On The Orlando Nightclub Terror Attack

There are really no words for what is now the worst mass shooting in United States history.  I am still trying to understand why the gunman, who supposedly had mental issues (go figure), but pledged allegiance to ISIS, did what he did.  I heard also that he was enraged by the sight of two men kissing.

Which brings me to my next thought.  Why target a gay nightclub?  Though I believe I answered my own question before, why gay people?  What could they have possibly done to this man that he felt the need to shoot dead 49 people?  If it is indeed true that he was not just motivated by other terror attacks, but also hatred of gays, he will be answering for that in the afterlife, as he was shot dead by SWAT teams.

The shooter was known to the FBI, and should not have been able to get a gun.  He purchased his guns legally, he had licenses.

But I'm not going to focus on the thorny issue of gun control.  I'm confident that there are those in the media doing so already.  I will focus, though, on hate.  It has no place in our society, whether it's against gays, Muslims (who are feeling the heat yet again from this attack), or any other group of people.  An attack on one group is an attack on everyone.

We need to rise above hate, period.  As one Facebook friend asked after learning of the shooting, "Where is the LOVE?"  Hate led to this heinous act, and hate is very likely driving the reaction to the shooting.  We all need to come together for the victims of this tragedy.  And we must do everything in our power to make sure that something like this never happens again.

On The Brock Turner Rape Case

Think about what a Facebook friend had to say about the case of Brock Turner.....

"The whole Brock Turner case has been bothering me for days. I've got nieces, coworkers and friends in the same age group, after all. The more I read about it, the more incensed I get.

Rape is sexual assault. If you have sex with someone without their consent, that's rape. If someone isn't aware of what you're doing to them sexually because they're drunk/unconscious/drugged, that's rape.

It doesn't matter whether it was "20 minutes of action", or five minutes or ten. How long it lasted does not lessen what it is.

You've probably read about his amazing swim times, then 20 minutes of action. Are we supposed to applaud that 20 minutes or feel sorry that it was just 20 minutes of action?

Dude redefined "dumb jock" all the more and made it worse.

Friends with children, say "yes" and "no" to your kids within reason. I know you love them, but not teaching them what "no" means is doing them a disservice. Teach your kids how to say yes and no, even if it means they'll say yes and no to you every now and then.

Once they become teenagers and young adults, they need to know when a yes is a yes and a no is a no."

Brock Turner is the Stanford University swimmer accused and then convicted of raping an unconscious woman.  The judge in his case sentenced him to very little prison time, believing that jail would have a negative impact on him.  Turner's father then said his son was jailed for "20 minutes of action."

What Turner (and his father) obviously fail to understand is that he committed a crime, for which he should have received a harsh prison term, and probably would have, if he was less well known, or well off, or especially if he was a person of color.

If a woman says no to sex, and a man forces himself on her, it is rape.  If a woman is incapacitated, and cannot consent, and a man forces himself on her, it is rape.  How many ways can one possibly say this?

Brock Turner practically got away with committing a crime, when he should have received the same treatment and scrutiny given to Bill Cosby.  Rape is wrong, period.  No means no, period.  If a man doesn't understand this, he has no business going near a woman.

Comment....as you see fit.