May-June Stories 
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HEADLINES
Author Christine Aziz (right) visiting the base of a female-driven Iranian opposition army in Iraq.
Iraq, Iran, and a story you won't read in The New York Times updated May 27th
Confined to its two bases in Iraq since 2003, the Mujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, an army led by women, opposes the ayatollahs in Iran and has been battling to overthrow them since 1980. The U.S. State Department says the MEK is a terrorist organization, but the designation is disputed and several million Iraqi citizens have signed petitions asking that the force be allowed to re-arm and fight the jihadists streaming into the country. Last October, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health put the death toll of the Iraq war at over 655,000, three times the number of dead in Darfur. (See their website for more info.) If the U.S. military starts withdrawing some troops next year, the country may soon be transformed into an Islamic state. Is this what the Bush Administration had in mind all along?
Online Extra! Tank Girls - The Frontline Feminists
This is a link to the article by Christine Aziz published in the British-based Independent in 2004.
Related Stories
Bay Fang, a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune writes that women are being targetted by the Islamic militias and that their rights are eroding fast despite (or perhaps in tandem with) the U.S. occupation. Published in Ms. Magazine.
Iraqi women survive in Damascus by prostituting themselves
An article by Katherine Zoepf, published recently in the International Herald Tribune.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Abortion ruling sets new precedent putting the fetus before the woman
On April 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed part of the historic Roe v. Wade precedent set in 1973. Defying the principle of starry decisis, the court ruled that a woman's health can no longer be taken into consideration when it comes to one late-term procedure. Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg thinks this is about more than simply abortion, saying the decision is "alarming". Meanwhile, the national advocacy group NARAL has swung into action to try undue the damage and Barabara Boxer has introduced new legislation to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land.
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Headquarters of Wilbur-Ellis (27th Floor)
With millions of livestock quarantined, the massive product recall that got underway in March is not just about pet food anymore. Two U.S. companies, including S.F. agribusiness Wilbur-Ellis, shipped several hundred tuns of tainted wheat gluten and rice protein to livestock and pet food processing plants around the country. Neither the USDA nor its sister agency, the FDA, seem to know just how far two deadly plastics have seeped into the nation’s food supply.
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EDITORIAL
"Colony Collapse Disorder" may not be confined to bees
Sexualized and at times racist imagery of young women in so-called alternative newspapers is helping to pave the way for a generation of damaged girls and a proliferating global sex trade. So why does the S.F. Public Library continue to distribute the city's most popular porn, prostitute and adult entertainment guide at all its branches?
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AROUND TOWN
The Golden Gate Ferry, which runs between San Francisco and Marin County, has plucked two people out of the drink in just the past couple years, including a naked swimmer in the water off Tiburon on May 7th. Go for a ride with us to Sausalito and see what else might happen on the wild waves of S.F. Bay.
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HEALTH
UCSF's Karen Smith-McCune, MD
The jury’s still out on Merck HPV vaccine
The lack of long-term follow-up to assess vaccine efficacy and safety, as well as the lack of testing in the age group targeted for the vaccine (11 to 12 year-old girls), are among the main reasons that two UCSF School of Obstetrics professors are advising caution in the use of the new Merck drug.
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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
PBS doc on Annie Oakley recounts an amazing epic
Being a crack rifle shot has its down side. In Annie Oakley’s case, a little blurred vision might have changed the course of history when in n 1891, Germany’s Crown Prince Wilhelm challenged the darling of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show to shoot a cigar out of his mouth.
Cagney and Lacey catch the bad guys again in new DVD
The first season of the hit detective show is on sale for about $28 from amazon.com and other outlets
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