Work...

Fight...

We do it to ourselves, not the Russian hackers of the Chinese. We may have knew what the outcome would be but usually some may think dragging it through the mud would help one party over the other. 

Raging...

Growing up, I do not recall having hard discussions about sex and intimacy. It was taboo to talk about such things with children, or so it seemed. I am sure I was told not to let anyone touch me where my thighs meet. No tangible speeches about men or boys who preyed on girls, no school lessons about pedophiles, rapists or sexual assaulters. There were no warnings about guys who don’t take no for an answer or that don’t bother asking for permission.

I am still unsure if I would've been a raging, gutsy feminist had I been equipped with the knowledge early. 

Gone are the days of cute, brief and awkward exchanges about the birds and the bees. We need  master classes on the dynamics between men and women. I navigated my journey with the opposite sex through trial, error and silence. 

For the little girls who appear to be entirely neglected in this new era of the intolerant Me Too we need more than a crusade and a hashtag to change the ingrained and unchecked demoralizing behaviors our country appears to glorify. ..
We owe it to our daughters to make them warriors. !!
[Rachel James-Terry- Times Herald]

Go Figure...

As of 5 p.m., the campaign “Help Christine Blasey Ford,” one of at least two set up on her behalf, had raised more than $378,000 total when the hearing began, according to a spokeswoman for the crowdfunding website.

The GoFundMe campaigns came up after Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor who questioned Dr. Blasey asked who had paid for a polygraph examination Dr. Blasey took as part of her sexual assault accusation against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Dr. Blasey’s lawyers said that her legal team had paid for the polygraph  “as is routine,”  and they were both working pro bono.

Thursday...

Victim...

Mob-Like...

Fresh off the successful confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the vote showed the Senate "will not be intimidated by mob-like tactics" of protesters on Capitol Hill.

Goups of anti-Kavanaugh protesters confronted members of Congress directly, with many demonstrators with stories of sexual assault. Hundreds were detained or arrested leading up to the final vote.

"It was really quite a display of aggressiveness far beyond peaceful protesting. They were trying to intimidate members of the Senate not only in our home states but in the Capitol." McConnell said. 

He added, "We were able to establish that the presumption of innocence is still important in this country and that the senate is not going to be intimated by these kind of tactics.

"Ironically the behavior of Democrats on Senate Judiciary Committee and then the overreach of the protests at the Capitol have actually energized the Republican base, particularly in the red states where we're trying to pick up seats across America," McConnell said. "So I want to thank the other side for the tactics that have allowed us to kind of energize and get involved our own voters."  

Sad...

A limousine "failed to stop" at an intersection in upstate New York and stuck a parked vehicle, leaving 20 people dead.

The two-car crash happened shortly before 2 p.m. ET Saturday in Schoharie, State Police First Deputy Superintendent Christopher Fiore told reporters. The 2001 Ford Excursion was traveling southwest on State Route 30 when it didn't stop at the intersection with State Route 30 A and collided with an SUV in the parking lot, Fiore said.

All 18 people in the limo were killed, including the driver, Fiore said. Two pedestrians near the unoccupied 2015 Toyota Highlander in the parking lot were also killed, he said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families following this horrific tragedy," 

Lacked...

The woman who claims soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas now says the alleged assault left her with post-traumatic stress.

Kathryn Mayorga wants an eight-year-old legal settlement of her charges thrown out because psychological injuries made her incompetent to agree to it. Las Vegas police are reopening their investigation into the assault allegations. 

Mayorga first told the German publication Der Spiegel about the night in 2009 she says Ronaldo raped her. The night still haunts her, according to her lawyer Leslie Stovall. 

"She has suffered an emotional, a psychological injury," Stovall said. "Depression, suicidal ideation, abuse of alcohol, problems maintaining personal relationships and employment."

 In 2010, she reached an agreement with his attorneys to accept $375,000 to keep quiet about their alleged encounter.

Mayorga is now seeking more than $200,000 in a lawsuit claiming she "lacked the mental capacity to participate in negotiations…due to the injuries suffered."

In a statement, Las Vegas police said in 2009 "the victim did not provide detectives with the location of the incident or suspect description."

On Twitter, Ronaldo said his conscience was clear writing, "I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me… keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense."

Spinning...

 

Americans were transfixed by the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford. Sexual assault victims saw their trauma reflected in her words and were emboldened to share their own stories. Men were witness to the lasting emotional damage that sexual abuse can cause. That had value, regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court battle.

The bruising battle was a cultural moment in some ways more important than the nominee himself. 

What remains is the unfinished, age-old American business of forming a more perfect union, those indelible words in the U.S. Constitution that "we the people" can never escape. Nor ever would want to. 

The year-old #MeToo movement flows easily along that "more perfect" evolutionary path. It holds out the promise of stripping away a lingering abuse: the silent existence and acceptance of sexual mistreatment and assault, particularly of women by men in a position of power.

In tandem with that are the core national values of due process and of weighing evidence fairly to avoid inflicting punishment on the innocent.

Live the discussion, join the process, It is not easy nor comfortable.  Just a thought.