"Why is rape even a crime?"

I can't even imagine this situation. The whole thing is mind-boggling, mind-blowing and beyond ridiculous.

On top of that, I think this situation brings up something the coworker and I talked about yesterday. The words rape, sexual assault, date rape, etc. are used in terrible, horrible situations. But who are the used by? They are used by those the event happened to, those that it adversely affected. But is the media affected? So many times in our society, that which we call rape is called a "sexual experience" or it is said that the two (sometimes even mentioned as "the couple") had "intimate relations." No. I'm sorry. When these articles surface, it is because someone did something wrong. Coworker mentioned how the same goes for terrorism as well as some other problems society has. I suppose it has to do with the media not wanting to worry people, but at the same time, it's like, why is rape even a crime? If it does not get prosecuted as such, if it is not talked about as such and if we use lesser words to discuss the topic, doesn't it seem like we are brushing the issue aside? Or perhaps just trying to say that it's not a big deal because, well, he's famous (i.e. Kobe Bryant) or he's respected or he's a bit older or it's in a country we don't care about (i.e. the amount of rapes that happen in Africa that are NEVER reported or talked about).

This also leads to the conversation about how else we use the word rape thus lessening it's potency. When a man is a bad kisser, he can sometimes be referred to as "raping her face" (Sex and the City). I know from others (coworker included) that the term is widely thrown around in the gaming world. Sometimes, people use it instead of the word raid as in "you raped my kitchen. Now I have no food" or "it looks like the rabbits really raped my garden." These comments simply lesson the impact the word has. This goes for the Holocaust as well. No longer is it something to be feared, something to worry about. It is thrown around so simply, it's as though they could be the word potato.

Words are so important in our society and its so important to use the correct words when we speak and when we write. It's too bad that the media doesn't feel the same way.

#6

New Hampshire!

National LGBT Pride Month

It's too bad this didn't get more play yesterday.

Does this mean that sometime this month DADT will be repealed?

I can only hope.

Communication is so very much needed

The George Tiller atrocity has hit so many bloggers so deep. The pain is so fresh, so new. He was shot in front of his wife and daughter in church. It doesn't get much worse than that.

And yes, this is not a new phenomena. It's been happening for years. But don't you think, in a time like this, with an African-American president, an attempt at middle east peace and an advancement in alternative energy sources, we should try to make the best of the situation? Yes, it was a horrible event. My heart absolutely bleeds for his family. Yes, I think the killer should be put to death (I'm a fan of capitol punishment. Death on both ends of the spectrum. I'm very consistent). But I also think this could open up lines of communication.

I mentioned this story to my Conservative, Republican, pro-life coworker (believe it or not, we get along rather well). I didn't even finish getting the words out of my mouth when he said "that's not pro-life. How can you be pro-life and murder someone?" I am so thankful for people like that, who can see that this idea makes no sense.

He mentioned that now all the pro-choice people will label pro-lifers as such and that there was a severe lack of communication. And I think it's true. For years, growing up, I understood pro-life in the following manner (kudos to those of you who know where this is from):

"Pro-life. Pro-life. These people aren't pro-life, they're killing doctors! What kinda pro-life is that? What, they'll do anything they can to save a fetus, but if it grows up to be a doctor they just might have to kill it? They're not pro-life. You know what they are? They're anti-woman. Simple as it gets: anti-woman...They believe a woman's primary role is to function as a brood-mare for the state. Pro-life. You don't see any of these white, anti-abortion women volunteering to have any black fetuses transplanted into their uteruses, do you? No, you don't see 'em adopting a whole lotta crack babies, do you? No, that might be something Christ would do."

And guess what? Not all pro-lifers are like that. But I had no idea! And I was not raised as a radical pro-choicer. I wasn't even raised as a pro-choicer. I made the decision on my own. But again, the lack of communication is immense.

Neither side will sit down with the other and find common ground. So many pro-lifers think that pro-choicers want every woman to have an abortion. And that's not true! So many pro-choicers think that pro-lifers don't care about anything except preserving their way of life, and anyone else who gets in their way be damned. And that's not true either!

It seems that we will not be able to have the more perfect union that we had dreamed of. When each side is too stubborn, too set in their ways and too hateful of the other side to even begin to be able to talk, we have a problem. The American Dream has always been to be able to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, to have a large sense of patriotism and to feel like this is one big melting pot. Unfortunately, none of these seem possible anymore.

Oh sure, there are those lucky families who come to America with $1.70 in their pockets and 50 years later, they are doing well enough to travel 5 times a year. But unfortunately, not everyone is as motivating.

And yes, there are those who have a large sense of patriotism. But unfortunately, those who feel patriotic usually attack those who might not feel as patriotic. And as one of those who has felt the attack, from my perspective, it seems as though the patriotism has become part of the Republican definition. When Bush was in office and Barak Obama was running, the tabloids, newspapers and news stations had a FIELD DAY when Michelle Obama said she was "finally proud of her country" or something like that. They went after her, saying how could she expect her husband to get elected if she's not patriotic. This led to, or was part of, I cannot remember, the whole American flag pin fiasco which in and of itself was ridiculous.

As to the melting pot. There are so many people in this country who feel like it is their duty to tell others to "go back to where they came from." And some people who get this treatment have been here for years and years.

The hand out generation is coming into play in the world spectrum. And I'm really worried of what it will do to our reputation. Yes, our reputation is in the process of being repaired, but can you imagine a Secretary of State who throws a temper tantrum because they get a dirty spoon at a State Dinner? That is my ultimate fear.

In any case, I guess this turned into a lot different of a post than what it started as. Talk to people. Open lines of communication. Even with people who you don't think would EVER want to listen to you. It's good to get other ideas. You might even expand your own thoughts.

Shock the heck out of me

Who knew musicians could write so well?

Impressed.

Ugh

California.

Can't you get it right?

Disgusted

The Aristocats

I hadn't seen this movie in a very long time, but the general premise is easy to remember. Cats will inherit so butler gets rid of them but they come back. This is the last movie that Walt Disney approved but he died before seeing its completion. I took my sister to this one as Sweetie returns tonight from the 2 week trip to Asia without me.

The movie opens with Madame (which my sister asked me later "like a real madame?") riding along with her cats. Madame is a retired Opera singer who it seems never married. She lives in an amazing mansion and feels her life is perfect with her cats. I love this! She doesn't need to be defined by a husband or children, but her cats will do just fine. I also love the fact that society doesn't shun her as this is Paris in 1910. Who would have known?

In any case, Madame goes and asks for George, her lawyer, to come and help her make out her will. Edgar, the butler, overhears that he'll inherit her money after the cats do and he sorely displeased. He decides to do away with the cats so he can inherit millions. Another movie about greed.

We see Duchess, the mother, and her children, Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse, as being extremely well cultured and refined. Duchess is voiced by Eva Gabor, so she has that air about her, though she is not snobby but completely charming. The kids fight a bit and Duchess asks them to stop and go to their (whatever it is she calls them). Toulouse paints and Marie and Berlioz sing and play the piano respectively. After Duchess asks them to stop fighting, Berlioz and Toulouse blame Marie for beginning the fight. This is where one of the best lines comes from: "Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them." I love it!

Edgar gets the cats into sleepyland (I almost wrote "put them to sleep" and realized that was the wrong terminology) and takes them off to the countryside where we come in contact with Napoleon and Lafayette who take some things of Edgar's (he'll go back to get them and while it's funny, I won't comment on it here).

The cats wake up in a rainstorm outside of their home. They end up sleeping through the night and meet Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley the alley cat; a rather sleazy cat. He is everything that a stereotypical Casanova is. Sly, shady, charming and not interested in children. He offers to get Duchess back to Paris on a magic carpet and then when he finds out she has children, the offer is rescinded. Duchess understands completely what is going on and just brushes it off. She's met enough of those kinds of men in her time. They begin to leave and he says to himself "come to think of it O'Malley you're not a cat, you're a rat" and offers to help them.

Had it not been for Marie falling off the magic carpet (read: milk truck [the same one used for the bad guys in 101 Dalmatians]), the story would have gone differently. Thomas gets her back on and, after a briefly negative encounter with the driver, explains his view of humans. He says that they "don't really worry too much about their pets." While Duchess tries to explain that this is not indeed the case, a train comes over the tracks they are on. Marie, yet again, falls into the water and Thomas goes to save her. I'll be the first to admit that I was getting tired of the "I'll save the girl" routine, so I'm glad this was the last one.

After saving Marie, Thomas comes across Amelia and Abigail Gabble, two geese who are on Holiday from England. They attack Thomas after finding out he is not Duchess' husband and then suggest that they should all go to Paris together. It is at this point, I think, that I realized how bothered I was by the pet names that Thomas was giving Duchess. He kept calling her "baby" and "honey" and not in the "oh sweetie darling you're so cute" kind of way. In the "Bess, you is my woman now" kinda way.

They get to England and we meet Uncle Waldo who gives a wonderful line. He went into a restaurant where they were serving goose basted in white wine. He says "Dreadful! Being British, I would've preferred sherry."

We then leave the geese and move onto O'Malley's "pad" as he calls it. We find out that ScatCat is there and he suggests they leave and go somewhere else for the evening. In the most innocent and charming way possible, Duchess responds with "no, I would like to see your pad and meet your ScatCat." They go in and dance the night away to a swing and jazz blend.

After the kids are in bed, O'Malley and Duchess are talking outside and he basically says he wants to marry her. She says she cannot for she cannot leave Madame alone. He is disappointed, but respects her decision.

The next day, they go home, Edgar captures them, throws them in a trunk, Roquefort (the mouse) goes after O'Malley who tells him to get ScatCat. The best scene is when the ScatCat gang is going to the house, they run past a man drinking wine. He realizes that he is seeing a mouse chasing the cats and pours out his wine onto the street.

O'Malley and ScatCat help Roquefort and Fru-Fru (the horse) save Duchess and the kittens and Edgar ends up going to Timbuktu instead of the cats. The movie closes with George redoing the will for Madame, O'Malley joining the family and Madame saying she was going to open up her house for all the alley cats in Paris.

I really liked this movie. I feel like it is the first movie with a real feminist adult character. Duchess is so prim and proper, but she's also in control and not subject to whatever the evils say will happen (Sleeping Beauty) or might happen (Snow White), etc. etc. Yes, it's not a fairy tale, but I feel like it's so much higher up in the scheme of stories. I also love that the characters of ScatCats gang help Duchess for friendship of O'Malley and not for love of Duchess. If this story were made now, ScatCat and O'Malley would have gotten into a fight over Duchess and she would have been forced to pick one.

Yes, Jungle Book will be coming at some point. I missed the movie and haven't seen it yet so I can't comment. And yes, at some point, Cinderella will come as well. Robin Hood is in 2 weeks, so yay for Memorial Day!