Now is the time to think about civil rights

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXT OF THE UNITED NATIONS STATEMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION and GENDER IDENTITY


We have the honour to make this statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity on behalf of [.]

1 - We reaffirm the principle of universality of human rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights whose 60th anniversary is celebrated this year, Article 1 of which proclaims that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights";

2 - We reaffirm that everyone is entitled to the enjoyment of human rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, as set out in Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 2 of the International Covenants on Civil and Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as in article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

3 - We reaffirm the principle of non-discrimination which requires that human rights apply equally to every human being regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity;

4 - We are deeply concerned by violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms based on sexual orientation or gender identity;

5 - We are also disturbed that violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatisation and prejudice are directed against persons in all countries in the world because of sexual orientation or gender identity, and that these practices undermine the integrity and dignity of those subjected to these abuses;

6 - We condemn the human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity wherever they occur, in particular the use of the death penalty on this ground, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest or detention and deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health;

7 - We recall the statement in 2006 before the Human Rights Council by fifty four countries requesting the President of the Council to provide an opportunity, at an appropriate future session of the Council, for discussing these violations;

8 - We commend the attention paid to these issues by special procedures of the Human Rights Council and treaty bodies and encourage them to continue to integrate consideration of human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity within their relevant mandates;

9 - We welcome the adoption of Resolution AG/RES. 2435 (XXXVIII-O/08) on "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity" by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States during its 38th session in 3 June 2008;

10 - We call upon all States and relevant international human rights mechanisms to commit to promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity;

11 - We urge States to take all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

12 - We urge States to ensure that human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity are investigated and perpetrators held accountable and brought to justice;

13 - We urge States to ensure adequate protection of human rights defenders, and remove obstacles which prevent them from carrying out their work on issues of human rights and sexual orientation and gender identity.

The shut down

My body is tired. I am done. Yesterday was my first finals free day. What did I do? NOTHING. I sat on the couch from 10 am - 10 pm or so and played civilization. It was glorious (I won 2 games). My body just feels so spent. Can't quite figure out why. Maybe its a post stress thing, maybe its baby related, maybe I am getting sick (I woke up with bright yellow snot, but then again the house is freezing). In any case, the only comefortable way for me to sleep now is on my stomach becaus emylittle me points and get in the A- range. It was a topic that we did not spend too much time on. I actually took my notebook of handwritten notes from the semester with me. I loved my notes. They were mega thorough and the though of putting them into an outline just made me want to shoot myself - too much info. If I needed it I would need it all. So I actually put a few tabs in my notebook for the more detailed sections. Boy was I glad that I did! I used it for 2 of the 4 questions. Not for the meat of the answers, but for little extra compatisons that, judging by the mid term, are where the point spread will start to widen. I really can't wait to get that grade. It had better be good, because I want to be a resarch assistant for her this summer and with the baby due in July, that is really the only job I can do.

My K final -- well. If the prof can find my nuggets of brilliance in that mess of an essay, grerat. I'm not holding my breath. There are 90 of us in that class and I will get 0 points for organization (he awards 5, but I can tell by his sampla answers that he is really big on organization). Crap. Don't think that I will be atthe bottom, but certainly not reaching out of the B range. Crud.

Crim? No freaking clue. There was just too too much going on in that hypo. I've got quantity over quality going for me there.

Well, that sure got the blood flowing. Now it's time to clean my room. I have 4 hours but its an 8 hour job. We shall see how it goes. I need a longer vacation.

Nightmares

Wow, I had a real nightmare last night. A few nightmarish vignettes actually. In the the first, I was walking through a Wallgreens and in one of the aisles, a deadringer for Marlyn Manson with red hair had shot himself. He was lying shrawled on the ground and I, wondering if he was ok, leaned over to see his mouth all cruste with blood. I noticed that he had no socks on and his heels looked dacayed (he was extremely skinny, half way to that one body in the movie Se7en that is kept alive with injections, ya know?). I asked the girl at the counter is she had called the police nad she kinda said yeah, he brought a gun and shot himself and she was putting price tags on knicknacks waiting for the poice to come. Perhaps that dream was my take on the Christmas spirit -- all fake looking like Marlyn Manson and finall too fake to live, rotting from the inside out and of course it would commit suicide in a drug store.

The second nightmare was about giant blackwidow spiders (thinking 2-3 inches body length) that kept appearing right next to me and spinning webs and like looking at me (how do they know that I am afraid of spiders?). Some were outside so I took some foamy household cleaner and sprayed them till they exploded in little bloody puffs. I think I ended up killing my mother's entire orange tree with that foamy cleaner, so I'm not sure what was the most horrible part of the dream -- the spiders or losing the tree, the only place to get oranges that taste like oranges used to taste (can't buy oranges like that in the store b/c they are too ripe).

OK, now I have to go and study for property. I have a final in 2 days. Today is the day of reckoning. I'm about 30% there, but I have the Dread Rule Against Perpetuities down, so maybe it's more like 75% cause the rest is just review or material, not actually figuring out anything. This class has a ton of material, but she really gives you everything that you need for the final, no trickiness. I just have to have a complete answer to what ever question it is that she throws our way.

All is ful of Love

The school is amazingly peaceful. I'm on the 4th floor and not many people are here, so I have space. Being totally surrounded by others really creeps me out for some reason, so this is good. We had a light rain this morning and the leaves are finally falling en masse from the trees. Fluffy clouds are rolling past the windows and light breezes are swaying the trees.

I slept too long today, but, I was tired, so oh well. My study partner is starting to freak out, but I am not. I refuse. I am putting as much info into my head as possible and that's that. I study, I think, I practice, and I play some video games. Rinse, repeat.

I finally dyed my hair last night. BitterNY said I looked like "one of those cheap Spanish ladies." And I did have that really ugly looking yellowish bleached out roots 3 inches thing going on that happens to women with dark hair who can't afford the dye maintenance. It was really bothering my too. I am one of those women with dark hair who can't afford the dye upkeep. So I boxed it. I feel like me again. Partly the light hair was a yeah, LA type of thing. Not so much anymore.

Put me back in NY please! A dear friend had her birthday yesterday and went to our faveorite restaurant -- Supper. I remember when that place was being built. I lived a few blocks away and was really curious about the stained glass going up. I started eating and drinking there and brought all my friends there and they love it now too. There was a day that I went on a date there and then my ex-BF went on a date there and asked the waitress all about how my date went (we went there all the time together and he was very chatty, so everyone kinda knew us, well him). That place was like a second home.

Ah, the good ol days of good eating. This is making me hungry!

The lost posts I

I haven't been able to write about my pregnancy because BitterNY didn't want to tell anyone until 3 months. As I am writing this, I am 10 weeks. It has been a difficult first 2 months. I am just beginning to feel like a human being again. I was so so tired and at the same time overwhelmed by the depth of my hunger and the nausea that followed every meal. I was moping around the house in sweats, constanly sleeping. I would sleep 8 hours and wake up and have to go back ot sleep for another 2. I missed classes. I didn't go out or see anybody. Now that I am coming out on the other side of the tunnel, I see how crappy that was.

So I want to talk about being pregnant in law school. Honsetly, I am SO glad that I am doing this now. I plan to have an demanding career in law -- probably corporate, hopefully centering on environmental issues like the cap and trade that seems imminent. I cannot imagine how women do this in the real world working 60 + hours a week. I avoided campus on Sundays because the bus didn't stop at the law school and I had to walk 10 minutes up hill to the law school. I always showered (except for that one day over Thanksgiving break when I didn't leave the house), but often I didn't want to -- I wanted ot go back to bed and live in sweats. I hate sweats. I don't even wear them at the gym (track pants) and even when I am walking across the courtyard to do laundry, I put on pants. Not so much any more. With the amount of baggy clothes that I wear, you might think that I am fat already. I just feel that way.

I am still in normal clothes, but they are pretty tight. Granted, my pants have always been pretty tight, I have a big butt (not that I am complaining!) and I've always had more thigh than many women have leg. But my pants are tight at the waist now too. I don't have a scale (yet), but I'm sure that I have gained weight since my wedding (god I looked great in that dress). I have a bit of a hard time with some shirts and sweaters because I have so much boob. So much it's ridiculous. People pay money to be like this forever? That's why I'll never understand LA.

I've pretty much told all of my friends amd classmates. They are all really excited for me. Now I wonder about the baby shower -- there are so many people I have to invite. How will I afford to feed them?

But back to doing this in law school. Best idea ever. The fact that I have so much free time is the number one bonus. Since I never go out, I have time to study and sleep as much as I want. That is so important. I feel like I would be risking my job if I performed under the circumstances of the last few weeks. I just couldn't do it. Maybe I'm spoiled, but this is hard work!

one down

wow, that was just like wow. i can't even bother with the caps after that one. i really wish that i had learned to type better. my little crim exam has been successfully uploaded to exam soft, errors and all. i was pretty much typing each and every second. the multiple choice questions were killer. 16 little mofos and they are about half of the overall grade (please let everyone miss the ones that i did too!) There were so many crimes to be talked about, it was ridiculous. at one point, i just started writing the headings adn listing the crimes. i have no idea if i will get a good grade. maybe for sheer volume? maybe not b/c i didn't have a lot, ok well, any time to delve into analysis. i think that i mixed up a few concepts at the end too, but if he gives me a few points here and there for things, i should be ok. but, this is a race against everyone else, not just against the clock of myself. did everyone catch the murder that was also an attempt on the woman standing next to the man? I hope not. did i do my analysis of strict liability correctly? i kept missing it in the practie exams. i relied much less on my notes than i did during the practice exams. thank god for the practice exams! i have no idea how people would have gotten through this without them. but a few of the multiple choice made me say uh-oh. i should know this if i really know the material, and obviously i don't. crap! so, now i get to wait like a whole month to find out what kind of b I got . if I got a C i will cry.

nothing is stirring, not even a mouse

'Tis the night before my first final. I am alone in the house and all is quiet. Lucky for me, BitterNY has tickets to AC/DC and I am alone with my thoughts. I am not really looking forward to this final, but I am not worried about it. Crim is not my strong suit. I just don't really like it. It seems kind of non - sensical to me and takes me out of my comefort zone of thinking. Half that time I have no idea why I am writing what I am writing, but it all shows up on the answers for the practice tests.

And practice practice practice those practice tests -- I have! I am firmly expecting a high B on this test. Not an A, unless I get lucky and the test centers on something that I am really comefortable with (not much -- maybe the Hansen test?). I think that I have really got the basics down. Really, how hard can it be. I am prepared for the worst, but expecting the best.

As I am writing this, my blood pressure is going up. I think this is the first sign of stress thus far. Good thing I've held it off for so long.

I have a few more last minute preparations and then I will play a bit of video games and hope for a night of good rest.

No car for you

No car for me. Something about debt to income ratio -- lots of debt, no income. I wanted a cheap car with payments under 200$/month and to finance the entire thing. They couldn't do that, but they could give me a car for 300$/month at 16% interest. Ouch! They are practically giving cars away these days with interest rates like 0% and maybe up to 7%. I guess those deals are for people who have jobs. I don't blame them. It's hard to explain that the state of CA is actually paying me to go to law school this year. Oh well.

Finals are around the corner and I am still not freaking out. Makes the whole studying thig easy. It is easy to just keep working a bit and a bit and a bit and not feel overwhelmed.

Most of my study focus thus far has been on Crim and now it is time for me to take a look at K's and Prop. Prop is gonna be the real bitch. We covered far more in that class than any other class. Also, that is the class with the most demanding prof. Despite that, I think that I can handle the info. I won't say that the parctice midterm was a breeze, but now I have a much better idea of what is expected of me. Ok, now here's the big dilemma -- do I play Civilization now b/c BitterNY is at work, or do I read for property?

Property till 1 and then Civilizaton till I conqueror the world!

Chilis

Here's a scene from last night's end ofthe semester BLSA gathering:

As we were getting ready to leave, the manager of Chilis (white, probably early 40's, kinda biker style lookin ) asked us what the celebration was for. Someone replied that we were all law students. The manager said," Yeah, and I'm the president of the United States!" David immediately played him for the fool that he was and calmly (much more so than I would have!) offered to show his ID. Dude said yeah, he wanted to see it cause he didn't believe it.

I have a final in 6 days. Really should be studying. There are people out there who are studying right now.

I wonder if they will get better grades than me. . . nah!!