Rapists in the ranks

Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.

By Jane Harman
March 31, 2008

The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has nowhere to turn.

These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.

The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of their lives have since taken.

Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported — 73% more than in 2004. The DOD’s newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.

The Defense Department has made some efforts to manage this epidemic — most notably in 2005, after the media received anonymous e-mail messages about sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy. The media scrutiny and congressional attention that followed led the DOD to create the Sexual Assault and Response Office. Since its inception, the office has initiated education and training programs, which have improved the reporting of cases of rapes and other sexual assaults. But more must be done to prevent attacks and to increase accountability.

At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to prosecute rapists in the ranks. According to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the military. Another 218 were handled via nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were disciplined through “nonjudicial punishment,” which means they may have been confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the wrist. In nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the time, that was because of “insufficient evidence.”

This is in stark contrast to the civilian trend of prosecuting sexual assault. In California, for example, 44% of reported rapes result in arrests, and 64% of those who are arrested are prosecuted, according to the California Department of Justice.

The DOD must close this gap and remove the obstacles to effective investigation and prosecution. Failure to do so produces two harmful consequences: It deters victims from reporting, and it fails to deter offenders. The absence of rigorous prosecution perpetuates a culture tolerant of sexual assault — an attitude that says “boys will be boys.”

I have raised the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Although I believe that he is concerned, thus far, the military’s response has been underwhelming — and the apparent lack of urgency is inexcusable.

Congress is not doing much better. Although these sexual assault statistics are readily available, our oversight has failed to come to grips with the magnitude of the crisis. The abhorrent and graphic nature of the reports may make people uncomfortable, but that is no excuse for inaction. Congressional hearings are urgently needed to highlight the failure of existing policies. Most of our servicewomen and men are patriotic, courageous and hardworking people who embody the best of what it means to be an American. The failure to address military sexual assault runs counter to those ideals and shames us all.

Jane Harman (D-Venice) chairs the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence.

Man divorces two wives in three mins

KUALA TERENGGANU: It was no April Fools’ joke. The short messaging service (SMS) was real – a man divorced his two wives within three minutes.

In the Lower Syariah Court, businessman Roslan Ngah, 44, divorced both wives by pronouncing talak (intention to divorce) to each of them.

He pronounced talak to his second wife Mastura Ahmad, 35, about 11.50am, then to Norhayati Ismail, 46, before judge Wan Abdul Malik Wan Sidek.

Composed: Norhayati (left) and Mastura at the Lower Syariah Court. They were divorced by their husband Roslan within three minutes of each other. — Bernama

Wan Abdul Malik said this was the first time in the court’s history that two wives had sought a divorce at the same time.

Earlier, someone had sent out a message “there is a case in Syariah (court), husband divorces two wives. Star pls come now.”

Four reporters here who received the SMS brushed it off as a prank.

This reporter had replied “ha, ha, ha, thanks.”

An hour later another SMS came: “Yhis is not a joke, pls come to court now.”

The reporters gave it a shot and headed to the court. They made it in time to listen to the proceedings.

Norhayati, a homemaker, has four children (aged nine to 22) with Roslan after marrying in 1986.

Mastura, a nurse at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, has two, aged six and 10, following their marriage in 1995.

Both women looked composed during the proceedings. Accompanying Norhayati was her eldest daughter, Nurfarhana, 19.

The divorces were made under Section 44 of the Terengganu Syariah Enactment.

Outside the court, Roslan said he felt sad to be separated from his wives whom he claimed had asked him for the divorce.

He said both women shared “a very close relationship” and lived in a house in Pasir Panjang here. He stays in another house a few metres away.

“They are like good friends but I never imagined that both of them had collectively decided to divorce me.

“I admit that my relationship with them had been strained over the past few months but I never expected our marriages to end in this manner,” he said in a calm voice.

Roslan confessed that he was also married to another woman in 2001 and they were blessed with a baby girl but they separated in 2004.

When asked whether he would remarry, Roslan replied: “If my fate says so, I have no qualms and this time I hope that my marriage will last forever.”

Study: Octopuses Lie, Cheat and Kill for Sex

 AP

An octopus enjoys a rich fantasy life at the zoo in Frankfurt, Germany in a 2005 file photo.

SAN FRANCISCO —  Marine biologists studying wild octopuses have found a kinky and violent society of jealous murders, gender subterfuge and once-in-a-lifetime sex.

The new study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who journeyed off the coast of Indonesia found that wild octopuses are far from the shy, unromantic loners their captive brethren appear to be.

The scientists watched the Abdopus aculeatus octopus, which are the size of an orange, for several weeks and published their findings recently in the journal Marine Biology.

They witnessed picky, macho males carefully select a mate, then guard their newly domesticated digs so jealously that they would occasionally use their 8-to-10-inch tentacles to strangle a romantic rival to death.

The researchers also observed smaller “sneaker” male octopuses put on feminine airs, such as swimming girlishly near the bottom and keeping their male brown stripes hidden in order to win unsuspecting conquests.

And size does matter — but not how you’d think.

“If you’re going to spend time guarding a female, you want to go for the biggest female you can find because she’s going to produce more eggs,” said UC Berkeley biologist Roy Caldwell, who co-wrote the study. “It’s basically an investment strategy.”

Shortly after the female gives birth, about a month after conception, both the mother and father die, researchers said.

“It’s not the sex that leads to death,” said Christine Huffard, the study’s lead author. “It’s just that octopuses produce offspring once during a very short lifespan of a year.”

World’s First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009

Range Fuels Inc. announced yesterday it has secured over $100 million in Series B funding, an investment that could make it the first company to seriously commercialize cellulosic ethanol. The first phase of construction will produce 20 million gallons of mixed alcohols per year by 2009, and has the potential to expand to up to 120 million gallons. Range Fuels says their facility will break down any type of plant material (eg agricultural waste or wood chips) by a two-step thermochemical process. This differs from competing methods of producing cellulosic ethanol, which involve breakdown of plant material with heat and/or acid, and treating it with costly ($0.50/gallon) enzymes. Range Fuels skips the enzymatic part and uses a process similar to Coskata Inc.: biomass is broken down by extreme heat and pressure, which converts it into a mixture of gases (H2 and CO) called syngas. The syngas is fed through proprietary catalysts that converts it into a mixture of alcohols, and a bit more sorting and processing produces a renewable vehicle fuel. See Range Fuel’s interactive explanation (as depicted above). The only difference between Range Fuels and the Coskata process seems to be that Coskata relies on proprietary microorganisms instead of chemical catalysts to convert the syngas into ethanol. In any case, the race is on. Coskata said earlier this year it would start building commercial facilities after a 40,000 gallon per year demo plant goes online in late 2008. Highlights of the Range Fuels Process: Fuel production costs “significantly less” than either enzymatic cellulosic ethanol or corn-grain ethanol, the latter of which currently costs about $2/gallon. Higher fuel production rates for each ton of biomass than enzymatic and corn-grain ethanol, which decreases cost, biomass needed, and land use. Uses 75 percent less water than corn ethanol and 60% lower emissions than corn-grain ethanol Cost competitive with gasoline as long as oil stays above $50/barrel.