It's not raining, no earthquakes, no floods, no ice, no hail. What's up? Check out the Solar System Simulator.
After a hard day of playing in the mud and trying to get the yard in shape, sometimes a person just wants to go to the closest hamburger joint and get some food. When you're filthy and dirty and you have mud all over you, it's also nice to talk to a person who is nice. So I went to a Dairy Queen. The people were nice and friendly and they didn't care that I looked like hell. It's near the Thriftway at 17675 SW Farmington Rd in Aloha, Oregon.
By the way, the Dairy Queen has really cool ice cream.
This Dairy Queen even allows neocon Jews inside. Just between you and me, I would never allow neocons to eat ice cream, because you never know what might happen when you let neocons near something cold. And, of course, you got them damn Jews conspiring to control all the ice cream. I swear to God, between them damn neocons and them damn Jews trying to control all the ice cream, the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.
As many people are aware, Cathy Winters, as a favor to the psycho Roger Weidner/Victor Oekerman gang, set me up to be stabbed and beaten. It took me a few months to get over that.
What's really bizarre is that Roger Weidner and other members of the gang were able to convince a couple of my relatives that I deserved to be stabbed and beaten. Of course a couple of my relatives were also convinced to become Christian Patriot/Sovereign Citizens.
At the moment a couple of my relatives, my father, mother and sister are part of the Weidner gang's domestic terror network in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh! Agassi lost.
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) - Andre Agassi was beaten at the Nasdaq-100 Open for the first time in four years, losing 6-2 7-6 to Argentina's Agustin Calleri in the fourth round.Agassi has won the title in Miami six times, including the last three years, and Calleri's win snapped a 19-match winning streak the American had compiled at the tournament.
You know what, though? It's just one loss. No big thing. I will continue rooting for him and I will continue watching him play tennis simply because he is a lot of fun to watch. And he's an American!
Jack has a post that leads to this post by RoguePundit. RoguePundit says in part, and I'll put it below and and I'll put it in italics:
Domestic violence statistics are always a depressing read.
One in 10 Oregon women ages 20 to 55 have been physically or sexually abused by their intimate partners during the past five years, a new state report revealed Monday.More than half of those assaulted suffered serious harm, including broken bones, internal injuries, head injuries, cuts or knife wounds, according to a survey of nearly 3,000 Oregon women conducted by the state Department of Human Services.
More than a third of the physical attacks and 20 percent of the sexual attacks were witnessed by children, the report showed.
"This is a pretty prevalent problem and one about which there is a fair amount of denial," said Mel Kohn, DHS epidemiologist.
Domestic abuse is all about power, total control. Yet, those manipulative, controlling folks see themselves as victims. They usually have low self esteem, and their partner is part of their identity--their sense of self. They are in major denial about their actions and motivations.
This is the way the cycle of violence (regards physical abuse) generally works, and domestic rape tends to be similar:
Build-Up Phase - The tension builds.Stand-Over Phase - Verbal attacks increase.
Explosion Phase - A violent outburst occurs.
Remorse Phase - You shouldn't have pushed me, it was your fault!
Pursuit Phase - It will never happen again, I promise.
Honeymoon Phase - See, we don't have any problems!
In 70 percent of domestic violence cases, a man who beats his wife also beats his children. Domestic violence also replicates itself; 20-30 percent of abused children grow up to be abusive adults.
When abuse is less severe, occurs before adolescence, and happens over a short period of time, the victims are much less likely to become abusive parents. Also when only parent has abuse the child and when the other parent provides a supportive relationship, the child is less likely to abuse as an adult.
Back to the original article.
Generalized to the larger population, the findings of the intimate partner violence study indicate that more than 85,000 Oregon women were hurt by their spouses or lovers during the past five years.About 30,000 women — 3 percent of the population —were sexually or physically attacked by their partners in the previous year.
The study showed that 98 percent of women were involved in heterosexual relationships; 2 percent were in lesbian relationships, Kohn said.
The experts brings up that there can be homosexual relationships with spousal abuse issues, then fails to follow through with data. Would have been interesting to know.
"I’m sure we keep up with the rest of Oregon," said Maggie Jordan, managing director of victims’ services for Community Works of Medford. "I can just tell you that the shelter has been full for a long time. We’re constantly trying to keep up with the need."Community Works runs the Dunn House domestic violence shelter, a 32-bed center that serves about 500 women and children each year.
The Oregon study, part of a $400,000 federal grant aimed at tracking intimate partner violence, revealed several striking findings:
Less than two-fifths of seriously injured women received medical care. Of those, about one-quarter of the physical assault victims and nearly half of the sexual assault victims did not tell their medical providers how the injuries occurred.
Women who were hurt averaged eight physical assaults and a dozen sexual assaults over a five-year period.
Women whose partners had threatened them with violence during the past five years were 40 times more likely to report that they had actually been assaulted.
After adjusting for other factors, American Indian women were four times more likely to report violence at the hands of their partners than other Oregon women.
Women who reported violence during the past five years had higher rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse.
Earlier in the article, it was noted that over half the women physically or sexually assaulted suffered serious harm. Yet, less than 40 perent of domestic abuse victims receive medical care. That's sure a sad fact. Worse is how the statistics above show that domestic violence isn't usually a one-time event...abused women averaged 8 physical assaults and a dozen sexual assaults in the 5-year period. I'd wager they feared for their safety far more than an average of 4 times per year.
Note that threats are a strong indicator of future violence. We need to work harder at educating the public--maybe starting in high school--about the warning signs of abuse and the clues one's family history can provide. We need to destigmatize counseling for potential abuse and get more people to (privately) seek expertise regards their potential for such violence (either as perpetrator or victim). What society is doing right now to reduce domestic abuse is far better than nothing, but there's sure a long ways to go.
"The impact of intimate partner violence extends beyond physical injuries," Kohn said. "Many Oregon women suffer long-term consequences of past abuse."In Jackson County, as elsewhere, between 92 and 95 percent of intimate partner violence is committed by men against women, Jordan noted. Although resources have been constantly aimed at the problem for decades, intimate violence endures, she said.
"Something must be in place in society that allows that to continue," she said. "I’m not a man-basher, but I think there’s such an acceptance of the fact that men rule the roost."
State and local advocates said medical providers are uniquely positioned to identify domestic abuse and to provide treatment and services. In addition, they called for continued vigorous community attention and involvement.
"This is a problem 10 times more common than the incidence of breast cancer among women with nowhere near the resolve to solve it," Kohn said.
Most of the domestic abuse resources are reactive versus preventative. "A battered woman will return to her abuser eight or nine times before leaving for good." So, good reactive services are essential (women's shelters are too often full of victims). But, let's increase the educational efforts...there will be no end to victims if we don't stop abuse before it starts.
And if we're going to man-bash, let's do it to someone deserving. How about this sick humor from a few years ago, effective (though disgusting) because there's a grain of truth to it.
"But if you can't rape your wife, who can you rape?"Senator Bob Wilson, Democrat, California, 1979
Of course, he's missing the big sociological perspective and it is this:
We're suffering an epidemic of violent assaults against people.
Myths vs. Facts - Myth: Sexual assault is an infrequent crime that effects a small number of people in the United States.Fact: According to survey research, one out of every four women in the United States will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. Sexual assault is a crime that affects nearly 25% of the women in our culture. If you know more than four women you probably know someone who has been raped.
Campuses are more dangerous than inner-city neighborhoods.
RAPE STATISTICS· In the U.S., 1.3 women are raped every minute. That's 78 rapes per hour.
· 1 out of every 3 American women will be assaulted in her lifetime.
· 1 in 4 college women have either been raped or suffered attempted rape.
· 78% of rape victims know the attacker.
· Rape has a devastating impact on the mental health of victims.
· 31% of all victims develop Rape-Related Post Traumatic Disorder (RR-PTSD) sometimes in their lifetimes. Based on U.S. Census reports on the number on women in the United States, 1.3 million women currently have RR-PTSD, 3.8 million women have had RR-PTSD and roughly 211,000 women will develop RR-PTSD each year.
· Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police. In a survey of victims who did not report rape or attempted rape to the police, the following was found as to why no report was made. 43% thought nothing could be done. 27% felt it was a private matter, 12% were afraid of police response, and 12% felt it was not important enough.
There is one little problem with all the info I posted above. None of it is based on verifiable empirical research and almost all of it is propaganda spewed out by special interest groups seeking to use false data to obtain financial remunerations and/or political power.
RoguePundit should do more research before RoguePundit becomes a conduit for mindless propaganda for groups with ulterior motives.
There's more info about the above false data here.
Donald Sensing has a great post about "Islamic terrorism" against the West. I've tested the link to the post and I can't seem to get it to work properly, so I'm copying a copy of a cache of his post onto this website. I sure hope Blogger can get over these little glitches. I'm sure they will. But in the meantime I've put his whole post below...in italics.
By the way, Donald Sensing has had quite an interesting life. Now, on with the show.
***********Beginning of Donald Sensing's post*************
--------------------
Close, but no cigar
Christopher Kremmer, writing on Australia's SMH.com.au almost gets the root causes argument about terrorism right. He correctly discounts the Islamist cause as "fantasy hogwash," which seems to align pretty well with Lee Harris' exposition of Al Qaeda's Fantasy Ideology. Says Chris, Like a lot of hogwash, this fantasy has its roots in reality. The Islamic world is a once great civilisation that has fallen prey to the West. We do manipulate its politics and demand the free flow of its principal resource, oil. But the people who enfeebled the Islamic world were the mullahs who by the 12th century had equated science, art and literature with the devil's work. Their contemporary counterparts advocate that it remain in the Dark Ages.
So far, so good. But here he starts to veer off course: Endemic violence in their homelands, lack of jobs, dispossession, disenfranchisement, diaspora and foreign occupation are the engines driving it. The cycle of violence may last for generations.
(hat tip: Brendan Slattery) Now, I don't actually disagree very much with anything I've cited so far - except that Kremmer apparently thinks that "lack of jobs, dispossession, disenfranchisement" exist for no reason. They just are, all on their own. But instead of asking just why these conditions prevail in the terrorism-spawning lands, Kremmer puts on the brakes and falls back into the safe territory of blaming the West:
The current Western responses to fundamentalist violence are failing to take into account how our actions are perceived in the regions where youth holds the key to the future. From Indonesia to Iran, and Pakistan to Iraq, our actions are bolstering fundamentalist thinking.The war on terrorism, as our leaders have configured it, is a dead end. One could hope our leaders would admit their mistakes and pledge a new direction, but it seems unlikely. It might require a change of leadership to achieve that.
What Kremmer cites as "root causes" of terrorism are actually the symptoms of deeper pathologies, as he hints. So why didn't he name them? They are not hard to identify:
Bin Laden and his ilk are symptoms of a much deeper pathology. We need to address the root causes of terrorism, and acknowledge that the way the West plays politics is a significant element in the equation.Contrasting western democracy with Islamic societies, he said: "Throughout the Middle East and North Africa we find authoritarian regimes with deeply entrenched leadership, some of which rose to power at the point of a gun and are retained in power by massive investment in security forces.
"Whether they are military dictatorships or traditional sovereignties, each ruler seems committed to retaining power and privilege."The early Muslims produced great mathematicians and scientists, scholars, physicians and astronomers etc. and they excelled in all the fields of knowledge of their times, besides studying and practising their own religion of Islam. ... The Europeans had to kneel at the feet of Muslim scholars in order to access their own scholastic heritage. ...
Indeed. Now, all of these pathologies will be alleviated if the political and social structures of the countries can be liberalized. That doesn't mean there will be no murderous Islamist fanatics. It does mean that the soil from which they grow will be much less fertile.
But halfway through the building of the great Islamic civilisation came new interpreters of Islam who taught that acquisition of knowledge by Muslims meant only the study of Islamic theology. The study of science, medicine etc. was discouraged.
Intellectually the Muslims began to regress. With intellectual regression the great Muslim civilisation began to falter and wither. But for the emergence of the Ottoman warriors, Muslim civilisation would have disappeared with the fall of Granada in 1492.
The early successes of the Ottomans were not accompanied by an intellectual renaissance. Instead they became more and more preoccupied with minor issues such as whether tight trousers and peak caps were Islamic, whether printing machines should be allowed or electricity used to light mosques. The Industrial Revolution was totally missed by the Muslims.
I invite you also to read my essay about the problems of science and Islam.
Update: What about patriarchy?
Update 2: Glittering Eye makes the excellent point that another analysis to peruse along these lines is Ralph Peters' article in Parameters, the journal of the US Army War College, "Seven Signs of Non-Competitive States." He's right. Peters characterizes the problems of non-competitive states:
So go read Peters' article, too!
* Restrictions on the free flow of information.
* The subjugation of women.
* Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure.
* The extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization.
* Domination by a restrictive religion.
* A low valuation of education.
* Low prestige assigned to work.
-----------------------------------------
******************End of Donald Sensing's post**************
Glenn Sacks has an article entitled Kobe Bryant, Rape Shield Laws, and the False Accusations Problem. Since every one else has an opinion about the Kobe case, I wasn't to going post anything about it. However, Glenn has an amazing ability to penetrate obfuscation and bring light to a jumbled perspective.
The following is the article. Visit Glenn Sacks' website for more articles and to listen to his archived radio shows.
For 16 years former Colorado prosecutor Craig Silverman was known for his zealous prosecution of rapists--prosecutions which have resulted in thousands of years of prison time for those convicted. Yet he is also critical of what he calls the "politically correct victims advocate's view" held by many Colorado prosecutors of "always believe the woman." He says:"During my time as a prosecutor who made case filing decisions, I was amazed to see all the false rape allegations that were made to the Denver Police Department. It was remarkable and surprising to me. You would have to see it to believe it. Any honest veteran sex assault investigator will tell you that rape is one of the most falsely reported crimes that there is. A command officer in the Denver Police sex assaults unit recently told me he placed the false rape numbers at approximately 45 percent."
Several studies show that false rape allegations are a serious problem. For example, in an Air Force study of 556 rape accusations, in 27 percent of the cases the accusers admitted, either just before taking a polygraph test or after failing one, that they had lied. An independent review later examined the claims and concluded that 60% of the 556 rape claims were false. Two studies discussed by researcher Eugene Kanin put the rate of false allegations between 41% and 50%.
Silverman and Fox News Columnist Wendy McElroy joined Glenn to discuss the Kobe Bryant case, rape shield laws, and the problem of false accusations. To listen to the archive of the show, click here and scroll down to "Listen to the Show."
To learn more about the prevalence of false accusations of rape, see An alarming national trend: False Rape Allegations by Eugene J. Kanin, Ph.D. and David Throop's False Rape Reports from Adults.
Also, see McElroy's Fox News columns Prosecutor Grandstanding Undermines Justice (1/6/04) and "False Rape Charges Hurt Real Victims" (7/22/03).
To learn more about the Bryant case, see Silverman's Are Those White Flags? (3/2/04) and Role Reversal (2/4/04).
In addition, Brian Carnell of www.EquityFeminism.com has written several informative articles on false accusations--see:
Leniency for False Rape Accuser in the UK (10/6/2003)
Conviction in False Rape Case Yields 9 Month Sentence (8/25/2003)
Tucker Carlson and False Rape Accusations (7/27/2003)
How blind should justice be? (4/14/2000)Also, see Hugh Nation's Some Facts About Rape and False Accusations of Rape (Transitions: Journal of Men's Perspectives, 12/94).
Listen to
the show
Citizen Smash has a post about his lobbying efforts to get the EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES ACT changed so that companies who are awarded contracts must abide by the law or risk losing their contracts. I think it's a great idea. The following is an excerpt of his post:
SEVERAL PEOPLE have written asking me for guidance on how best to contact their federal and state representatives. There are several ways to accomplish this, but not all methods are equal.In order of preference:
1. Face-to-face meeting
2. Fax
3. Phone call
4. E-mail
5. Personal letterIt should be obvious why face-to-face meeting is number one on the list. Although it is the most difficult for the average citizen to accomplish, it’s not as hard as one might think. Most Senators and Representatives return to their home districts over weekends and during recesses; they often organize community meetings to stay in touch with their constituents (and drum up support for the next election). You can usually find out when your representative will be in your neighborhood by checking their official website. But don’t rely on one face-to-face meeting to get your point across – follow it up with a fax or an e-mail.
It used to be that sending a personal letter was the next best way to contact your representatives, but the anthrax attacks have knocked it down to the bottom of the list. All mail sent to Capitol Hill must now be carefully screened and irradiated. If you’re lucky, your message get to your Congressman’s office in a month or two; if you’re not so lucky, it will be destroyed without ever being opened.
The fax has therefore taken the place of the personal letter in the hierarchy. Since most people rely on e-mail for rapid communications, a fax is an excellent way to ensure that your message gets special attention. It also doesn’t hurt that it provides a permanent, easy to access record of your idea – provided that it doesn’t end up in the circular file.
A phone call is a great way to check up on the status of your requests, but it should only be used in conjunction with one or more of the other forms of communication. Write out your main talking points in advance, but be prepared to deviate from your "script" if the staffer with whom you speak has questions (and they will).
E-mail is now the most popular way to contact representatives. Unfortunately, they typically get THOUSANDS of emails every week, many of them identical form letters from pressure groups. They try to read every message, but this often proves impossible. If you choose to send e-mail, make sure you have a clear and descriptive Subject line – unless you want your vital communication to be deleted along with the offers for the latest wonder drug.
Finally, keep your communication simple. Make your main pitch in the first paragraph, don’t get bogged down too much in the details, and provide an example or two that illustrate your point. Keep it down to one page, if possible, and provide a return email and phone number for your representative to contact you, if needed.
Read the rest of his post. Below is a copy of the fax he sent as part of his lobbying effort.
The Honorable Susan Davis
United States House of Representatives
Attn: Todd GloriaDear Representative:
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my ideas regarding the protection of reemployment rights for Guardsmen and Reservists this past Saturday at the North Park Neighborhood Day.
As you recall, I proposed that employers who are found by the Department of Labor to be in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) should face suspension or debarment from participating in government contracts under Federal Acquisition Regulation. This would provide additional leverage to enforce the USERRA, similar in nature to the current regulations requiring educational institutions to allow ROTC and military recruiters on campus as a condition for receiving federal grants.
As a provision of this legislation, the Department of Labor should provide to Congress on a regular basis a complete list of all investigated USERRA violations, and their investigative outcome, as well as reporting whether any of the business entities on the aforementioned list hold government contracts or sub-contracts.
My interest in this case grew out of a recent dispute between Corporal Dana Beaudine of the Oregon National Guard, and his employer Securitas, a major federal security contractor. CPL Beaudine was injured during a mortar attack in Iraq, and is receiving disability from the Veterans’ Administration for nerve damage and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When they learned of his disability claim, Securitas refused to allow CPL Beaudine to return to work unless he submitted to an examination by a company-designated psychiatrist. CPL Beaudine refused, and the Department of Labor launched an inquiry, eventually finding Securitas in violation of the USERRA.
Regardless of the merits of this case, it brings to light one of many the problems which reservists might face when returning to work from active duty. As a Navy Reservist and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I am acutely aware of these difficulties, and I feel that that we should do everything possible to protect the reemployment rights of our servicemen and women. To do anything less would constitute a betrayal of the commitment they have made to the defense of this great nation.
Thank you again for your attention in this matter.
Sincerely,
(name)
(neighborhood)
Below are some links that will provide you with more information about the rights of reservists and those in the National Guard.
Public Law 103-353, the Veterans Reemployment Rights (VRR) law
REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF RECALLED RESERVISTS By Capt. Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, U.S.N.R.
To find your representative in Congress click here.
To find your senator click here.
The following email posting was posted by looney Nomen Nescio - nobody@dizum.com who had to use anonymizing remailer software. It's about more efforts by sleazy Roger Weidner and his looney Christian Patriot/Sovereign Citizens gang to either overthrow the government or to disrupt the activities of government.