A 'destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture'.... that's supposedly black.

I was going to write a scathing rebuke to David Starkey's "the whites have become blacks" narrative surrounding the London Riots. In short, as smart as he is, he is talking utter nonsense, especially when he tries to differentiate between skin color and black culture; the latter being this evil, violent thing threatening the sanctity of the good English soul. Seriously; fuck him.

Instead, I'll just let you watch the discussion where all the things I would have written are basically covered by the other panelists. 

p.s. If someone can find me an embeddable version of the Starkey interview I owe you a drink.

He sunk lower...

I didn't think it was possible, but Glenn Beck managed to sink even lower;

"As the thing started to unfold and there was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing . . . ."

I'm going to let that sink in, because frankly, after that incredible tragedy, I simply don't have any words to describe how utterly disgusting and rank Glenn Beck is.

Compare and Contrast

Ronald Reagan:

Unfortunately, Congress consistently brings the Government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility. This brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the Federal deficit would soar. The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility—two things that set us apart from much of the world.

Tim Pawlenty:

I hope and pray and believe they should not raise the debt ceiling.

Thankfully, the hapless Mr. Pawlenty is polling in 8th place with around 2% support.

Learning to live normal

I've gotten into this bad habit of caring about the problems associated with sex traffiking. It's a weakness. The individuals most often punished for their roles in the trade - the women - are the worst victims of a sordid commercial activity.

Wednesday's edition of this habit took place at the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center. While the panel was comprised of various members of women's rights organizations and women's shelters, the highlight of the presentations came from Rachel Lloyd from GEMS who read from her book, "Girls Like Us".

Ms. Lloyd stressed how difficult it is for victims of sex trafficking to learn to live normal lives even after they've put in the time and effort to wrench themselves from the vicious cycle of violence, dependence, drugs and sex. That task is made no easier by a society that often-times does not realize that far from being 'prostitutes' or 'whores', these women are by-and-large victims. They're not prostitutes; they've been prostituted.

Arguments of nomenclature aside, it is important to realize that focusing on combating the supply of women in the sex trade has gotten us nowhere. It doesn't save one 10-yr old from being lured and trapped in the system, because we fail to deal with those that demand and nurture the trade. 

Fortunately, Minnesota today took a giant step towards making progress in this fight when Gov. Dayton signed the MN Safe Harbor Law. The law statutorily excludes minors under the age of 16 from being treated as a juvenile delinquent (that is; they won't get charged with a juvenile crime) if they are picked up while working the streets or during an escort. Instead, they get re-routed to victim services so that they can begin the process of healing themselves.

The legislation is an important start, but it is just that; a start. More work needs to be done so that four years from now, there is still a focus on this problem. For now though, we can all be happy that for some of the youngest victims of the sex trade, they'll be treated as such, as opposed to criminals and delinquents.