Diamanto Manolakou, born on 1 March 1959, is a Greek politician and member of the European Parliament for the Communist Party of Greece; part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left.
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (Minehead, Somerset, 6 December 1917 – Colombo, Sri Lanka, 19 March 2008) was a British author and inventor. He was most famous for his science fiction novel "", and for working with director Stanley Kubrick on the movie of the same name. Clarke and Isaac Asimov were probably the two best-known science fiction writers of their day.
Some of Clarke's novels include "Childhood's End", "A Fall of Moondust", "The Songs of Distant Earth", "The Sands of Mars", and "Meeting with Medusa". He also wrote many short stories, and several serious works on science.
Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor and technician from 1941–1946. He proposed a satellite communication system in 1945 which won him the Franklin Institute Gold Medal in 1963.
He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1947–1950 and again in 1953.
Clarke emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving; That year, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998, and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005.
Clarke died from heart and respiratory failure at the age of 90.
Arthur C. Clarke Award
Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess (25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) was an Englishman who wrote many long stories, called novels.
One of these was named "A Clockwork Orange". It was about evil. He had the idea for the story after a group of bad young men raped and beat his wife for no reason.
Burgess also made songs and music. And he wrote a lot about writers he loved, such as James Joyce, a novelist, and Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poet.
Burgess was born in Harpurhey, Manchester, in the north of England. Before he became a writer, he was a soldier, then a teacher. When he was 37 years old, he left his home country to work in Malaysia and Brunei. Later, he lived in the USA, Italy, and France.
He was born very poor, the son of a man who made a meagre living out of selling cigarettes to workmen. But when Burgess died, he had grown rich. This was because he worked so hard at his art, which is the art of literature. He wrote at least 1,000 words every day of his life. But he always found time to be kind to other writers. He was friendly to the many people who came to visit with him at his seaside home in Monaco.
Burgess died of lung cancer aged 76, in St John's Wood, London.
The books by Burgess that people say they like the most are called "Earthly Powers", about the Pope; "Enderby", about a poet; and "Nothing Like the Sun", about William Shakespeare.
Rape
Rape is usually defined as having sexual intercourse with a person who does not want to, or cannot consent. Consent is when someone agrees of their own choice without being forced to. In France it is more widely defined as 'unwanted sexual penetration'. Rape is a form of sexual assault. In most countries, rape is one of the most serious crimes. The International Criminal Court can also condemn it as a "crime against humanity", if done by a group. A person who rapes someone is a rapist. Rapists may use violence, drugs, or threats to get their way. People of any gender can be raped. This was not recognized by the United States law until 2011. Girls and women or boys and men may stay quiet about a rape because they might feel ashamed about it. Rapists can be both male or female but are usually male.
A person may be unable to consent (say yes to) to sexual intercourse or other sexual activity. Having sex with a person who cannot consent is rape.
Some adults are unable to consent to sex.
Marital rape is where the victim of rape is married to the person committing the rape. Unconsenting sex with a married partner is thought to be rape under the laws of some countries but not others. In the United Kingdom, marital rape was determined to be a crime in the case of "R v. R" (1991). Marital rape being illegal does not mean that the law is enforced. For example, in Ireland marital rape was made illegal in 1990, but by 2006 only one person had been convicted of it.
Rape is a medical emergency. People who are raped may be injured or have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). People may not know they are hurt or sick. Doctors can give medicine to treat an STD. HIV, an STD, can be prevented by early treatment. If seen quickly, a doctor can give medication called emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy. Rape is at least twice as likely to cause pregnancy as consensual sex. The reason for this is not known.
At the hospital, police can collect evidence from the victim and his/her clothing. Evidence may help find the rapist, and can help the police send him or her to jail. Waiting too long makes it hard to collect evidence. Also, taking a shower before telling the police or going to a hospital can wash off some of the DNA evidence.
Victims of rape often feel scared, sad, and/or guilty. They may think about the rape a lot, even when they do not want to. They may have nightmares about the rape. Many have post-traumatic stress disorder. People who are raped during childhood or adolescence often get borderline personality disorder. They may binge drink to cope. Talking to someone, like a counselor, can help. Rape counselors are trained to help rape victims. Sometimes doctors can give medicine to decrease fear and sadness. Calling a rape crisis center or hotline can help a victim find help.
Some people believe in 'rape culture'. For example, they say that the United States has a rape culture. Rape culture is a culture that lets rape happen. It even encourages it. In the US 97% of rapists are never put in prison for their crimes. Some people are worried about women lying about being raped and men getting unfairly punished. This happens much less often than people think. In a study of college athletes, they thought that women lie about being raped 50% of the time. A 2005 study by the British Home Office found that 2.5% of rape reports were false.
Part of rape culture is victim blaming. This is when people say that someone who has been raped is the person to blame for their rape. An example of this is people saying that a rape victim was 'asking for it' because they were wearing a short skirt. It can also be more subtle. Victim blaming has been linked to the just world fallacy. This is when people think that the world is fair, so bad things only happen to people who have done something wrong. Victim-blaming is also related to 'slut-shaming'.
The idea of rape culture has been criticized. Christina Hoff Sommers argues that rape is just one type of violent crime and America's culture of violence in general is what should be fought.
It is not easy to find out how many people have been raped or how many people have raped. A lot of rape victims don't tell anyone that they were raped. They may be scared that they will not be believed or feel too ashamed to talk about what happened. The conviction rate for rape is very low so they might think reporting to police is a waste of time. The 2006-07 British Crime Survey found that 1 in every 200 women suffered from rape in that period. The same year 800 people were convicted of rape. This means less than 1 in every 100 reports of rape led to a conviction. A survey by Mumsnet found that 68% of women would hesitate reporting a rape to the police because of low conviction rates.