When I was raped, I kept it a secret because people say that a woman asks for it. I also know that men are believed and women are not. It doesn’t matter where you live, men rape women and they get away with it.

In Haiti, it’s hard to imagine that a girl or woman asks to be raped, on top of losing her home, family, children, money and is likely starving or injured. And yet, here we are. Women and Girls in Haiti Fear Rape in Makeshift Camps.

With more than a million left homeless after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, countless people are living in the capital’s makeshift camps and susceptible to violence, particularly women and girls.

Remember the woman who ran over her husband? Word is out that Psychology Today backs the murder because it was sweet revenge.

Letter from Fathers & Families to Psychology Today:

Kaja Perina
Editor-in-Chief
Psychology Today
115 E. 23rd St., 9th Floor
New York, NY 10010
212-260-7210

Dear Ms. Perina & Psychology Today:

In the shockingly irresponsible article “Sweet Revenge” (Psychology Today, January/February 2010), Regina Barreca, Ph.D. praises convicted Texas killer Clara Harris for her “great moment of revenge.” The act for which Barreca praises Harris? In 2002, Harris repeatedly ran over her ex-husband David, as David’s daughter Lindsey sat in the front seat of the car begging Clara Harris not to kill her father.

Source: Action Alert: Psychology Today Praises Woman Who Murdered Her Husband as ‘Great Revenge’

Do women ask to be abused? Do they have a right to fight back?

Consider the influence of famous music stars, such as in this case – Lingerie for 9-Year Olds Lets Every Girl Be a Li’l Lolita

As if girls weren’t already growing up too fast, Miley Cyrus’s little sister Noah has just annouced she is assisting in a new line of lingerie.

For 9 year olds.

As the Hollywood Gossip puts it, “It’s called “Ooh! La, La Couture” and it’s pretty much a collection of French Maid outfits.”

Violence Against Women Treated Differently Than Violence Against Men

They say that in Haiti, the women there have been subjected to rape as part of their culture. It’s nothing new for a land of poverty. No one is held accountable. In America, tween sexuality is marketed to little girls and no one is held accountable. It wasn’t until one woman took a matter into her own hands and killed a man that the law stepped in.

When the violence was done against the male.

The news this week is about yelling. It’s about being rude. And the most amazing thing is that each time someone has an outburst, it was a man who felt a public apology would make it all better; like a boo boo on their knee.

It’s a real statement on the state of consciousness of the United States when certain people feel justified in throwing shoes at a US President, shouting “You lie!” during a joint congress gathering, and interrupting a young singer as she tried to accept her award.

My beef isn’t that we shouldn’t forgive people who make stupid mistakes. What worries me is that there seems to be this new sense of PERMISSION to act like an idiot. It’s as if there’s no longer any impulse to respect persons in authority. Leadership has always been a “teach by example” achievement, and yet today’s leaders are more inclined to show their mere mortal status. In one case, it was clearly Mr. Big Shot stealing the moment from a new talent. Kanye West claimed the death of his mother was the emotional driver behind his on-stage outburst while Taylor Swift was making her acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards.

Mr. South Carolina Republican Congressman illustrated that throwing a tantrum is some new leadership quality and by golly, he has a lot of public support for it!

I don’t accept what’s happening and am truly alarmed that so many Americans find nothing wrong with leaders and famous people acting in ways that would have had me grounded without dinner if I’d pulled a stunt like they did.

The rest of us regular people on the planet have lost loved ones too. You deal with it. If you have any common sense at all, you know enough to not spread your misery to others. Or if you do, you share with close friends and family who know you and can offer support. Rushing up on stage as West did was a public display of selfishness in an environment where the ego rules. He must have thought he was pretty hot shit to come up on stage, take the microphone away from a young rising star and tell the world he likes someone else’s video better.

When Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” we all heard it on TV. I was shocked. It didn’t matter who did it. What was incredible was that it happened at all. These men, and a few women, are called “lawmakers”. If any one of us regular people had yelled like he did, we would have been escorted out of the room and arrested. So why is it okay for people who make our laws and decide how we live to show bad manners? For what possible reasons are we expected to support them when it’s obviously okay to be rude and obnoxious?

Not only was his outburst pathetic, the entire Republican party display of frowns, folded arms, reading hand held devices, sitting during standing ovations, not clapping in any show of support, waving documents in the air, calling out with verbal feedback during a televised speech and their overall obstinate energy was fascinating to watch.

I was taught to be polite and listen with an open mind. If I disagreed, I was to keep my mouth shut unless invited to speak and again, always show respect. Are these lessons I grew up with a thing of the past?

Arrogance and stupidity among Americans is growing. Thousands of people marched on Washington for a “Tea Party” demonstration. I’m all for peaceful demonstrations but when the cameras were on, interviewees said they were there because they stood by Representive Joe Wilson! So now there’s an entire political party that feels proper behavior is yelling the loudest and being the most abrasive in public. That ought to go over really well in negations with other countries.

The true test of leadership is being able to continue in the face of bigotry, hatred, and enormous negativity. That President Obama does this every day is remarkable. For the USA to become stable again, things have to change and he knows it. The old ways no longer work. Its incredible how many people, from positions of authority to me and you, are unwilling to try something new. Even when the present way of doing things is literally killing citizens, talk of new ideas is shot down or someone starts a myth about the government killing people to save money.

I’m sick of the so-called apologies. When you’ve made a Class A fool out of yourself to a worldwide audience, there’s no excuse. These people knew the world was watching and they took advantage of that. Claiming to not be responsible for your actions due to a personal issue or emotional moment is not an apology. It’s an excuse. It’s showing how retarded these people are in their thinking; believing they can get away with this behavior.

What I want to know is what Mr. Shoe Thrower, Mr. You Lie Mr. President and Mr. Music Ego are planning on doing to help our country do better. Tantrums are for babies.

Grow up.

Whose minds are well-developed in the factors of self-awakening, who delight in non-clinging, relinquishing grasping– resplendent, their effluents ended: they, in the world, are Unbound.

- Dhammapada, 6, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

I’ve come to believe that words by themselves have no meaning.  Taken one by one, alone or even grouped into paragraphs, they are blah, boring and utterly useless.  What makes them pop is the intent behind them.  I think some people are really good at reading intent.

I hate being at bars because pickup lines are pathetic tools used by men who haven’t learned the English language enough to start an intelligent conversation.  Their jokes aren’t funny.  But even if one of them actually has something of substance to say to me, their intent is SCREAMING at me.  It typically appears in the form of him staring at my boobs while he’s speaking to me.  Dead giveaway there.  One wonders why they think breasts can hear.

Another common use of meaningless conversations are parties, conferences or events I attend, where suddenly I’m worth speaking to.  Granted, the moment I leave, I’m dead to them, but as long as being seen near me or talking with me somehow boosts their credibility or ego, I’m important.  I love to get limp handshakes and weak hugs from those who really don’t like me but for some reason feel they must pretend to know I’m there.  I know they could care less that I am.

People and animals have this instinctive behavior that forces us to separate ourselves from each other into groups.  However, in the animal world, they always know where they stand.  There’s no trying to figure out if a lion is  gay, straight, married or a vegan.  His options are limited. He’s always going to be  large, lustful and hungry.   We always know what to expect with a lion.  Not so with humans.

I know when someone is really happy to see me.  Their eyes light up.  They smile. There’s no hint of  “uh oh,  she’s here” in their body language.  They don’t look at you and put their head down.  Or hunch down in a chair.  Or stick a menu in front of their face.  Or turn to the person they’re sitting next to so they look too busy to acknowledge you.  And even if they don’t do all those things and say “Hi”, it’s got the power of the 8 ball going into a  pocket along with the white ball.  You can literally feel the “SHIT” in their voice.

I think my problem is that I don’t have good self esteem, so I figure I did something wrong and don’t deserve to be spoken to or acknowledged in a group.  On those really bad self-loathing day, a kind phrase like “Have a great day” delivered with cheer can drop into my body without any fan fare or acceptance on my part.

So basically what I’m getting at is you’re all screwed and no matter what you say to me,  unless it comes with flowers, chocolate, bear hug or  expertly delivered flirt with direct eye contact, I’m never going to believe a damn thing you say.

So says the Vatican, according to Knights Templar hid the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican

Medieval knights hid and secretly venerated The Holy Shroud of Turin for more than 100 years after the Crusades, the Vatican said yesterday in an announcement that appeared to solve the mystery of the relic’s missing years.

The Knights Templar, an order which was suppressed and disbanded for alleged heresy, took care of the linen cloth, which bears the image of a man with a beard, long hair and the wounds of crucifixion, according to Vatican researchers.