...the word, "rape," is inappropriate in the context of two young kids experimenting sexually.

Like any economy, when words get used alot (appropriately or otherwise), they lose their meaning.

In the context of a world gone bonkers with war and naked profit-taking, death, destruction, a government taken to subjegating its citizens in complete defiance of its deepest principles, we have Eric Schaeffer getting completely slammed because some chick with a pen has a few friends who took exception to his humanity.

Pardon my sexism, but women tend to do things to each other, and to men, that men tend not to do to each other, or to women.

One of those things that men tend not to do as often as women is talk and communicate, especially about the things other people do to hurt us, humiliate us, or achieve some sort of "one-up" over us for whatever the motivation.

The good part about this is that when women are the healthier parties in an organization, that health spreads like wildfire and keeps sick women and men from gaining any sort of a controlling upper hand over the rest of us. I think we're seeing this in the current anti-war movement and in the present administration's attack on our civil liberties. Male domination has just about cratered into the side of the same mountain Moses came down from.

The downside to this phenomenon is that when a group of women are not healthy, that dis-ease spreads equally quickly. Most men don't realize just how fast their sex lives can be rolled up in a geographic region when they burn a well-liked and regarded peer. It escapes them because talking about their hurts is anathema to how men are wired. Or, tend to be wired. Women regularly take for granted the fact that they operate in a reality that men have no clue about.

Except this man. If women want to cry foul about a male who's given more than he's taken, I will cloud up and rain all over your arguments and protestations. I've watched time and again how attractive, intelligent women climb all over collosal womanizers and completely overlook thoughtful, intelligent and attractive men because they're just too "boring."

At 45, I know there are plenty of women out there who shut older men out as, "creepy," or just, "too old." Fair enough. But if men have the same sorts of age biases, turn about is fair play. Don't cry, "rape," and, "child molester," and pretend like you're not just manipulating people to be vindictive.

That's just wrong behavior. I have a problem with that sort of behavior. And I do get on my high horse about it. For that, I do apologize.