Duke: A Cautionary Tale?

Since date rape has been defined, you would think that parents would warn their children of the danger of misunderstanding sexual situations. This should also be a part of sex education and college orientation, especially with sports teams. Come to think of it, the conversation should be a complete discussion about rape.

Every year I hear of several incidents with regard to college sports team. Some go to trial and some fade away. This should not be happening in our society now with so much knowledge available and easy communication. This year an incident has been reported at Villanova University and the alleged victim is refusing to bring charges. The men were not allowed to continue in the school, but there has not been any charges filed. Is it that the alleged victim doesn't want the notoriety, thinks that her reputation is going to trashed or the fact she knew the perpetrators and she would seem a willing participant; I can't say, but from the notoriety of the Duke Lacrosse Team case, I can see where one might be hesitant. If we say she is nothing like the accuser in that case, then we misunderstand what constitutes rape.

Even today a victim can be vilified and rapist go free, because the victim is blamed and no man can be held responsible for his actions if the woman has given him a hint; not even if he has held her at gun point. This morning I was reading The Field Negro post about Villanova and I received an email about an article about sex abuse and rape of women around the world. Both of them irritated me, because I don't understand why in this country things like this are still happening. The article, Pummeling Mama first paragraph describes one victim's redress.

The police officer put a gun to the driver’s head and demanded that she orally copulate him. To avoid being murdered she complied, after which he provided the choice of victimized silence or fatal reprisal. The woman tempted fate by contacting the district attorney, who used DNA testing to contradict the officer’s denial that any sexual contact had occurred. During the prosecution’s case the accused was proven to have told one self-incriminating lie after another. The defense attorney then played a familiar trump card, labeling the victim a woman of easy virtue “with whom sex was always an implied option”. It took the jury of eleven males and a female less than two hours to acquit.

I would rather this had not been anecdotal, but we have all heard of such instances. My first, when I was a teenager and an acquaintance, 13 years old had been gang raped, and the effective defense was, that she wanted it.

The main irritant is what seems to be a backlash to feminism. Women can not own their sexually, for rape is the consequence. We are falling backward in the idea that women are morally responsible for men's behavior and men have to be the gatekeepers of their partner's and daughter's will and sexuality, as if they are property. The idea that women have no decision at all, leads to men creating the scenario in which women would want to have sex. She can't say no, because he has been given cues that means yes. He's not thinking, that the cues are the ones he has created. I think this is true of the predatory violent rapist. The construction in his mind makes him believe she deserves to be raped or this is every woman's fantasy. Women still are suppose to be careful how they dress, what they say, how they walk and not to show to much sensuality. We certainly have to careful about tempting men. We have to control their morally in subtle ways, even though we should have no control over our selves. This is more than a double standard, it sends very dangerous messages to young people. Then we fret, when there is the real possibility of prosecution of rape of someone we think has a real future. In the many discussions of the Duke rape case, not much discussion of the possibility of why a rape could have occurred, nor was it used as a cautionary tale. With a sigh of relief, young men went right on reveling in the victimhood of the Lacrosse Players.

Amazing Stats

I don't know why my blog wound up in Mike's blog round up on Crooks and Liars, but I would like to thank them.

It created a traffic avalanche. I had more traffic in one day than I have had in four months. Those that stop by, come again. I wish a few would have left a comment or two.

Much Ado About Nothing

George W. Bush has done it twice. He has relinquished power to the Vice President while he underwent test. Why is it necessary when these procedures took no longer than two hours. My colonoscopy lasted approximately one hour. I was alert when I woke up, because I had a good anesthesiologist. Isn't there a provision, if the President went into a coma. What happens if he had a stroke and went into a coma? It just seemed like a flim flam;" Let everyone see how I am in charge." Didn't it take longer than an hour for the President to be notified and his response , after the Towers were hit.

H/T:The Field Negro

Rant

I don't read a lot of blogs, but would someone tell me if there are any conservative or libertarian feminist? Are all of them, honorary males? I ask this because I was trying to state my point of view on a blog, but got a response like this in a comment. Addressing me in my other screen name:

… if I had to guess, [...] is confused about a lot of issues… probably a female feeling her way through arguments…

I didn't have a comeback to this, nothing funny or sarcastic; I just called him a sexist. It must have been a nod and a wink, because that ended the comments. It is not that I need someone to defend me, but he should have been called on his crap by one of his peers, male or female, even if my argument was weak. Is my original guess right?

Snake Oil from China

When I saw this article Beijing suspends US meat imports, I knew this was retaliation for the US and other countries scrutiny of China's imports. They have gotten religion and proclaiming they are going to change the current situation of food, drug safety and ensure that manufacturers don't cut corners; now that they have gotten caught. There have been sufficient number of deaths in and outside China to have warranted much earlier investigations and revisions in their safety policies and procedures. The prosecution for bribery and execution of Zheng Xiaoyu of China's Food and Drug Administration seems like reactionary scapegoating. I hope that the US is not fooled by this. Even if the efforts that China is making now are real; they still do not address counterfeiting. The counterfeit drugs are not drugs that were not tested properly, they are intentionally made without any consideration of safety or efficacy. Counterfeiters make the real money, much more than the $850,000 Xiaoyu was supposed to have taken.

This love at four and twenty four

The love of this music, playing red 45 records on a RCA 45 record changer.


Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' - Part 1



Then this music opened my heart to love again.

Independence Day

I like the fireworks and the parades. I look forward to hearing The Declaration of Independence read. I am an American and feel I am nothing else. There is ambivalence in this feeling, an unease; that I am a not yet a full citizen and regarded as such. I listened to the words when I was younger and knew someday I would be a full citizen.

We have served in the military in every war, believing in the promise of America and to show our fidelity. Serving at times with hopes that would bring us toward equality. Today

Yesterday

We want to be part of this new country, to experience freedom and to exercise a right to determine our destiny and representation; yet there are still many who see us as apart. They see us as not capable of having values to understand liberty and to be an American.

Sometimes I feel like this child.

Whose flag is it?

An enraged law enforcement officer wrestles an American flag out of the hands of a 5 year-old boy. Jackson, MS.

Wake Up Call

I took this picture over a year ago and since then a few of the medications I take have changed. As of now I still take 12 different meds and a calcium supplement. Along with immunosuppressent pills, I take pills for hypertension, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis. I take one injection every few weeks to boost my blood count.
Last week there was a lot of hullabaloo about counterfeit toothpaste and some notice paid to counterfeit drugs coming out of China. The one drug they focused on, Epogen, is a brand of epoetin alfa, which I use. I checked to see if my brand was counterfeited too and indeed it is. The pharmacist can tell, supposedly by lot numbers. Since I haven't had any side effects from the injections from one pharmacy, I'll have to trust them? This last time I didn't get the information sheet with my supply. SCARY! Now there may be some grumblings about what to do about the trade agreement with China and revoke President Bush's fast track privileges, but I want to know what is the government going to do about counterfeit drugs besides making the announcements? I want to see drug bust, random testing and shipped seized; I want more effort than on the war on drugs. I even missed the announcement, I have been remiss in going to the FDA site to check for such. I will have to be more vigilant, but what happens when the outward appearance matches the real thing. This doesn't quite have the same effect as a counterfeit Hermes' handbag. I wont die if I own one.