The 2012 London Summer Olmypic Games open tonight. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney questioned London’s readiness for the Games earlier this week (Telegraph). He then later tried to suck up to Britain’s Prime Minister. Now one of the British papers has labeled him “Mitt the Twit”. The weather is suppose to clear. Security problems are supposed to be fixed. The opening ceremonies are set for 7:30 pm EST on NBC. With athletes in the spot light, we are all looking at female athletes‘ weight… since that is what is important rather than their abilities. I am irritated so that is where I will leave it; read Jezebel’s commentary on it instead.
NCAA punishes Penn State for covering the Joe Paterno sex scandal. Penn State was issued “a $60 million fine; the vacating of a decade’s worth of victories that moved Joe Paterno from first to seventh on the career list among major-college coaches; a ban on lucrative postseason play for four years” (NY Times). While some think this is a harsh punishment, I believe this should just be the start in a NCAA-wide change. Obviously, there was a culture surrounding football that lead to the scandal and should be addressed. A Philadeplhia church official was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison following a sex abuse cover-up. There has been some backlash among critics stating that the NCAA did a better job punishing Penn State than the judicial system did punishing Monsignor Lynn.
New York state celebrated the one year anniversary of legalizing same-sex marriage. However, no state has enacted a law allowing same-sex marriage since; however, North Carolina has banned it in the past year (Washington Post).
Three NJ teens have started a petition for a woman to host presidential debate for the 1st time in 20 years (The Nation). There is a large petition on change.org, but no official announcements yet. I am hopeful but completely confused on who selects the host for presidential debates.
While 12 died in Aurora shooting, 13 die in illegal transport by coyote. I am still waiting for the story or outrage at the second story. The gun debate still rages as victims and families of the Aurora shooting are trying to figure out how to pay for medical bills. Also, 3 days after the Aurora shooting, applications for gun background checks were up 43% in Colorado, compared to the previous week (BBC).
Sally Ride, the first woman in space, lost her battle to pancreatic cancer this week. Her partner of 27 years cannot receive any federal benefits due to DOMA. Obviously, I think this is a ridiculous injustice. Her post-humorous coming-out has fueled debate about the astronaut and gay-rights activism.
Apparently American Idol is still on television, this was sad news to me. Just like the fact that there is a reality television Emmy.
A report the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, which was started by a group of law clinics including The Global Justice Clinic at New York University and the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at the Fordham Law School, finds ‘Widespread Human Rights Violations‘ In Policing Of Occupy Protests (NPR). Anyone who read/watched the news over the past year was aware of this, but now we have the satisfaction of knowing that some committee has acknowledged it and may hold the NYPD responsible.
The Mitt Romney campaign made asses of themselves more than once this week. A Mitt Romney adviser said Obama doesn’t “fully appreciate” America’s “Anglo-Saxon heritage,” and that the Brits and Americans should bond over this shared heritage (Think Progress). How about a little bit of racism for your weekend? Next on his foreign tour of I-need-to-take-back-what-I-just-said, also known as Romneyshambles: Israel. There is sure to be more head-bashing into our desks to come.
Chick-fil-a is both sexist and homophobic. A former employee, Brenda Honeycutt, is suing Chick-fil-a for wrongful termination when owner/operator of the Duluth, Georgia Chick-fil-A fired her so that she could remain a “stay at home mother.” Chick-fil-a’s President Dan Cathy justifies it’s homophobic principles by stating, “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives.” Running a business on biblical principles is always a good excuse to break federal anti-discrimination laws (let alone the whole morally-wrong thing). My bad, my idea of morals and Christian morals do not line up. No worries though, because missionaries are spreading their gay-hate to Africa. Can someone clear up if there is more to Christianity than those you hate? K, thanks.
Hyatt’s employment practice‘s suck, and everyone is letting the world know by voting them the worst employer. Learn why here.
A federal court of appeals believes it is legal for South Dakota doctors to lie to patients by requiring them to warn women seeking abortions of suicide “risk” (Star Tribune). The research on this supposed-suicide “risk” is just as solid as the link between abortion and breast cancer — all pro-life propaganda. It all makes me nauseous.
University of Michigan researchers have finally told “old people” that sexting is just an exploration of young peoples’ sexuality and does not lead to promiscuous behavior. So hopefully the media will now stop worrying about sexting as a deviant or even criminal behavior and focus on real news (Futurity). Plus, I am pretty sure that sexting is what phone sex was to former generations. The end of civilization and humanity has yet to come, but older generations are assuring us it will soon… because of sexting, not Mitt Romney.
Violence in Syria seems to be escalating, and the United Nations is reporting that a showdown between government troops and opposition forces Aleppo is imminent. Some humanitarian relief organizations are pulling workers from the city in precaution (NPR).
Target is releasing adorable same-sex marriage registry advertisements (Think Progress).
