Things are looking up.
I loved this article about Senator Joe Biden calling Bush on his bullshit.
article here
Bush used the anniversary of the foundation of Israel to slam anyone who wants to try to negotiate with Iran.
Bush's comments
Biden's response?
"This is bullshit."
and it really, really is.
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A girl who was raped went on YouTube to out her attacker and find some support.
article here
I read this and just hurt. It hurt because so many of "Tanya"'s lines in the show mirror the comments of victims about there not being any justice in the system for rape victims. We state in the show that one in three women are assaulted in the course of their lives, and the article lists one in four women under 25. A small difference, and when you got 25 and up I have no doubt that the 33% figure still holds true. It makes me want to vomit...
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The senseless ravings of a lover, poet, and lunatic. Granted the three terms are pretty much synonyms, but you can learn to deal with that over time.
7 comments:
Dan-not because I want to burst your bubble, but because I want you to post the truth.
http://www.michaelcrook.net/2008/05/17/a-coward-says-what/
Alexis
This is disturbing for a number of reasons. Part of what really creeps me out is the insinuation (or rather, outright statement in the comments) on that link that insinuate that most women who come forward after being raped are lying about it. This particular case seems to involve a highly unstable young woman, but I don't extrapolate from her lying about being from poverty that she wasn't sexually assaulted. Acquiescence rape is extremely common, due either to fear of violence, being unable to think properly due to alcohol or drugs (I think of the date rape drug in particular), or other intimidations. The link indicates that she accused this guy of rape "because she didn't get her way" ... well, what exactly was it she wanted?
If she lied about the rape, it's a huge problem because this kind of backlash will only intimidate victims and continue the cycle of women being afraid to come forward.
Ok, I'm doing more research on this and have been reading the police report.
We're talking about a 15 year old girl in a relationship with a 23 year old man.
Apparently, in Florida, the age of consent is 16 years old. Regardless, this is still statutory rape. In the police report she clearly states that he had threatened her and her family with violence when she decided to get out of the "relationship".
So, we're looking at a drug addicted 15 year old being manipulated and threatened by a 23 year old man. The man in question was also up under robbery charges.
Yet, the case was not filed. Why? Because in one month the victim would have been 16, and because it was "consensual".
This is why most rape goes unreported. I don't think this girl is any angel, but the fact remains that she was 15 years old, addicted to drugs, pressured into sex, manipulated with drugs and alcohol and threats of violence.... and the court system just dismissed it.
I stand by my horror.
hey dan,
fyi: this alexis was not and is not lexicat.
love,
lexicat
that's fine, just making sure that you have a full understanding so that we don't continue to lionize people who call themselves victims that have the right to make choices. While I understand that this young woman was subjected to body/mind manipulation by both controlled substances and the experience of an older man-she still had a choice. I don't want to completely overlook her role in all of this. I compare it to the two young women in Alameda/Oakland about five years ago whose boyfriends were brutally murdered in front of them and then they were abducted and subjected to rape for two days before the police finally found them (and right before the man who abducted them was about to kill them).
and yes, of course, people who write commentary making blanket statements about how women who claim rape are lying are assholes/idiots, but this young woman-by using YouTube as the forum to seek attention and/or aid didn't do herself any favors.
And yes, I am certainly more concerned about the cases of innocent women who are assaulted being afraid to come forward because of this backlash. I don't feel that CNN should have run the piece anyway without doing some fact checking. And yes, I don't think that this Michael Crook guy was the best article to send you-but it was the first one that came up and also, the Smoking Gun has more information on the entire report which I'm sure you've now read.
Let me clarify too, that part of what makes me so angry about this whole debacle is that it all just seems to be one huge cry for attention fueled by society's current reliance on 'reality' media outlets to provide information that may or may not be libel/slander or simply untrue.
Americans are so used to becoming instant celebrities via the internet that they are starting to abuse the medium.
I'm going to write myself into a corner soon, but I for one, do not feel sorry for this girl. I hope that she gets help for her drug problem and I hope that she learns her lesson about abusing the internet and I feel awful that she was mislead into a sexual act-but I cannot absolve her from any blame in this matter. To do so would make every woman a victim and every man a predator.
I'm not mad at you Dan. But I cannot defend this girl. Alexis
oh, yes, sorry lexicat this is
Alexis = Kim.
and I'm still pissed at this girl.
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