The penalty of death is too harsh, in any jurisdiction, and moreso for the accused prosecuted and tried in a foreign country without possibly the benefit of the best defenses available substantively and procedurally: Elizabeth Batain, Ramon Credo, and Sally Ordinario Villanueva, convicted of drug trafficking in China and scheduled for lethal injection any minute now. Also, the judicial system of China is more “inquisitorial” than “adversarial” ( in an “adversarial” litigation, the presumption of innocence is allowed to hold sway ); i’m also not sure that they were able to avail of the best legal assistance. But these are paradigmatic arguments — useless and too late . i know. i hope the Chinese authorities find it in their hearts to stay the execution one more time and see that busting the drug syndicate itself by making use of state witnesses may have more profound effects in solving the pernicious heroin and cocaine trade …
Our prayers for Elizabeth Batain, Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario Villanueva.
the lucky color of the day is baby pink says the morning show astrologer.
over lunchbreak after a mid-morning-brunch/luncheon meeting, wasn’t originally aware of it because our assistant wasn’t aware of it until mid-morning or 15 minutes before the meeting, it’s a good thing i was early… yeah i’m wearing a two-dollar sundress, i put a sweater over it during the meeting, it’s good to have a coat/ jacket/ sweater in your office, in neutral colors, for “emergency” purposes if you suddenly need to appear before some people and it wasn’t in your sked… couldn’t do any complicated “heart-opening” pose because of a full meal…. –—- words in quotes — it isn’t really my definition of emergency; and these poses do not literally open your literal heart; an emergency is when life or liberty is in danger and opening your heart requires surgery.
you will sometimes hear your yoga teacher say, or you will read texts that say, “Open your heart…” “Send your hips to the sky…” — as i understand it, “heart” here refers to the “heart chakra” or a supposed “energy center” that connects your heart, lungs, etc. in the middle of your chest; i put it in quotes because it’s a belief system. the language used is ancient, or English translations of ancient instructions. “heart-openers” open your rib cage. As everyone knows, yoga is an ancient practice, more than 2,000 years old, and its original purpose is “to heal”, its origin according to some researchers, is shamanism, or “natural healing”, and yoga teachers were considered by the ancients as healers (so it wasn’t really a sport or exercise but a form of healing).
i guess, in the ancient times, it was thought that certain poses that opened your rib cage were beneficial to the heart, lungs, and other organs in that area. and that, the holistic practice of yoga, which includes what you eat, how you breathe, how you handle stress, how you live, etc. etc. etc., could heal certain sicknesses. i don’t really know if it does (the evidence is anecdotal) – i don’t think it can alter or affect the structure of your cells; or kill or neutralize harmful microorganisms in your body; but i think it can improve your immune system (the holistic practice of it) and that makes your body in a better position to fight harmful microorganisms; and i think it can prevent certain bone diseases or even align your spine. But if you’re in an advanced stage of an ailment – for example, the harmful microorganisms in your body have already multiplied too much, it’s too late – don’t think yoga will cure you of…. tuberculosis! I’m blabbering, ma-trapik pag valentine’s day alam nyo ba yon (there are traffic snarls on valentine’s day as if you didn’t know): Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Compiled by ABC’s Erin McGlaughlin and Joanna Suarez
“We’ve compiled a list of all the journalist who have been in some way threatened, attacked or detained while reporting in Egypt. When you put it all into one list, it is a rather large number in such a short period of time. (UPDATED – send us more stories if you get them)
“APTN had their satellite dish agressively dismantled, leaving them and many other journalists who rely on their feed point no way to feed material.
“ABC News international correspondent Christiane Amanpour said that on Wednesday her car was surrounded by men banging on the sides and windows, and a rock was thrown through the windshield, shattering glass on the occupants. They escaped without injury/ (wires)
“And ABC Producer and Cameraman driving were carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where they were surrounded by men who threatened to behead them. They were able to convince the men to release them without any harm.
“A group of angry Egyptian men carjacked an ABC News crew and threatened to behead them on Thursday in the latest and most menacing attack on foreign reporters trying to cover the anti-government uprising. Producer Brian Hartman, cameraman Akram Abi-hanna and two other ABC News employees / (link)
“ABC/Bloomberg’s Lara Setrakian also attacked by protesters
“CNN’s Anderson Cooper said he, a producer and camera operator were set upon by people who began punching them and trying to break their camera. Cooper and team were targeted again on Thursday. “Situation on ground in Egypt very tense,” Cooper tweeted Thursday. “Vehicle I was in attacked. My window smashed. All OK.” / (wires)
“Another CNN reporter, Hala Gorani, said she was shoved against a fence when demonstrators rode in on horses and camels, and feared she was going to get trampled/ (wires)
“A photojournalist for CNN-IBN, Rajesh Bhardwaj, was detained in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the site of bloody clashes between supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak. He was taken away by the Egyptian Army and later released, but only after his identification card and tapes were destroyed /
“Fox Business Channel’s Ashley Webster reported that security officials burst into a room where he and a camera operator were observing the demonstration from a balcony. They forced the camera inside the room. He called the situation “very unnerving” and said via Twitter that he was trying to lay low / (wires)
“Fox News Channel foreign correspondent Greg Palkot and producer Olaf Wiig were hospitalized in Cairo after being attacked by protestors.
“CBS News’ Katie Couric harassed by protesters
“CBS newsman Mark Strassman said he and a camera operator were attacked as they attempted to get close to the rock-throwing and take pictures. The camera operator, who he would not name, was punched repeatedly and hit in the face with Mace. / (wires)
“CBS News’ Lara Logan, was detained along with her crew by Egyptian police outside Cairo’s Israeli embassy. /
“Two New York Times journalists have been arrested. (A Times spokeswoman said that the two journalists were “detained by military police overnight in Cairo and are now free.” )
“Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl wrote Thursday that witnesses say Leila Fadel, the paper’s Cairo bureau chief, and photographer Linda Davidson “were among two dozen journalists arrested this morning by the Egyptian Military Police. They were later released.” /
“Wall Street Journal photographer Peter van Agtmael said he was attacked Wednesday by a group of supporters of Mr. Mubarak near Tahrir Square, where several clashes have broken between backers of the regime and protesters demanding Mr. Mubarak’s resignation after nearly 30 years in power /
“BBC’s Jerome Boehm also targeted by protesters /
“BBC also reported their correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes’ car was forced off the road in Cairo “by a group of angry men.” He has detained by the men, who handed him off to secret police agents who handcuffed and blindfolded him and an unnamed colleague and took them to an interrogation room. They were released after three hours. /
“BBC reporter Wyre Davies in Alexandria – Attacked and driven off by locals several times in the past few days /
“BBC foreign editor Jon Williams said via Twitter that security forces seized the network’s equipment in a Cairo Hilton hotel in an attempt to stop it broadcasting /
“Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times of London said she was approached by a gang of men with knives in Imbaba, a poor neighborhood of Cairo. Another group of men, who also were strangers to her, pushed her into a store and locked it to protect her, she said/
“Joan Roura, a correspondent for TV3, a Catalan public television station, was attacked by men who tried to steal his mobile phone while he was conducting a live broadcast for the 24 hours news channel. Assaults were also reported against Sal Emergui, a correspondent for Catalan radio RAC1; Gemma Saura, a correspondent for the newspaper La Vanguardia; and Mikel Ayestaran, a correspondent for the newspaper Vocento
“Reporter Jean-Francois Lepine of Canada’s CBC all-French RDI network said that he and a cameraman were surrounded by a mob that began hitting them, until they were rescued by the Egyptian army / (wires)
“CBC Radio’s Margaret Evans was on air Thursday morning reporting that her crew’s camera equipment had been seized by police and that they were stuck in their hotel, reporting from a balcony that overlooked Tahrir Square /
“The Toronto Globe and Mail said on its website that reporter Sonia Verma and Patrick Martin said the military had “commandeered us and our car” in Cairo. /
“Two Associated Press correspondents were also roughed up. AP’s Nasser Gamil mentioned in one article (unclear if he was one of the original 2 mentioned) / wires and
“Reuters’ Simon Hanna tweeted today that a “gang of thugs” stormed the news organization’s Cairo office and smashed windows /
“Voice Of America reporters in the capital were surrounded by several people who prevented them from traveling to Tahrir Square /
“Vice magazine’s Cairo correspondent Rachel Pollock gets roughed up trying to cover the protests /
“David Degner, a Cairo-based photographer, said five of his journalist friends has been “beaten and had their equipment confiscated” as clashes between the two groups escalated
“Andrew Burton, a photographer on assignment, wrote this account of being engulfed and beaten by a pro-Mubarak crowd yesterday. “I dont know a single journalist heading out on the ground today,” he says /
“The website of Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper said Belgian reporter Serge Dumont, whose real name is Maurice Sarfatti, was beaten Wednesday / (wires)
“Jon Bjorgvinsson, a correspondent for RUV, Iceland’s national broadcaster, but on assignment for Swiss television in Cairo, was attacked on Tuesday as he and a crew were filming/
“Danish media reported that Danish senior Middle East Correspondent Steffen Jensen was beaten today by pro-Mubarak supporters with clubs while reporting live on the phone to Danish TV2 News from Cairo /
“Two Japanese freelance photographers were attacked while covering the protests in Cairo, and one of them was slightly injured, the Kyodo News agency reported/
“Two Swedish reporters (from Aftonbladet tabloid) /
“epa photojournalist; German ZDF; German ARD /
“A reporter for Turkey’s Fox TV, his Egyptian cameraman and their driver were abducted by men with knives while filming protests Wednesday, but Egyptian police later rescued them, said Anatolia, a Turkish news agency /
“Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT, said its Egypt correspondent, Metin Turan, was beaten /
“Several Turkish journalists were attacked by Mubarak supporters, according to news reports. Cumali Önal of Cihan News Agency and Doğan Ertuğrul of the Turkish Star Daily were attacked and beaten by pro-Mubarak supporters on Wednesday. Both were in stable condition today /
“The Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini said one of its reporters, Petros Papaconstantinou, was beaten by protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Papaconstantinou was clubbed in the head with a baton and stabbed in the foot, either with a knife or a screwdriver /
“A Greek freelance photographer punched in the face by a group of men who stopped him on the street near Tahrir Square and smashed some of his equipment / (wires)
“In addition, five Chinese journalists were briefly detained after authorities found bullet proof vests in their luggage, along with more than 20 walkie-talkies and satellite phones, the officials said. They were allowed to leave after the equipment was confiscated. / (wires)
“RT TV crew injured
“A correspondent and a cameraman working for Russia’s Zvezda television channel were detained by men in plainclothes and held overnight Tuesday, Anastasiya Popova of Vesti state television and radio said on air from Cairo /
“French international news channel France 24 said three of its journalists had been detained while covering protests in Egypt and were being held by “military intelligence services”.
“French photojournalist from SIPA Press agency Alfred Yaghobzadeh is being treated by anti-government protestors after being wounded during clashes between pro-government supporters and anti-government protestors /
“Police arrested four Israeli journalists for allegedly violating the curfew in Cairo and for entering the country on tourist visas, according to news reports. /
“Al Jazeera reported Thursday that two of its reporters were attacked en route to Cairo airport, along with cameraman being assaulted near Tahrir Square /
“al Arabiya’s Ahmed Abdullah (and station was stormed) /
“ALSO – Al-Arabiya correspondent, Ahmed Bajano, in Cairo, was beaten while covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration. Another unidentified correspondent was also attacked. Another network reporter said on the air that her colleague Ahmad Abdel Hadi was seized by what appeared to be pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square, forced in a car, and driven away. /
“Men in plainclothes surrounded the office of Sawsan Abu Hussein, deputy editor of the Egyptian magazine October after she called in to a television program to report on violence against protesters
“A group of men described as “plainclothes police” attacked the headquarters of the independent daily Al-Shorouk in Cairo today, the paper reported. Reporter Mohamed Khayal and photographer Magdi Ibrahim were injured/
“Bloggers, too, have become targets: The popular Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey has reportedly been arrested (it’s unclear by whom) /
“- Compiled by ABC’s Erin McGlaughlin and Joanna Suarez”
