I warn you, this is disturbing

[tinpra]

So Katya, knowing my propensity for re-blogging articles on the things that interest me, asked if I had seen articles about the violence against Christians in Nigeria. I had, I explained, but hadn't posted for a variety of reasons, not least of which was being tired of posting so much bad news lately. And now that I've re-pondered it I think I wanted to mention something about the complexity of the situation in the area. The attacks are thought to be in retaliation for severe violence against Muslims in the very same area of Nigeria in January. But part of the issue is that the Christians and Muslims also tend to be from different ethnic groups w/in Nigeria. There is the issue of "indigenes," people who have lived in the area for ages, and the "settlers," who at this point have also been in the area for several generations. Indigenes tend to be Christian; settlers tend to be Muslim.

Anywho, in talking about how I was kinda tired of posting bad news, Katya and I got into this whole slew of bad news things we'd run across in the last day or so. For me there was Nigeria, food not going to the needy in Somalia, World Vision aid workers killed in Pakistan and seemingly every headline my iGoogle page could throw at me from the 4 or 5 regular news feeds I subscribe to. Right now only CNet and E! are my friends. Well, except, y'know, Cory Haim died. Sigh. Katya mentioned (and luckily there are no links to depress you with) the cold lonely death of Juanita Goggins, the first Black woman elected to the S. Carolina legislature; the steady state of childbirth deaths in the US; and an elephant giving birth to a stillborn calf.

So while this is going on, what am I doing? Re-reviewing articles on what's going on in Nigeria on the NY Times online. Which led me to check out their frontpage for Africa. Which led me to a piece about a woman who has, for the last 7 years, photographed "young victims of sexual abuse in South Africa." The story is down and disturbing enough. This being an interactive piece, however, there is also a selection of pictures. Good Lord in Heaven.... The link is here, because, well, because these kids shouldn't be forgotten and made silent, but I warn you in advance about reading the article and viewing the pictures. Especially the pictures. The pics embedded in the article are pretty tame. Even the ones in the presentation are fairly tame, but the stories are not. I just...I can't not re-blog this one, go figure. Most of the pictures actually are safe for work, but you may not want to explain why you are either bawling or why you've just punched a hole in your monitor. A Quiet Bridge to Young Victims by Kerri MacDonald about Mariella Furrer.

And so you all don't stop visiting me anymore, or re-label my journal Debbie Downer Street, here's a bit of interesting happiness: a King Penguin that knows how to dress down. This one is definitely courtesy of Katya, Lord love her