Call, Write or Fax Senator InouyeTell him NOT TO REMOVE the ANTI-Rape Amendment from the Defense Appropriations Bill!!
I am very disappointed in Senator Inouye. He is a Democrat. Corruption can occur in either party, but usually it is not this obvious!
http://inouye.senate.gov/Contact/Email-Form.cfm
Washington D.C.
722 Hart Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1102
Phone: 202-224-3934
Fax: 202-224-6747
Huffington Post reports:
An amendment that would prevent the government from working with contractors who denied victims of assault the right to bring their case to court is in danger of being watered down or stripped entirely from a larger defense appropriations bill. Multiple sources have told the Huffington Post that Sen. Dan Inouye, a longtime Democrat from Hawaii, is considering removing or altering the provision, which was offered by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and passed by the Senate several weeks ago.
Inouye's office, sources say, has been lobbied by defense contractors adamant that the language of the Franken amendment would leave them overly exposed to lawsuits and at constant risk of having contracts dry up. The Senate is considering taking out a provision known as the Title VII claim, which (if removed) would allow victims of assault or rape to bring suit against the individual perpetrator but not the contractor who employed him or her.
"The defense contractors have been storming his office," said a source with knowledge of the situation. "Inouye either will get the amendment taken out altogether, or water it down significantly. If they water it down, they will take out the Title VII claims. This means that in discrimination cases, they will still force you into a secret forced arbitration on KBR's (or other contractors') own terms -- with your chances of prevailing practically zero. The House seems to be very supportive of the original Franken amendment and all in line, but their hands are tied since it originated in the Senate. And since Inouye runs the show on this bill, he can easily take it out to get Republicans and the defense contractors off his back, which looks increasingly likely."
Washington D.C.
722 Hart Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1102
Phone: 202-224-3934
Fax: 202-224-6747
Huffington Post reports:
An amendment that would prevent the government from working with contractors who denied victims of assault the right to bring their case to court is in danger of being watered down or stripped entirely from a larger defense appropriations bill. Multiple sources have told the Huffington Post that Sen. Dan Inouye, a longtime Democrat from Hawaii, is considering removing or altering the provision, which was offered by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and passed by the Senate several weeks ago.
Inouye's office, sources say, has been lobbied by defense contractors adamant that the language of the Franken amendment would leave them overly exposed to lawsuits and at constant risk of having contracts dry up. The Senate is considering taking out a provision known as the Title VII claim, which (if removed) would allow victims of assault or rape to bring suit against the individual perpetrator but not the contractor who employed him or her.
"The defense contractors have been storming his office," said a source with knowledge of the situation. "Inouye either will get the amendment taken out altogether, or water it down significantly. If they water it down, they will take out the Title VII claims. This means that in discrimination cases, they will still force you into a secret forced arbitration on KBR's (or other contractors') own terms -- with your chances of prevailing practically zero. The House seems to be very supportive of the original Franken amendment and all in line, but their hands are tied since it originated in the Senate. And since Inouye runs the show on this bill, he can easily take it out to get Republicans and the defense contractors off his back, which looks increasingly likely."
Posts
17 comments:
She is another victim of Absurd Wars ! ... These Republicans for Rape, are the same Republicans for War and more Wars.
******************
They caused a Big Tragedy, Can they solve the Wars ?? -- The Arrogance of Punditry in the Media - The Absurdity of Great Pundits and Sages - Failed and Botched Wars
This is topmost in absurdity. Some pundits in the Media were very enthusiastic about starting the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. They were instrumental in promoting war and preparing the public to accept war. They were warMongers and War Promoters. The best Jingos.
Now we see a big tragedy, hundreds of thousands of people have died, perhaps more than a million according to some responsible sources. Several Millions of Refugees, including thousands of Iraqi Girls that work in prostitution in Damascus, the daughters of professionals and entrepreneurs of Iraq.
But this is not the end of the arrogance, turn on a TV Set and the same Pundits that animated the Wars, are the only sages that know the answers to the riddles of war.
The same newspapers, magazines, journalists, columnists, that animated the War, and applauded Mr Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld and their Geniurs, are now the best well informed critics and give new answers to the enigmas of Foreign Policy.
Some of their wisdom is so weird as to suggest new wars and attacks on Iran, North Korea, and perhaps some African Countries that may have some guys from Al-Qaeda.
Some of these pundits are rooting for Super Escalation, without any responsibility for "Collateral Damage", the killing of new millions of Civilians.
Can they solve the problem, if they created it ??
You read their newest articles and you get the impression that they are speaking the same blather and that they perhaps read a new book to see where Afghanistan or Iraq are located, and what is their History.
Because they were very ignorant when they advised War, and they continue being extremely ignorant today, recommending the most absurd solutions to the mess that they helped to create.
Here we see a Great Problem of Lack of Real Intelligence, Real Wisdom and Real Morality.
Some of these people may receive funds from a big corporation with economic interests in War, or may be in a Foundation that is funded by the Military Industrial Comples, or by contractors. In all cases they receive money, benefits and perks for their "Wisdom", "Knowledge" and "Intelligence".
Do people continue believing in those that have miserably failed in their assesments and predictions about the course of war ??
More Foreign Policy :
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque
I don't understand all this. It seems to me that if a person is attacked, what Inouye is saying is that she (and people like her) cannot sue her employer just because she was attacked while in their employ. How is that different from anyone else, domestic employers, etc.? Don't get me wrong. I want justice for this young woman and all women like her but I don't understand why anyone should have the right to sue their employer because they are attacked by an evil person or persons who happens to be employed by the same employer. Our defense contractors work in very dangerous areas and people who work for them are at great risk as are all employees, male and female.
What am I missing other than the fact the dems originally attached this amendment to a bill it was totally unrelated to and that's why the repubs voted against it.
Inouye is doing the right thing. No one condones rape but to blame contractors or employers for private acts that they would need a police force the size of New York's to eliminate is ridiculous. Let victims sue the perpetator not his employer!
Ultima, Jools,
The rapists raped her because there were no consequences for rape and the rapists knew it. There has to be accountability by these contractors or rapes like Jamie's will continue to happen.
Please re-read what happened to her to understand the issue:
Jamie Leigh Jones (22), the Halliburton/KBR contractor who was gang raped by her Halliburton co-workers in Iraq and then imprisoned in a shipping container after she reported the attack to the company, is finally going to get her day in court.
Jones, a Houston, Texas woman, was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad. She said the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident. Jones was just 20-years old and in Iraq for just four days, when she was drugged and viciously gang-raped in 2005 by Halliburton/KBR co-workers, leaving her severely bruised and bleeding, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscles torn. She required reconstructive surgery to repair her injuries, which left her breasts permanently disfigured and she will require additional operations.
When the effects of the date rape drug began to wear off, she found herself in her bunk, naked and in pain, finding one of her rapists, Halliburton firefighter, Charles Boartz sleeping at the bottom of her bed, unconcerned about suffering any consequences. When she asked him what happened, he admitted to having unprotected sex with her.
What happened next, illustrates how corporations and the government behave when they know they can operate outside the law and virtually get away with murder. Laws put in place primarily under the Bush administration, provided contractors in Iraq with immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law and by extension, U.S. law.
The Halliburton firefighters who raped her in the Baghdad Green Zone that day, realized the actions of their employer as well as their own actions, while working in Iraq, were completely outside the law. When they saw the pretty young Jones, they took what they wanted, unconstrained by criminal laws, which may have worked to curb their behavior. An examination by Army doctors showed multiple men raped her repeatedly, both vaginally and anally. Instead of offering assistance and medical treatment to the frightened Jones suffering from severe physical and emotional trauma, Halliburton/KBR only offered her threats and intimidation.
When her Halliburton/KBR employers learned of the rape, they went into damage control mode, essentially imprisoning Jones, placing her in a sparse shipping container, under armed guard, without medical treatment, food or water and did not allow her to leave, refusing her access to a phone.
Finally, after at least 24 hours without food or water, a guard let her use his cell phone and she was able to reach her father, “Dad, I’ve been raped. I don’t know what to do. I’m in this container, and I’m not able to leave,” said Jones. Her father was able to get help for his daughter and bring her home.
However, Halliburton/KBR failed to take any action against her attackers, and the Justice Department and military also failed to prosecute. Jones then tried to sue the company for failing to protect her. But thanks to an employment contract created during the tenure of former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney, Jones was forced into mandatory binding arbitration, a private forum where Halliburton hired the arbitrator, ensured all the proceedings were secret, and she had no right to appeal if she lost.
http://immigrationmexicanamerican.
blogspot.com/2009/09/good-news-
jamie-leigh-jones-rape-case.html
This ammendment will establish consequences for those with rape in mind, not only for themselves but for the company if they do not hold the workers accountable.
Without this ammendment, there will continue to be no consequences, the company protects them, and all future rapists working for these contractors know this.
I cannot make a judgment based on the limited information I am reading on this blog. I would have to know several things such as why was the immunity granted in the first place. There are references to immunity from Iraq laws too (and I suppose that means Sharia law) and I can certainly understand that. There are several other questions I have which I don't have time to research so as I said above, I can't make a judgment.
Rape and War .... are two Eternal Companions .... Now in the Eternal Wars, the never ending wars of our days.
War turns men into beasts. Violence, rape, thievery, cruelty, sadism, hate, imbecility. And lies, lies, lies .... and "Collateral Damage" everywhere !
Extremely repugnant members of Congress, they are Pro-Rape.
About the Rape of Women inside the premises of "defense" contractors :
The alliance of Pundits, Power and Profiteers.
Executive Power has some responsibility, a political responsibility before the court of History.
And contractors may one day go to court, for example because of raping women.
Congress Power : they may be evicted from Congress by voters for being so Pro-Rape.
People inside Fox News, and many "Highly Respected" Magazines are the best example of what I call "Honored Imbecility"....
There are authors that receive Very admired prizes of journalism. .... They are highly respected "pundits" of the press.
But their considerations, comments and opinions are the best recipe for Disaster and Catastrophe in Foreign Policy.
They created the problem by animating and promoting War. And they are now the sages of wisdom that solve the riddles and enigmas of war.
Many of them are now advising more Violence and Escalation.
They created the problem and they continue feeding the monster or throwing gasoline to the flames.
What is their responsibility ??
The Dogs of War :
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque
Racist Justice :
Video of CNN and Soledad O'Brien. "Latino in America" and the Mad Town of Shenandoah Pennsylvania. The apotheosis of Racism, Murder, Brutality, Cruelty, Terrorism and Bastardy !
Killing a dog carries a bigger penalty. The Coward Murderers are now scott free !
The Greatest Surprise is the Cowardice of the Six Perpetrators and the Cowardice of the Town with exceptions to admire and honor.
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American television journalist. She is currently the host of CNN Special Investigations Unit on CNN, and is best known for anchoring the CNN marquee morning newscast American Morning from July 2003 to April 3, 2007, with Miles O'Brien.
October 22, 2009
Latino in America - Shenandoah - Luis Ramirez is massacred by high school boys who get off with 23 months in jail. Witness the closed-mindedness!
Latino in America - Shenandoah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmk9QrCtvRo
Raciality.com
Vicente Duque
Mr. Duque,
Your assertion that Congress is pro-rape is absurd. Who would ever rely on anything you said after comments like that.
Jools,
What Vicente is saying is there are some in Congress that are motivated by GREED which results in tehir passing/or not passing law/policy which results in RAPE.
This ammendment would provide accountabilty for those working for these contractors that commit rape. Today, there is NO accountability -- read what happened to Jamie!!! The rapist was so blatant he even stayed in bed with her the next morning because he KNEW Halliburton would not punish him/hold him accountable. Unless this ammendment is passed, there will continue to be NO ACCOUNTABILITY and these RAPES will Continue!! That is Alarming!!
Proletariat,
Didn't you READ Jamie's story? Do you condone Rape? Please re-read what happened to her. Have some compassion, man!
What happened is totally abhorrent and there has to be a way to assure that the perpetrators are sent away for life. I just wonder what the contactor was expected to do. A contractor is not a police authority or a judge and jury. What options do contractors have? Of course, they could fire the villains but that is clearly not enough for such heinous crimes. If a contractor has done all he can legally, I don't see why he should be held accountable. If the law were to be written to say a contractor is obligated to have a kangaroo court on the spot and mete out severe punishment up to including being returned to the U.S. in chains for trial by his peers, I could accept that. I just don't see how the contractor has control beyond the hiring and firing. There may be a basis for a lawsuit if the contractor hires thugs without regard to their criminal records and without regard to the safety of those who are forced to work with them, that sounds like there is already a basis for such lawsuits. How is she going to get her day in court now unless there is a law that applies?
I don't know if this is related to this article on Rape or not, but it is about Women and the Male View of Women as instruments.
Strange ( for me ) male lives of some friends ????
I saw a big Wonderful Documentary on Austrian Painter Gustav Klimt - Extremly Famous Nowadays.
From Wikipedia :
"Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery. Klimt's primary subject was the female body,[1] and his works are marked by a frank eroticism—nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil"
The problem is that all these beautiful Women are always passive and the male figures are always active engaging in passion or sex activity.
There was a famous book in those Freudian times in Vienna, saying that Women were very passive in sex and love. That book seems to have inspired this painter.
Freud also has some passive notions of Women.
Gustav Klimt never had "Good Love" with Women, but he had dozens of lovers, his studio was filled with beautiful models, many times naked.
He had many Women lovers and illegitimate children, out of wedlock.
And he always lived with his mother and sisters. He had a powerful attachment to the Women of his family.
What is your opinion of this Male Psychology, of Women only for Temporary Pleasure ??
I am a happily married man, but have neighbors that agree with Gustav Klimt, Women are only for temporary enjoyment, in Art, Sex, etc ...
I see a failure in those male lives.
Vicente Duque
The Great Success of Health Care Reform in Massachusetts - By Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics for year 2008 - New York Times
Life is experimental - Life is a Laboratory.
"Fools learn all by themselves - Intelligent People learn from the experiences of others" - Otto von Bismark, "The Iron Chancellor"
New York Times
After Reform Passes
By Paul Krugman
After Reform Passes
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26krugman.html?_r=1
Some excerpts :
But the experience in Massachusetts, which passed major health reform back in 2006, should dampen conservative hopes and soothe progressive fears.
Like the bill that will probably emerge from Congress, the Massachusetts reform mainly relies on a combination of regulation and subsidies to chivy a mostly private system into providing near-universal coverage. It is, to be frank, a bit of a Rube Goldberg device — a complicated way of achieving something that could have been done much more simply with a Medicare-type program. Yet it has gone a long way toward achieving the goal of health insurance for all, although it’s not quite there: according to state estimates, only 2.6 percent of residents remain uninsured.
This expansion of coverage has tremendous significance in human terms. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured recently did a focus-group study of Massachusetts residents and reported that “Health reform enabled many of these individuals to take care of their medical needs, to start seeing a doctor, and in some cases to regain their health and control over their lives.” Even those who probably would have been insured without reform felt “peace of mind knowing they could obtain health coverage if they lost access to their employer-sponsored coverage.”
And reform remains popular. Earlier this year, many conservatives, citing misleading poll results, claimed that public support for the Massachusetts reform had plunged. Newer, more careful polling paints a very different picture. The key finding: an overwhelming 79 percent of the public think the reform should be continued, while only 11 percent think it should be repealed.
Interestingly, another recent poll shows similar support among the state’s physicians: 75 percent want to continue the policies; only 7 percent want to see them reversed.
More on the History of American Social Legislations :
Vicente Duque
It is the swing district Democrats that would be endangered for reelection by the failure to pass Obama's Health Care Bill
The writing is on the wall - If you are a Democrat in Congress and vote against Obama Care, then you are endangering your seat or those of the swing district democrats.
Huffington Post
Every Democratic Senator Must Vote to Allow an Up or Down Vote on Health Care
By Robert Creamer
Political organizer, strategist and author
October 26, 2009
Every Democratic Senator Must Vote to Allow an Up or Down Vote on Health Care
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/every-democratic-senator_b_333634.html
Some excerpts :
That's right -- it is the swing district Democrats that would be endangered by the failure to pass President Obama's health insurance reform. Look at what happened after the 1993 failure of the Clinton health plan that was also the centerpiece of his presidency. In 1994, Democrats lost 54 seats. Of those, 36 were incumbents. It wasn't the members from strong Democratic districts, who had fought hard for health care reform, who lost. It was mainly members from swing districts, rural districts and southern districts.
The Clinton health care bill never came to a vote in the House, but only 11 of the 36 incumbents who lost had co-sponsored the bill. Many of the 25 others had opposed the Clinton health care plan. Didn't matter; they were the biggest political victims of the failure of health care reform.
History shows that when the popularity and job performance rating of an incumbent President drops, the odds of swing Democrats being elected to Congress drop as well.
And it wasn't just that swing voters lost faith in Democrats. Base Democratic voters failed to turn out. Republican base voters -- smelling Democratic blood in the waters -- turned out in record numbers.
The fact is that just as a rising political tide lifts all boats, when the political tide recedes those in the shallowest political water are most likely to be left aground.
Failure to take action on health care would be the most likely way to end the majority status for Democrats. Such a failure would massively damage the political standing of the president and the Democrat brand. That, in turn, would sink swing district Democrats. The Republicans know this. That's why they are fighting so hard to prevent the passage of health insurance reform. Any Democratic Senator who helps them is endangering fellow Democrats.
History of Social Legislation in the USA :
Milenials.com
Vicente Duque
To Anon,
Name yourself and I will respond to you.
Rape happens everyday in America and in the world. In America,from sport's figures, like Marv Albert, Mike Tyson and many others, to politicians who abuse pages or strangers in bathroom stalls, to teachers abusing students, Rape occurs EVERY DAY! Rape is committed by women, men, young and old, priest and layman, rabbi and preacher. Rape is on tv every minute of every day with our highest paid celebrities cashing in on the topic. If I wrote about RAPE every time one occurred, that is all I would write about.
You ask why a child in your area was raped and look at the perps who did it by ethnicity, and want to blame an entire ethnic group for the crime? Did I blame you and all white males when Mark Foley abused his victims? Or BTK? Or Gacy? No.
On my blog I condemn the perpetrators of the crimes.
I support WOMEN, I support MINORITIES, I support the END to ABUSE of ALL KINDS! I am a Humanitarian. I believe in Freedom and Justice for ALL!!
Anon Fred,
You can't bully me. Don't threaten me or tell me what to blog about. Shame on you! I also will not approve any of your bullying comments. Several on your side think they can bully me, a latina grandmother and try to hijack my blog. Guess what. You cannot intimidate me so STOP TRYING!
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