Libya

I have watched multiple videos on Libya and the rebellion. I have gotten a good sense of what is going on there now. The majority of the population is trying to overthrow their dictator, Gaddafi. They have been inspired by the revolutions of their two neighboring countries and want their own peace and rights. The bbc had a great video interview on an everyday construction worker who was about to join the rebel forces to stop Gaddafi. The way the BBC portrayed him was very interesting. He did not seem like a hot headed man that was out for revenge. He was even referred to as a very nice and light hearted man. However, when he is asked if he has any doubts about joining the rebels he is strong and tells of the struggles that his family had to go through because of Gaddafi. His brothers were also apart of the rebel forces and his 17 year old brother was shot in the arm a month ago. However, instead of talking about how he is scared he quotes his mother telling him and his brothers, "you either live as a man or die as a man, whichever of you dies it's worth you dying for Libya." These are the most inspirational words that I have heard. It shows that they truly believe in what they are fighting for and that the fighting is just and there is almost no other alternative than to fight. However, even though the Rebels have the heart they are really lacking supplies especially with the arms embargo with foreign nations. Overall, there is a general push to get Gaddafi out of power and there has already been talk of Gaddafi trying to reason with the rebels by saying that he would get out of power if they let him and his family go free with their wealth in tact. The rebels denied this offer on the fact that it would not give Gaddafi enough punishment. There has been talk of creating a no fly zone over Libya but to be honest I do not know what this is all about. Is the UN discussing this as a commercial no fly zone for the safety of travelers or a military no fly zone to help control the skies?

Recap of the Cases

Case #1
The verdict with Kevin Murphy was in my opinion the right decision; he was guilty. The specific acts that he did on Elise Roberts were totally fine and in that situation humorous. The stress of the workplace makes Kevin have to make jokes and unfortunately Elise did not take these jokes as well as Kevin had hoped. At first its not sexual harassment for the first few times it seems just like playful harmless jokes. However, as soon as Elise Roberts told Kevin to stop and went to the ECOE to actually complain then Kevin should had stopped and since he did not then this is a case of sexual harassment. Also another fact that really helped Elise Roberts case was that her employers did not do much to fix the situation. In my opinion this is very wrong and Kevin Murphy was definitely guilty of sexual harassment. The only way that Kevin would have been found Innocent is if he stopped after Elise filed her first written complaint or if the employer transferred Kevin to a different section or new partner to solve the problem. This way Elise could easily stay away from Kevin and not have to interact with him. Where as in the previous position Elise was forced to interact with him and feel extremely uncomfortable.

Case #2
I was a little shocked that the jury came up with a verdict of not guilty. There were a few things that really stood out to me that made me think that this really was a rape. First and most important was the fact that they had sex with their clothes on. I hope I dont have to explain this but when you have sex you nine times out of ten take your clothes off unless its like the movies and its really intimate and that was not the case here. Susan said that she did not want to take off her clothes and therefore she clearly did not want to have sex. However, David deliberately went against her word and pulled up her skirt and had sex with her. This is where it gets iffy. I know its probably too much information to ask Susan or David but if she was reacting okay to the sex then that would disprove her case and David would in fact be innocent. However, they did not share this information so I assume that Susan was not reacting at all and was very displeased with what David was doing. The fact that she was kissing David back does not mean much because this we know that she does not mind the sexual activity but she made it clear that she does not want to go any further than kissing and since David did, it is rape.


Here at DHS this is a silent issue in my opinion. So many people get the casual slap on the butt or even further actions as a joke and the girls usually respond with a playful laughing stop. Well, in this case she did say no but does she mean it? That is the huge question. Where does it cross the line? When is it a joke and when is it sexual harassment? What we can use from the case with Elise Roberts is that if they actually have a serious complaint or go to a higher authority then it is definatly time to stop. However, in some cases that’s too late and it is already sexual harassment so some good advice from The Kramcakes is "no means no just ask." Yea it seems awkward to ask in the heat of it all but it could save you from a 30 year sentence in prison. Girls are messed up they say no a lot and then you dont push it any further and then three minutes later they want to do it, but guys cannot assume that girls will always want to do it because if they truly mean that they dont want to that 2 times out of ten then you get screwed no pun intended.