Oedipus Complex 2.0: Like it or not, parents shape their children's sexual preferences

On June 6, 1969, a detective in southern Michigan, apparently sensing some scholarly significance in the unusual case report before him, sat down at his desk and typed up a matter-of-fact, single page cover letter to an associate at the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research  at Indiana University in Bloomington. The detective was writing with regard to a male patient who was being held voluntarily at a Kalamazoo psychiatric ward, a polite, self-confessed “rubberphile” who, in the darkest burrows of his own deep shame and mortification, with the electric summer hum of cicadas, the shrill of rusted gurney wheels and the groans of fellow patients as an orchestra for his thoughts, had for several long weeks before sat hunched over in his bed trying furiously to expurgate his sexual demons through his pen. “ This report is my soul and will save my life ,” wrote the patient. And it's this report that came to land soon after on the detective's desk, was looked at askance and stuffed in a manila envelope, borne off by airmail to Bloomington and eventually shelved discreetly with tens of thousands of other such reports in the Kinsey Institute's unpublished archives.

Forty years later, under the soft glow of fluorescent lighting in the Institute's library, I happened across this fetishist's handwritten sexual autobiography—along with the detective's austere covering note—while working on my new book Perv, and I must say that this man's presentation of his condition was an articulate, startling self-exorcism. In a document still effervescent with fear and spanning some fifty pages of lucid, densely packed prose peppered with biblical scripture, this tortured forty-one-year-old rubber-lover—who'd been arrested for various rubber-related crimes, the most minor of these being his making thousands of indecent phone calls to department store saleswomen, inquiring about rubber bikinis for his imaginary wife while fondling laminated advertisements of elastic-clad models with one hand and himself in the other—worked feverishly to understand the origins of his own insatiable desire for rubber and flesh. To the best of his knowledge, it all started when, at the age of seven, he'd stumbled upon his mother's glistening white rubber bathing suit hanging on a clothesline on the back porch, an arousing event that coincided with his first becoming aware of that strange stirring in his loins.

What began as an innocent enough youthful peccadillo, however, would eventually grow horns and become a highly fetishistic—and criminal—adult sexual identity. “He would type on a 3X5 card that he liked to squirt sperm into rubber caps or rubber girdles,” wrote the detective, who in clichéd administrative dishevel left the signature stain of a coffee mug on the police station memo. “Then [he would] place the cards in the victims' mail box and sometimes under the windshield wiper of their cars.” You may think this pathological rubber-lover is an extreme case of sexuality gone awry, which it may very well be. But in studying the sexually abnormal, researchers can gain unique insight into the nuanced, otherwise hidden mechanisms of standard human sexual development and psychosexuality. The rubberphile's early childhood exposure to his mother's bathing suit, an impossibly white piece of material still beaded with lake water and fragrant with her perspiration, was perhaps simply coincident with a happenstance erection. Yet this alchemy was so powerful that once he massaged that elastic between his little thumb and forefinger, all was forever lost.

This basic developmental system, one in which certain salient childhood events “imprint” our psychosexuality, may not be terribly uncommon. In fact, that early childhood experiences mould our adult sexual preferences—specifically, what turns us on and off, however subtle or even unconscious these particular biases may be—could even be run-of-the-mill. And just like the institutionalized rubber-lover, the more carnally humdrum and vanilla among us might also owe our more secret preferences in the bedroom to our becoming aroused, at some point in the distant past, by our own parents, relatives or childhood friends.

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Stryker soldiers allegedly plotted to kill Afghan civilians

In one of the most serious war-crimes cases to emerge from the Afghanistan war, five soldiers from a Stryker infantry brigade based at Joint Base Lewis- McChord are now charged with murder for their alleged roles in the random killings of three Afghan civilians.

Last December, Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs began joking with other soldiers about how easy it would be to "toss a grenade" at Afghan civilians and kill them, according to statements made by fellow platoon members to military investigators.

One soldier said it was a stupid idea. Another believed that Gibbs was "feeling out the platoon."

Others told investigators Gibbs eventually turned the talk into action, forming what one called a "kill team" to carry out random executions of Afghans.

In one of the most serious war-crimes cases to emerge from the Afghanistan war, five soldiers from a Stryker infantry brigade based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord are now charged with murder for their alleged roles in killing three Afghan civilians.

In two of the incidents, grenades were thrown at the victims and they were shot, according to charging documents. The third victim also was shot.

The soldiers allegedly killed the three Afghans while out on patrol, and anyone who dared to report the events was threatened with violence, according to statements made to investigators.

The Seattle Times has reviewed court documents — filed by a defense attorney with a U.S. Army magistrate — that summarize some of the evidence in the case. The Times also has interviewed attorneys for three of the defendants. The documents give new insight into how the murder plot may have evolved, but they give few clues about motives.

All five soldiers are awaiting court-martial proceedings. If convicted, they face the possibility of life imprisonment or death.

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The 2010 Conference Concerning Ritual Abuse, Secret Societies, and Mind Control

The issue of ritual abuse, an issue once forbidden to discuss, is coming to the forefront the more we learn about the issue of human trafficking, and with books such as that written by Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt entitled Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century, more info is coming to the surface as people have started to understand what it is like to be treated like an animal on a daily basis- and the Stockholm effect that it has over the victim, keeping them quiet and complacent. However, after attending the 2010 Conference Concerning Ritual Abuse, Secret Societies, and Mind Control, I discovered how uphill the battle to expose this vile treatment of our fellow human beings has become.

Take for example, the website Wikipedia. Invested in the concept that ritual abuse should only be associated with the moral panics of the 80s and 90s, it has decided to blacklist and ban all websites that deal with the issues concerning such cases. These websites are http://extreme-abuse-survey.net/, http://ritualabuse.us/, http://www.endritualabuse.org/, and http://abusearticles.wordpress.com/. It says something when you consider the censorship that is occurring with regards to the issues brought up by the victims and their supporters. Neil Brick, founder of SMART, (standing for Stop Mind Control and Ritual Abuse Today), was the primary leader of the conference this year- as he has been for over a decade, and has dedicated much of his life to exposing and trying to stop this inhumane practice that is not just a problem abroad, but also right here in America.

The conference was a collection of professionals who are tops in their perspective fields- many of them published, as well as victims of the practice of not only ritual abuse, but also satanic ritual abuse- a practice not even those in the field dare whisper of fear of the repercussions that could result in speaking of such things. Honest, dedicated individuals who, although they may have been scarred by their childhoods or what they may have faced professionally- shined beautifully in the retelling of their experiences while they offered hope to those of us who are still struggling with coming to terms with what happened to us, and I came away with such a feeling of community that I feel compelled to share with others some of what I experienced this past weekend at the conference.

Discussing such topics as how ritual abuse can occur in any household and doesn't have to be connected in any way to a group, although thousands of such cases exist- brought home the fact that ritual abuse encourages isolation, and the victims that are experiencing it now- today- most likely feel as alone as I did back then. It is true that I am a product of SRA (satanic ritual abuse), but- because of the situations surrounding my family and Omaha, Nebraska; I sometimes forget that the effects of ritual abuse are the same for all abused victims, and that we all need to stand together so that even the most frightened will be empowered to come forward- regardless of the circumstances of their abuse.

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German army abandons investigation of officer who ordered Kunduz massacre

No one is to be held accountable for the single biggest massacre carried out by German soldiers since the Second World War.

Following the lead of the federal prosecutor, the army has also abandoned its investigation into Colonel Georg Klein, who almost a year ago ordered an air attack near the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that claimed up to 142 mostly civilian victims. Preliminary investigations had produced no evidence of a breach of discipline, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said last week. Consequently, there would be no disciplinary proceedings against Klein.

In April, the federal prosecutor had concluded that the dropping of two 500-pound bombs onto two immobilised tankers that were clearly surrounded by numerous people, did not constitute a violation of “international humanitarian law”. Klein had not infringed international law nor had he breached Germany's criminal code, the federal prosecutors claimed in order to justify their decision.

The abandonment of all investigative and disciplinary proceedings against Klein equates to a “first class acquittal” according to Spiegel Online. The website accuses the military investigators of acting out of a “misunderstanding of the esprit de corps”. The colonel will not even receive a warning, although a NATO investigative report shows he clearly violated the existing rules of engagement.

At the same time the proceedings against Klein were abandoned, the parliamentary committee of inquiry supposed to investigate the background of the massacre in Kunduz has been transformed into a farce.

On formal grounds, the Federal Court of Justice dismissed a request by opposition representatives to invite Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (Christian Social Union, CSU) and former Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) General Inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan and ex-Defence Secretary Peter Wichert before the committee to clarify contradictions in their previous statements.

Previously, the Bundeswehr had refused to provide the inquiry with any information concerning the role of the KSK (Special Forces Command) and other important information, for “security reasons”. It decided autocratically what parliamentarians should be told and to what extent they may distribute and publish information.

This says a great deal about the real relationship between the army and parliament. Contrary to the spirit of the post-war German constitution and political practice, it is not parliamentarians who review the legality of military operations and hold the army leadership to account, but the military that dictates what information should be released to parliament and the public.

There are many indications that the massacre in Kunduz was intentionally and consciously brought about on the part of the army leadership in order to force politicians to step up support for a war that is rejected by two-thirds of the population.

From the start, the federal government and military top brass have done everything in order to conceal the facts surrounding the massacre. It was only when press releases and statements from the US authorities appeared that the true scale of the massacre was gradually revealed.

The then Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) was forced to resign last year because for days he had denied there were any civilian casualties, despite his knowledge to the contrary. His successor, Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, had initially defended Klein's conduct but then later had to correct himself, calling the attack “militarily inappropriate”. He dismissed the most senior military figure, General Inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan, along with State Secretary Wichert, because they had allegedly withheld documents.

If the Ministry of Defence now absolves Klein of all guilt, it is giving a free hand to the army to commit similar massacres with impunity. This “first class acquittal”, writes Stern Online, “will impact on the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan as a whole.”

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Half the Sky: how the trafficking of women today is on a par with genocide

Nicholas Kristof is not the kind of person you would expect to be a slave owner. As a columnist on that most august of newspapers, the New York Times, he belongs to an elite within an elite, the embodiment of journalistic seriousness. Yet there he was, in 2004, blithely forking out $150 (£96) for Srey Neth and $203 for another teenager, Srey Momm; handing over the money to a brothel keeper in exchange for a receipt and complete dispensation to do with the two girls as he would. Nick Kristof: double Pulitzer prize winner, bestselling author, slave owner. But that, as is made clear in his new book, written with his wife Sheryl WuDunn, is just the start of it.

At the time of his purchase, Kristof had been travelling to a wild and dangerous part of north-western Cambodia, and had checked into an $8-a-night hotel-cum-brothel in the town of Poipet. He arranged to see Neth, who had been in the brothel for a month, having been sold to its owner by her own cousin. Thin and fragile, she had no idea how old she was, but looked to Kristof about 14. Her virginity had been auctioned to a Thai casino manager who later died of Aids, and now she was on offer to local punters at a premium price by dint of her youth and light skin.

Kristof arranged to buy her, as well as Momm from a different brothel. Momm was a frail girl further down the line of misery, having been forced into prostitution five years previously. Amid floods of tears and rage, she pleaded with Kristof to be bought, freed and taken back to her village on the other side of Cambodia. He took both girls back to their villages and, with the help of an American charity, attempted to ease them back into society.

The story of Neth and Momm is just a small indication of the lengths Kristof and WuDunn are prepared to go to expose the injustices that they see in the modern world. Buying up child prostitutes is pretty extreme, but no more than the message they are seeking to deliver in their groundbreaking book, Half the Sky.

In it, they argue that the world is in the grip of a massive moral outrage no less egregious in scale or in the intensity of despair than the African slave trade of the 18th and 19th centuries or the genocides of the 20th. They believe this outrage is a key factor behind many of the most pressing economic and political issues today, from famine in Africa to Islamist terrorism and climate change. Yet they say the phenomenon is largely hidden, invisible to most of us and passing relatively unreported. At worst it is actively tolerated; at best it is ignored.

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