine who had traffic court.Upon arrival, we joined approximately 45 people standing in line bearing a cold mist in the dim dusk light. By 7:15 pm the crowd had begun to mingle and uniformly express frustration with the conditions which we were forced to endure.When about 15 people were let into the courthouse, the group moved forward and stepped onto a well lit patio area at the entrance doors to the building.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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