After the exposure, what comes next?

The pattern has become familiar. Day after day we get new names of well-known people accused of the behavior ranging from the gross to the illegal, almost always by men of power and influence and aimed at young women and men whose careers they could influence positively or negatively. Their targets felt intimidated from speaking out against them directly or complain to their superiors. What has become clear is that these men behaved with impunity because they felt that their position gave them immunity. Clearly, if things are to change, people must realize that whoever they are, if they abuse their power over people they will be exposed and suffer the consequences.
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I just don’t understand some people

Ohio political news has been abuzz with salacious reports following the resignation of a state legislator named Wes Goodman, after he was reportedly found having sex with another man in his office. Goodman had been described as an up and coming star in Republican politics, which means of course that he campaigned on the ‘family values’, evangelical Christian platform which means espousing the anti-poor, anti-women anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-contraception agenda, because that is what ‘family values’ has come to mean.
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Did Robert Mugabe watch A Very British Coup?

Zimbabwe has been going through a rather strange political transition. Robert Mugabe has ruled that country since 1980 when his guerrilla force ZANU overthrew the white minority government of what was then called Rhodesia. Since then, his rule has become increasingly autocratic, corrupt, undemocratic, and brutal and it seemed like he, now 93 years old, was grooming his wife Grace to take over from him, and sacking his deputy head of state seemed to be a step in that direction
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Ohio Supreme Court justice boasts about his sex life

Bill O’Neill was elected to serve on the Ohio Supreme court, the only Democrat on the seven judge panel, all the others being Republicans. Yes, the fact that in Ohio, even judges to the Supreme Court are not only elected but are nominated by political parties should tell you that I live in a pretty weird state. The rules require judges to retire at the age of 70 but they can stay on until they complete their terms of office which for O’Neill meant January of 2019, and he decided to run for governor of the state in the election to be held in November 2018.
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16 Trump accusers tell their stories

With the avalanche of stories of sexual abuse and harassment, let us not forget the Abuser-in-Chief Donald Trump. Brave New Films has done us a service by putting together a compilation of the 16 women who have come forward to describe what Trump did to them.

Americans needs to face up to the fact that the person they elected as their president is a disgusting human being, even worse than the Roy Moore that the national Republican party has abandoned.

Some men simply have no clue

One of the astonishing features of the current spate of revelations about the way that men have been sexually harassing women is how many of them seem to have expected the women to welcome their advances, even if they had absolutely no reason to think so. A most glaring example comes from Minnesota where state representatives Tony Cornish and state senator Dan Schoen are accused of harassing two women, one a lobbyist and the other a fellow legislator.
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We cannot be selective about exposing abusers and holding them to account

I recently discussed this issue of sexual harassment and abuse with some female friends who were roughly of my age and they shared stories of utterly inappropriate behavior that they experienced at the hands of their male bosses decades earlier when they were younger. They had not reported it to the authorities for the usual reasons, many of which should by now be well known to everyone.
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US aiding and abetting Saudi war crimes in Yemen

The newly installed crown prince of Saudi Arabia and heir apparent to the throne Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) has shown himself to be a shrewd manipulator of American media. He has arrested about 50 people within the ruling class, including some potential rivals, ostensibly for corruption. I have no doubt that there is massive corruption in that country, as there is by the wealthy in most countries. But he likely knows that anti-corruption plays well in western media and could mask what may well be purely a power grab. He also allowed women to drive, a welcome move no doubt, but just a very slight relaxing of the oppressive status of women in that country. But for doing so, he was hailed as some kind of great emancipator in the west.
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Two more women come forward about Roy Moore

[UPDATE: And yet another woman has come forward.

Gene Richardson, 58, alleges Mr Moore called her at her high school to ask her out. She rebuffed his offer, but said she felt pressured to go out with him after he allegedly asked again at the Gadsden Mall, where she worked. She claims the date ended with a “forceful” kiss.

Becky Gray, who was 22 at the time, also worked at the mall and said she complained to her manager about Mr Moore’s behaviour. She alleges the manager told her it was “not the first time he had a complaint about him hanging at the mall”.

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As is often the case with sexual abuse, once the floodgates open, more and more people come forward with stories about the perpetrators that they had long suppressed thinking that they were alone or that no one would believe them. That is what is happening with Roy Moore as two more women come forward with stories that Moore is a creepy guy.
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