The Devictimization of Rape

Recently, the charges of rape against the famous magician David Copperfield were dropped by federal prosecutors. The defendant came under investigation of prostitution and issuing a false statement to police officers regarding a seperate rape case against a Bellevue man. Evidence points to this women lying about the other rape charge in order to gain financially. This women's credibilty and integrity have been compromised, David Copperfield's reputation was tarnished, and a Bellevue man's life was at least temporarily thrown into chaos. However the real problem with this women deciding to lie about rape for financial gains is that it helps to undermine the progress that has been made in recognizing and helping legitimate victims of rape by casting a shadow of doubt over all cases.

Rape is a very serious crime. It can destroy the lives of those people that are victims of it and it can tear families apart. It can take years for victims of this especially haneous crime to recover from it, if they ever do. Lots of progress has been made in the battle to open the publics eyes to the seriousness of rape. This progress has also helped those victims of rape speak out against their aggressors. This progress is very important in the fight to end rape.

When people like the Bellevue women, lie about rape they work to undermine all this progess. Those people that currently deny rape or accuse women of being in the wrong are given more fuel to their already ignorant fire. Additionally, the backlash against this Bellevue can turn ugly and hate filled. Witnessing and hearing about this often ugly backlash makes it even harder for really victims to speak up.

It is very important to realize the problems this women created for the men involved by lying about rape. However, it is even more important to realize that she is one bad apple and not let this example detract from the important progress that has been made in the fight against rape. Real rape victims need all the support and help we can offer.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010775607_webcopperfield12m.html

Congressman Jim McDermott

Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott represents Washington’s 7th district in the United States House of Representatives. The 7th district encompasses much of Seattle and several of its southern suburbs like Tukwila and Burien. Dr. McDermott has been serving in Congress since 1988.

Jim McDermott was born in Chicago Illinois in 1936. He attended his primary and secondary schooling and college in Illinois. He graduated from Wheaton College in 1958 and then went on to medical school at the University of Illinois where he graduated in 1963. After finishing college Dr. McDermott served in the US Navy as a Psychiatrist.

In Congress Jim McDermott sits on the powerful Committee on Ways and Means. This is a very powerful committee because the committee’s main purpose is to write and propose taxes and tax related rules. He also chairs the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support and is a member of the Subcommittee on Trade.

One of the major issues Jim McDermott has a strong and long history supporting is healthcare reform in the United States. The pursuit of affordable and obtainable healthcare for everyone is of utmost importance to Congressman McDermott. He is quoted as saying, “providing every American with affordable health care coverage has been my top priority since the day I entered Congress.” He has come out in favor a universal healthcare, an issue that has been quite controversial in political chambers. On his website Dr. McDermott states, “America 's employer-based system is failing. Universal single-payer coverage is the ideal solution.”

Below is some important information about Jim McDermott’s past votes on important issues from ontheissues.org:

• Voted YES on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package
• Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation
• Voted YES on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons.
• Voted YES on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore
• Voted YES on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR
• Voted NO on authorizing military force in Iraq.

Sources:

US House of Representatives
On the Issues

Congressman Norm Dicks

The next national politician to be profiled here is Congressman Norm Dicks of Washington’s 6th district. Mr. Dicks was raised in Bremerton, Washington. After graduating high school he attended the University of Washington, where he received both his bachelor (1963) and law (1968) degrees. The Congressman got his start in politics as a legislative assistant to Warren G. Magnuson.

In 1976 Norm Dicks ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives representing Washington’s 6th district and won. He has been re-elected to that position every term since then. He has sat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee since his first term in 1976. This makes him the third ranking congressmen in the committee. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee he is a member of the Subcommittee on Defense and the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies and he Chairs he Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

As a Democrat, Representative Dicks considers himself a moderate. As highlighted by his sub-committee memberships, his two most visible issues are defense and the environment. He has used his position of the defense subcommittee to help keep defense related Boeing jobs existent and in WA. He has been one of the key players in the current Air Force tanker contract drama.

Important information about Norm Dick’s views on other issues includes:
• Voted NO on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror
• Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits about obesity against food providers
• Voted NO on building a fence along the Mexican border
• In 2002 he voted YES on authorizing military force in Iraq and then later after more facts had come to light, he voted YES on investigating Bush impeachment for lying about Iraq
• Has voiced support for a public option as a means to fix health care


Sources:
OnTheIssues.org
US House of Representatives
The Seattle Times

Recently, I realized that I personally know almost nothing about our state’s DC players. So this will be the first of several blog posts where I offer a synopsis of Washington’s United States Congressmen. I will offer a brief history of the person, their views and my opinion of them. Hopefully it will provide you with a little more information about them other then their political party.

Up first is Congressman Jay Inslee (D) of Washington’s first district. Congressman Inslee was born in western Washington in 1951. He graduates from Ingraham High School in 1969. He followed this by obtaining a degree in economics from the University of Washington in 1973 and then a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Williamette University in 1976.

Congressman Inslee is a 6 term US congressman. Interestingly enough though those terms have not all been in the same district. He first served in the US House of Representatives from 1993-1995 for Washington’s fourth district, which is located in central Washington. He has served in the first district since 1999. He currently sits on three Committee; the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

When it comes to the issues Inslee’s strongest and most outspoken issue is the need for clean energy. Jay has championed and backed numerous bills that support the development and proliferation of clean energy. Mr. Inslee also has a strong history of support for global warming prevention legislature. As mentioned before, he sits on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming where he can act to create laws that work to end global warming.

Important information about Jay Inslee’s views on other important issues includes:
•Congressman Inslee voted against the war in Iraq in 2002
•Ensuring that all citizens have access to affordable, quality health care has been one of his top priorities
•Jay Inslee supports the inclusion of a public option in a healthcare reform bill
•Voted against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
•Mr. Inslee voted against built a fence between the USA and Mexico

That concludes this brief overview of Congressman Jay Inslee. Hopefully all of this information was interesting and informative. Next time I will go over Congressman Norm Dicks.

Sources: House.gov Project Vote Smart

The Obama administration has made it a top priority to rework the American healthcare system and rightfully so. The current system is broken. According to the US census more then 43 million Americans went without health insurance in 2007. However, even more appalling then this is that more then 5 million children went without health coverage. These uninsured children are the most important statistic that must be corrected.

Children, especially those under the age of 16, rely on their parents or guardians to provide them with life’s necessities. However, when parent’s cannot or do not provide proper care of their children, society should step in to ensure their well being. In this case the necessity that society needs to provide, through government intervention, is quality health insurance for all children.

Quality healthcare is a necessity for children. It helps protect them while they are young and vulnerable allowing them to become productive members of society when they are older. Untreated health problems, like asthma or diabetes, in children can lead to serious problems later in life or even death. Quality preventative healthcare, while in your youth, also allow people to live longer more fulfilling lives.

Although President Obama’s lofty goal of making quality and affordable healthcare available is admirable, it is more important that we ensure that our children are protected. We need to insure that those who can not provide for themselves are looked after. We need to insure that our youth have a chance to become our future.

Why the President Should Fear Kim Jong-Il

The current state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula is frightening at best. The DMZ that separates North and South Korea is the most heavily militarized area in the world. If something or someone were to re-ignite the Korean War the consequences to that region and the world would be horrendous. So, with all the UN sanctions, missile building and general bad things happening in that part of the world I thought it would be a good time to sit back and reflect on some of the less dwelt upon reasons why President Barrack Obama should fear “The Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il.

The first thing about Kim that you should be aware of is how productive he can be when he set his mind to something. According to the BBC Kim managed to compose six operas in a two years span. This is a truly impressive feat. If you are not impressed, consider this, Mozart, one of the greatest classic composers of all time, wrote only 22 operas and that took him 24 years to complete. Imagine what Kim could do if he decided to focus that productive energy on something other then operas, say a nuclear missile that worked (instead of falling short and off course into the pacific). The United States could be in grave danger.

Next it should come of great alarm to you to learn of Jong Il’s other worldly hand eye coordination. Kim regularly displays this skill whenever he plays golf. According to official North Korean reports he shot 11 holes-in-one in his first attempt at the game and he averages 3-4 holes in one per game. Now a single hole in one is an impressive feat and it is often considered a purely lucky shot. 11 in one game obviously shows that he is one of the best golfers in the world. Barrack Obama should be terrified to learn of the North Korean Despot physical gift. If a golf game to determine the future of the free world were ever arranged the United States does not stand a chance.

Finally and probably the most scary thing about Kim Jong Il is, he is a puppet controlled by a tiny cockroach bent on world domination. How could the United States ever expect to kill Kim Jong Il if he is in fact an indestructible insect?!?!

Let us pray that the Dear Leader never has reason to utilized his amazing potential for destruction, or that this all turns out to be North Korean propaganda.

Sources: BBC, Time, Wikipedia and Team America World Police

Bible Lessons for the Coming Apocolypse

Apropos of potential worldwide influenza pandemic originating in Mexico and calling into question my potential travel plans by adding the pain of deadly mutated H1N1 flu strain to the seemingly endless ways a foreigner can imagine dying in Mexico (as of late, most involving the cartel), I refer you to the following biblical wisdom:

“And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.”

-Deuteronomy 14:8

Of course you can’t actually get swine flu from eating pork…nonetheless, I am bitter, and who better to take it out on than helpless pigs. Anyway, after you are all done stocking up on canned food and potable water, boarding up your windows, donning hazmat suits, loading your shotguns, freaking the fuck out and otherwise preparing for the coming end of days, please feel free to enjoy the following pig related media.

Wikipedia List of Notable Pigs

I Want My Cigars

The Cuban embargo is a bit outdated. Close to 20 years after the end of the cold war, Americans are still restricted from trading and visiting the island nation. These restrictions hamper the import of Cuba’s two most important resources into the USA, cigars and baseball players.

The Cuban embargo was put in place in 1961 in order to try and drive Fidel Castro from power by forcing economic hardship on the populace. The embargo has worked so poorly that Fidel Castro did not lose power until 2008 when he voluntarily stepped down from the presidency because of health issues. In fact Fidel Castro’s reign in Cuba was so unobstructed by the embargo that it lasted through the terms of 9 American presidents.

Although it has failed to cause political change, the embargo against Cuba has succeeded in placing hardship on the majority Cubans. Financially these hardships can be seen when comparing the minuscule GDP per capita in Cuba of only $9,500 (2008 est.), to the United States’ $47,000 (2008 est.). The hardships that many Cubans suffer are also apparent when the 2,656 Cubans who tried to sail into the USA from Cuba in boat, tires, and bathtubs are considered. Obviously Cuban is not a very great place if people are so desperate to get away.

Cuba still has a dismal record in the area human rights and that should not be forgotten when dictating foreign policy against them. The United States government should consider alternatives that place the burden of the sanctions or the government not the people. It is time for the ineffective US embargo against Cuba to come to an end.

Sources: CIA World Factbook, Whitehouse.gov

Goodbye PI, and Someday Possibly Journalism

On Tuesday March 17th the final print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer was published. This marked the end of printing for the city’s oldest newspaper, which was 146 years old. The PI is survived by a much smaller online version of itself, Seattle’s other daily newspaper, the Seattle Times, and several smaller local papers like the Stranger.

The end of the PI comes of no surprise to most people as the newspaper has been in financial trouble for months and had been put up for sale on January 9th. According to Hearst Newspapers the PI lost $14 million dollars last year. The major financial losses for the paper were driven by the continual increase of readers switching to the online format instead of paper, and the decrease of ad revenue because of free online alternatives.

The closure of the PI highlights the general path the journalism in America is heading. Like the PI other print newspaper are struggling financially from similar symptoms. According to the Department of Labor, in 2008 more than 22,000 newspaper jobs were lost. Instead of paying for print newspapers or magazines, citizens prefer to get there news from free online sources like blogs and online newspapers. Who can blame them, why pay for something when you can get it legally for free?

The problem is that along with the decline in newspapers comes a decline in the quality of journalism and reporting offered. Blogs like this one make it easier than ever to get opinions on subjects published, but without newspapers (and customers) to pay journalists it becomes harder and harder to uncover new and important story lines.

In Time Magazine, Walter Isaacson argues that to save newspaper’s and journalism new and innovative sources of revenue are needed. Isaacson suggests that a pay per view or online subscription fee by implemented. In the pay per view system a small fee, 2-10 cents, would be charged for reading an article. The online subscription fee works just like it sounds, a repeated subscription fee is charged for access to online content.

So as newspapers at home and around the country change how and if they charge for their content remember the Seattle PI and don’t immediately recoil in fear.

Sources: Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Time Magazine

New antisemitism?

Howard Jacobson of The Independent writes:

"In the early 1940s some 100,000 Jews and Romanis died of engineered starvation and disease in the Warsaw Ghetto, another quarter of a million were transported to the death camps, and when the Ghetto rose up it was liquidated, the last 50,000 residents being either shot on the spot or sent to be murdered more hygienically in Treblinka. Don’t mistake me: every Palestinian killed in Gaza is a Palestinian too many, but there is not the remotest similarity, either in intention or in deed – even in the most grossly mis-reported deed – between Gaza and Warsaw.

Given the number of besieged and battered cities there have been in however many thousands of years of pitiless warfare there is only one explanation for this invocation of Warsaw before any of those – it is to wound Jews in their recent and most anguished history and to punish them with their own grief. Its aim is a sort of retrospective retribution, cancelling out all debts of guilt and sorrow. It is as though, by a reversal of the usual laws of cause and effect, Jewish actions of today prove that Jews had it coming to them yesterday.

Berating Jews with their own history, disinheriting them of pity, as though pity is negotiable or has a sell-by date, is the latest species of Holocaust denial, infinitely more subtle than the David Irving version with its clunking body counts and quibbles over gas-chamber capability and chimney sizes. Instead of saying the Holocaust didn’t happen, the modern sophisticated denier accepts the event in all its terrible enormity, only to accuse the Jews of trying to profit from it, either in the form of moral blackmail or downright territorial theft. According to this thinking, the Jews have betrayed the Holocaust and become unworthy of it, the true heirs to their suffering being the Palestinians. Thus, here and there throughout the world this year, Holocaust day was temporarily annulled or boycotted on account of Gaza, dead Jews being found guilty of the sins of live ones. Anti-Semitism? Absolutely not. It is 'criticism' of Israel, pure and simple."