Finally eclipsing Abu Ghraib as the scandal of the year, the human capacity for cruelty is so tellingly evident in the torture one 14-year old boy was forced to endure.

I for one can tell you that in 1958, when I was at the tender age of this poor fellow, such an experience would have scarred me for life. An illicit affair with such a woman 9 years my elder probably would have been the tipping point for a life-long slide into pain and despair. I can only thank my lucky stars that such a hideous fate never befell me.

Pity the poor soul. Hire a psychiatrist. Call the news weeklies. Get this boy some security because he is going to be the envy of the 9th grade class.

[And for goodness sakes, please for once can we forego any comment on the ultra-obvious moral dimensions of this story? Of course the youngster should not have been preyed upon by the woman in her early 20s. Of course there is danger lurking for all involved. I just finished watching that Sherlock Holmes Of The Obvious, Bill O'Reilly, addressing this same topic, and I am now well aware that the activity is to be condemned. I'm just trying to place this Horror within the proper context relative to other Horrors of the age. If you don't see the humor in this, then I encourage you to shuffle along to a more clearly delineated outrage.]