OK, I need to stop reading my blogroll because the creepiness continues. I just stumbled across a very poorly written and rambling post titled “The Cleveland Kidnapping: Fifty Shades of BDSM“:

One of the conundrums of those who engage in BDSM or “lifestyle” related activities is because of the “stigma” usually associated with those engaging in such activities; many people will not publicly acknowledge those activities or their involvement. This is the true tragedy of situations like this because things like this happen not only because no one acted – namely the police department. They also happen because secrets are kept and people don’t speak.

The author seems to be saying that the real tragedy here is the stigma experienced by practitioners of BDSM. Yes, totally, that’s precisely what is so tragic about the whole situation. The idea that rape happens because rapists choose to rape seems to be alien to this weirdo. No, it’s all about “secrets” and 50 Shades of Grey.

And it also bugs me to no end when people refer to the Cleveland tragedy as “inspirational.” (Like in this article on DailyKos). People were tortured and debased for a decade. To use their pain as an inspirational message is disgusting.

Yeah, there is always value to be squeezed out of other people’s suffering.

And look how the article begins:

In all the heartbreaking amazement of the transfixing story coming out of Cleveland, Ohio. . .

Sounds like a commercial for a sappy Hollywood flick. I wonder, if the article’s author had been a victim of this crime, would she refer to it as an amazing and transfixing story? You read the first line and it seems like something totally cool has happened.

The way the Cleveland tragedy is reported is seriously creeping me out.

From an article in USA Today:

Israel Lugo said he, his family and neighbors called police three times between 2011 and 2012 after seeing disturbing things at the home of Ariel Castro. Lugo lives two houses down from Castro and grew suspicious after neighbors reported seeing naked women on leashes crawling on all fours behind Castro’s house. . . A third call came from neighborhood women who lived in an apartment building. Those women told Lugo they called police because they saw three young girls crawling on all fours naked with dog leashes around their necks. Three men were controlling them in the backyard. The women told Lugo they waited two hours but police never responded to the calls.

OK, there are two possibilities here and neither of them is good. One possibility is that these people never saw anything nor made any phone calls and are now simply milking the story for attention and/or money. The second possibility is even more disturbing. These folks really saw what they claim they saw but didn’t care enough to do anything other than make a half-hearted call or two to the police. (“He, his family and neighbors” just made 3 calls? This entire crowd of people got together and managed to make just 3 calls between all of them? This sounds bizarre.)

If you saw what is being described in this horrifying quote, would you just give up and forget the whole thing after TWO HOURS? And then do what, go about your business like nothing happened?

Elsie Cintron, who lives three houses away, said her daughter once saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard several years ago and called police. “But they didn’t take it seriously,” she said.

This disgusting viper of a woman forgets to mention that while “they” didn’t take it seriously, neither, apparently, did she. She probably thinks it is a good thing that her daughter should see naked women crawling around. Hey, it brightens up an otherwise dull day, and if “they” don’t take it seriously, then why should she have a brain of her own? She never received any authorization from “them” to have opinions.

Just imagine this conversation:

“Mamma, I just saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in Castro’s backyard. I called the police but they didn’t take me seriously.”

“Oh well. I guess she’s supposed to be crawling there then.” Yawn. “Just forget it, honey. I’m sure she will crawl away soon. Come inside and I’ll show you my new bathroom towels and we’ll discuss that sale at JC Penney’s.”

I’m now not surprised that this horror went on for years in that Cleveland neighborhood. The people who live there are all extremely weird and not particularly human. The really scary thing is that these neighbors don’t have a problem with revealing their names and showing their faces. So they probably don’t even see anything wrong with the story they are telling. Can you believe this? They feel no responsibility for this. They see themselves like small children who tried telling Mommy and Daddy what happened and saw no reason to engage with the situation on an adult level.

God save us all from this kind of neighbors. Who has any doubt that these freakazoids go to church and pray and consider themselves good, kind people? If I were complicit in something like this out of laziness, indifference or immaturity, I don’t think I would be able to live with myself. These jerkwads seem completely content with themselves. Adult people drawl, “But I tried!” and don’t see that trying counts for shit. It’s actually making something happen that is needed, not childish “trying.” And then we wonder why my students insist to be celebrated for making 200 mistakes as a result of “trying hard.” Well, if adults think it’s OK to allow atrocities to happen next door as long as they “tried,” how can we be surprised?

What is it that makes people so infantilized, so incapable of taking any responsibility for their own actions, so eager to play the role of helpless infants?

I am absolutely appalled right now. What the Castros did is horrifying. But the realization that an entire neighborhood was complicit in what they did is even more horrifying. If there were a single – I don’t even want to say good person – just a single adult living in the area, this would all have stopped years ago.

Of course, now we will hear a lot of dumping on the police officers (who surely deserve that and more), but no condemnation of the vile freakazoids who saw women being brutalized and turned away indifferently. They forgot that the job of being human cannot be relegated to the authorities.

LAKE CITY, AR (KAIT)– The Riverside School district has decided not to have a 6^th grade graduation this year after a parent protested against prayer during the ceremony.

Local mom Kelly Adams presents the case for allowing prayer:

“As Christians and a mainly Christian town I think, there were a lot of people hurt that our rights were taken away,” Adams said.

“My daughter graduated last year from 6^th grade and my son is graduating this year from 6^th grade, and we had a pastor open our ceremony and my daughter actually closed the ceremony in prayer,” she said.

Both parents are being idiots about this. Does parent #1 seriously think that his or her child will be damaged for life by this prayer? Does parent #2 think her kid will be damaged for life by lack of it?

Instead of letting their children study peacefully, these folks create a tense, unpleasant situation out of what should be a happy occasion. And all for what? To make everybody see that they care about their stupid ideology more than they do about their kids?

I believe that school prayer is a violation of the Constitution of the US and should be fought against. There are, however, millions of ways to combat it without involving 12-year-old kids. Their graduation is supposed to be about them, about celebrating their achievement, not about their parents’ ideology.

If these parents can’t see that their children are separate people with their own separate interests on this occasion, do you believe they can make the distinction in other areas of the children’s lives?

A well-known Hispanist who is also a Chair of a big department wants to quote me extensively in her article. However, my article, that was accepted for publication last October still hasn’t appeared in print, so she can’t put page numbers in her article.

Finally, somebody who is not my friend or acquaintance wants to quote me, and here is what happens. On the other hand, even my yet unpublished work is valuable to people, so that’s a consolation, in part.