Recently in News Category
The news today reveals a telling commentary on where our society is at. I thought it was untrue when I first heard about it. But, apparently, it is quite real. Or, not real, depending on how you look at it.
Leave it to sex to sell multiple personalities. Yes, the world's first sex robot, Roxxxy, is not only anatomically correct and functional, but comes complete with five personalities. The owner can choose which personality he wants to interact with. And the personalities are customizable and can be programmed wirelessly over the Internet, even allowing owners to share their personality programs with others.
The inventor says his goal was to develop a companion, to help shy people and those with sexual dysfunction.
So, having lots of personalities is good, right? That makes me feel so much better. I can now stop therapy and resume where I was when I started.
I'm not sure if the inventor thought of this, or did his research, but what happens when the programming gets more complicated and the personalities start fighting with each other, or acting out?
We are now entering "Star Trek" land folks. I do remember several Next Generation episodes about this, almost always situated in the holodeck.
I'll wait for the holodeck, thank you very much!
News Story: Roxxxy the sex robot makes her world debut (AFP, 1/9/2010)
It is not my intention for this site to be a news source. But I do occasionally read things in the news that I feel may be important to share with others. This may be triggering, so please read carefully.
In many ways this story is a validation of the abuses which do occur in this world and in the USA in particular. It is a repudiation of those who say such horrible abuse cannot occur. Or who say that sex offenders are misunderstood (as I posted in Forced Confrontation last month).
News stories:
- Kidnapped woman hidden in CA backyard for 18 years (AP News)
- Alleged kidnapper launches bizarre defence (UK Telegraph)
- A world of nightmare (The Observer)
I have a small memory of being a young boy and captivated by a Major League Baseball All-Star game. I can only remember that one time and the feeling of awe as the players were announced. That same surreal feeling struck me at many sporting events, including the 1975 World Series, which the Red Sox lost to the Reds in 7 games, and the 1984 and 1986 World Championships, which the Celtics won.
Sports were always a normalizing experience for me, whether I was on the field or court myself or I was watching professional games on television or firsthand at the Boston Garden or Fenway Park.
So tonight, for some unknown reason and for the first time since that childhood experience, I'm watching the All-Star game. I'm surprised because I just realized that the game was played at Fenway in 1999 and I didn't make any attempt to watch it. At least I have no memory of it.
The reason I'm posting any of this here is that as part of the pre-game festivities, MLB and People magazine sponsored "All-Stars Among Us". Thousands were nominated and 30 were selected (one from each team) representing citizens who have made special contributions to their community.
I wanted to single out one individual, Mark Kunz, for his relevance to this site.
His description reads: Matt Kunz's stepbrother Chris committed suicide in 2007 after returning from Iraq with undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Matt made it his mission to ensure that all National Guard Troops in his home state of Montana receive adequate PTSD screening. He continues to campaign for PTSD awareness and screening for all veterans.
I see "all-stars" everywhere, including all survivors of trauma who are all-stars in my eyes.
For more information, visit: All-Stars Among Us.
This post gets a trigger warning for talk about a conference for sex offenders.
Many of you know that I took a nice leisurely walk all around Boston with my family and course students last Friday. I felt rather safe. Why shouldn't I? This isn't New York, after all, with cops on every street corner. Or Detroit, the worst crime city in America.
But was my sense of safety a tad misplaced? It so happens that the very day I was walking through safe downtown Boston with my family to see the "tall ships", the national Reform Sex Offender Laws conference was being held, in the same city at an undisclosed hotel. From their site:
Exact conference site information will be mailed to registrants at their mailing address. The Boston site is in downtown Boston, adjacent to the major subway lines. Registrants will also receive hotel information.
Among the topics discussed were "De-Mytholigizing the Sex Offender" and "Sex Offender Civil Rights," and (yes, it's true) "Family Time Get Together". And I see that one of the keynote speakers is a professor at the same college I teach at. How nice.
The conference goals are listed as:
(1) To provide all of us with important information and research that we must know to make our work more effective and to help unmask the mythology used to build the hysteria hindering us at every turn. (2) To examine strategies to bringing about the changes that we seek. We will examine what's working, what is not, and what might work.
And I wonder why I'm sick right now?
It's a bit ironic, because our city made it almost impossible for the "tall ships" to visit Boston. But, if you're a sex offender, you apparently are very welcome.
I'm posting this because I have been incredibly naive about what's happening in the world. I've never imagined there would be such a group and that they would be so brazen.
I debated whether I should post about Michael Jackson's death. After he died, I immediately recalled the scandal in 1993 where he was accused of abuse and his interview with Oprah where he accused his father of abuse. I remembered the difficulty I had during this time.
A few days ago I wrote in my private journal the following:
I cannot remember exactly what I felt back then, but I am sure it wasn't very good. I do have a snapshot of watching it on television. It's interesting that the early 90s case involved having boys sleep in his bed. This, after all, was the same thing that Fr. C. admitted to with me which was his first act of harm towards me. I think in many ways Fr. C. and Jackson were similar. I don't have any statistics to draw on to know if this is common among pedophiles, but they were both very immature. I think you have to be to try to find love through young boys. Maybe in their minds what they were doing was not abuse. I rather think Fr. C. started out like that but then it got out of control for him. Fr. C. would talk about love, but then get really angry and was incredibly brazen about his acts towards me (semi-public, public, etc) which got worse and worse with time. I'm not sure if that was the case for Jackson. And I don't really care. In any case, I don't have any admiration for Jackson. Never did. I hated his pop music. I never understood why others did.
Despite my dislike of his music except for Mowtown, Jackson is undeniably a giant of the industry. He was also, equally undeniably, very disturbed. That is no excuse for engaging in child abuse, whether he believed it was abuse or not. He frequently had little understanding of his actions with children. He was quoted as saying: "I have slept in a bed with many children... Why should that be worrying? What's the criminal? Who's Jack the Ripper in the room?" For reference see Why I Sleep with Little Boys, by Michael Jackson.
When looking back on his life, we perhaps should take into consideration that his life was radically different from almost every other. He performed professionally since the age of 9. He changed the face of music in the 80s. Like many child stars, he was ill-equipped to manage his life.
Just as I don't doubt any survivors I have met concerning their abuse, I cannot doubt what Jackson has said about his father. But, he is no survivor in my mind. Survivor is one of the few terms I use regularly and with pride. For me, it means that not only have you lived through atrocities, you have ended the cycle of abuse. Michael Jackson, by his own actions and statements, did not end that cycle. We may never know, but this is what ultimately may have ended his life.
