BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I was raised staunchly Catholic. My father converted (much to the horror of his family) to marry the Polish Catholic girl he was in love with. And he embraced Catholicism with all his heart. It helped give him purpose, direction and a compass - something that had been lacking in his Protestant upbringing. When we moved to Central New York when I was 9, we went to the big Catholic Church in town. And there it started, the hypocrisy... the unnecessary meanness... the do as I say not as I do... Even corporal punishment. When I was 17 I was teaching Bible Studies to a Christian Youth group at the local Baptist Church's community center. The Church issued me a warning... for READING THE BIBLE! Then one day, my brother - who was coming down with the flu - forgot one of his books for his CCD class. The nun made him walk all the way back to his school (4 miles) in the driving snow - instead of putting him on the bus. When he got to school he had a 102F fever and went to the hos...

I don't like prostitution for what it does to the sex workers , the mind-set of the johns and the damage to their families. Personally I consider prostitution to be PAID RAPE. Period. But to use children! Just disgusting -- I will never be able to wrap my brain around it. However, I have said before - law enforcement has to start GOING AFTER THE JOHNS MORE AGGRESSIVELY if they expect this to make any difference . FBI says 345 arrested, 21 children rescued in prostitution busts in 16 cities Hundreds of people have been arrested and 21 children rescued in what the FBI is calling a five-day roundup of networks of pimps who force children into prostitution. The Justice Department says it targeted 16 cities as part of its "Operation Cross Country" that caps off five years of similar stings nationwide. Many of the children forced into prostitution are either runaways or what authorities call "thrown-aways" _ kids whose families have shunned them. Officials say th...

Gordon Brown said that lessons must be learned from the case of a man who repeatedly raped his two daughters over more than two decades, fathering nine children by them. The Prime Minister said that a full case review was now under way after the 56-year-old businessman on Tuesday received 25 life sentences for rape at Sheffield Crown Court. "The whole country will be outraged by those unspeakable events that have been reported as happening in Sheffield and in other parts of the country and will be utterly appalled by the news of the systemic abuse of two sisters by their father over such a long period," he told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions. "People will want to know how such abuse could go on for so long without the authorities and the wider public services discovering it and taking action. "If there is a change to be made in the system and the system has failed we will change the system." SOURCE

My friend Chaim at Freedom's Cost shared this with me today. When I finally was able to sit down and read it through this evening - I was stunned! Please, if you have a heart condition - make sure you have taken your medication before you read on: To wit: a Hebrew University graduate student claimed in her thesis that the absence of any history of rapes of Arab women by Israeli soldiers proves that Jews are racists and oppressors, people who do not even regard Arab women as worthy of being sexually abused WHAT THE ****?! Being morally centered, self controlled and not abusing women, Arab women makes Jews RACIST? This from a Hebrew University Grad Student. Goodness, the Jews just can't win even when they DO THE RIGHT THING!!! And Professor Ben-Ari appears to be the ponerized academic & scholarly sociopath all mothers warn college-bound girls about! You have to read this whole article because it's a DOOZY! I will highlight the bits that left me speechless: Hebrew U...

"LEGITIMIZING" SEX OFFENDERS? SPARE ME!! Yet another misogynist asking for forgiveness. And we, as a society, have to stop giving these guys a pass. I have lost track of the number of abuse victims I have met who have been victims of mental or emotional rape or marital rape. The abuser always says "well she wanted it too" or "she's my wife/girlfriend - so I am entitled." Make me hurl! They lie and then they ask forgiveness. Hollow, shallow forgiveness. "I'm a man.... I have needs... I need relief." Maybe they can find relief with some nice cellmate? Forgiveness for these guys usually also means FORGETTING! Let's all be nice and act like it never happened. They think women are objects so we are horrible if we act like human beings and demand to be treated with respect. Or we demand an apology or acknowledgement. Don't get me wrong. I am a big believer in restorative justice. When both parties are sincere and seek to hea...