~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WASH RAG published by Women Against Sexual Harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Available on-line ASAP at http://www.washrag.org/ along with earlier issues ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P. O. Box 164 Canton, SD 57013 Phone: (605) 987-5070 Fax: (605) 987-5070 -- call ahead, this is a one-liner Email: washragezine(bleep)lycos.com ISSN: 1068-2449 Free Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenAgainstSexualHarassmentNational Chat room: http://www.chatzy.com/133047284228 Want a print copy of the current W.A.S.H. Rag? Go to http://www.washrag.org/WASH/page27.html and follow the instructions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue 14, Number 3 August, 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hint: to find a specific item, if you are using Microsoft Notepad to view this, highlight and copy the title and then paste it in edit/find. Use View/word wrap to shorten line length ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A CONNECTION BETWEEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT, CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY OR ADD, AND ORGANIZED STALKING Bambi Fairchild Victimized Again Media Put Accuser on Trial in Duke Rape Case Spoofers Invade Lists and Chat Rooms Women Strike Back Online Against Street Harassment Federal Anti-Stalking Law ELEANOR ROOSEVELT DAY PROPOSED Federal Stalking Study Media Notes Our Intangible Right to "Honest Services" by Public Officials Hope Springs Eternal Notices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A CONNECTION BETWEEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT, CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY OR ADD, AND ORGANIZED STALKING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since I began moderating the chat room at www.chatzy.com, I’ve met a lot of women (and some men) who were initially sexually harassed. In many cases, the rejected person, who has connections or money/means, has gone so far as to pay for what is now called “revenge stalking.” The victim (now a target) of vandalism, robberies, tapped phones, what appear as “accidents” and organized stalking is now devastated. I would like to site one case for example: Mary lives in rural Colorado. She is divorced, and has two sons with special needs. They both have attention deficit disorder. Mary’s oldest son, in his 20's, has turned to drugs. He is involved in selling them, and is a user. Her youngest son, still in high school, is enabled by Mary. She doesn’t teach him to cook, or do for himself; he is being made more dependent upon Mary daily. Mary had gone to social services for help; but they did not help her financially. She receives a small monthly allotment from her ex-husband and now receives social security disability for herself and her youngest son. Mary was a victim; now she has become a part of the problem. Mary was sexually harassed by a neighbor who would not leave her alone. He would watch Mary; and, indicated he wanted to become sexually involved with her. When she rejected him, Mary’s life took a downward spin. Mary herself cannot see how this happened. She doesn’t see the ‘set up’ or what happens afterwards as being planned and connived by this man who is a con. After being rejected sexually many times, this man, Mr. X, began playing ‘car games’ with Mary when she would go out. Car games, is when someone swerves to try to hit you; or, they scare you by pretending they are going to run into you. Suddenly, bills were not arriving on time, and were paid late...there were also many errors in her bank statements. Her youngest son is bullied at school. She makes a lot of trips to the school to speak to someone about the bullying. Mary’s horses are let out of a closed corral on a regular basis. Her dog mysteriously gets poisoned and dies. Her truck, which is parked outside, has many repairs. Although it is an older truck, it is an incredibly abnormally amount of repairs for that year of vehicle. Please remember, that the first element was, Mary was sexually harassed. Mary had an ‘accident’ and fell from her back porch when someone removed the blocks that held up the porch; she now is using a crutch to get around. Mary gets harassed in her neighborhood, in a closed community, constantly by someone on the board who governs the covenants in her subdivision. Mary is under a lot of stress; but only confides in me of the events. Now Mary, thinks she is losing it! She notices a very large number of white vehicles every time she leaves the house. No one will believe Mary. It is too absurd. The sheriff, who is corrupt as well, starts harassing Mary as well. He makes many trips to her house. There is a local theft of a pop machine; and the sheriff asks her to bring in old her older son’s shoes/boots. Her older son leaves town, abandoning her. Then, she is harassed about her horses being out of the corral. Someone in the community is letting her horses out; then, the community and the sheriff harass her about it. The sheriff, is part of the problem; but Mary doesn’t realize it. While Mr. X is never found guilty of harassing Mary officially; she is found guilty of harassing him! Mary simply wants to be left alone at this point. Mr. X moves away; but Mary continues to have problems! Mr. "X" has taken the equivalent of what is called a ‘contract’ out on Mary. There are organizations which take money, to do what he no longer participates in... they vandalize, rob, set up her children, bully her children, cripple her, until she submits to ‘join’. Mary is one example of many women’s lives. What starts as what they consider to be an isolated incident of sexual harassment, turns into a case of organized stalking and organized crime. The chatzy site, has been a good way to reach out to many people who are victims of sexual harassment. Many contact this site, for the only emotional support they can find. Some are at their wits end by the time they get to the site. There is a connection between these women. Since the chat room was started in June, of the 13 women with children who were victims of sexual harassment and gang stalking, 12 had children with epilepsy, ADD and other special needs. I feel this is a significant discovery. Feel free to contact me. Aunt Bea email: catfishwithlips(bleep)yahoo.com phone: (719) 942-3517 www.bullyonline.org www.stopcovertwar.com www.gangstalking.ca www.stop-predatory-gangstalking.net www.stalkingbehavior.com www.stalkingvictims.com www.stalker.com www.antisatlking.com www.esia.net http://www.chatzy.com/133047284228 Women Against Sexual Harassment Dare I comment on Aunt Bea’s remarks? I have been complaining about the use of chemicals to manipulate me for years, it has become so bad that I have to wear a full face particle mask in order to get my mail and groceries. This has been going on for as long as 45 years THAT I KNOW OF. The mental health parasites have for years branded anyone complaining that “someone is out to get me” as paranoid schizophrenic without ever investigating to find out if this is true. The medical community is not much better, never testing for toxic exposure when a patient’s symptoms are unusual. And law enforcement refuses to investigate complaints by victims. Whether this is because they all have a piece of the action or because of stupidity is a moot point. It makes them part of a support network for the stalkers. I believe that most women, when this happens to them, are too afraid of carrying the paranoid schizophrenic brand to tell anyone about it, so they go through problem pregnancies without protection from toxic exposure which surely may cause damage to fetuses and babies. It is an outrage that targets of harassment, especially pregnant women and small children, are not protected by those responsible. For more information go to http://www.janetleih.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bambi Fairchild Victimized Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A couple of months ago, I went to my website, http://www.washrag.org/, to check something out and found that I could not access any of the newsletters. I spent a week or so talking to servers and finally decided on my own to re-load the web site, and then everything worked OK. About a month ago, I got an e-mail from one of my contacts and she said my web site was down. She wanted to send someone a story I did in a newsletter. I went to the website, thinking they were having server problems, and the website www.washrag.org came up right away. I got the URL for the story and e-mailed it to the other person because I knew them also. They e-mailed me and said they could not bring my site up either. Now I knew there were two websites, one I was accessing and one my contacts were accessing. So I made a complaint to ICANN. In another day, the subject of the story in the newsletter called me on the phone and told me that my story was wrong, that she was not a special agent for the FBI, that she had been on the FBI administrative staff. Our mutual friend had gotten on my web site and had called her and told her that my story said she was a special agent for the FBI I went and checked my source materials and neither the word "special" nor the word "agent" was in either story. I went on-line, thinking hackers had changed the copy, but it did not have either word in, either. I now had another reason for believing that there were two websites being accessed under the name washrag.org. Christina Geist of Network Solutions contacted me and told me that they were not responsible, that domainregister.com, owned by Franklin Communications was the reseller, which I knew, I had not mentioned Network Solutions in my complaint to ICANN. But I have repeatedly talked to Franklin Communications about the problem, and I still am not getting any feedback from my website. She told me to go to dnsstuff.com and I would be able to get the information about my website. I asked the third party to go to my website, and if she found the words “special agent,” to print it off and fax it to me. Then she e-mailed me and said that she couldn't find it any more, that now those words were not in the story. Obviously, something had changed in the meantime to either change the copy or point her to my actual website. Because all of these events happened after the article about Bambi Fairchild’s complaint and sexual harassment problems with the FBI, it seems that we may have stepped on some of the wrong toes here, and that this was first of all an attempt to prevent anyone from reading the item in issue 14.2 about Bambi Fairchild’s complaint, and when I then fixed the problem, they apparently diverted all of the traffic to the site except mine to an alternate site which contained erroneous information which made it look like Bambi Fairchild had given false information about her position with the FBI, thereby making sure that anyone in the media looking into it would immediately find out that Bambi was not a Special Agent as she claimed, but was on the Administrative staff, some kind of a secretary or a clerk, so they would assume she was also lying about her complaint against the FBI. Add to that the fact that when I went to a website recommended to me by Christine Geist, dnsstuff.com, to check out the dns information about washrag.org, I was repeatedly denied access because the site said I had made too many uses of that site. It also gave me my IP address every time. I got IP addresses which whois said were AOL IP addresses in Reston, VA: 205.188.116.67 (4 times on 3 different days!) and both 152.163 101.6, 64.12.117.117.6. My ISP is Netscape, and isn’t Reston where FBI Headquarters is? Subsequently, the same IP addresses were said by whois to be in Dulles, Sterling and Manasses, VA. Hmmmm. DNS information for washrag.org shows 4 IP addresses, but Franklin Communications had told me I had only two when I had requested my IP addresses from them. All of them point to matrix.com, which does not host web sites, just forwards traffic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Media Put Accuser on Trial in Duke Rape Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From NOW newsletter By Lisa Bennett, Communications Director and Jessica Hopper, Communications Intern June 15, 2006 The Duke University rape case has consumed much media ink and airtime, and the portrayal of the woman involved has alarmed many, including NOW. So the story goes, on March 14, members of the Duke men's lacrosse team hired two exotic dancers for a private party. The two dancers—both women—who didn't know each other prior to that day, say they were subjected to racial and misogynist slurs. One of the women, who reports being attacked in a bathroom during a period when (both women say) the dancers were separated from one another, accused three men of raping and assaulting her. The three men, all members of the prestigious school's lacrosse team, have been indicted on charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Analyzing or commenting on the legal strengths or merits of any case at this stage would be difficult, but what's not hard, and what merits close scrutiny is the media's portrayal of the victim NOW's analysis of the television and print media's portrayal (thus far) of the woman who reported being raped concluded disturbing results. The print media, for the most part, have been fairer than television in their portrayal of the woman. Certain television media, particularly cable news programs, have perpetuated blatantly negative views of the accuser. We observed three common themes in the TV coverage: promoting racist and sexist stereotypes; dismissing the seriousness of rape while belittling survivors; and treating the case merely as entertainment. Promoting Racist and Sexist Stereotypes Both of the dancers are women of color, and all three of the defendants are white; this fact, combined with reports of racial slurs hurled at the women on the night of the incident, add a racial element to the case that the media find irresistible. The terminology used by the media to describe the accuser has reinforced the old stereotype of African American women as hypersexual—including the constant use of the word "stripper" to describe the woman (when she could have as easily been described as "student" or "mother") and even epithets like Rush Limbaugh's use of the word "ho." The decision to refer to the woman solely as a "stripper" and nothing else perpetuates the untruth that a black woman can be nothing but a sexual object. In this case, the woman is also a mother, a student at North Carolina Central University, and a former military member. Furthermore, despite the fact that one of the accused men had been arrested on assault charges just months before the Duke incident, his prior acts didn't seem to attach any stigma or implications as to his character or possible guilt. The attitude of some television media toward the woman also has perpetuated stereotypes of exotic dancers. On Fox's Hannity & Colmes on April 20, 2006, this unsympathetic attitude was evident when Sean Hannity summarized guest Ann Coulter's article entitled "Lie Down with Strippers, Wake Up with Pleas." Hannity said, "If you're a woman who undresses before strangers, you're saying in this piece: Expect trouble in your life." This attitude places blame on the woman, implying that she must have known that violence would come with the territory, and therefore, was asking for it. The show appears to condone violence against her. Another guest on this same show, criminal defense attorney Mercedes Colwin, disturbingly perpetuated the stereotype that exotic dancers can't be trusted. Colwin said that potential jurors would think, "She's an exotic dancer. She was scantily clad. They're going to do it. It's something that's going to happen, and that's certainly going to impact on her credibility." Dismissing Rape, Belittling Survivors Also disturbing is that some television media treated rape as something to be joked about. On the same episode of Hannity & Colmes, Colwin said that the defense would likely argue that the women contrived the rape story because they were angry about not getting paid the full amount they requested. Colwin goes on to tell the hosts and other guests, "So I can bet you this. I'm going to bet dinner to all of you—all of you." Colwin's remarks leave the host and other guests laughing. Surely, viewers were appalled to see the subject of rape bantered about by pundits in such an unseemly manner. Rape survivors are further belittled on a May 25 episode of MSNBC's The Situation With Tucker Carlson. While discussing the NAACP's involvement in the case, Carlson said, "That doesn't make the accuser Rosa Parks." Carlson came back to this idea on a May 30 episode of the show. He said to North Carolina NAACP President Barber, "You are making the accuser in this case some sort of modern day civil rights hero, and I just can't imagine why." Intentionally or not, Carlson sets the bar impossibly high for any woman who reports a rape and hopes to be taken seriously. NOW's analysis discovered a variation of this trend: the media's dismissal of a feminist viewpoint in the case. Often guests with feminist perspectives are attacked or themselves belittled by hosts and other guests. For example, on a May 24 episode of The Situation With Tucker Carlson, Carlson responded harshly to guest Wendy Murphy's defense of the accuser. Carlson told Murphy, "You know what you have, Wendy? You have feminism. I have facts. You have feminist theory. And I think facts win over feminist theory." Carlson seems to be arguing that a feminist perspective has little or no value in a discussion about a rape case. Dan Abrams, on a June 5 episode of MSNBC's The Abrams Report, responded to guest Georgia Goslee in a similar manner. Abrams told Goslee, who was defending the accuser, "That's called pulling the gender card." Abrams and Carlson appear to agree that feminist theory is "fluff," and that rape should not be seen through a gender lens. This is disheartening to those who have worked for so long to stop violence against women. At times, it was only feminists who would even talk about rape and domestic violence, but in the world of cable news this works against us. Entertainment Value Perhaps even more disturbing is how this case has been turned into nothing more than a "movie of the week." On an April 20 episode of CNN's Showbiz Tonight, guest Lida Rodriguez-Taseff said of the case, "It's a little bit of CSI: Miami meets Wild On meets Martin Luther King It's 'I have a Dream' speech playing in the background." By discussing the case in such a way, the woman becomes merely a character in a story. The inhumanity of rape is stripped away as the story becomes fictional. Another guest on the same show, Howard Kurtz, said, "Television loves a melodrama, and this is shaping up to be a first class one." By turning a rape case into a story, the reality of rape, and the threat it poses for women, is removed. Rape becomes an isolated incident in television movies that seems like it can't happen to any woman—a misleading and dangerous message to send an audience. Sadly, this case and the media's response are all too familiar. The insensitive portrayal of the women involved is another way to keep rape survivors and women silent. Since this case will continue to be covered in the media, NOW is concerned that the same three harmful themes will be reinforced again and again. NOW encourages all women's rights supporters to watch the media, both local and national and urges readers and viewers to write letters to the editors or call their news stations. By speaking out against reckless and insensitive rhetoric, activists can help create a less hostile environment for women and rape survivors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spoofers Invade Lists and Chat Rooms ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is what happened early this year on a mailing list I joined. First I had a feeling that my main stalker was on my list because he said horrifying things to the list. Things that had been said to me in chat rooms years ago by his friends, himself, and his family members. I tried to let the moderator know but was blown off as stalkers always find us and so what if they do. I stopped writing to that group. I had offered to write a book on another list and wanted the group’s permission to do so. I was told point blank I could not do that so I dropped it completely. I later got an email just screaming at me that I was told I could not write a book and that lawyers would be called and I would be sued. I had not even brought the subject up to anybody, not one time after I was told it was not a good idea. My stalkers had resent an old email to this woman. One I had written months ago. A couple days later I got a phone call from a very good friend that was also on this emailing list. She read a letter to me that was pretty bad about her to supposedly the whole group. She asked me if I knew who wrote it. I said no. She reply, "You." I told her that I hoped she did not believe I really wrote that and she said of course, that she did not believe I wrote it. We both got off both emailing lists. I do believe my stalkers did this to me. I do believe they did this same thing ten years ago as well, in order to get so many people against me. I believe now that they have my email address attached to theirs they are able to write anything to anybody they want to when ever they want to. If your stalker gets on your emailing lists and you respond to the group they have your email address sent to their address as well and you’re sunk. Anything you write can be changed to anything they want you to have said and sent to anybody they want it sent to. I want to remain anonymous ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Women Strike Back Online Against Street Harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 17, 2006 Run Date: 05/09/06 By Rachel Corbett WeNews correspondent A group of young activists are tired of men who leer at them or make degrading comments. They are fighting back with their own weapons: camera phones, blogs, online protests and forums, plus an action campaign timed for "street harassment season." NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--On a cold day in February, Emily May, a 25-year-old employee for a low-income housing and employment nonprofit in New York, bundled up and left work. As she turned onto Broadway, the main north-south thoroughfare in Manhattan, two men heading toward her interrupted her thoughts. One tapped his friend and gave May a long look up and down. "Yo baby, you're gorgeous!" the man said to her. "I wanna hit that!" May whipped out her camera phone. "Sir, can I take your picture?" "Why do you want to take my picture?" "Because I'm taking pictures of everyone who thinks I'm pretty today." What the men did not know was that May is part of a growing movement of women around the country and the globe turning the table on harassers. May works with a group of women who take pictures of their harassers and post them online in a forum called Holla Back NYC. Tech-savvy women around the world send posts to Holla Back, which averages 1,000 hits per day, including women from Spain, Italy and India. Last week, European women established their own forum as the United Kingdom was the first country to sign on to the official European branch of Holla Back; Switzerland and Germany are expected to follow soon. The Web site encourages women to post photos and write about men who comment or leer at them on the streets. It was prompted by the 2005 arrest of Dan Hoyt, a subway masturbator who was caught by a passenger who took his photo and had it printed in the New York Daily News. Hoyt was convicted of public lewdness in February. Latest Street-Safety Effort Holla Back NYC is the latest permutation of an ongoing effort across the country to make the streets safer for women. In New York this includes the Street Harassment Coalition and the Brooklyn-based Right Rides, a group that offers free nighttime rides home for women. "It is seen as a micro-inequity, not a big deal," said Maggie Hadleigh-West whose 1998 documentary "War Zone" detailed her personal encounters with street harassers. But street harassment, because it induces a kind of anxiety in women akin to the fear of rape, is not just an annoyance for Hadleigh-West but a real threat. "You have to allow yourself to feel what you're feeling," she said. "It is the intent behind words, behavior, gestures that we are responding to." The impetus behind Hadleigh-West's film and much anti-harassment activism is performance artist Laurie Anderson's 1973 photography project, "Fully Automated Nikon," during which she realized the vengeful joys of taking pictures of street harassers. She also found that it renewed her confidence and sense of safety: "As I walked along Houston Street with my fully automated Nikon, I felt armed, ready." The advent of online blogs--sites that regularly post updates on specific topics--along with camera phones and the Internet have given the movement a huge boost. "We wouldn't have been able to do this even a year earlier," said May, a Holla Back co-founder, which has about 100 photos on its Web site and started up in September 2005. May said the Web site and blog have become powerful organizing tools. "They give a sense of being able to create a worldwide community beyond our social networks." 'Eve-Teasing' in India In India, the movement to raise awareness around street harassment is also occurring electronically. Blank Noise, an India-based blog run by three women in three different cities, encourages reader participation in documenting accounts of "eve teasing," the Indian equivalent of street harassment. It is also a resource for coordinating protests and meetings. The blog has helped muster support for projects such as the "Did You Ask for It" art installation in which readers donate articles of clothing worn on days they were harassed, ranging anywhere from baggy flannel button-ups to floor-length skirts to pairs of jeans. The work is an attempt to challenge the misconception that harassment is the result of revealing clothing. Beyond its networking capacities, the blogosphere serves the movement against street harassment with a certain eye-for-an-eye type of vigilantism. Here, the anonymous gaze is female and women become private perpetrators who publicly objectify harassers. The New York-based Street Harassment Coalition recently began a blog of its own devoted to showing the effects of what they see as an abundant problem that is widely treated as mundane. One poster writes that the problem permeates "the cultural and social landscape . . . which impacts our choices, our moods, our participation within and relationship to our communities." The group also conducts awareness workshops in high schools and disseminates flyers around the city with images of harassers and slogans that bring attention to the issue. Hot Weather Tactics As spring turns to summer and warm weather enlivens New York City streets, Holla Back, Right Rides and other activists are also gearing up fresh tactics to promote women's safety during what Holla Back calls the "street harassment season." In New York, activities include the third annual Sexual Assault Yearly Speakout, which took place April 21-22, featuring 24 hours of open-air testimonial from sexual-abuse survivors. Right Rides, who had to cease service this winter due to a lack of volunteer drivers, expects to re-emerge from its hibernation in July. Focusing on their consciousness-raising activities this summer, Holla Back will continue organizing informational bar crawls in order to chat with women informally about their experiences with street harassment and let them know about the Web site. They also have panel discussions and protests planned for the coming months. "The goal is not to create a catalog or database of harassers, but to raise awareness and empower women," said May. While encouraging women to find ways to "holla back" at harassers it discourages women from snapping back at night or when they are alone. Remembering the man who harassed her in February, May recalls how she could sense that he wasn't a kidnapper or rapist. "He was just a confused guy with absolutely no lady skills. Still, if I hadn't turned around for the 'holla back', I would have walked on feeling a little shaken and self-conscious. How am I supposed to know which are the nice guys and which just don't get it?" Rachel Corbett is a WeNews contributor and freelance writer in New York. E-mail us at editors(bleep)womensenews.org http://www.womensenews.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal Anti-Stalking Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 18 : Section 241 * United States Code o TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDUR + PART I - CRIMES # CHAPTER 13 - CIVIL RIGHTS U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04 Section 241. Conspiracy against rights If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured - They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ELEANOR ROOSEVELT DAY PROPOSED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eleanor Roosevelt, who prevailed over lifelong family abuse all the way through being First Lady of the country, has had a three day weekend in her honor recognized since 1994. A local, state and then the National Grange, passed a resolution that year committing 300.000 members in establishing the Second Monday in August as "Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Day." The columnist who in her lifetime wrote "My Day" has had her own day announced for celebration the past few years in Pacific County, Washington, where a portrayal by Actress Debbie Dimitre was for the first time scheduled at the Northwest Carriage Museum, http://www.nwcarriagemuseum.org in 2006 while Washington State Governor Christine Gregiore proclaimed "Eleanor Roosevelt Day" as August 14, 2006. Anne Louise Grimm I suggest that everyone write to their representatives in the Congress to support this effort. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal Stalking Study ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About one out of every 22 people in a nationwide survey of nearly 10,000 U.S. residents reported that they had been stalked, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Put another way, it means that about 4.5 percent of the entire U.S. population has experienced stalking — a finding similar to another large survey taken about 10 years ago. This means our little 2002 survey with 1 percent saying they were experiencing organized stalking is a VERY reasonable figure. We can use that in confidence in light of the above numbers, based on the idea that 1 percent out of 4.5 is probably about right for Organized Stalking versus single stalking. Eleanor White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Media Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ America’s Most Wanted has mentioned harassment twice in the past few months, they had a special feature on April 15 about how to help your child deal with bullies. They said that the signs of bullying are if your child becomes depressed and doesn’t want to go to school. Bullies target children who are small or quiet. They admonish teachers and counselors to pay attention and intervene. The victim should refuse to accept bullying. They suggest that victims go places with a friend, that they look the bully in the eye, and that they take self-defense classes to improve their self-confidence. They also suggested that children should help friends who are being bullied. On June 17, they carried the story of Christy, a woman who was sexually harassed and stalked by a fellow employee. He stole her house keys and broke into her house wearing a mask. He remained in her home for two hours and never spoke. She was repeatedly raped. She had a two year old daughter at home. When he left, he left money like he was paying her. DNA test showed that Jose Garcia (Joey) who is from Puerto Rico was the rapist. He had gone on the lam and was one of AMW. On June 16, 2006 KDLT TV (NBC) in Sioux Falls carried a story about an Army woman (Swit?) who had gone AWOL because of harassment she had experienced in Iraq. Another story in June was the 48 year old Mitchell teacher and wrestling coach, Andrew Tate, who was charged with stalking four teenaged girls. On August 20, 2006, KELO-TV in Sioux Falls (CBS) carried a story about military recruiters in SD being investigated for assaulting women who came in to find out about joining the military. The Argus Leader of August 24, 2006 had an item about the Citadel, a military school in SC. They reported that 1 in 5 of the female cadets had been sexually assaulted. 4% of the male cadets also reported sexual assaults. A Baptist pastor, Raymond Lambert, in Missouri has been charged with sexually assaulting young girls from his congregation for years. His wife, Patti, is accused of helping, and her brothers are also accused of the same crime. Is this what the Baptists have in mind for girls instead of training them to be Sunday School teachers? Since none of the other Baptists have contradicted the NY church firing an 80 year old woman who had taught Sunday School at that church for 50 years because the Bible says women should do nothing but serve men, we must assume that they agree. This is what I mean by “Religious McIdiots.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Intangible Right to "Honest Services" by Public Officials ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The essence of public corruption is that public officials deprive people in the community of their honest efforts to represent them. That's theft of honest services, and that's what the statute covers." Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Harrigan. Honest services' law, 18 U.S.C. §1346, is a brief addendum to the federal mail and wire fraud statute that makes it possible to prosecute public officials for a variety of unethical and criminal activities. This addendum in short reads as a "scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." The 1872 mail fraud statute incorporated the common law concept of fraud, which consists of depriving someone of property by lying. In the late 1980's, federal prosecutors persuaded lower federal courts to consider that the statute should also include deprivations of the intangible right to honest services. Congress responded by adding a new section to the mail fraud statute declaring that the public had a right to fair and honest representation by public officials. The federal mail fraud statute and honest services clause provides the federal government with jurisdiction to prosecute state and local officials, as well as federal officials. An extremely effective tool to fight public corruption, it is utilized more often than bribery or extortion charges. In the Seventh Circuit, violating "intangible rights" constitutes a breach of fiduciary duty for personal gain, while most other courts seem to treat every legal duty of a public official as fiduciary. How "honest" must a public official be is a highly contested matter. Despite most citizens demand for honest government officials, we frequently ignore or excuse questionable behaviors by those in positions of power. On the other end of the spectrum, most federal courts of appeals have held in certain circumstances, even a government official's failure to disclose a material conflict of interest can fit within the meaning of the term "honest services", thus is prosecutable. Proving intent is the most difficult area in prosecution, with some cases not so clear cut. Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham along with Washington defense contractor Mitchell Wade were recently convicted under the "honest services" statute, but they are not alone. Former Illinois Governor George Ryan joined the ranks of judges and attorneys who have been prosecuted for violations of the publics' trust. Corrupt government officials usually receive the most media attention with lesser known corporate agents being brought into the public eye when their crimes are so egregious as to demand justice for their victims. "Honest Services" can also be an effective means for prosecution under RICO; Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970. When a rank and file union member pays union dues, the well paid Union Representatives have a fiduciary responsibility to perform their duties as the injured members' representative. When the Union Representatives fail to perform their services in an honest and ethical manner, when accusations fly of bribery, threats, intimidation, as well as secret meetings and questionable relationships between the Union Reps and contractors who are being accused of severe worker safety violations, this statute can encompass all the various charges under one heading, as the theft of honest services. A newly filed civil suit in the US District Court of SF may soon test this statute and how much protection and justice will be provided for injured workers. Interestingly, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently declared that the public's right to "honest services" also applies to private individuals when there is a fiduciary relationship. United States v.Williams, 441 F.3d 716 (9th Cir. 2006). This inclusion may hold company officials personally responsible for illegal discretionary acts to which the individual personally benefited, instead of allowing the agency itself to bear the consequences for the misdeeds of it's employees. The federal First Circuit Court of Appeals, has expanded it's term of bribery in government official cases to include what it calls "coaxing," which is "a more generalized pattern of gratuities to coax 'ongoing favorable official action.'" United States v. Woodward, 149 F.3d 46, 55 (1st Cir. 1998) . If there was ever a more appropriate time to focus on honest, ethical and moral guidance in dealing with others, now there is one more reason, dishonesty may be a hazard to your liberty. CITED REFERENCE MATERIALS: http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/14799168.htm http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2005/10/the_intangible_.html http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060112/news_1n12compare.html http://www.blankrome.com/index.cfm?contentID=37&itemID=211 Valerie D Nixon justonemom(bleep)gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hope Springs Eternal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think that people who know me well tend to think of me as a pessimist, but I think of myself as an optimist. For example, I am continuously dealing with internet fraud as I describe in “Bambi Fairchild Victimized Again” There is nothing in Aunt Bea’s “A Connection Between Sexual Harassment and Children With Epilepsy or ADD, and Organized Gang Stalking” that I have not personally experienced, and yet I can include information about “Federal Anti-Stalking Law” and “Our Intangible Right to Honest Services by Public Officials” in the same issue. What I know for sure is that you can never solve any problem unless you know what the problem is, and you have to have the tools to do it. So I try to include a mix of the reality of stalking and harassment and as many suggestions as come to us about how to deal with it. I believe that most stalkers go unpunished because the victims are isolated and terrorized into silence and because they don’t know how to fight against the perpetrators. The only way to correct this is to make sure the victim’s voices are heard, and to put public officials and perpetrators on notice that they are culpable and let victims know what tools they have. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National event to raise public awareness of the problems battered mothers and their children face in our nation's family courts -- courts that routinely take children away from the protective parent and puts them in the care of the abuser. WHEN: October 5th, 2006 (a great way to kick-off Domestic Violence Awareness Month!) http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/296 justonemom(bleep)gmail.com Brooklyn to Host First-Ever Festival for Gender Equality! August 27th 11am – 4pm. Open to all New Yorkers, it will be held at Von King Park in Brooklyn, NY altarmagazine(bleep)yahoo.com Barricade Books will be releasing Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse In the American Military by Dr. Mic Hunter in March, 2007 DrMicHunter(bleep)aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WE’RE ON THE WEB http://www.washrag.org/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This on-line version of THE WASHRAG is being sent to you free. A print version can be obtained by subscribing. In the US, send $10.00 to Women Against Sexual Harassment, P. O. Box 164, Canton, SD 57013-0164. Outside the US, send $20.00 to join. For a sample issue, send a #10 sized SASE. For a Publisher print module, e-mail backissues(bleep)washrag.org with issue number in subject. E-mail comments can be sent to washragezine(bleep)yahoo.com. To sign up for a free e-mail subscription to the W.A.S.H. Rag join the group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenAgainstSexualHarassmentNational There is an option to join the group without receiving the newsletter and just logging in to read it whenever you want. If you do not wish to receive further copies of this newsletter, unsubscribe going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenAgainstSexualHarassmentNational and removing your name from the list ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ copyright 2006 Tesseract Publications, P. O. Box 164 Canton, SD 57013-0164 (605) 987-5070. ISSN: 1068-2449