#but like kids aging out are extremely vulnerable to being sex trafficked

[blackfemmejeanvaljean]

I'm back to my thoughts on motherhood and I've come to the conclusions that 1) I will absolutely not be squeezing anyone out of me ever that sounds horrible I want tubal litigation asap 2) if I decide to buy a two bed home home off in the distant future and if I have a loving and stable partner that shows that they can take on a far share of the housework I would like to be foster parent to older children that are a few years away from aging out so I can make sure at least 1 teen has a place to stay whilenon break from college or can get help while finding a job and give them some money to help set them up with an apartment (I would save the child support checks for them) and they can come visit on holidays help them navigate the system so they can get therapy and doctor appointments and whatever else they need I would like to make it easier on someone that's been through so goddamn much that's why we're alive to just make life easier for someone every now and then

[nimrochan]

So the claim for the reason behind this is that those loudspeakers are LOUD, and are used as early as 6 am. I remember visiting Jerusalem and yeah, they do get unreasonably loud. To be fair though, Ben Gvir is very right wing and you could say this is a bad time to start fights over little things like that. I’m not gonna deny that Islamophobia and racism exist in Israel just like they exist everywhere else outside the Middle East.

That being said, I just want to remind people that Jews in Israel are a minority in an Arab-majority region just like Jews in the west are a minority in mostly White-majority regions. And antisemitism in Arabic countries is RAMPANT, as is humanitarian crimes of certain regimes against their own people. And the fact that Israel is under a microscope while other countries get passes is insane to me and it’s a blatant double standard.

(Some examples of countries that need to be called out, Afghanistan’s, Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s treatment of women, oh and Iraq lowering the age of marriage for girls to 9 years old, 300,000 dead Syrians, 300,000 dead Yemenis, Hamas stealing from and torturing Gazans, sex trafficking of Yazidi women, to name a few; I haven’t even touched on Islamic extremism and cleansing in Africa and parts of Asia)

ADL’s measure of rampant antisemitism in the Middle East;

Arabic woman discusses antisemitic propaganda in the Arab world:

Arabic celebrity discusses antisemitism;

Arab countries and their Jewish populations before and after kicking them out;

A more recent example of antisemitic propaganda, a Palestinian man stabbed an 83 year old Israeli Jew to death for no reason other than she was a vulnerable elderly jewish Israeli just standing on the street, and this is how Arabic media reported it;

As one of several examples, “Hamas-linked Felesteen Online's headline is "A settler was killed in a heroic stabbing operation near Tel Aviv" calling the victim a "Zionist settler" and not mentioning that she is a woman.”

Hamas/UNWRA indoctrinating kids to want to martyr themselves against Jews;

(As a comparison, when I was a kid in Israel, I was taught like, math, and English, and also Arabic. Not one Israeli in society or school or my family taught me hate).

The Stabbing Intifada of 2015 (I was in Israel and witnessed this unfold on live tv)

Around this time, Palestinian teens threw rocks into traffic and killed a 2-year-old girl;

Some more violent crimes on Jews that happened before October 7;

Other terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas;

https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/hamas_fto.html

And it goes without saying - the constant rocket attacks on Israel fueled by Jew hatred, leading to Israel to retaliate and cause harm to Arabic civilians because terrorists fire rockets from civilian areas (whereas Israel never struck a rocket first, never has military targets next to civilian areas) - Hezbollah sent about 1000 rockets a month for a YEAR, a feat that would trigger a reaction from literally any country;

Again goes without saying, Hezbollah killed 12 Arabic kids in northern Israel, who were nowhere near a military target;

Between decades of rockets and suicide bombers, Israel is one of the most terrorized countries on earth. Not a coincidence that it’s also the only Jewish country in the world.

Again goes without saying, October 7th attack not only being horrifically hands-on violent (Hamas raping women with nails and knives, running people over, putting babies inside ovens) and then celebrating with music and candy with their kids, again because of Jew hatred. Oh and the 3000 additional NON-HAMAS, NORMAL CIVILIANS crossing over to rape women and loot homes of dead people while their blood was still warm.

And let’s not forget that the attack on the Jews on October 7 being blamed on the Jews and thus leading to more Jew hatred around the world under the guise of “free Palestine” (obviously these people don’t give a shit about Palestinian suffering)

(It’s quite a long scroll!)

So yeah, I will not stop being vocal about the sheer amount of antisemitism and the harm that Jew hatred leads to for both Jews and Muslims/Arabs. And I stand with Israel because it’s the only place that’s supposed to be safe for Jews (even though way too many people would rather we just die).

TLDR; Jew-haters need to stop terrorizing us.

https://www.memri.org/tv/palestinians-gaza-west-bank-celebrate-october-seven-massacre-hand-out-sweets-fire-guns

(Bonus photo from Haifa, Israel);

Just reblogged a lot of good commentary on this take but I wanted to offer another perspective:

If you want a country where Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs live peacefully side by side, that nation already exists. It’s called Israel. Its population is 1/5th Arab.

On the other hand, there are no Jews living freely in Gaza. Before the Oct 7th pogrom, there were no Jews living in Gaza at all.

Jews don’t dread living with Palestinians. We already do. Anyone can walk safely between Tel-Aviv to Jaffa. It’s the antisemitic Islamist extremists in Hamas who dread the day they might have to live peacefully with us.

[bi-dazai]

focusing ur movement's rhetoric and especially it's public slogans and material around saving/protecting children is an extremely common and effective fascist tactic. It's why both transphobes (esp terfs) and qanon use it, it's why pro-lifers use it, it's why the n*zi 14 words end with "a future for white children". It's incredibly fucking dangerous because humans do have an instinctive need to protect our young. It's natural and good to do this, but the way how is complex and can be guided in dangerous directions. Remember, the priority of transphobes isn't to "protect children", it's to persecute trans people. It isn't the priority of qanon to stop child trafficking, it's to push an antisemitic fascist conspiracy theory to support a fascist political figure and further push a climate of misinformation. It isn't the priority of n*zis to protect the future of white kids, it's to persecute and murder all those of racial impurity as assigned by their own perception of race, which they also want to push.

Using child-protection oriented rhetoric is a fascist technique, short and simple. It's appealing because it's easy and effective and it works incredibly well to push conservative rhetoric into. When we convince people that the livelihoods of adults do not matter because children are the utmost pillars of society to be protected above all else we open ourselves to dehumanising minorities and just people in general.

And it's hard to balance this because it IS important to give special consideration and effort into the protection of children. They are more vulnerable and they truly are our future. But I cannot in good faith prioritise children in my politics and especially in my political rhetoric because it is fascist. I can push for adults to not create or encourage (consciously or subconsciously) paedophilic rhetoric and work onto minors. I can push for adults to keep their children off the wider internet before they are of a certain age. I can push for adults in fandoms of children's media to behave responsibly. I can point out that parents should be open and understanding with their gay and trans children, even if it does turn out to be a phase. I can push for kids to have access to material about safe sex ed, I can push for kids having income, I can push for kids having outlets that protects them from abuse. I can point out the myriad ways that capitalism distorts, exploits, and overworks teenagers.

What I cannot do is centre children in my politics, and nobody should. I have seen very few cases where centring children has not let people down a rabbit hole of fascistic, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, and/or racist thought. Spending most of your time in political thought orbiting around what dreadful thing is going to affect the children today is going to end badly. You are going to be more sensitive to misinformation around this topic. It doesn't make you bad or stupid - it's human, we are emotional creatures. Even after we know something is misinformation the rhetoric can remain. And in a climate where most articles in the popular media sphere are pushing the narrative of how BLM or trans and gay people or a secret jewish cabal are going to corrupt your child, it is increasingly dangerous to prioritise children in your political rhetoric. I have, consistently, seen people, in their quest to protect the young, become overprotective of children, and, more importantly, incorporate dangerous and violent fascistic thought against minorities in their rhetoric.

Teenagers are children, but they are also at a time where they are coming of age and finding their way in the world. A teenager should have access to adult media and resources because a teenager is beginning to become an adult. Teenagers should have access to sexual resources like condoms, birth control, and correct information framed in a healthy way. Teenagers should be allowed to experiment with their identity and their body - whether it be wearing a binder, kissing someone of the same gender, going by weird pronouns. There is nothing strange, either, about teenagers consuming and seeking out porn (the issues with this on the internet is for another time). There's nothing weird or problematic about teenagers connecting online and being "cringe" about anime or cartoons or tv shows.

But so much of people's rhetoric, even on the left, has become centred around, in particular, the radicalisation and misinformationising of teenagers. And of course it's a valid conversation to have and an important one. But when we portray teenagers as innocent and extremely manipulatable, to the point that you no longer condemn them for their actions, we erase their victims. A 16 yr old terf is a victim of manipulation by adult predatory terfs, yes, but she is also someone who is inflicting and perpetrating harm on trans people, INCLUDING adult trans people, whose material conditions affected by transphobia deserve more time and focus than the 16 yr old white kid calling a trans woman slurs.

When we over-protect and over-prioritise children to the point that we lose empathy and focus for the ways our society affects adults and especially adult minorities we become fascistic. I am not saying that we should stop talking about how the internet is affecting teenagers, but I am asking those of you who wish to prioritise the (very western idea of, might I add) innocence of teenagers rhetoric to reconsider how you're framing the world and discourse around you.

[ingek73]

Perhaps Ghislaine Maxwell can fill in some blanks for Epstein's ‘bewildered’ friends

Marina Hyde

It’s strange that Prince Andrew never felt it was odd that his middle-aged pal was always surrounded by teenage girls

Published: 15:37 Friday, 03 July 2020

Spare a thought for Prince Andrew – and, indeed, a brain cell. As his landmark Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis showed, the Queen’s second son really is sensationally thick, even by the standards of a family internationally famed for their dimbulbery, certainly since the time of George I. If the Falklands war hadn’t robbed Andrew of the ability to sweat, now would definitely be the moment to break out a bead or two.

Instead, I see the Duke of York is once again “bewildered”, following the US arrest of his close friend Ghislaine Maxwell, charged with the sex trafficking of underage girls. HRH is “bewildered” that this dramatic event has led to yet another podium shout-out from US prosecutors, who insist again that they want to interview him about his close friend Jeffrey Epstein and the latter’s crimes (don’t call it a “lifestyle”). “We would like to have the benefit of his statement,” one US attorney said pointedly on Thursday. The previous occupant of her post had claimed Andrew was refusing to help – and yet, according to Andrew’s lawyers, he has been in touch with US authorities twice in the past month, and their failure to respond has apparently led to the latest bout of bewilderment.

Which version is the most strictly accurate? US attorneys have a reputation for publicity-seeking, so it really could be either party being economic with their interpretation of the truth. There would be a certain poetic justice if it were Prince Andrew who is now being used for something or other. Oh dear. One finds oneself karma’s bitch.

If it helps the duke get his head around that potential scenario: he is being used because he has come to be perceived as weak and powerless. He is viewed as a somewhat worthless figure who would nonetheless be quite the adornment to events. He is being toyed with, gaslit and goaded, and this really is a no-win situation for him. People’s default position on the things he says is disbelief. His desperate assertions are dismissed as lies, the fact that he would make them branded a joke. He is an object of ridicule, scorn and social disdain. Even his mother clearly believed he should go away quietly.

On the plus side, the duke isn’t feeling one thousandth of what it felt like to be one of the many teenage girls and young women who would also feel all those things, as they were drawn into Epstein’s web of rape and abuse, then spat out and threatened into miserable, permanently damaged silence. On the other hand, Andrew is certainly feeling SOMETHING that is never going to go away.

He may yet feel something more concrete than that, given that Ghislaine Maxwell will now be strongly encouraged toward total candour. Cast your mind back to Andrew’s impolitic reflections on his longtime friend in the Newsnight interview. Asked about Maxwell, he said: “If there are questions that Ghislaine has to answer, that is her problem, I’m afraid.” (Very brave, sire. Was there even a single line in the entire 592-car pile-up in which he didn’t make a number of situations worse for himself? The deep vulnerabilities the interview opened up are still revealing themselves to us like a slowly unfurling lotus blossom.)

Still, if only the prince’s bewilderment – and that of many others – had kicked in rather earlier. Part of me wonders whether something like the Vietnam war had robbed HRH of the ability to feel bewildered during his friendship with Epstein. Otherwise he might have felt bewildered as to why his middle-aged friend was so often surrounded by teenage girls. He might have felt it bewildering to go to Ghislaine Maxwell’s house, reportedly after a visit to Tramp nightclub, and pass the rest of the evening with two other people in their 40s and a 17-year-old girl. Unless he knew exactly what was going on, that situation should have bewildered the shit out of him. (I should mention that Prince Andrew is bewildered by anyone who fails to accept he wasn’t there that night, but at Pizza Express in Woking.)

This, alas, is why it’s so hard to believe all the frightful bollocks about “not knowing” being spouted by so many rich and powerful former friends of Epstein. One of the most telling admissions in Filthy Rich, the Epstein documentary currently showing on Netflix, comes from the former telephone engineer on Epstein’s private island. “You tell yourself that you didn’t know for sure and you never really saw anything, but that’s all just rationalisation. Jeffrey Epstein, he was a guy who concealed his deviance very well – but he didn’t conceal it that well.”

Well, quite. There are many cases of huge and systematic abuse where we still pander to the people who turned a blind eye to it, by saying that it was “a sophisticated operation”. Epstein’s operation was certainly expensive. But was it sophisticated? How sophisticated is it really when your private Caribbean property is known locally as “Paedophile Island”?

It was much the same with Michael Jackson, whose child abuse operation is again always described as “sophisticated”. And yet, was it? The guy installed a massive fairground outside his creepy house, told people he slept with kids in his bed, and was dogged for decades by lawsuits from children – always boys, always around the same age, always alleging the same patterns of behaviour. Expensive, yes, but not sophisticated. Didn’t need to be.

One of Jackson’s former advisers once claimed to have said to him: “Michael, you’re going to wind up in a lot of trouble. Why don’t you stop all this stuff with the young boys?” Jackson’s deathless reply was: “I don’t want to.” For me, that is the absolute definitive Michael Jackson line. “I don’t want to.” You can hear it now, in that unmistakeable singsong voice, suffused with an absolute indifference to anything other than personal gratification, and the absolute conviction that one way or another you’re going to get away with it. Which proved to be the case. Why don’t you stop sexually abusing children? “I don’t want to.”

In the case of Jackson and Epstein’s servants, the silence about the “lifestyle issues” of their employer is unforgivable, yet easily explained. They depended on the men for their income. But in the case of the many, many rich people who turned a blind eye to Epstein’s grotesque predilections, there really is not even the slightest scintilla of a warped excuse. They knew enough to know. Donald Trump, of course, was the only one stupid enough to say it out loud, laughing in an interview that his friend Epstein’s girls were “on the younger side”. But please don’t suggest Bill Clinton, an extremely clever man, was too stupid to make basic assumptions, or that even Prince Andrew couldn’t have glommed on once Epstein had been convicted of procuring an underage girl for prostitution. Those are just the presidents and the prince; there are countless others besides. Perhaps Ghislaine Maxwell will fill in some of the blanks behind their blankness.

For now, you might think the truly bewildering thing is that so many people didn’t say anything. You might think it’s absolutely bewildering that these intelligent, privileged, financially cosseted individuals never confronted Epstein about something even they must have felt iffy calling a “lifestyle”. And yet, it isn’t bewildering. There is, of course, a perfectly simple reason why they never did the right thing. They didn’t want to.

• Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

[reading-well]

The Hidden Hazards of Care

Foster care is a service provided by states for children who cannot live with their biological parents (“Foster Care” [Child Welfare Information]). Foster care can refer to a variety of care options: children can live with relatives who foster them, unrelated foster parents or foster placement settings, such as group homes, residential care facilities, emergency shelters, or supervised independent living (“Foster Care” [Child Welfare Information]). “The system works best when used to provide nurturing, short-term care to vulnerable children until their family crisis can be resolved and they can be returned home, or until a child can be placed with a permanent adoptive family” (Azzi-Lessing), but this expected effectiveness isn’t always met by the American system, and it’s in these failures that children unjustly suffer from the lack of responsibility of the adults who are vigilant over their care. The system is “plagued with problems, including a lack of funding and resources, a shortage of foster parents, and accusations of race and gender discrimination” (Anspach). The foster care system in the United States, although necessary, fails miserably to truly meet the needs of the children placed in its care because it does not promote good opportunities for the adoption of its wards, fails to regulate the care these wards of the state receives and, in most cases, damages the developing psychology and social skills of the children placed in its care.

The effectiveness of the foster care system lies in its being short-term care (Azzi-Lessing). The longer children spend in a foster care situation, the greater the chances of lasting psychological damage, and the less opportunity these children have for finding a permanent home. On any given day, there are nearly 443, 000 children in foster care situations in the United States (“Foster Care” [Children’s Rights]). These children spend an average of a year and a half in the system in the best of cases, most spend about five years, while in extreme cases, children can age out of the system (Azzi-Lessing). In 2016, more than 17,000 young people aged out of the system, were discharged from foster care and sent to live on their own (Anspach). Statistics show that former foster youth are more likely to become homeless, chronically unemployed and impoverished (Azzi-Lessing), involved in the criminal justice system as perpetrators of a crime, or pregnant by the age of 21 (Anspach). Additionally, studies have shown that young adults exiting the foster care system are prime targets for predators running sex-trafficking and prostitution rings (2019). Foster youth are also less likely to finish a general education degree, and “only 3% complete a four-year college degree by age 25” (Anspach).

           As the duration of the children’s care in the hands of the system lengthens, the possibilities of receiving nurturing care diminish. “The longer a child remains in temporary care, the more likely he or she will experience multiple placement changes” (Azzi-Lessing), and with these, the disrupted relationships that come as a consequence (Azzi-Lessing). Statistics indicate that “more than 40 percent of children placed in foster care are moved to a different foster home or care facility at least once during their first six months in state custody”(Azzi-Lessing), more than one third of children who spend up to two years in care experience three or more placement changes, as do two thirds of those who remain for more than two years (Azzi-Lessing). The tragic part, studies show, is that “70 percent of placement changes have little to do with improving the wellbeing of the children” and have more to do with implementing policy and system mandates, as well as with the unpreparedness of the foster parents to meet the needs of the child placed in their care (Azzi-Lessing).          

Every change in placement has its effect on the developing psychology of the children in the care system. The alarming conclusions, studies and statistics evidence, stem from developmental problem in the early stages of the children’s psychology. The disruption that placement changes have on the children in care upsets the formation of “stable attachments that undergird healthy social and emotional development” (Azzi-Lessing). Having strong and stable relationships as a means to the healthy development of these social and emotional behaviors is critically important in children of a young age , especially children ages five and under, which comprise the majority of children entering care (Azzi-Lessing). Along with attachment issues, placement changes and lack of stable care affect long-term behavior and increase the likelihood of emotional problems, contribute to mental health problems and poor educational achievement (Azzi-Lessing). Additionally, each placement change reduces the opportunity for a reunited family or finding a forever home (Azzi-Lessing). Besides these psychological issues, there is also the discrimination and prejudice that colored children, girls and LGBTQ youth face when going into the system.

“Once they’re in the system, children of color, especially black kids are more likely to stay in the system longer, reenter the system more often, amd be placed in group care. They’re also more likely to age out of care without finding a permanent family than white kids in foster care…Girls in foster care are also disproportionately vulnerable to sexual abuse, and LGBTQ youth are disproportionately vulnerable to abuse and discrimination” (Anspach).

These prejudices transcend into the adoption procedure, where Allan Collard-Wexler, an NYU Stern School economist who has estimated adoption price sensitivity, found that it is “about $8,000 cheaper to adopt a black baby than a white or Hispanic child and girls tend to cost about $2,000 more than boys” (“Discount Babies”).

All the flaws in the system are significant markers of a complex problem, but not an unsolvable one. Advocates say that the best way to solve the American foster care crisis is through preventive measures, keeping kids from entering state care unless absolutely necessary, as well as expanding and diversifying its staff and foster parents, so that a wider set of racial and geographical options are available (Anspach). Additionally, they stress the importance of “providing child protective agencies with sufficient funding to recruit, train and support higher quality foster families” (Azzi-Lessing) to ensure that children are placed in “the most appropriate settings and to expeditiously move children out of foster care and safely return them to their parents or place them with adoptive families” (Azzi-Lessing). Once reform strategies are in place, governments are held accountable through monitoring their progress and taking action as needed to ensure the support, care and thusly, the future of America's children, which is, after all, the sole purpose and mission of child protective agencies and the foster care system (“Foster Care Reform”).

 Works Cited

Anspach, Rachel. “The Foster Care System in the United States, Explained.” Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, 31 May 2018, www.teenvogue.com/story/how-foster-care-works-in-the-united-states. Accessed 11 May 2019.

Azzi-Lessing, Lenette. “The Hidden Harms of the US Foster-Care System.” The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2019, www.theconversation.com/the-hidden-harms-of-the-us-foster-care-system-49700.  Accessed 11 May 2019.

“Discount Babies.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 14 May 2010, www.economist.com/free-exchange/2010/05/14/discount-babies. Accessed 11 May 2019.

“Foster Care.” Children's Rights, 2018, www.childrensrights.org/newsroom/fact-sheets/foster-care/. Accessed 11 May 2019.

“Foster Care.” Foster Care - Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau, www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/foster-care/. Accessed 11 May 2019.

“Foster Care Reform.” Children's Rights, 2018, www.childrensrights.org/our-campaigns/foster-care-reform/. Accessed 11 May 2019.

 Hey guys! This is an essay I wrote for my expository writing class and we get bonus points in we publish our writings online. I hope you enjoy! 

[kryptnclnd]

STATISTICS.EXE

BASICS

DESIGNATION: Project Kr, 013 NAME: Kon-El ALIAS: Conner Kent CODENAME: Superboy D.O.B | D.O.D: March 21st, 2010 | October 29th, 2020 SEX: Cis Male ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: aries is the first of the zodiac signs whichis the sign of the self. People born under this sign strongly project their personalities onto others and can be very self-oriented. Aries tend to venture out into the world and leave impressions on others that they are exciting, vibrant and talkative. They tend to live adventurous lives and like to be the center of attention, but rightly so since they are natural, confident leaders. Enthusiastic about their goals and enjoy the thrill of the hunt, “wanting is always better then getting” is a good way to sum it up. Very impulsive and usually do not think before they act - or speak. Too often Aries will say whatever pops into their head and usually end up regretting it later! ALIGNMENT: neutral good does the best that a good person can do. Devoted to helping others. They works with kings and magistrates but do not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable. MYERS BRIGGS TEST: ISTP, virtuoso personality. Virtuosos love to explore with their hands and their eyes, touching and examining the world around them with cool rationalism and spirited curiosity. People with this personality type are natural Makers, moving from project to project, building the useful and the superfluous for the fun of it, and learning from their environment as they go. Friendly but very private, calm but suddenly spontaneous, extremely curious but unable to stay focused on formal studies, Virtuoso personalities can be a challenge to predict, even by their friends and loved ones. Virtuosos can seem very loyal and steady for a while, but they tend to build up a store of impulsive energy that explodes without warning, taking their interests in bold new directions.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

GENETIC DONORS: Clark Kent & Lex Luthor GENETIC RELATIVES: Kara Danvers OCCUPATION: Vigilante hero AFFILIATIONS: Young Justice, Justice League, Teen Titans, Titans SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS: M'Gann, Cassie, Tim Drake SEXUALITY: Bisexual | Bisexual

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTORS

HAIR | EYES: Black | Blue HEIGHT | WEIGHT: 6'2 | 88 kgs SPECIES: Kryptonian, Human NATIONALITY: Afro-American

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

POSITIVE TRAITS: Assertive, intelligent, observant, brave and protective. Loyal, curious, bold, determined and resilient. NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, impulsive, aggressive, violent and easily provoked. Rigid, cold, reserved, guarded and suspicious. MENTAL DISORDERS: PTSD, Dissociative Disorder TEMPERMENT: Kon can come off as closed off and cold upon first encountering him as he presents as private and quiet. It can be difficult for him to open up to others, especially in the last couple of years and struggles to allow himself to be vulnerable with others which makes him appear detached or uncaring. However he is extremely protective of others and has a solid understanding of right and wrong despite Cadmus’ best efforts he shows a strong moral baseline. He’s intelligent, thoughtful and considerate and is always willing to put others needs first before his own.

CURRENT LOCATION

Kon-el graduated college last year with a Masters in Engineering and Mechanics. He is a full time member of the Justice League under the codename Superboy and has begun taking on more responsibilities as both a League member and as one of Beta and Delta teams training instructors. With Superman taking a frontal seat throughout the galaxy, Kon has also begun to take on more of the responsibilities and burdens of Superman. Since mastering his tactile telekinesis this effort has been made easier to shoulder.

He works closely with M'Gann and the League to take down Metahuman trafficking rings that have begun abducting and selling young Metahuman’s across galaxies as weapons of mass destruction.

Kon can often be found patrolling or at the League base. Since Supermans departure he has begun spending less and less time living domestically under his alias Conner Kent.

BASIC HISTORY

Project Kr was an independent Cadmus experiment, funded and designed by the underground organization known as The Light and was spearheaded by Lex Luthor. The project was meant to create a genetic clone of the Kryptonian superhero known as Superman using DNA stolen from the alien during his fight with Doomsday. The clone was meant to be void of it’s own independent thought and to be loyal to The Light whilst usurping the mantle of Superman to the public eye.

The Project was met with failure upon failure, the clones each suffering extreme psychotic breaks and were impossible to control until Luthor chose to splice his own DNA with the Kryptonian in order to design and create a half-human, half-kryptonian clone that was to be entirely loyal to him and to the Light.

During an independent infiltration mission committed by the heroes known as Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad, the trio uncovered the underground project and after a messy encounter, freed the clone, known then only as Superboy, from his pod prison. Due to being freed from his pod before he could reach full adulthood and before the Light could strip him of his independent thought and ability to think and feel for himself, the Superboy was able to resist Cadmus’ mind control and imprinted conditioning, allowing him to rebel.

Superboy sided with the heroes and helped them escape the facility as well as destroy the remnants of the project where he then met the Justice League and his genetic donor, Superman.

Despite his desires to have a bonding relationship with Superman, Superboy was rejected and instead placed within the care of the League’s covert group consisting of Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Miss Martian. Trained by the Black Canary and Red Tornado, the League’s covert team would undergo several covert infiltration and espionage missions for the League, uncovering and stopping corruption and criminal activities for many years.

Superboy would eventually take on the alias Conner Kent and as instructed by the League, enroll into High School alongside Miss Martian, or M'Gann, whom also took on her own alias of Megan.

Together the two aliens would do their utmost to blend in with society and learn how to socialize which caused them to easily gravitate to one another.

As the years past, the League and their covert teams would have numerous encounters with the alien race known as the Reach. Throughout these close calls, Superboy’s relationship with Superman would grow closer, the pair adopting a more brother like relationship than the father - son relationship that most expected of them and he was introduced to John and Martha Kent as well as given his Kryptonian name, Kon-el.

During a final confrontation against the Reach, one of Kon’s closest and most valued friends, Kid Flash, would sacrifice his life to save the planet from certain destruction. Wally West’s perceived death as well as the deep-cover mission that Kaldur'ahm underwent to flush out the remaining members of the Light, caused Kon to close himself off and as his friends continue to age and grow up without him, Kon finds himself keeping more and more people at a distance.

Kon has begun taking on more responsibility since becoming a League member and shoulders much of the new covert teams, Alpha, Beta and Delta, training and instruction alongside M'Gann.

Kon is closest with Tim Drake, Bart Allen Jaime Reyes and Cassie Sandsmark of the new teams.

[rockymountainwriter]

Modern Day Slavery: Human Sex Trafficking Among Native American Women

I can remember as a young girl, I wanted to go to college and become a teacher.  However, I didn’t just want to teach in a regular school.  I wanted to live and teach on an Indian Reservation.  I don’t know where this came from but my empathy for the Native American has always been with me.  My mother, who is part Native American, was put in a home when she was only seven.  Her mother and father were both alcoholics as was her grandmother.  The three of them would get rip roaring drunk, leaving my mother and her three brothers to fend for themselves up in the hills of Altoona, PA.  They hunted squirrel for food, and often times did not have a warm coat to wear in the winter.  My grandfather worked deep in the bowels of the earth shoveling coal.  One bitter cold winter day he came home to find all four children out on the front porch of their tiny shack they called home.  My great grandmother and grandmother were entertaining men inside and the children had gotten in the way.  It was then he decided it was time to think of the kids and he put them in a Catholic charity home.

All four children were separated and it wasn’t until they became adults did they reconnect with each other.  Their life was extremely hard growing up in the Catholic orphanage.  The nuns were cruel and because they were half breeds, it entitled them to an even crueler lifestyle.  They were beaten on a regular basis, had their heads dipped in scalding hot water, and their bodies scrubbed down with stiff bristled scrub brushes.  They became slaves to the nuns, mopping floors, cleaning toilets with toothbrushes, and endless amounts of laundry.  There was no time to play or to even own toys, a doll for my mother or some toy trucks for her brothers.  Life was hard.  They lived in poverty and hopelessness.   My mother often wonders where her life would have gone if she had not been adopted out at the age of fifteen to her father’s sister.  It became quite evident shortly after moving into her new home the reason she was taken out of the Catholic orphanage.  She became their slave.  Not a sex slave but one who had to take care of the household, not just cleaning but cooking.  She went to school but when they told her she would have to earn money to wear a bra or to buy Kotex for herself, she dropped out of the ninth grade.  She got a job working at a local creamery, and this is where she met my father, a handsome Italian man who wore an Airforce uniform.  They knew each other two months when my father proposed, offering her a better life in New York.  She took it.

When I first came across an article about Native American women and sex trafficking, it wrenched my stomach. The more research I did on it, the more disturbed I became.  This problem has existed since the 1500s, when the Europeans came over and drove the American Indian off their lands.  They pillaged and raped.  They captured and enslaved.  They massacred.  I couldn’t believe it was still going on today in every aspect.  My bubble burst.  A friend of mine works with Dakota youth on an Indian reservation and I became involved in helping them raise money for their children and their schools.  However, I was shocked to learn the true statistics of what happens to their young children, especially young girls, in the 21st century.  This is when I met Lisa Brunner.

Lisa Brunner has been an active advocate in the sex trafficking of Native American women for many years.  She lives on a reservation in the Dakotas.  She is educated and wants to end the violence perpetrated against her sisters.  The young girls on her reservation look up to her and see her as a role model.  Traveling all over the world to meet with other advocates and government officials discussing ways to end the violence against Native American women, Lisa, along with her seventeen year old son, found themselves in Oslo, Norway at a summit hearing this past summer discussing the success of the Nordic Model. The Nordic Model, also known as the Sex Buyer Law, decriminalizes all those who are prostituted and makes buying people for sex a criminal offence.  The Nordic Model has been implemented by Sweden, Norway, Australia, Canada, and soon New Zealand.  “As a Native American woman, I normally do not feel safe traveling alone so I bring my seventeen year old son with me.  One day, after the summit talks, we decided to take in some sights in the city of Oslo.  We found ourselves in a little town square with cobblestone streets and many outdoor cafés.  Walking by one of the cafes, my son and I had noticed three large men sitting outside, two black men and one white man. As we approached, I could feel their eyes devouring every part of my body, making me very uncomfortable.  We decided to go to a different café across from where these men were sitting.  While enjoying our lunch, a young girl, from Nigeria I think, was walking with her mother and older sister. I could tell they were enjoying each other’s company as well as the beautiful weather.  They were all engaged in a conversation, laughing and smiling as they walked along the cobblestones.  It didn’t take long for one of the black men to get up from his seat and walk over to the young girl who looked to be around fourteen.  As he joined the three of them, his attention was on the young girl and I noticed he was rubbing his hand up and down her back.  Not only did my stomach churn while watching this brazen act, but I began to feel nauseous. Her body language clearly displaying she was not comfortable with this man touching her. I could see the fear in her facial expression.  I overhead him say to her, “Are you for sale?”  Pulling away from him, reaching for her mother, she vehemently told him she was not for sale, all three scurried as fast as they could out of the area.  Walking back to his friends, laughing, I overheard him telling them, I guess she’s not for sale.  I, myself, was visibly shaken by witnessing this encounter as was my son.  He told me then and there, I was not to go anywhere without him”.

According to Lisa, “More than 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped, more than 6 in 10 will be physically assaulted and Native women will be murdered at a rate of ten times more than the national average.”  Native Americans have the highest dropout rate from high school.  They have the highest homeless, runaway and thrown away youth in shelters than any other group nationwide as well as the highest percent of children involved in the welfare system.  Most of these young girls have been sexually assaulted/abused from someone in their family and the majority are either drug users or become drug addicted.  Many believe it is a “career choice” for them because their mother or grandmother were prostitutes.  And the biggest cause of all this, says Lisa, is poverty and history.

Native women in Duluth, Minnesota are extremely vulnerable to being lured into prostitution.  Generations of them have sold themselves to survive.  This story, in particular, from Indian Country Today by Mary Annette Pember is a powerful one about three generations of Native women who have sold themselves out to prostitution in order to survive.  Mary and her mother Ruth are just two Native American women who have survived the life of a “boat whore”. And yet, the citizens of Duluth, fearful if they talk about it and oftentimes feel it might infect them somehow if they do talk about it, sweep it under the carpet and say “boys will be boys”.  “The story of the boat whore has been like a queer kind of natural disaster that visits destruction on the powerless yet holds them responsible” (Pember 2012).

The story of Mary starts from her birth.  She was one of 21 children conceived through her mother’s liaisons with seamen.  Her exposure to the “life” was an accident.  She was 15, broke and homeless, standing on the street with a girlfriend when a Pakistani man approached them.  He invited the girls on board his boat, and thus began her life on the boats.  She would meet seamen in Duluth and accompany them back to their ships, where she would have sex with them and other crew members in exchange for food, money, drinks, and a place to stay.  Most times she stayed on the ships as they sailed from port to port.  “Life on the boats was a nonstop party”.  Mary claims the seamen treated her better than her white foster parents.  However, things changed after 9/11 and Mary found herself being pimped out by an older white woman and her husband who owned a bar.  She says she drank all the time and took care of the bar’s customers in exchange for food, lodging, child care, and alcohol.  She desperately wanted out of the life of prostitution and it wasn’t until she got very sick and was put into a nursing home that her time as a prostitute ended.

Mary is now 51 and lives in a small but comfortable house overlooking the bright, clear waters of Lake Superior.  Advocates say that Mary’s ability to normalize her life as a child prostitute is common among Native girls who have been frequently exposed to sexual abuse and violence. Research done in a report by Shattered Hearts found that “Native girls and women who exchange sex for food and shelter don’t consider the acts to be prostitution” (Shattered Hearts 22). They are simply doing what they have to do to stay alive, engaging in survival sex.  But Mary worries about her daughter, who at the age of 14 began her life with a pimp so she could have nice clothes to wear.  No matter what she tells her daughter, her answer is “look at you – you did the same thing!” Mary has gone from child prostitute, to survivor, to advocate.  Today, Mary focuses her time on spreading the word about the dangers of sex trafficking, she says, “You know, for a long time I didn’t care about anything, but now I’m getting my groove back”

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to my mother if she had not met my father when she did.  Would she have turned to prostitution eventually?  According to the stats, it’s quite possible.  She could be considered a throw away youth, she endured years of physical and emotional abuse, she dropped out of school in ninth grade, and she lived in poverty.  When she was adopted, it was only to take care of an aging aunt and uncle.  For me, growing up and listening to the horrific details of my mother’s young life has caused me to empathize with Native American women.  After speaking with Lisa, it has lit a fire in my belly to educate everyone I can about this ever troubling problem.  Do I think the Nordic Model would work here?  I don’t know.  Like Sweden, much research will need to go into such a program before implementing it in the United States.  We may not be able to change history, but we can change the poverty status of all the Native American Indian reservations.

Works Cited

Brunner, Lisa. Personal interview. 13 Sept. 2016

Pember, Mary Annette. (2012). “Native Girls are being Exploited and Destroyed at an Alarming Rate”. Indian Country Today Media Network. 16 August 2012. Web.

“The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota”. Shattered Hearts. Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center. August 2009.

Picture: Port of Duluth. Indian Country Today Media Network. 16 August 2012. Web.