No Means No

It isn't new, far from it. We've seen it happen time and time again. And we're seeing even more of it now.

We saw it happen to Assembly Member Lucy Flores (D-North Las Vegas) last year. We saw it happen to Sandra Fluke two years ago. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) went there last month. And Wall Street Journal columnist James Toranto is going there today.

Working off a piece in the New York Times, Taranto highlighted an incident last year at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where a young man named Matt Martel prevented his intoxicated male friend from sleeping with a drunk female student. The young woman thanked Martel the next day, which apparently left Taranto baffled.

Taranto just doesn't think men and women — physical disparities, be damned — should be treated differently in such cases if both parties are drunk.

Taranto is a reliable soldier in what he's called the "war on men." He wrote last June that Democrats such as Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) were trying to "criminalize male sexuality" in their efforts to eliminate sexual assault from the military. McCaskill promptly shot back at Taranto's "bizarre and deeply out of touch understanding of sexual assault."

Except that James Toranto does believe men should be treated differently. He obviously doesn't support efforts to "criminalize male sexuality". And as long as a woman is also drunk, a drunk man has free reign to "do what he wants" with those "blurred lines".

Once again, we're seeing how slut shaming is used to silence those who criticize Rape Culture and its pernicious infiltration into mainstream culture. "Oh, but she wanted it! She was drunk. And she was probably scantily clad as well. And she likely has sex with lots of men all the time. She wanted it, so how dare she complain!"

Here's an easy rule of thumb when it comes to determining rape: No means no. If someone has not provided consent, then forcing oneself onto that person is rape. It's really that simple.

This is why it's incredibly difficult to take seriously those G-O-TEA politicians when they claim there's no War on Women. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has even gone as far as claim Democrats have a "woman problem". And why's that? Oh, he's rehashing then President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. No, we're not even kidding.

Never mind the G-O-TEA's obsession with "legitimate rape". Never mind their campaign to kill the Violence Against Women Act. And never mind the ongoing G-O-TEA attacks on women's reproductive health care. No, the real threat to American women is Hillary Clinton, her husband, and the affair she drove him into committing nearly two decades ago. (Obviously, we're kidding here. #snark)

Today, James Toranto and Rand Paul reminded us that the War on Women still rages on. According to their army of G-O-TEA Culture Warriors, consensual extramarital sex threatens to destroy the world... But rape "isn't really rape" if both parties are drunk. They've yet to understand that at the end of the day, no means no.

Deadly Consequences

They're at it again. And Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) must again confront an issue he keeps trying to sweep under the rug in the Governor's Mansion. Oh, yes. That's right. We're talking about the mental health patient dumping scandal. And the Sacramento Bee released another explosive article yesterday chronicling even more victims of this horrifying scandal.

This year, Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital has been embroiled in scandal over a growing dossier of incidents where the hospital had mental health patients bused out of state without accounting for the patients' continuing treatment needs. It's led two major California cities (Los Angeles & San Francisco) to draft law suits against the State of Nevada, and it prodded the federal government to review both accreditation and funding for Southern Nevada's largest public mental health treatment facility. And on top of all that, it's renewed investigations into incredibly long waiting lists and inadequate treatment at Lake's Crossing Psychiatric Hospital in Sparks.

Clearly, Nevada has a patient dumping problem. The state was looking for a "cheap way out", but it's instead leading to very costly consequences. Those consequences have especially been costly for the victims profiled in the Sacramento Bee article on Rawson-Neal patients bused out of state... Only to fall (back) into a life of crime.

Consider the case of Mark Hesselgrave. He was convicted of second degree murder in 1993 for strangling his wife in Arizona. Shortly after being released from prison in October 2012, he moved to Southern Nevada. And after attempting suicide, he landed at Rawson-Neal. Here's what followed.

On Feb. 2, two days after he was admitted, Rawson-Neal deemed Hesselgrave fit for bus travel, the records state, and discharged him with a bus ticket, psychiatric medications for the ride and a recommendation to seek out Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Phoenix. After a bus ride that he described as “crazy,” Hesselgrave said he arrived at the Phoenix terminal with no one waiting for him. Without money or a place to live, he said, he ended up walking about 20 miles to a friend’s house in the suburbs.

From Arizona, Hesselgrave migrated to North Dakota to pursue a job in the oil fields. He quickly found work. Things were going pretty well, he said, until May 12, when he stabbed his roommate repeatedly. Eddie Bergeson survived, but suffered stab wounds in his face, stomach and back, according to a police affidavit.

“I hope he’s dead, I think he’s dead, I’m glad he’s dead,” Hesselgrave said as he stood over Bergeson, according to the affidavit.

Hesselgrave remains jailed in North Dakota, awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder. Police say he planned the attack; Hesselgrave contends they were drinking and got in a fight. He said he wonders whether things would have turned out differently had he received more treatment after his release from prison.

Rawson-Neal “didn’t try to treat me or nothing,” he said. “They could have kept me for 21 days. They could have ... got my depression in check.”

Mark Hesselgrave is just one of several stories of patients who needed help, but couldn't find it at Rawson-Neal. Instead, they were sent elsewhere. And others were ultimately harmed. At least one was killed. And a patient may have succeeded in committing suicide.

Of course, Governor Brian Sandoval('s spokesperson) said he was "appalled" by this report. However, it remains to be seen what (if anything) will be done about it.

Again, this is what happens when we try to provide health care "on the cheap". We ultimately haven't saved money. And we certainly haven't saved lives. Something must change.

Over the course of this year, we've been witnessing the consequences of neglecting people in serious need of treatment. We've been learning the hard way that providing proper mental health care is not just "bleeding heart liberalism", but also the most efficient way to save lives. How many more lives must be harmed and/or lost before we finally learn this lesson and end this deadly scandal?

(Not) Standing on Solid Ground

There's been plenty of outcry from across the country in the past month over the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin near Orlando, Florida. There's been growing suspicion both of shooter George Zimmerman and his motives for killing Trayvon, as well as of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Law, and just how much that contributed to Trayvon's untimely death.

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Yesterday, The Sun asked: Can it happen here?

In Las Vegas, officials and academics are taking a close look at the Martin case, and for good reason: Nevada recently passed a law nearly identical to Florida’s, leading many to believe a similar tragedy could play out in the Silver State.

“The circumstances are ripe for a Trayvon situation to happen here,” said Sylvia Lazos, a law professor at UNLV's Boyd School of Law. “We have a lot of crime. We have a lot of people with guns. We have a lot of people who are untrained. We have to watch it. ... These combinations can be quite toxic.”

Nevada is one of 25 states, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, with a law allowing individuals to use deadly force when they feel threatened with no obligation to stand down or try to avoid violence once reasonable fear is established.

Nevada’s “stand your ground” law was approved by the 2011 Legislature and took effect in October. It allows that as long as a person who feels threatened didn’t initiate the altercation and isn’t doing anything criminal, that person can stand and use deadly force and it would be considered “justifiable homicide.”

Such laws “are all designed to allow for some expanded notion of self-defense,” Lazos said. “The problem that you have when regular people engage in self-defense ... is that people make decisions fairly quickly about whether they are, in fact, in danger.”

Last year, our Legislature passed AB 321, which was a somewhat modified version of "Stand Your Ground" that formalized the already accepted view (in this state) that people can shoot to kill if they feel their lives and/or property is at stake. While AB 321 may "feel good" in that it supposedly empowers potential crime victims to "stop a crime before it starts" (along with providing politicians who support it with plenty of praise from the NRA), it may soon lead to some frightening unintended consequences. Case in point: Trayvon Martin.

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Last session, all but three Nevada legislators (for both houses COMBINED!) voted for AB 321. Assembly Members Maggie Carlton (D-East Las Vegas), Richard Carrillo (D-Paradise), and Peggy Pierce (D-Las Vegas) were the only ones to vote against AB 321, while all their Assembly colleagues either sponsored or co-sponsored this bill in addition to voting for it. The Senate passed AB 321 unanimously. Sadly here in Nevada, "trigger happy" on steroids can be prevalent in both parties, and it especially reoccurs when NRA and other gun lobby endorsements are at stake.

So far, there's been no hard evidence proving George Zimmerman was in danger of losing his life or any of his property when he spotted Trayvon Martin in his gated community. However that didn't stop certain folks in law enforcement from letting George Zimmerman go without charging him for homicide, simply because Zimmerman's lawyers claimed "Stand Your Ground" as his defense. There's a good chance we can see cases like this occur here in Nevada thanks to AB 321.

And frankly, that's why state statutes like Nevada's AB 321 and Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Law frighten me. They set up a dangerous slippery slope for justifying as "self-defense" what would otherwise be declared manslaughter or murder. After all, what we may consider murder can be twisted by a smart criminal defense attorney into a "Stand Your Ground" situation just by insinuating that the homicide victim was somehow threatening the shooter's life and/or property, even if there's little or no evidence that the shooter was really at risk.

So why are we now falling down this slippery slope? Why did we have to take this downhill course in the first place? And can we afford to keep making decisions out of political convenience while ignoring future public safety crises?

Arizona Congress Member Gabrielle Giffords Shot, Aide & Federal Judge Killed... Blood on Teabaggers' Hands?

So is this the logical conclusion of Sharron Angle's "Second Amendment Remedies"?

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head and an aide was killed Saturday when an assailant opened fire in an area where the lawmaker was meeting with constituents, officials said.

There were varying accounts on Giffords' condition, but a hospital spokesman said the Democratic lawmaker was in critical condition. An aide to Giffords was killed. An unknown number of others were injured, officials said, including additional aides to the lawmaker.

Congressional officials said one of the victims died soon after the attack, and others were taken to a nearby hospital.

So far, (federal) Judge John Roll has been confirmed dead, along with Giffords' Congressional aide and possibly a nine year old child as well.

Now before I go further, let me clarify this. Seriously, I'm not blaming all Republicans for this. I have many good Republican friends and family here, and they would NEVER condone such horrifying violent acts as this.

However, there's no doubt in my mind that all the heated, radical rhetoric from the teabaggers has certainly fueled this fire for violence in this country. I just hope The Secret Service is stepping up security for President Obama, and that Harry Reid and Shelley Berkley are getting good security here in Nevada.

It doesn't help when Jesse Kelly, the "tea party" Republican who ran against Giffords last year, spoke so often of "getting on target" to "remove" Giffords from office. It doesn't help when Sarah Palin put out a "target list" showing cross hairs to identify Democrats, including Giffords, she was "targeting". Remember, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"?

And of course, it doesn't help when leading "tea party" politicians, such as Nevada's own Sharron Angle, turn up the heat and encourage such violence with such horrifyingly extreme rhetoric.



I'm incredibly horrified by what happened today in Southern Arizona... But sadly, I'm not all that shocked. This was bound to happen. When our political climate becomes so heated, so polarized, and so radicalized, violence is bound to result. In the next few days, I hope Gabrielle Giffords survives surgery and begins full recovery. And I hope all of our political leaders- left, right, and center- condemn this horrid, criminal, possibly terrorist act, and urge Americans not to allow our politics to become so bloody.

Health Care: Is This the Kind of America We Want?

I still cringe when I see this video from earlier this week of a group of Columbus, OH, teabaggers mocked someone with Parkinson's Disease, hurled all sorts of verbal insults at him, and even threw dollar bills at him. Disgusting!



Well, now he explains why he was willing to put himself in the line of fire.



And Lancaster Sunday News editor & columnist Gil Smart explains very well the method to their madness.



And today, we learn of this (H/T this DKos diary):

The "Slaughter Solution" on health care isn't the only thing that has come under attack in U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter's world this week. Sometime early this morning, someone threw a brick through the front window of her Pine Avenue office.

The damage was discovered about 12:30 a.m., city police said.

The brick put a hole in the outer-most window at the office at 1910 Pine Ave., but did not damage a second interior window, police reported. A piece of broken brick believed to have caused the damage was found at the scene.

I just hope the police will be ready to deal with whatever riots break out at the teabagger events in Searchlight and Henderson next Saturday.

But anyway, isn't it horrifying to see this kind of hate and vitriol manifest itself so violently? When did it become OK to harass someone with Parkinson's? When did it become OK to throw bricks through windows? When Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and the whole Faux News crew said so?

These kinds of actions reveal the thinking of today's radical right. They will stop at nothing to make their "statement", even resorting to violence if it gets them their desired attention. And now, they're resorting to this selfish "MINE, MINE, MINE!!!" argument to veil the reality of them essentially shilling for the insurance companies and the GOP. But still, when did we become a country that neglects its own? When did Lady Liberty stop accepting the sick, the tired, the poor, and the weary, and started telling them, "Don't tread on me! Go fuck yourselves!"?

I just hope this weekend is the last gasp of relevancy for the teabaggers. They may have been entertaining to watch before, but now it's just sad to see their ugly temper tantrums go haywire like this.

My Story Behind the Crime Statistics

Something frightening happened to me yesterday. I was nearly mugged and some hoodlum almost got away with all my valuable belongings, including my computer, my wallet, and my smartphone. Fortunately, my inner Sasha Fierce was released and I beat that bitch's ass hard enough to hold onto my bag and scare the wanna-be thief off the bus.

Still, I must admit that I still feel a little frazzled today. OK, and I'm also still a little afraid of riding the 204 bus on Sahara any time soon.

So today, I have my own thoughts on the new Las Vegas crime statistics. Hell, I have my thoughts on the politics of crime in general!

First off, how could something like this happen on an RTC bus? I know, I know, it's public transportation and something like this is destined to happen some time. But come on, I've used MUNI and BART in San Francisco and it didn't happen there. I've used Metro (they use this term for transit, NOT police) in LA and it didn't happen there. I've used MTS and NCTD in San Diego and it didn't happen there. I still use OCTA whenever I'm back in Orange County... And while I sometimes run into some "interesting characters" at the bus stop and on the bus, I've never experienced a violent crime there.

So what makes RTC in Las Vegas different? Are we doing enough to keep mass transit safe here?

And why is it so damned difficult to report a crime to Metro (Vegas' police)? That thug threatened me. He nearly stole almost $2,000 worth of goods from me! And they "don't do reports over the phone"? And they "close at 8:00 PM"? WTF??!!

Am I still angry? You bet your sweet ass I am! Am I overreacting?

Wait... Am I taking this the wrong way?

Should I be afraid to use the bus? Should I be afraid to walk or use transit in "inner city neighborhoods"?

Honestly, I feel confused right now. Part of me wants to buy a gun and blow off anyone who ever tries to threaten my life and steal my stuff ever again. Part of me feels revolted by my own feelings. Again, I just feel confused.

Am I right to think about getting a gun license? Am I wrong to look suspiciously at "gangsta looking urban youth" walking my way? Am I racist? Am I going gun crazy? Have I forgotten how to function in the city?

I still feel confused.

It's easy for me to proclaim progressive values when they're just concepts, but what happens when something happens to me? Do I just become selfish? Do I forsake my better angels to engage in blind prejudice? Do I become a violent person myself?

Such is the story of my life today after experiencing a violent crime last night. I can't deny that I'm shaken. I can't deny that I clutched my bag a little closer to me when I got off the bus at Commercial Center and saw another black man. I can't deny that I really considered going to the gun store today.

I feel filthy. I feel like crap. Am I a victim? Or is this bad karma?

What's the real problem behind the spike in violent crime? Yes, perhaps Metro, RTC, and other local government agencies can do more to keep us safer. And yes, maybe we have our own problems inside us, our own violent demons, that we have to deal with. Maybe our perception of "criminal" needs to change...