The Washington Post: Todd Akin, GOP Senate candidate: ‘Legitimate rape’ rarely causes pregnancy

Aaron Blake
The Washington Post

I was having such a good day, too. Presented without comment, mostly so I don't vomit all over my keyboard.

Rep. Todd Akin, the newly-christened GOP Senate nominee in Missouri, said in an interview airing Sunday that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy.

Explaining his no-exceptions policy on abortions, Akin was asked why he opposes abortion even when the pregnancy is the result of rape.

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in a clip posted to YouTube by the Democratic super PAC American Bridge. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Akin added: “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Akin issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying he misspoke.

“In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,” he said. “I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action.”

Akin’s statement threatens to recast a Senate race in which he starts as the favorite, but national Republicans are concerned about his ability to execute a winning strategy. Akin won the GOP nomination two weeks ago — a result that Democrats hailed as a potential game-changer in a tough race for them.

 McCaskill (D-Mo.) and national Democrats actually spent money in the GOP primary to help get Akin through it. That strategy, at least in this case, appears to be paying dividends.

McCaskill said she was outraged by Akin’s claim.

“It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape,” McCaskill said in a statment. “The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive.”

Akin’s claim is one that pops up occasionally in social conservative circles. A federal judge nominated by President Bush in the early 2000s had said similar things, as have state lawmakers in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Politicians and activists who espouse this view often suggest that women who haven’t been raped will claim to have been raped in order to obtain an abortion. An Idaho state lawmaker apologized earlier this year after urging doctors to make sure women who claimed they had been raped were sure of that fact.

Akin himself has suggested in the past that women may claim to be raped as a strategy during divorce proceedings.

Needless to say, this is territory that GOP leaders would rather not have Akin wander into. Getting into the particulars of “legitimate rape” (as opposed to what?) and the female reproductive system has the potential to make this a headache for the GOP and take the focus off of McCaskill and President Obama, who is unpopular in Missouri.

The Romney campaign issued the following statement late Sunday distancing itself from Akin’s comments:

Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.

According to a 1996 study, approximately 32,000 pregnancies result from rape annually in the United States, and about 5 percent of rape victims are impregnated.

“Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency,” the study says, according to an abstract. “It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked with family and domestic violence.”

Akin is also staking out some of the most socially conservative territory possible on this issue. Missouri is pretty socially conservative, but even many Republicans believe in abortion exceptions for rape and incest. A recent Gallup poll showed just 20 percent of Americans believe in no exceptions for abortion.

The Moscow News: Kuban governor wants Cossacks to prevent Caucasians moving to the region

Evgeniya Chaykovskaya
The Moscow News

And in today's edition of "OH MY GOD RUSSIA WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING", we have an eliminationist Regional Governor, some snappily-dressed Cossacks, and protection of the "ethnic balance". I have no idea what an "ethic balance" is, but it sounds uncomfortable.

Presented without any other comment. Note: The term "Caucasians" in this piece means "anyone who lives in or near the Caucasus region" and not "white Russian folk with a grudge".

The Public Chamber wants to investigate statements by Krasnodar Region Governor Alexander Tkachyov, who called for Cossack patrols to be created to keep people from the Caucasus out of his region.

Tkachyov calls for Cossacks to stop ‘migrants’

Tkachyov suggested that from Sep. 1 there will be Cossack militia that will defend the region from the influence of people from the Caucasus.

“Today I thought and speculated on what we can still do: there is a filter between the Caucasus and Kuban – Stavropolye. But now I see that it [the filter] is not there, you and I are next. And who will answer when first blood is spilled, when inter-ethnic conflicts start? And it will happen sooner or later,” he said at a Krasnodar region police board meeting.

Tkachyov said the Krasnodar region must not repeat the history of Kosovo, but he confused Serbs with Croatians. “We see this in Yugoslavia – Albanians, Croatians… First there were 80 percent Croatians, and 20 percent Albanians. Then it reversed.”

The regional budget will provide 650 million rubles for creating the militia that will consist of up to 1,000 people. Cossacks will patrol the streets with police officers and will not carry weapons.

The police has some power in stopping the unwanted guests, but “there are limits – democracy and heightened care for human rights, civil society,” he said.

‘Ethnic balance must be upheld’

He also said that the existing balance between ethnic Russians and other ethnicities must be preserved. In order to do this Cossack militia must make it problematic for “outsiders” to have a comfortable life in the region.

“We have no other way – we will add pressure, check documents, conduct migration policies, where one comes from, why, etc. This way those who try to just come here to play the fool, stake claims, provoke or operate illegal business, they will understand that it is best not to come to Kuban,” Tkachyov said.

The regional administration press-service, however, had to stress that historically more than 100 nationalities live in the area, and the Cossack militia are to be created to “not allow interethnic conflicts and keep the peace.”

‘Newcomers are insolent’

Tkachyov, who is under criticism for poor safety measures that lead to deaths of more than 100 people in the Krymsk flood, tried to justify himself in his Twitter feed.

“I cannot watch and I do not plan to calmly watch how newcomers ignore laws, rules, local traditions, and sometimes behave insolently. It causes interethnic conflicts. At the moment they are local, but God forbid they grow into something bigger. This is what I am afraid of and am trying to prevent. There are laws of Russia and of the region, according to them we have the right to take measures to control migration. Whatever anyone thinks, I will not change my position on illegal migration. And I know that the region’s residents support me in this.”

“Are you seriously accusing me on nationalism?” Tkachyov wrote. “My first deputy is from Adygeya, the aide – a Crimean Tatar, I have Armenians and Greeks as friends. For 12 years I have been head of the region with 120 nationalities, and I understand how fragile this peace is more than most.”

Public outrage

The public chamber plans to ask the prosecutor’s office to check the statements, head of international cooperation and public diplomacy working group Alexander Sokolov told Vedomosti. Public chamber member Yelena Topolyova added that they planned to ask President Vladimir Putin to demand Tkachyov’s resignation.

Sokolov thought the racial hatred incitement was obvious. “He labeled North Caucasus regions foreign enemy territories, and called to fence off them with illegal armed formations. The aim of these formations is not upholding the order, but preventing movement of citizens from one region to another. It is an outrageous case.”

“It is a provoking statement that limits the rights of Caucasus region residents and could really lead to interethnic clashes,” chairman of Russia’s People of the Caucasus council Aly Totorkulov told Kommersant.

Excerpt from The Huffington Post: Dave Mustaine, Megadeth Singer, Says Obama 'Staged' Aurora Shooting, Sikh Temple Shooting To Pass A Gun Ban

Video--no author given
The Huffington Post
Oh dear. Looks like someone wants to be the next Alex Jones.

During a recent show in Singapore during Megadeth's "Th1rt3en World Tour," Mustaine took to the mic from the stage to discuss his beliefs about some of the recent gun violence in America.

"Back in my country, my president," Mustaine begins and then pretends to gag himself with his finger, "is trying to pass a gun ban so he's staging all of these murders. The 'Fast and Furious' thing down at the border. And Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there. And now, the beautiful people at the Sikh temple."

Mustaine went on to say, "I don't know where I'm going to live if America keeps going the way it's going because it looks like it's turning into Nazi America."

That's nice, darling. Go back to playing with your toys and let the grown-ups handle the political analysis, ok?

Huffington Post: Melvin Morse, Pediatrician Accused Of Waterboarding Stepdaughter, Says He Is Victim Of State Hysteria

Randall Chase
The Huffington Post
Oh, this is gonna be good. And by "be good", I mean I'll be lucky if my screen isn't broken by the end of it.


DOVER, Del. — A Delaware pediatrician who achieved national recognition for his research into near-death experiences involving children may have been experimenting on his 11-year-old stepdaughter by waterboarding her, police said in court documents.

The possible link between Dr. Melvin Morse's research and the waterboarding allegations was revealed in an affidavit for a search warrant for Morse's computers. The document was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. And, you know, from a frightened eleven-year-old girl!

According to the affidavit, Dr. Melvin Morse brought the girl "to a possible near death state from the simulation of drowning."

"This `waterboarding' that he has performed ... would fall into the area of study he practices," police said in the affidavit. "It is logical that he has therefore written about and/or researched the topic of `waterboarding.'"

Joe Hurley, an attorney for Morse, said the idea that Morse was experimenting on his own daughter is "the sheerest of speculation." Because an eleven-year-old girl whose face was repeatedly held under the faucet is the "sheerest of speculation." Way to go, Attorney Hurley.

Morse, who faces a preliminary hearing Thursday on felony child endangerment and conspiracy charges, has authored several books and articles on paranormal science and near-death experiences.

He has appeared on "Larry King Live" and the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss his research on out-of-body experiences. His Web site, , is strewn with commentary about God, love, family and death. http://spiritualscientific.com

Morse told AP in a telephone interview Monday that the charges against him are an overreaction from authorities who were criticized in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving another pediatrician.

Morse said he is the victim of "post-Bradley hysteria," a reference to pediatrician Earl Bradley, who was convicted a year ago and is serving 14 life sentences for sexually abusing scores of his young patients over more than a decade. This is something I've noticed a lot in parties who later get the guilty verdict: "Waaaaaaa! I'm the victim here, everyone else is so meeeeeeean! They don't understaaaaaand meeeee!"

Following Bradley's arrest in December 2009, state officials ordered investigations into how he was allowed to continue practicing medicine for years despite suspicions that he was molesting his patients. Lawmakers passed several new laws toughening requirements for police, health care workers and others to report suspected child abuse.

The allegations of waterboarding came after Morse was accused of grabbing his 11-year-old stepdaughter by the ankle in July  and, as her 6-year-old sister watched, dragging her across a gravel drivewaywhich is fucking despicable in its own right. He was arrested July 13 on misdemeanor endangerment and assault charges and released on bail.

When the older girl was interviewed last week, she told investigators that her father disciplined her by holding her face under a running faucet at least four times since 2009, a punishment that she said her father called "waterboarding." Maybe it's just me, but I don't think an eleven-year-old would know the term "waterboarding" unless someone called it that. There's always the possibility that she's a news geek, but...

Waterboarding simulates drowning and it has been used in the past by U.S. interrogators on terrorism suspects. Many critics call it torture. BECAUSE IT IS. 

State police said the girl's mother, Pauline Morse, witnessed some of the waterboarding but did not stop it. She is also out on bail.

Melvin and Pauline Morse were both charged with felony child endangerment and conspiracy.

"All of these things are very absurd, except that Delaware has really had the trauma (of Bradley)," Morse told the AP. I'm going to refrain from calling him every single name in my arsenal. This really is too much.

Morse, 58, ended the interview before he could be asked directly about the waterboarding allegations. Me me me me poor me...oh, you want to talk about the things I did? Interview's over!

Hurley, the attorney for Morse, has raised doubts about the girl's claims. He has described the waterboarding description as an "attention-getter" by authorities, based on an allegation from an 11-year-old who he said had made a false abuse claim against a family member before.

"I have no doubt but that the Bradley phenomenon has its fingerprints all over the sensationalization of this situation," Hurley said. I don't like you either, Attorney Hurley. Just so you know. And so I don't have to write a two-thousand-word screed composed purely of profanity.

State officials suspended Morse's medical license after his arrest last week.

Morse, who was released from custody Friday after posting $14,500 secured bail, claimed he was "the first doctor to blow the whistle on Earl Bradley." That's nice. How is it relevant?

Morse said he warned state officials in 2007 that Bradley was using saline solution to give fake vaccines to his patients, though state officials said they never received a report from Morse until after Bradley was arrested in 2009.

"I reported that, and I'm the only Delaware physician who had the courage to testify for the Bradley victims," said Morse, claiming that he gave a deposition in the Bradley case.

Oh right. You're one of those people who is always "the good guy" because you allegedly blew the whistle on "a bad guy" and nothing you say or do can ever be wrong or evil because of that, right? Your sense of responsibility is frightening skewed, Dr. Morse. Please go away. 

The Guardian: Julian Assange will be granted asylum, says official

Irene Caselli
The Guardian, Tuesday 14 August 2012
Presented without comment. I'm too tired and irritated to give any witty insight beyond "You Bond-villain-looking motherfucker go die in a hole".

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has agreed to grant Julian Assangeasylum, officials within Ecuador's government have said. The WikiLeaksfounder has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy since 19 June, when he officially requested political asylum.

"Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," said an official in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, who is familiar with the government discussions.

On Monday, Correa told state-run ECTV that he would decide this week whether to grant asylum to Assange. Correa said a large amount of material about international law had to be examined to make a responsible, informed decision.

Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, indicated that the president would reveal his answer once the Olympic Games were over. But it remains unclear if Assange will be allowed to leave Britain and fly to Ecuador, or amounts to little more than a symbolic gesture.

At the moment he faces arrest as soon as he leaves the embassy for breaching his bail conditions.

"For Mr Assange to leave England, he should have a safe pass from the British [government]. Will that be possible? That's an issue we have to take into account," Patiño told Reuters on Tuesday.

Government sources in Quito confirmed that despite the outstanding legal issues, Correa would grant Assange asylum – a move that would annoy Britain, the US and Sweden. They added that the offer was made to Assange several months ago, well before he sought refuge in the embassy, and following confidential negotiations with senior London embassy staff.

An official with knowledge of the discussions said the embassy had discussed Assange's request. The British government, however, "discouraged the idea", the official said. He described the Swedish government as "not very collaborative".

The official added: "We see Assange's request as a humanitarian issue. The contact between the Ecuadorean government and WikiLeaks goes back to May 2011, when we became the first country to see the leaked US embassy cables completely declassified ... It is clear that when Julian entered the embassy there was already some sort of deal. We see in his work a parallel with our struggle for national sovereignty and the democratisation of international relations."

However, on Tuesday night after the Guardian broke the story Correa wrote on Twitter: "Rumour of asylum for Assange is false. There is still no decision on the subject. I await report from [Ecuadorian] foreign office." Assange retweeted the message.

Assange took refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct. He is said to be living in one room of the diplomatic building, where he has an internet connection.

Ecuadorian diplomats believe Assange is at risk of being extradited from Sweden to the US, where he could face the death penalty. Assange's supporters claim the US has already secretly indicted him following WikiLeaks' release in 2010 of US diplomatic cables, as well as classified Afghan and Iraq war logs.

Correa and Patiño have both said that Ecuador will take a sovereign decision regarding Assange. They say they are seeking to protect Assange's right to life and freedom. On Monday the state-run newspaper El Telégrafo confirmed that a decision had been made, although it did not specify what that decision was. It said senior officials had been meeting to iron out the last legal details.

Two weeks ago Assange's mother, Christine, paid Ecuador an official visit, following an invitation from the foreign affairs ministry. She met with Correa and Patiño, as well as with other top politicians, including Fernando Cordero, head of Ecuador's legislature. Both Patiño and Ms Assange appeared visibly touched during a press conference, which had to be briefly suspended when Ms Assange started crying.

Ms Assange held several public meetings in government buildings, and in one instance she was accompanied by the head of her son's defence team, Baltasar Garzón, the former Spanish judge who ordered the London arrest of Chile's General Pinochet.

Other top political figures in Ecuador have been vocal about the government's support of Assange's bid. "Our comrade the president, who leads our international policy, will grant Julian Assange asylum," said María Augusta Calle, a congresswoman of the president's party, and former head of the Sovereignty, Foreign Affairs and Latin American Integration Commission during the 2008 Constitutional Assembly, during a meeting with Ms Assange.

Over the past year and a half, Assange has remained in touch with Ecuador's embassy in London. In April, he interviewed President Correa for his TV show on Russia Today, the English-language channel funded by the Russian government. The interview, which lasted 75 minutes, included a pally exchange in which Assange and Correa bonded over freedom of speech and the negative role of the US in Latin America. At one point Correa joked: "Are you having a lot of fun with the interview, Julian?" Assange replied: "I'm enjoying your jokes a great deal, yes."

Correa has made international headlines this year for what critics have called a government crackdown on private media. Analysts say that granting the WikiLeaks founder asylum could be a way for him to depict himself as a champion of freedom of speech ahead of the February 2013 presidential elections, in which he is expected to run again.

CNN: Louisiana Charter School Changing Pregnancy Test Requirement

August 9, 2012
CNN Wire Staff
DPoH commentary in bold.


A Louisiana charter school is changing a policy that required pregnant students to be removed from class and home-schooled, pending board approval, a school official said Thursday. On the off-chance that you were unaware of the policy, go ahead and read what the ACLU has to say about it here. If that's not depressing enough for you, head on over to Delhi Charter School's online copy of the School Policy Manual. That particular policy was changed--you can find it on page 130--but take a look at their Public Displays of Affection policy on page 125. 

Also, there's a whole page worth of rules and regulations for catheterizing students. Yes, really.

"The school has not eliminated its pregnancy policy at this time," said Chris Broussard, a spokesman for the Delhi Charter School.

Note: The policy did change the day after the article came out.

The details of the revision -- which would take effect after the school board weighs in and approves -- are not yet clear.

Broussard said the law firm Davenport, Files and Kelly helped revise the policy to make it compliant with federal law, after it came under intense criticism from rights groups. Gosh, I wonder why.

Under the school's current policy, posted on its website, "The school reserves the right to require any female student to take a pregnancy test to confirm whether or not the suspected student is in fact pregnant." NOPE YOU GUYS SEEMS PERFECTLY REASONABLE TO ME

In cases where a test determines that one of the school's approximately 700 students is pregnant, "the student will not be permitted to attend classes on the campus of Delhi Charter School."

Any student suspected of being pregnant who refuses to submit to a pregnancy test "shall be treated as a pregnant student Gee, there's no possible way that could be construed as invasive or anything.  and will be offered home study opportunities. If home study opportunities are not acceptable, the student will be counseled to seek other educational opportunities like going to visit relatives. Distant relatives," it said.

In a letter sent to school officials, American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Marjorie R. Esman said the policy "is based on the archaic and pernicious stereotype that a girl's pregnancy sets a 'bad example' for her peers -- i.e., that in having engaged in sexual activity, she has transgressed acceptable norms of feminine behavior."

Not only that, but the old policy and the current PDA policy are sending directly opposing messages. Your body is sinful and should be hidden away! Don't let anybody see it under any circumstances! Unless that somebody is a school official who thinks you're a slut! Then you need to let them know your entire sexual history, plus submit to a mandatory pregnancy test, just so their curiosity can be satisfied!

Blegh. Skeevy.

News that the policy would be reviewed was welcomed by Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Center for Liberty, who described the policy as "reminiscent of the '50s."

August 15 is the first day of class.