Witnesses to Alleged rape speak out

I am outraged! A 17 year old girl was raped, perhaps gang raped, by members of the De Anza College baseball team and although three witnesses saw it happen and rescued her from the scene the DA says there is insufficient evidence to bring charges.


"One of the guys who was in the room said 'This is her fault. She got drunk and she did this to herself,'" said April Grolle, one of her rescuers. Lauren Chief Elk didn't believe him: "You have to be conscious to consent to something, and that was not the case at all."


Watch video of these two young women as Lloyd LaCuesta of KTVU Chanel 2 reports this horrible story (link under article's title above) and then decide whether you think these eye witnesses are credible.


It is simply unbelievable that this case isn't going to be prosecuted.


The parents of these men should be examining the values they imparted to their sons. What kind of man believes that a woman who gets drunk and gets raped did it to herself? Bottom line he isn't a man at all. He's an animal.

89% of California parents favor sex ed for their teens

Well, well, well, who knew?

"Politicians and evangelists may push abstinence-only sex education -- the nation's policy for the past decade -- but according to the state's first-ever sex education poll, a startling 89 percent of California parents want their children to receive a comprehensive education that includes information about contraception and STD protection."

According to the Contra Cost Times (link above) a random-dial telephone poll conducted last year by Quantum Market Research and funded by the California Wellness Foundation revealed that fully 89% of California parents have come to realize their kids need information.

To further quote the CCTimes:

"A long awaited study of more than 2,000 teens who had gone through federally funded, abstinence only programs was delivered to Congress last month. The findings? Abstinence-only doesn't work."

I commend the Contra Cost Times for bringing this information to our attention. Now let's pick up the ball and run with it. Let's pass along the information to parents everywhere and encourage action to ensure that our teens have the information they need about sex, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and how they intersect.

Shaha Ali Riza dumps Paul Wolfowitz

Small wonder. This is a case, once again, of a competent woman being pushed aside to accomodate a man.

Shaha Ali Riza was employed at the World Bank when Wolfowitz came there. I'm not surprised that she was angered at her treatment. I would be too.

By all accounts she is a brilliant woman who had a job that she liked and didn't want to be moved out of the way. I would have demanded consideration, too, if I were being required to give up a job I loved because of a situation I didn't ask for, or cause.

When is society going to stop viewing women as appendages to men who can be moved around as pawns on a chess board?

Separation of Church and State

What has happened to the separation of church and state in the U.S.? I would argue that it has nearly been abolished. Although we still say that we separate church and state, we have come to accept co-mingling of faith and policy. If you think I exaggerate I urge you to watch the first segment of this week's Bill Moyers Journal (link above).

Ironically, the religious rights' success may lead to its downfall. Some Americans are beginning to "sweep the scales from their eyes;" recognize the danger in blurring the line between church and government.

Over reaching has historically lead to the failure of popular movements, e.g., the Salem witch trials. I choose the witch trials deliberately because of the similarities it bares to the religious extremism we see all over the world today - and that includes some of the extremists heard on Sunday mornings here in this country.

A recent poll revealed that the fastest growing ' religious' group in the U.S. is atheists. So the pendulum (a hallmark of democratic societies) is beginning to swing in the other direction and may lead to a time when an agnostic or atheist is elected to national office. The arc of the pendulum will have swung from puritanism to secularism. I hope I live to see it.

Fascism? You Be the Judge

I can't add anything to the message offered at BushFlash.com (link above). I urge you to watch a short video and then decide whether fascism lives in the U.S. today.

The Cost of the Iraq War

The Iraqi Parliament, last week, voted to demand that the U.S. give them a time line for leaving their country. I know, the MSM didn't pay much attention to it but I did.

The Iraq War is costing us so much that it's hard to keep up with: 3,372 combat lives; 25,000+ injured; 100,000+ Iraqi lives and on and on...

CostofWar.com (link above) offers a graphic demonstration of the cost in dollars. Learn what we could be buying with the money, e.g.,

a) Healtchare for 255 million children
b) 7.3 million additional teachers
c) Head Start for 53 million children
d) Four year scholarships at public universities for nearly 21 million students, or
e) 3.9 million additional public housing units

Take a few minutes to check out how much the cost of the war could buy in your community. Just in San Francisco it would pay for:

a) 70,000 college scholarships
b) 13,000 public housing units
c) a year of Head Start for 190k children
d) Healthcare for 860k children

We don't even have that many people in San Francisco. It would pay for Healthcare for everybody in San Francisco for a year.

If Iraq wants us to leave, why are we staying? This is stupid, let's just stop it.

I believe that the Iraqi people must continue their civil war, or not, based on their own imperatives, and that the presence of "Coalition" troupes encourages growth of radical extremist factions. Until the U.S. pulls its troupes out of Iraq the Iraqis will have no incentive to negotiate seriously with one another. In other words, I believe that we are the problem.

If you agree with me call, email, or write your Congressmember and Senators. Remind them of the cost of the war and assure them that you expect them to stop it! No ifs, ands, or buts, just STOP IT!

And feel free to use any of the statistics provided above.