Iran executes two teenagers in secret, informs them only the day before

May 1, 2019 • 1:30 pm

According to the Amnesty International article below, Iran just executed two teenage boys for rape after what they say was an unfair trial as well as flogging during detention. The report also adds that the pair didn’t know they were to be executed at most one day before it happened (click on screenshot):

Part of the report:

Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat, two cousins, were executed on 25 April in Adelabad prison in Shiraz, Fars province, southern Iran. Both were arrested aged 15 and convicted on multiple rape charges following an unfair trial

According to information received by Amnesty International, the teenagers were unaware that they had been sentenced to death until shortly before their executions and bore lash marks on their bodies, indicating that they had been flogged before their deaths. Their families and lawyers were not informed about the executions in advance and were shocked to learn of the news.

“The Iranian authorities have once again proved that they are sickeningly prepared to put children to death, in flagrant disregard of international law. It seems they cruelly kept these two boys in the dark about their death sentences for two years, flogged them in the final moments of their lives and then carried out their executions in secret,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

“The use of the death penalty against people who were under 18 at the time of the crime is strictly prohibited under international human rights law and is a flagrant assault on children’s rights. It is long overdue for Iranian parliamentarians to put an end to this harrowing situation by amending the penal code to ban the use of the death penalty against anyone who was under 18 at the time of the offence.”

Iran remains the top executioner of children in the world. As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is legally obliged to treat anyone under the age of 18 as a child and ensure that they are never subjected to the death penalty or life imprisonment.

And, as CNN reports:

According to a 2019 report by Amnesty, Iran is the second biggest executioner in the world after China. It is also the world’s top executioner of juveniles. The rights group recorded the executions of 97 people under the age of 18 between 1990 and 2018.

It’s not clear how Amnesty International got this information, which was not publicized, but perhaps it was through the lawyers or families. The secrecy, though, makes it unclear whether these are just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger number of juvenile executions.

Iran Business Risk gives a chart of execution numbers over several years, and adds this about the method of killing:

Iran executes the majority of convicts by hanging within prisons. The regime, however, also regularly carries out executions in public, including at least 33 in 2016. In many of these cases, the victim is publicly hanged from a construction crane, an especially slow and painful method of execution.

Stoning also continues to be a state-sanctioned form of execution. In 2017, a man and woman were sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.  Other legal methods of execution include firing squad, beheading, and being thrown from a height.

If you can bear it, you can see the hanging of a youth from a crane in Iran on YouTube. Be warned: it’s horrific, for the boy cries for his mother but isn’t allowed to see her. Then he’s raised into the air, which slowly strangles the victim instead of the quicker method of the “long drop” that breaks the neck.

Total from 2005 through 2016 (note that the figure above is for public executions only, and the figure higher up is only for people under 18). This is a lot of killings!

I oppose the death penalty for all crimes, and while I don’t know what age I’d specify for mitigation on the grounds of youth, 17 is pretty close to it. There’s little we can do about this, for protesting to the Iranian embassy will have no effect.

Here are the executed boys (photos from AI article):

Wednesday: Duck (or rather, goose) report

May 1, 2019 • 12:30 pm

Well, the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) nesting atop the Chemistry Building just had their brood, and yesterday the family—parents are monogamous and mate for life—were unceremoniously dumped into Botany Pond by the Fish and Wildlife people. There are five goslings this year, and the parents are, like last year, the female 88K and the male 92P (see geese spotting certificates below).

The babies are very cute, but I worry about how they’ll affect future ducklings as well as the environment around the pond (geese are notoriously aggressive and also copious poopers). I asked the University to see if they could get them moved to a larger lake nearby which has more food, more space, and other geese to hobnob with.

Mom and brood:

Eating grass:

A cute gosling, wet with the rain:

Well, this morning they were all gone! Since nobody harassed them, including me, I can only guess that the University had them moved. I hope so, because otherwise it’s a long walk to the next big body of water! I am glad they’ve gone so they can Make Way for Ducklings, but hope that they made it safely to another venue.

Here are Anna and my goose-spotting certificates from last year identifying the sexes.

And a video:

Censorship in Barcelona: Books removed from school libraries

May 1, 2019 • 10:40 am

This article from the Guardian (click on screenshot) reports that the Tàber public school in Barcelona is removing around 200 children’s books from its library because they have “hidden sexist content”:

It may be hidden, but of course the censors consider it insidious:

Several schools across Barcelona are considering purging their libraries of stereotypical and sexist children’s books, after one removed around 200 titles, including Little Red Riding Hood and the story of the legend of Saint George, from its library.

The Tàber school’s infant library of around 600 children’s books was reviewed by the Associació Espai i Lleure as part of a project that aims to highlight hidden sexist content. The group reviewed the characters in each book, whether or not they speak and what roles they perform, finding that 30% of the books were highly sexist, had strong stereotypes and were, in its opinion, of no pedagogical value.

These included several versions of the stories about Little Red Riding Hood and Saint George, a popular read at Catalonia’s celebration of the Diada de Sant Jordi on 23 April. The books were removed, with less stereotypeheavy versions of the stories remaining on shelves.

According to Associació Espai i Lleure, if young children see “strongly stereotypical” depictions of relationships and behaviours in what they read, they will consider them normal. Anna Tutzó, a parent who is on the commission that reviewed the books, told El País that “society is changing and is more aware of the issue of gender, but this is not being reflected in stories”. Masculinity is associated with competitiveness and courage, and “in violent situations, even though they are just small pranks, it is the boy who acts against the girl”, which “sends a message about who can be violent and against whom”.

The article also reports that other Barcelona schools are considering removing books removed to be sexist or “replicate gender stereotypes.”  My only two comments are these:

First, teachers don’t have to teach the books if they consider them overly sexist, but they should not be removed from the libraries. Children should be able to have access to them. Or do the censor think the kids will check the books out of the library and all of a sudden turn into raging sexists? Or act out gender stereotypes, both girls and boys?

Second, “small pranks” of violence enacted by males against females might indeed be balanced by stories depicting pranks committed by girls. But there’s a reason why boys are more boisterous, aggressive, and risk-taking than girls, and some of that has to do not with gender stereotypes or acculturation, but with evolution. We can fight evolutionary differences, of course (condoms are good for that), but is it really that harmful to depict behavioral differences as they are? Do we want to show females acting violently to balance the scales?

As for the particular books involved, I can’t speak about them. But I can’t remember why Little Red Riding Hood is sexist.

The New York Times apologizes for its anti-Semitic cartoon

May 1, 2019 • 9:20 am

A few days ago I called attention to the cartoon below, which appeared in the International edition of the New York Times. While I found it offensive, I couldn’t say for sure whether it was anti-Semitic. Most readers disagreed, which is fine.

Now the NYT itself has agreed with those readers who pronounced the cartoon anti-Semitic, and has published an editorial-board editorial decrying its own anti-Semitism (click on screenshot below):

The mea culpa is pretty much unqualified, so kudos to the paper for its apology, which begins like this:

The Times published an appalling political cartoon in the opinion pages of its international print edition late last week. It portrayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a dog wearing a Star of David on a collar. He was leading President Trump, drawn as a blind man wearing a skullcap.

The cartoon was chosen from a syndication service by a production editor who did not recognize its anti-Semitism. Yet however it came to be published, the appearance of such an obviously bigoted cartoon in a mainstream publication is evidence of a profound danger — not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep, to the insidious way this ancient, enduring prejudice is once again working itself into public view and common conversation.

While bringing Trump into the discussion, the paper also calls out anti-Semitism on the Left, something it hasn’t written much about. Yet it’s rife, not only in the British Left, but among the “progressive” Democrats in the House and among supposedly Left-wing feminists like Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, and other leaders of the Women’s March. And of course every endorsement of the BDS movement is, to me, an endorsement of anti-Semitism, or at least a tacit call for the extermination of Israel and its Jewish population.

Jews face even greater hostility and danger in Europe, where the cartoonwas created. In Britain, one of several members of Parliament who resigned from the Labour Party in February said that the party had become “institutionally anti-Semitic.” In France and Belgium, Jews have been the targets of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists. Across Europe, right-wing parties with long histories of anti-Semitic rhetoric are gaining political strength.

. . .As anti-Semitism has surged from the internet into the streets, President Trump has done too little to rouse the national conscience against it. Though he condemned the cartoon in The Times, he has failed to speak out against anti-Semitic groups like the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” He has practiced a politics of intolerance for diversity, and attacks on some minority groups threaten the safety of every minority group. The gunman who attacked the synagogue in San Diego claimed responsibility for setting a fire at a nearby mosque, and wrote that he was inspired by the deadly attack on mosques in New Zealand last month.

A particularly frightening, and also historically resonant, aspect of the rise of anti-Semitism in recent years is that it has come from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum. Both right-wing and left-wing politicians have traded in incendiary tropes, like the ideas that Jews secretly control the financial system or politicians.

Note that while the first link is to Trump’s bigotry (his statement about Charlottesville was indeed both shameful and cringeworthy), the second link is to one of Ilhan Omar’s statements. She, too, is an anti-Semite, but tries to hide it at all costs. The link is to her apology, but it’s an insincere apology and I don’t think for a moment that she’s sorry.

At the end, the editors mention the paper’s own history of anti-Semitism:

In the 1930s and the 1940s, The Timeswas largely silent as anti-Semitism rose up and bathed the world in blood. That failure still haunts this newspaper. Now, rightly, The Times has declared itself “deeply sorry” for the cartoon and called it “unacceptable.” Apologies are important, but the deeper obligation of The Times is to focus on leading through unblinking journalism and the clear editorial expression of its values. Society in recent years has shown healthy signs of increased sensitivity to other forms of bigotry, yet somehow anti-Semitism can often still be dismissed as a disease gnawing only at the fringes of society. That is a dangerous mistake. As recent events have shown, it is a very mainstream problem.

As the world once again contends with this age-old enemy, it is not enough to refrain from empowering it. It is necessary to stand in opposition.

One reason the failure haunts the newspaper, perhaps, is that its coverage of the Israel/Palestine conflict remains biased in favor of Palestine, which is clear by the relative amount of space it devotes to indicting Israeli as opposed to Palestinian actions. This is part of the increasing Authoritarian Leftist slant of the paper. But don’t take my word for it, see here, here, here, here, and here.  My own example is this one, where an errant bullet killed a Palestinian medic: a tragedy, but not a violation of international law and not a deliberate attempt to kill innocent civilians. (There’s also no note that the Palestinians regularly violate international law in much more flagrant ways.)

But one can at least laud the paper for its mea culpa.

h/t: Malgorzata

Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ the empowering burqa

May 1, 2019 • 8:45 am

Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “alas,” came with this email note (and please donate!):

Man, it’s good to be back to burka jokes again.

Help keep Jesus and Mo modestly dressed by becoming a Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/jandm

Pity the artist didn’t have time to deal with the burkini model in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, but perhaps next week. At any rate, this is a good one:

 

Readers’ wildlife photos

May 1, 2019 • 7:30 am

Do send me your good wildlife photos if you have any, please. Today’s dollop comes from reader Paul Peed, whose notes are indented. Paul’s eBird site is here, and his Instagram site is here.

Diversity in the Falconidae family

On a early March trip to T.M. Goodwin Waterfowl Management Area in Brevard County, Fl, I ran into a wonderful diversity of Falconidae members.

My observing day begins at dawn on Fellsmere Grade Road before beginning a trek through Goodwin when it opens at 9:00 AM.  The first falcon I see is stunning and a relative rarity at Goodwin.  A Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).  Unfortunately, he positioned himself into the sun.  Apologies for the lower quality image.

Around the next bend is another rarity, this pocket raptor, a Merlin, the size of a pigeon and is a rare sighting at this birding “hotspot’:

Male Merlin -Taiga subspecies (Falco columbarius columbarius).  The Merlin was a favorite of Mary Queen of Scots and Catherine the Great.

You have met the tiny Merlin, now meet the Eagle-sized Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway). This is a Juvenile Crested Caracara:

This bizarre looking juvenile is also known as the Mexican Eagle.  It is only slightly smaller than a Bald Eagle, has the talons and beak of a hawk, and yet is a tropical brown falcon.  You find them in the company of Turkey Vultures feasting on carrion on the open plain.

Adult crested caracara.

Not 20 meters from the Crested Caracara is a return to small falcons.  An American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). The American Kestrel is North America’s  smallest falcon, but is a fierce predator of insects and other small prey,  To watch an American Kestrel face into the wind and hover while scanning the ground for prey is an experience not to be missed.  Look for high perches such as telephone poles, power lines or standing dead wood affording an overlook position to locate these guys:

One trip to my birding “patch”, we saw 4 diverse Falcon family members among the 62 species observed.  Nice way to spend a day.  Please consider participating in the citizen science project, eBird. It is a constantly updated database of bird observations covering the nation and the world.  It is terrific for finding what birds are in your neighborhood or favorite “patch” and when they appear in numbers.  For example, a bar chart detailing all sightings of Mallards in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) this year. 

 

Wednesday: Hili dialogue

May 1, 2019 • 6:30 am

It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May. (May 1, 2019). To wit:

It’s National Chocolate Parfait Day, and also International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day (you’re supposed to plant sunflowers in your neighborhood), as well as Lei Day in Hawaii, when everyone is supposed to get lei’d, wearing an island-specific flower.

News of the day: Julian Assange was just sentenced to 50 weeks in a British jail for jumping bail—a sentence near the maximum possible. See the sentencing statement by following the links in this tweet (h/t: Grania):

Today’s Google Doodle (click on screenshot) celebrates the life of American sculptor Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), the daughter of Japanese immigrants who specialized in wire sculpture in “biomorphic forms” (see video here). Since she was neither born nor died on this day, I was a bit puzzled, but then I found that May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

 

Here’s one of her works from 1956: “Untitled (S.563, Hanging Six Lobed Form with Two Interior Spheres)”

Thanks to the reader who sent a postcard from Paris after eating in one of the restaurants I highlighted there, but your name has been obliterated by the postal stampings. Please let me know by email who you are.

A lot happened on May 1, as you might expect. First of all, in 1707. according to Wikipedia, “The Act of Union joining the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect.” And in 1753, Linnaeus published Species Plantarium, the formal inception of the science of plant taxonomy. On this day in 1840, the Penny Black, the first official postage stamp with adhesive, was issued in the UK. Here’s what it looks like (it’s now worth £ 3,000-4,000):

On this day in 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago. It was mostly here in Hyde Park, but the only remnants are the Midway south of the main campus, and the Museum of Science and Industry, the Exposition’s Palace of Fine Arts.  On May 1, 1915, RMS Lusitania set steam from New York for its 202nd crossing of the North Atlantic. It was torpedoed six days later off of Ireland, with the loss of 1,198 lives.  Fifteen years later to the day, the dwarf planet Pluto (YES, IT’S A PLANET) was officially named.

On this day in 1945, one day after Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide outside of the Führerbunker. Before they did, Magda killed her six children by putting cyanide capsules in their mouths. The murder of their children is, to me, is an act of unconscionable cruelty and selfishness. None of the children in the picture below ever got a chance to grow up:


On May 1, 1956, the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was made available to the public. It’s a crime that Salk, whose work saved millions of lives (and from which he never profited), never got the Nobel Prize. Exactly five years later, Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of Cuba, abolished elections in Cuba, proclaiming it a socialist state.

On May 1, 1967, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. On this day in 1999, the body of British climber George Mallory was found on Mount Everest, after disappearing with his partner Andrew Irvine in 1924 trying to be the first to summit Everest. You can see a six-minute video about the finding of his body here. It’s still not clear whether the pair succeeded in reaching the summit, but I’d suspect not.  On this day in 2003, and I’ll throw this to Wikipedia, “In what becomes known as the ‘Mission Accomplished’ speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that ‘major combat operations in Iraq have ended'”. Finally, exactly eight years ago today, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in a raid.

Notables born on this day include Calamity Jane (1852), Theo Van Gogh (1857), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881), Glenn Ford (1916), Jack Paar (1918), Joseph Heller (1923), Terry Southern (1924), Judy Collins (1939), Rita Coolidge (1945), and Sally Mann (1951).

I’m now reading this biography of Theo’s brother Vincent (they were very close, and there is a ton of information about both). It’s a 900-page monster, but absolutely fascinating. I’d recommend it highly if you like to read behemoth books, but it will make you sad, as Vincent’s life was far more tortured and failure-ridden than you know. (And do watch the Dr. Who clip on Van Gogh’s imagined trip to the future.)

Those who bit the dust on May 1 include David Livingstone (1873),  Antonín Dvořák (1904), Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their children (1945; see above), Spike Jones (1965), Eldridge Cleaver (1998), and Kenneth Clark (2005).

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is shirking her editorial duties.

A: Don’t you think it’s time to get up?
Hili: I have a dissenting opinion in the matter.
In Polish:
Ja: Czy nie sądzisz, że pora wstawać?
Hili: Mam w tej sprawie odrębne zdanie.

Maru! In a famous meme!

A tweet from reader Barry. What is this dog doing? Scratching an itch? Masturbating? You tell me!

https://twitter.com/m_yosry2012/status/1123253444960296961

Two from Heather Hastie. First, meerkat versus real kat:

https://twitter.com/SlenderSherbet/status/1122458361499459584

This woman pulls no punches:

From reader Nilou. This population of orcas differs from others in size, color, shape, and diet. But unless we have some way of measuring reproductive isolation between it and other populations, its species status will remain speculative.

Tweets from Matthew. Be sure to turn up the sound on the first one:

I don’t like this question, but it’s interesting to see how people voted:

Another bird song, and a particularly lovely one (Keats was right):

Tweets from Grania. I don’t know if the guy in this clip is pulling our legs, but if so he’s pretty damn sanguine!

I think this female tuxedo cat was deprived of having kittens. Have a look at the article.

Well? Groan already!