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CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278726: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:54:53 PM

Good and bad news:

3 people were arrested in a human trafficking sex slave operation here in Kentucky. The thing is this is just the tip of the ice berg as there's large scale trafficking of children and teenage girls in the state as part of the criminal conspiracy.

It's part of the drug, hunger, and white gangs issue that is being covered up by the state government.

https://www.wbko.com/content/news/3-arrested-in-human-trafficking-case-after-Kentucky-teen-found-in-back-of-U-Haul-truck-508961871.html

Maybe these assholes will be the key to wrapping up the larger network but the FBI needs a full army of agents, the National Guard, child services, and the full support of the federal as well as state governments to stop this stuff.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#278727: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:56:46 PM

[up]

Er, any articles about the State government's attempts at brushing that stuff under the rug?

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#278728: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:57:26 PM

...I am missing the link to the state government. Yes, this Bevin guy is a piece of work and they changed their child sex law just last year but I am not sensing a connection here.

Note also that Bevin is due for a new election in November this year.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#278729: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:57:47 PM

The term for ethnicity is "Hebrew". The religious affiliation is "Jewish". The two are tied together very closely, and people use them interchangeably, but there is a difference. As an example, someone who isn't Hebrew but converts to Judaism is Jewish, but isn't Hebrew. Similarly, if a Hebrew person converts to Islam, they are still Hebrew, but no longer Jewish.

Most Hebrew atheists still consider themselves Jewish because they still tend to self-identify as a Jew and celebrate Jewish holidays.

NickTheSwing Since: Aug, 2009
#278730: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:58:38 PM

Well, on the less prominent end of politics, it appears that Aaron Schock, disgraced former Congressman and muscle and fitness magazine model, has been photographed at Coachella not just making out with a guy, but going full on in on that.

Schock voted anti-gay, but it's pretty clear he is deep in the closet.

...And for all the speculation and "observation", nobody ever says Aaron Schock is bisexual. No. Its just "he's straight or he's gay".

Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278731: Apr 25th 2019 at 1:59:49 PM

No, I'm speaking about the fact that this has been a problem for years and the government has done nothing.

This is me speaking as a residnet not reporting the news on the subject.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 25th 2019 at 2:00:22 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#278732: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:00:17 PM

I swear to god, Manchin.

In other shitty white man news, apparently Biden finally spoke to Anita Hill. She did not accept his “apology.”

To be honest, even if Biden had given an actually good apology where he fully articulated how and why he was wrong to do what he did (which he didn't of course), I don't think I would have accepted his apology either. That kind of wound runs too deep.

TobiasDrake Queen of Good Things, Honest (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Queen of Good Things, Honest
#278733: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:06:06 PM

I've mentioned this before in other threads more revolving around the topic of atonement and redemption but it seems directly applicable to the Anita Hill situation.

What it boils down to is this: sometimes people don't want to watch you atone. They don't want to redeem you of your sins. What they want is to live out the rest of their life in peace without having to deal with you being in it.

Someone who's been victimized is under no obligation to accept an apology. And sometimes the gesture itself does more harm than good. Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone you've hurt is to just f*cking go away and never bother them again. If that seems unfair, too bad. That's the consequence for f*cking up like you did in the first place.

That's exactly the position Biden's in with Anita Hill. There is no fixing this. There is no way to make it politically palatable. It's a black mark on his record and it will remain so forever.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#278734: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:06:40 PM

It surprises me that people didn't know Sanders is jewish.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278735: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:12:18 PM

It's important if Biden is going to be President that he recognizes what he fucked up in the past.

However, Anita Hill was humiliated and has no obligation to help him or accept his apology.

But the fact is that it is better he recognizes his actions were wrong publicly.

—- The problem being that a lot of people also don't want him to do this because they don't want to acknowledge he could not only win the Primary but Presidency. A lot of people fully believed his past would disqualify him but that wasn't the case with Trump and won't be the case with Biden.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#278736: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:12:48 PM

>Someone who's been victimized is under no obligation to accept an apology.

Also someone not accepting your apology doesn't mean you haven't changed.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#278737: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:15:44 PM

[up]Yes, of course.

This is the best way I've seen it put: "I'm glad people can change, but I have no interest in reliving my pain for the benefit of someone else's redemption arc."

Alternatively, Bojack Horseman season 1 did a great episode on this too.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Apr 25th 2019 at 5:16:16 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#278738: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:17:39 PM

It sounds like Biden didn’t apologize though, he just praised Hill for her advocacy.

For fuck’s sake, like a month or two ago he said he wished he could have helped her... he was IN CHARGE of the hearings! He, specifically, chose to bring in women who liked Clarence Thomas as witnesses but not women who also alleged he sexually harassed them.

That’s not true change, that’s refusing to accept responsibility.

Edited by wisewillow on Apr 25th 2019 at 2:18:21 AM

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#278739: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:19:52 PM

It seems to me that Biden is more interested in absolution than repentance, from what I'm hearing.

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#278740: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:20:27 PM

[up][up]I thought the "expressed his regret" part implied an apology, and Hill's statement ("I have more important things in my life than hearing an apology from Joe Biden") implied to me he tried to, but yeah you're right that he isn't properly taking responsibility for what happened.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Apr 25th 2019 at 5:20:41 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278741: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:22:29 PM

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Anita Hill earlier this month to express his regret over “what she endured” testifying against Justice Clarence Thomas at the 1991 Supreme Court hearings that put a spotlight on sexual harassment of women, according to a spokeswoman for Mr. Biden.

But Ms. Hill, in an interview Wednesday, said she left the conversation feeling deeply unsatisfied and declined to characterize his words to her as an apology. She said she is not convinced that Mr. Biden truly accepts the harm he caused her and other women who suffered sexual harassment and gender violence.

“I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I’m sorry for what happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose,” she said.

She said she cannot support Mr. Biden, who as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 oversaw the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, until he takes responsibility for what he did and is also troubled by the recent accusations of improper touching.

“The focus on apology to me is one thing,” she said. “But he needs to give an apology to the other women and to the American public because we know now how deeply disappointed Americans around the country were about what they saw. And not just women. There are women and men now who have just really lost confidence in our government to respond to the problem of gender violence.” Anita Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas in October 1991.Credit Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times Image Anita Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas in October 1991.Credit Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times

[Mr. Biden announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge President Trump in 2020.]

Mr. Biden’s outreach to Ms. Hill, a law professor, was an attempt to defuse one of his most glaring vulnerabilities as he begins his presidential bid.

“They had a private discussion where he shared with her directly his regret for what she endured and his admiration for everything she has done to change the culture around sexual harassment in this country,” said Kate Bedingfield, the deputy campaign manager for Mr. Biden, who declared his presidential candidacy on Thursday.

Mr. Biden has long cast the hearings in passive terms, as something that happened to Ms. Hill, not something he and others did to her. Ms. Hill has said in the past that Mr. Biden has never directly apologized for his actions.

Last month, at an event in New York honoring students who fight sexual violence, Mr. Biden acknowledged his role in a moment that remains seared in the minds of many women.

“She faced a committee that didn’t fully understand what the hell this was all about,” he said. “To this day, I regret I couldn’t give her the kind of hearing she deserved. I wish I could have done something.”

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#278742: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:23:34 PM

“I wish I could have done something” is the kicker. I want to fling him into the sun.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from a handcart heading to Hell Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#278743: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:24:43 PM

his regret over “what she endured”

Well that’s some high level passive voice if I ever saw it.

"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#278744: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:26:10 PM

Yeah, it's not really that hard to say "I made a huge mistake and did Anita Hill a huge disservice, by not taking her seriously enough to give her a proper trial". He sounds way too exculpatory of himself.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#278745: Apr 25th 2019 at 2:39:06 PM

Biden deliberately refused to call as witnesses other women who were willing to testify that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed them.

How dare he?

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278746: Apr 25th 2019 at 3:10:04 PM

Oh my fucking god. They're releasing the Coast Guard terrorist.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/judge-rules-white-nationalist-coast-guard-release-bail

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from a handcart heading to Hell Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#278747: Apr 25th 2019 at 3:14:32 PM

The judge’s logic seem to boil down to “you’re saying it has to be remanded because he’s a dangerous terrorist, so why are you refusing to charge him with terrorism crimes?” Which isn’t the worst logic, if the government is saying a person should be remanded because they’re a particular kind of criminal, they should be charging the person with that kind of crime.

So why the hell isnt he being charged with terrorism offences?

"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#278748: Apr 25th 2019 at 3:16:13 PM

Jesus Christ, there is no excuse for putting that guy back on the street.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#278749: Apr 25th 2019 at 3:17:55 PM

It seems like he isn't, the defense has yet to come up with an "acceptable conditions of release" which the Federal government will inevitably oppose.

So he's still being detained.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Apr 25th 2019 at 3:18:14 AM

"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278750: Apr 25th 2019 at 3:24:05 PM

This should not be in debate.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

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