Me and Ann Coulter?! Ewwwwwwwww!

I can’t believe I’m saying this...Ann Coulter got it right. For once we agree on something. Talking about Don Imus, she said, and I’m paraphrasing, that Imus should apologize to the Rutgers team, but that he doesn’t owe anyone else an apology for his words.

Coulter said that Imus’ slur was directed at innocents, and she was right. There was absolutely no reason to take a potshot at those women. He ruined a good memory for them. Their moment in time is now eternally linked to his stupidity.

Coulter said Imus could have rightfully called her a “blonde ho” and gotten away with it. After all, she said, she is a public figure in the public eye, in the middle of public discourse. Not so, with the women of Rutgers. They didn’t ask for this kind of spotlight. Again, I agree with her.

I’ve been listening to most of the talk on all sides of the Imus controversy. I had even decided not to write about it...just let it go...until Coulter put her two cents on the table, because, in my own opinion, white people in general, and some blacks don’t get it, when it comes to us “dissing” us. It’s like using the “N” word. White people always, always, take it out of the context of culture and community.

It harkens back to playing the dozens, a game that from the outside looking in, seems as if we are simply hurling insults at one another. Actually there are rules to the game and the main rule is, you don’t talk about someone’s momma or sister or grandmother unless you really, really know the person with whom you’re playing.

Crackin’ on somebody’s mother, grandmother, or sister, can get you killed. You never, ever refer to a female relative, as a “ho” or a “bitch.” You never, ever disrespect a sister who is making something of herself, by going to school/college, or has a good job, or is just a good church going sister.

And that’s what white people don’t understand. White people look at us and see us through the stereotypical prism of slavery and racism, whether they consider themselves prejudiced or not. White people seem to think that black men are talking about all black women in the hip hop and rap videos, when actually they are not. Rap and hip hop artists actually do adhere to these rules. They do make distinctions between black women and “hos.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not defending the baseless, vicious mysogny that passes for entertainment within hip hop. I’m merely trying to illustrate a point. Rap and hip hop glorify the kind of women that the young men “think” they can get over on, i.e. sleep with, what ever, you know what I’m talking about. The young rappers are not talking about the kind of women they marry.

Snoop Dogg said it eloquently and got roundly booed for his effort. Nelly has also been roundly castigated for his mysogny. But nothing has been said about his herculean efforts to save the life of his dying sister.

Just as it’s not fair, like Imus did, to broadly and unjustifiably paint all black women as “nappy headed hos.” it’s not fair to paint every word from rappers and hip hop artists as wrong, especially when you don’t understand the grey areas involved.

I have already said we need to get rid of the “N” word. Bitch, Ho, and other pejoratives used toward women should also be summarily tossed, pronto.

Rapex? Trojan...Trojan? Rapex

From the “I can’t make this up category” comes a new product from South Africa. It’s called RAPEX.

Rapex is a new kind of condom designed to combat the crime of rape. This is a condom for women and is inserted with an applicator much like a tampon. Inside the condom are teeth that attach to the head and shaft of the penis when it is inserted during penetration.

According to the website, it is a device that can be worn for up to 24 hours and should be inserted prior to dates with men you don’t know, when you know you’re going to be walking down some dark street or alley at midnight, if you’re going out clubbing, if you’re working alone in the office late at night, or in any situation where you’re just not sure about the men surrounding you.

It can even be used if you have an abusive husband who is constantly demanding sex when you have a headache.

This device, which was invented a few years ago by a woman named Sonet Ehlers, is designed to cause the man great pain, if he gets caught in it. According to the Rapex website; http://www.rapestop.net, it’s better than the proverbial “kick in the groin” that martial artists teach women as a form of defense.

Once it bites, according to Ms, Ehlers, it won’t come off without medical aid.

Ms. Ehlers says the condom was tested on a fake vagina and fake penis so no real men were maimed during the experiments. She also says the condom is undetectable in case the would-be rapist decides to inspect before inserting.

Critics have called the inventor a man hater for coming up with such a device.

Give me a break, rape is not a crime of sex...it is a crime of power. Men who rape don’t love their victims. If women want to “bite back,” then so be it. It will save money on dental bills.

And what about protection against the guy who breaks into your house while you’re sleeping? Well, that’s easy. Keep Rapex by the bed. You can quickly insert and be ready for him when he climbs on top of you, as you lay there cowering, like little women do, when under attack.

Hmmmm...think I’d rather put my trust in a 38, loaded, laying in the spot where I would normally keep my Rapex.

Cincinnati: Home to Many Fruits and a Whole Lot of Nuts

Cincinnati, The Queen City, is aptly named. It is home to many queens most of whom proudly marched in Sunday's Pride Parade through Clifton and Northside much to the delight of a similarly fruity throng of rainbow clad happy people. I was one of them. It was a fun day.

Despite the sometimes oppressive and downright discriminatory nature of the city, fruits have always thrived here. The city is a veritable orchard when it comes to growing fruits. And with the city now making strides to leave the 19th century and enter the 21st by doing away with outdated draconian laws, it can only get more festive in coming years.

But the climate around here is also great for growing nuts and that's not necessarily a good thing. Some of the more harmless but fun nuts have gone national, like Jerry Springer, or Morganna the kissing bandit. . Some are just locally famous like Fife, rest in peace, lady, or the late Charlie Taft or Marge, no last name needed. There was a vibrancy, an aliveness, if you will in their nuttiness. They provided a spark and twinkle that is missing today from this once great city.

Others, however, are more dangerous in their nuttiness, like The Wilkes, husband and wife, Phil Burress, and lately, one Tom Brinkman. The Wilkes founded "Right to Life." Phil Burress is a reformed porn addict who campaigns for "community values." Tom Brinkman sponsors legislation aimed at women. He is the man behind a proposal in the Ohio State House that would ban all abortions, even for rape victims. There is a hearing today on the issue.

Were I living in a more enlightened State than the Great State of Ohio, I would not be too concerned about this piece of legislation making it into law. After all it completely contradicts federal law on the issue. But this is Ohio, home to a convicted Governor who is nephew of the aforementioned Charlie. It is home to wannabe governor Ken Blackwell, who uses his powers as Secretary of State to steal elections for the GOP among other seemingly questionable actions, and he is also from Cincinnati.

Considering Ohio was the swing state for re-electing Dubya to the White House for four more years of "compassionate conservatism," well you can understand my reticence for assuming that common sense and logic will prevail in knocking down this insidious measure.

Women have a right to choose, period. I get angry just having to feel that I have to justify my rights on any level to anyone other than myself. I, and I know there are other women who refuse to be returned to being second class citizens. I grew up back in the day of back alley abortions where women died after being violated by hacks with coat hangers. I remember that. It's not some history lesson for me. We ain't goin' back there.

This whole anti abortion movement is based on two premises that date all the way back to when men figured out how to write. One, that men need to propagate and live on, preferably thru their sons, and two, that women need to be protected and have decisions made for them by right thinking upstanding individuals, namely their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers. Get the picture ? We haven't been property for a very long time, guys.

I don't know any woman who chooses routinely to have an abortion, or even wants to have one. I certainly don't know any women who enjoy getting raped.

The right to a safe abortion is simply one of many choices available, or would be available if this same movement and the Tom Brinkmans of the world would stop fighting sex education and knowledge about contraception in schools and on the internet.

One of the most horrendous things that this White House has done is to erase sex education information from all government websites. It has also successfully withheld federal funding in the fight to keep women safe.

The Tom Brinkmans of the world are not pro life or they wouldn't be about getting laws passed that kill women.