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09 Jun 2011 14:04

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World: Viagra possibly being used for some horrific stuff in Libya

  • Disturbing allegations An International Criminal Court prosecutor has claimed that Gaddafi is buying a “Viagra-like” drug for his troops to help them commit sexual assaults. The prosecutor is trying to prove that the Gaddafi regime is using sexual assault as a weapon of war. The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has been working on this case for some time and is serious about taking Gaddafi down.
  • Denials on both sides Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, says they haven’t shipped any of their drugs to Libya since the sanctions started back in February. The report says “Viagra-like,” but it’s possible Gaddafi’s troops are getting the real thing from the black market. Libyan spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim also denies the charges, calling them the “same old nonsense.” Either way, this whole thing is disgusting. source

25 Mar 2011 12:33

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U.S.: Yikes: This billionaire dude is facing child sexual assault charges

  • Meet Samuel Curtis Johnson, right. Do us a favor and initialize his first and middle name, and then add the word “Wax” after Johnson. As you might have noticed, he’s a billionaire heir to a family that founded a major cleaning-supplies company. For a while, he was the Chairman of a spinoff company, Diversey Inc. (He hasn’t had a formal relationship with his namesake company in years.) Now, the 55-year-old man is in a lot of trouble – charged with having repeatedly sexually assaulted a child, now 15. He could face 40 years in prison if convicted. A terrible, awful story — that it involves a billionaire is the least of the problems here. source

16 Feb 2011 23:39

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Politics: On Nir Rosen’s sudden rise to Public Enemy No. 1

  • It’s crazy how fast things move sometimes. Within a day, Nir Rosen went from some relatively low-profile journalist tweeting controversially about Lara Logan to Twitter trending topic who’s on Anderson Cooper. That’s right, he’s become the story as much as Logan has. (Which, considering the nature of the Logan story, is sad.) Nir Rosen has surpassed Kenneth Cole as the worst social media user of the Egypt crisis. But some have suggested that this is a situation where actually-harmless gallows humor met its worst enemy: The internet mob mentality. We disagree, but we’d like to offer our feelings first:
  • Two mobs, two targets Foster Kamer, a journalist we like but don’t always agree with, had a pretty interesting take: “Lara Logan and Nir Rosen were attacked by the same thing. Or more precisely, the same sociological profile.” His correlation? A large online mob ganged up on Rosen, just as a large real-life mob did the same to Logan. While we can see where he’s going, Rosen largely encouraged the attacks by continuing to paint himself in a corner after the comments spiked out of control. He didn’t see the red flags.
  • Tweet at your own peril The thing about Rosen that makes him effective as a journalist is that he’s brash and in-your-face. Problem is, he’s one of those guys with strong views who doesn’t see when he’s gone too far. It’s something he admits to himself: “I’ve often been warned by friends that someone as rash and careless as me should not be on twitter, and clearly they were right.” Rosen didn’t take Twitter seriously. The problem is Twitter takes Twitter seriously, and it’s at a public figure’s peril to ignore that. source

16 Feb 2011 15:01

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Politics: Lara Logan released from hospital, in “remarkably good spirits”

  • good news on the lara logan front. It’s being reported that Logan has been dismissed from the hospital following her “brutal and sustained sexual assault” in Cairo. While an unnamed source claims that, fortunately, Logan’s assault was “not a rape,” we can hardly imagine of the terror of it, especially in the context of a wild, tumultuous scene in Tahrir Square. Logan is reportedly in surprisingly good spirits, and is home with her family. Best wishes for her, and for her recovery. Relatedly, though, film critic Roger Ebert had this to say: “The attack on Lara Logan brings Middle East attitudes toward women into sad focus.” We’re all for somberly analyzing the broad implications of specific events, but really? Unless you can’t imagine a woman in America being sexually assaulted in a chaotic mob, it seems a little cheap and easy to paint a whole part of the world with the brush of this horrible event. Still, better than Nir Rosen’s analysis was. source

16 Feb 2011 10:46

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U.S., World: More details on the Lara Logan case: What happened?

  • egypt The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS’ Logan was separated from her crew from 20 to 30 minutes. While she was beaten and sexually assaulted, she was not raped.
  • hospital The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz reports that Logan, who is staying in an NYC hospital, will likely be let out today. Her injuries have not been disclosed. source

20 Dec 2010 10:08

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World: *IRONY ALERT* JULIAN ASSANGE’S PEOPLE UPSET ABOUT A LEAK!

  • I do not know who has given these documents to the media, but the purpose can only be one thing – trying to make Julian look bad.
  • Julian Assange’s Swedish Lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig • Offering up the most ironic complaint ever, that the leak of material in Julian Assange’s sex case makes Assange look bad. OHHHHHHHHHH so it’s OK as long as it doesn’t involve Julian Assange. Let’s bask in the glow of this for a second and remind you guys of this site, with its phallic logo and possible improvement over the Wikileaks model.  source

15 Dec 2010 20:54

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U.S.: NYC TV meteorologist arrested for filing false rape report

  • accusing Heidi Jones, an on-air personality and meteorologist for WABC in New York City, claimed that she was sexually assaulted in Central Park, then ran into her alleged victim a couple months later.
  • recanting Jones, when questioned about the accusations by police, recanted her story and said she made it up. She was later arrested for filing a false report and has been suspended by her employer. source
 

07 Dec 2010 21:38

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World: Sweden: Worst possible place for Julian Assange to have random sex

  • 53 rapes reported in Sweden for every 100,000 inhabitants source
  • history Sweden has some of the broadest, furthest-reaching sexual assault laws of any country in the world, partly due to a history that favors womens’ rights.
  • result Sexual assault cases are reported in Sweden more than anywhere in the European Union – and the culture encourages high degrees of equality in gender roles.
  • reaction “Sometimes we lawyers joke that soon you have to have a written permission before you can have sex,” said Bengt Hesselberg, a Swedish lawyer. LOL, funny guy.

07 Dec 2010 08:32

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World: Julian Assange arrested as part of sex crimes investigation

  • It’s about time we got to the end of the day and we got some truth, justice and rule of law. Julian Assange has been the one in hot pursuit to vindicate himself to clear his good name.
  • Julian Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens • Regarding his client’s decision to accept his arrest by British authorities. Considering what’s on the line for him (a heck of a lot more than a sex warrant), it’s nothing short of impressive that he gave himself up to police. Wikileaks emphasizes, by the way, that Assange’s arrest won’t affect the release of more cables – including tonight’s release. source

11 Mar 2010 21:08

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Politics: Eric Massa’s Navy days: Unwanted come-ons and “snorkeling”

  • When you’re on ship, you’re almost exhausted 24-7. So a lot of times you sleep with your uniform on. Tom and Massa shared a stateroom together. Massa climbed up on the top of his bunk, which is hard to do – you never crawl up on somebody else’s bunk. He wakes up to Massa undoing his pants trying to snorkel him.
  • Eric Massa’s Navy shipmate Peter Clarke • Regarding an attempted sexual assault by the former congressman against Tom Maxfield, a roommate. The Atlantic did some hard-hitting reporting on this one. Massa said something on Glenn Beck the other day to the effect that he wasn’t involved in anything like what he’s being accused of during his Navy days (despite the photos, oh the photos?), and reporter Joshua Green bothered to ask. Their response, collectively: Yes, he did. So why didn’t they say something then? Because he was seen as upwardly mobile. Some are suggesting Massa get investigated anyway. Yeah, he should. source