Month: November 2018

Two Sides of Sexual Assault

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The Two Sides of Sexual Assault

T.K. McNeil

Motivated Hashtags

Most hashtags are little more than shouts into the void. #MeToo being an obvious exception.

Most hashtags are little more than shouts into the void. #MeToo being an obvious exception

Most politically motivated hashtags are little more than shouts into the void. #MeToo being an obvious exception. The #MeToo movement is a social reaction against sexual harassment and sexual assault. Few hashtags, other than those associated with the “Arab Spring,” have had the same sort of real-world results.

Support the Victim

It is both interesting and disheartening to watch how the conversation and narrative has shifted on the issue of sexual assault. Mostly for the negative. I don’t think this says anything negative about the hashtag itself. Because the hashtag really is about supporting the victims of sexual assault.

Going Viral

Social media erupted sending the hashtag viral. The explosive growth in size and importance of the hashtag went beyond what was expected, or perhaps, even intended. The problem with a bandwagon is that anyone can jump on board. The most shocking turn, at least to me, was the statement that #MeToo is for “women and victims, not men and perpetrators.”

Empathy not Agreement

I can empathize with the frustration behind such a statement, particularly in the context it was first made. The answer was given in response to questions about what the movement will do to help any men unfairly accused of sexual assault. There is, however, a much deeper implication and assumption to the statement which is wrong, by which I mean incorrect, in a fundamental way.

It Just Takes a celebrity

Alyssa Milano used the MeToo in a moving video and Twitter question

Alyssa Milano used the MeToo in a moving video and Twitter question.

On 10/15/17 film star Alyssa Milano in response to the media uproar over the sexual assault and harassment charges against Harvey Weinstein tweeted the following: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted write “Me Too” in reply to this text”.

The Big Response

Within 24 hours social media was flooded with more than 12 million stories of sexual assault, and sexual harassment. #MeToo quickly became a way for users to talk about their experiences of sexual violence and just as importantly, stand in solidarity with other survivors. Despite gaining steam in light of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse case, this is not actually where the hashtag started.

Tarana Burke

The true progenitor of the phrase that would gain both fame and notoriety is African-American social and civil rights activist and community organizer Tarana Burke. Burke began using Me Too in 2006.

Tarana Burke, African-American sexual assault activist and civil rights organizer began using #]MeToo in 2006

Tarana Burke, African-American sexual assault activist and civil rights organizer began using #MeToo in 2006

Canada Too

Kelly Oxford is a Canadian humorist and blogger who in April of 2017 wrote a collection of essays in which she relates many of the worst things that have happened to her through her life in a funny self-reflective “When You Find Out The World Is Against You”, drew thousands of #MeToo replies within the first few hours.

Clearly a Creeper

Oxford’s accounts of sexual assault do not take a “men are evil” tone, which some #MeTooer’s have done. The closest thing is when she recounts a doctor, who was clearly a creeper, gave her an unnecessary breast exam when she was 14. The most egregious case, however, an attempted rape when Oxford was in high school, was stopped by the intervention of the assailant’s much smaller male friend.

Reasonable Reactions

Stories of intervention and help by men and boys are told far too rarely in the context of sexual assault. We all know at least one person who has been sexually assaulted. We also know at least one or more stories of men either intervening in the middle of an incident or supporting someone in the aftermath of an attack. Clearly, most men are appalled by sexual assault. Continue reading

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Newcomer

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AOC: The Newcomer

By Megan Wallin

An Emerging Star

No matter what your political leanings, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one to watch. She is the youngest woman ever elected to congress. Ocasio-Cortez was born in The Bronx, NY on 11/13/89 of Puerto Rican descent.

Political Upset

“Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,” began the political rocket ship of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary campaign. Not only did she win 77.92% of the vote to defeat 10 time incumbent Joe Crowley she did it spending less than $200,000. Contrary to Ocasio-Cortez Crowley spent $3.4 million dollars. The fact that she won was a huge surprise, but the margin of victory, in combination with her minimal spending, caused what can only be described as a political earthquake. She went on to trample her Republican opponent in the 2018 mid-terms by more than 72%. Those facts alone have made her an emerging political star.

Puerto Rican Ancestry

Some media outlets didn’t even bother mentioning her name, pre-election results, as if to imply that her chances were so slim it didn’t matter that she was running. A day before the primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had tweeted that “some journalists still refuse to say [her] name,” simply referring to her as Joe Crowley’s opponent. Some people attributed her win to political trends, while others noted that she was of Puerto Rican descent, and had huge support from the Hispanic community. According to New York times reporting, “Her strongest support came from areas that were not predominantly Hispanic.”

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Animal Cruelty Linked to Human Rights

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Animal Cruelty Linked to Human Rights 

By Michael Leonard Douglas

Animal cruelty a world-wide issue

The goal should be a balance in the ecosystem for all living things to thrive.  There is no justification for the barbaric cruelty that takes place daily on every continent. It does not matter whether a human is involved or an animal.  Animal-human right’s activists advocate for treating all animals humanely. Can you imagine the outrage if human beings were held in cages and tortured regularly or were hunted down by wealthy adventurers seeking nothing more than a photo-op with a corpse, or a trophy for their wall?  It is time that humanity finds the resolve to develop a plan that promotes co-existence with the rest of the animal kingdom. Where balance of land and resources put an end to animal cruelty.

Basic needs

Scientifically, human beings are animals. Therefore, when we talk about human rights, there is no real conflict with animal rights. Those most basic rights (needs) for all creatures are to live freely, have access to food and water, a comfortable shelter/habitat; and lastly, security from unwarranted threat and mistreatment. Animal cruelty is denial of any of these basic needs. When any one of these basic rights is infringed upon repeatedly the entire ecosystem is thrown out of balance.

View from the top

Since human beings are at the top of the chain and dominate every activity on the planet it is difficult to convince the global human population that we are equals with lesser animals. The term, “animal rights” was coined to give a voice to the millions of animals that face cruelty and slaughter every single day. There is no animal that is more intelligent than the human species and no species better able to launch and give voice to an appeal against animal cruelty than that carried on by its own species.

Links to animal cruelty and  family abuse

The link between animal cruelty and human rights is clear when we are willing to look at the evidence. Domestic abuse is not usually just an attack on one household member. The abusers target animals too. Most domestic animals that are mistreated are part of a paradigm of abuse. A study by the Animal Welfare Institute confirmed there is a connection between animal abuse, child abuse and domestic abuse.

Statistics are eye-opening

The Animal Welfare Institute study measured a strong connection between animal cruelty, child abuse, and non-ending domestic violence. According to their study, up to 72% of abused women reported a similar, if not brutal, abuse of their pets by their spouse or partner. The study shows that not only were the animals abused, but often killed in the process. In a similar study conducted nationwide, a staggering 84% of the people who reported domestic abuse also claimed that their pets were abused or brutally injured.

Animal Welfare Institute

Statistically there is a direct link between domestic violence and animal cruelty. The connection of these women (occasionally men) to their pets was found to be so strong that up to 49% of those reporting abuses chose to stay in the environment to protect their pets. These are shocking numbers and should be of great social concern. But is knowledge enough to turn social concern into social policy that safeguards both animal and human rights? A question not answered by the study was, is the cruelty toward the animals a characteristic trait of the abuser, or is it related to the human target of abuse and their relationship with the abused animal?

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The Revolution Won’t Be Live-Streamed

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The Revolution Won’t Be Live Streamed

By Trevor K. McNeil

 

I wrote a song today, I hope you like it……

The Revolution Won’t Be Live-Streamed

In this brave new world

we all have a voice/

Though not every woman

legally has a choice/

Social Media is the best invention,

though we’re still not big on intervention/

YouTube can be

a great place for learning/

How better to forget

forests are burning?/

When you’re feeling ill,

you can Netflix and chill/

Escape your fears for a while/

Like how the leader of America,

is really just a tall child/

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Oregon Team Battles Camp Fire at Paradise

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Oregon Strike Team #19 is in Paradise, California Fighting the Most Deadly Fire in California history. My friends from the North Coast make up this team of heroes. Thank you. We love you all so much, be careful, be safe. Amy Lenz my former co-worker shared these pictures. Please give to the California fire victims, both  human and animal. Team members include: Amy Lenz and Scott Welden (Knappa, Oregon), Ron Tyson and Aaron Smith (Olney, Oregon), Flint Helligso, Jeff Golightly, and Brent Saulsbury (Lewis & Clark, Oregon), and from Seaside, Oregon, Jenson Segui and David Rankin. The Oregon team joined the fight after an emergency request came from Emergency Management Services Compact (a state-to-state mutual aid system). North Coast Oregon Firefighters and equipment deployment could exceed two weeks.

Smoke from the California wildfires is being carried as far as Chicago, Illinois.

Amy Found This Survivor. A Cat Looking For A Human Friend.

Even in this dead zone Amy Found a Survivor. Hope she packs the little guy in her back pack. So Many Animals and People Have Died. Please support your volunteer fire departments around the country. They save lives.

 

EV: The Obvious Future

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EV: Electric Vehicles The Obvious Future

By D. S. Mitchell

*”Adoption of a new technology like EV’s (electric vehicles) may seem slow or look like it’s never going to happen, until it passes a threshold… and then it just takes off.” Reda Cherif for the International Monetary Fund

Slashing EPA Annual Budget by Over 30%

When Trump won the 2016 presidential election I knew the attack on the environment would move forward like a bulldozer in a butterfly garden. In Trump’s first year in office he pulled the United States out of the landmark Paris climate deal, paving the way for the continued reckless burning of fossil fuels. The Paris Climate Accord is non-binding on signers, but focuses on a global effort to hold the Earth’s temperature rise to fewer than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. The consequences of failing to limit greenhouses gases and thereby their destructive effects is a future most of us do not want to imagine.

High Jacking the Mission of the EPA

In March of 2018, Trump proposed slashing the EPA annual budget by over 30%.  Since 2017 the EPA has lost more than 700 employees, including 200 scientists. Meanwhile the disgraced and the now thank God departed, Scott Pruitt, wasted Agency money on a 24 hour security detail, expensive air travel, and sound proof booths for his office. Rather than protect the environment and work with the world to limit green house gas production this administration wants to subsidize coal, and ramp up oil exploration in previously protected wilderness areas and vulnerable off-shore sites.

EV Promises Reduced Air Pollution

Despite the bad news on so many U.S. environmental fronts there is good news in the automobile industry. Automobile manufacturer’s world-wide are committing to the EV.  They see the handwriting on the wall.  The governments of Europe, China, and India are committed to reducing air pollution. Part of that vision will be enabled by electric vehicles. The mass acceptance of the EV will consequently cut the production of fossil fuels and their consumption. Perhaps that is the reason coal, and gas producers are in such a hurry to mine and pump fuel reserves while they still have an opportunity. Because they, more than any other industry, recognizes the world is changing.

Horse and Buggy Days

There is a growing understanding that gas and diesel-powered vehicles will soon join the horse and buggy, and the dial telephone. New studies support a rapid acceleration process and a gathering  momentum of  the coming EV tsunami. Surprising as it may seem The International Monetary Fund and Georgetown University predicts that more than 90% of all passenger vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other wealthy industrialized countries will be EV by 2040. Some studies are even more bullish than the IMF projections. In fact, there are predictions that by 2030, ninety percent of all U.S. vehicles will be EV. That is a mere 12 years away.

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Whitaker: Who Will Watch The Watcher?

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Whitaker: Who Will Watch The Watcher?

Trevor K. McNeil

 

How Did This Happen?
It seems there never was an ancient Chinese proverb “may you live in interesting times.” A pity; because rarely has it applied more than now. The term “post-truth” was coined for the age of Trump but has moved quickly past “alternative facts” and “post truth” to the point of “post-irony.”

Life is Theater
“Post irony” is a descriptor used to refer to a type of comedy in which the line between the performer and their character is intentionally blurred. I can think of no better way to describe Trump’s America. It is also a way to explain what happened in the aftermath of the most electrifying Midterm election in American history.

Error Upon Error
King Trump finally made good on his long simmering threat to fire AG Jeff Sessions. True to form Trump managed to create more problems for himself and his administration by his new appointee choice. “Now how could that happen?” you ask, with a barely concealed smile. “By appointing a successor illegally,” I say, minus the smile.

Intent to Obstruct
This is not how it is supposed to work. By law and established norms Rod Rosenstein should have been next in line for the appointment. Numerous legal pundits are claiming Trump acted “unconstitutionally” by appointing Mathew Whitaker to succeed Sessions at the Justice Department, even if only “temporarily.” Whitaker had been Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff. He had never been confirmed by the Senate for such a primary job.

Please Repeat
What’s his Name Again? Matthew Whitaker, Matthew Whitaker, Matthew Whitaker, keep repeating it, like the license plate on the fleeing car after a hit and run, so you don’t forget it.

Out of the Shadows
Most of Trump’s appointees have been famous or infamous, in one way or another. Initially, Matthew Whitaker appeared to be a nobody, who came out of nowhere. Some suggested the “mafia enforcer” listings of central casting. To me; more an “over-buffed” steroid abuser.

Past Behavior
Looking at Trump’s recent track record, Whitaker’s relative obscurity could well have been an intentional move, particularly after a rolling round of scandals and brew-ha-ha surrounding Trump associates and appointees. Such strategic thinking was quickly dispelled as Whitaker’s life has come under intense scrutiny.

Hiding in Plain Sight
Not 24 hours had passed before the NY Times published an Op Ed by George Conway III (well-known DC attorney and Kellyanne Conway’s hubby) and Neal Katyal (former Solicitor General and esteemed constitutional law expert). The Times piece questioned the constitutionality of Whitaker’s appointment. The state of Maryland later asked a Federal judge to invalidate the appointment and install Rosenstein “acting” AG.

Just Give Us a Couple Minutes
By the time the Conway-Katyal Op Ed hit the streets the skeletons in Whitaker’s closet had started rattling and clattering ominously. The elevation of Mathew Whitaker to replace the fired Sessions has brought new and intense scrutiny to his writings, his speeches, his tweets, and comments made by him as a cable news commentator.

World Patent Marketing
Whitaker’s involvement with World Patent Marketing may lead to criminal charges. *In May 2018 World Patent Marketing was ordered by a federal court in Florida to pay a settlement of more than $25 million to defrauded clients and shutter their operations. There are continuing investigations into the actions of multiple board members.

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Mass Shootings, A Terrorism Problem

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Mass Shootings, A Terrorism Problem

By James Moore

A Borderline Distraction Won’t Help 

I live a few short miles away from where the Borderline mass shooting took place. Some people say it hurts more when it happens so close to home. I guess that depends who you are. For me, every mass shooting hits home.  Sandy Hook was gut wrenching.  Columbine devastating. But then so have all the others which consists of a list so long the names are becoming a blur. This is what happens when our leaders brainwash the ignorant into thinking we are under a terrorist attack from horrible things like caravans that must be stopped by building a wall. No border wall would have stopped the carnage in Thousand Oaks or any of our other mass shootings because the killers were all made in America.

Facts Are Pointless  

In the two decades since Columbine, the mass shootings have not stopped. We have all seen the statistics.  If you are of reasonable mind, they do  more than concern you; they make you demand we see changes made to decrease their likelihood in the future. If you aren’t, you think the Second Amendment  the most sacred words ever written and believe the only way to stop gun violence is by arming more good guys. 

Another Gun For A Good Guy

Our most recent mass shooter was a good guy. A decorated ex-marine who came home unable to cope with what he saw in battle. It’s safe to say if an NRA controlled congress can find the funds to build a border wall, they can find the funds to protect the likes of the innocent who were gunned down at the Borderline. Ah, but the GOP is not about compassion nearly as much as they are about fear and solving any problem with a show of force. No wonder mass shootings keep increasing. Our top down leadership is one that says if 300,000,000 guns are not enough to curb gun deaths, then we need to arm more people.

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Unemployment Numbers Won’t Help In 2020

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Unemployment Numbers Won’t Help In 2020

by James Moore

Not Done Yet

The 2018 Midterms are over.  Thank God!  Take a deep breath because the race for the White House starts right about now.  For Trump, this could spell trouble. For the first time in a long while the unemployment numbers were not a factor in the 2018 Midterms and may not be a factor in the 2020 national election.

Unemployment Lie 

The current unemployment numbers as released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a low 3.7 percent unemployment rate.  Trump has used this low rate to blow his own horn.  He also claims he has turned the economy around.  It’s a lie.  Keep in mind, the jobless rate has fallen at a consistent clip since January of 2010. Trump knows he inherited an economic turnaround of sorts, but it has always been a modest one at best.  The fact is, full-time jobs just are not what they use to be.  Depending on the definition one uses, there is a serious under-employment problem plaguing the nation.

Under-Employed vs. Unemployed 

There was a time when low unemployment meant most of the working class were working at jobs that paid a livable wage.  Today, many of the new jobs created are nothing more than low paying service jobs that need few skills. American wages still lag where they were before the crash of 2008. Complicate that with the increase cost of health care, the out sourcing of labor overseas, large tax cuts for the 1% without any expectation of them creating real jobs, and the result is millions of Americans do not earn enough money to live on. More workers today are forced to work a second and even a third job, just to pay their bills.  The result is that Americans are working more, have less money to spend, and no time to enjoy what they do make.

Real Numbers 45 Doesn’t Want Us to Know

In 2012, unemployment was at 8.1 percent.  However, when people who were working multiple jobs or who had stopped looking all together were factored in, the under-employment rate rose to 14.7%. * Last year, that rate was down to 12.5% even though unemployment was down to around 4%. ** In 2012, the total number of under-employed Americans was 23.1 million and as recently as 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported nearly half of U.S. workers considered themselves under-employed.

A Third of College Graduates Are Under-Employed

While half of the nation being under employed may seem a bit high, the New York Federal Reserve Bank put under employment for all college graduated American between the ages of 22 and 65 at 33 percent. That figure jumps to 44% for college grads between the ages of 22 and 27 as recently as October of this year.

The Military Industrial Complex 

The truth is, most of the jobs he is creating are in the military industry. Why?  I believe, it is because he wants to create a situation that allows him to go to war; so that our next election will be a referendum for him as a war-time president and against all those unpatriotic Democrats. After all, his wall won’t be built, racism will not be stamped, or in his case stomped, out, and the economy will be lack luster. Low unemployment numbers will not satisfy voters when their full-time jobs are not enough to pay the bills in 2020.

Education Deserves Blame Too 

As a retired teacher, I can tell you our public schools have played a huge role in adding to our under-employment problems.  Despite low unemployment numbers, millions of trades jobs sit unfilled. Schools have sold college as the only answer to a successful life.  This brainwashing of our kids has led to serious problems. Let me repeat, college is not the only or best road to a successful work life.  It is all lies. There are many fine trade jobs that our citizens could be trained for. It’s time we admit that college is not the end-all for every American.

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