Beautiful video showing that good can overcome evil.
Next video is where the woman (empowered) takes down the would be attackers herself--with a big time, well-deserved smackdown!
Where on the right track. ;-)
Showing posts with label Rape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rape. Show all posts
August 1, 2015
Good Can (And Will) Overcome Evil
Beautiful video showing that good can overcome evil.
Next video is where the woman (empowered) takes down the would be attackers herself--with a big time, well-deserved smackdown!
Where on the right track. ;-)
February 6, 2015
Stop Picking On ISIS!
Their tactics against their victims have included:
Beheading, burning, torturing, raping, crucifying, burying people alive, and abducting and selling children as sex slaves.
Similar to Iran who threatens nuclear Armageddon on the West, and we seek to pacify them, make agreements, and unravel sanctions against them, with ISIS, our response again in the face of evil, has been tepid and now we are making excuses for their completely sick and immoral behavior.
At a National Prayer Breakfast yesterday, the President stated:
"Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ."
Yes, that is why those times in history are referred to as "The Dark Ages," while in 2015, we are supposed to be a shining light of democracy, freedom and human rights.
The President also went on to cite Slavery and the Jim Crow [laws] as other examples.
Hmm...interesting though, if you are going to cite examples already, why completely omit to mention the evils of the Holocaust that killed 6 million Jewish people in the most inhumane genocide of our times--just 70 years ago!
Then again, what was the purpose of giving the examples that he did of other great historical misdeeds (and also leaving out other prominent ones) in the face of another great evil in our times.
From the specific words, perhaps:
- It is to excuse it? (Get off your high horses)
- To give them some sort of pass? (Other people have committed terrible deeds)
But should we be making excuses or giving a pass to ISIS and for that matter Iran (which has one of the world's worst records of human right abuses and has threatened to annihilate Israel and attack America) for their ongoing brutality, immorality, threats and terror?
Maybe what is correct here is that we should "get off our high horses," and INSTEAD finally consider putting some darn boots on the ground and some serious firepower with it to end this march of terror quickly, rather than excuse it, ever. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Tv9)
November 4, 2014
Stop Sexual Assault
Saw this poster coming off the Metro today in Washington D.C.
"It's on all of us to stop sexual assault."
It reminded me of this article I read in the DailyMail about this father of a 14-year girl in India that was raped in her home by a medical supply salesman.
The young girl was raped and impregnated by a 45-year old man who boasted that he was "too well-connected" to ever be prosecuted.
After some time passed, the father invited the rapist to dinner!
The rapist came.
The father overcame the rapist, and repeatedly burned the man's genitals with hot thongs.
The rapist died.
This one rapist will certainly not be doing this again.
While blatant violation of the law and vigilantism is not okay, the poster is right that we need to "stop sexual assault."
Statistics in this country are that 20% of college women are sexually assaulted before they graduate.
Unacceptable!
Laws protecting women (and men) from sexual assault need to be strengthened, penalties stiffened, and we all need to be on the lookout for inappropriate behavior and speedily report this to law enforcement.
And no one should be above the law and basic morality.
"It's on us."
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 23, 2014
Not Just Business
"All May Park. All Must Pay."
Another way of saying this is like at the dry cleaners, "No tickee, no shirtee!"
This reminded me of a conversation that I was having with some colleagues about whether individuals or organizations can be evil?
(Note: True story, but I've embellished for the sake of demonstration.)
One colleague said, "Individuals are not bad, but people in groups definitely [often] turn bad!"
Another said, "No individuals can be bad, really bad--think of Hitler and so many others who have murdered, tortured, raped, enslaved, and impoverished--it's the individuals that can and do turn an organizational culture bad."
A third person replied that, "Indeed, it can be the other way around as well, where bad organizations make or encourage it's people to do the wrong things--whether for profits, power, or punishment."
Then someone blurted out, "Well, business is business, right?" In other words, it's okay to do something wrong because everyone does it in business--that's the name of the game and what you have to do to compete and survive!
Then I said sort of annoyed at what the last person said, "Business is not business--that is our test to be G-dly, moral, and ethical in all our dealings [in our personal and professional lives]!"
Of course, we don't always succeed--no one does/we are not angels--but we have to try every time, learn and grow and become better people.
If you do wrong, you will pay--whether in this world or the next. ;-)
September 5, 2014
Respect NOT Rape
That equates to 120 MILLION girls globally.
Many are then brutally murdered and shamed as we have been reading about, now with all too much frequency, in India for example, with young women being raped, killed, and then hung from trees etc.
What is wrong with this world???
Women are our mothers, wives, and daughters--they are often amongst the most compassionate and caring of us.
This is how we treat them?
Unfortunately, rape and abuse is also a crime against many young boys.
It is time to take a serious ethical pause and stop the violence against our children and against other adults.
The screams and scars of those abused hang in the air as an indictment against those committing the crime as well as those that do nothing to speak out.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 22, 2014
Time To Get Up
The quiet and complacency of this person just sitting there was a stark contrast to the big train coming down the tracks.
I wondered if this is not a sign of our times where the world is moving large and fast in turmoil:
- With big airliners with hundreds of passengers being shot of the sky
- Thouands of rockets and dozens of murder tunnels aimed at cities full of civilians by terrorists hiding in hospitals, mosques, and playgrounds,
- Six year old girls raped by their roller-skating instructors
- Women being stoned to death for alleged adultery.
...but where we are sitting here quietly and contemplatively as the big train rolls over any vistages of moral decency left in humankind.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 29, 2014
Solidarity For All Our Children
I saw a photo someone posted on Facebook where it said that the families of these boys had empty seats at their beautiful Shabbat table, and I couldn't imagine the grief of the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and other family and friends of these poor children.
Walking in the community around Washington, D.C., I see signs such as this with "Bring Back Our Boys" with ribbons tied to trees--and I am deeply moved by people's expression of grief and hope.
This all happening just weeks after another extremist Muslim group, Boko Haram, abducted over 230 Nigerian schoolgirls, and the rallying cry for "Bring Back Our Girls."
I read how the these girls are being threatened with being sold in a massive human trafficking crime against humanity and can only imagine the rape and other torture they must be enduring by their captors.
I remember as just a child in day school seeing photos and videos from the Holy Land of what these types of terrorists did to their victims--it was horrific!
Aside from the general torture, beatings, isolation, and starvation, I saw images where they literally wrapped their prisoners in barbed wire, including their genitals--it was not just grotesque, but pure and utter evil.
I never forgot these images of unbelievable cruelty, and wish only for the return of all these children and for the people that would take them to be brought to true justice.
May G-d have mercy on all our children!
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 2, 2013
Exposing Rape
On the Metro in Washington, D.C. there is a sign that warns people about sexual harassment.
In the crowded rush hour trains, people can take advantage and try something.
But the advertisement reminds people that if they do the wrong thing, they are the ones who will be exposed--and punished.
This is in contrast to a story today in the Wall Street Journal about a gang rape of a 16 year-old girl in Kenya.
She was attacked in June--while walking home from her grandfather's funeral!
Six men ambushed her, took turns raping her, and then threw her unconscious body in a toilet pit--as if to say that she was just a thing for their sexual satisfaction and nothing but a proverbial piece of sh*t herself (excuse the directness here).
But to make matters worse, the horrific act was not punished, but mocked.
The rapists were "told to pay for some pain medicine for the girl and mow the grass at the police station"--I am feeling sick again!
I write this blog for this victim and for women everywhere to try to do my little part to expose the continued injustices against them--from inequality and unsafe conditions in the workplace to sexual harassment and rape in society.
Perhaps, if we all expose the injustices, we can finally make it unacceptable and rub it out of existence evermore.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 31, 2013
Letters Of Hope
It was different--it wasn't advertising for a local garage sale, real estate, a tutor, or cleaning service.
Instead, it asks people to "write an anonymous letter to a survivor of abuse, violence, rape, trauma, or bullying."
When I got home, I looked at their website, aletterforyou.org.
I saw some of the letters that had been written on the home page as well as an archive with monthly letters going back to March 2013.
It was inspiring that people write and submit these letters of empathy, love, caring, and unity.
And that someone would advertise for these, collect and post them for abuse victims to find some solace in.
While of course, we gain strength through belief in G-d and a higher purpose in life, perhaps the real message of this letter writing project is that one major way for people to heal from the hurt caused by mean, misguided, or evil individuals is through the love and caring of good people.
While the hurt and abuse of the past can never be undone, the charity and giving of the here and now can provide hope for a better tomorrow. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 29, 2013
Outrage At Bogus Judge Baugh
G-d, hope you are listening...
BBC reported about this bogus Judge Baugh who called a 14-year old girl that was raped by her 49-year old teacher, "as much in control of the situation" as the man who assaulted her.
The poor girl later committed suicide, which her mother probably rightfully attributed to the distress from the rape and aftermath.
And what does the judge do to mete out justice? He sentences the rapist to 15-years in prison AND suspends the sentence for all but 31 days with 1 day time already served.
The victim was raped and is dead and the rapist gets not 30-years, but 30 days!
While the judge who is under pressure to resign has all of a sudden expressed his deep remorse, it is almost unbelievable that this is someone charged with seeing that justice is served.
Shock, disbelief, outrage...what can you say about such a justice.
While there is certainly a time and place for empathy, compassion, and mercy--would anyone in their right mind, see this as one of those cases?
For all who believe that this world is not the end, but just the journey, I'd venture to guess that the 14-year old girl is not done either with her rapist or the judge who mocked her suffering and death.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 8, 2013
Rape Crisis Nation
I took this picture from a moving Metro train and one with incredibly dirty windows at that.
It is the phone number for a 24-hour rape crisis hotline.
Underneath the phone number is a picture of a hand picking up a telephone to call.
It is written as graffiti on the wall facing the train tracks.
And around it are radio towers, telephone polls, what looks like transformers, and a barbed wire fence.
It is quite an ominous setting for the ad placement.
To me, rape is one of the most horrendous and brutal crimes.
Ironically, it physically and emotionally violates a person through the very means that most people make love and life.
My first exposure to rape was in the opening scene to the movie Death Wish, where Charles Bronson's wife and daughter are brutalized--I saw this movie as a little boy and it left a huge imprint on me.
Over the course of my life, I have known people who have been both raped and molested and it changed them forever.
I found these rape statistics online, and even though rape is down 60% since 1993, 1 out of every 6 women in this country experiences a rape or attempted rape at some point.
Also, it means that 20 years ago, the percentage was about 26% or 1 out 4.
The Atlantic-2 years ago--reported similar numbers with 18.3% of women who were raped or where rape was attempted.
Honestly, I think the numbers may even be higher, since so many cases go unreported, and according to the American Medical Association is one of the most unreported crimes.
The numbers are outrageously high for a western, modern, civilized country or any nation!
What is even more shocking is that the U.S. is listed as the 6th highest country for reported rape.
Perhaps a large part of this is because we report more frequently in this country, but also maybe because we are more free and affluent and thereby, people are able to partake of vices such as alcohol and drugs, which are associated with sexual violence.
Rape is a horrific act and in medieval times, the crime of rape was often punished with castration or even death.
In Death Wish, Bronson became a semi-crazed vigilante and sought out his own form justice.
Today, in real life, we provide the victims a hotline number to call and the rapists--if they even get reported--and caught, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced--may get some time or not, who really knows, but we should all care.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 19, 2013
Women, Not Things
It is an eye-opening article about the prejudices and horrible injustices that women face in India and other countries--and it's not only due to the misogyny of some, and power- and pleasure-seeking of others, but it is based also on justices, lawyers, law enforcement, legislators, and spiritual figures in society that perpetuate the oppression of woman.
Some societies are stacking the deck, so women cannot reasonably win due protection--from legislators who do not write and pass substantive and equitable laws to protect women, to law enforcement that will not commit the resources to pursue the rapists and women beaters, to lawyers and judges that raise ridiculous demands for proving guilt and sentencing, and to spiritual leaders that blame the victim rather than hold the perpetrators to task.
These people who are supposed to bring justice to the victims, instead add insult to injury. Some of these include:
- Ruling against rape victims because they didn't successfully fight back. For example, a "lower court ruled that she was lying citing among other things the fact that she could have scratched the man's genitals, but didn't."
- Professing that victims are at fault for causing the rape, such as by wearing skirts, having male friends (i.e. "asking for it"), or otherwise dressing or behaving immodestly. At the extreme, one prominent spiritual figure actually held that the victim could've avoided trouble if she had "chanted a prayer, taken one of her attackers by the hand, and called him 'brother'"--as if one can convince an attacker not to attack by holding their hands and gushing brotherhood.
- Teaching that rape is not possible for strong women or those of a labor caste. A 2005 textbook stated, "In normal circumstances, it is not possible for a single man to hold sexual intercourse with a healthy adult female in full possession of her senses against her will." Oh, really? I doubt these teachers would like to test this hypothesis on their beloved mothers, sisters, wives, or daughters.
In Indian and other societies where women are so degraded, there is a standing notion of a rape victim having to marry their rapist--to make things right. Yet, how can this resolve anything? As if the incident of rape is not enough, the victim must endure a lifetime of rape--and by an individual without character or soul, who could commit such a brutal, violent act to begin with.
Forcing the victim to marry the rapist does not spare a woman the challenge of marrying normally after such an traumatic act, but rather it precludes her from ever having an opportunity to rid herself of the pain and shame, and go on to be with someone who truly loves and respects her as a person, and not an object.
As long as societies marginalize women through their beliefs, teachings, and systems of injustice, women will not be spared the agonizing harm they suffer by men who abuse their status of power. But as the old saying goes, "what goes around, comes around,"--what is incredible is that so many of these people just see it going, but don't see it coming.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 18, 2013
Remembering Every Moment
I saw a frightening movie a while back about a girl that had been drugged and brutally raped.
In the movie, the girl is eerily warned, "You won't remember, but you will never forget!"
That line leaves an indelible mark--that something can be so horrific, so scaring that you can't recall it, and can't forget it.
Now there is a new device coming to market that helps you recall everything.
Memoto is a 5 megapixel tiny camera (36 x 36 millimeters) with an embedded GPS that is worn around the neck, like a necklace.
When clipped on, it starts taking the phones and when put down or in a pocket it shuts off.
The Memoto takes 2 photos a minutes (1 every 30 seconds or nearly 3,000 a day if worn all the time).
The photos are stored in an accessible cloud app that uses GPS to sort the photos on a timeline with a date and location stamp.
Photos are private by default, but can be shared using traditional social media, such as to Facebook or Twitter.
The battery lasts about 2 days and is rechargeable by connecting to your computer at which time the photos are uploaded to Memoto's servers.
Wear, photograph, recharge/upload and repeat.
Privacy issues abound with a device like this--imagine wearing this into the bathroom, locker room, bedroom, or even a private corporate meeting--lots of embarrassing and compromising no-no's here!
At the same time, imagine all the precious or memorable moments in life that you can capture and enjoy--it's the realization of the photographic memory you've never had, but always wanted.
Also think of that rapist or other criminal approaching you--getting photographed, caught, and punished--so that the victim really does remember, and can forget with a new peace of mind. ;-)
May 6, 2013
The Help Button Is Only A Kiosk Away
The ad is hidden from adults, and the message is only visible to children--based on their height and angle of viewing.
To the abused child, they see: "If someone hurts you, phone us and we'll help" with a number to call to get help in an anonymous and confidential way.
To the accompanying adult, they see: "Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it."
This is a great reminder to adults to behave themselves in how they treat children, and a way to get critical assistance information to children discreetly.
Learning from this, I'd love to see a similar campaign here in the U.S. to help child abuse victims, as well as other variations to help abused women, human trafficking victims, and others--by finding technological innovations to help them get the message in ways that their abusers don't necessarily detect and which can't easily be blocked from their victims.
Perhaps, one way to do this is to widely deploy emergency, push button, help kiosks where victims can easily reach out for assistance, where otherwise they would have no way to call for help--such as when their phones, money, passports, and so on have been confiscated.
Their are a lot of people hurting out there and we need to get to them to tell them that there is help available, that they will be protected (and mean it), and that they can easily reach out and we'll be right there for them.
Now that's an easy button to really help people. ;-)
April 21, 2013
Dastardly Bastards
Last week we had the horrible terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon which left 3 dead (including an innocent 8-year old boy), almost two hundred wounded, and13 people who lost limbs (including leg amputations below the knee of a husband and wife recently married just last August ).
Then yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, two more news events about:
1) The raping of a 5-year old girl (YES, five) in India--4 months after the gang rape on the bus that left a young women tortured and dead. This 5-year old was beaten and raped and found screaming for help and in pain with devices left inside her! The suspect a 30-something man is left on the run.
2) The trial of a late-term abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell, charged among other things with murdering 7 infants who SURVIVED (initially) abortions he performed. This doctor or staff is said to routinely "gouge the infant's neck with scissors to sever the spinal cord" (a method he called "snipping"). His offices were a horror lab with "blood on the floor," urine in the air, and "fetal remains haphazardly stored throughout the clinic--in bags, milk jugs, orange-juice cartons, and even in cat-food containers." -- This is one sick person!!
While there are many people who are good, what loose nut or evil inclination drives others to terrible inhumane acts is a question that haunts us throughout the ages.
I remember learning in Jewish day school that some people act worse than animals, because while a wild animal kills for food or to protect themselves, people kill and torture for the sake of it.
Leon Kass in the article on Gosnell points out from his readings that "as science [and technology] advances, morals don't necessarily improve; [and moreover] that the opposite might well be the case" as people's faith in science above all else and belief in materialism as a cure of all ills replaces belief in G-d and the true mission of our souls in life.
What punishment can these people get that will really fit their crimes--when the children are left snipped, beaten, raped, and dead?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 18, 2013
Rape-aXe Takes Hold
Here is a YouTube video that explains how it works (explicit topic).
According to Nicci Talbot in Suite101, Rape-aXe is a female anti-rape condom that has small razor sharp barbs on the inside.
A rapist, who inserts into the female condom, gets trapped by the device, which needs to be surgically removed and leaves small scarring.
The device was invented by Sonnet Ehlers a South Africa women, and it went into production in 2007 going for $2 a piece.
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) "1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime."
"It's a medieval device for a medieval deed," stated Ehlers, and no such evil deed should go unpunished.
Females and males should be protected from sexual abuse both legally as well as with anti-rape devices--and that's the real point. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to haleybean91)
April 16, 2013
A Shocking Bra To Stop Attackers
There is one for women and there is another one fitted for men.
Now in light of the horrible rape attacks in India, 3 female students in India's SRM University have developed an anti-rape bra that literally shocks attackers.
The bra is called "SHE" (for Society Harnessing Equipment) and unlike the chastity belt of the olden-days, this bra according to Popular Science delivers 3,800 kv to attackers.
Women can activate the bra when they feel unsafe and it is pressure sensitive and is calibrated to be able to differentiate say a hug from something more violent.
The woman is insulated from getting shocked by a polymer lining on the inside.
The bra is also being outfitted so the pressure sensor sends a Bluetooth signal to your smartphone to send text message alerts to family or friends and the police with your GPS location.
I want to end with a quote from one of the students as to their inspiration for this innovative anti-rape bra:
"Studying in a convent girls school, we were always taught to be good to everyone and bear a cheerful smile. After stepping into the real, cruel world, we realized that our smile could not last for long as the threat to our purity and integrity always lingered on...Hence, we have initiated the idea of self-defense, which protect the women from domestic, social and workplace harassment."
While I hope these students don't believe that everyone in the world is cruel, I applaud these young women for doing something positive to help protect women worldwide.
I don't know how practical this anti-rape bra will end up being (i.e. wearing something that produces a dangerous shock), this is a good step in thinking about how to make women less of a target and increase the risk to any would-be attacker. ;-)
(Source Photo: adapted from here with attribution to Nicolas Sanguinetti)
December 29, 2012
Rape Outrage!
I iust want to stand with those protesting against the barbarism of the people who brutally gang-raped, tortured, and grotesquely inserted a metal rod inside her, causing her such bodily damage that even a team of eight specialists at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore that specializes in multi-organ transplants, could not save her.
The woman had such severe internal injuries that most of her intestines had to be removed, and according to CBC News, she suffered from organ failure, a lung infection, as well as brain damage.
After the rape, torture, and beatings, the victims were stripped and thrown off the moving bus.
It is sick and evil that the driver not only stood idly by and did nothing to help her, but has been charged as well in the actual rape!
I am deeply saddened not only by the gang rape, but also according to the Daily Times that they happen with such frequency that they are "rarely [even] reported in the Indian press."
This is another wake up call for people of good conscience to stand against those that commit evil and to not be silent in the face of such atrocities.
The cries of this woman, and other victims of violence like her, can be heard throughout the world.
She will not be forgotten, and to those savages may justice be done--in this world or the next by the all-mighty G-d who hears our prayers.
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Daniel Crompton)
August 15, 2012
That's The Last Straw
They deserve to be protected from sexual predators, such as those that spike drinks and take advantage of their unknowing victims.
I was so pleased to learn about a new Anti-Date Rape Straw to help prevent this.
The straw developed by Israeli inventors tests drinks for common date rape drugs.
If the dangerous drugs are present, then the straw changes colors or becomes cloudy--providing a crucial early warning sign to those who might otherwise be drugged and sexually assaulted.
We now have greater awareness of the prevalence of sexual abuse, especially by people we know and trust--such as dating partners, sports coaches, teachers, and even clergy--so we must remain ever vigilant.
We need to teach our daughters that they are beautiful and special and to protect themselves--and not to think that "it can't happen to me."
With these special straws, our daughters can be better prepared, aware, and hopefully safer.
I can see the potential growth and application of this technology to protecting government and private sector leaders, dignitaries, and other VIPs from potentially ingesting--intentionally- or accidentally-tainted food or drink.
With a straw, eating utensil, or even toothpick like device that tests for the presence of dangerous pathogens and contaminants, we can provide a critical safeguard and prevent eating and drinking harmful elements.
Potentially, these types of devices--maybe connected to an smartphone--could be used to provide other important measures and readings of food--such as ingredients, nutrition, and calories--of the actual servings we are about to eat.
This technology has incredible potential to help us not only eat safer, but also healthier.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 1, 2011
Vigilance on a Wrist
At the press of a button, you activate a piercing alarm (up to 30 minutes) and flashing locator lights right from this wrist band.
While I am not endorsing any particular vendor or product, this type of self-defense product can really be important.
This could potentially save the lives of loved ones about to be violently attacked, abducted, or even raped, G-d forbid.
From the Amazon site, I was impressed also to see that a portion of each sale is even donated to missing children's funds.
At a price of only $16.99 per wrist alarm, how much is there really to think about?
Stay safe out there!
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