Of course, public opinion plays a large role in these modern day public executions where leadership can’t be allowed to show weakness before those needed to re-elect any politician.  So Scott Janke was fired and given his severance all because he found common ground with a woman who earned a living in the skin business.

Ironically, when politicians are caught in adultery and solicitation, they are left with an option to resign or continue their post against the cries of their peers.  Some even apologize and their sins are forgiven in the eyes of the masses.

In the case of an honest man settling down with a woman in marriage to find happiness for himself and their three teenagers, a town council found him guilty of essentially marrying the wrong person, and threw him out.

The morality of such a thing is hard to comprehend.  We can forgive and accept those who break the law, show terrible character choices and even go so far as to betray those who had placed trust in them and their ideals. Yet in all our “compassion” and “understanding,” there are those who stand to condemn a man simply based on following his heart strings.

The world would be a far better place without those meddling in the business of others.  I understand there are things that do require intervention, such as infringing upon the rights of others and protecting those who can’t protect themselves, but in what way would Scott Janke’s marriage in any way have caused harm to another?  Claiming it would be a distraction and deter him from his duties at his station is a rather weak blanket of smoke to throw over the eyes, hiding prejudice and discrimination.  If Scott Janke had married a McDonald’s employee, bartender, janitor, surfer or even a used car saleswoman, no one would have breathed any ill wind in his direction.

Last I checked, the adult film business is rather well established in this country and has plenty of supporters — whether they openly admit it or not — and by simply discriminating against the woman for being in a specific profession is not only shallow, but a great foundation for legal action.

The main focus is to enable people to improve their own lives through knowledge of everything. Scientologists believe that man is basically good and that because of this he is able to, though his own actions, be a “good” person through controlling his own life…and making it be what HE believes is right.

The Church of Scientology has eight dynamics, according to Religion Facts:
1. Self – the urge to survive as an individual.
2. Creativity – the urge to survive through family.
3. Group survival – the urge to survive through a group such as a nation, team, community, race, etc.
4. Species – the urge to survive through the survival of the human species.
5. Life forms – the urge for life itself.
6. Physical universe – the urge of the universe to survive.
7. Spiritual dynamic – the urge for the survival of the life source.
8. Infinity – the urge to exist as infinity or God.

Yes, it’s all quite complex, but just based on those facts, it doesn’t seem to be too outrageous…right?

If you’re looking for some of the more quirky accusations, there are plenty.

In 1991, The Times referred to Scientology as “The thriving cult of greed and power.” Since then, it’s impossible to say it’s gotten any better.

Still, from all of my research, it’s REALLY difficult to find anything off of the Church of Scientology’s official Web site that could confirm anything. There’s talk about placenta eating, murder, kidnapping and money obsession. The truth about these ideas isn’t anywhere to be found. There are many people accusing scientologists of doing these things and then there are many scientologists refuting these ideas. It’s a classic game of he said, she said.

So, what to make of it?

Here’s what I’ve decided: It sounds a whole lot like a cult. Any organization or religion that is as private as the Church of Scientology is not helping its cause. The concept of “innocent until proven guilty” isn’t going to fly for this.

When someone is sexually molested in middle school or high school, say, by a peer for sake of discussion, the blame is hardly (if ever) turned on the victim. Then in college, it’s increasingly more difficult to place the blame. The line of consent is blurred by alcohol, peer pressure and drugs.

College students all over the country are being raped by their peers and feel like they are to blame. I know four personally: three girls and one guy who are all between 20 and 27.

“He told me if my shorts weren’t so short then he wouldn’t want me so bad,” one said to me.

“He said I was flirting with other guys and that after this I would never want anyone else.”

“His friends were making fun of him because I wouldn’t put out.”

“She wanted a baby.”

It’s easy to say that people portray what they want. It’s also safe to say that many people want a lot of sexual attention. Yes, it’s one thing to say that. It’s another thing to say that all people who dress differently than what you think is acceptable are “asking to get raped.”

Nobody wants to get raped. Nobody wants to feel used.

I’m not talking about random strangers either. The people who have told me their stories were either friends with or dating the people that raped them. They shared a friendship and a love for each other, sure, but none of them were willing to do what they were forced to do.

Now, they’re all dealing with their feelings that they brought it upon themselves. One is getting married and dealing with the fact that he is scared to sleep with anyone else. Another has a baby she put up for adoption, which she wishes so badly she could provide for him the life he deserves.

Being sexually abused can also result in sexual impotence and/or a sexist attitude.

Yet, nobody talks about it. Not once have I heard about a rape clinic or rape help in the two colleges that I’ve attended. Then, I have to wonder, if they were there would anyone go?

The shame that America has put on the concept of rape is unbearable. Sure, we think of the person who did it as a “(fill in the blank).” We put them on trial while the person who was really affected tries to deal with the shame and guilt of what has happened, often even blaming themselves above anyone else.

We’re not giving enough attention to this growing epidemic. It’s happening to more and more people every day. It might have happened to you. Or, maybe it happened to someone you love. You may never know.

De-stigmatizing the American concept of rape could not only save a lot of lives but also prevent other problems in the future.

Don’t hesitate to talk to someone if you’ve been raped, no matter how long ago it was. If you have children in college, let them know that you care about them enough to share even the things they’re guilty about. It could save their lives.

Groups like Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) are great places to start. Just call 1 (800) 656-HOPE or click here to talk with someone online.

Unfortunately for Phelps, for a while, the poor guy’s incredible Olympic achievements were outshined by the ominous photo… with the bong. The photo, published in January by the British newspaper News of the World, flushed Phelps’s “All-American good guy” image right down the drain. His reported $500,000 deal with Kellogg’s was also quickly dropped.

Sure he groveled and apologized to his fans for his “inappropriate” behavior. And sure, we forgave him. I mean, have you seen the guy swim?!

Six months after the unveiling of Phelps’s party time in North Carolina, we saw him back on TV for Subway in an advertising campaign called “Be Yourself.” The campaign name is amusing in itself and implies that Subway doesn’t care about what happened with Phelps.

Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times suggested that “Phelps has moved the weed needle,” which was published in an article in the Tampa Bay Times and was titled, “Phelps smokes another rival: marijuana hysteria.”

This is something that I hadn’t even considered. At the time the photo was released, most of what I heard was about how horrible it was that someone of role model stature would be doing something like that. Knowing that millions of Americans smoke marijuana (often too), this critical attitude seemed a bit hypocritical.

Neil reported that 13 states have legalized medicinal marijuana, and in many other states the possession of less than an ounce is legal. We all know that many more states are considering legalizing marijuana.

Could Phelps have accidentally pushed America in the right/wrong direction?

Americans have created the stereotype of the “stoner” going nowhere in life. Many believe that anyone who smokes marijuana is addicted to all other kinds of drugs and should be put into rehab. Well, yes, sometimes this is true, but, of course, sometimes it just isn’t.

As we’ve seen with the recent legalization of marijuana in some parts of the country, and even with the Phelps’ scandal, we are shying away from our old weed stereotypes.

Neil argues that Phelps’s lack of consequences have shown that big time companies aren’t ashamed of the connotation that Phelps will forever carry.

After the scandal, Phelps’s other endorsement deals (Speedo, Omega, Subway and Mazda-China) stood right by him. In June, he even signed on to endorse H20 Audio, a company that makes waterproof headphones.

What you’re probably thinking is that these companies aren’t consciously trying to advance the “legalize marijuana” cause. That’s probably true, but you do know they’ve at least thought about it.

Imagine that you’re the president of one of these organizations, Speedo for example. Right after the photo was released, you call an emergency board meeting to decide what to do about it. One side of the argument is that you don’t want to be associated with someone who “breaks the law,” not to mention moral code. Then, of course, the other side is that nobody really cares about that because he’s still an awesome Olympic athlete.

What side would you be on? It’s inevitable that the whole ordeal will blow over eventually, as all scandals do. Yet, you know that it will always remain in the back of people’s minds. You have to ask yourself if the pros outweigh the cons. Will you lose business because you continue to endorse Phelps? Will people associate you with being pro-legalization?

Yeah, it’s a toughie but these companies apparently decided to stick with him. The reason must have been because they figure people don’t really care that much about marijuana.

Neil reported that studies show that 100 million Americans have smoked pot, which makes Phelps no different, really, than those millions of Americans.

Regardless of where you stand on marijuana rights, the truth is that one picture is worth a thousand words. Proponents of marijuana have worked for years to achieve this step toward their cause and they didn’t even have to do anything for it this time.

Those were the best days of your life, right? You were making all the best decisions. You probably regret nothing. Now, imagine that you’re Jasmine Bedwell, a 17-year-old living in Tampa, Fla.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, Bedwell’s life has gone something like this: She’s run away from home more than 21 times. When she was in the fifth grade, her mother had a boyfriend call the police on Bedwell claiming that she had gotten physically violent over doing chores. Jeff Rainey, president and CEO of Hillsborough Kids Inc. said that she was abused all of her life by her caretakers.

Bedwell, who is now 17, gave birth to a baby boy named Emanuel Murray. The child’s father is Emanuel Wesley Murray and he is currently in prison. She became involved with a 21-year-old named Richard McTear Jr. who, to make a long story very short, threw baby Emanuel out of his car on I-275 on May 5.

Bedwell pressed charges against McTear and he now faces the possibility of the death penalty. According to the St. Petersburg Times, he’s facing murder, kidnapping and aggravated child abuse charges.

If you’re like me, Bedwell’s life is nothing like your life when you were 17. Many of us can’t even imagine living in her shoes at this stage in our lives. I can’t imagine the pain and guilt she’s feeling.

As she deals with the tragic death of her child, news just broke that she’s thinking about setting out on a suing streak. Included would be her apartment complex, Hillsborough County Sherrif’s Office, the Department of Children & Families and Hillsborough Kids. All of which she would be claiming a “wrongful death” charge. Her reasoning is that since she’s a child herself, these agencies should have had her, basically, on a shorter leash.

In her mind, it’s not her fault that she didn’t stay away from McTear, even after she had a restraining order filed against him for abuse. The proper paperwork never went through so the restraining order was void.

This case has brought a whole new controversy. Apparently we don’t care about McTear anymore, now everyone is upset that Bedwell is being so irresponsible and not willing to take the blame, which is probably NOTHING like how any of us acted when we were 17 and did something wrong.

This story took the front page of the Tampa Bay Times, a publication of the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday. Published inside were the nasty comments of Hillsborough residents who are outraged. These were taken from Tampabay.com on Wednesday:

“Wow! What a piece of irresponsible garbage this woman is. Her sense of entitlement is staggering.”

“Poor me my baby’s dead but hey I just won the lawsuit lotto! I feel much better.”

Right, speaking of maturity!

I’m not sure what’s more incredible, the fact that these people will probably not be directly affected by this situation at all, regardless of the outcome, or their inability to understand that the loss of a loved one is an awfully difficult situation to deal with at any age.

I’m all about speaking your mind but, without sensitivity, it can return void.

Think back to when you were 17. If this was your life, what would you cling to?

Think back to 2006, when eighth-grader, Megan Meier, committed suicide after receiving harassing MySpace messages from, who she thought was, a peer. This case brought cyber bullying to a new level. Meier’s ex-friend’s mother, Lori Drew, created a MySpace page pretending to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby named Josh Evans. Meier quickly became friends with “Evans,” and the two would talk online daily.

After a few weeks of talking back and forth, Meier received an e-mail from “Evans” saying, “‘I don’t know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.”

Meier’s mother recalls the entire situation. She told ABC News that she recalls her daughter telling her about MySpace bulletins being posted saying things like “Megan Meier is a slut” and “Megan Meier is fat.”

Then, on October 16 2006, Mrs. Meier found her 13-year-old daughter hanging from a belt in a bedroom closet, dead. This, reportedly, after she received a message from “Evans” saying, “the world would be better off without you.”

Yes, Meier had a history of emotional instability. Tell me, what 13-year-old girl doesn’t have emotional problems associated with being self-conscious? It could be argued that this suicide had been coming for a long time. Yet, it’s hard to believe that the threatening, demeaning messages didn’t push her over the edge.

Weeks later, the Meier family found out that Lori Drew was behind all of the mayhem. Drew had told other mothers in the area that she had created and continued to monitor Josh Evan’s MySpace page.

She had been caught.

Obviously, the Meierses pressed charges against Drew. Lori Drew was convicted and charged with three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing a protected computer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The family has been working for years to bring justice concerning the loss of their daughter’s life. On Thursday, their heartbreak returned.

According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu decided to dismiss the case on the basis that “if Drew was found guilty of violating the terms of service in using MySpace, anyone who violated the terms could be convicted of a crime.”

As if that’s a bad thing!

As far as I knew, terms and conditions were designed to lay out what you shouldn’t do. And any violation of those would, in fact, be a crime.

Hopefully, there will be some controversy surrounding this and perhaps an appeal because it’s outrageous. The only condolence that Meier family could have in this is knowing that cyber bulling is now something that’s in the forefront of America’s mind. With no federal anti-cyber bullying law, this may be the time to enact one.

What do you think?