Insurers Drop Rape Victims Who Take HIV Meds - Politics News Summaries | Newser

Insurers Drop Rape Victims Who Take HIV Meds - Politics News Summaries | Newser

It's a Material World

We are at war. No, I'm not talking about Iraq or Afghanistan. I'm talking about a world war against women and children. Those human beings who walk this earth constantly reminded that they are not free. They are possessions, accessories, appointments, appurtenances, assets, baggage, belongings, chattels, effects, equipment, estate, fixtures, furnishings, furniture, goods, impedimenta, paraphernalia, province, real estate, settlement, tangibles, territory, things, trappings, tricks, wealth.

Even in the United States, where women represent more than 50% of the voting public, we find it difficult to stand up for ourselves and effect change that will make a real difference in our lives as mothers, workers, wives, girlfriends...titles which, in themselves, reinforce ownership.

State Rep: In Oklahoma, There’s A ‘Feeling That Women Aren’t Capable Of Making Reproductive Decisions’

In War Zones, Rape Is A Powerful Weapon

Nicole Kidman Addresses Congress on Violence Against Women

Body In Georgia May Be That Of Missing Florida Girl

Action urged to curb child-abuse deaths: Report cites 35 percent rise, calls for more money and tougher oversight

The only solution is ideological change on a global scale, anything less is simply not enough.

This is the world we live in.

Don't our children deserve better?

C'est du jamais vu

"I have never seen such violence in my life. I swear that this is the first time in Guinea that we have witnessed women's bodies being treated as if they were battlefields. It goes against our culture and traditions. I'm horrified. We're all horrified," she said.
-Guinea Shaken By Wave of Rapes During Crackdown, by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

The above article is horrifying. The events described occurred during military resistance to pro-democracy protests last month. I don't have the energy for any real attempt at commentary on this today but I will say that I am pleased that our Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has joined the chorus demanding accountability for these vile and dehumanizing incidents. Do I think that it will really matter? No, not today, and not even tomorrow, it's going to take a global paradigm shift to make a dent in the incidence of rape around the world...

That is Hot!

I was over at Joey's Pad and somehow got to thinking about Ewan McGregor. Which led me to thinking about people I think are hot! Of course, the earlier post I did today about Ian MacKaye didn't help much...Skyewriter just had to remind me of this hot Krishna dude that made my insides all warm and such. So, I thought I'd share my list of hot peeps with you.

Ewan McGregor


Not just dreamy but also a Jedi Master (you know what they say about a man's light saber!).

Edward Norton


From skinhead to superhero, this man rocks!

David Bowie


Yeah, I know I'm twisted, but the eyes...I cannot resist...

Jude Law


What can I say?

Willem Dafoe


Intriguing...or I'm hot for Jesus! Whichever...

My husband


What you cannot tell from this picture is that he has the bestest blue eyes...seems like a trend, eh?

Blast From the Past: Suggestion

Here's a clip of Fugazi performing Suggestion with Amy Pickering on vocals.



I like this song best when Amy Pickering sings it (no offense, Ian), a woman's voice to the lyrics makes my soul squirm. We women know that everywhere we go there's an idiot there saying to himself, or his buddy, "I'd tap that." I just watched one of those Chris Hansen-Dateline-predator shows last night and every single man said they didn't know why they came to have sex with a 13-year-old girl but we know why, don't we? There are men among us who will do anything to get their rocks off. I truly believe that the number of people (not just men) who will do something monstrous, given the opportunity is a lot higher than we would like to even think about.

Why can't i walk down a street free of suggestion?
Is my body the only trait in the eye's of men?
I've got some skin
You want to look in
There lays no reward in what you discover
You spent yourself watching me suffer
Suffer you words, suffer your eyes, suffer your hands
Suffer your interpretation of what it is to be a man
I've got some skin
You want to look in
She does nothing to deserve it
He only wants to observe it
We sit back like they taught us
We keep quiet like they taught us
He just wants to prove it
She does nothing to remove it
We don't want anyone to mind us
So we play the roles that they assigned us
She does nothing to conceal it
He touches her 'cause he wants to feel it
We blame her for being there
But we are all guilty

Every time I hear this song it just smacks me upside the head. Does it get any better? I saw Fugazi live in Boston sometime in the early 90s (probably '90 or '91). It was the kind of show a girl could go to by herself and not be scared that some punk was going to rape her in the restroom. It was important that everyone treat everyone else well, including in the mosh pit, otherwise the music would stop. Just like that, until Ian was satisfied that the idiots had realized that bully behavior just wasn't welcome.

Ian MacKaye is a man that is easy to respect. He is a man who never sold out to commercialism during a period of time when it seems everyone else in our world has. Including the politicians sitting fat in Washington DC allegedly representing us while in fact they are paid off by special interest groups with the sole goal of padding their own pockets. Ahhh, Ian MacKaye you are refreshing.



I tried to embrace the straight edge philosophy and still support that way of life, there are far worse things for young adults to get into. I was just too much of a beer drinker to spend any large amounts of time stone cold sober. The straight edge lifestyle took its name from a Minor Threat song that advocated a drug and alcohol free lifestyle. There are always those that can appreciate a good thing but cannot resist taking it even further.

In Charlottesville, MacKaye discusses the troubling evolution of straight edge from personal philosophy to humorless dogma. "People who beat people up for getting high are looking for a line to draw," he says. Militant straight edge became a dizzying game of one-upmanship--some punks even went so far "straight" (no drugs, no sex, no meat) as to become Hare Krishnas.
-Andrew Beaujon, Spin

Really, Hare Krishnas? The food was great, and free. I did always feel bad about leaving my leather Doc Martens on the shelves prior to entering the temple, but was always warmly embraced. While learning with the Krishna's I also met a wide variety of people including hardcore rockers and even once-popular television actors. Krishna Consciousness and straight edge hardcore was a match.

P.S. Some excellent vegetarian recipes can be found here.

Women (and Men) in the Military: DADT

Women were dismissed from the military for being gay at a greater rate than men last year, according to new statistics obtained by a California research group.
-CNN

Being a woman in the military is a tough gig. Not only are you reminded daily that you are substandard, though policy, standard operating procedure, attitudes of male members and the general public but being a woman in the military is a lot like being a lighthouse. You have a big light on your head that gets brighter and brighter with the preconceived expectations of your chain of command and your fellow service members.

The Pentagon will not go on the record about why the data has rolled out this way. So, I will have to go out on a limb and make a guess. I can think of two reasons that military women are disproportionately harmed by DADT:

1) The military attracts women who are not classified by society as feminine.
2) If a female member rejects a man's advances, she must be gay.

This reminds me of that old "joke"...a slut will screw everyone, a bitch will screw everyone but you. We can just add a little to the end, and a lesbian won't screw anyone.

The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash.
-Quote falsely attributed to Winston Churchill

The ironic thing is that even if the military were successful at eradicating GLBT and female service members from its midst it would still not eradicate so-called homosexual acts. Look at prisons, sodomy is rampant, homosexuality is rare. Take a peek at Afghanistan, homosexuality is forbidden in Islam and punishable by death however sodomizing boys and young men is a-okay (and I am not equating homosexuality with pedophilia). I agree that these men are not homosexual, they are merely using other men and boys as objects for sexual release whether the recipients consent or not (just as women have also been used since the arrival of human beings on the planet). It is simply a fact that anytime men live in close quarters for extended periods of time (or in the case of Afghanistan, women are inaccessible) both consensual and non-consensual sexual acts occur. So, to get back to the irony of DADT...DADT is directed at homosexual acts and (supposedly) not directed at service members who identify as homosexual (as long as they keep it to themselves) but in practice it actually attacks service members who identify or are perceived as homosexual and does nothing to curtail the, gasp, feared and reviled homosexual acts.

The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.
-§ 654. Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed forces

The problem is, as I have not very eloquently and probably not inoffensively illustrated above, straight men are just as likely (if not more likely) to engage in homosexual acts. So, while the military is kicking out qualified patriots they are keeping assholes who are merely looking for an object with which to relieve themselves...the world would be so much better if they just used a freaking toilet.

DADT is stupid, discriminatory and, yes, even dangerous. There have been homosexual acts for as long as there has been a military. That is probably only surprising to homophobic macho men but I think that the more homophobic and macho a man is the more likely he is to participate in rape regardless of his victim's gender. DADT also works to deter reports of sexual assault by victims, how can a young man report a sexual assault committed by another man if he fears he will be labeled as "homosexual" and discharged from the military? He cannot and thus he is denied justice and treatment. How many times has DADT been used to coerce a woman into unwanted sex? Once is too many times.

Some resources to learn more about sexuality and homosexual acts in the military:

Boys at Sea: Sodomy, Indecency, and Courts Martial in Nelson's Navy
Gay Men and Lesbians in The Military
"Rum, sodomy, and the lash": what the military thrives on and how it affects legal recruitment and law schools

Defense of What?

On October 1st, 2009, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota submitted an Amendment for consideration to the United States Senate. After consideration, the Amendment was agreed to with a vote of 68-30. That's good, this is an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that will prohibit federal defense contractors from receiving federal funds if they “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." What's totally not so great is the 30 senators that voted against it.

Why would a senator vote against this amendment?

Some options:

They are receiving financial incentives from these companies.

They think that women belong in the kitchen and those that dare to venture out get what they damn well deserve.

They think that these uppity bitches are just trying to make trouble.

They think that women are mere objects to be used.

I'd be interested in hearing each one of these 30 senators explain to Jamie Leigh Jones, and the other women who have been sexually abused by their freaking co-workers, why they voted against this amendment. Here are there names: Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS). Note that they are all Republican (big business always trumps real people, huh?). You can Call Out these senators here.

Defense contractors are a supreme waste of tax dollars. A) They are doing jobs that the military can do, B) they cost a whole hell of a lot more than the military, C) several of the companies have defrauded us in the past yet we still let them play, D) they are stupid assholes.

Some examples that point directly to option D:
Akal Security Inc.
Coherent Systems International Corp.
Combat Support Associates
KBR Inc.
Raman International Inc.
Wackenhut

Above, Wackenhut security guards at the embassy in Kabul...acting like stupid assholes on our dime.

Shame, Silence & Safe Haven

There is so much shame surrounding sex in this country that it is simply maddening. It is a shame that a 16-year-old girl will work to conceal her pregnancy rather than talk about it with her parents, with her school nurse/counselor/trusted teacher, and seek prenatal care (by the way, a woman can obtain prenatal care at Planned Parenthood).

Baby Found On Doorstep In South Fulton

The story is short but the most revealing aspects of this case are in the comments which reflect the views of the society surrounding the teen.

Many of the commentators mention the Safe Haven law as if the teen should have known (duh?). Have you ever seen any literature about the Safe Haven laws in your state? Perhaps you are like me, you have heard of such laws, have a general idea of what such laws entail but have never seen a definitive breakdown of how the law is applied in your state. As with all the other popular state laws, this one is not written nor applied the same in every state in which it has been enacted. In 2008, Nebraska and Alaska passed Safe Haven laws bringing to total to 50. Unless you live in Washington DC, there is a Safe Haven law in your state, and that's great. What's not so great is that the necessary information is not getting to the people who may actually benefit from the knowledge of these laws.

Below, an example of the ideology that works to keep pregnancy education and information from our youth.

Protecting Children - Jessica's Law

John Couey passed away on September 30, 2009 due to complications from cancer. He had already been sentenced to death in 2007 for the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunford in early 2005. Couey's extensive criminal record includes one prior sex offense against a child in 1991. He was sentenced to five years in prison and served less than two. Completing his sentence would not have prevented him from murdering Jessica but I would argue that the early release of an adult convicted of indecent assault against a child under the age of 16 really illustrates the true value that our society places on the lives of children.

Jessica's Law was passed in Florida in 2005 with the intention of reducing the ability of sex offenders to reoffend. The Jessica Lunsford Act was also introduced in 2005 at the federal level but was never enacted. Key provisions of Jessica's Law in Florida include mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring of adults convicted of "lewd or lascivious acts" against a child under 12 years old. Rape and sexual battery of a child under 12 carries life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Jessica's Law has been enacted across the nation with just a few states holding out.

The electronic monitoring is especially important. You see, John Couey was actually living at a residence other than the one he reported when he registered as a sex offender. Megan's Law ensured that sex offenders had to register and Jessica's Law followed it up to try to plug the holes that were missed. It is Jessica's Law where you find those definitions of how many feet away from a school a registered sex offender may reside, or ever physically be. The idea is that if we know where these offenders are every moment we can prevent, or at least reduce, the ability of an offender to reoffend.

These "reactionary" laws sound good on paper but are they really worth it? Jessica's Law in California has contributed to the situation in Antioch, California where Philip Garrido kept Jaycee Dugard for 18 years. Antioch is home to 122 registered sex offenders who have found residence in other cities impossible due to the residential restrictions enacted by Jessica's Law. At least we know where they are, right?

Let's take a look at Philip Garrido. He was a registered sex offender. Law enforcement knew where he was. They even visited his home in 2006 that he had children living in his backyard but officers did not bother to go into the home or the backyard to investigate. It's quite possible that with the supervision demands of 122 offenders that things slip. Recently, we also received news about a group of offenders camping in Georgia because they have no where else to go (Georgia's law prohibits convicted sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of areas where children gather). Unintended consequence to be sure, but we need to remember that if we force these individuals to far away we will cease to know where they are.



Garrido had previously been convicted of violently kidnapping and raping a woman in Nevada and received a sentence of 50 years, of which he served a mere ten (incidentally, Garrido nearly got away with this one too as the officer who first came upon the scene initially believed Garrido's assertion that he and his victim were merely lovers in a spat ignoring the woman's desperate pleas otherwise).

John Couey was also interviewed twice by police during the search for Jessica Lunsford and she was still alive the first time and may have been during the second. Surely, the police positively identified every person they spoke with and would have known that Couey was a sex offender. Is there any way within the law to increase scrutiny of sex offenders in an investigation such as the one that followed Jessica's disappearance in 2005?

Had Philip Garrido served his entire sentence he would not have been free to abduct Jaycee Dugard. But, again we see a little snapshot of the long-lasting ideas that the lives of women and children are inconsequential. Society frequently cheapens the effects of a sexual assault against a woman. It's as if they are saying to victims, "well, it didn't really hurt, did it?" Or even, as Whoopi recently said, "it's not rape-rape." I mean come on, why else do you have that hole there, you slut?

Reactionary laws are rarely the answer to our problems and some of these laws may even bring into question Constitutional issues. We need to find a better way to protect our children from sex offenders and I have a few small suggestions:

1. Pay attention to how we talk about sex offenses and especially the victims of these crimes. Really, does anyone else find it ironic that Woody Allen is defending Roman Polanski? Look at all the language surrounding Mackenzie Phillips' recent revelations.

2. Be specific in our terminology when labeling offenders, allow judges the ability to apply common sense to sentencing (i.e. remove mandatory sentencing guidelines) and use sex offender registries effectively. Wisconsin's age of consent is 18, there is an abundance of "Romeo & Juliet" sex offenders required to register in that state that do not belong in the same places as Philip Garrido and John Couey. There are more than 500,000 registered sex offenders across our nation, now many of these are "Romeo & Juliet" cases that should come off of the rolls thus relieving the burden on law enforcement (which would actually make our children safer)? Sex offender registries need to be reserved for those most likely to reoffend and the most dangerous. Get the public urinators off the list. Additionally, legislation in many states is unfairly slanted against GLBT people (think about sodomy laws, would consenting adults be guilty in your state?).

3. Most importantly, be a person that your child can talk to. I never told my dad about the abuse I experienced because I was afraid of how he would react. I did tell my mother. She called me a slut. I'm certain that additional children were abused because of my silence. Most abusers are known to the family putting the child in a precarious position. We see the monsters on TV but we need to remember that there are a lot of other monsters that never make it there and they are infinitely more dangerous. Additionally, I believe that if sex offenders are driven underground by increasingly restrictive residence laws they find themselves in an environment like Antioch, CA…where it's easy to reoffend.

4. I am also a fan of "family" restrooms and nearly have a panic attack any time I wait for my young son to emerge from the men's room. A repeat offender in my area accosted his last victim in a public restroom. My panicky response is natural but I know that my son is much more likely to be abused by someone we know rather than by some sicko stranger in a public place. In other words, he is much more likely to be abused by someone who is not on that list...

These are not enough but they are a start.

I referenced the following articles and websites for this post:

Jessica's Law Eyes Sex Offenders
House 1877: Relating to Jessica Lunsford Act
Florida Gets Tough New Child Sex Law
Convicted Child Killer Couey Dies in Prison
Florida Department of Corrections
How Jessica's Law turned Antioch into a Paedophile Ghetto
Whoopie Goldberg Defends Roman Polanski: 'It wasn't rape-rape'
Questions Arise on Monitoring of Sex Offenders
Hysteria Hits Home - Michigan's Unfair Anti-Sex Laws
A Sad Lesson in 'Know Thy Neighbour'