Rape.

Yup, rape. This is a slight rant-ish, informative post.


Oftentimes when we hear of rape, we think, "Oh the girl deserved it. She must have been skimpily dressed." Or, "She must have been promiscuous-looking." In actual fact, rape is a very serious issue. It is a blatant violation (a sexual assault) of one's body that can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime; regardless of race, gender, age, or physical attractiveness. All a rapist looks for is OPPORTUNITY. Don't be like the masses who always assume that rape "must have happened because the victim deserved it." Yes, statistics show that even an alarming number of males get raped. Rape is NOT a crime of passion; it is more an act of lust,anger, the fetish of controlling and violence. It is an act of utter derogatory humiliation in which the attacker thinks that he/she has the upper hand. It is disgusting.


Myths to be busted when it comes to rape.


1. Men cannot be raped. (This comes first in my rape myth list simply because men are usually less aware of it than women. It is a gender stereotype.) 


According to the 'Bureau of Justice statistics', there were approximately 20, 000 sexual assaults of males aged 12 and above in the United States alone in 1991. And the statistics rise annually. I personally know of one or two male rape victims who have been assaulted sexually by someone they know; usually a male family member. One of my male friends was raped by his own cousin when he was very young. It especially happens in Arab/African countries where the males dominate more (I know this because I have friends from there who enlighten me.) Also, there are quite a number of cases now, where mothers rape their own sons out of sexual frustration and anger. 


2. You can't tell a rapist from the way he looks.


Anyone you know could be a rapist. Your father, grandfather, mother, brother, ANYONE. A rapist could be a doctor, lawyer, judge, policeman, teacher, etc. Rapists are almost usually married, with children. They usually also are friendly, normal and non-threatening.


3. Women usually fantasize about being raped.


This is where YOU come in wrongly. Yes, there are women who enjoy being bound, and all the S&M, BDSM types and styles BUT they are always willing. No woman/man ever fantasizes about being sexually assaulted to the point of being mentally traumatized or shaken up that she/he cannot go about his/her daily life.


4. A man cannot rape his wife.


So what if a man is legally bound to his wife?? That does not make her his slave or his animal that he can just violate her body. Also, vice versa for men since women have become very dominant in certain parts now; to the point of abusing their husbands. 


5. Sexual assault usually occurs between strangers.


Estimation has shown that over 70 % of rape victims know their attackers. The rapists are usually friends, family members, co-workers etc. 


6. Rape only happens to attractive/ "sexy young women".


Rape can happen to anyone, regardless. (As aforementioned.) It is never usually because of the way the victim is dressed; it is more towards the vulnerability and the opportunities available. Age, social class, ethnic groups, have no bearings on how the victims are chosen. It is usually how much the victim can be coerced or intimidated. 


Taken from The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the National Crime Survey.


7. Only women and gay men get raped.


The majority of rapists as well as the victims are heterosexual. Straight. Male rape is not homosexual rape. Rapists are oftentimes not driven by lust. They are driven by their disgusting need to feel in control of the other person. They are driven by the desire to have the upper hand over the victim. This turns them on, stimulates them more than actual lustful passions. There are many more male victims who do not report these assaults for fear of humiliation. 


8. Women ASK for it because of the way they dress.


How then do you explain male rape?? The way they dress?? A woman can be clad in a full purdah or a full body covering including a head scarf and still be a rape victim. As mentioned again and again in this post, rapists do not look at how "pretty" or sexy the victim is, but more of how vulnerable they are. 


9. Women incite men to rape.


Rapes are almost always planned. A rapist is usually not an impulsive person, he/she acts really carefully and plots many devious ways on how to go about it. 


10. Victims should "just get over it".


It isn't that simple. The phobia and the fear of it happening again; flashbacks, they are all very disturbing. 


In conclusion, rape can happen to both the sexes, sexy women are not the targets of rape, rapists pick victims based on vulnerability, and rape is a very serious offence.


Nik Aziz should stop saying that "WOMEN DESERVE TO BE RAPED." It is a very disgusting statement. He should educate himself, along with all the other closed-minded politicians who are such derogatory imbeciles. Facts are, women and men are the victims, in near equal amounts. These imbeciles should stop blaming their raging hormones on women alone and dismiss rape as a minor little crime. It happens to ANYONE. Nuff' said.

Eternally young.

Greetings bloggerleprechauns :) A face shot since I hardly ever take any, or so I've been told. 


Patience is truly, seriously a virtue. Especially when it boils down to handling someone as ass-headed as me. Yup, stubbornness is really my thing. I'm so good at it I won't budge for a mean million dollars.


So, how's life for you?? :) What generates life anyway?? 
I'm almost on the brink of starvation (I'm exaggerating) but I'm too lazy to walk down for a bowl of noodles or some cookies. Ugh.


Anyway, today's post- A BBC news reporter has written about signs of ageing (research by Doctors James Kirkland and Jan Van Deursen)  being halted in the lab. Of course, no one ever wants to get old. 
James Gallagher, health reporter-BBC.
"Will it be possible to stop ageing one day??"


The answer is-Maybe. Perhaps. Perhaps one fine day, all the old people in the world would be oozing 'pulchritudinous'. Oh and the weather is SUDORIFIC. Phew* Father Sun must enjoy beaming down. Okay, digressions.


Retired cells accumulate naturally with age. Old age causes a human to start look like a shriveled prune with white gonad eyes (okay, maybe gonad wasn't the word) and a chimp-looking face.
However, the onset of wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataract has been delayed and even eliminated in mice, so American researchers say. How is it done?? It's done by flushing out retired cells that have stopped dividing. The target cells in this particular experiment were the 'senescent cells' which are, cells that have stopped dividing after usually about 50 times of division. These cells are usually cleared out by the immune system but they accumulate in the body over time. So what scientists did with the lab mice was to feed them 'the drug' and they would miraculously stop ageing so rapidly. Ageing in the lab mice was dramatically delayed. This could actually be a new revolution for mankind; if the process of old age could be slowed down. The drug (name unknown for now) works like an anti-ageing (not lifespan prolonging mind you) magical elixir. There also was muscle improvement in the mice that were fed the drug. 


Doctor James Kirkland and Doctor Jan Van Deursen told the BBC when interviewed that they were very surprised by the effects of the drug. However, this drug is not lifespan prolonging (although it might improve the quality of life), it just is a pre-study of what could really turn about in the future IF we continue to play with phenotypes and drugs altering them.


On a sad note, the Science world mourns 2 deaths this year; the death of Steven Rawlings-an astrophysicist and professor at Oxford uni, and Ahmadi-Roshan, a nuclear scientist; whose people (Iranians) believe that he was targeted and shot by members of the CIA. 


Sigh, conspiracy theories.


On a lighter note, I got to eat my noodles :) With a healthy dollop of Bovril and oats. Yummy.
Oh and I got my drawing mojo back a little. LOL I did a Mahathir/Bean caricature, whichever you think it is. 

Toodle loo.


P.s# The study was published here: http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html

Ruts.

Everybody seems to be going up but me. No matter how hard I try.


2 options for me. Whine, cry and pine over it.
Or, try harder and get a grip.


I think I choose the latter. I'll try harder. Although getting a grip is hard. When no matter how hard I try, nobody seems to understand. Build my fortresses higher. My new aim: Become indispensable.


When everything else seems impermanent.


When everything else seems to fade, I shall remain as who I am. Stronger, wiser, more patient.
All it needs I guess, is patience. And perseverance. 

Facades (Part I).

For some reason, I found this highly fascinating. 


The US Treasury is now the IMF. 
(Presidential documents, volume 29-no.4, page 113, 22 U.S.C. 285-288)


What does it tell you when a huge country's main banking system is actually the World Bank itself?? Government paychecks etc in the US come directly from the IMF. I didn't know that until now. Maybe I'm oblivious but I doubt many Americans would know this too. LOL.


I think all debt slaves running in the puny little rat races we sometimes call life, should actually know these facts; documented with proof. 


The IMF is and agency of the UN. 
(Black's Law Dictionary 6th Edition, page 816.)


So many questions running through my head. Where would the Secretary of the US treasury's (currently, Timothy Geithner) loyalties lie?? Also, a lot of worrying stuff circulating in the masses innit. Portugal is debt-riddled to levels that are rather perturbing. Just as expected, Greece took a massive tumble downhill. Just last November, it was stated that "nobody" is running the country (referring to Greece.) 


Two countries blackmailed Athens, on the 3rd of November last year (just a month or so back) into abandoning a referendum for fear of it bringing down the single currency. Germany And France. We all go about our daily lives and all these minute little things could actually cause eruptions in the food chains that we live in. Amazing innit. We'd all somehow be indirectly affected by it sooner or later. Are we living in a facade?? :)


Also, think about it. If all US government paychecks come from the IMF, there aren't really any American employees innit. Since none of them actually owe it to the United States itself, they rely on UN for their living. 

Oh and if you thought the CIA or the FBI were part of the US government, nuh uh; it ain't true. The US government merely held stocks in them.

Something to read, the Greek Crisis; which of course, eventually will have a toll on the rest of us small beings. Europe is crumbling slowly, the US, just a facade. Wooters.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057185/Greek-crisis-deepens-David-Cameron-raises-commitment-IMF-rescue-29bn.html READ. Lol.

-Epiphanic author-

Recollections and good stuff of 2011.

It's funny how when yesteryear comes to a 'now', we become all nostalgic.
Oh well, a collection of the good times I had yesteryear. 

Yeah, I had a Minaj moment which I regretted the moment I looked at the bangs I cut for myself. LOL.

 Tyra smiling upside down.

Midnight, my Brachypelma Boehmei tarantula grew more.

My first ever time on a road trip, to Port Dickson with friends. Meet Karmen (in pink) and Veshinu the guy on the left and Adrian, behind me. 

I had my wisdom teeth operated out. I sorta got addicted to the pain of extracting my teeth since I had a lot extracted (small mouth, too many teeth) from the time I had my braces done.

The four pictures above are of really really delicious food my gammy cooked for my relatives from the UK when they came here. She's a Nyonya which explains the curries and spicy looking dish of chicken (in the last picture). The vegetable dish is a mesh of turnips, long beans and carrots. Absolutely mouth-watering. Gammy's the best cook I swear.

And of course, a special outing with my busy bestie of 9 years. Yup, emphasis on the years of bestfriendship. LOL.

And I got this awesome read from Singapore. His latest; one of his most awesome books so far.

A funny shot of us in the MRT station in Singapore. From left: Me, gammy (don't be fooled, she's 73!!), Lil and Calvin (cousin).


Still hung up on a lot, had a great yesteryear. 


-Lishia-

Accomplishments of 2012.

Yeah, surprise surprise, I baked a good batch of cookies!! Which is something somewhat new to me, and kind of pleasant. HAHA I never knew how to bake. 


Why, you may ask?? Firstly, I am a major klutz. So burning myself comes along with baking. Secondly, I am a little afraid of the huge roaring oven (I used my mum's old mini oven this time). Thirdly, I always somehow manage to put in a little too much butter. 


My cookies turned out well this time though. And I didn't even have any help from my dad or Lil (my sister) and WHEE!! Here's a picture, feast on the drool worthiness of my lovingly baked cookies. LOL. The green and red stuff are little preserved cherries and of course, I put in some almonds although I'm not a fan of nuts. (I'm a nut myself.)

So, so?? The verdict?? :P They were rated a 6/10 which is not THAT bad since it's my first ever time baking like this. Well, not really first but the last two times were with Lil and dad and dad is just a bad cookie supervisor so I technically wouldn't count those 'experiences' in as my previous batches were umm, manhandled. LOL.


Another accomplishment, I toned up a little. Yay!! And I recently discovered my undying love for vintage styles again.


If I could rewrite my life, I'd be counting the stars with Lennon. And YOU of course. With my bestie too, and her boyfriend. That would be pure subliminal bliss.

My hippie-ness reaches levels unwarranted. Haha, signing off,
80s pinup wannabe.

2012 finally.

Happy New Year :)


I had an awesome one with fine people. I love you all, so much :) (The bunch.)
Anyway, this is the first post of 2012. Hope you all had wonderful New Year celebrations, bloggerloves. 


Contented. Irrevocably. 


2012 is going to be great. I feel it in my "lunner".


Lots of love,
Lishia.