John Koster, The Rape Thing' Does Not Excuse Abortions

John Koster, a Republican congressional candidate in Washington state, said Sunday that "the rape thing" is not a good enough reason for a woman to have an abortion."  

Koster joins Richard Mourdock who said that pregnancy from rape is "something God intended," Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) who said victims of "legitimate rape" almost never become pregnant, and Rep. Tom Smith (R-Pa.) who compared pregnancy as a result of rape to "having a baby out of wedlock."

This isn't about right wing/tea party-GOP-Taliban/ candidates saying things that are stupid. It reveals a view of life that is beyond insensitivity. They are close to condemning women for getting raped, as if they were were responsible for their own tragedies.

The more they say, the worse it gets. 
"Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare," he said. "But the rape thing-- you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept the child, gave it up for adoption, and she doesn't regret it."

He added, "On the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime -- how does that make it better? You know what I mean?"

KIRKWOOD, MO - SEPTEMBER 24: U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R)

Akins comments have cost him a Senate seat which was within his grasp until his utterances revealed a meanness devoid of sensitivity to women who have suffered a horrible tragedy.

There are undoubtedly more men who share the views of the four cited above. For them, it is fortunate that the election will be over and no one will be asking them questions that can destroy their careers by revealing who they really are.

Richard Mourdock and the Tea Party Taliban

Mourdock Accepts Impact Of Controversial Rape Remarks

 GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Monday he can't "unring the bell" on comments he made last week about rape, and he's joining a national Republican effort to shift discussion away from his remarks.

"You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, you can't unring the bell," Mourdock said Monday. "I apologize that anyone might have been offended by it personally, and we've moved on and are talking about what people are talking about."

Richard Mourdock - Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Mourdock also told reporters he was surprised by the reaction to his remarks after last week's Senate debate and didn't realize he had said anything controversial.

 This is not just an instance of insensitivity about the subject of rape. Rather, it's the continued radioactive leakage of extremely conservative Republicans whose views on society in general, and women in particular, is appalling to the rest of society. The Tea Party has its own unique vision of the world. They can't why anyone would take issue with what they say, because they only speak the "truth."




"When I walked off the stage, I expected -- walking to my green room -- high-fives, because I had no idea that the statement that I made would possibly go a direction that it went," he said.
The direction that statement took last week knocked not only his campaign off track, but provided ammunition for national Democrats looking for women voters in key swing states. The Mourdock campaign has used the Democratic responses in fundraising appeals to supporters, while also arguing federal spending and the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya are more pertinent issues.
Top Republicans working the Sunday talk show circuit attempted to right the ship this weekend, answering questions about Mourdock's comments at times with statements about the attack. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, one of the tea party's biggest winners in 2010, told Fox News Sunday that abortion is not an issue voters are talking about.

Feathered Dinosaurs Upsetting to Creationists

The traditional view of dinosaurs has been changing in recent years based on new evidence, which indicates that dinosaurs had feathers and links them ever more closely to birds.In an article in Slate on September 19, 2012, Brian Switek documents the changing picture of dinosaurs that is emerging as a result of new science. Evolutionists, welcome new evidence and data so they can have a more accurate understanding of what the dinosaurs were like and how they lived.

Biblical literalists, often called creationists, are upset by the changing picture of dinosaurs and have launched a campaign to "Take dinosaurs back."

"The dinosaurs of our childhood aren’t around anymore. The sluggish, swamp-bound pea-brains that haunted museum halls and trundled through picture books have been eviscerated by agile, hot-blooded, and, often, feathery dinosaurs that more accurately reflect what Tyrannosaurus rex and kin were actually like. What’s more, thanks to a heap of lovely fossils, we now know that even the most fearsome of the tyrant dinosaurs were closely related to the avian dinosaurs—the birds—that flit around our backyards today."

 Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis—said, “Dinosaurs have been held hostage for decades” by his mortal enemy, the nefarious “secular humanists.”  Ham is upset that natural history museums,  which actually run research programs and contribute new facts and hypotheses to our understanding of prehistoric life, unlike the Creation Museum that uses the traditional evidence of dinosaurs as a static, dumb slow-moving creature.

The first dinosaurs evolved about 230 million years ago, and, with the exception of birds, perished about 6

The creationists argue that dinosaurs were created on Day 6 of creation week 6,000 years ago, with birds being brought into existence on Day 5. the idea that dinosaurs might have had feathers extend the birds, which further confuses "creationism science," one of the great oxymorons of our time.

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The Republican war on the middle class

The Republicans in the House of Representatives are making war on the middle class by denying them a tax break they so desperately need. Failure to extend the payroll tax relief will cost a million jobs according to some economists. Do the Republicans care? Evidently not.
The quote below was taken from a New York Times article. Yes, we all know that the New York Times a Liberal newspaper. The statement below, is not a value judgment on someone's position. Rather it states positions clearly enunciated by both parties.

"the looming question remains unresolved — how to pay for the extension. House Republicans want to cut middle-class programs, Democrats want to raise taxes on millionaires, and neither seems inclined to give ground."

On television tonight, the latest polls showed an approval rating for the Republican Party of 20% and the president's approval rating was 49%. The people can clearly see where the fault lies.  Everyone knows that the conservative wing of the conservative party is blocking passage of a law that would extend the tax cut.  Eric Cantor, not John Boehner, is is in control of the House of Representatives. For all intensive purposes he and his cohorts are in control of this country's economic fate. That is one scary notion.I believe Mr. Canter to be an honorable man. However, this is not about honor, it is about an a rigid mindset that will not give an inch.

Addressing the country's deficit is an important issue.,but it is not the only issue. If the government fails to act in ways to maximize economic stability, the impending economic crash a number of experts are predicting will become an inevitability.  The blood will be on the economic hands of the Republican Party.

The publishing revolution is over and we have won.

In a recent post, I talked about the digital revolution in the publishing world. Since then, I joined the Indie Book Collective. I think I needed a waiver to join because I have a publisher, and my novel, Unholy Embrace, was published as a softcover. In joining the collective, I became a full-fledged member of the revolution. What does this mean? In the short-term, I will be selling packages of my short stories on Amazon, Smashwords, and other Internet sites. Hopefully I will make some money from this endeavor.

The long-term consequences of joining this revolution are very important. When I finish my second novel, I don't have to worry about finding a publisher. I will publish it digitally at a time of my own choosing, with a price that makes the most sense for me, not a publisher. Isn't self-publishing a meaningless effort to bolster one's ego? Not anymore. Authors are making money, and more importantly, reaching significant numbers of readers without a single tree being chopped down. The picture to the left is like the "Don't tread on me," flag that flourished early in the Revolutionary war for Independence. I think that's a good analogy. Imagine yourself as an author. Which would you choose: to have an attractive hardcover edition of your book that few people buy and read, or published digitally and have a significant number of people buy and read your book.? Rhetorical question.

But what about getting a novel reviewed? Isn't it true that most reviewers will not touch a self-published novel? That depends on which reviewers we are talking about. The reviewers tied to the hardback and paperback trade will most likely continue not to review self-published authors. Fortunately, there are a significant number of reviewers who only review indie books. While none of these reviewers works for midsize and major newspapers, or has a national reputation (at the present time), they have readerships that are interested in reading good books not traditional reviewers.

Authors can get their books properly digitalized by submitting them to a site such as Smashwords. This will likely become a more competitive market. So, I write the novel, I published the novel, the novel is reviewed, and hopefully people will buy the novel so they can read it. Isn't that what it's all about?

Jailed Afghan rape victim freed

The headline for this post is revolting. The description of what happened to this woman reveals a twisted and bizarre mindset. It is incomprehensible to me that a woman would be jailed after a man rapes her. Yet, this  happened in Afghanistan, and not for the first time. I assume that if I talked to a man from Afghanistan he would tell me that I did not understand the way his society functions. My response would be, "When you imprison women for being raped, you have a grotesque imitation of a society."

From CNN

 An Afghan woman imprisoned for adultery after a relative raped her has been freed after President Hamid Karzai intervened on her behalf. The woman, identified only as Gulnaz for her own protection, had been sentenced to prison for 12 years after she reported that her cousin's husband had raped her two years ago. Wednesday, she was free at a women's shelter in Kabul, with her daughter..

 Her plight gained international attention when the European Union blocked the broadcast of a documentary about her ordeal, saying it would further jeopardize her safety. Afghan Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb and a judiciary committee both proposed a pardon. Karzai then ordered authorities to decree Gulnaz's release.

 Afghani men do not need to be protected from the Taliban as much as Afghani women need to be protected from Afghani men.