A 10-year-old girl named Brishna got raped in Afghanistan last May, possibly by a local mullah -- and as if that isn't enough, now her male relatives want to "kill her and dump her in the river." Why on Earth? Because folks in Afghanistan think that rape survivors bring shame upon families, hence the menfolk "erase" the shame by killing her, in what they call an "honor killing." Yep, heaping murder upon rape sure does "restore" honor quite nicely, doesn't it? And Afghanistan's legal code, while not explicitly allowing this sort of thing, does mandate reduced sentences for "honor" killings -- which is a loophole I'm sure never gets abused in Afghanistan. Despite the explicit threat to her life originating from within her family, police returned the girl to her family a few months ago, which is real Pontius Pilate of them. Hence Amnesty International helps you tell Afghanistan's President and Attorney General to protect Brishna and repeal that part of Afghanistan's penal code that lets people off easier for "honor" killings. It's their country, but no law prevents us from applying the Big Stick of bad PR.
Meanwhile, I can't believe I didn't think of this before: since our Congress won't do anything to fix the problems exacerbated by the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC decision -- you remember, the decision that declared that corporations are "people," and allowed far more corporate spending on political campaigns than ever before -- perhaps the states will do something. And Maryland state Senator Jamie Raskin has crafted model legislation at the state level that would require corporations to put proposed campaign contributions to a shareholder vote, and would stop those contributions dead unless those votes got a majority in favor. Congress won't listen -- even that asshole Mitch McConnell, who has nothing to offer the good folks in Kentucky aside from his bottomless hatred of Barack Obama and his ability to raise campaign funds, is about to get re-elected -- but your state legislators, who are more likely to actually face their constituents, might be more responsive. Hence Roots Action helps you tell your state legislators and Governors to curb corporate campaign contributions.
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