’s Ignorant Tweets Show Why We Need to Teach Boys About Periods
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Posted:Oct 19, 2016 4:57 am
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
9485 Views
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Most young men don’t get much in the way of education about periods. (Photo: Getty Images)
It sounds like someone in the younger demographic needs a serious lesson in the female anatomy.
Ryan Williams, whose bio calls him a politician and youth adults spokesperson from London, took to Twitter over the past 48 hours to offer his opinion about the call to end the tampon tax. And he’s absolutely against it … because he feels that women should learn to control their menstrual cycle. He even created the hashtags #SelfControl and #StopTheBlob to publicize his case.
The young man’s public Twitter page has been going back and forth between public and private, and it may be because of the backlash he’s been receiving regarding his uninformed views.
We captured some of the controversial and hilariously ignorant comments posted on his Twitter account before they went into lockdown. The 19-year-old photography student stated that tampons are a “luxury item” and that if a woman “cannot hold in her period until she gets to a toilet,” then it’s her personal issue and not the concern of her fellow taxpayers.
Image courtesy TwitterAdding insult to injury, he has called women who are in favor of ending the tampon tax “cheapskates.”
The Mirror is also reporting that Williams launched a GoFundMe page in order to raise money for biology classes.
Well, sort of.
“The money raised will be used to pay for lessons, however many is needed to be able to explain to understand more about womens [sic] periods, why they get so aggressive and why they’re so lazy as to hold their bladder.”
Lastly, the young activist referred to the procedure his underwent when she was a puppy in order to end her periods. “If your bladder is too weak … which clearly it is for most of you, then see a doctor and have the same procedure,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Is this a joke?” Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and an integrative medical doctor from Beverly Hills, tells Yahoo Beauty. “Number one, any imbecile should know that urine comes from the bladder! And number two, babies — and menstrual blood — come from the uterus via the cervix and vagina, not the bladder.”
She questions the quality of education that is being offered in the U.K., as well as around the globe.
“This is actually a huge problem for many women worldwide, and it is not a joke,” Gilberg-Lenz stresses. “Girls are banished from school and miss educational opportunities and many cannot afford menstrual products. This further encourages oppression and misogyny and eliminates opportunities.”
And Gilberg-Lenz offers her expertise in a private session with the young activist. “I’d be happy to sit with this dude via Skype and do an anatomy lesson,” she states.
Or perhaps Mr. Williams should take his donated funds and make an appointment with an ob-gyn in his area.
“The reason every man needs a gynecologist is because every man has a grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, girlfriend, wife, or ,” Tara Allmen, MD, a board-certified gynecologist and the author of Menopause Confidential: A Doctor Reveals the Secrets to Thriving Through Midlife, tells Yahoo Beauty. “It is my job to keep all those women healthy. And if I do my job well, every man will be much happier. You are all welcome, men of the world.”
Period.
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I’ve adopted two biracial . Hateful messages showed up on the sidewalk.
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Posted:Sep 22, 2016 12:28 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
10241 Views
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What do you do when a white supremacist writes racist and hateful messages directed at your and at the students you work to serve? Seriously, what should a person who desires to follow Christ do? What should a college and community do to respond to such hate? These are questions I’ve been wrestling with as a professional and parent for the past two weeks.
Two weekends ago, three to five people claiming to be associated with a hateful organization wrote racially offensive messages with chalk on a few of the sidewalks at Bethany College, a small Christian college in Lindsborg, Kan., where I am the president.
They drew a chalk outline of a dead body with the words “rest in peace my friend” and “make Lindsborg white again.” They wrote messages that were disgusting and completely contrary to Bethany’s core values and intellectual identity.
A few days later, a man who is not a student at Bethany and does not even live in Lindsborg called my office at the college to say that he and four other people were the ones who had committed this despicable act. He refused to disclose who his companions were, and no others have admitted to participating. And then he said something chilling: He said that he wrote the chalk messages because Bethany College has been recruiting students of color — and because I have adopted two biracial .
That’s right. Think about it. A man called my office to tell me that messages like the outline of a dead body and “make Lindsborg white again” were directed at the young whom I am raising along with my wife, the love of my life. Let it sink into your mind and heart. Dead body outline. . Hate. As a parent, how would you feel?
[My wife and I are white evangelicals. Here’s why we chose to give birth to black triplets.]
The messages were also directed at college students who are working to better their lives by getting an education. Students who provide thousands of hours of service in our community, work as student teachers, craft fine arts performances and give us the joy of cheering them on in athletic competitions. Our graduates make the world a better place to live.
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This Dad's Heartbreaking Realization That His With Autism Has No Friends
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Posted:Sep 22, 2016 12:24 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
10167 Views
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When Bob Cornelius went to his youngest 's back-to-school night, he stopped to admire their projects displayed on the wall. He spotted his little boy's assignment and hurriedly snapped a proud photo of the completed questionnaire.
However, when Bob took a second look at the image later that night, he realized something heartbreaking. Along with filling out his favorite food and sport, Christopher matter-of-factly answered who some of his friends are: "No one."
"Never have five letters cut so deep, and they weren't even directed at me . . . it was just an overly simplistic statement that spoke volumes," Bob wrote on Facebook. "And I don't have a solution. I don't have an answer. The reality is that I have to rely on the compassion of others to be incredibly understanding in order just to sit next to him, attempt to engage him, and make him feel included."
While Bob has realized that his 11-year-old doesn't have many friends, especially when his lack of pals is starkly contrasted with his older brothers' numerous sleepovers, Bob didn't know that Christopher understood this difference. While he doesn't blame his 's classmates for leaving him out, he is still devastated by the fact that his doesn't have a friend and has never had a friend, and he is absolutely aware of this divide.
"And it's not their fault . . . that's the saddest part. They were clearly not taught to embrace and accept the differences of others. Not by their teachers, which would have been nice, had they thought to do so, but by their parents. I don't mean to imply that parents that don't have this conversation with their are bad people, but only that somewhere in between working, soccer practice, and homework, it never occurred to them to have this particular conversation. I'm sure that if Christopher were typical (that's the word we use instead of 'normal'… ), I would not have had this conversation with him either."
It's now clear to Christopher's dad that even if he can't say it, he desperately wants to be included, and while this little boy works to find his voice, his dad has one important request for all parents: have a conversation with your .
"Please tell them that with special needs understand far more than we give them credit for. They notice when others exclude them. They notice when they are teased behind their back (a lot of times 'behind their back' is right in front of them because they think the 'different' doesn't understand). But mostly they are very much in tune when they are treated differently from everyone else. Trust me when I tell you this hurts them. Even if it's not obvious to you and me."
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BROKE: A shocking percentage of 6 figure earners have almost no savings
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Posted:Sep 21, 2016 1:01 pm
Last Updated:Sep 22, 2016 12:20 pm
10161 Views
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Many Americans who earn a lot of money have not managed to save a lot of money. That’s the upshot of a study by the website GoBankingRates. The study shows that nearly half the people who earn between $100,000 and $149,999 a year have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts.
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Restaurant Under Fire for Selling 'Black Olives Matter' T-Shirts
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Posted:Aug 17, 2016 2:27 pm
Last Updated:Aug 18, 2016 7:59 am
12038 Views
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Trending these days: parodying the Black Lives Matter movement to shed light on whatever issue, unrelated to what the original phrase meant. Recently, the White Marlin Marina in Ocean City, MD came under fire for selling T-shirts reading “White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” with an image of a white or blue marlin, to raise awareness “in promotion of billfish conservation.”
Now, a restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico is using the phrase to sell T-shirts about… olives. Eatery Paisano’s made headlines for adding the phrase “Black Olives Matter” to its signage as a way to promote, as KOAT 7 Albequerque says, “a tuna dish with black olive tapenade.” Paisano’s caught plenty of flack for the sign, as some people felt that the play on the phrase trivializes the important social and political issues of the Black Lives Matter movement.
But some people actually found the sign humorous. So much so that after the backlash, owner Rick Camuglia saw a great moneymaking opportunity. Now, he’s selling T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the controversial tagline. According to Camuglia, people from different countries were calling him, asking for “Black Olives Matter” memorabilia. And he’s been quite successful. “People have filled the restaurant and told us to leave up the sign,” Camuglia told KOAT 7. “That’s great, you know, because a lot of people make a living off working for this restaurant.”
Making money by piggybacking off a movement that touches on real issues? What could be more American than that?
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Husband, 18, and wife, 71, celebrate their bliss
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Posted:Aug 17, 2016 2:23 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
11684 Views
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Gary, 18, and Almeda Hardwick, 71, of Sevierville weren't looking for love when they saw each other at the funeral of Almeda's in June 2015, but that's exactly what they found with each other months later.
Gary, who's always been attracted to older women, was still in a troubled relationship with a 77-year-old woman and depressed.
Almeda was mourning her Robert's death from complications due to seizures. He was 45.
Love was in their future, however.
Gary and Almeda met again in September 2015. His aunt Lisa Harrell, who was married to Robert, reintroduced him to Almeda after he had ended his other relationship.
"It was like an instant connection. (There was) so much chemistry there. We both loved music," Gary said while the two sat next to each other on the edges of matching red love seats in their living room.
"I had prayed about my soul mate for like two years, so, you know, I was lonely," said Almeda. "I had no one, so God sent him to me."
"When I looked into her eyes I knew it," he said. "Her eyes were a dead giveaway."
"His were too ... I knew," she said.
After dating three weeks, they got married on Oct. 26, 2015, inside Harrell's condo.
Almeda was 70. Gary was 17, and his mother gave her consent. His dad passed away when he was 15.
The wedding date was six days before Gary would turn 18, but he said he couldn't wait that long to make Almeda his wife.
"I just knew she was the one, and she knew I was the one, and we just knew we were right for each other, so it really didn't matter," he said.
As more of their friends and family found out about the marriage, the Hardwicks said they received support.
"Everybody was happy for us really," said Gary. "Like the day after the wedding, I posted the wedding pictures on Facebook, and obviously (they were) shocked that we got married because nobody even knew we were dating or anything until I posted the wedding photos. They were like, 'Whoa.' But, I mean, they were happy for us.
"They didn't say anything about the age difference. Our family and friends support us."
The Hardwicks say they weren't worried about their age difference when they began their relationship, that it didn't bother them then, and it doesn't bother them now.
Gary, an author and songwriter, grew up in Maryville and lived with his mom, grandmother, grandfather and two aunts. While in sixth grade, he contracted mononucleosis, strep throat and the flu at the same time and was home-schooled after that. When he was 13, he learned about his father and tried to locate him when he was 16 only to learn that his father had passed away a year earlier.
Gary said he's always been attracted to older women.
"I've never dated anyone my age. Even in school, I was never interested. ... I don't know why. It's just my attraction, my preference I guess," he said.
Almeda, who used to work at Walmart, was married to her previous husband for 43 years. He was six years older than her and passed away in 2013. She has three and eight grandchildren. Two of her grandchildren, a 22-year-old and a 17-year-old, live with her and Gary.
"It's good," said Gary, describing his relationship with the grandchildren. "We get along really well. ... We have a lot in common obviously."
Secret to a happy marriage? Maybe drinking alcohol, study says
Though they have an age difference of 53 years, the Hardwicks say they share many of the same interests.
They both enjoy traveling, watching movies, singing and cooking together and sharing different types of music with each other.
Gary has introduced Almeda to music, and Almeda has introduced him to music from the 1950s.
They've also had the chance to travel together recently because several media outlets want to know about their story. Two weeks ago they went to Los Angeles for an appearance on The Robert Irvine Show. Their segment will air on Sept. 1 on The CW.
The Hardwicks will also make the trip to New York to share their story. Their marriage and relationship has been written about by news outlets including Elite Daily, Complex and Perez Hilton.com.
"The media hasn't really affected us that much at all," said Gary. "It's really cool to have all this support."
They also document their daily lives on a YouTube channel called "Gary and Almeda Hardwick."
The Hardwicks have almost 300 subscribers and make videos about their travels and what they do from day to day. Gary also shares his music on the channel.
They have received support on social media from an Instagram group called May December Society, an online community made up of couples with large age gaps.
Not every response to their story has been positive ,though. News coverage of their relationship has led to many negative reactions.
"We've probably had two or three thousand negative comments, but it doesn't bother either one of us," said Gary.
"We just laugh about it and go on," he added. "We just find it comical ... We're happy and in love, and that's all that matters."
After being married for almost a year, Almeda said she and Gary don't have disagreements and their age difference hasn't caused any issues for them.
"Well, we connect on everything," she said. "We've never had an argument. Never fussed about anything. We always talk about things we like to do and places we want to go, and we act a fool all the time. He's always teasing me."
"She gives me respect, honesty, and we're committed to each other," said Gary. "She takes pride in her appearance (and) herself."
"He's good looking, handsome and he takes pride in himself too," she said. "I couldn't ask for a better husband. He's the best."
The Hardwicks plan to have a larger wedding ceremony sometime in 2017 at their church, so they can invite more family and friends. They said they are content and have found their soul mates.
"I mean time isn't a measure on love," said Gary. "That's just my opinion."
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This is what online dating is like when you’re not gorgeous or ugly, but average
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Posted:Aug 17, 2016 2:20 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
11448 Views
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No one feels particularly special on a dating app. That’s what I want to tell her. My best friend, who looks like the racially ambiguous lovechild of Brad Pitt and Pocahontas, waves her phone at me in righteous indignation. She is not alone. Several of my “classically attractive” friends are pissed. Society tells them they’re beautiful and they’re mad at Tinder and OkCupid for not providing better prospects. They’re also mad at me. I’m the average-looking sidekick, “the one who online dates,” and it’s my fault they aren’t having a better time.
“You have no idea what it’s like to be called beautiful all the time,” a good friend once remarked. “It’s like your biggest accomplishment is something you didn’t do yourself.”
She wasn’t being rude; I’m not beautiful in the traditional sense. I have pock-marked skin, hooded eyes, and a bulbous nose. My voice is deep, which apparently makes me less desirable to men. My eye color isn’t interesting, and my hair is always feral. I’m not ugly, but I don’t have much beauty privilege (and make no mistake, beauty privilege yields tangible rewards). From grade-school dances in gyms to corporate happy hours, I’ve been “swiped left” on more than my fair share.
“Online dating is just awkward,” my cute co-worker scrunches her nose. “I get that they’re not looking for love, but aren’t they trying to hook up? Why match with me if they’re not going to speak?”
“Well you could message them?” I offer.
“That’s not my job,” she counters. “I don’t have to.”
[Go ahead, ladies, make the first move. You’ll date more attractive men.]
As it turns out, my good-looking friends aren’t completely out of touch. “Classically attractive” women have more difficulty online dating. Given the competitive nature of the medium, some men assume if a woman is too attractive, she may be inundated with prospects. Thus, to hedge their bets, they may only approach women who aren’t considered unanimously pretty. This little factoid adds a layer of difficulty for some of my friends, but the unresponsiveness and awkwardness isn’t unique to beautiful people.
Almost anyone who has spent time online dating knows the disappointment is inherent in the process.
Most of us have commiserated over drinks about the countless conversations that go nowhere, the great conversations that result in terrible dates, or the amazing dates that end in radio silence. We can console ourselves with the knowledge that dating sites are marketplaces filled with choice and opportunity, and when faced with infinite choices, you’re less likely to choose. Being overlooked is unpleasant, but this is where average looks are a gift: They free you from the notion that people should fall at your feet.
As a middling, I’ve discovered that my inherent greatness won’t always be universally accepted. To be fair, I’ve also learned this by being a black woman. In an effort to preserve sanity, I discovered very early that what is good and beautiful about me doesn’t require external validation. If someone doesn’t “match” with me (online or in real life), it doesn’t mean I’m less valuable. While there are hurt feelings and bruised egos, there’s resilience in the acceptance that everyone won’t always want what I am serving. The consequence of unchecked privilege — racial, gender, economic or beauty — is entitlement. But, a side effect of being sidelined is an opportunity for ingenuity and grace.
Make no mistake, beauty is a currency, but it is merely one of many social currencies. I recognize the strength and sensuality of my curves. I honor my intelligence. I laugh like a drunken sailor, and meet people with an open heart. I worry less about pretense or maintaining some mystique, and if a suitor doesn’t get me, I can chalk it up to math. The odds might be against me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to play the game.
In case you were wondering, being unapologetically “ordinary” has implications beyond online dating. It’s essentially the reason Google started hiring outside of the Ivy League: People who weren’t bred to think they can’t be wrong have an easier time failing with dignity and poise. To find success at dating, on the Internet or anywhere else, we must possess an almost foolish willingness to fail.
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That’s the real secret “average-looking” women know: Unreturned advances aren’t the end of the story. They’re the stepping stone toward finding whatever it is we ultimately desire.
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Air Force officer faces investigation over Bible on his desk
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Posted:Aug 17, 2016 2:12 pm
Last Updated:Aug 18, 2016 8:00 am
12030 Views
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The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is demanding an Air Force major be “aggressively punished” for having an open Bible on his desk at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“It [the Bible] is very obviously a statement of Christian preference, Christian primacy,” MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein told me. “Had that been the Book of Satan or the Koran there would be blood in the freaking streets.”
He accused Maj. Steve Lewis, a supervisor at the Reserve National Security Space Institute, of “harboring and encouraging a truly abhorrent example of First Amendment civil rights violations.”
Mr. Weinstein is a fussy little fellow, isn’t he?
Col. Damon Feltman, the commander of the 310th Space Wing, told me they are reviewing the incident involving the Good Book.
“He has removed the Bible voluntarily because he didn’t want this to cause attention or disruption to his unit,” Col. Feltman said. “I’ve performed a walk-through of the office and everything seemed to be in compliance with Air Force regulation.”
So when will Maj. Lewis be able to return the Bible to his desk?
“I’m waiting on the unit commander’s review of the situation before making a final assessment,” the colonel said.
He stressed that Air Force personnel are free to exercise their constitutional rights to practice their own religion “as long as it is respectful of other individual’s rights to follow their own belief system in ways that support good order and discipline and don’t detract from (the) military mission.”
“As long as he’s not doing something excessive, the existence of a Bible or the Koran or the Torah or some other religious article is not prohibited,” Col. Feltman said. “It’s what you do with it when you have it.”
Weinstein, who earns a paycheck by trying to eradicate Christianity from the Armed Forces, accused Maj. Lewis of committing a “repulsive violation of USAF regulations” as well as the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s not his desk,” he told me. “That desk belongs to the American people, to the U.S. military. If that desk was in his home or his car it would not be a problem.”
Weinstein fired off a nasty, adjective-laden letter to the base commander after receiving complaints from 33 unnamed Air Force personnel.
“We have 33 very scared Air Force families,” Weinstein told me.
Just a brief aside: If those Air Force personnel are terrified of a Bible – how in the world will they be able to muster the courage to fight the enemy?
Apparently one of Weinstein’s gentle snowflakes managed to conquer his fear long enough to sneak up on the open Bible and take several photographs – which were then submitted as evidence.
“Major Lewis has created an around-the-clock Christian Bible Shrine on his official USAF workstation desk that has been in prominent static display for years,” Weinstein said. “The pages in his open Bible on his USAF desk never change, ever.”
One of the airmen who reached out to Weinstein complained that the officer’s Bible is a “blatant case of Christian defiance and Christian discrimination.”
“I am intimidated by the display, and I am a practicing Christian,” the unnamed airman wrote. “This open Bible is discrimination at the highest level.”
The airman went on to say that he wasn’t just offended by the Bible – he was “outrageously offended.”
Travis Weber, the director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, said every service member has a right to the free exercise of religion.
“It should be beyond clear that they are protected by the Constitution, statutory authority and regulations,” Weber told me.
He pointed to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that reaffirmed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act “applies in the military context.”
“Men and women signing up to defend our country do not give up this right – especially when, of all things, they are fighting to defend the very Constitution which contains this protection,” Weber said.
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin said the problem is that militant secularists see the Bible as a threat.
“Indeed it is a powerful weapon, but it is not a threat to America,” he said. “The military should be focused on the real threats to this nation."
Perhaps the Air Force should offer complimentary counseling for those personnel suffering from PTBS (Post Traumatic Bible Syndrome)?
For the record, there is no evidence that any of Weinstein’s spontaneously combusted or converted after glancing at the Holy Bible.
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Bangladesh police investigate death of 10-year-old worker
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Posted:Jul 25, 2016 2:57 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
12708 Views
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Police in Bangladesh are investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy at a textile mill who was killed after co-workers inserted the nozzle of a high-pressure air pump in his rectum and turned it on.
The boy, Sagor Borman, worked at a textile mill in Narayanganj, on the outskirts Dhaka, and died on Sunday, police official Forkan Sikdar said.
"The boy died after other workers inserted a nozzle through his rectum. His father found his lying beside a compressor machine with his abdomen swollen," Sikdar told Reuters on Monday.
under the age of 14 are not allowed to work under Bangladeshi law but labor is common in a country where almost a quarter of its 160 million people live the below poverty line of $2 a day.
Bangladesh relies on garments for about 80 percent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and is a major supplier of clothes to developed markets in the West.
Accidents and poor conditions in the textile and garment sector are a major concern for foreign buyers.
The mill where the boy worked produces yarn for garment factories, and about 30 , aged between 10 and 13, were found there when police raided it on Monday, Sikdar said.
"They have been handed over to their families."
In August, a 12-year-old boy working at a motorcycle workshop was killed in the same way after he had tried to quit his job. In November, a speedy trial court sentenced two people to death for the killing the boy.
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The disgraced Boston lab-technician who compromised 24,000 convictions is a shocking reminder of how
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Posted:Jul 25, 2016 2:55 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
12628 Views
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Want to know just how much our criminal justice system relies on plea-bargaining and how rarely prosecutions result in the kinds of jury trials we see on TV? Look no further than the story of Annie Dookhan, the disgraced Boston-area drug laboratory chemist whose egregious corner-cutting over a decade of work may have compromised more than 24,000 convictions in Massachusetts.
Dookhan had been working in a state lab operated by the Massachusetts State Police forensics unit and had personally tested thousands of drug samples used to convict defendants in criminal cases.
Prosecutors were blindsided in 2012 when it turned out she had been routinely filing false test results and claiming to have detected the presence of drugs in samples she never actually examined. Dookhan was found to have been implausibly productive throughout her tenure at the drug lab, testing samples at a rate that was five times greater than that of her colleagues.
Dookhan pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, perjury, and tampering with evidence in November 2013 and was released from prison this past April. But the ripple effects from a decade of malfeasance created a profound headache for the Massachusetts criminal justice system, sending lawyers throughout the state scrambling to determine which cases needed to be re-examined.
Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that anyone who had pleaded guilty to drug charges based on test results prepared by Dookhan could take back their pleas. On Wednesday, the court followed up with a second ruling in a case involving a man who had been convicted at trial based partly on Dookhan’s discredited analysis.
In an opinion, Chief Justice Ralph Gants wrote, “Regardless whether a defendant pleads guilty to a drug offense or is found guilty at trial, where Dookhan examined the substance in question as a primary or confirmatory chemist, the evidence is still potentially tainted by Dookhan's misconduct, the taint is still attributable to the government.” The ruling extended to defendants who had gone to trial the opportunity for a do-over that had already been offered to defendants who had pleaded out.
The court’s decision was applauded by the Massachusetts Bar Association, with chief legal counsel Martin Healy telling the Boston Globe, “We think that the level of misconduct and misrepresentation and fraud that occurred in the Annie Dookhan matter rises to the level of not being constitutionally sound. Anybody that’s convicted by a jury of their peers deserves to be either tried anew or the decision should be dismissed or vacated altogether.”
But it was the response from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office that was more illuminating, if only inadvertently so. In an email, D.A. office spokesman Jake Wark told the Globe that Wednesday’s ruling would only cause a “minimal disruption.” That’s because the vast majority of the roughly 7,500 Suffolk County convictions affected by Dookhan’s misconduct had resulted from plea bargains, not jury trials. (The ACLU of Massachusetts disputes Wark’s estimate of the number of Suffolk County convictions affected by Dookhan; a spokesman for the organization told me it is closer to 8,700.)
In other words, the new ruling would not significantly expand the class of people affected by the bad tests because so few of those cases ever went to trial in the first place.
correctional officer jailer jail prison
Guilty pleas often lead to lesser sentences, making them enticing options.
It is a widely known but still underappreciated fact about the American legal system that criminal trials are extremely rare. When most of us imagine the gears of the justice system turning, we picture juries and judges listening to testimony and attorneys making dramatic courtroom statements in defense of their . But as Wark’s serene reaction to Wednesday’s ruling underscores, the reality is that almost all criminal cases are resolved through backroom deals between prosecutors and defense lawyers—a process that is poorly understood precisely because it happens outside of the public eye.
Why should we be concerned about the plea-bargaining system? Because, as U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has written in the New York Review of Books, the power to dictate the terms of a deal “is, as a practical matter, lodged largely in the prosecutor, with the defense counsel having little say and the judge even less.” Prosecutors run the show because, in most cases, the law gives them great flexibility to decide which charges to bring against a defendant and thus what kinds of sentences to threaten in order to pressure him into waiving his right to a trial.
This is wrong not only because it is inherently coercive; it also leads to false confessions. Citing the National Registry of Exonerations, Rakoff noted in his NYRB piece that 10 percent of the 1,428 exonerations that were handed down between 1989 and 2014 involved cases in which a defendant had pleaded guilty.
Wark told me by phone that less than 5 percent of the 7,500 convictions the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has identified as being possibly tainted by Dookhan went to trial. “That’s simply the way things work in Boston, in Suffolk County, in Massachusetts, and in the United States,” Wark said. “The vast majority of every type of case is resolved through a guilty plea, and the reason for that is that the evidence is generally pretty strong.”
A defendant who wants a new trial based on Wednesday’s decision will now be able to file a motion to that effect, Wark said, and a judge will make a determination as to whether their case relied heavily enough on Dookhan’s work to warrant being retried. But Wark emphasized that prosecutors in Suffolk County don’t rely exclusively on lab results when they bring cases against drug offenders, and they typically bring a range of evidence that includes actual drugs and drug paraphernalia that have been seized.
“The sliver of cases that will be affected by this decision is a sliver of the already small number of cases that went to trial,” said Wark.
When it comes to the “Dookhan defendants,” as the individuals affected by the rogue chemist came to be known, the fact that so few drug cases go to trial is a relief for the commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder of how the criminal justice system really works.
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The latest nail in ObamaCare’s coffin
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Posted:Jul 25, 2016 2:51 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
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Count it as another nail in ObamaCare’s coffin: Humana, one of the country’s top insurers, announced Thursday that it’s pulling out of ObamaCare exchange plans in all but a few states next year.
It will offer policies in “no more” than 11 state marketplaces, down from 19. The numbers don’t add up: Humana took nearly $1 billion in losses from the coverage this year.
This follows the exit from the exchanges of such other giants as Cigna and UnitedHealth Group, also after outsized losses.
It’s the much-feared “death spiral”: Too many older, sicker folks are resorting to ObamaCare policies, and not enough younger, healthy folks. So the average enrollee is running up higher bills than the insurers expected — and raising rates will only scare away even more lower-cost customers.
Meanwhile, the Obama Justice Department is moving to block health-insurer mergers — including an Anthem-Cigna deal as well as Aetna’s bid to buy Humana. Why? As The Post’s Josh Kosman reports, the “move would be a blow to the president’s state-focused ObamaCare.”
The White House fears the mergers would give the combined firms too much power to set rates, limiting consumer options.
Funny: The ObamaCare law encourages lots of other anti-competition mergers, of hospitals and other providers, in the name of “efficiency.” And doctors across America are giving up on traditional independent practices — as the law pushes them to do.
And countless people stuck buying policies on the exchanges have been shocked at how limited their options — like choice of doctor and hospital — turn out to be.
President Obama and Hillary Clinton both used to pooh-pooh the idea of a “public option”: Government-run health insurance that’s just a step away from European-style socialized medicine. But ObamaCare’s woes have pushed both to start suggesting it may be the only answer after all.
The only answer, that is, besides replacing ObamaCare with a truly market-based system that still helps the less fortunate, but doesn’t try to dictate everything from Washington.
If that sounds better to you, don’t vote for any Democrats this November.
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Democratic Party chair resigns in wake of email leak
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Posted:Jul 25, 2016 2:49 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 3:53 pm
12612 Views
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Philadelphia (AFP) - Embattled Democratic Party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Sunday she is resigning, following a leak of emails suggesting an insider attempt to hobble the campaign of Hillary Clinton's rival in the White House primaries Bernie Sanders.
Wasserman Schultz will step down at the end of the Democratic National Convention, she said in a statement on the eve of the confab in Philadelphia that is set to anoint Clinton as the party's presidential nominee.
Her departure, long sought by Sanders, is aimed at drawing a line under the scandal as establishment Democrats seek desperately to unite the party behind the campaign of former secretary of state Clinton, who goes up against Republican Donald Trump in the November presidential election.
Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Florida, reiterated her intention to be a surrogate for Clinton in the presidential campaign, but said her five-year stint leading the Democratic National Committee was over.
"Going forward, the best way for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as party chair at the end of this convention," she said in a statement.
She said she will still open and close the convention.
A cache of leaked emails from Democratic Party leaders' accounts includes at least two messages suggesting an insider effort to cripple the upstart Sanders campaign that had competed with Clinton -- including by seeking to present him as an atheist to undermine him in highly religious states.
The Vermont senator Sunday repeated calls for the resignation of Wasserman Schultz, whose leadership was already under fire and whose impartiality was called into question by the leaks.
President Barack Obama said he called Wasserman Schultz Sunday to say he was "grateful" for her years of service.
"Her leadership of the DNC has meant that we had someone who brought Democrats together not just for my re-election campaign, but for accomplishing the shared goals we have had for our country."
Yet Wasserman Schultz recently proved a divisive leader, with the Sanders camp and its supporters concerned the DNC was angling for a Clinton nomination.
"The emails just proved what we believed to begin with," Dora Bouboulis of Vermont told AFP as she marched in a Philadelphia demonstration.
Clinton issued a statement to thank Wasserman Schultz and to state her friend "will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally, in Florida, and in other key states."
Trump however was quick to pile on.
"I always said that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was overrated. The Dems convention is cracking up," he taunted on Twitter.
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Here’s what happens when schools let transgender students use the bathroom they Read more here: htt
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Posted:Jun 20, 2016 5:39 pm
Last Updated:Jun 21, 2016 1:02 pm
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At least once a day, Pam Retzlaff answered a call from parents concerned about her decision to allow a transgender student at Edgar Road Elementary School to use a bathroom different from his biological gender.
“It was hard in the beginning, very hard,” she said. “You can imagine my first open house. I had more parents in my office than ever before.”
It was new territory for Retzlaff, then principal of the school in Webster Groves, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb, but it was never a question of whether she would or wouldn’t open the bathroom.
And as time passed, the calls slowly began to subside, going from once a day, to once a week, to once a month.
That was more than two years ago – a blip in the schoolwide effort to help the soon-to-be third-grader transition as seamlessly as possible from female to male – yet still no cohesive policy exists nationwide on the issue of bathroom access for transgender students.
Even before controversy erupted earlier this year over new state laws limiting transgender rights, or this month’s deadly mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, many schools across the country had taken proactive steps to make the school environment safer and more welcoming to transgender students.
Opponents of policies that accommodate the bathroom needs of transgender students have argued that it’s an issue of safety for non-transgender students.
In reality, however, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students face the greater risk of harassment and assault, especially transgender students, and supporters say the bathroom discussion should be focused on protecting their safety.
According to FBI statistics, more than 20 percent of reported hate crimes were attacks based on sexual orientation and gender identity – second only to race, and more than attacks based on religious bias.
Although some state attorneys general and legislators have taken the federal government to court over its directive instructing all public school districts to allow transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identity, school districts in those very states have quietly dealt with the issue with relative ease.
And students, rather than state officials or school administrators, are often at the forefront in pushing for the change.
Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a New York-based organization that supports LGBT-inclusive policies for teachers and students, said school leaders and students live with the issue and understand it better than elected officials do.
“If they were listening to local authorities,” she said, “they’d get out of the way.”
IF (ELECTED OFFICIALS) WERE LISTENING TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES, THEY’D GET OUT OF THE WAY.
Eliza Byard, executive director, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
Atherton High School in Louisville, Kentucky, has had a policy in place for two years that allows transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, and Principal Thomas Aberli says there have been no problems.
“The most recent federal guidelines are aligned with what we’ve been doing for the past two years,” Aberli said in an interview.
Despite some concerns that permitting transgender students to use the appropriate bathroom might threaten the safety and privacy of other students, Aberli said that hasn’t happened at Atherton.
“We have several transgender students now,” he said. “It’s just kind of a non-issue.”
In March, Springfield Central High School in Massachusetts converted two single-user faculty bathrooms into two gender-neutral bathrooms, one each for faculty and students. Principal Thaddeus Tokarz said transgender students aren’t required to use it, though some choose to do so.
“I believe we make it a point to have them use the bathroom they feel most comfortable with,” Tokarz said.
THE MOST RECENT FEDERAL GUIDELINES ARE ALIGNED WITH WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.
Thomas Aberli, principal, Atherton High School, Louisville, Ky.
In Camas, Wash., across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore., Liberty Middle School Principal Marilyn Boerke said she was prepared for an onslaught of complaints from parents in the conservative district when the school adopted its policy in 2014, “but it just didn’t happen.”
The 770-student school allows its five or so transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. Only two parents objected, Boerke said.
In response, Boerke told those parents that if their were uncomfortable sharing a restroom with a trans student, they could opt to use another.
“Part of that could be how our community at Liberty is really all about family,” she said. “We just don’t accept that kind of intolerance.”
14 Number of states, including Kentucky, suing the Obama administration over its guidance on the use of school bathrooms by transgender students
But the backlash is only beginning elsewhere.
In Texas, Lt. Gov Dan Patrick has demanded the resignation of Kent Scribner, Fort Worth’s school superintendent, over the district’s transgender-inclusive bathroom policy. Patrick also argued for its repeal, calling it “social engineering.”
Texas is leading a multistate lawsuit in federal court against the Obama administration’s policy.
IN A VIRGINIA CASE, A FEDERAL COURT AGREED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND SIDED WITH A TRANSGENDER STUDENT WHO CHALLENGED HIS SCHOOL’S POLICY THAT FORCED HIM TO A BATHROOM THAT DOES NOT MATCH HIS GENDER IDENTITY.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Justice Department told schools across the country that Title IX of a 1972 federal education law protects transgender students from discrimination based on sex, including the use of bathrooms, locker rooms and showering facilities.
The department reminded schools that those that did not comply with Title IX requirements risked losing federal funds.
In a Virginia case, a federal court agreed with the federal government and sided with a transgender student who challenged his school’s policy that forces him to a bathroom that does not match his gender identity.
Nevertheless, Texas and 10 other states sued the Obama administration last month, with Mississippi, Kentucky and Kansas later joining the effort.
This month, the Kansas Board of Education voted unanimously to oppose the Obama administration’s policy, though the board will allow school districts to continue policies that accommodate transgender students.
According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2013 School Climate Survey, transgender and gender-nonconforming students faced more hostility than lesbian, gay or bisexual students did.
THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS SURVEYED SAID THEY DIDN’T EVEN HARASSMENT OR ASSAULT TO SCHOOL OFFICIALS BECAUSE OF DOUBT THE STAFF WOULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT OR FEAR THAT IT COULD MAKE THINGS WORSE.
Four in 10 said they felt unsafe at school because of their gender expression. About half reported being verbally harassed, and about 1 in 5 reported being physically assaulted.
The majority of students surveyed said they didn’t report the harassment or assault to school officials because of doubt the staff would do anything about it or fear that it could make things worse.
Some schools that have accommodated transgender students say the move has improved the learning environment.
“This was probably the best decision we made as a school all year,” said Kevin Biggs, principal of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa.
Although he said students were always able to use the most appropriate bathroom for their needs, Biggs said a student visited him in November and explained that some transgender students didn’t feel comfortable using the bathrooms that were available.
The school created two “all-gender,” single-stall restrooms in February. Students can still choose what works best for them.
“Those little things make a huge difference in a student’s day; they’re distractions that can keep students from learning to their highest possible potential,” Biggs said. “We wanted to make that possible.”
THE STUDENTS WANTED TO HAVE A VOICE, AND THEY WANTED TO MAKE A CHANGE, AND THEY MADE A CHANGE.
Jose Lara, dean of students, Santee Education Complex, Los Angeles
Student Alonzo Hernandez, 16, helped kick-start the process of creating a multi-stalled gender-neutral bathroom at the Santee Education Complex, a high school in Los Angeles, where he is a junior.
Hernandez is in transition from female to male, and his effort was driven, in part, by his own discomfort in using the school’s existing bathrooms. He’d sometimes avoid going to the bathroom the whole day to avoid harassment.
“There’d be times when I would personally wait in the stall to make sure everyone in the bathroom was cleared out so I could come out of the stall,” he said in an interview.
The concerns weren’t unfounded. Jose Lara, dean of students and faculty adviser for the Los Angeles school’s gay-straight alliance, said the discussion generated a small but vocal protest.
“There were some protesters sending hate message to the students, telling them they are perverts, going to burn in hell, targeting the principal, saying he’s a pedophile,” Lara said.
But ultimately, students, teachers and parents embraced the plan.
“The students wanted to have a voice, and they wanted to make a change, and they made a change,” Lara said.
The 2006 'Bathroom Law' that seems to work for D.C.
While the battle continues over North Carolina's HB2 bill, a related law aimed at making bathrooms open to all genders has been in effect in Washington, D.C. since 2006. Local business owners who have had to adapt see it as practical and convenient.
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