Brutally Honest

The next social injustice campaign coming our way via the enlightened

It's telling in my view that she who is proposing this idea is a reproductive rights feminist:

The age of consent for sex should be lowered to 13 years-old to end the ''persecution of old men'' in the wake of the Savile sex abuse scandal, a leading barrister has claimed.

In a controversial intervention, Barbara Hewson, a senior barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, also called for the end of anonymity for complainants.

The lawyer, who specialises in reproductive rights also claimed crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall were ''low level misdemeanours''.

Campaigners today criticised the ''outdated and simply ill-informed'' views, which it said ''beggars belief'' from a highly-experienced barrister.

Her article also provoked an internal row within her chambers, which launched an "investigation" into the claims.

But amid the storm of condemnation, she stood by her comments today as she quoted François-Marie Arouet, the 18th century philosopher, in her bid to defend her "opinion".

Her comments come as Scotland Yard operates Operation Yewtree, an investigation split into three inquiries into allegations involving deceased presenter Jimmy Savile, involving Savile and others and those involving just others.

A number of high-profile figures have been arrested under Yewtree such as entertainer Rolf Harris, former pop star Gary Glitter, DJ Dave Lee Travis, comedian Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford. All deny any wrongdoing.

In an article for online magazine Spiked, she argued that ''the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebs echoes the Soviet Union'' and says that it is not difficult to see why some elderly defendants ''conclude that resistance is useless''.

She added: ''But the low-level misdemeanours with which Stuart Hall was charged are nothing like serious crime.''

''Ordinarily, Hall's misdemeanours would not be prosecuted, and certainly not decades after the event.

''What we have here is the manipulation of the British criminal-justice system to produce scapegoats on demand. It is a grotesque spectacle.''

She continued: ''It's time to end this prurient charade, which has nothing to do with justice or the public interest.''

The barrister added: ''Instead, we should focus on arming today's youngsters with the savoir-faire and social skills to avoid drifting into compromising situations, and prosecute modern crime.

''As for law reform, now regrettably necessary, my recommendations are remove complainant anonymity, introduce a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions and reduce the age of consent to 13.''

Of course, lines of this sort of thinking already exist here in America, only our enlightened souls think 15 is a more mature age.

We call this progress folks.

Forward!

When the message received clashes with the message attempted

Leave in the comments the message you received after reading this:

Students at Carnegie Mellon say it’s freedom of expression, but the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh calls it inappropriate and disrespectful.

At an annual art school parade, a female student dressed up as the pope, and was naked from the waist down while she passed out condoms.

Even more, witnesses say the woman had shaved her pubic hair in the shape of a cross.

...

CMU issued a statement, saying “We are continuing our review of the incident. If our community standards or laws were violated, we will take appropriate action.”

If?  Really?

The question is... what expression was she attempting?

And what expression was received?

Signs of societal decay: Mandated coverage for gay infertility

You and I, as taxpayers, must overcome the biological discrimination being foisted upon the gay community who desire children.

I kid you not:

In entirely unrelated news, there’s a new proposal to mandate coverage for Gay Infertility. The problem is that Gay Infertility is just biology. Two men and two women are not infertile. They’re just not capable of impregnating each other. This isn’t a medical problem. It’s a mental problem.

Infertility is meant to cover natural couples who would be capable of conceiving a child if not for medical problems. Gay rights activists will predictably argue that couples in which one partner has deeper medical problems may also be covered, but that is only as part of a larger set of natural couples. Unnatural couples cannot ever have children without medical intervention. They’re not infertile. They’re biologically incompatible.

But now that we’ve decided that gay marriage is a real thing, biology be damned. Gay infertility must also be a real thing. And you must also pay for it.

...

But why stop there?

Once we’ve determined that 70-year-olds and gay men are equally entitled to infertility treatments, not to mention people paralyzed from the waist down and 3-year-olds… it’s time to extend the civil right of a medical treatment meant to help biologically compatible couples to people trying to impregnate sheep and coffee tables.

If we’re going to treat biology like a bad joke, why stop at the human species line? Why stop at biology at all.

We are losing our collective minds.

Seriously, we are.

Shielding children from adult themes seen to be extremist and threatening

I've got to believe that there's more to this story:

A family was kicked off a plane and United flight 638 from Denver to Baltimore was diverted to Chicago O’Hare because the parents of two boys, ages four and eight, asked if the screen showing a violent PG-13 movie could not be raised. Sitting right in front of the drop-down screen made it impossible for the parents to avoid their two boys being exposed to the violent and sexually explicit scenes of the PG-13 movie “Alex Cross,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle on April 5, 2013.

In a narrative published by The Atlantic, the parents describe that “On our plane, an A320, the movie was projected on drop-down screens above the seats, such that we could not shield our young children from this inappropriate content. Alarmed by the opening scenes, we asked two flight attendants if they could turn off the monitor; both claimed it was not possible.”

According to United’s own inflight magazine, “Alex Cross” was rated ‘T’ for “Adult Themes.”

Despite the agreement by the passengers sitting behind the family that the movie was inappropriate for children and despite their willingness not to watch the movie at all, the flight attendants said that they had no authority or ability to change or turn off the movie.

After asking the flight attendants if the captain had “the authority to address this issue,” the parents did not receive any response.

“A few minutes later we asked for the captain's name (I failed to make note when he welcomed us on the PA system), and was told, by the purser, that we will have to ask him ourselves when we disembark.”

Throughout the interaction with the flight attendants and the purser, no voices were raised, no threats were made, and everything was collegial.

To their utmost surprise and to the surprise of the other passengers, the parents (who were busy diverting their children’s attention away from the movie to some other activities) heard the captain’s announcement more than an hour later that due to “security concerns” the flight was being diverted to Chicago.

After landing in Chicago, a police officer boarded the plane and asked the family to leave the plane.

“Not to mention unnecessarily involving several of Chicago's finest, two Border Protection officers and several United and ORD managers, and an FBI agent, who all met us at the gate. After we were interviewed (for less than 5 minutes), our identities and backgrounds checked, we were booked on the next flight to BWI, and had to linger in the terminal for hours with our exhausted and terrified little boys.”

According to the parents, all parties involved including the FBI agent, the police officers, United employees, “the passengers around us and (we were told) some of the crew,” could not believe that a captain would decide to divert a plane because parents expressed their concern about an inappropriate in-flight movie.

Can we be surprised at this sort of thing when proponents of traditional marriage are seen to be bigots and homophobes?

Anyone today who expresses that which used to be normal and commonplace is seen to be an extremist.

What we need to do is put names on the faces of those responsible, have them sit in front of TV cameras and microphones and explain their idiocy.

Perhaps then some of this stupidity would cease.

Army Reserve training brief - Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism are extreme

The image that follows was clipped from this Army Reserve training brief.

In response, the Archdiocese for the Military Services has issued a statement:

The Archdiocese for the Military Services and Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty recently became aware of a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that expressly listed “Catholicism,” “Evangelical Christianity” and other religious groups as examples of “religious extremism” alongside groups such as “Al Qaeda”, “Hamas” and the “KKK.”  The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist. 

According to an investigation and reply from the Army Chief of Chaplains office, the training in question appears to have been an isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army. The Archdiocese and the Chaplain Alliance explained that the Army can and should take steps to prevent such incidents in the future.The Archdiocese calls upon the Department of Defense to review these materials and to ensure that tax-payer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.

An isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army.

Today.

But just wait a little while and I'm guessing it'll not only be condoned by the Army but instituted as policy by the government.

It's the direction we're headed in.

To deny this is to deny reality.

Gonzaga gone gaga

This is about as stupid as stupid gets:

Spokane's Gonzaga University has denied a Knights of Columbus group application to be recognized as an official student organization. Those seeking the status were notified of the University’s decision at a meeting on March 7.

The group was notified of the decision by Dean of Students Kassi Kain and Assistant Director for Student Activities Dave Rovick.

“The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men’s organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership,” says a letter obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society written by Sue Weitz, Vice President for Student Life. “These criteria are inconsistent with the policy and practice of student organization recognition at Gonzaga University, as well as the University’s commitment to non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion.”

The letter continued:

The discussion at the meeting touched on formation of a Catholic Daughters student organization at Gonzaga. Such a group would address the gender exclusivity issue. However, it would not address the requirement that all members of a student Knights of Columbus group must be Catholic.

Individuals who spoke with The Cardinal Newman Society only on condition of anonymity explained that the group has been stalled by the administration for the entire academic year. Efforts were made by students to apply for official student group status beginning in September. The group was told they would have a response by November. The group wasn’t notified of the University’s decision until March.

Weitz did not return the call from The Cardinal Newman Society seeking comment on the decision.

One Knights of Columbus member told The Cardinal Newman Society that other University organizations, including club sports, currently limit membership and exclude people.

Gonzaga is a Catholic University, founded by the Jesuits, to educate priests.

Those founders are spinning like tops in the grave today.

And this isn't the first time Gonzaga has done something stupid, something that goes against its founding principles and Catholic identity.

Stupidity reigns.

Bringing new meaning to egg beaters

On the day Christians commemorate the resurrection of the prince of peace, two moms go at it each other over which of their sons should get their colored eggs first:

One of usually peaceful springtime rituals of childhood – the Easter egg hunt – turned nasty at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

Blame the moms.

A statement on the Seattle Police Department blotter Monday says the “hard-boiled tale” began Sunday afternoon, “when one woman reportedly pushed a child aside as her own child was scrambling toward some brightly colored eggs.”

Police say the two mothers began fighting and had to be separated three or four times. The fisticuffs left one woman with a bloody nose.

H/T to Mr. Shea.

"It was unfair to reward good grades"

Stupidity has become a pandemic:

An Ipswitch, Ma., middle-school principal has canceled his school’s annual honors assembly because it was too upsetting for some students. Boston’s Fox affiliate reports the explanation of Principal David Fabrizio, the man at the center of the silliness: “Honors Night, which can be a great sense of pride for the recipients’ families, can also be devastating to a child who has worked extremely hard in a difficult class but who, despite growth, has not been able to maintain a high grade point average.”

Fabrizio also justified his decision by claiming it was unfair to reward good grades — which can be be influenced by the home environment and supportive parents — because not all of students have access to equal amounts of academic and emotional support.

Middle school must be a breeding ground for educators who've lost their collective minds:

The 900 students at Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School in Cliffwood, N.J., will have to find another way to show affection after the principal declared the campus a “no hugging school”.

Principal Tyler Blackmore issued the mandate after the school observed  “some incidents of unsuitable, physical interactions between students,” the school district said in a statement.

“We have a responsibility to teach children about appropriate interactions and about having a structured, academically focused environment,” David M. Healy, superintendent of the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, said in a statement.

Healy said the students, who range in ages 11 to 14, would not be suspended for hugging.

Matawan-Aberdeen joins the company of a handful of schools across the United States that have instituted no hugging rules.

Wait, there's one more, this one an elementary school:

A county in Maryland is putting limits on some of the trappings of elementary school: Hugs from grown-ups are restricted, birthday-party invitations are banned, and no more bringing cupcakes for the whole class.

Parents who visit the 17 elementary schools in St. Mary’s County are still allowed to hug their own children, just not other kids. Only parents registered as volunteers are allowed on the playground, and even then they can’t push other people’s kids on the swings.

“What’s OK with some families is not OK with others,” Kelly Hall, the district’s executive director of elementary schools, told NBC News on Tuesday.

Societal decay... it's on display.

Paranoid much Mr. President?

I can't think for a minute that this is what all Presidents have done in the past... I'm hoping I'm wrong... if not, then this is pretty revealing:

Following President Obama’s lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins described the food served and said the president was not able to eat since his “taster” was not present.

“University of Maine recipe for healthy lobster salad — I pointed that out to the president in keeping with the first lady’s initiatives and Fox Family Potato Chips made in Aroostook County where I’m from and wild blueberry pie full of anti-oxidants, see this was a healthy lunch as well. We did have a little ice cream on the pie too, also made in Maine, Gifford’s Ice Cream. So in all seriousness this was well received,” Collins told reporters on Thursday after the meeting at the Capitol.

“Unfortunately, you know, the president can’t,” said Collins when asked if Obama ate at the lunch meeting.

“He looked longingly at it,” Collins continued. “He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.”

If this is par for the course behavior for Presidents at these kind of get togethers, someone let me know.  

Otherwise, methinks the President is acting like a putz.

Ignorance abounds

Women protest all male conclave:

Demonstrations took place across the United States and internationally to protest the male-only conclave to elect the next pope.

Members of a church in Sarasota sent up their own smoke signals Tuesday -- not black or white, but pink.

They gathered at the St. Andrews UCC Church in Sarasota. The vigil was one of many held on Tuesday around the globe. Not all were so peaceful though: a melee ensued outside the Vatican Tuesday when two female activists who went topless were dragged away from St. Peter's Square.

The Sarasota group, though, gathered in a circle to pray, and they say their hope is for a more progressive pope.

"There's one point plus billion Roman Catholics. 500 million women. All cultures, all languages, throughout the world living today, are not represented in the conclave. Not one woman," said Katy Zatsick, with the Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community.

Zatsick says she hopes for a "Pope John XXIV" -- someone who models himself after Pope John XXIII, who presided over the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which ushered in major changes for the Catholic Church.

I'm sure Zatsick (you can't help but wonder if she's putting us on with a name like that), if asked, would also want a Pope that affirms gay sex, supports abortion, and otherwise decries priestly celibacy.

In other words, the Pope should be a mainline Protestant.

Sigh.