Problems With Title IX and Mandatory Reporting of Sexual Assault and Rape on College Campuses

The current office of civil rights (OCR) has determined that rape and sexual assault that occur on college campuses are actually acts of sexual harassment that are/should have been classified as instances of discrimination. (—I presume based on gender; so it takes a certain amount of logical gymnastics to explain how sexual violence against men, “corrective rape” etc. fits in here. If sexual violence against women has created an unfair, unequal atmosphere and learning environment for women, since women are overwhelmingly the victims of crimes of sexual violence, how can a male victim of rape, victims of same-sex violence, etc. be experiencing discrimination based on sexual harassment?)

So across the country, offices that have been providing Advocacy Services for rape victims have been turned on their heads.

1. If a rape is committed on campus, and the crime victim goes to the Advocacy Office, the Advocate MUST report the rape TO BE INVESTIGATED. So rather than first assist the traumatized crime victim with getting some class leeway, a couple days off, helping her/him go to the hospital, explore possibilities of having contracted syphilis, gonorrhea, genital warts, herpes, and AIDS, testing for pregnancy, explain options about reporting to police, and primarily, assist them in understanding the loss of trust, the anxiety, the fear, the rollercoaster of psychological changes they will be going through for the next weeks, months, year—the advocate immediately does the One Thing assault survivors do not want—they go tell someone. They take control away from the person who was intimately, deeply violated. They take control away just like the rapist did, and unlike the rapist,-- who often says, “if you tell anyone I will hurt you, your family, your reputation, kill your dog…” – unlike the rapist, the Advocate makes the rape known. Administrators will now interview those involved.

  (I will describe the possible benefit in this later)

2. Besides taking control away from the crime victim, and making the humiliating situation known to others—two points that every single person who has ever worked with assault victims knows is anathema—the advocate has also lost the one most precious gift given to traumatized persons. The office of the Advocate is most valuable to rape victims because it is a safe place, where one is not told what to do. For many, it is the ONLY place and the ONLY person who is not “telling me what to do”.

 Listen to understand, not to respond.

The most common comments about advocacy are about its unique sense of safety.

· “It was the one place I could go talk and know that I was safe.”

· “Nothing was going to happen, no one was going to force me to do something I didn’t want to do. “

· “I was completely respected and believed.”

· It was like a time-out from every other place.”

· “The Advocate recognized that no one knew me and my current life situation better than me. There is no one right decision or path….”

Advocates do not investigate or pressure; they do not judge or make assumptions. (There are families that are abusive or non-supportive and judgmental and blaming. There are even police departments and hospital staff that are non-supportive as well.) Advocates are trained to do one thing—give power back to a hurt person through respect, belief, listening, and referral.


I have a lot more topics around this issue to work though. I just want to begin to put on paper (ether?) some of the points as they arise. i will return to discuss the whole concept and trauma-after-reporting soon. I know we want to make campus safer. I know we want to make reporting the norm. I know we have a duty to warn people about dangerous people. We must make sure we do it in a compassionate, logical, safe way.

By the way, in the past year i have worked with students who were told by police detectives, "Are you sure you don't want to drop charges? why do you want to ruin his life?"
-were told by police, "You know, you have to understand where i'm coming from. i work with women who lie about this all the time." Were asked, How do you know you were raped ifyou were passed out?

Fu'Cryin' Out LOUD.

More    HERE    and     HERE

If only i had had a big stab wound

"maybe then the police would believe i had been raped. "
dang

i hate it when the police do not believe a woman.

how many students have made the effort to report--with ALL THAT ENTAILS-- then the police, after grilling her several times, do not even interview the alleged perpetrator--do NOT EVEN INTERVIEW HIM! 

 (answer: too many)

We have really great police officers, and we have untrained or noncaring ones.
if they only knew the enourmous didfference they make.
also,
 how am i able to say, sure , yeah, excellent choice, to report this crime--
if there is a 50-50 chance the CRIME VICTIM will be treated like a liar. and the perpetrator is not even given the tiny little fear of a police officer or detective interviewing him.
I thought that was something they like to do? Scare, trick, shame, cajol a rapist into admitting something that will get the case some justice.

i wont leave a mark dagnabit

give me all your money. (don't fight him, just give him your money!)

           give me your purse.

cry sometimes, laugh somtimes.

Maybe the fact that the TV sensational anchors only report the 2% of weird cases, troubled reports, sociopathic liars, and smarmy stuff--completely ignoring the EPIDEMIC of sexual violence-- is one reason....

Lara Logan Educates About Long Term Effects and PTSD After Sexual Assault.

Update: Rape victims are often told, "you should be over it by now..." or, "It's been a year, move on--" but those who have suffered ANY trauma, real, deep trauma--know that the Post Trauma Stress can be so heavy that it indeed becomes a matter which must be addressed medically and psychologically.
I have worked with rape victims who were basically told by the police
that "it wasn't a real rape" or "it isn't worth pushing an investigation" because she wasn't bruised and bloodied, or because she waited too long to report the crime, or because she took a ride home (merely to GET home, smiling, hoping he did not realize she knew she was raped, hoping she could just softly, quietly slide away to safety) ...any way, here is the Latest from Lara Logan:

Update: Lara Logan Says effects of sexual assault Do Not Go Away... HERE
CBS 60 minutes video below) and story HERE.  Lara Logan Feared Death: Update May 1, 2011:  On cbs 60 minutes, Lara Logan indicates that she believed she was going to die during the sexual assault and beating in Egypt's Tahrir Square. "She was set upon by a mob of several hundred men. She said in an interview with Scott Pelley that 'there was no doubt in my mind that I was in the process of dying. I thought not only am I going to die, but it's going to be just a torturous death that's going to go on forever.' After being rescued, she returned to the United States and was treated in a hospital for four days..."
"Ms. Logan, a CBS News correspondent, was in the square preparing a report for “60 Minutes” on Feb. 11 when the celebratory mood suddenly turned threatening. She was ripped away from her producer and bodyguard by a group of men who tore at her clothes and groped and beat her body. “For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands,” Ms. Logan said in an interview with The New York Times. She estimated that the attack involved 200 to 300 men."

Journalist Amand Lindhout's
Somalian Kidnapping horror story HERE

It never ends.

"CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was assaulted and sexually abused by an Egyptian crowd last week during the celebration of President Hosni Mubarak's decision to step aside. Logan, a veteran foreign correspondent, was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for "60 Minutes" on Feb. 11 when "she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," CBS News said in a statement published on their website today.

lara logan picture apparently taken just minutes before violent attack

"In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers," according to the CBS statement.  

quote from http://abcnews.go.com/US/lara-logan-hospitalized-sexually-attacked-egypt-protesters-celebration/story?id=12925235

more video and story here at NPR.


Sadness. I pray pray pray that the use of the terms in the report of this assault--indicates that the crimes committed against her were on the least violent in the spectrum.


And
These two stories show how the modern media is used to react instantly or even smear in insane and appalling ways after events: (Because sexual assault is always about getting attention, right)

click on pic to enlarge twitter feed.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/259833/appalling-reaction-outrageous-crime

second post here:

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/rape-myths-misogyny-political.html

http://michellemalkin.com/2011/02/15/cbs-news-reporter-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-beaten-in-cairo/


Updated info from The Daily Mail, London Times and Daily Beast:

From the Daily Mail: “More details have emerged of Lara Logan's terrifying ordeal at the hands of a frenzied mob. The 39-year-old foreign correspondent for CBS News show 60 Minutes was separated from her film crew in Cairo on February 11 and surrounded by as many as 200 men in Tahrir Square at the height of the anti-Mubarak demonstrations. According to one source, reported in The Sunday Times newspaper, sensitive parts of her body were covered in red marks that were originally thought to have been bite marks. After further examination they were revealed to be from aggressive pinching. It has also been revealed that she was stripped, punched and slapped by the crowd, which was labelling her a spy and chanting 'Israeli' and 'Jew' as they beat her.And medical sources have revealed that marks on her body were consistent with being whipped and beaten with the makeshift poles that were used to fly flags during the demonstration. An unnamed friend of the reporter told The Sunday Times: 'Lara is getting better daily. The psychological trauma is as bad as, if not worse than, the physical injuries. She might talk about it at sometime in the future, but not now.'



(After being taken to the Four Seasons hotel, she was treated and sedated by the hotel doctor. Within hours of the attack she was was flown out of the country and spent five days in a New York hospital.) Witnesses say the mainly peaceful protests to end Mubarak's rule had taken a more violent turn after the Egyptian president announced his resignation. The military presence controlling the amount of people entering Tahrir Square seemed to evaporate, and an angrier element had flowed in. Miss Logan was attacked around 1am as she filmed in the square. Egyptian state media had been publishing negative stories about foreign journalists, with many reports alleging that many Israeli spies were masquerading as news crews. Days before her attack, Miss Logan had been held in Alexandria on suspicion of being foreign spies.

“ Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358944/Lara-Logan-attack-Stripped-punched-whipped-flag-poles.html#ixzz1EhjdwGw2





Responses, videos and extended coverage click here

UPDATE: Nir ROsen has resigned. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/16/nir-rosen-resigns-from-nyu-after-trashing-lara-logan-on-twitter/
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/16/lara-logan-assault-for-female-reporters-the-added-peril-of-tur/

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/02/the-creepiest-thing-nir-rosen-ever-said/71398/

Title IX: Sexual Assault on Campus, Advocacy, and the Perils of Reporting

Yikes! Everything is changed.
I am going to spell it out. [tomorrow]

 But first, let's see what people are saying:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/campus_assault/articles/entry/1946/
includes video from crime victim and excerpt: "...Unsatisfied with the school’s response, Dunn hoped to find an ally in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The office, referred to as OCR, enforces Title IX, a federal law requiring “prompt and equitable“ action in response to reports like Dunn’s. The statute is intended to protect students’ right to an education without the hostility of sexual harassment or assault. But in a decision that left her feeling betrayed again, the enforcement agency said it found “insufficient evidence” that the University of Wisconsin had been less than prompt. ..The university’s explanation for taking nine months was “reasonable” and it took “interim steps” including a no-contact order “to protect and prevent harassment” of Dunn, OCR found. The school ultimately cited a lack of eyewitnesses and the role of alcohol in deciding not to file disciplinary charges against the accused student.


 Rights and regulations
http://www.securityoncampus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=27

http://www.kasap.org/news/beyondtheballcourtusingtitleixtostopsexualassault.html

http://title-ix.blogspot.com/

http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/title9.htm

in the beginning:
http://yaleherald.com/topstory/breaking-news-yale-students-file-title-ix-suit-against-school/

Confidentiality and advocacy are irrevocably changed.

((New National Guidelines have been implemented here at K-State for responding to reports of rape and all sexual assault. The new guidelines include sexual assault as a severe level of sexual harassment under Title IX Regulations. This means that reports of sexual assault must be investigated by the university to a degree that protects other students from individuals who may pose a threat. Here at K-State, reports of Title IX violations may be made at the K-State Women’s Center in Holton Hall. The Women’s Center works with the Office of Affirmative Action in Anderson Hall to ensure swift, discreet, and equitable action in these criminal complaints. ))
For more information about Title IX and sexual assault complaints, contact the K-State Women’s Center, The Office of Student Life (Holton Hall), or the Office of Affirmative Action.

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/problems-with-title-ix-and-mandatory.html


the document that started the changes:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/dear_colleague_sexual_violence.pdf

http://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/womensrights/titleixandsexualassaultknowyourrightsandyourcollege'sresponsibilities.pdf

MMOM- Change the Way You Think About Rape: Acquaintance Rape Is A Crime!

[OK so a fraternity surveys its members to find out who they want to rape. (link is at bottom of post) And can anyone say this is not a problem?]
The MMOM Movement has a simple goal: change the way people think about rape.
Our own K-State Wildcats Against Rape and many many other groups have similar goals.

Please check them out: Here are some excerpts from theMOMM  website.

"...It's time to start exposing date rape for what it is: a crime. It's not a "hook up that crossed the line." It's not just "inappropriate" or "her fault too" because she consented to other acts before. No still means no, regardless of what she said yes to before. This epidemic will not be cured by mace and self defense alone. Though well intended, these methods create the expectation for women to prevent rape instead of holding men accountable to not rape. Lets take the blame off the victim and put the shame on the perpetrator.
By joining this movement, you are reinforcing the truth that there is no shame in being a victim. You are telling the world you refuse to tolerate rape and victim blaming. You are committing to no longer turn your back to this issue. Why? Because a campus without rape shouldnt be a privilege...."
 and
 "...I don’t like the way our society reacts to sexual assault so my film partner and I decided to make a documentary. Our film, “Miniskirts, Mace and Other Misconceptions” (MMOM) dares to change our culture. The creation of this film introduced me to my passion, journalism and my purpose, advocacy. I graduate from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this December with a degree in Public Administration Nonprofit Management and Communications. I am pursuing a career in journalism and spearheading this movement. Join me!

 The Mission of the MMOM Movement is:
To confront sexual assault by starting conversations on college campuses and in our communities to:

•Challenge victim blaming and rape supportive attitudes
•Empower victims
•Educate
•Raise awareness

They have good links on the page, as well.
_______________________________________
W.A.R.: Founding Mission Statement: We all want to live in a society where we are able to trust, be trusted and live outside the confinements of fear.  W.A.R. members are taking the initiative to challenge the current environment where 1 out of 4 college women will suffer a rape or attempted rape between the ages of 13 and college graduation. We, K-State men and women, are ready to have our voice heard in the community.

Because of our dedication to nonviolent ideals, W.A.R. has chosen the
representation of Tiananmen Square to illustrate our mission. In 1989 hundreds of college students in Beijing were massacred for nonviolently protesting injustices within their government. When the tanks began
arriving at the scene of the protest, one man stood at the front of the tanks to stop their progression. This one man held up a line of over 17 tanks for a significant period of time. He didn’t carry a weapon.To learn more about this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_2496000/2496277.stm

Although our name is W.A.R. we are a nonviolent culture-change group. We are not out to patrol the streets, place blame, or 'get those rapists.' Our goal is to change the part of our culture that makes it acceptable for people to take control away from others and behave in a violent, selfish way. W.A.R. may be a small group of individuals but ideals of peace and nonviolence is what gives us hope and strength.



A K-Stater's story about Acquaintance rape: HERE
and the trauma of crime HERE

by the way,
ALL RAPISTS ARE SERIAL RAPISTS. click HERE

if you don't think this is a problem, read this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/higher-education/national-fraternity-investigating-vt-chapter-that-asked-members-who-they-would-like-to-rape/2011/12/14/gIQAS2a9tO_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

"...MONTPELIER, Vt. — A University of Vermont fraternity has been suspended while school officials, national organization leaders and police investigate allegations that a survey was circulated among members asking them who they would like to rape.

Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter would not discuss the allegations Wednesday..."

Oh, Really?
Fu'Cryin'Out LOUD

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/rape-reports-are-everywhere-what-do-you.html

Penn State Victims Endure Waiting for Trial; Ask One in Four Women About Post-Rape Trauma

Sandusky, of Penn State Fame, hired attorneys who Truly care about Justice and Truth.

a hahahahaha heh heh. hahahaHAHAH

OK, they want to get their client off.

They seem to have decided that the information that might come out during a preliminary hearing would be so damning [particularly if there is little space for cross-examination] that the entire population will be tainted, in considering a jury pool.

 That is,

 that we will all think, Yeah, the guy is as guilty as they come.

--get the trial over with and put him away... SO
let's not do this yet.

In light of the cancellation (waiving) of the preliminary hearing, the media has been putting an issue out there, about the trauma of the victims and how getting ready for a legal proceeding is stressful, traumatic, and puts everything on hold in their lives. *

And I am glad they are talking about this. Because those of us who work in the field know that this is going on all the time. Victims REPEATEDLY prepare for court appearances, preliminary hearing, the trial itself, and the defense attorneys get delay after delay after delay. This helps the defense because--

• memories are less clear over time. descriptions change a little bit here and there and defense attorneys put these little changes together and cast them as GIANT lies. The victim must be lying.
• people such as witnesses move away. in our little town, if a witness moves away the city attorney may not be able to pay to have them fly back and stay in a hotel for 2 days.
• the victim may get tired of all the lengthy delays, her life put on hold, and drop the charges.
• the victim may move well through the healing process. During her testimony, she is not crying, she is now strong, no longer traumatized. Defense attorneys use this as proof she is lying! If you don't believe this happens, you need to go to some trials. Here and HERE and HERE ** are some posts from a trial  here where the Victim and all the witnesses were basically called liars by the defense attorney. The beginning of this blog, august 2009, has many posts about truth and lying, assault types, etc. etc.

To read the story of a wonderful K-State student--who was drugged, assaulted, raped--, and the legal aftermath, who speaks to this very issue, click HERE

What has struck me about the Jerry Sandusky Penn State Case is how respectfully the victims are being treated by the media. I am glad for that and that many issues are being raised. Because it has seemed to me that people do not want to hear about it, when the subject is women. Across the country and the globe, women are raped in epidemic proportions. And the legal system is not working well in this area.
Many times i have supported a young woman who was told, Again, that the day she had prepared for was postponed.
The legal system seems almost afraid to prosecute rape. maybe jurists believe the TV and think most women are lying. Which is crazy. (lying HERE and  more about false reports )

See  these posts:
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/ben-roethlisberger-gets-to-play-for-nfl.html
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/rape-reports-are-everywhere-what-do-you.html
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/voting-in-congo.html

* More HERE and also HERE

and as Jennifer Storm said, "...But what about the victims. Imagine the roller coaster these individuals have been placed on over the past years since this investigation began. They have been forced already to recount horrific details of the abuse to their attorneys, both civil and prosecutors, and to a grand jury. But not once yet have they had the opportunity to face Sandusky, the monster in their lives, and tell their truth. Instead, they have had to endure seeing his face on the cover of every magazine, newspaper and TV news and entertainment show. They have had to worry that every time they leave their home they could run into him, as he was until a week ago out free on bail with no restrictions, they have to worry that the media will chase them and expose their identifies. In fact, for one victim who was all but totally exposed by the media, he had to leave his high school as he was being bullied, harassed and threatened horribly.
And

they cannot speak out publicly, for if they do, each and every word they speak will be ripped to shreds in the court of public opinion. If they say one word that is different than their grand jury testimony, their credibility will be attacked, as we have already seen with the star witness in this case.

Yet today,

every one of them was ready to take the stand and face their accuser, they were ready for their day in court but at the last minute, Sandusky had the chance to re-victimize them one more time by taking that chance away from them. Rightfully, some are angry, frustrated, annoyed, upset. They had to go home and now must wait again.

** and more about that trial

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/oh-really.html

http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/justice.html

Penn State:
You: http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/penn-state-and-joe-paternos-biggest-sin.html
student riots: http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/penn-state-students-riot-why-rape-of.html
complete grand jury testimony here: http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/allowing-rape-of-boys-by-men-in-charge.html
summary and evolutionary morality http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/penn-state-men-in-power-sexually-and.html

Trauma is normal for healthy people after being betrayed and internally battered. It is not normal to hurt another person.

If you are on a rollercoaster of depression, happiness, normality, freaked-out-ness, anger, hatred, love, anger, sadness, confusion, ok ness, anger, withdrawal, peace, fear--
and that is in the first 10 minutes of the day--
You Are Normal. It means you are a normal intelligent competent person reacting to trauma.
As you continue to heal, you will become Strong at the Broken Place- like a bone does after trauma.

I am going to expand this thought later this week. In the meantime, look at these.

http://www.hopeforhealing.org/

 http://nineyearslater9.blogspot.com/2011/12/self-understanding-101-introduction.html

If you hurt people, force, steal, rape, charm, trick, lie--please read this HERE

I'm Not Interested In Revolutions That Disparage Women (Really, Egypt?)

What kind of Police in Egypt rape and break the arms of women? I'm not interested in Muslim Brotherhood deception and insanity. I'm not interested in allowing Sharia Law. I don't want any excuses about leaving women behind. No Sexist revolutions, Fu Cryin' Out Loud!

Here is the recent story of an American Columnist, Mona Eltahawy, who reports being sexually assaulted and shows two casts on her arms.

 (click HERE for an Excellent blog post with

a good analysis** of this appalling event:

 "You say you want a revolution?" and more

about egypt from the same blog HERE  )

news Links to the story and pictures:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066157/Mona-Eltahawy-Columnist-sexually-assaulted-Egyptian-military-police-shows-casts-hands.html
and video here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/25/world/meast/egypt-women-sexual-harassment/index.html
and
the ABC story and video HERE.
excerpt:
..."Acclaimed Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy, released today in Cairo, said Egyptian security forces sexually assaulted and beat her so severely that an arm and hand were broken during her overnight detention. "I AM FREE," she wrote on her Twitter page just after noon local time....Can barely type -- must go xray arms after CSF [Central Security Forces] pigs beat me," she tweeted.
...
Eltahawy said that while she was in custody "5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers."
"They are dogs and their bosses are dogs. F*** the Egyptian police," she tweeted.

Some Springtime in Egypt...
virginity checks anyone?  http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/beware-new-egyptian-army-virginity.html

Lara Logan Here and media's hypocrisy HERE
mass rape and Eman al-Obeidy Video   HERE
and
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/06/Egypt.film.sexual.harassment/index.html

By the Way,
our own u.s. administration is allowing the taliban to abuse and kill women in the name of "a lasting peace" in afghanistan: more from PBS' special Women War and Peace Documentary HERE

footnote

**excerpt:

"...“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”

Wow; let's read that back:

 "But what did she expect would happen?" Ah, let's see ... 'gang rape by central security forces' is not the answer that immediately springs to mind.

There is so much wrong

 with Mr. Jaffar's response, it is hard to know where to start condemning it. Are we to understand that if Ms. Eltahawy _did_ have a press card, she would not have been sexually assaulted? Or perhaps she would only have been assaulted by people other than the Central Security Forces...? Anyone with a memory span exceeding that of a gnat will remember the ordeal of CBS reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by an Egyptian mob, in Tahrir Square, last February.

But here's the kicker:

 The societal reality underlying this event might be even more disturbing than the random sexual violence this attack appears to represent. Ms. Eltahawy penned an article in June of this year entitled 'These "Virginity Tests" Will Spark Egypt's Next Revolution' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests). Ms. Eltahawy's critique alleged and condemned state-sponsored sexual assaults in downtown Cairo four years ago that targeted girls and women during a religious festival. Ms. Eltahawy claimed the police watched and did nothing. The same article also cited startling statistics that more than 80% of [Egyptian] women now say they've been sexually harassed, and more than 60% of men admit to having done so.

Most people, before this week, might have been forgiven for assuming that the attack on Ms. Eltahawy was an aberration, rather than reflective of current norms in Egyptian culture. So what do we make of Mr. Jaffar's bizarre statement? Are we to now understand and accept that gang rape is acceptable as par for the course in Tahrir Square (the shining symbol of Egyptian democracy)? Should sexual abuse be expected by any reporter as a natural risk to be assumed when covering the Arab Spring ..."

read more at the original blog: http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/11/you-say-you-want-revolution.html

large interactive middle east map site: http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htm  and excerpt:"...Bashar Assad and the Mysterious West - Is there any reason why only the Syrian regime is allowed to massacre its citizens, while everyone is silent? Scenarios for Egypt - The Egyptian revolution might be the birth of democracy, but it will probably be something else..."

middle east map  and asia

the following two maps are from a most interesting website: http://www.oilempire.us/new-map.html

an excerpt: "...The most important way that elections in the US are rigged is not voter disenfranchisement, touch screen voting machines or tampered software in ballot scanners, but media manipulation of public consciousness about the candidates....also the differences between the ostensible level of politics (the three branches of co-equal government and the other nonsense taught to us in school), and the "deep politics" of how the military industrial intelligence complex really works...  "

Mideast headlines,

virginity checks, so called arab spring? last night on Washington Week, Gwen ifill's guest stated that the egyption mobs are not so cohesive now, that before, the Muslim Brotherhood was about getting rid of The Dictator, and [feigned] democracy-- now it is their one chance at taking the election so they are splitting off.

What a big fat surprise! You are kidding me right? People were stating this clearly a year ago and were laughed off by all the SmartyPants. Can you say, Caliphate?  http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/11/saudi-journalist-its-not-the-arab-spring-but-the-muslim-brotherhood-spring.html

http://news.investors.com/Article/592569/201111221846/arab-spring-egypt-obama-muslim-brotherhood-al-qaida-gadhafi.htm?src=HPLNews

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/human-a-civil-rights/hrw-condemns-militarys-reluctance-to-investigate-virginity-checks-case.html

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/111121/against-all-odds-%E2%80%98virginity-test%E2%80%99-victim-awaits-her-v

excerpt:"

CAIRO — Samira Ibrahim, who pursued legal action against the Egyptian military for allegedly forcing her to undergo a ‘virginity test,’ anxiously awaits the verdict of the State Council on November 29.
Five human rights organizations are supporting her case against the military and the case garnered interest in the international media.... Ibrahim remains persistent in her fight to make sure no Egyptian woman will be coerced by the army to go through ‘virginity testing,‘ which her lawyers argue constitutes an unlawful sexual assault under both Egyptian and International law.
“I know the odds are against me,” Ibrahim admits.
Ibrahim was among 17 girls who were detained on March 9 during protests in Tahrir Square. “I was beaten, electrocuted, and forced to strip naked in front of male officers,” Ibrahim fights back tears as she recalls the four days she spent in military prison....While Ibrahim’s battle has received adequate attention in international press, local Egyptian media has given the 25-year-old little to no coverage. “It breaks my heart that international outrage over my case is stronger than that of my fellow Egyptians,” Ibrahim says.
In the moderate yet conservative Egyptian society, a woman's honor is directly related to her virginity. Anything that interferes with that – even if the woman herself is not at fault – can become a liability for herself and her family. So it remains too sensitive to publicly and openly discuss issues such as virginity checks, sexual abuse and rape.
“Society does not accept such things being aired in public because they consider it too personal and too private,” explains Hafsa Halawa, an Egyptian lawyer....Violations against women are therefore hugely underreported in Egypt -- one recent report from 2003 found as many as 98 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are not reported to authorities.
This notion is hardly restricted to Egypt, however. Social taboos and safety fears prevent many abused women from seeking help, and underreporting of sexual assault and rape by women is a global phenomenon ... The female activists were detained on various charges they maintain are false, one of which was violation of curfew – lawyers said the girls were detained at 3:00 pm and there was no curfew at the time...."

Discussion of Extremism vs "Moderate"  HERE

Penn State Men in Power Sexually and Psychologically Abusing Boys: What’s Wrong With That? Sports, Evolution and “Morality” (Joey, did ya ever hang around a gymnasium?)

(Never before—maybe Gladiator Rome—have sports been so Adored.)

Modern Theories of Evolution have taught us that we are at core, soulless globs of molecule conglomerates. Yea, verily we are at the Top of the Glob Heap, complication/evolved/adaptation-wise, but globs of self-perpetuating atoms nonetheless.

Penn State Students

Rioting video

and story links click HERE

There is no “earthly” reason why a globule can not be absolutely selfish. Particularly if a huge mass of globules create a support structure, the evolved sociopath trips across the ocean of drones, spreading its seed, maintained in a solitary journey of manipulation and charm and theft and betrayal and objectification of every being—oops, soulless mass-- they encounter.

Where there are no myths such as a “Universal God” or “Good” “Evil” “Absolute” “Judgment”—the Crown Jewel of Evolution is Passing Along the Genes, Hitler is Evolution’s Genius, and Powerful Men should take whatever they want. Survival, nay, Rule of the fittest.

Sports in the Modern Day was not always Centerpieced on the Altar as it is today. There was a time when sports embodied certain “principles” which are now laughed at, scorned to shame. When KSU Football Coach Bill Snyder responded to a player being investigated for sexual assault during the Fiesta Bowl, he responded with a heart-wrenching letter to the community in which he stated that “…I do not condone any form of sexual abuse or for that matter, sexual activity for young unmarried males and females…”
That sort of expectation, of honor, of “morality” is falling away, almost gone.
Mating for life. Like the higher forms of life...
The Rule of Sports has slowly been wrested away from men like maybe your Dad—honest and filled with integrity (integrity to the point that it pissed you off when you were a teenager) (and my Dad would still be upset if he saw me use the word “pissed” –I remember playing in a softball game in junior high where a parent yelled the phrase “pissed off” and my father went over to let him know that kind of language should not--would not-- be used in front of us girls.) "Why yawanna talk like that?" he'd ask quizzically...

I remember in the blockbuster movie Airport, with Burt Lancaster and Maureen Stapleton and Jean Seberg and George Kennedy and the suave Dean Martin was having an affair with a cute stewardess, it was one of the first grown up movies I saw and my emotions were stretched by the amazing power of Van Heflin –sacrificing his life for his wife’s future… and after the movie my father processed the movie with us kids to make sure we understood that no matter how much the plot made it seem like Dean Martin should drop his loving old wife for the hot young stewardess—now pregnant—it was in fact adultery which was “Wrong” …to be avoided...don't ever do it...
Ironically,
the hilarious spoof of that movie, Airplane,
has as some of its most famous lines: a Grown Man in power
asking
an 8-10 year-old boy in the cockpit of the airplane,
“Joey, You ever been in a cockpit before?”
--No sir, I’ve never been in a plane before.--
“You ever seen a grown man naked?”
“Joey, did ya ever hang around a gymnasium?”
“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”
“Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”

Sports is the Secret Drain. Money, Power, Influence. Desire. Access. College, Junior College, High School, Junior High School, Grade School, Kindergarten—the influence of sports curriculum is there.
The money in sports must be unimaginable—but it is the
Power that is the Prize.
Testosterone likes to have its way.
Its purpose perhaps is to take, to dominate.
The Yang without the Yin is Brute.
The Yin without the Yang is soft to the point of dissolving.

The Yang without the Yin is like the structure of the universe without its soul.
Evolution without the Spirit is doomed to selfishness –self-propagating sociopathic self-pleasing in the end. Flesh and Blood is slavishly given to indulgence; those in power actually live a “brutish life in a rather more exquisite manner…” (A. Goodier, The Meaning of Life p. 16)
If you believe in modern soulless random mathematical evolution, there is nothing “wrong” with Sandusky’s behavior. You may not like it, but it is not “wrong”
-Don’t Be So Judgey!!
 Who are you to judge Sandusky, or anyone else!
If there is no such thing as absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil, sin and redemption, there is no “moral reason” that whoever is the Fittest should not take what s/he wants. As cowards they might lie to avoid “dis-grace” but will defend what they do.

The other globules may try to limit your behaviors—whatever. They may try to limit the effect of your actions on the group—ok. [Although, the sociopath provides for many many jobs in our society—so many of the helping professions—criminal response, addictions, depression, child abuse, health, traffic, family services—the list is endless. The sociopath also provides us with the life lessons of pain and suffering, the Downs that some say make our Ups so much better… yada yada.]

Why is mean, ugly, violence so en vogue? At the KSU men’s basketball game last night, during the chant where the Crowd yells, “We…Are…Wildcats!” a large section of students near me were adding a four-syllable obscenity in between, yelling at the top of their voices, “We Are The M…..F….Wildcats!” Sadness for the four children standing in front of me (always sit behind tiny peeps at a BB game…)

Why have sports become Dirtied Up, Nasty, like Territorial Pissings from angry wounded animals? Bad parenting? Video Games that teach our children to rape, murder and torture? The desire to be Gangsta, to be Badass, to be Chuck Norris but with video game heartlessness added and without the integrity of Superman.

Why can’t they just be Wildcats? Why do the have to be M..F.. Wildcats? When did we move from Beauty to Porn -From kindness and compassion to entitlement and demands? From John Kennedy, “Ask not… Well you know the answer. Don’t you?

I wish, when the other team was introduced, the Kansas State University Student Body would find clever ways to react. What if the entire crowd fell dead silent but clapped politely?
What if when KU comes to play basketball here, when each player is introduced, we all yell, “Good luck Brian!” or “Hello Jimmy!” That would do more to freak them out than yelling snotty stuff anyway.

Answer me this.

Why did/do/will powerful successful men like Jerry Sandusky who have everything rape little boys and girls?
Why do those under or over them like Joe Paterno not report it?
Mike McQueary says he stepped in and stopped the felony-- would most people do that? What if it was not their own child?
Do you have the courage to step in? What about report to police?
Why do Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger, and thousands of others get away with rape? Why are there millions of girls and boys and women trafficked over the globe in the past decade for sexual torture, for the pleasure of grown men?
When will those who know what is going on—you and I, actually demand that something be done to stop the insanity?
(Who do we demand it to? Is all lost?)

“Man cannot leave God alone…Man is too terribly convinced of God for God not to Be or to Matter…” (A. Goodier)

So are you a hypocrite or would you call the police on your best friend of father?


The corruption, or the sadness: Why is the prosecutor who would have taken on the case missing and now declared dead?
abcnews.sandusky-investigator-center-mystery
Were children handed to large donors? businessinsider.com/2011-11-10 child-molester-madden-claims-jerry-sandusky pimped boys
Penn state post 1 here and post 2 with the grand jury testimony HERE

Wendy Murphy's Column  about institutional cover-up  HERE
excerpt:
"...Paterno bears some of the blame because he knew there were multiple incidents and he never did anything to protect the victims. After McQueary told him of the 2002 attack, Paterno told Penn State’s athletic director, Tim Curley, what McQueary saw, but he didn't tell police or child welfare authorities. And for reasons that remain inexplicably unclear, Paterno remained close personal friends with Sandusky after 2002 and continued to serve on the advisory board of a foundation, set up by Sandusky in 1977, to provide mentoring for boys from troubled families. The foundation gave Sandusky access to the vulnerable children he groomed for sexual victimization.
Though too late and self-serving, Paterno is the only one from Penn State thus far willing to acknowledge that he was wrong. He announced his resignation this week and was formally relieved of all coaching duties for the rest of the 2011 season amid tearful expressions of shame and guilt for not doing more. It was a good step in the right direction but Paterno’s contract was up anyway and his resignation should have no bearing on our collective willingness to hold other responsible adults accountable.

Two individuals who deserve far more blame than Paterno are Tim Curley and the university’s Vice President for business affairs (otherwise known as the risk management guy) Gary Schultz, who were told about the rape in 2002. Neither man reported the crime to outside authorities though they did take away Sandusky's keys and forbid him to bring children to the university.
Schultz and Curley now stand charged with failing to report child abuse as well as perjury for lying to the Grand Jury about what they knew. They claimed, under oath, that Paterno told them the 2002 incident involved only harmless horseplay. Paterno, by contrast, testified that he told both men the incident involved sexual abuse. The Grand Jury concluded that Curley and Schultz lied, no doubt because they found it hard to believe Paterno would have felt compelled to report to Schultz and Curley an incident involving only harmless roughhousing. It also makes no sense that if it were truly only nonsexual horseplay, school officials would have felt compelled to take Sandusky’s keys away and forbid him to bring children to campus...

Penn State and Joe Paterno's Biggest Sin Isn't in Showing Mercy; It's In Allowing the Malignancy to Live On.

Are you a hypocrite or would you call the police on your best friend Bob or your brother Jim or your dad, upon catching them in the act of an immoral felony?
Do you Destroy a man? Everyone's pointing fingers; are you squeaky clean? What do you let slide? Your brother who deals drugs in a neighborhood, a son who beats his wife in front of the children--you are calling the police,
Yes?
Or do you intervene, call a family meeting, confront the guy, etc etc.
If you spare a man, if you excuse a woman because of friendship, love, contextual circumstances--fine. But concomitant with that mercy is the responsibility to take custody. YOU are in lieu of the confinement of jail bars.
There must be an end to the behavior. No contact with children, for example. 'While i will not destroy you, it is now my responsibility to make sure you never never even have a chance to fall again.'

So if we abhor the first case of mercy (particularly if given by someone else) when there are traumatized victims involved, we simply Will Not Allow the freedom for the behaviors to continue. There is no  logic, love, justice or meaning in that. There must be a deep heavy sense of the weight of Godness--I'll keep your evil quiet, but you gotta be sorry and stop doing it.

being generous,
Whatever acts of mercy occurred at Penn State-- when
the "rape of a boy"
became
"inappropriate abuse"
then
"shower horseplay"
as the cover-up moved up the chain--
Paterno and others
did not corral and quarantine the filthy mutation of
taking pleasure in the destruction of innocence.

[And if you believe in Soulless Evolution, should you not be advocating for the euthanizing of such mutant globules--these troublemakers? If we are just lovely collections of coordinating atom clusters, why not excise the freak ones? Not "good" or "evil" as evolution would have it, i understand--just whatever the Jew du Jour is-- in  Cambodia, the intellectuals; in Germany the Jews and homosexuals, in China's wombs, the females-- the ottoman's Christians, the Taliban's Strong Women (you get the picture).
Just curious. ]
Full Grand Jury Evidence HERE