East Turkestan is the English name for an occasionally independent region occupied by China since it invaded in 1949. In Manchu Chinese it is known as Xinjiang, which means "new frontier", a phrase which belies its extrinsic nature to China. For the Turkic peoples that live beyond this "new frontier", the country is known as "Sharqi Turkistan" which translates to "Eastern Land of the Turks." The country is largely desert with towns built around oasises that were, in ancient times, important stops on the Silk Road.

The population of the region is mainly made up of Turkic peoples, the largest group being the Uyghurs (less commonly spelled Uighur, Uighur, Uygur or Uigu). Most Uyghurs feel more culturally aligned with their Turkic brethren to the West than the Beijing goverment of the East which currently controls the region. However, as with Tibet, China is attempting to dilute the region's culture and ethnicity by inundating it with Han immigrants lured by economic incentives and an apartheid system that favors them over the indigenous population. In 1949, when China invaded, the region was 75% Uyghur. As of 2003 it had been diluted to 45%. Ironically, identity in the region was largely based on the particular oasis communities and a strong coalescence based on a common, Turkic identity only really began in response to Chinese repression and occupation.

A couple of days ago someone sent me a link to the video clip above, shot in Baltimore, of a cop clearly abusing his power and harassing a 14 year old boy who had been skating in a park with his buddies.  Apparently the kid, when first beckoned by the cop, didn't respond fast or respectfully enough, and that just ruffled the cop's feathers (especially at been called "dude").  He proceeded to curse out the kid, critique his upbringing, slap him, take his skateboard, and make what seem like threats on his life, saying how he could get "killed" if he continued behaving in this (as the cop says it) "disrespectful fashion."

Anyway, this particular YouTube clip in turn linked me to a never-ending thread of other "skaters versus cops" or "skater vs. rent-a-cop" themed videos, all of which had footage that pretty much repeated the same storyline of kids (usually teenaged boys) skating in places like vacant parking lots or streets/steps where "no skating" is allowed.  And in nearly every case the tension level rose between the two sides: kids who just want to have fun and skate wherever they can (which means anywhere since few US towns & cities have adequate space assigned for skate parks) and cops or security guards telling them "you cannot skate here."

Of course in the battle between 14 year old skaters and cops with all that power (and often a low tolerance for what they perceive as back-chatter), guess who wins? Not the kids. Never the kids. In fact it seems there is a ongoing trend in Western society to first off provide few or no skate parks and other recreation areas & centers for teens to use, and then secondly when these same kids are out on the street or at the mall or other public place just trying to occupy themselves, authorities accuse them of loitering and then harass them into moving on. And if they don't move, they are arrested in order to get them in the system.

In compliance with a court order, Brazil’s public health system just announced in the past few days that it will begin providing free sex-change operations . This move came after federal prosecutors from Rio Grande do Sul state had argued that sexual reassignment surgery is covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.  On August 15th Brazil's 4th Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that “from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide.”

According to the Brazilian Health Ministry the government has no intention of appealing this  ruling by a panel of federal judges giving the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face fines of $5,000 a day.  As far as who qualifies for the free sex-change operations the Health Ministry in Brazil said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery and what priority it will be given compared with other operations within the public health system. It did state however that  patients must be at least 21 years old and "diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years."

This commendable move by the Brazilian Health Ministry and its government raises the obvious question: When will the US Government implement such a practice here in the United States?  Or rather will it ever do such a thing?  My guess is  probably never or at least not in a long time - based on two main factors: A)  the screwed-up health system already in place in this country which is far from free for anything and B)  the predominant backward attitudes towards sexuality here in the States. Can you imagine the uproar if some US Congress member were to put forward such a proposal?  Media figures like Bill O'Reilly would have a field day as they would undoubtedly spin it into pure sensationalist hysteria about how the hard-working American's tax money would be ripped off from them for sexually deviant purposes.  Ultimately it would result in a lot of discussion, or rather dispute and argument,  but little in concrete, positive and compassionate advances.