Forced Birth Improves The Economy? Armed “young, hot little girls on campus” Will Stop Rape?

Forced Birth Improves The Economy? Armed “young, hot little girls on campus” Will Stop Rape?

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There's just so much of this nonsense. As a woman, who's also raising a teen daughter, it's overwhelming and frightening. It's also disheartening when issues that directly impact over 50% of the country are dismissed as single-issue votes. Women do not view abortion or contraception as a "pet" issue. These issues directly affect our economy. Having a child is one of the biggest economic decisions for both men and women. If only we treated these issues with the same freak out we display when it came to a gas tax and tax cuts - and, make no mistake, abortion and contraception are a way bigger deal than things like the gas tax and tax cuts. Mainly because cutting/raising taxes won't make a damn bit of difference to a woman's (who's forced to give birth) economy. And yeah, I'm going to keep writing about women's issues, mainly because it's really all the GOP talks about. They link controlling women to every flippin' bill they pen. It's almost impossible to discuss anything the GOP puts forth without discussing women - and religion and gay people. All Republican roads lead to controlling sex.

Why Is Consent So Difficult To Understand?

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con·sent

/kənˈsent/ Noun Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something. Verb Give permission for something to happen: "he consented to a search by a detective".
Sometimes you come across an article that won't let you move onto other things.  Here's mine:
MARCH 22--A New York City man flying cross country with his 12-year-old son allegedly put his hand underneath the skirt of a sleeping female passenger and massaged her thigh, an act he later defended by telling the victim, “It’s not like I molested you. It’s not like I stuck my my finger in your pussy or grabbed your tits.” [...] As detailed in a probable cause statement, a few hours into the flight the woman took medication to help her fall asleep. About 40 minutes before arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the woman “woke up… to Zorse massaging her thigh underneath her skirt.” [...] When questioned by investigators, Zorse claimed that he believed the female passenger was “flirting with him, telling him he was attractive and he was a good father,” adding that he felt he had “bonded” with her. While copping to placing his hand on the woman’s leg for “approximately 30 seconds,” Zorse denied placing his hand up her skirt. He did acknowledge, however, that he “could have said something like ‘It’s not like I stuck my finger up your pussy or grabbed your tits,’” according to the probable cause statement.
Here's what really bothers me about this ugly, illegal incident.  Zorse confesses. Easily. He doesn't see anything wrong in what he did to a sleeping (NON- CONSENTING) woman because he believed "the female passenger was “flirting with him, telling him he was attractive and he was a good father,” adding that he felt he had “bonded” with her."  It's all about his feelings.  Those are his only social clues. Zorse determines what constitutes flirting.  He also determines what constitutes bonding.  He even decides that the conversation before the woman fell asleep progressed to the point where he could touch her. He had already granted himself permission.

BREAKING: Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict – Guilty

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Via CBS:
The accuser in the rape trial of two Ohio high school football players testified Saturday as the trial neared an end that she recalled drinking at a party last summer but could not remember what had happened when she awoke the next day naked in a strange house. Testimony in the four-day nonjury trial against Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond ended after the judge heard from the 16-old West Virginia girl and others in the juvenile court case. Judge Thomas Lipps said he would announce a decision Sunday. If found delinquent — the juvenile court equivalent of guilty — the two defendants could be held in juvenile jail until they turn 21, when they would be released.
(If you click on the link above, be sure to read the comments. Steubenville isn't our only problem.) For those of you not familiar with this case, I wrote about it here.

What’s Going On In Steubenville?

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I have been following the Steubenville rape story for a while, but I haven't written about it... until now.  This post won't be about who should face criminal charges - I don't know enough to make that call.  But what I do know is vile. If you aren't familiar with the story, the NYT has written an extensive piece.
Some in the crowd, which would grow to close to 50 people, arrived with beer. Those who did not were met by cases of it and a makeshift bar of vodka, rum and whiskey, all for the taking, no identification needed. In a matter of no time, many of the partygoers — many of them were high school athletes — were imbibing from red plastic cups inside the home of a volunteer football coach at Steubenville High at what would be the first of several parties that night. “Huge party!!! Banger!!!!” Trent Mays, a sophomore quarterback on Steubenville’s team, posted on Twitter, referring to one of the bashes that evening. By sunrise, though, some people in and around Steubenville had gotten word that the night of fun on Aug. 11 might have taken a grim turn, and that members of the Steubenville High football team might have been involved. Twitter posts, videos and photographs circulated by some who attended the nightlong set of parties suggested that an unconscious girl had been sexually assaulted over several hours while others watched. She even might have been urinated on.

Republican Senate Candidate: Pregnancy From Rape Is God’s Will

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FYI:  Todd "legitimate rape" Akin is not an outlier.  Rep. Roger "some girls rape easy" Rivard is not an outlier.  Sharron "make lemonade out of rape" Angle is not an outlier.  Paul "I agree with Akin" Ryan is not an outlier. As time goes on, I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that Republicans view the act of rape as god's will.  It's almost as if, and I hesitate to type this, but... it's almost as if they are casting god as the rapist.  It's like these guys view god as a Zeus-like figure.  It's like they are saying that despite the woman's wishes god has decided she should be pregnant so he sent a rapist to fulfill his will.

Evening Read

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Education historian Diane Ravitch on educational reform, The Big Idea — it's bad educational policy. NY Times columnist Frank Rich on why revisionists like Liz Cheney and Karl Rove must…