Green Beings

Lush Cosmetic’s Alice Newstead Hangs on Hooks for Sharks

Alice Newstead Submits to the Horros of Shark Finning AOC Green Beings

British performance artist Alice Newstead hangs by shark fishing hooks to protest against the slaughtering of sharks for their fins, in Hong Kong June 14, 2011.Reuters/Siu ChiuPerformance activist Alice Newstead has taken her campaign to stop shark finning to Hong Kong, hanging in a cultural center with hooks pierced into her skin. The 20 minute body suspension is a horrifying, very graphic example of the global practice of slicing the fins off sharks, leaving them to die in the sea.

“The ones that I used today are actually shark hooks that have had the barbs removed and have been sterilised. And I feel shark finning is a really barbaric practice. If it takes doing something a bit drastic to get people to notice it, then it’s absolutely worth it,” said Alice Newstead, a performance artist & Lush employee.

About 80% of the global consumption of shark fin soup happens in Hong Kong, where it’s considered a sign of wealth and prestige.

Laws To End Brutal Shark Finning Offends Some Chinese Americans AOC FP

In America, Hawaii has a law giving restaurants until June 30, 2011 to cook or get rid of their shark fin inventories.

Mexico has just banned shark fishing between May and August each year in an effort to promote repopulation of sharks.

Business concerned over sustainability of shark finning The Washington Post

RedTracker

Research on the Boys Club

Why Women Don’t Get Caught Up in Sex Scandals NYTimes

There may be good reasons Nancy Pelosi is not like Anthony Weiner. .Richard Perry/The New York TimesWill women ever get tired of the Congressional boys club perp walk? The holy ones break every rule in their religious good book. It can go on for years. If they’re living at C Street, the other members of the boys club — many having their own sordid affairs — pray hard for every man’s redemption.

In the case of Anthony Weiner, he runs to his rabbi who won’t even shake a woman’s hand for fear of contamination.

The boys get caught; they cry in front of the cameras, saying how much they love their wives or that they’re really not gay — or both. They run to God and voila! in a couple weeks all is forgiven, say members of the boys club in talking about their latest offender.

Does God himself ever grab the microphone and confirm their story to the rest of us? No. We’re supposed to trust the boys club and their private line to the big guy upstairs.

It’s a vicious circle and a power game, very different from the one women play, when they decide to fight the tide and become one of the 17% of women who are in Congress, 40 years after America’s women supposedly got our butts in gear.

And the beat goes on, while the country crumbles. Anne

Beyond the Veil

Friday Is Drive Day

Camel’s Nose Under the Wheel? Maureen Dowd NYTimes

Saudi women look out onto Riyadh City from atop the Kingdom Tower, the tallest building in Saudi Arabia. Due to the strict laws and norms in Saudi culture segregating men and women, a public display of affection between young couples is very rare. Photo via Flickr’s expozara2008“We’re not calling for diplomatic relations with Israel,” says Saudia Arabia’s progressive-thinking, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the man TIME calls an ‘Arabian Warren Buffett’. “We’re just asking for ladies to drive the car. Please, give me a break. Even in North Korea, women can drive. It’s a joke. The issue of women driving can happen tomorrow morning because it’s not really an issue at all. Frankly speaking, we need strong political leadership to do it and get it behind us. What are we waiting for?”

Can a prince whose private jet is piloted by a woman inspire Saudi women to run the risk of arrest and drive on Friday?

Manal al-Sharif, a 32-year-old single mother and Internet consultant for the state-run oil company Aramco, posted a video of herself on YouTube, driving in a black abaya in the Eastern Province city of Al-Khobar. She was arrested and detained for about 10 days. (Video in this AOC Daily)

Al-Sharif’s call for the women of Saudi Arabia to get in their cars on Friday could be the biggest international shot for women’s rights ever.

More reading: Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: Women’s Rights Advocate AOC World’s Women

Health News

Bad News for Couch Potatoes

Watching TV Can Lead to Early Death TIME

Don’t be surprised your next physical includes a question about how much TV you watch, says Dr Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health.Dr Hu’s study analyzed eight large studies conducted since the 1970s.

For every two hours of TV watching, the researchers found, the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 20% over 8.5 years of follow-up, the risk of heart disease rose by 15% over a decade, and the odds of dying from any cause increased 13% during a seven year follow-up.

TV watching may do more damage than other kinds of sedentary behaviors, although the reasons aren’t yet clear.