Obama-Wan Kenobi.

Over at Shakesville today, there's an infuriating post about a British woman named Samantha Orobator who may be executed by firing squad in Laos due to accusations of drug trafficking!

Here's the full post from Shakesville:

Elle, who hat tips the Field Negro, just sent me this really upsetting article about Samantha Orobator, a British woman who is facing possible execution by firing squad in Laos, where she has been charged with being drug trafficking after being arrested in August of last year.

Orobator's family and friends say she has no history of using or trafficking or being in any way involved with drugs—and since arriving at the prison where she is being held, Orobator has become pregnant. Anna Morris, of the London-based human rights group Reprieve, who are advocating on Orobator's behalf, says: “She became pregnant in prison. We are concerned that it may not have been consensual and we are concerned that someone who finds herself in prison at 20 is subject to exploitation.” Honestly, my stomach just churns at the thought of what Orobator has been through.

At this point, Laos is saying they probably won't execute Orobator because she is pregnant, but she hasn't even been tried yet. She doesn't have a local attorney, and Morris is “the first British lawyer who has asked for access to her.” Her trial has been scheduled for next week.

Despite all that, this story has received almost no attention whatsoever in the US media; USA Today, which is possibly the only US news org besides CNN and HuffPo who's addressed it at all, merely linked to the Telegraph's coverage.

Since when does a Western woman with no history of drug involvement who has nonetheless been arrested and detained as an alleged drug mule, was quite likely raped and forcibly impregnated while being held, and faces a kangaroo court trial not warrant news coverage? I dare anyone to tell me it has nothing to do with the fact that Samantha Orobator is black.

The best thing we can do is make it known that we‘re paying attention to what happens to her. The more international pressure, the better chance she has of getting a fair trial. I think there are a couple ways we can go about this. First and foremost, if you’ve got a blog, blog this story. If you don't (or even if you do), Digg and Reddit and StumbleUpon this post, or send the URL to this post or the CNN story or whatever to other news organizations and ask them to cover it.

Normally, this is where I would provide contact information for the Lao Embassy in Washington and the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but, given the legal culture in Laos, I'm not sure if directly urging a fair trial wouldn't actually hurt Orobator's case more than help. If anyone who's more familiar with Lao culture has thoughts on that, please let me know in comments.

In the meantime, just get the word out however you can. Indirect pressure via international attention is definitely a good idea.

You heard the woman! Get the word out YO!

'Behind the Green Door' star Marilyn Chambers was found dead today at her Los Angeles home.

The cause of the former soap spokesmodel, b-movie actress and porn star's death is undetermined.

She was 56 years old.

News about Ian Tomlinson, a UK native, has been blowing around recently after he suffered a fatal heart attack during the G20 Summit in London last week. An investigation into his death has be issued due to video footage that has surfaced of a London Police Officer shoving Tomlinson to the ground. Speculators say that it was the excitement of the brute force that caused Tomlinson's heart to fail but others argue that his heart attack may have been cause by the excitement of the G20 protest. In any case the video footage showing Tomlinson being shoved to the ground, seemingly unprovoked by a London officer, is incredibly appalling and unnecessary given the circumstances.

Tomlinson's death and the thousands of other reported police brutality cases always remind me of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University. Twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of 70 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Those selected were chosen for their lack of psychological issues, crime history, and medical disabilities, in order to obtain a representative sample. Roles were assigned based on a coin toss.

Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early. After being confronted by Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology whom he was dating, and realizing that he had been passively allowing unethical acts to be performed under his direct supervision, Zimbardo concluded that both prisoners and guards had become too grossly absorbed in their roles and terminated the experiment after six days.

Ethical concerns surrounding the famous experiment often draw comparisons to the Milgram experiment, which was conducted in 1961 at Yale University by Stanley Milgram, Zimbardo's former college friend. Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr wrote in 1981 that the Milgram experiment and the Stanford prison experiment were frightening in their implications about the danger which lurks in the darker side of human nature.

-wikipedia

Videos after the jump.

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I knew that moderate consumption of red wine was healthy, but I had no idea it was an Anti-Aging Superfood!

I normally bash the AOL board, but they brought their newsworthy a-game today.

This is a serious hard hitting fact that is relevant to any upstanding super alky. I gotta say, it's a good day.

"Bowden notes that resveratrol, found in red wine and the skin of grapes, has wrinkle-reducing properties as well."

Drink up, ladies!

Eartha Mae Kitt was and will always be a Goddess. Orson Welles called her "the most exciting woman in the world." She was the woman who gave Catwoman her purr. Even well into her 70's, she could still make men half her age tremble with her sexual prowess. She is a personal hero of mine whom I was fortunate enough to see perform live at a young age, and it saddens me greatly that she is no longer with us.

Ms. Kitt died today after losing her battle with colon cancer. She was 81.

Because today is Christmas and one of her well known songs was "Santa Baby", it's only appropriate to pay homage to Ms. Kitt with this video of her singing it:



I find it extremely sad that both Bettie Page and Eartha Kitt, two strong women and personal heroes have died in the past month.

So there you have it. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich finally got busted....trying to SELL a Senate seat. HA! How big of a dunce can you be? I understand greed, but I don't understand how people can honestly believe they won't get caught (ummm when they're already under investigation)?!? Another corrupt politician. Pretty much a no duh. Unfortunately, it encourages people to distrust government even more. Cynicism sure doesn't need a helping hand right now. I'm not a vengeful person, but THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, YOU ROD.

The biggest flood in over 20 years.
Very sad.
Such a beautiful city...
There's no escaping nature.
Be kind to your Mother.
You can read more about the devastation on the BBC website.

Can the Democrats please run this dude for president in 2016?

And yes we did, elect Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States of America!



He turned red states blue with a single campaign!

Watch this with the lights off.



All Hallows Eve is near. Beware.

White supremacist terrorism persists in America: Two neo-nazi skinheads planned to assassinate Barack Obama and shoot or behead dozens of black people, but their plot was thwarted by a federal investigation.

-BoingBoing.net

Apparently the two men planned to do so dressed up in tuxedos and top hats.

We have an Imageyenation.com exclusive featuring a photo of the two men dressed in their massacre attire. See the photo after the jump!

The race issue is a hot button that is starting to get a lot of attention on the web. Peep this video of a McCain/Palin racist supporter voicing her opinion of Barack Obama at a recent rally for the Republican VP candidate. Nah fuck that strike-through above, BITCH IS A RACIST!

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An Ohio "plumber," who as it turns out is an amateur right-wing pundit, a possible relative of Charles Keating and may not even be registered to vote, can't save the Republicans.

Flush! Flush! Flush!

Don't let whitey win, remember to vote November 4th.

An Alaska ethics board found that governor Sarah Palin abused her power when she fired the state's public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in-part because he refused to carry out a grudge-related firing of her sister-in-law's soon-to-be ex-husband.

The scandal, known as "Troopergate" because Palin's sister-in-law's husband Michael Wooten was a state trooper, is just one of many instances to come to light since the Alaskan newcomer, known to friend and foe as "The Barracuda," was nominated for vice president that portray her as vindictive and unethical.