Sophie Lancaster memorial at WGW. Picture by Tania Taylor.

Two teenagers aged 15 and 16 were sentenced to life in prison yesterday for the murder of Sophie Lancaster, age 20, last summer in Bacup, England. The teenagers, along with three others who received shorter sentences, singled out Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby for the way they dressed. They initially attacked Maltby, but turned their aggression on Lancaster as she tried to protect him. The gang “punched, stamped and jumped” on Maltby and Lancaster’s heads until both were unconscious. Robert Maltby survived, and Sophie Lancaster died a few days later.

Sophie, Robert, and the two principal attackers

I’ve been following this story ever since it broke, and its tragedy really hits me with the following 5 quotes:

“Shall we batter him?” - One of the attackers, right before the attack began

“I’m not going to get done for reporting this am I? Because all the Bacup lot will hate me because I’ve reported it.” - Girl who called the police to report the incident

“At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food. You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself.” - Judge Anthony Russell QC, passing the sentence

“I really just like to think I’m now only eight-months-old. I’m finding the whole world a terrifying place.” - Robert Maltby, who has no memory of the incident

“Justice can never be done because it will never bring her back.” - Sophie’s mother

Are you sick of being victimized by the overly confident and spoiled women of America?

Are you intrigued by the exotic yet vulnerable women of Eastern Europe?

Do you want to feel like a Big Powerful Savior Daddy-Man?

If you answered “yes” to one of more of the above you are part of a growing demographic. A demographic that’s ever-expanding, cheerfully bubbling to the surface of the internet like a pot of boiling baby feces. Yes, legions of xenophiles are uniting in one common goal - to meet and wed a Russian Woman - the perfect blend of dignity and modesty wrapped up nicely in a blanket of historical misfortune. And they’re doing it on Russian Women: The Real Truth.

Here you are led by the brave American-born blog admin through the finer points of kindling Russian romance on the Web. He unveils the complex secrets of the Russian woman’s psyche, the way brute Russian men treat the ladies as a commodity and insightful tips on avoiding the scams of “mail order bride services”. How does he know so much about Russia, you might be wondering to yourselves. Well, that’s because he lives there now! Yes, living in Russia has granted him unique access to Russian intricacies the rest of you non-Russians aren’t privy to. Just look at the way he describes his inspiration behind the blog:

“Russian women are like heroic characters because they are always dealing with dirty situations and environments but somehow they still manage to stay beautiful and out of trouble. I am like most Americans in that I love a good underdog story where the hero faces incredible odds but still comes out as the champion. This is a labor of love because it is an opportunity to bring the true story of these women into the light.This is especially important since their own modesty would never allow them to do it themselves…Russian women are looking for manly leaders who have a clear direction and purpose in life and from a historical and survival perspective this makes a great deal of sense”.

The scene is Asheville, a small city in North Carolina with a much higher than average activist population, on a gusty day in late March. A line of about 60 people winds their way up through the center of downtown. In time to the pitter-patter of drumsticks on empty caulking buckets, they call and respond.

“What do we want?”/ “Peace!”/ “When do we want it?” Pause. “Now!” Off-kilter choruses of “there ain’t no power like the power of the people cause the power of the people don’t stop!” break out as the march continues. A single police car ambles by.

It was, on that afternoon, five years since the beginning of the Iraq war –- and protest was the order of the day, coast to coast. A thousand mustered in Washington, D.C. Some attempted to rope off the IRS building with crime scene tape, others harangued contractors from corporations such as Halliburton and Lockheed Martin. Los Angeles had 10,000, San Francisco 7,500 (including bike brigades). There were, as in previous years, the predictable smattering of arrests.

At night, on cue, there were vigils.

Clearer this year than ever is the fact that these protests are not a political movement. Instead the protesters have become another in a sea of alternative cultures. The signs, art and displays now less for the purpose of enacting actual change than engaging in an affirming ritual, hanging out with friends and self-expression. Despite the massive rise in the number of Americans against the war, protest attendance has actually declined.

Three days later, long after the protesters faded, American casualties in Iraq reached 4,000. The Iraqi dead are, literally, countless. As you read this, the blood continues to flow.

Coilhouse, is, of course, a love letter to alternative culture (says so right there in the mission statement). In many cases, all that’s expected from such a culture is affirming ritual, hanging out with friends and self-expression — serving to make the world more weird and wonderful than it was before. There can, of course, be political and social aims as well, but rarely are they the primary focus.

However, the devolution of the protest from political method to cultural theater is different. This is something intended for a particular purpose — to push society towards a goal — and touted as working towards that end by the organizers, groups and individuals who engage in it. In fact, the goals have been abandoned: these days, people go to protests like they do concerts.

How it happens in Dubai.

The Truth About Dubai has posted a critical update on the status of (Diz) Cat Le-Huy, my good friend and the boyfriend of Coilhouse co-editor Mil Von. Here’s the condensed version:

Cat Le-Huy as of the 22nd of February remains in Al Wathba Prison. Currently the decision rests with the Dubai Chief Prosecutor as to whether to charge him or drop the case entirely. It is almost like a pre-trial and the legal fees for this are are expected to be in the vicinity of £50,000. We have raised half this amount already thanks to your donations, and are now making an appeal for people to keep donating to reach the full amount. We have been advised that there is a 90% chance this case will be closed if we can raise the financial assistance in a timely manner.

Cat’s close friends and family have already given up everything that they could, and even his company, Endemol, has made a donation (though he was not there on business). That’s how we raised the first half of the legal fees. But now we need help from you guys. Please donate to the Cat Le-Huy Legal Fund to save Cat.

You don’t need PayPal to use the link below, just a credit card or check card. No amount is too small. Please circulate the donation link to as many people as possible. Thank you!

Last week, the Petition to Free Diz went around the blogosphere. You saw it on LiveJournal, you saw it on MySpace and Facebook, you saw it on Warren Ellis, Lithium Picnic, YouTube.  People went out of their way to help Diz, and many were kind enough to even post it in places where it was totally off-topic - thanks, steamfashion LJ community! Thank you all for your willingness to pause your regular programming to help us spread the word. Hopefully everyone reading this will have signed the petition at this point, but if not, please do so now!

The bad news is that Diz is still not out; you can read about his most current status here (scroll down). The good news is that, thanks to everyone’s efforts in keeping this story going, the story has exploded all over the mainstream press. We are not letting this go, and the world outside of our circle is starting to take notice; both in the European and the Middle East.

Mildred has posted a comprehensive list of places where the story has appeared, and here are some highlights:

• Front page of BBC News this morning
• Dubai City Magazine
• The Daily Mail

Two choice excerpts about the situation:

“Cat sad he’s psychologically preparing for 3-6 months and added it’s obviously not how he intended to start 2008, but he’s very much focused on moving on with the rest of his life. He said there are many in the facility who have given up hope, some have even accepted this is their life and don’t even want to get out of bed. He said he’s become a bit of a counselor to the others and keeps their spirits high, motivates them etc., quite the Anthony Robbins of the detention center” - friend who visited Diz in jail

“What could Dubai possibly have to gain, either financially or in reputation, by prosecuting innocent people? We’re hearing from a number of sources that police officials are given rewards in return for prosecutions, as part of the new crackdown on drugs in Dubai. This is a difficult thing to prove, as it’s obviously quite cloak and dagger, but would account for why travelers are being singled out and prosecuted for seemingly nothing.” - Mil’s latest update

Thank you again for raising awareness of this issue. Hopefully, thanks to your efforts, he’ll be out soon!

Diz and Mil.

Friends, one of Our People is in serious trouble.

Mildred’s partner, Diz, has been arrested in Dubai for melatonin, an over-the-counter aid for jet lag. You can read the full story here, on Mildred’s LJ. I quote:

We kind of knew he would be profiled because he has long hair and looks oriental (they are very racist against Asians in Dubai, and ultra-conservative). He knew the score going in: prescription drugs are illegal, dress conservatively and detox for a week (even trace amounts of either illegal or prescription drugs in the urine are prosecuted as ‘drug smuggling’. I’m not joking). They found melatonin on him, which he bought over the counter in the US. Legally, you can even buy it over the counter in Dubai. They arrested him, anyway.

He was strip searched, forced to do a urine test and thrown in jail. In their search they dug into the bottom of his bag and came up with a few fragments of dirt, which they allege is hashish, which is totally outrageous. They also claimed that the melatonin was actually drugs, which was equally, clearly absurd.

The sentence if convicted is a blanket four years, with a minimum of six months in prison in one of Dubai’s squalid, third world facilities.

I can’t think of a less deserving person for this to have happened to, this being the guy who offers shelter to his friends, campaigns for animal rights and subscribes to daily_puppy. Diz’s drug test came back negative and the melatonin has been cleared, but the authorities are still detaining him over the clump of dirt, which they’re still testing. We are all hoping that, in the next week, Diz will be released with an apology and sent home. If not, we are ready to wage all-out media war to bring him home.

Travelers need to know the image of Dubai a safe, modern tourist destination is a mirage. I don’t care if they have The Hydropolis, I don’t want any of you going there. What happened to Diz can happen to anyone, and now we’re just keeping our fingers crossed as we wait for news.

Please see Mildred’s LJ post for further details about this story. Please read the post before asking questions. Thank you everyone for your support! A special thanks to Warren Ellis for helping spread the word.

WEST YORKSHIRE, England - Tasha wears a collar with a leash that her fiance Dani holds when they are out walking together. For this reason, a bus driver has denied them service, saying “no dogs allowed” - and allegedly pushed them off the bus.

It’s ironic that same land that gave us Siouxsie and Fat Bob is now one of the most dangerous, discriminatory European places for goths to inhabit. Last year, 20-year-old goth girl Sophie Lancaster was beaten to death for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong clothes. A goth guy collecting charity while dressed as Nosferatu was violently beaten by a group of up to seven, his prosthetic ears ripped off. These attacks, perpetuated by yobs and/or chavs, are one thing, but this kind of treatment by a public servant is something else entirely.

The story was covered by The Daily Mail, England’s more conservative, right-wing newspaper. Some of the reader comments are rather hilarious. Here are my top 3 favorites, for various reasons:

He looks like a work-shy scrounger to me, get a job and pay your way.
- Harry Basset, Whitby

Never mind walking the dog - with a figure like Tasha’s she’ll soon be on the catwalk.
- Sarah, Belgium

If he was a gentleman goth, he would loan her his coat.
- John, United Kingdom

Though I’m 100% with them, the couple gets points taken off for giving stupid quotes to the media. Don’t say “I am a pet” to a reporter for a mainstream news outlet. Just don’t. (Thanks, Catwalk Ghost!)

This common-sense guide to the heterosexual lifestyle may help you come to grips with the strange, repressed feelings that have been haunting you since puberty. Reading it opened my eyes and made me love myself for who I am. Someone gave me this flyer a few years ago on campus, and, as a public service, I now pass it on to all of you. May it help to guide you in your internal struggle.

When they’re not busy getting butthurt by cartoons or teddy bears, radical Muslim-types rather like spending their time suing employers into compliance with their totally voluntary dress-code. Case in point:

Left: Bushra Noah. Right: Sarah Des Rosiers and Wedge staff.

Sarah Des Rosiers, owner of alternative hair salon Wedge, has been ambushed with a frivolous lawsuit by one Bushra Noah on grounds of religious discrimination, after dismissing Noah from a trial position at her hair salon. You see, Noah, a self-described ‘devout’ Muslim, didn’t think it was important to mention in her telephone interview that she wore a headscarf, even though she admits that this is the reason she believes she had been turned down for hair-styling jobs in the past. Needless to say, when she rocked up to work she was requested to uncover her hair while at the salon, but she refused on grounds that it was ‘immodest’.

That’s right. A hairdresser who finds uncovered hair immoral.

Having been turned down by no less than twenty-five other salons, presumably for the same reason, Noah decided she’s had enough and set about destroying the business that Des Rosiers had poured her soul into.

What follows is one of the sexiest commercials I have ever seen. May not be work-safe depending on where you work, but there’s no nudity.

There’s also another ad in this series, but the one above is the one that truly stands out. This ad caused a predictable amount of discomfort for the conservatives, but what’s more interesting is the debate it sparked amongst people interested in queer/gender theory. When the word “hir” gets used, you know it’s Serious Business! Love it.