Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

If you are a man, and you love any woman in the world - your mother, sister, daughter, wife, movie star; I don't give a fuck - read these articles. The first one if no other.


Rape Culture 101: On What It's Like To Be A Woman

To all those men who don’t think that rape jokes are a problem.

A woman walks into a rape, uh, bar: A post about rape jokes.

Schrödinger’s Rapist: or a guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced.

Meet the Predators: Or, How To Almost Spot the Rapists at a Party (Also known as, who the f is doing all of this raping?)

Why I Didn't Report My Rape

Prison Rape and the Government

On Welfare Queens

What!? No. That's asinine.

I keep seeing all of these hate graphics about poor people. They usually invoke the fantasy world wherein welfare queens receive free rent, free food, and can afford luxury items with the cash that they receive from the jobs that they don't have. It's pretty illogical, but the myth persists.

Personally, I'm really curious as to how people can tell when people are using food stamps, since it's a plastic card that looks and works exactly like the average debit card. How can you tell the difference between my brown CNB bankcard and someone else's brown SNAP card? How close are you folks getting to the people in front of you? Usually, I'm still unloading my cart while the person in front of me is checking out, and I can't really see what their card looks like, so all I can see is if they're using a check, a card, or cash.

So the next time you see a graphic like that, you should ask the poster, "Exactly how close are y'all getting, and why?".

Prison Reform Rant

To everyone who dismisses the idea of prison reform because 'prison isn't supposed to be nice'. Or easy, or fun, or whatever adjective you like.

Do you like paying to incarcerate people with a treatable condition? To then pass on the financial burden of intergenerational incarceration to your children and your children's children? Is finding ways to help your fellow men, women and children to succeed so hard to swallow? Personally, I rather like the idea of a win win situation.

I care if my fellow Americans suffer. I understand that many of them are there for BS 'crimes' drummed up and criminalized in order to make money for the prisons. I understand that every American commits, on average, of three felonies a day and I don't spend my time looking down on regular people when I'm a regular person myself.

I understand that treatment is less expensive than incarceration, and I'm pissed that our lawmakers would rather waste my money on incarceration than spend it actually helping people. I understand that many of these people came out of homes with incarcerated parents and foster care with less than basic reading skills and can't get a job. (You know, just as an aside, there simply aren't jobs for 1 out of 5 people whom are currently unemployed, and people in prison don't even count towards that number!)

I understand that incarceration doesn't just affect the prisoner. It affects their whole family, and the entire community. I understand that as an Oklahoman, an American, and a freaking human being, I am a part of this community, and I want my money spent on things that help other people. Otherwise, it's a waste of money and lives.

And if you think that Oklahoma's prisons are a vacation, then you obviously haven't been sexually assaulted in one, as three out of five Oklahoma prisoners are. Do you think that rape is an acceptable punishment for a childless woman in possession of marijuana, or for leaking a music track onto the Internet without permission?

I don't.

Then again, I'm a human being.