Just so you know, I cannot bring myself to post on some of the

[No Elephants]

stories that very literally make me want to vomit. I avert my eyes from them.

I will do a lot for DU2, but I won't do that.

If someone else can stomach the gang rape stories that are getting covered every day, please proceed. I am not physically able to do so.

[Enthusiast]

1. I don't do cruelty. At all.

And that is the only way I can see the episode in Steubenville.

[No Elephants]

3. And in India

[Enthusiast]

5. Yes, even worse if that is possible......nt

[femrap]

2. The Evil

of men must be exposed so to stop it.

Same with the young woman, Jyoti, of India who died from her vicious gang rape. Her attackers have been arrested and people have pored out into the streets to protest how rape is ignored in their country.

When people say 'The Truth Hurts,' it really hurts. This is what mankind is capable of...it must be seen or we have no chance of stopping it.

Rape can not be ignored. Because it has been, it is now rampant. Rapists know the odds are with them. Women are too afraid to report the charges to the police, who really don't care because only 2 to 4% of rapists are ever jailed.

When someone talks about the US's 'rape culture,' she/he is not kidding. There are shelves and shelves full of rape DNA kits going back years that have not even been tested. And rapists keep raping. They know the odds are in their favor.

If the NYT had not written about what happened back in August, 2012 in Steubenville, no one would have known. Those football players played their season with no remorse. Their wealthy parents want to send them to Ivy league colleges. "How can some tramp from West Virginia mess up my son's life?"

I used to be a huge 49er fan back in days of Joe Montana...and when I lived in SF. I had season tickets and I looked forward to every tailgate party. Today, I can't watch any football game because I've read so many stories of high school, college, and pro players who have violated women. And since they're 'admired/famous,' they just walk away. Why do they violate women? BECAUSE THEY CAN. I remember the first time I heard that answer. "Because they can." Who is going to stop them? She must have deserved it in some way or other....and the subject is closed.

Until you really look Evil in the eye, you have no idea what it can do to the person who survives it. Unfortunately, Jyoti, died of her massive injuries in Singapore where she had been flown for special medical care. She lived for roughly two weeks after her brutal attack. She had just graduated from Medical School. I will spare you the details of her injuries.

I was so glad to see that the Indian people filled the streets to mourn her and to insist on laws to protect women.

I remember when I visited Dachau, an American woman said, "This is horrible. Why do they insist on keeping it open?" SO IT HOPEFULLY WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. After leaving, I had to sit down on the curb of the street just to get my bearings. The Evil committed at that place was beyond all concepts of Evil.

The young woman from West Virginia who was tortured and raped in Steubenville experienced true Evil. She deserves everyone's empathy, understanding, and righteous anger over what was done to her. She has been forced to deal with a corrupt police office and judicial system. This young woman DESERVES JUSTICE.

The number of women who are walking around with PTSD from the violence committed to their bodies is enormous. Does anyone ever hear that term, PTSD, applied to the survivors of rape?

I have little faith in Atty. General DeWine (former US Senator from Ohio who was defeated by Sherrod Brown), but that will not stop me from writing him a letter to demand justice for that young woman. Given that she lives in another state, I would think the Feds would be brought in, but I'm no lawyer.

If one turns away from the evil violence that is committed on women every single minute of every single day, one is condoning and denying that such Evil exists. Reading about what the women of Darfur have to endure is so painful to me. I wish I could arm those women so they could go out to gather their firewood. The US has done so little for them.

The Wars of Today mainly kill women, children and the elderly. I believe the collateral damage is around 70% of total deaths. It's too bad war isn't hand-to-hand combat.

As a species, I don't think humans have evolved much at all. In fact, I feel we are de-volving. Humans can now destroy what enables their lives...and they keep insisting on doing it. What kind of sense does that make? I hope Mother Earth smacks those who deserve it...as someone told me...she is always the last at bat.

I hope I haven't offended anyone with my words. But what those football players and possibly others did to that young woman has to be shoved in the faces of those who deny such Evil. And the most handsome or charming man who lives down the street can be the one who attacks one's daughter, wife, girlfriend, sister, mother.....Men need to stand up and take action against the men who commit such Evil. Women have yelled and yelled about it, but no one listens. No one does anything. Even VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) was not passed...thank you, Eric Cantor. I wrote him a letter as well. And how does Cantor get away with letting Native Americans be preyed upon as sport by the White Man? Because he can.

The stories of violence against the Native American women will make you sick. And they should. Everyone has to say, "ENOUGH."

Write Cantor at: 763 Madison Rd. #207 Culpeper, VA 22701. He also has an office in Richmond.

Or email him. I did that as well. I used the Culpeper zip code and made up a street address. Lots of these asshat politicians won't take your email if you are not a resident of their district. Yet he is responsible for ALL women now having no recourse against the violence perpetrated against them.

Last, I never understood why Rape wasn't defined as a Hate Crime.

[Enthusiast]

4. Great rant, femrap! Rape should be classified as a hate crime.

Tarantino needs to make a new movie, one where rape victims exact vengeance on rapists. I guess Pulp Fiction had a bit of that. It could be filmed in Bollywood.

You are absolutely correct on the PTSD and rape. There are millions of victims walking around, both women and children with PTSD, where the abuse is ongoing. It is hard to think about it.

I'm afraid DeWine looks at the world from an Old Testament perspective. Ohio Republicans are a scourge that we all have to live with. And, as a result of gerrymandering we might be stuck with these mouth breathers forever.

The entire segment of Jane Valez on HLN was dedicated to the Steubenville rape. Jane is one of the good guys, if you didn't know.

I have never heard this one, femrap. "Mother Earth is always the last at bat." This is timely, one I will not forget. It is an absolute truth, one we forget at our peril.

Of course, Cantor is a complete asshole. Like Dubya, he can't even wipe the smirk off his face. I'd like to slap his silly fucking face for him. One would think a Jew would have more sensitivity to hatred and cruelty. WTF?

I am an OSU and Cleveland Browns football fan. I can't help it. It is ingrained from childhood.

[femrap]

7. I turned on

the College Football Championship game last night just to catch the score....plus Notre Dame has a rapist on its team. Raped a young woman whose family loved Notre Dame, now, not so much. He even told her that no one would believe her.

So I was glad to see they were getting beaten by 35 to 7 at the time. Then I thought, hell, Bama probably has some thugs on their team as well.

I don't even know if Cincy won their playoff game. I'll find out eventually, I guess.

I gotta say, I snickered a bit when OSU went undefeated but couldn't go to the big dance...I'm sorry. I wonder if they would have played Notre Dame or gone to the Rose Bowl???

My father was a huge OSU and Browns fan. I can remember watching Browns games as a child on a Black and White TV. And I thought that they were named the Browns after Jim Brown!!! LOL! He turned out to be a thug as well.

When I was little, my dad took me to the OSU basketball games when Fred Taylor was the coach. Fred played golf where my dad was the Pro. Those were the days of Jerry Lucas, John Havelchek (sp?), that white dude who became a nasty coach at U of Indy (I'm so glad I've forgotten his name). I still have programs from those days. I met Jerry and John and they signed a golf ball for me. My dad thought it was cute. I would have preferred the autograph on paper because the ink came off the ball. They were so tall! I was 6, 7, 8 years old at the time. I was just agape at their height.

And Cincinnati beat us twice in the finals...Robinson, wasn't he the great player on their team? I followed him in the pros as well. But OSU won once! I was quite the BB fan until BB players, too, seemed to succumb to thuggery.

Now, I only watch figure skating and gymnastics...the Olympics.

I followed John Havelchek all thru his career with the Celtics. I happened to be in Philly when John played his last game there before retiring. I got a ticket way up in the rafters. It was amazing how much the people admired him. Standing ovation that lasted forever. There was a very nice ceremony for him. I was so glad I got to see that. But after the game, a gang of young dudes encircled me and tried to steal my purse. And no one in the line to the subway helped me at all. Finally, I yelled, "Hey, you stupid fools...why don't you go steal from someone who has some damn money cuz I sure don't." And they left me alone. But when I got onto the subway, they threw a bottle and broke the window. I had some glass in the back of my hair...that was it.

And I will never go back to Philly again. That place was mean back in...was it 1978? I can't imagine it now. Same with Cleveland...I went to high school in Lakewood my senior year 1970-71. Damn, those people were mean, too. I'd love to go to the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame but it's in Cleveland. Of course, now I'm much hardened and I walk around with a look on my face that says, "Come on. Just try it. I got lots of shit I would like to unload on you." And no one bothers me. Knock on wood. Only in places where the Rednecks are looking like they might not be up to any good.

To this day I hate the Lakers (they were the nemesis of the Celtics)...more so w/ Kobe. I loved the Celtics! Robert Parrish...he had been out in N. CA. in Oakland. I had such hopes for him...he had talent and damned if they didn't trade him. I knew they'd regret that trade. He blossomed in Boston. I had season tickets w/ the Golden State team for a couple of years.

Did you know that Super Bowl Day is the worst day for Domestic Violence....booze, very long game, lose of bets and kapow!

I did get to go to one Super Bowl...49ers vs. Dolphins 1985 at Stanford. I had season tickets and damned if I didn't get picked in the lottery...I just knew I was going to get picked. Plus it was my b-day weekend. Anyway, this dude in my office (whom I really thought was sleaze) had bugged me all year about betting on my 9ers...he always hated them. I never took the bait.

Then the Super Bowl and the MSM was all about Marino this, Marino that...and the 9ers are just a 'finesse' team. So I went into his office and said, "I want to bet. Are you ready?" He said, "Sure. How much?" I thought for a while and said, "Can you do $500?" You should have seen his eyes pop...looked like saucers. He couldn't say no because he had bugged me all season.

Anyway, I made sure it was big news around the office. After the 9ers won, he turned to a fellow office worker who told me later that he said, "The worst thing of all is that I owe femrap $500."

I just had this gut feeling that we were going to kick Miami's butt. I never bet like that...and have never done so since. But it was like 'the perfect storm.' It was destiny.

The tickets were only $50 back then...and the season ticket holders get the WORST SEATS in the stadium. It's all Corporate. I went to a couple of the Corporate Tents since I was in my workplace had clients there at the time. Free booze. Free food. I remember thinking that the homeless should be here today.

Whenever I had a party at my house and had leftovers, I would sit them out in front of my apartment in San Fran. with plastic forks, napkins, paper plates, garbage bag,etc. Next day everything would be gone....no mess. All cleaned up. Egads that was back in 1978-1981....then I headed north out of the city. I grew up in the country and needed some space and fewer people. But I enjoyed living right in the middle of a city for nearly 4 years.

I've rambled waaaaaaaay too much. But sports used to be fun for me...but when Joe Montana retired, it was like an end of an era and the game changed. All of a sudden, it just wasn't fun anymore. Jerry Rice playing for the Raiders...it was just wrong. The 49ers were a TEAM...no hot shot show-offs. When out in public, they behaved liked true GENTLEMEN. I'd go down to Roger Craig and Ronnie Lott's restaurant and they were so cordial and fun. I met Jerry Rice coming out of a movie with his daughter. I was just awestruck...yet he took the time to say hello to me...while his daughter ran away.

But times change. Morality changes. And the MSM aimed straight at the most base of human emotions. Now I look at this culture and I think of 'sewage water treatment plant.' Have you ever seen one? Some engineer I worked with was dying to see this big sewage treatment plant so we had time before the plane left. I was absolutely bowled over. My co-worker was talking to the manager. And I was just mesmerized by these huge football-sized pools of BUBBLING poop! I never knew anything like this existed. Well, I could hardly contain my laughter. The manager I guess was used to this reaction and he said, 'It's OK to laugh.' My co-worker was not happy with me. I can still see (and smell) those huge bubbling pools of poop. Anyway that's how I see our culture today. But I still laugh when I think of that plant. What a sight!

Now I watch the sport of Politics....LOL! And now it's not much fun and I've become an old cynic who has been betrayed once to many and realizes that it's The Rich vs. Everyone Else. And as a member of The Former Middle Class, I wish there were some hope. I just don't see it right now.

I'm keep waiting for the 20 to 30 year-olds to say 'enough already.'

[Enthusiast]

8. Yes, there are bad actors on every team of every sport.

And everywhere else in life it seems. They seems to be especially concentrated in politics.

Cincinnati was beaten. They had little chance on the road against the Texans.

Ohio State would have played Notre Dame for the championship because Alabama had lost to Texas A&M. We shall never know.

When I was a youngster I thought the same thing about the Browns - that they were named after Jim Brown. It was a natural mistake I guess.

Wow! You met those OSU superstars! It was Oscar Robertson that played for Cincinnati, one of the absolutely best BB players of all time.

The Buckeyes play tonight on ESPN 9:00 @ Purdue. I predict a loss. We lack offense, we really are inept on offense - can't shoot.

We watch figure skating and gymnastics in the Olympics. Entertaining.

I share your dislike of the Lakers. We were Boston fans too. I remember "The Chief". He was nicknamed after the Indian in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He had a great high arcing shot. And he beat the shit out of Bill Laimbeer, the evil Detroit center. You must be almost exactly my age.

That was one traumatic experience at Philadelphia. Glad you made it. Damn!

I was dumb enough to think Miami would beat the 49ers. A guy told me they couldn't win because SF's secondary was really good. At that time I really didn't know enough about football to be a good judge.

At least the poop is being treated. No thinks to Republican votes against the Clean Water Act.

[femrap]

9. I can't blame you

for taking Miami....the entire East Coast Media was taking Miami. Only us 9er fans knew the truth. We were like Rodney Dangerfield...'got no respect.'

And we did have a great secondary...Ronnie Lott for one. Gosh I can't remember...they all had nicknames for themselves. One was 'The Blanket' because he covered his man so well.

I still have a bunch of tapes of the games. I just threw out a bunch of regular games...I kept them all those years at my mom's house in a box and all of sudden she decided she wanted them out of her house. She's 85 and her mind and moods are changing. I have a difficult time keeping up.

And I couldn't sell them without the NFL putting me in jail...so out they went.

I kept play-off games and some against the LA Rams...we hated them. Now they're not even there.

I can't believe that I'm not remembering their names. Damn....guess my mind is going as well.

Gee, I hope my mom didn't throw out my box of 9er memorabilia. Now I'm worried. I'm going over to her house tomorrow to do her laundry, do a Crock Pot stew, and take some groceries. I'll look then. I know she still has all of my LPs....I looked recently. I told her I would put her in a horrible nursing home if she got rid of those....I'm kidding, of course. I was a huge Beatle fan.

I'll be 60 next week. Never thought I'd be 60...there's still time to croak. Are you around that age? I'm buying myself a TAPE DECK for my b-day. I have all these tapes and my Turn table/radio/tape deck Combo finally gave out...had it since 1978. It really hurt to throw it in the trash. I'm such a Luddite. I have an iPod that I've never taken out of the box. I need some teenager to put songs on it. I'll tell them which ones. I'd even pay him/her. I have a pathetic little CD machine and a few CDs. Usually I just listen to the Classic Rock n' Roll on Cable TV...then I'm surprised by the songs they play.

[Enthusiast]

12. I've been 60 for a short few months.

The "much better" half turns 60 in March. What can we do? We have achieved old fartdom status. The alternative sucks.

Crock pot stew sounds great. We manage to make a gluten-free one. Your mom is fortunate to have you. Today my task is meatballs and sauce.

We have an amazing old music selection. I often find myself listening to the "B side" because I am not yet tired of them. It's just like finding new music from your old time favorite artists.

Check out this little appreciated but hauntingly beautiful song by an early Elton John. No piano! But acoustic bass, French horn, harp and oboe are the prominent instruments featured. It is just excellent and virtually unknown.

"There are women and women and some hold you tight
While some leave you counting the stars in the night"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYgHQluatY&feature=colike

[femrap]

13. I had never

heard that Elton John song. It is quite beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

49ers play tonight...I don't even know who they play. Seattle? Which was in the AFC but is now is the NFC so to cut down on Transportation costs and the owners can make more money. I'm not stupid.

I might check in from time to time to see the score. I wonder if it's raining in SF....love to watch them slipping and sliding in the mud!

My mom exhausted me. It seemed to take forever to get the Xmas decor packed and put away. I fixed Italian Wedding Stew in the Crock Pot. I did laundry and more laundry.

I got my teeth cleaned over at OSU....and they raised the cost AGAIN! I have one molar that I'm trying to keep and the Perio Dept. insists on examining me and charging me $25 for 5 minutes. I think the Perio Dentist said 'SERIOUS SITUATION' five times. $5 for each SERIOUS. I told her: "For the last time, I'm telling your dept. that I will probably die before this tooth comes out. And if not, I'm not going to pay you $5,000 for you to replace it. Do I look like a Chase's CEO, Jamie Dimon? Now stop stressing me out...you're just making my death more eminent."

Why would anyone in their right mind get a tooth pulled unless one was in horrible pain??? I know it's a little loose. Big deal. At 60, what isn't loose? I don't see why I can't get a wooden tooth like George Washington???

The Perio was very nice, a woman from India. She understood where I was coming from. For $5,000, I'd go to Europe with a backpack and stay for months.

I've been going to OSU since 2007 and I've watched their College of Dentistry become more and more 'businessfied.' I've told them that I don't fit well into their Business Model. All of the dentists have had to take 'Marketing Classes' I think. And every so often, they have to 'push' a specific procedure so the grad students are getting the required experience. I was in
sales for many years and I can see the signs. Plus these dentists aren't very good salespeople.

I stopped at Trader Joe's for some yummy pizzas made in Italy and organic brown rice for my DETOX. Organic Brown Rice and apples....what do you think? I think I could go for 3 or 4 days. I'll see. Won't start for another week. Do you go there? I wanted to stop at Marc's in Westerville, but I'd been at the Dental Clinic for 3 HOURS and it was getting dark.

I have to drive this new freeway where they cut down a couple of forests and there is so much animal life out there. I already hit a huge raccoon and felt awful. I swear he/she was committing suicide. There are always a bunch of deer dead beside the road and I'd hit another car before hitting a deer, I imagine. As far as I'm concerned the deer were there before the freeway.

This Lew dude who is going to be Sec'y of Treasury is from Citigroup. I was listening to Amy and Bob Black from U of MO in KC and they were saying he was a big part of the problem back in 2008. Honestly, I'm just sick of these Wall Street dudes taking over the handling of the money of our country....well actually, it's the handling of our DEBT.

I'm going to listen to Democracy, Now! from Friday....I think Matt Taibbi was on as well.

I see that Elizabeth Warren is not sitting in the back row 'per etiquette' requires.

It was so warm today in Redneck Central...I took a very long walk and it felt so good. Met some people with animals. I always stop and talk to the people who have animals. I figure they have a decent character. If he/she is being mean to the dog on the leash, I tell he/she that I feel sorry for their dog.

Time for dinner and relax from my few days at Mom's and my dental experience.

How were your meatballs and sauce?

[Enthusiast]

14. Glad you liked the EJ.

I did not think the Packers would hold up to the 49er defense. And the Packer defense is suspect. Today Seattle plays Atlanta in Atlanta. The winner will play the 9ers. Seattle is my brother's team. Atlanta has never before been this tough, even when they made it to the Superbowl. I predict Atlanta to win. But, Seattle is good, I could be wrong.

My woman is the same about her teeth, about keeping every one. She says we have a fortune in her mouth. I have no idea. I have good dental health, so no worries from this quarter. My mother still had every tooth upon her death at 90.

You are right on about students and marketing. It's all about profit now. Patient well being, so forth and so on, have become secondary concerns. This is a fundamental problem with the nation, we have adopted the philosophy of Ayn Rand. We must have a European single payer type system. But that will only remain a dream now that we have corporate rule.

My brother tells me to go to Trader Joe's for gluten-free products. He gave me a list of their gluten-free stuff. The entire family is on the look out for my gluten-free needs. The SIL buys me snacks and stuff.

You can't miss an animal in the road, you just can't do it. They dart back and forth as if trying to elude a predator. Their head ends up under the wheel every time it seems. Yeah. Habitat loss tears at my heart. Many do not connect with it, understand the significance of it. "Progress". Even the smallest parcel of wildlife habitat is full of birds, small mammals, amphibians etc. We have foxes and deer in town all the time here. I spent many hours in the woods deer hunting when I was younger. I appreciate the wild places more than ever.

The appointment of the Lew dude confirms my worst fears about the President. Apparently the President doesn't mind being on the wrong side of history. I suspect the President is largely ignorant of history. Really. Except for the distorted portions he has been spoon fed. Like "Reagan was a transformative figure". Yeah, he was...BUT. Maybe they think the victors will write history. And they are certainly the victors. They already have it all but they want more.

Matt Taibbi is one of my heros. Elizabeth Warren and others included of course. All the way. I hope they don't kill him for telling the truth.

I'm with you on the animals-people-trust thing.

Meatballs and sauce were perhaps the best yet. :hi:

[Divine Discontent]

11. my mum luvs JM! and dont even get me started on the

cincy game! that was painful. they shoulda won with the defense they have.

And yes, you make a good point. its hard watching football when so many of the players treat people like crap outside the stadium. makes it hard to keep interested in football.

[No Elephants]

6. Thanks, They're claiming everything was consensual.

Yeah, because unconscious people don't object to much.

[Divine Discontent]

10. good post, thanks for writing it